Time has a way of rolling on doesn’t it? The 1990s were a great hodge-podge of 1980s leftovers and a the future all rolled into one. So it stands to reason that some of the movies we got from that time, even though they were completed, sort of felt incomplete upon their release 20 years ago. In fact, it seems to take something like a 20th anniversary for certain films to be deemed important. It might lead one to ask if the 1990s had any classic or iconic movies?
It would be easy to write a lot of these films off. Lord knows many a critic did, however, when you take a solid look at this list, many of these films have stood the test of time. Some of have even become iconic movies. The mere fact that they are even on a list of this nature is a testament to this.
What made the 1990s the fun, semi-easy going decade it appeared to be? Was it really even that way at all? Lets be honest, many of the problems we faced then we still face today. The biggest issue is that most of them are bigger.
And that speaks to something else. We need the movies to give us respite from all this. Looking at this list, titles like Boogie Nights, Good Burger, theStar WarsSpecial Editions, all offer this brief reprieve in their own little ways. Yet, those films, and the rest of the movies on this list are very much “of” their time. However, classic movies are not a dime a dozen and that is what some of the films on this list are, which we’ve completely plundered thanks toIMDB.
- It seems hard to believe that it was 20 years ago. Even harder to believe is the way the motion picture industry has changed since then. The fact that some of the films on this list might not even get a theatrical release today is very telling. So, sit back, put on your favorite multi-colored button-up shirt and rolled up jeans, and enjoy 20 Films Turning 20 in 2017. Now some of these are not the best movies of 1997, but they were memorable for other reasons. You might laugh, you might cry, but you’ll most certainly have memories!
This, in fact, was one of the best movies of 1997.Titanicis an iconic movie. It also falls into the category of being a classic movie. Was it 20 years ago that we all fell love with Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet? This tale of true love being met with tragedy aboard the R.M.S. Titanic was no easy feat for director James Cameron to pull off. There were some major health issues on the set that ultimately culminated with the director needing to take a siesta for a bit. Titanic is a big, bold film. It recalls such movies as Gone With the Wind and Wuthering Heights. And sadly, 1997 would mark the last year that such a film was released. Sure, there have been big movies since, but they were generally genre movies. The costs of making films has skyrocketed. It’s ironic that the last guy to make a true cinema classic, is the guy leading the charge to create bigger genre films today. The 20th anniversary of this film is bound to be big indeed.
21Men in Black
While not what most people would consider a seminal franchise, Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones sure did seem to be having a great time together, right? This tale of a police officer (Smith) being recruited by Tommy Lee Jones' special agent, really hit all the right notes. Also, the effects in this movie don’t really seem like they’ve been marred by time. Sure, most sci-fi films with big budgets would probably look better than this but this was 20 years ago. This may not be an iconic movie but its subject matter is iconic… the men in black. They would go on to make two more films after this first one. The second one, Men In Black II was good, but these three films really do realize the point that the sequel is almost never as good as the original. They certainly wouldn’t fall on someone’s classic movies list. Still,Men In Blackalways works when you watch it, and that reason alone is enough to keep it on this list.
20Austin Powers
After being in cryofreeze since the 1960s,Austin Powers(Mike Myers) is thawed out and resumes battling those nefarious entities that wish to do the world harm. Truthfully, I so un-enjoyed this movie when I first watched it, that I literally forced myself to sleep in the movie theater. I did not think it was one of the best movies of 1997. It also didn’t burn up the box office and seemed to be quickly forgotten. However, the 1990s was a very special time in filmmaking. Independents were making one film with a bolex, and then shooting for a studio on their follow-up. Austin Powers sort of died in theaters but it got resurrected on home video. Due to that, it spawned 2 more films and made nearly $700 million at the box office! In the era of streaming would that even be possible today? Here’s hoping that the 20th anniversary of this film might give us something of an answer today.
19Good Burger
This iconic movie from Nickelodeon Films essentially launched the careers of Kel Mitchell and Kenan Thompson. The fact that it featured such actors as Sinbad, Abe Vigoda and Shaquille O’Neal, has only bolstered its credibility throughout the years. Ultimately, Good Burger is a 1980s tale that found its way in the late 1990s. Kel and Kenan play two workers at (where else?) a burger shop. When their shop is threatened with going out of business, these slackers kick in to high gear to try and save the place. Good Burger is fun, light hearted, and the kind of film that Brian Robbins loves to make from the 1990s and beyond. That it’s on this list, celebrating it’s 20th anniversary only underscores how important this film was.
18Star Wars Special Editions
These classic movies were both loved and hated, and the reality was it had nothing to do with the story. Such is the fate of some iconic movies. Basically, George Lucas didn’t have the effects he needed when episodes 4, 5 and 6 came to the movie theaters in the 1970s and 1980s. So he tinkered with them and in the 1990s we got these old films with new effects added. There were extra ships, added scenes with characters like Jabba the Hut, and a re-edit that shows how a guy named Greedo fired first (even if he didn’t). 1997 is made an even more seminal year by these movies. They put Star Wars back in people’s minds again. It got a whole new generation of kids ready for the prequel trilogy. And, who would’ve known that Disney would one day take this whole thing over and reboot the entire franchise into a wholly different galaxy far, far away?
17Fifth Element
Luc Besson’s odd film is a perfect 1990s offering. It was one of the best movies of 1997, though, I don’t think that many thought that at the time. It is a weird, visionary, bug budget mess. The story follows a cab driver (Bruce Willis) who ends up in a search for a weapon to stop some nefarious entities. Okay, does that seem oddball enough? Factor in that Gary Oldman plays one of the bad guys, Chris Tucker plays a flamboyant character who literally seems to be in this film to chew the scenery, and then there’s Milla Jovovich who literally seems so gorgeous that nobody knows what to do with her. All of this is mixed together to great effect by the visionary filmmakerLuc Besson, and from it we get one of the classic movies of the 1990s. When you consider that this film went on to become a very important visual experience in the home theater world, and that it is also lauded on its 20th anniversary, that means something.
16Starship Troopers
Okay, so Director Paul Verhoeven admits that this sci-fi opus was in fact (in part) inspired by the Nazi propaganda film Triumph of the Will. All I know is, it is good for Starship Troopers that it was released in 1997 and not 2017. Because if it had been and the director made those statements today, nobody would be talking about anything related to this film other than those comments. Starship Troopers is ultimately a classic movie about humans battling alien bugs in order to survive. A sci-fi tale cloaked in a history lesson about the vagaries of fascism. Verhoeven, despite what people want to say about him, is a very good filmmaker. Come on, the guy directed Robocop for crying out loud! Sure, he made Showgirls but he also made Basic Instinct and Total Recall. Also, Verhoeven just had Isabelle Huppert vie for the Academy Award in his film Elle. He is as vital today as his film Starship Troopers was 20 years ago.
15Jackie Brown
Quentin Tarantino’s follow-up to Pulp Fiction might be a 1990s ode to films of the 1970s, but this movie is very much of its time. In fact, its 20th anniversary only makes that more palpable. After Pulp Fiction, many people wanted Tarantino to keep making THAT film. Well, he would make films like it, but Jackie Brown clearly showed that he was a true iconoclast. So by proxy this pretty much makes Jackie Brown an iconic movie. How else to explain how this director who could work with ANYBODY, chose to work with Pam Grier in the title role. This isn’t a dig at Grier but I think even she would admit she wasn’t exactly bankable then. The story is fairly straight forward, a drug smuggling stewardess (Grier) suddenly finds herself in deep trouble when she gets pinched. Ahhhh, the 1990s were a forgiving time. This movie may not have connected like Pulp Fiction, but Tarantino was allowed to show the world he’s every bit the director we thought he was. Can the same thing be said about new directors in 2017? And despite it not being Pulp Fiction, it was one of the best movies of 1997.
14Boogie Nights
1997 felt special because of this movie. Paul Thomas Anderson had made a film before this that barely got released. Rather than just being a “straight-to-video” director, Anderson turned around and made one of the best films in decades. He made a classic movie. Boogie Nights is a fun, tragic, ultimately hopeful look at the Los Angeles porn industry in the 1970s. However, watching it 20 years later this movie never feels dated. In fact, it was vibrant, full of life, and the kind of rare art film that can be watched over and over. Here’s hoping it’s get the 20th anniversary treatment on home video. However, in the streaming world today is that even possible?
13Good Will Hunting
Easily one of the best movies of 1997 as well as the 1990s. It has to be singled out on its 20th anniversary, and not just because it won an Oscar. However, it’s really easy to look at the amazing success that Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have had, and then look at this film with a cynical viewpoint. Ben Affleck is Batman for crying out (I know, probably not for that much longer), and Matt Damon is one of the most bankable actors in the world (yes, even with Great Wall not being so great). This tale of a math savant (Damon) being saved by a psychologist (the lateRobin Williams), is for the most part a really solid film. Filled with terrific dialogue and scenes that moved like wildfire, Good Will Hunting was really an action movie of words and ideas. Add the haunting Elliot Smith soundtrack to this, and Good Will Hunting is an iconic movie that is very 90s but very 2017, too.
