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My 15 Favorite 90s Movies
This is a list of 15 of my favorite movies made within 1990-1999. Disney films are not included because then the list would be over 15.
15. The Fifth Element (1997)
When Korben Dallas meets Leeloo, the embodiment of the Fifth Element, he realizes the world's fate is in his hands. They need to find the other four elements and combine them with Leeloo to save Earth from imminent destruction.
(This is my second favorite Bruce Willis movie, behind the Die Hard trilogy.)
14. The Fugitive (1993)
After Dr. Richard Kimble is wrongfully convicted of his wife's murder, he escapes custody and goes on the run to find her killer and clear his name.
13. The Matrix (1999)
Neo is told by a secretive figure, named Morpheus, that he can answer what "the Matrix" is. When he awakes to find out just what it is, Neo knows he must fight back and, with the help of Morpheus and his crew, make the Matrix a better place.
12. JFK (1991)
Jim Garrison and his team of investigators go about learning how and why president John F. Kennedy was assassinated and who made it happen. When Lee Harvey Oswald is killed while in custody, Garrison is forced to close the case. However, Garrison and his team re-open the case when more questions arise involving several possible co-conspirators.
(Only three words describe this 3hr 8min movie. Holy. Crap. Wow. Oliver Stone outdid himself in this movie.)
11. Titanic (1997)
James Cameron brings us back to April 1912, when the RMS Titanic set sail on their disastrous voyage for the United States. The movie follows two passengers, Rose Bukater, first-class, and Jack Dawson, third-class. The two come together, fall in love, and try to make it out of this fateful voyage.
(Some of the scenes here can't be put into words, for some I can say the same as JFK. Holy. Crap. Wow.)
10. Big Daddy (1999)
32 year-old Sonny Koufax has avoided responsibility all his life, while his friends have all gone to college or gotten married, and his girlfriend even dumps him. When a 5 year-old boy, claiming to be his son, is left at his door, he adopts him and proves that he's grown-up enough.
(Watching Sonny try to figure out how to take care of a kid, and the process they go through together is very funny. A classic Adam Sandler movie!
9. What About Bob? (1991)
Dr. Leo Martin, a psychiatrist, takes on Bob Wiley, a new patient. Bob has a long list of phobias which makes him annoying and very needy, so he follows Leo and his family on vacation. Bob and Leo's family get comfortable fast, and is slowly driving Leo crazy and causing him to act irrationally towards Bob.
(This movie has absolutely hilarious scenes where Bob screws with Leo. This movie was directed Frank Oz and stars Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss.
8. Sneakers (1992)
Martin Bishop is the head of a group of specialists who test the security of various businesses in the San Fransisco area. Two NSA officers ask Martin to steal a black box that can supposedly crack any code, which would act as a huge threat if it got in the wrong hands. Martin realizes the NSA officers that he met are rogue agents, and they frame him for the murder of the box's inventor.
(The banter between the members of the group is very funny and the situations they find themselves in gets tense at times. It's a great movie.)
7. Jumanji (1995)
When Peter and Judy Shepherd play a mysterious board game called Jumanji, they discover that's it's not like any game they've played before. Jumanji is a whole world inside of the game, and when they start playing, they free Alan Parrish, who's been stuck in the game for years. While they play the game, crazy things happen. An animal stampede through the house, roughhousing monkeys, and a hunter, named Van Pelt, that also gets out and attempts to hunt down and kill Alan.
(It's very funny to watch Van Pelt interacting with people around the town. Some great Robin Williams comedy!)
6. The Mask (1994)
Stanley Ipkiss is a timid hopeless romantic, nothing seems to go his way and that's just life. But when Stanley finds a mask enchanted with the spirit of Loki, the god of mischief, he changes into a completely different man. Ipkiss becomes an over-the-top zany character oozing exuberance and charisma, who does things only possible in a cartoon. Under the mask's influence, he also robs a bank and catches the eye of Dorian Tyrell, a mob boss who's goons get caught for the robbery instead of Ipkiss. Dorian wants him dead and will do anything to get him.
(This movie is full of memorable scenes that still make me laugh. A great Jim Carrey movie!)
5. Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)
When Daniel Hillard and his wife Miranda divorce, she takes controlling custody of their children, leaving Daniel little time to be with them. With the help of his brother, Daniel finds another way to be with his children. He disguises himself as an old British lady named "Mrs. Doubtfire" and persuades Miranda to hire him as a nanny. Can Daniel keep this up? Will his secret be found out? Find out in Mrs. Doubtfire.
(The only thing missing from the end of my description is "Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel." But seriously, I love this movie. More good old fashioned Robin Williams comedy!)
4. Jurassic Park (1993)
Two paleontologists, Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler, along with a mathematician named Ian Malcolm, are in the first group of people to visit "Jurassic Park", an Jurassic-age theme park. But this is not any theme park, by engineering prehistoric DNA, the park's creator, John Hammond, and the crew of scientists on the island, found a way to revive several races of dinosaurs. Hammond assures everyone is safe on the island, however when there's a security breach, this "safe park" turns prehistoric predator vs prey as Grant, Sattler, Malcolm and Hammond try to find a way out of danger.
(Whenever you hear this movie's theme, by John Williams, you know your in for something great. Another Steven Spielberg masterpiece, by using digital software, Spielberg and the crew that would come to found DreamWorks, made crazy realistic dinosaurs that still look amazing today.)
3. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
A criminal called "Buffalo Bill", who kills and skins his female victims, has taken the senator's daughter as a prisoner. The FBI has assigned an agent named Clarice Starling to interrogate an incarcerated cannibal named Hannibal Lecter, who was a former psychiatrist to several criminals including Buffalo Bill. Time is running out, and with the help of Lecter, Clarice has to find the kidnapped girl before it's too late.
(This is a thriller more than a horror movie, but it lives up to both. Jodie Foster does a very convincing job as Starling, and Anthony Hopkins is very believable as the mentally-disturbed Hannibal Lecter.)
2. Men in Black (1997)
The Men in Black are a secret government agency that monitor alien activity on and off-world. When Agent K looks for a new partner, he recruits James Edwards, a extremely talented and agile cop in the NYPD, who K sees as a perfect future member for the MiB. James, now Agent J, has to help K take down a rogue alien, who's gone incognito in the skin of a dead guy to locate a small galaxy hidden somewhere on Earth.
(Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones have great banter in this movie. The music video is just as cool.)
1. Groundhog Day (1993)
Phil Connors, a cynical weatherman, forecasts that a large blizzard in the Northeast will miss western Philadelphia. Ironically, for Groundhog Day, Phil and the news crew go to Punxsutawney, in western Philadelphia, to cover the festivities. However, Phil was wrong, the blizzard hits Punxsutawney full-force. When Phil goes to sleep on Groundhog Day, he wakes up to find that it's Groundhog Day again. Phil is caught in a loop, it's Groundhog Day everyday. No matter what he does, he can't figure out why he's stuck and his actions have no consequences the next day. Phil goes from disorientation to even killing himself, just to wake up on Groundhog Day. "Again and again and again..."
(Bill Murray is hilarious in this movie, and it never gets old to watch his slow realization of why he's stuck here and how he fixes it. Harold Ramis directs this movie and even has a cameo in it.)
Tell me your favorite movies from the 90s!
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