The Best Movies of the 1990s
Here they are. The movies I consider to be the absolute best motion pictures of the 1990s.
Feel free to comment on my choice of movies.
PS: The movies are sorted by year and not necessarily by my preference. This list is by no means complete as I will add new worthwhile films as I stumble across them.
Feel free to comment on my choice of movies.
PS: The movies are sorted by year and not necessarily by my preference. This list is by no means complete as I will add new worthwhile films as I stumble across them.
List activity
53K views
• 37 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
312 titles
- DirectorTim BurtonStarsJohnny DeppWinona RyderDianne WiestThe solitary life of an artificial man - who was incompletely constructed and has scissors for hands - is upended when he is taken in by a suburban family.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsRobert De NiroRay LiottaJoe PesciThe story of Henry Hill and his life in the mafia, covering his relationship with his wife Karen and his mob partners Jimmy Conway and Tommy DeVito.
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsAl PacinoDiane KeatonAndy GarciaFollows Michael Corleone, now in his 60s, as he seeks to free his family from crime and find a suitable successor to his empire.
- DirectorAbel FerraraStarsChristopher WalkenDavid CarusoLaurence FishburneA drug kingpin is released from prison and seeks to take total control of the criminal underworld in order to give back to the community.
- DirectorJoel CoenEthan CoenStarsGabriel ByrneAlbert FinneyJohn TurturroTom Reagan, an advisor to a Prohibition-era crime boss, tries to keep the peace between warring mobs but gets caught in divided loyalties.
- DirectorAdrian LyneStarsTim RobbinsElizabeth PeñaDanny AielloMourning his dead child, a haunted Vietnam War veteran attempts to uncover his past while suffering from a severe case of dissociation. To do so, he must decipher reality and life from his own dreams, delusions, and perceptions of death.
- DirectorRobert ZemeckisStarsMichael J. FoxChristopher LloydMary SteenburgenStranded in 1955, Marty McFly learns about the death of Doc Brown in 1885 and must travel back in time to save him. With no fuel readily available for the DeLorean, the two must figure how to escape the Old West before Emmett is murdered.
- DirectorPaul VerhoevenStarsArnold SchwarzeneggerSharon StoneMichael IronsideWhen a man goes in to have virtual vacation memories of the planet Mars implanted in his mind, an unexpected and harrowing series of events forces him to go to the planet for real - or is he?
- DirectorJohn McTiernanStarsSean ConneryAlec BaldwinScott GlennIn November 1984, the Soviet Union's best submarine captain violates orders and heads for the U.S. in a new undetectable sub. The American CIA and military must quickly determine: Is he trying to defect or to start a war?
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsNick NolteTimothy HuttonArmand AssanteDirty cop, Mike Brennan thinks he got away with murder. But during a routine Q&A, the righteous assistant DA finds a clue that sets them both on a collision course.
- DirectorBarry LevinsonStarsAidan QuinnElizabeth PerkinsLeo FuchsA Polish-Jewish family comes to the U.S. at the beginning of the twentieth century. There, the family and their children try to make themselves a better future in the so-called promised land.
- DirectorHarry HookStarsBalthazar GettyChris FurrhDanuel PipolyStranded on an island, a group of schoolboys degenerate into savagery.
- DirectorStephen FrearsStarsAnjelica HustonJohn CusackAnnette BeningA small-time conman has torn loyalties between his estranged mother and new girlfriend, both of whom are high-stakes grifters with their own angles to play.
- DirectorLuc BessonStarsAnne ParillaudMarc DuretPatrick FontanaConvicted felon Nikita isn't going to jail; she's given a new identity and trained, stylishly, as a top secret spy/assassin.
- DirectorRob ReinerStarsJames CaanKathy BatesRichard FarnsworthAfter a famous author is rescued from a car crash by a fan of his novels, he comes to realize that the care he is receiving is only the beginning of a nightmare of captivity and abuse.
- DirectorStephen HopkinsStarsDanny GloverGary BuseyKevin Peter HallThe Predator returns to Earth, this time to stake a claim on the war-torn streets of a dystopian Los Angeles.
- DirectorRon UnderwoodStarsKevin BaconFred WardFinn CarterNatives of a small isolated town defend themselves against strange underground creatures which are killing them one by one.
- DirectorYves RobertStarsPhilippe CaubèreNathalie RousselDidier PainAt the end of the nineteenth century, little Marcel lives with his parents in the Provence countryside. During his holiday, Marcel meets Lili, a local boy who knows all the secrets of the hills, and the two become fast friends.
- DirectorYves RobertStarsJulien CiamacaPhilippe CaubèreNathalie RousselEvery holiday Marcel and his family go to their cottage near Marseilles. During one of these holidays he meets Isabelle, a pretty but conceited girl... Adapted from the cult classic novel from Marcel Pagnol.
- DirectorPenny MarshallStarsRobert De NiroRobin WilliamsJulie KavnerThe victims of an encephalitis epidemic many years ago have been catatonic ever since, but now a new drug offers the prospect of reviving them.
- DirectorXavier KollerStarsNecmettin ÇobanogluNur SürerEmin SivasThe story of a poor Turkish family who try to emigrate illegally to Switzerland.
- DirectorAgnieszka HollandStarsSolomon PerelMarco HofschneiderRené HofschneiderA boy in Nazi Germany, trying to conceal that he is Jewish, joins the Hitler Youth.
- DirectorMarco RisiStarsFrancesco BenignoAlessandra Di SanzoRoberto MarianoYoung men with no future have little in the present as well. Natale is released from prison: he takes up with his friends again but none can find work. Claudio, from Palermo, gets out of juvenile detention in Naples and he's met by Vita, a girl who's come from home to run away with him. Where can they go? A young dad, whose potato stall at the market is shut down because he has no permit, takes his two small children to the beach and yells at them. Mario, gay, a prostitute in drag, gets a visit from his mom; he offers tea, then finds the water to his apartment is shut off. Social workers drop by, parole officers file reports. What hope is there? What options besides crime?
- DirectorChris ColumbusStarsMacaulay CulkinJoe PesciDaniel SternAn eight-year-old troublemaker, mistakenly left home alone, must defend his home against a pair of burglars on Christmas Eve.
- DirectorJonathan DemmeStarsJodie FosterAnthony HopkinsScott GlennA young F.B.I. cadet must receive the help of an incarcerated and manipulative cannibal killer to help catch another serial killer, a madman who skins his victims.
- DirectorJames CameronStarsArnold SchwarzeneggerLinda HamiltonEdward FurlongA cyborg, identical to the one who failed to kill Sarah Connor, must now protect her ten year old son John from an even more advanced and powerful cyborg.
- DirectorNicholas MeyerStarsWilliam ShatnerLeonard NimoyDeForest KelleyOn the eve of retirement, Kirk and McCoy are charged with assassinating the Klingon High Chancellor and imprisoned. The Enterprise crew must help them escape to thwart a conspiracy aimed at sabotaging the last best hope for peace.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsRobert De NiroNick NolteJessica LangeA convicted rapist, released from prison after serving a fourteen-year sentence, stalks the family of the lawyer who originally defended him.
- DirectorJoel CoenEthan CoenStarsJohn TurturroJohn GoodmanJudy DavisA renowned New York playwright is enticed to California to write for the movies and discovers the hellish truth of Hollywood.
- DirectorGary TrousdaleKirk WiseStarsPaige O'HaraRobby BensonJesse CortiA prince cursed to spend his days as a hideous monster sets out to regain his humanity by earning a young woman's love.
- DirectorKevin ReynoldsStarsKevin CostnerMorgan FreemanMary Elizabeth MastrantonioRobin Hood decides to fight back as an outlaw when faced with the tyranny of the Sheriff of Nottingham.
- DirectorLars von TrierStarsBarbara SukowaJean-Marc BarrUdo KierJust after World War II, an American takes a railway job in Germany, but finds his position politically sensitive with various people trying to use him.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsSachiko MuraseRichard GereHisashi IgawaThree generations' responses to the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
- DirectorRadha BharadwajStarsMadeleine StoweAlan RickmanIn a drab police state, an author of children's books is interrogated by a sadistic, secret policeman. She's under suspicion of embedding anti-government messages in her stories.
- DirectorYimou ZhangStarsGong LiJingwu MaSaifei HeChina in the 1920s. After her father's death, Songlian is forced to marry the wealthy Master Chen. With three wives already, each living in a separate house, there is fierce competition for his attention and the privileges that are gained.
- DirectorJing WongStarsAlan TamAndy LauEric TsangThe Red Army aims to assassinate the Daka Lama in Singapore. Ling May, with a rare blood type, encounters them. Terrorists strike. Authorities seek a donor match as Ling's boyfriend and a conman intervene, racing against time.
- DirectorJon AvnetStarsKathy BatesJessica TandyMary Stuart MastersonEvelyn, an ordinary housewife, visits a nursing home and befriends the old lady Ninny. Together, they bond over stories from the past about two intrepid women of Whistle Stop Cafe.
- DirectorIrwin WinklerStarsRobert De NiroAnnette BeningGeorge WendtReturning to Hollywood 1951 after working in France, a movie director meets McCarthyism head-on.
- DirectorJohn SingletonStarsCuba Gooding Jr.Laurence FishburneHudhail Al-AmirFollows the lives of three young males living in the Crenshaw ghetto of Los Angeles, dissecting questions of race, relationships, violence, and future prospects.
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsPeter WellerJudy DavisIan HolmAfter developing an addiction to the substance he uses to kill bugs, an exterminator accidentally kills his wife and becomes involved in a secret government plot being orchestrated by giant bugs in a port town in North Africa.
- DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsJeremy IronsTheresa RussellJoel GreyKafka works during the day at an insurance company, where events lead him to discover a mysterious underground society with strange suppressive goals.
- DirectorMarc CaroJean-Pierre JeunetStarsMarie-Laure DougnacDominique PinonPascal BenezechPost-apocalyptic surrealist black comedy about the landlord of an apartment building who occasionally prepares a delicacy for his odd tenants.
- DirectorTim BurtonStarsMichael KeatonDanny DeVitoMichelle PfeifferWhile Batman deals with a deformed man calling himself the Penguin wreaking havoc across Gotham with the help of a cruel businessman, a female employee of the latter becomes the Catwoman with her own vendetta.
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsClint EastwoodGene HackmanMorgan FreemanRetired Old West gunslinger William Munny reluctantly takes on one last job, with the help of his old partner Ned Logan and a young man, The "Schofield Kid."
- DirectorRob ReinerStarsTom CruiseJack NicholsonDemi MooreMilitary lawyer Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee defends Marines accused of murder. They contend they were acting under orders.
- DirectorQuentin TarantinoStarsHarvey KeitelTim RothMichael MadsenWhen a simple jewelry heist goes horribly wrong, the surviving criminals begin to suspect that one of them is a police informant.
- DirectorPaul VerhoevenStarsMichael DouglasSharon StoneGeorge DzundzaA violent police detective investigates a brutal murder that might involve a manipulative and seductive novelist.
- DirectorRichard DonnerStarsMel GibsonDanny GloverJoe PesciMartin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh pursue a former LAPD officer who uses his knowledge of police procedure and policies to steal and sell confiscated guns and ammunition to local street gangs.
- DirectorAbel FerraraStarsHarvey KeitelBrian McElroyFrank AcciaritoWhile investigating a young nun's rape, a corrupt New York City police detective, with a serious drug and gambling addiction, tries to change his ways and find forgiveness and redemption.
- DirectorCarl FranklinStarsBill PaxtonBilly Bob ThorntonCynda WilliamsA small town police chief awaits the arrival of a gang of killers.
- DirectorCarlo CarleiStarsManuel ColaoFederico PacificiSal BorgeseThe boy Vito is a portrait of beauty and wide-eyed innocence spawned from a violent family of kidnapers and murderers in the South of Italy. When his entire family is murdered by a rival clan of kidnapers, Vito must flee for his own life and in the end attempts to make atonement for some of his family's sins.
- DirectorSam RaimiStarsBruce CampbellEmbeth DavidtzMarcus GilbertWhen Ash Williams is accidentally transported to 1300 A.D., he must retrieve the Necronomicon and battle an army of the dead in order to return home.
- DirectorPeter JacksonStarsTimothy BalmeDiana PeñalverElizabeth MoodyA young man's mother is bitten by a Sumatran rat-monkey. She gets sick and dies, at which time she comes back to life, killing and eating dogs, nurses, friends, and neighbors.
- DirectorJohn WooStarsChow Yun-FatTony Leung Chiu-waiTeresa MoA tough-as-nails cop teams up with an undercover agent to shut down a sinister mobster and his crew.
- DirectorRingo LamStarsChow Yun-FatSimon YamAnn BridgewaterTwo disreputable friends get tied in with a group of criminals who turn out to be excessively violent and deceptive.
- DirectorDavid FincherStarsSigourney WeaverCharles S. DuttonCharles DanceReturning from LV-426, Ellen Ripley crash-lands on the maximum-security prison Fiorina 161, where she discovers that she has unwittingly brought along an unwelcome visitor.
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsGary OldmanWinona RyderAnthony HopkinsThe centuries old vampire Count Dracula comes to England to seduce his barrister Jonathan Harker's fiancée Mina Murray and inflict havoc in the foreign land.
- DirectorNeil JordanStarsStephen ReaJaye DavidsonForest WhitakerA British soldier kidnapped by the IRA soon befriends one of his captors, who then becomes drawn into the soldier's world.
- DirectorRémy BelvauxAndré BonzelBenoît PoelvoordeStarsBenoît PoelvoordeJacqueline Poelvoorde-PappaertNelly PappaertA film crew follows a ruthless thief and heartless killer as he goes about his daily routine. But complications set in when the film crew lose their objectivity and begin lending a hand.
- DirectorGeoffrey WrightStarsRussell CroweDaniel PollockJacqueline McKenzieA group of skinheads become alarmed at the way their neighbourhood is changing.
- DirectorBernard RoseStarsVirginia MadsenXander BerkeleyTony ToddThe Candyman, a murderous soul with a hook for a hand, is accidentally summoned to reality by a skeptic grad student researching the monster's myth.
- DirectorEdward James OlmosStarsEdward James OlmosWilliam ForsytheSal LopezA Mexican-American Mafia kingpin is released from prison, falls in love for the first time, and grows introspective about his gangster lifestyle.
- DirectorMichael RitchieStarsJames WoodsLouis Gossett Jr.Bruce DernGabriel's released from prison. His con man friend makes a foolish bet with Diggstown's owner on who'd win the boxing matches - their man against ten Diggstown men.
- DirectorJames FoleyStarsAl PacinoJack LemmonAlec BaldwinAn examination of the machinations behind the scenes at a real estate office.
- DirectorRobert AltmanStarsTim RobbinsGreta ScacchiFred WardA Hollywood studio executive is being sent death threats by a writer whose script he rejected, but which one?
- DirectorGeorge MillerStarsNick NolteSusan SarandonPeter UstinovLorenzo Odone, a Virginia 5-year-old, develops a degenerative nerve disease so rare that nobody is working on a cure, so his parents decide to immerse themselves in research and tackle the problem themselves.
- DirectorMartin BrestStarsAl PacinoChris O'DonnellJames RebhornA prep school student needing money agrees to "babysit" a blind man, but the job is not at all what he anticipated.
- DirectorRichard AttenboroughStarsRobert Downey Jr.Geraldine ChaplinPaul RhysAn elderly Charlie Chaplin discusses his autobiography with his editor, recounting his amazing journey from his poverty-stricken childhood to world-wide success after the ingenious invention of the Little Tramp.
- DirectorSpike LeeStarsDenzel WashingtonAngela BassettDelroy LindoBiographical epic of the controversial and influential Black Nationalist leader, from his early life and career as a small-time gangster, to his ministry as a member of the Nation of Islam and his eventual assassination.
- DirectorKenneth BranaghStarsHugh LaurieStephen FryEmma ThompsonSix former college friends, with two new friends, gather for a New Year's Eve weekend reunion at a large English countryside manor after ten years to reminisce about the good times now long gone.
- DirectorRégis WargnierStarsCatherine DeneuveVincent PerezLinh-Dan PhamEliane adopts Camille, whose Vietnamese parents were friends. In 1930, a French navy officer is interested in Eliane (owns 60km2 plantation) and later in Camille. There's an uprising in Vietnam against French colonial power.
- DirectorMichael MannStarsDaniel Day-LewisMadeleine StoweRussell MeansThree trappers protect the daughters of a British Colonel in the midst of the French and Indian War.
- DirectorBaz LuhrmannStarsPaul MercurioTara MoriceBill HunterA maverick dancer risks his career by performing an unusual routine and sets out to succeed with a new partner.
- DirectorCyril CollardStarsCyril CollardRomane BohringerCarlos LópezJean is 30 years old. He lives with Laura, 17 years old, a violent and eventful love story. He learns that he is HIV positive.
- DirectorBrian HensonStarsMichael CaineDave GoelzSteve WhitmireThe Muppets present their own touching rendition of Charles Dickens' classic tale.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsSam NeillLaura DernJeff GoldblumA pragmatic paleontologist touring an almost complete theme park on an island in Central America is tasked with protecting a couple of kids after a power failure causes the park's cloned dinosaurs to run loose.
- DirectorRenny HarlinStarsSylvester StalloneJohn LithgowMichael RookerA botched mid-air heist results in suitcases full of cash being searched for by various groups throughout the Rocky Mountains.
- DirectorJoe DanteStarsJohn GoodmanCathy MoriartySimon FentonThe teenage son of a navy sailor newly stationed in Key West gets some excitement with his friends when a small-time film producer comes to town to premiere a kitschy horror film during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
- DirectorHenry SelickStarsDanny ElfmanChris SarandonCatherine O'HaraJack Skellington, king of Halloween Town, discovers Christmas Town, but his attempts to bring Christmas to his home causes confusion.
- DirectorJonathan DemmeStarsTom HanksDenzel WashingtonRoberta MaxwellWhen a man with HIV is fired by his law firm because of his condition, he hires a homophobic-small time lawyer as the only willing advocate for a wrongful dismissal suit.
- DirectorSydney PollackStarsTom CruiseJeanne TripplehornGene HackmanA young lawyer joins a prestigious law firm only to discover that it has a sinister dark side.
- DirectorRobert De NiroStarsRobert De NiroChazz PalminteriLillo BrancatoAn intense drama about a boy torn between his tough, hard-working father and a violent yet charismatic crime boss.
- DirectorAndrew DavisStarsHarrison FordTommy Lee JonesSela WardDr. Richard Kimble, unjustly accused of murdering his wife, must find the real killer while being the target of a nationwide manhunt led by a seasoned U.S. Marshal.
- DirectorTakeshi KitanoStarsTakeshi KitanoAya KokumaiTetsu WatanabeSeveral yakuza from Tokyo are sent to Okinawa to help end a gang war. The war then escalates and the Tokyo drifters decide to lay low at the beach.
- DirectorJoel SchumacherStarsMichael DouglasRobert DuvallBarbara HersheyAn ordinary man frustrated with the various flaws he sees in society begins to psychotically and violently lash out against them.
- DirectorWolfgang PetersenStarsClint EastwoodJohn MalkovichRene RussoSecret Service agent Frank Horrigan couldn't save Kennedy, but he's determined not to let a clever assassin take out this president.
- DirectorAbel FerraraStarsGabrielle AnwarMeg TillyTerry KinneyA teenage girl and her father discover alien clones are replacing humans on a remote U.S. military base in Alabama.
- DirectorTaylor HackfordStarsDamian ChapaJesse BorregoBenjamin BrattBased on the true life experiences of poet Jimmy Santiago Baca, the film focuses on step-brothers Paco and Cruz, and their bi-racial cousin Miklo.
- DirectorWoo-Ping YuenStarsJet LiMichelle YeohSiu-Ho ChinTwo friends, ex Shaolin monks, part ways as they brush with the ongoing rebellion against the government. The ambitious one rises up to be a powerful military commander, while his betrayed friend resorts to learn the calm ways of Tai Chi.
- DirectorWoo-Ping YuenStarsRongguang YuDonnie YenJean WangA martial artist/doctor steals from the corrupt authorities as a masked thief to give to the poor while another martial artist/doctor is forced to hunt him down. But a major threat unites them as a powerful and traitorous shaolin monk takes over the authorities.
- DirectorRobert LiebermanStarsD.B. SweeneyRobert PatrickCraig ShefferAn Arizona logger mysteriously disappears for five days in an alleged encounter with a flying saucer in 1975. His co-workers endure ridicule and contempt as they are wrongly accused of murder.
- DirectorRichard LinklaterStarsJason LondonWiley WigginsMatthew McConaugheyThe adventures of high school and junior high students on the last day of school in May 1976.
- DirectorLasse HallströmStarsJohnny DeppLeonardo DiCaprioJuliette LewisA young man in a small Midwestern town struggles to care for his mentally-disabled younger brother and morbidly obese mother while attempting to pursue his own happiness.
- DirectorJim SheridanStarsDaniel Day-LewisPete PostlethwaiteAlison CrosbieAn Irish man's coerced confession to an I.R.A. bombing he did not commit results in the imprisonment of his father as well. Meanwhile, a British lawyer fights to clear their names and free them.
- DirectorRobert AltmanStarsAndie MacDowellJulianne MooreTim RobbinsThe day-to-day lives of several suburban Los Angeles residents.
- DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsJesse BradfordJeroen KrabbéLisa EichhornA young boy struggles on his own in a run-down hotel after his parents and younger brother are separated from him in 1930s Depression-era Midwest.
- DirectorAng LeeStarsWinston ChaoMay ChinAh-Lei GuaTo satisfy his nagging parents, a gay landlord and a female tenant agree to a marriage of convenience, but his parents arrive to visit and things get out of hand.
- DirectorWayne WangStarsTamlyn TomitaRosalind ChaoKieu ChinhThe life histories of four East Asian women and their daughters reflect and guide each other.
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsJeremy IronsJohn LoneBarbara SukowaIn 1960s China, French diplomat Rene Gallimard falls in love with an opera singer, Song Liling - but Song is not at all who Gallimard thinks.
- DirectorMike LeighStarsDavid ThewlisLesley SharpKatrin CartlidgeAn unemployed Mancunian vents his rage on unsuspecting strangers as he embarks on a nocturnal London odyssey.