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From teen movies to tear-jerkers, these films changed pop-culture forever.
It was the Golden Age of romantic comedies, the launching pad for some of today’s most popular franchises, and an era when independent cinema came into its own. But what movies released during the 1990s truly stand the test of time? Here, our picks.
Director Ang Lee’s 1997 adaptation of the hit book by Rick Moody tells the story of two families in the seemingly perfect town of New Canaan, Connecticut and how their worlds unravel when partner swapping and drug use come into play. It’s a T&C touchstone not only for its subject matter but brilliant performances from Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, and Sigourney Weaver, among others.
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Does anything say 1990s teenager better than The Virgin Suicides? The Sofia Coppola-directed piece is, in the words of today’s youth, a mood. It’s a dreamy, disturbing story about five sisters (the most memorable, Lux, is played by Kirsten Dunst) grappling with the teen romance, high-school horrors, overbearing parents, and the mental-health issues that lead to the film’s titular acts. It remains a brilliant snapshot of youth in crisis, and the perfect soundtrack is still in our regular rotation.
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Martin Scorsese directed Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone, and Joe Pesci in this high-stakes drama about Ace Rothstein, who’s tasked by an organized-crime outlet to manage their Las Vegas concern—which goes about as well as you might expect. It’s still a thrill to watch (and, at nearly three hours, an endeavor) thanks to top-tier performances from the headliners and a take-no-prisoners look at how the mob, Sin City, and American leisure so often coexist.
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Sure, Titanic was nominated for 14 Oscars and took home 11, it was the first film ever to break $1 billion at the box office, featured a theme song that’s still in rotation (at least at karaoke bars) today, and made massive stars out of leads Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet and cemented director James Cameron as a once-in-a-generation genius. But the blockbuster story of a doomed love affair aboard the world’s most infamous cruise ship is more than big business, it’s a cultural touchstone—that some of us saw at least eight times in a movie theater, thank you very much—the likes of which haven’t been seen since.
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High school was a hot topic for 1990s culture, from the anarchist cheerleaders in Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” video to the cartoon characters on Daria. Election might have taken place in a high school, but Alexander Payne’s dark comedy—based on a novel by Tom Perrotta—was about more than just a social studies teacher (Matthew Broderick’s Mr. McAllister) and his overeager bête noire (Reese Witherspoon’s Tracy Flick). Instead, the movie was about power, vengeance, and knowing when you’re beat; a reminder to Baby Boomers than Gen X was here to overthrow them, ready or not.
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Written and directed by Frank Darabont, and based on a story by Steven King, this 1994 drama—which earned seven Oscar nomination—follows two prisoners (played by Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman) over the decades of their incarceration as they form a lasting bond, outwit a crooked warden, and survive unthinkable tragedies.
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Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffr, and Winona Ryder star in Martin Scorsese’s adaptation of the Edith Wharton classic, which just so happens to be not only T&C‘s favorite version but also among our favorite Scorsese films, too. The story, about the high-society longing between Newland Archer and Countess Ellen Olenska, is as compelling as always, but this 1993 production has a lush, fiery quality that makes it feel more relevant than ever.
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Steven Spielberg’s 1993 historical film tells the tale of Oskar Schindler, a German man who roughly 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust. Spielberg adapted the story from Schindler’s Ark by Thomas Keaneally—who was convinced to write the novel by Poldek Pfefferberg, one of the Schindlerjuden (Schindler’s Jews). “Schindler gave me my life, and I tried to give him immortality,” Pfefferberg said. The film was a critical success—winning Best Picture, Best Director, and more at the 1994 Academy Awards—and is one of the defining films ever made about the Holocaust.
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Over the course of one night, Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Céline (Julie Delpy) walk around Vienna and fall in love. While the romantic drama spawned a trilogy (Before Sunset in 2004 and Before Midnight in 2013), the first is undeniably the best one—featuring deep conversations about life, love, and the future.
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Are there things about old movies that, with the passing of time, give us pause? Sure. But it’s hard not to love Tim Burton’s 1990 story of an outsider with, yes, scissors for hands who’s tugged from his solitude and introduced to an unfamiliar world. Change is, of course, scary, but Winona Ryder always makes things better.
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Ice Cube, Chris Tucker, Nia Long, Regina King, Bernie Mac, and more star in director F. Gary Gray’s comedy about two friends who find themselves indebted to a local drug dealer and with very limited time to get the man his money. Watched today, it’s a time capsule of ’90s fashion, humor, and tropes, but the performances hold up and the story remains a buddy-comedy classic, even if its sequels never quite matched the original’s charm.
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One of the best Jane Austen adaptations is set in Beverly Hills, starring Alicia Silverstone as Cher Horowitz, a modern-day Emma. Clueless quickly cemented its legacy as one of the greatest coming-of-age teen films of all time, and the comedy has had lasting impacts on fashion and culture. As if this wouldn’t be on our list of best ’90s films!
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Director Wes Craven’s 1996 send-up of horror classics has become one itself—and with good reason. Scream movies have always relied on an arched eyebrow, above-average intelligence, and serious scares, which is probably why the franchise is still going strong today. In this original, a teenager named Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) is stalked by a masked killer whose high-school blood bath would make even Carrie White wince, and the twists, turns, and jumps are still powerful enough to make audiences do just what the title recommends.
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There’s nobody who explores the experience of the American teenager quite like Richard Linklater, and this 1993 gem is not only perhaps his most widely recognized film but also among his best. It’s about the final day of school for a group of Texas kids in 1976—with all the antics, broken hearts, sparked joints, and now-questionable ’90s fashion that goes with it—and features early work of talent who’ve since become titans, from Parker Posey and Milla Jovovich to Ben Affleck and Matthew McConaughey.
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Written and directed by Whit Stillman, this 1990 comedy follows a group of well-heeled New Yorkers—and one less fortunate newcomer—during a season of galas, after parties, and generally misspent youth. It’s a stylish, endlessly quotable look at a very specific slice of life, and doesn’t shy away from questioning what it means (and whether it’s all that it’s cracked up to be) to grow up rich.
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Of all Tom Hanks’s memorable roles, his turn as the title character in this 1994 drama—about a man whose path leads him to influence some of history’s most important events—might be his most famous. It’s a heartwarming story with top-notch performances from Hanks, Robin Wright, and Gary Sinise, and while it might be best remembered for some of its most famous quotes, the movie is worth revisiting for much more than just Gump’s quips.
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Pulp Fiction did a lot. This was the film that brought John Travolta back from movie-star obscurity, made independent films into pop-culture mainstays, and cemented a brief moment in the 1990s when movie soundtracks were all the rage. (Hi, Urge Overkill!) In theory, it’s about two hit men, a gangster, his wife, and a slew of other unsavory characters whose misdeeds connect them, but seen through a 21st-century lens, it might be more aptly described as simple a vibe.
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Some of us learned to love British romantic comedies from this Richard Curtis-penned 1994 hit. Others just learned how to curse inventively. Either way, the foul-mouthed, uproariously funny story of a marriage-resistant man (Hugh Grant at his dreamiest) who discovers, over the course of the title’s events, that perhaps he isn’t destined for the single life, remains the Gold Standard among romcoms.
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Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis star in this 1991 movie, directed by Ridley Scott and written by Callie Khouri, about two best friends whose vacation takes a series of unexpected turns and finds them on the run from the law. The film, which has become a feminist touchstone, was controversial upon its release but is today considered a modern classic thanks to career-best performances from its stars, a storyline that still looms large in popular culture, and, of course, a breakout role for a young Brad Pitt.
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Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Renée Zellweger, and Regina King star in writer-director Cameron Crowe’s 1996 movie about a sports agent who changes the way he does business, and in the process upends his entire life—eventually for the better. It’s about greed and friendship and believing in yourself, and manages to be as charming, funny, and inspiring today as it was upon its release.
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Writer-director John Singleton’s feature debut, which stars Ice Cube, Cuba Gooding, Jr., and Laurence Fishburn, tells the story of a young man who moves in with his father in South Central Los Angeles and grapples with coming of age in a neighborhood controlled in large part by gangs. The movie became a critical and box office success and earned Singleton two Oscar nominations, and today it’s still a powerful time capsule depicting an era and place with a fresh, smart style that has influenced generations of movies to come since.
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This 1991 movie—written by Nicholas Pileggi, director Martin Scorsese, and based on a book by Pileggi—tells the story of a young man in Brooklyn who grows up surrounded by, and eventually becomes a part of, the mafia. Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro, Lorraine Bracco, and Joe Pesci lead the sprawling film (which earned six Oscar nominations), which remains of the great mob movies ever made, and comes to mind for some of us anytime we chop garlic.
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A young William Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) falls in love with Viola de Lesseps (Gwyneth Paltrow) while writing Romeo and Juliet. Drawing on plots from Shakespeare’s plays, the film was a box-office and critical success. It won seven Oscars at the 1999 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actress for Paltrow and Best Supporting Actress for Judi Dench.
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Pretty Woman is perhaps Julia Roberts’s best romantic comedy role of all time—and the one that cemented her status as a Hollywood superstar. Roberts portrays prostitute Vivian Ward, who is hired by businessman Edward Lewis (Richard Gere) to be his fake girlfriend for a week of events in Los Angeles. They start to develop real feelings for each other, and grapple with the nature of their relationship. Roberts oozes charisma and charm, and earned her her second Oscar nomination.
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Perhaps the best received horror film ever, director Jonathan Demme’s 1991 thriller is about FBI rookie Clarice Starling and her hunt for a serial killer, which brings her in close contact with a brilliant, dangerous psychiatrist who might be her only hope of cracking the case. The movie won Oscars for Demme, writer Ted Tally, and stars Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins—as well as a Best Picture award—and just might be responsible for today’s poop-culture obsession with crime stories. Has it become any less terrifying with age? Absolutely not.
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Janet Jackson and Tupac Shakur star in this 1993 romantic comedy directed by John Singleton. Jackson is Justice, a poet who is grieving the loss of her boyfriend, and decides to take a road trip from Los Angeles to Oakland with her best friend Iesha (Regina King), Iesha’s boyfriend Chicago (Joe Torry), and a fellow postal worker Lucky (Shakur). Though Lucky and Justice initially butt heads, they begin to fall for each other and develop a close connection. The two music stars have a real screen presence, and Poetic Justice is a romance for the ages.
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Steven Spielberg’s 1993 science fiction film imagines a world where dinosaurs are brought back from extinction in a wildlife park owned by a wealthy businessman. When the power facilities and park’s security fail, a ragtag group attempts to survive the island overrun by the prehistoric beasts. Starring Sam Neill, Lauren Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, B.D. Wong, Samuel L. Jackson, and more, the film has spawned a huge franchise, with five sequels currently existing.
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Will Hunting (Matt Damon) is a self-taught genius who works as a janitor at MIT and solves a problem posed by Professor Gerald Lambeau (Stellan Skarsgård). Soon, Lambeau wants Will to study under him—and enlists his college roommate Dr. Sean Maguire (Robin Williams, who won an Oscar for his performance), an unconventional therapist. Good Will Hunting is a lot of things—a fantastic movie, a top 10 Robin Williams performance—but it most notable for introducing Matt Damon and Ben Affleck to the world.
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Director Kimberly Peirce’s 1999 drama, which stars Hilary Swank, Chloë Sevigny, and Peter Saarsgard, was one of the first mainstream films to focus on a trans man as its lead character. Here, Swank’s Brandon Teena falls in with a rough crowd in a small Nebraska town—and begins a relationship with a local woman—but when his identity is revealed, he becomes the target of violent, bigoted attacks. The film was a hit, and a watershed moment for LGBTQ visibility, upon its release and won an Oscar for Swank and a nomination for Sevigny.
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One of the most controversial films of the ’90s was David Fincher’s Fight Club, about an unnamed man who forms a “fight club” for cathartic feelings. Though it had a mediocre run at the box office, it quickly achieved cult status when it was released on DVD. Though “the first rule of fight club is you do not talk about fight club,” word of mouth helped make Fight Club one of the defining films of the decade.
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Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman starring as witchy sisters? Say less. Based on Alice Hoffman’s bestselling novel of the same name, the film is a campy delight about the power of sisterhood. Practical Magic has gained in popularity over the years. As Hoffman said last year about the cult classic status of the film, ” I feel so lucky that all those truly great actresses are in one movie. The fact it’s about women and women’s relationships — at its core, it’s about a form of sisterhood — I think has made it more popular over the years. I feel really lucky to have been involved with it.” We feel lucky to watch, too—and to have been introduced to the concept of midnight margaritas.
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Identical twins Hallie and Annie (both Lindsay Lohan) separated at birth reunite at summer camp, and hatch a plan to get their parents (Natasha Richardson, Dennis Quaid) back together by switching places. Directed by Nancy Meyers, The Parent Trap defines feel-good movies. And though it was a remake (the original premiered in 1961), it soon became a staple of family movie nights nationwide. Plus, the choice of Nat King Cole’s “L-O-V-E” on the soundtrack is complete perfection.
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