Films of the Decade: 1990s

 The 1990s were a fantastic decade for movies on the big screen. It was a blend of continuing beloved film series (Back to the Future, Die Hard, Star Wars), spectacular originality and the birth of many franchises that have stood the test of time and we still see sequels today (Jurassic Park, Mission: Impossible)

When creating this list, I got stuck at 15 choices and couldn’t make it fit so had to be quite brutal to get it to 10 - no doubt that I’m going to miss your favourite off  

Same rule as with the 1980s list too: no multiple films from the same franchise in the Top 10. 

And as a reminder, I’m looking for movies that I enjoy - perhaps not the most popular or important or perhaps on most people’s list. I’m more of a popcorn movie blog than the critics top choices though there are some overlap!

10. GoldenEye (1995)

Rotten Tomatoes Critics: 80%

IMDb: 7.2

Budget: $60m

Box Office: $352.194m

Perhaps this one didn’t make your list? I am a huge 007 fan and for me choosing one of Pierce Brosnan’s 90s films to be included wasn’t too tricky - there is only one really good one and it’s this one. 

This film, directed by Martin Campbell (who incidentally only directed one other 007 film - Casino Royale (2006)), has a lot going for it. Relaunching the franchise after a six year hiatus and an extensive casting search including the likes of Liam Neeson, Hugh Grant and Ralph Fiennes (later M in Daniel Craig’s run), the producers eventually settled on Brosnan. This film also introduced a little known actress, Dame Judi Dench, as M. 

Once again, and as expected with 007, this film had a lot of chases and set pieces and good to see a lot of it being practically done. 

If only the rest of the Brosnan series continued with the strong foundations laid here before descending into stupidity with ‘Die Another Day’ (2002). 

This film often features near the top, if not at the top, of a ‘Best Bond Ranking’. I’m not sure I’d agree with it being number one on that list but it’s certainly worthy of being in the Top 10 here! 

9. The Matrix (1999)

Rotten Tomatoes Critics: 83%

IMDb: 8.7

Budget: $63m

Box Office: $467.842m

This was a film that really shouldn’t have been as successful as it is ended up being. Taking many by surprise in early 1999, this film just about sneaks into the timeframe and is an example of a film that spawns its own franchise but also being so far ahead of what follows. 

It was visually breathtaking and quite unlike anything that had come before it. The ‘bullet time’ visual effect was unlike anything else at the time and perhaps we take this for granted for nowadays. This was a franchise that I hadn’t seen in order for quite a while as I stumbled into the sequel, ‘Reloaded’, before catching up with this one. 

Last year it was announced that a new Matrix film was in the works - fingers crossed we can get back to the levels of this film. 

One of the biggest compliments that a film can receive is to be universally loved by its peers. If notable directors like Tarantino, Cameron and Nolan rave about this film it must be doing something right and who am I to disagree with them?

8. Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Rotten Tomatoes Critics: 94%

IMDb: 8.6

Budget: $65m

Box Office: $482.352m

This film gets more of a write up on my ‘Director Deep Dive’ list which can be found here: https://apopcornmovieblog.blogspot.com/2025/06/director-deep-dive-steven-spielberg.html

One extra little nugget that I enjoyed whilst researching this film was that Spielberg didn’t want the actors to get much rest between filming. He filmed more in a day than usual to keep the actors off balance because “war is fought fast”. 

Unlike many films, this film was almost entirely shot in order which some of the crew found mentally demoralising as the cast would leave filming when their characters died. 

7. Goodfellas (1990)

Rotten Tomatoes Critics: 94%

IMDb: 8.7

Budget: $25m

Box Office: $47.068m

For many, Scorcese is their favourite director of all time. I personally think that he is of course incredibly gifted at directing and enjoy a lot of his work but not for me there are the odd projects that I just don’t click with. 

However, I think it’s pretty clear that everyone agrees that ‘Goodfellas’ is one of his finest. Everyone that is apart from the Academy. How this didn’t win Best Picture or Best Director is beyond me. 

‘Empire’ named this as 6th best movie of all time and ‘Total Film’ ranked it as the greatest movie of all time. 

This film is just stacked with the talent that you’d expect to find in a Scorcese epic: Liotta, De Niro and Pesci. 

This film which adapts the nonfiction book ‘Wiseguy’, details the rise and fall of Mafia associate Henry Hill. 

Often ranked as the second best Gangster movie of all time behind ‘The Godfather’ - not a bad movie night at all! 

6. Fight Club (1999)

Rotten Tomatoes Critics: 81%

IMDb: 8.8

Budget: $64m

Box Office: $101.321m

Is there a better example of a film that has gone from a failure in the eyes of many to now being considered one of the greatest films of all time. I have to say that I am surprised that this film hasn’t been pushed back onto the big screen more given its popularity. 

Back at school, I was introduced to David Fincher and we studied several of his projects - this being one of them. I was blown away with his work and have followed everything he’s done since. The twist towards the end of the film, which I will not spoil here, took me completely by surprise and was one that I didn’t see coming. 

There was a fear from many that this film would incite trouble and try to emulate ‘Project Mayhem’ of which there have been a few examples in the US. 

Whilst the fight scenes were heavily choreographed, actors were still required to put their all into it. 

Author of the book that the film is based on, Chuck Palahniuk, praised the faithful adaptation of his work. It’s rare to find the writer of the source material as happy and at times happier with the adaption than what they produced. 

5. Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)

Rotten Tomatoes Critics: 91%

IMDb: 8.6

Budget: $98m

Box Office: $517.779m

When I put of my list of the 1980s, there were a couple of films that came up from readers surprised that had not made it. One that was said about regularly was ‘The Terminator’ (1984). I always knew that when I made this list, that this one would be making it. For me, this is one of the rare examples of the sequel being better than the original. 

Audiences certainly agreed too. This film became the highest grossing film of 1991 and was the third highest grossing film of all time. Not only is this film one of the best Science Fiction films of all times, it is just flat out one of the best films of all time. 

One of my favourite little facts about the production of this film, was about James Cameron and his relationship with the film crew. Cameron was known for his manner on set and had such a reputation that the crew had shirts made reading, “You can’t scare me - I work for Jim Cameron”. He even made the cast and crew work through Christmas. Ultimately, the end results speak for themselves!

Interestingly, James Cameron intended for this film to conclude the franchise but Hollywood had other ideas following it up with an additional 4 films and a show to mixed reception. Perhaps they should have listened to one of the greatest directors of all time. 

4. Toy Story (1995)

Rotten Tomatoes Critics: 100%

IMDb: 8.3

Budget: $30m

Box Office: $394.437m

The only animated film on this list and the first animated film I have included on a decade review list so far. And what a film to include. And look at that RT score - perfect. No critic has a negative review. When I was weighing up what to include - it was tough to know whether to include this or Toy Story 2. Both are practically perfect films. 

The reason that this film gets the edge is because of what this film had as its legacy. Not only does this film have 3 (soon to be 4) Toy Story sequels to thank for this film, but we have the birth of my favourite animation production company - Pixar. A grand total of 29 movies have been released and they all owe their existence to this film.

This film was the first entirely computer-animated feature film and was groundbreaking because of it. The concept is genius and so simple that I cannot believe Disney hadn’t thought of it before - obviously Pixar was its own company before Pixar purchased it. 

Whilst many of the plaudits rightfully go to the creative team, a great deal of praise needs to go to Tom Hanks and Tim Allen. Could you imagine other voices playing these characters? Their voices are timeless - like this classic. 

3. Pulp Fiction (1994)

Rotten Tomatoes Critics: 92%

IMDb: 8.8

Budget: $8m

Box Office: $213.929m

Everyone has a favourite film from Tarantino and for many, myself included, it’s Pulp Fiction. It was unlike anything I had seen before and in some ways it still is. 

The films narrative is told entirely out of chronological order. People have figured out how to watch the film in order and perhaps one day I will try and do it that way for fun. 

Because of how good the script for Tarantino’s debut, ‘Reservoir Dogs’, the production company wanted to secure Tarantino for his next film - arguably one of the greater decisions in film production history. 

For a film on a small budget, this film brings together one the greatest casts of all time: John Travolta, Samuel L Jackson, Uma Thurman, Christopher Walken and Bruce Willis plus more! 

This film was the first of two Academy Award wins for Tarantino, this one for ‘Best Original Screenplay’. 

Tarantino has said that he intends to only make one more film. There is a high chance that Pulp Fiction will end up being his greatest triumph. If he tops this film with that last one then goodness gracious we are eating well! 

2. Se7en (1995)

Rotten Tomatoes Critics: 84%

IMDb: 8.6

Budget: $33m

Box Office: $328.983m

I’ve mentioned above that there were several Fincher projects I studied. This was the second of them. And perhaps it’s controversial but this is by far a much superior film. Then again, I absolutely love a serial killer story so perhaps the plot had the head start. No spoilers though from me!

The iconic ending of the film was close to not being included in the final draft as film studio executives panicked thinking it was too dark. However, after pressure from many involved including lead Brad Pitt - who threatened to walk if it was changed - the ending was kept and the rest is history. 

Just like in Fight Club, where actors were encouraged to give their all, Se7en saw something similar with Pitt who wanted to perform his own stunts actually injuring himself whilst filming a chase scene - the injuries included cut tendons and nerve damage. Fincher commented on even seeing bone. 

Despite mixed test scores from audiences before its release, it became a sleeper hit with it becoming the seventh highest grossing film of 1995 and is the third from this year to make this list. 

1. Jurassic Park (1993)

Rotten Tomatoes Critics: 91%

IMDb: 8.2

Budget: $63m

Box Office: $1,104.380m

Just like with ‘Saving Private Ryan’ ahead of this film, I’ve recently covered this off with more detail in my Spielberg blog. It was number one there and is number one here too. The first film on any of my rankings to top a list twice. 

This film was just mesmeric when it came out and continues to not only set the bar for quality in storytelling in the franchise it spawned but also for the visual effects used. Given that this film released 32 years ago is still seen as the best for visual effects in many ways - that just goes to show how good it really is.