Best of the 1990s (Ranked)
by Samuel_L_Bronkowitz | created - 04 Jul 2015 | updated - 09 Oct 2017 | Public(1990-1999)
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1. Goodfellas (1990)
R | 145 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
The 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.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco
Votes: 1,256,492 | Gross: $46.84M
[Seen on DVD home video. 35mm Print seen 8/15/2002, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Byham Theater]
2. Heat (1995)
R | 170 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A group of high-end professional thieves start to feel the heat from the LAPD when they unknowingly leave a verbal clue at their latest heist.
Director: Michael Mann | Stars: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer, Jon Voight
Votes: 718,879 | Gross: $67.44M
[Seen @ Showcase Cinemas East (Monroeville), 12/1995]
3. Reservoir Dogs (1992)
R | 99 min | Crime, Thriller
When a simple jewelry heist goes horribly wrong, the surviving criminals begin to suspect that one of them is a police informant.
Director: Quentin Tarantino | Stars: Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn
Votes: 1,087,619 | Gross: $2.83M
[Seen on dvd home video, 1993 date unknown. 35mm print seen @ Regent Square and/or Waterworks Cinemas, revival date unknown]
4. Boogie Nights (1997)
R | 155 min | Drama
Back when sex was safe, pleasure was a business and business was booming, an idealistic porn producer aspires to elevate his craft to an art when he discovers a hot young talent.
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson | Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, Burt Reynolds, Luis Guzmán
Votes: 281,913 | Gross: $26.40M
Seen @ Waterworks Cinemas (#5/6?), 11/1997
5. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
R | 118 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A 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.
Director: Jonathan Demme | Stars: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine
Votes: 1,547,306 | Gross: $130.74M
[Seen @ Mulone Theaters, Harmar Theaters, 2/1991]
6. Schindler's List (1993)
R | 195 min | Biography, Drama, History
In German-occupied Poland during World War II, industrialist Oskar Schindler gradually becomes concerned for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution by the Nazis.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley, Caroline Goodall
Votes: 1,449,684 | Gross: $96.90M
[Seen @ Showcase Cinemas East (Monroeville), 12/1993]
7. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
R | 169 min | Drama, War
Following the Normandy Landings, a group of U.S. soldiers go behind enemy lines to retrieve a paratrooper whose brothers have been killed in action.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Tom Hanks, Matt Damon, Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns
Votes: 1,495,537 | Gross: $216.54M
Seen @ Waterworks Cinemas (#5 or 6), 6/1998]
8. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
R | 142 min | Drama
Over the course of several years, two convicts form a friendship, seeking consolation and, eventually, redemption through basic compassion.
Director: Frank Darabont | Stars: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton, William Sadler
Votes: 2,886,703 | Gross: $28.34M
[Seen @ Waterworks Cinemas, (#3/4?), 10/1994, Double Feature with Pulp Fiction]
9. Crumb (1994)
R | 119 min | Documentary, Biography, Comedy
An intimate portrait of controversial cartoonist Robert Crumb and his traumatized family.
Director: Terry Zwigoff | Stars: Robert Crumb, Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Charles Crumb, Maxon Crumb
Votes: 21,585 | Gross: $3.17M
Seen @ The Rex Theater, summer 1995
10. Unforgiven (1992)
R | 130 min | Drama, Western
Retired 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."
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Richard Harris
Votes: 435,946 | Gross: $101.16M
Seen @ The Manor Theater (#3/4?), 8/1992?
11. Pulp Fiction (1994)
R | 154 min | Crime, Drama
The lives of two mob hitmen, a boxer, a gangster and his wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption.
Director: Quentin Tarantino | Stars: John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis
Votes: 2,218,409 | Gross: $107.93M
[Seen @ Waterworks Cinemas, (#5/6?), 10/1994, Double Feature with The Shawshank Redemption]
12. The Matrix (1999)
R | 136 min | Action, Sci-Fi
When a beautiful stranger leads computer hacker Neo to a forbidding underworld, he discovers the shocking truth--the life he knows is the elaborate deception of an evil cyber-intelligence.
Directors: Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving
Votes: 2,051,636 | Gross: $171.48M
Seen @ Waterworks Cinemas (#5/6?], 3/31/1999]
13. Se7en (1995)
R | 127 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Two detectives, a rookie and a veteran, hunt a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his motives.
Director: David Fincher | Stars: Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, Kevin Spacey, Andrew Kevin Walker
Votes: 1,797,777 | Gross: $100.13M
[Seen @ Showcase Cinemas East (Monroeville), 9 or 10/1995]
14. Ed Wood (1994)
R | 127 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
Ambitious but troubled movie director Edward D. Wood Jr. tries his best to fulfill his dreams despite his lack of talent.
Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, Sarah Jessica Parker, Patricia Arquette
Votes: 183,913 | Gross: $5.89M
[Seen @ The Beehive Theater (Oakland, PA), Sept or Oct 1994]
15. Out of Sight (1998)
R | 123 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A career bank robber breaks out of jail, and shares a moment of mutual attraction with a U.S. Marshal he has kidnapped.
Director: Steven Soderbergh | Stars: George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez, Ving Rhames, Steve Zahn
Votes: 99,219 | Gross: $37.56M
[Seen @ Waterworks Cinemas (#8?), 6/1998]
16. South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)
R | 81 min | Animation, Comedy, Fantasy
When Stan Marsh and his friends go see an R-rated movie, they start cursing and their parents think that Canada is to blame.
Director: Trey Parker | Stars: Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Mary Kay Bergman, Isaac Hayes
Votes: 214,887 | Gross: $52.04M
[Seen @ Waterworks Cinemas (#8?), 6/30/1999]
17. Election (1999)
R | 103 min | Comedy, Romance
A high school teacher meets his match in an over-achieving student politician.
Director: Alexander Payne | Stars: Matthew Broderick, Reese Witherspoon, Loren Nelson, Chris Klein
Votes: 104,470 | Gross: $14.88M
[Seen @ Waterworks Cinemas (#5 or 6], May 1999]
18. Breaking the Waves (1996)
R | 159 min | Drama
Oilman Jan is paralyzed in an accident. His wife, who prayed for his return, feels guilty; even more, when Jan urges her to have sex with another.
Director: Lars von Trier | Stars: Emily Watson, Stellan Skarsgård, Katrin Cartlidge, Jean-Marc Barr
Votes: 71,539 | Gross: $4.04M
[Seen @ Pittsburgh Filmmakers, Harris Theater, 1996 unknown date]
19. JFK (1991)
R | 189 min | Drama, History, Thriller
New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison discovers there's more to the Kennedy assassination than the official story.
Director: Oliver Stone | Stars: Kevin Costner, Gary Oldman, Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau
Votes: 169,850 | Gross: $70.41M
[Seen @ Squirrell Hill Theater, 12/1992]
20. Clerks (1994)
R | 92 min | Comedy
A day in the lives of two convenience clerks named Dante and Randal as they annoy customers, discuss movies, and play hockey on the store roof.
Director: Kevin Smith | Stars: Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Marilyn Ghigliotti, Lisa Spoonauer
Votes: 232,278 | Gross: $3.15M
[Seen on DVD home video, 1995 unknown]
21. Dances with Wolves (1990)
PG-13 | 181 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
Lieutenant John Dunbar, assigned to a remote western Civil War outpost, finds himself engaging with a neighbouring Sioux settlement, causing him to question his own purpose.
Director: Kevin Costner | Stars: Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, Graham Greene, Rodney A. Grant
Votes: 290,423 | Gross: $184.21M
HONORABLE MENTIONS: Dances with Wolves (1990) Miller's Crossing (1990) Total Recall (1990) Beauty and the Beast (1991) Before Sunrise (1995) Boyz In the Hood (1991) Grand Canyon (1991) Terminator 2 Judgment Day (1991) Dead Alive [Brain Dead] (1992) Hard Boiled (1992) Husbands and Wives (1992) The Last of the Mohicans (1992) Malcolm X (1992) Carlito's Way (1993) Dazed and Confused (1993) Fearless (1993) Groundhog Day (1993) Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993) Short Cuts (1993) Fresh (1994) Heavenly Creatures (1994) Quiz Show (1994) Apollo 13 (1995) Before Sunset (1995) Braveheart (1995) Crimson Tide (1995) Scream (1996) L.A. Confidential (1997) The Sweet Hereafter (1997) Starship Troopers (1997) Bulworth (1998) Rushmore (1998) American Movie (1999) The Blair Witch Project (1999) Galaxy Quest (1999) Fight Club (1999) The Iron Giant (1999) The Limey (1999) Magnolia (1999) Toy Story 2 (1999)
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