Best of 1996
by Stryder-56897 | created - 05 Feb 2021 | updated - 03 Jan 2022 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Eraser (1996)
R | 115 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A Witness Protection specialist becomes suspicious of his co-workers when dealing with a case involving high-tech weapons.
Director: Chuck Russell | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Vanessa Williams, James Caan, James Coburn
Votes: 118,421 | Gross: $101.30M
2. Independence Day (1996)
PG-13 | 145 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
The aliens are coming and their goal is to invade and destroy Earth. Fighting superior technology, mankind's best weapon is the will to survive.
Director: Roland Emmerich | Stars: Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Mary McDonnell
Votes: 605,979 | Gross: $306.17M
3. Broken Arrow (1996)
R | 108 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
Terrorists steal nuclear warheads from the U.S. military but don't count on a pilot and park ranger spoiling their plans.
Director: John Woo | Stars: John Travolta, Christian Slater, Samantha Mathis, Delroy Lindo
Votes: 105,269 | Gross: $70.77M
4. Chain Reaction (1996)
PG-13 | 107 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
Two researchers in a green alternative energy project are put on the run when they are framed for murder and treason.
Director: Andrew Davis | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Morgan Freeman, Rachel Weisz, Fred Ward
Votes: 56,271 | Gross: $21.23M
5. Last Man Standing (1996)
R | 101 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A drifting gunslinger-for-hire finds himself in the middle of an ongoing war between the Irish and Italian mafia in a Prohibition era ghost town.
Director: Walter Hill | Stars: Bruce Willis, Bruce Dern, William Sanderson, Christopher Walken
Votes: 61,016 | Gross: $17.60M
6. Mission: Impossible (1996)
PG-13 | 110 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
An American agent, under false suspicion of disloyalty, must discover and expose the real spy without the help of his organization.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Tom Cruise, Jon Voight, Emmanuelle Béart, Henry Czerny
Votes: 470,519 | Gross: $180.98M
7. The Fan (1996)
R | 116 min | Action, Drama, Sport
An all star baseball player becomes the unhealthy focus of a down on his luck salesman.
Director: Tony Scott | Stars: Robert De Niro, Wesley Snipes, Ellen Barkin, John Leguizamo
Votes: 51,421 | Gross: $18.57M
8. Jingle All the Way (1996)
PG | 89 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
A father vows to get his son a Turbo Man action figure for Christmas. However, every store is sold out, and he must travel all over town and compete with everybody else in order to find one.
Director: Brian Levant | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sinbad, Phil Hartman, Rita Wilson
Votes: 116,182 | Gross: $60.57M
9. From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
R | 108 min | Action, Crime, Horror
Two criminals and their hostages unknowingly seek temporary refuge in a truck stop populated by vampires, with chaotic results.
Director: Robert Rodriguez | Stars: Harvey Keitel, George Clooney, Juliette Lewis, Quentin Tarantino
Votes: 340,822 | Gross: $25.75M
10. Scream (1996)
R | 111 min | Horror, Mystery
A year after the murder of her mother, a teenage girl is terrorized by a masked killer who targets her and her friends by using scary movies as part of a deadly game.
Director: Wes Craven | Stars: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Skeet Ulrich
Votes: 388,694 | Gross: $103.05M
11. Happy Gilmore (1996)
PG-13 | 92 min | Comedy, Sport
After his grandmothers house is repossessed by the IRS, bad tempered hockey player takes his talents to golf to earn the big bucks and get his grandmothers house back.
Director: Dennis Dugan | Stars: Adam Sandler, Christopher McDonald, Julie Bowen, Frances Bay
Votes: 248,752 | Gross: $38.62M
12. Maximum Risk (1996)
R | 101 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
While seeking answers to the death of the twin brother he never knew he had, a French cop and his sibling's fiancee find themselves pursued by corrupt FBI agents and the Russian mafia.
Director: Ringo Lam | Stars: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Natasha Henstridge, Jean-Hugues Anglade, Zach Grenier
Votes: 23,970 | Gross: $14.50M
13. Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
PG-13 | 111 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
The Borg travel back in time intent on preventing Earth's first contact with an alien species. Captain Picard and his crew pursue them to ensure that Zefram Cochrane makes his maiden flight reaching warp speed.
Director: Jonathan Frakes | Stars: Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton
Votes: 132,111 | Gross: $92.00M
14. The Rock (1996)
R | 136 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
A mild-mannered chemist and an ex-con must lead the counterstrike when a rogue group of military men, led by a renegade general, threaten a nerve gas attack from Alcatraz against San Francisco.
Director: Michael Bay | Stars: Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage, Ed Harris, John Spencer
Votes: 358,287 | Gross: $134.07M
15. Escape from L.A. (1996)
R | 101 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Snake Plissken is once again called in by the United States government to recover a potential doomsday device from Los Angeles, now an autonomous island where undesirables are deported.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Kurt Russell, Steve Buscemi, Stacy Keach, A.J. Langer
Votes: 80,592 | Gross: $25.48M
16. Space Jam (1996)
PG | 88 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
In a desperate attempt to win a basketball match and earn their freedom, the Looney Tunes seek the aid of retired basketball champion, Michael Jordan.
Director: Joe Pytka | Stars: Michael Jordan, Wayne Knight, Theresa Randle, Manner Washington
Votes: 213,602 | Gross: $90.46M
17. The Ghost and the Darkness (1996)
R | 110 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
A bridge engineer and an experienced old hunter begin a hunt for two lions after they start attacking local construction workers.
Director: Stephen Hopkins | Stars: Michael Douglas, Val Kilmer, Tom Wilkinson, John Kani
Votes: 65,991 | Gross: $38.62M
18. Bound (1996)
R | 109 min | Crime, Thriller
Tough ex-con Corky and her lover Violet concoct a scheme to steal millions of stashed mob money and pin the blame on Violet's crooked boyfriend Caesar.
Directors: Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski | Stars: Jennifer Tilly, Gina Gershon, Joe Pantoliano, John P. Ryan
Votes: 60,809 | Gross: $3.80M
19. Jerry Maguire (1996)
R | 139 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
When a sports agent has a moral epiphany and is fired for expressing it, he decides to put his new philosophy to the test as an independent agent with the only athlete who stays with him and his former colleague.
Director: Cameron Crowe | Stars: Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding Jr., Renée Zellweger, Kelly Preston
Votes: 287,168 | Gross: $153.95M
20. A Time to Kill (1996)
R | 149 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
In Canton, Mississippi, a fearless young lawyer and his assistant defend a black man accused of murdering two white men who raped his ten-year-old daughter, inciting violent retribution and revenge from the Ku Klux Klan.
Director: Joel Schumacher | Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock, Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin Spacey
Votes: 181,764 | Gross: $108.77M
21. The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)
R | 121 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Samantha Caine lives in a small town with her daughter. Eight years ago she emerged, two months pregnant, from a nearby river with no memory of her past or who she is. However, she's getting closer to finding out about her past.
Director: Renny Harlin | Stars: Geena Davis, Samuel L. Jackson, Yvonne Zima, Craig Bierko
Votes: 85,700 | Gross: $33.33M
22. Raven (1996 Video)
R | 97 min | Action
A notorious criminal is hunted down by the elite Raven Special Forces team when things go wrong on a mission to capture stolen military hardware.
Director: Russell Solberg | Stars: Burt Reynolds, Matt Battaglia, Krista Allen, David Ackroyd
Votes: 667
23. Ransom (1996)
R | 121 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Multi-millionaire Tom Mullen's son is kidnapped, but after initially agreeing to pay the ransom Mullen then decides to use the ransom money as a bounty.
Director: Ron Howard | Stars: Mel Gibson, Gary Sinise, Rene Russo, Brawley Nolte
Votes: 135,527 | Gross: $136.49M
24. Hamlet (1996)
PG-13 | 242 min | Drama
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, returns home to find his father murdered and his mother remarrying the murderer, his uncle. Meanwhile, war is brewing.
Director: Kenneth Branagh | Stars: Kenneth Branagh, Julie Christie, Derek Jacobi, Kate Winslet
Votes: 40,066 | Gross: $4.41M
25. Stealing Beauty (1996)
R | 118 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
After her mother commits suicide, a young woman travels to Italy in search of love, truth and a deeper connection with herself.
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci | Stars: Jeremy Irons, Liv Tyler, Carlo Cecchi, Sinéad Cusack
Votes: 30,437 | Gross: $4.57M
26. Tin Cup (1996)
R | 135 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A washed-up golf pro working at a driving range tries to qualify for the U.S. Open in order to win the heart of his successful rival's girlfriend.
Director: Ron Shelton | Stars: Kevin Costner, Rene Russo, Don Johnson, Cheech Marin
Votes: 53,288 | Gross: $53.85M
27. The Frighteners (1996)
R | 110 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
After a tragic car accident that kills his wife, a man discovers he can communicate with the dead, and he uses that gift to con people. However, when a demonic spirit appears, he may be the only one who can stop it from killing the living and the dead.
Director: Peter Jackson | Stars: Michael J. Fox, Trini Alvarado, Peter Dobson, John Astin
Votes: 95,546 | Gross: $16.76M
28. Bulletproof (1996)
R | 84 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Two criminals, Keats and Moses, end their friendship, when Keats turns out to be an undercover cop. Many years later, the two are forced to work together when Keats is assigned to protect Moses as a witness.
Director: Ernest R. Dickerson | Stars: Damon Wayans, Adam Sandler, James Caan, Jeep Swenson
Votes: 40,113 | Gross: $21.16M
29. Big Night (1996)
R | 109 min | Drama, Romance
New Jersey, 1950s. Two brothers run an Italian restaurant. Business is not going well as a rival Italian restaurant is out-competing them. In a final effort to save the restaurant, the brothers plan to put on an evening of incredible food.
Directors: Campbell Scott, Stanley Tucci | Stars: Tony Shalhoub, Stanley Tucci, Marc Anthony, Larry Block
Votes: 22,841 | Gross: $11.88M
30. The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996)
PG-13 | 96 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
After being rescued and brought to an island, a man discovers that its inhabitants are experimental animals being turned into strange-looking humans, all of it the work of a visionary doctor.
Directors: John Frankenheimer, Richard Stanley | Stars: David Thewlis, Marlon Brando, Val Kilmer, Fairuza Balk
Votes: 35,498 | Gross: $27.66M
31. Romeo + Juliet (1996)
PG-13 | 120 min | Drama, Romance
Shakespeare's famous play is updated to the hip modern suburb of Verona still retaining its original dialogue.
Director: Baz Luhrmann | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Claire Danes, John Leguizamo, Harold Perrineau
Votes: 244,896 | Gross: $46.35M
32. Courage Under Fire (1996)
R | 116 min | Action, Drama, Mystery
A U.S. Army officer, despondent about a deadly mistake he made, investigates a female chopper commander's worthiness for the Medal of Honor.
Director: Edward Zwick | Stars: Denzel Washington, Meg Ryan, Lou Diamond Phillips, Michael Moriarty
Votes: 59,598 | Gross: $59.03M
33. Spy Hard (1996)
PG-13 | 81 min | Action, Comedy
Dick Steele, Agent WD-40 is assigned by his Director, to stop the evil General Rancor from destroying the world. WD-40 believed Rancor was dead and he teams up with the hot KGB Agent Veronique Ukrinsky to find Rancor and save the world.
Director: Rick Friedberg | Stars: Leslie Nielsen, Nicollette Sheridan, Charles Durning, Marcia Gay Harden
Votes: 40,432 | Gross: $29.00M
34. The Arrival (1996)
PG-13 | 115 min | Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Zane, an astronomer, discovers intelligent alien life. But the aliens are keeping a deadly secret, and will do anything to stop Zane from learning it.
Director: David Twohy | Stars: Charlie Sheen, Lindsay Crouse, Richard Schiff, Shane
Votes: 38,195 | Gross: $14.05M
35. The Cable Guy (1996)
PG-13 | 96 min | Comedy, Drama, Thriller
A designer makes a grievious mistake when he rejects the friendship of a borderline cable guy.
Director: Ben Stiller | Stars: Jim Carrey, Matthew Broderick, Leslie Mann, Jack Black
Votes: 178,164 | Gross: $60.24M
36. Fargo (1996)
R | 98 min | Crime, Thriller
Minnesota car salesman Jerry Lundegaard's inept crime falls apart due to his and his henchmen's bungling and the persistent police work of the quite pregnant Marge Gunderson.
Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen | Stars: William H. Macy, Frances McDormand, Steve Buscemi, Peter Stormare
Votes: 727,076 | Gross: $24.61M
37. Up Close & Personal (1996)
PG-13 | 124 min | Drama, Romance
An ambitious young woman, determined to build a career in television journalism, gets good advice from her first boss, and they fall in love.
Director: Jon Avnet | Stars: Robert Redford, Michelle Pfeiffer, Stockard Channing, Joe Mantegna
Votes: 15,334 | Gross: $51.09M
38. Mars Attacks! (1996)
PG-13 | 106 min | Comedy, Sci-Fi
Earth is invaded by Martians with unbeatable weapons and a cruel sense of humor.
Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Pierce Brosnan, Sarah Jessica Parker, Annette Bening
Votes: 243,638 | Gross: $37.77M
39. The Phantom (1996)
PG | 100 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
The Phantom, descendent of a line of African superheroes, travels to New York City to thwart a wealthy criminal genius from obtaining three magic skulls which would give him the secret to ultimate power.
Director: Simon Wincer | Stars: Billy Zane, Kristy Swanson, Treat Williams, Catherine Zeta-Jones
Votes: 35,825 | Gross: $17.30M
40. White Squall (1996)
PG-13 | 129 min | Adventure, Drama
Teenage boys discover discipline and camaraderie on an ill-fated sailing voyage.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Jeff Bridges, Caroline Goodall, John Savage, Scott Wolf
Votes: 25,464 | Gross: $10.30M
41. Foxfire (1996)
R | 102 min | Drama, Romance
Legs Sadovsky gets four other high school girls to think for themselves and react to a teacher's sexual harassment, which gets them suspended. They bond, and rebel, at an abandoned house.
Director: Annette Haywood-Carter | Stars: Hedy Burress, Angelina Jolie, Jenny Lewis, Jenny Shimizu
Votes: 9,753 | Gross: $0.26M
42. Cosmic Voyage (1996)
36 min | Documentary, Short
Where do we fit in with the universe? This film seeks to explore our place among the ever-expanding universe.
Director: Bayley Silleck | Star: Morgan Freeman
Votes: 766
43. Survival Island (1996)
40 min | Short, Documentary
South Georgia is an island south-east of South America. For a short period each year the temperatures rise into bearable regions, and the island fills with birds and seals who use the short time for feeding and breeding.
Director: David Douglas | Star: David Attenborough
Votes: 240
44. L5: First City in Space (1996)
35 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Short
Life on a 10,000 person space station as viewed through the eyes of a 7 year old girl.
Directors: Toni Myers, Allan Kroeker | Stars: Genevieve Langlois, Denis Akiyama, Martha Henry, Rachel Walker
Votes: 132
45. Doctor Who (1996 TV Movie)
TV-14 | 89 min | Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi
The newly-regenerated Doctor takes on the Master on the turn of the millennium, 31 December 1999.
Director: Geoffrey Sax | Stars: Paul McGann, Eric Roberts, Daphne Ashbrook, Sylvester McCoy
Votes: 10,449
46. Riot (1996)
R | 94 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
An heiress is kidnapped during the chaos of a riot.
Director: Joseph Merhi | Stars: Gary Daniels, Sugar Ray Leonard, Paige Rowland, Charles Napier
Votes: 570
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