When most people grow up, they end up looking at their early years fondly, typically with an utterance of, “Things were simpler then.” So, not to be cliche but, the way things are today, things sure were simpler in the ’90s. In hindsight, it was a great time to grow up, and this includes the output from Hollywood. It was the decade where the indie film scene really started to blow up, thanks to films like Pulp Fiction, it was the decade where David Fincher debuted his first few films (including the unfairly maligned third Alien film), and it was the decade of Disney favorites like The Lion King, Aladdin, and Tarzan. What follows are my favorites throughout the ’90s. The movies that I’d sit and watch whenever they were on cable after the bus dropped me off after school. Some didn’t quite make the cut, like Kindergarten Cop. And, since film taste is like taste in anything else in that it’s subjective, there are certainly some that fellow ’90s kids reading this may think should absolutely be here.
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The one qualification (outside their influence on younger Ben) is that the movie must have aged well. That means no Mrs. Doubtfire, as even putting the central concept aside, there are aspects of the movie that have not aged well (even if the voice you’re doing is Gandhi’s, it’s still not great these days to do a voice belonging to another ethnicity).
Anaconda
Perhaps it’s best to further qualify what it means to be well-aged. I don’t count poorly aged CGI as a movie aging poorly. That’s just the inherent nature of technology. What I factor in is whether a film is as effective a viewing experience now as it was decades before. And, while plenty of people don’t seem to hold nearly the same amount of love for it as I do, Anaconda is as fun now as it was when I watched it ad nauseum as a child.
Roger Ebert understood Anaconda. As he wrote, “Anaconda did not disappoint me. It’s a slick, scary, funny Creature Feature, beautifully photographed and splendidly acted in high adventure style. Its snakes are thoroughly satisfying.” He’s right. For those who think it’s a dumb movie, they’re right, too. Why does the snake scream? Who cares, it’s fine. Why is the waterflow of that waterfall moving upwards? Who cares, it’s fine. What accent was Jon Voight attempting? It’s anyone’s guess, but I’m glad he did just that. Perhaps Anaconda‘s charm can be boiled down to the mystery of whether no one knew what they were going for (if the goal was to be a horrifying film, they were off base) or whether everyone knew exactly what they were doing. I choose to see it as the latter.
Batman Forever
Even at the time, I knew Batman and Batman Returns were far better films than Batman Forever. But, like many others, I enjoyed it. It’s one of the ’90s’ most bombastic and visually impressive blockbusters.
And, like with 1998’s Godzilla, it was a disappointment at the time that has seen that disappointment fall by the wayside throughout subsequent decades. Is it as thematically rich as Tim Burton’s two films? No, especially when it comes to Returns. But Joel Schumacher knew what he was doing, and it’s a fun, fast-paced adventure to this day. Not to mention, the late Val Kilmer‘s Bruce Wayne is the best the franchise has ever seen, and Jim Carrey is right at the height of his scene-stealing star power as Riddler.
Jurassic Park
A movie that every ’90s kid loves, Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park is a marvel of special effects and perfect pacing. As far as starter horror movies go, Jurassic Park is right up there with fellow Spielberg baby Poltergeist. One of the most well-cast movies of its respective decade, Jurassic Park features iconic work from Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, and Richard Attenborough in equal measure. It’s the definitive example of a movie that captures a sense of wonder.
After over 20 years, the CGI isn’t nearly as impressive as it was back in the day, but what’s impressive about the movie is, even factoring in that aged element, it still makes you feel the characters’ awe of what surrounds them. You know they’re actors playing roles but even with that knowledge there isn’t one second where you don’t feel their characters’ excitement, skepticism of how the park will fare when opened to the public and, ultimately, their fear when they see just how dangerous the park becomes when greed and technical failure combine. No sequel has ever come even close to capturing what makes the original Jurassic Park feel like such a visceral rollercoaster ride. Sure, The Lost World: Jurassic Park is also something of a ’90s-kid favorite, but even that was ultimately nothing more than a pale imitation of the 1993 classic.
Mars Attacks!
If one were to be asked to picture a ’90s alien invasion movie, the vast majority would likely jump to Roland Emmerich’s Independence Day. But, like the vast majority of Emmerich’s films, it’s over-stuffed. Sure, it’s stuffed with (for the most part) actually likable characters, which isn’t typical for an Emmerich movie, but it’s still over-stuffed. Mars Attacks! is over-stuffed too, but it’s more palatable since Tim Burton’s film, which is easily his most underrated, not once takes itself remotely seriously.
Mars Attacks! is another one that was always on cable back in the day. I remember Mars Attacks! being on our little square TV (which must have weighed 800 pounds) far more often than any other ’90s favorite. What’s great about Burton’s movie is that, for someone under the age of, say, 13, it’s actually pretty scary without being too scary. Scenes that pop to mind? Lisa Marie’s Martian Girl infiltrating the White House and killing Martin Short. Or watching Sarah Jessica Parker reach out to Marty McFly (really Michael J. Fox, but as a kid, he was always Marty to me), take his hand, then come to the realization that the rest of him is a smoldering skeleton. These are scenes that freaked me out as a kid, and I loved it. Not to mention, the tune that plays over the opening credits was and remains terrific.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
There weren’t many R-rated movies I was allowed to watch as a kiddo. There was basically just Planes, Trains and Automobiles, My Cousin Vinny, and, after some convincing on my part and my father’s part, Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Tonally, it’s far more accessible for the younger set than the grim original film, and that ended up being what opened the door.
One of Hollywood’s defining action movies, T2 is an epic work with as much world-building as there were shotgun blasts. It also advanced cinema towards its full embrace of CGI which, as time went on, ended up being something of a double-edged sword. All in all, the ’90s was a formidable decade for sci-fi films. The Matrix, Independence Day, and Men in Black were all influential parts of ’90s film fans’ childhoods, and they would all have a fair shot at being included here were Judgment Day not more important and, yes, entertaining, than them all.
Tremors
If there’s one movie that absolutely died when it hit theaters and then went on to prove the financial viability of the VHS format, it was Tremors. It was also a movie that was played on cable pretty consistently throughout the late ’90s, right around the time school got out.
Tremors is such a miracle of genre-blending. The chemistry between Kevin Bacon and the late Fred Ward makes their Val and Earl one of cinema’s defining bromances, a fully believable pair of friends just trying to skate by in the world earning enough to pay bills and have enough left over to get some beers. Then, here come some mysterious massive worms with toothed-snake tongues. Speaking of the Graboids themselves, they’re a genius product of practical effects, and to this day, they look pretty darn good. Toss in scene-stealing work by Michael Gross and Tremors is a masterpiece of a creature feature, equally effective as a horror film and as a comedy. At the time, Bacon was somewhat embarrassed by the film. Now, though, he’s come to love it, even saying at one point that it’s the movie of his he rewatches the most. He’s up for coming back to the role of Val, and that’s a legacy sequel worth making.
Wayne’s World
I know what you’re thinking, “Where’s Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery?” or, equally likely, “Where’s Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me?” But, think about it: have those movies aged particularly well?
For the most part, they’re goofy fun, and they were undoubtedly a huge part of ’90s kids’ childhoods (even though I was just eight at the time I remember the hype surrounding The Spy Who Shagged Me just as well as I remember the hype surrounding Star Wars: The Phantom Menace‘s release, though I only saw the latter in theaters). But, even putting the poorly aged factor aside, Wayne’s World is just flat-out a better film, and it’s arguably just as important a ’90s staple as Austin Powers. The jokes have a more timeless nature to them, even though they’re decidedly products of their decades and, in spite of a ton of behind-the-scenes infighting, Mike Myers and Dana Carvey crackle together on screen.
