1997 Movies, Best to Worst
by J_Frank_Parnell | created - 27 Mar 2023 | updated - 1 month ago | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Gattaca (1997)
PG-13 | 106 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A genetically inferior man assumes the identity of a superior one in order to pursue his lifelong dream of space travel.
Director: Andrew Niccol | Stars: Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, Jude Law, Gore Vidal
Votes: 323,306 | Gross: $12.34M
10/10*
2. L.A. Confidential (1997)
R | 138 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
As corruption grows in 1950s Los Angeles, three policemen - one strait-laced, one brutal, and one sleazy - investigate a series of murders with their own brand of justice.
Director: Curtis Hanson | Stars: Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kim Basinger
Votes: 617,976 | Gross: $64.62M
10/10*
3. Perfect Blue (1997)
R | 81 min | Animation, Crime, Drama
A pop singer gives up her career to become an actress, but she slowly goes insane when she starts being stalked by an obsessed fan and what seems to be a ghost of her past.
Director: Satoshi Kon | Stars: Junko Iwao, Rica Matsumoto, Shinpachi Tsuji, Masaaki Ôkura
Votes: 95,598 | Gross: $0.78M
10/10*
4. The Fifth Element (1997)
PG-13 | 126 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
In the colorful future, a cab driver unwittingly becomes the central figure in the search for a legendary cosmic weapon to keep Evil and Mr. Zorg at bay.
Director: Luc Besson | Stars: Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich, Gary Oldman, Ian Holm
Votes: 506,412 | Gross: $63.54M
10/10*
5. Starship Troopers (1997)
R | 129 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Humans, in a fascist militaristic future, wage war with giant alien bugs.
Director: Paul Verhoeven | Stars: Casper Van Dien, Denise Richards, Dina Meyer, Jake Busey
Votes: 321,271 | Gross: $54.81M
10/10*
6. Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion (1997)
TV-MA | 87 min | Animation, Action, Drama
Concurrent theatrical ending of the TV series Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995).
Directors: Hideaki Anno, Kazuya Tsurumaki | Stars: Megumi Ogata, Megumi Hayashibara, Yûko Miyamura, Kotono Mitsuishi
Votes: 64,296
10/10
7. Donnie Brasco (1997)
R | 127 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
An FBI undercover agent infiltrates the mob and finds himself identifying more with the Mafia life--at the expense of his regular one.
Director: Mike Newell | Stars: Al Pacino, Johnny Depp, Michael Madsen, Bruno Kirby
Votes: 332,348 | Gross: $41.91M
9/10*
8. Contact (1997)
PG | 150 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Dr. Ellie Arroway, after years of searching, finds conclusive radio proof of extraterrestrial intelligence, sending plans for a mysterious machine.
Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Jodie Foster, Matthew McConaughey, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt
Votes: 293,177 | Gross: $100.92M
9/10*
9. The Castle (1997)
R | 85 min | Comedy, Drama
A working-class family from Melbourne, Australia fights city hall after being told they must vacate their beloved family home to allow for infrastructural expansion.
Director: Rob Sitch | Stars: Michael Caton, Anne Tenney, Stephen Curry, Anthony Simcoe
Votes: 17,493 | Gross: $0.86M
9/10
10. Titanic (1997)
PG-13 | 194 min | Drama, Romance
A seventeen-year-old aristocrat falls in love with a kind but poor artist aboard the luxurious, ill-fated R.M.S. Titanic.
Director: James Cameron | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane, Kathy Bates
Votes: 1,280,806 | Gross: $659.33M
9/10
11. Jackie Brown (1997)
R | 154 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A flight attendant with a criminal past gets nabbed by the ATF for smuggling. Under pressure to become an informant against the illegal arms dealer she works for, she must find a way to secure her future without getting killed.
Director: Quentin Tarantino | Stars: Pam Grier, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Forster, Bridget Fonda
Votes: 375,100 | Gross: $39.67M
9/10
12. 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: 282,134 | Gross: $26.40M
9/10
13. Fierce Creatures (1997)
PG-13 | 93 min | Comedy
Zookeepers struggle to deal with the policies of changing directors.
Directors: Robert Young, Fred Schepisi | Stars: John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, Michael Palin
Votes: 25,636 | Gross: $9.38M
9/10
14. Life Is Beautiful (1997)
PG-13 | 116 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
When an open-minded Jewish waiter and his son become victims of the Holocaust, he uses a perfect mixture of will, humor and imagination to protect his son from the dangers around their camp.
Director: Roberto Benigni | Stars: Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi, Giorgio Cantarini, Giustino Durano
Votes: 743,388 | Gross: $57.60M
9/10
15. Lolita (1997)
R | 137 min | Drama, Romance
An English professor falls for a minor, and has to face the consequences of his actions.
Director: Adrian Lyne | Stars: Jeremy Irons, Dominique Swain, Melanie Griffith, Frank Langella
Votes: 66,568 | Gross: $1.40M
9/10*
16. The Devil's Advocate (1997)
R | 144 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
An exceptionally-adept Florida lawyer is offered a job at a high-end New York City law firm with a high-end boss--the biggest opportunity of his career to date.
Director: Taylor Hackford | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Al Pacino, Charlize Theron, Jeffrey Jones
Votes: 402,017 | Gross: $60.98M
8/10*
17. Event Horizon (1997)
R | 96 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A rescue crew is tasked with investigating the mysterious reappearance of a spaceship that had been lost for seven years.
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson | Stars: Laurence Fishburne, Sam Neill, Kathleen Quinlan, Joely Richardson
Votes: 197,229 | Gross: $26.67M
8/10*
18. Cop Land (1997)
R | 105 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
The Sheriff of a suburban New Jersey community, populated by New York City police officers, slowly discovers the town is a front for mob connections and corruption.
Director: James Mangold | Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro
Votes: 106,414 | Gross: $44.89M
8/10*
19. Men in Black (1997)
PG-13 | 98 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
James, an NYC cop, is hired by Agent K of a secret government agency that monitors extraterrestrial life on Earth. Together, they must recover an item that has been stolen by an intergalactic villain.
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld | Stars: Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith, Linda Fiorentino, Vincent D'Onofrio
Votes: 613,099 | Gross: $250.69M
8/10
20. Princess Mononoke (1997)
PG-13 | 134 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
On a journey to find the cure for a Tatarigami's curse, Ashitaka finds himself in the middle of a war between the forest gods and Tatara, a mining colony. In this quest he also meets San, the Mononoke Hime.
Director: Hayao Miyazaki | Stars: Yôji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida, Yûko Tanaka, Billy Crudup
Votes: 433,865 | Gross: $2.38M
8/10
21. Amistad (1997)
R | 155 min | Biography, Drama, History
In 1839, the revolt of Mende captives aboard a Spanish owned ship causes a major controversy in the United States when the ship is captured off the coast of Long Island. The courts must decide whether the Mende are slaves or legally free.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Djimon Hounsou, Matthew McConaughey, Anthony Hopkins, Morgan Freeman
Votes: 82,814 | Gross: $44.18M
8/10
22. Kundun (1997)
PG-13 | 134 min | Biography, Drama, History
From childhood to adulthood, Tibet's fourteenth Dalai Lama deals with Chinese oppression and other problems.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Tenzin Thuthob Tsarong, Gyurme Tethong, Tulku Jamyang Kunga Tenzin, Tenzin Yeshi Paichang
Votes: 30,508 | Gross: $5.53M
8/10
23. Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death & Rebirth (1997)
Not Rated | 101 min | Animation, Action, Drama
A recap of the first 24 episodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion, followed by a 30-minute continuation of the plot that would later form the first third of The End of Evangelion.
Directors: Hideaki Anno, Ken Andô, Naoyasu Habu, Hiroyuki Ishidô, Tsuyoshi Kaga, Masayuki, Shôichi Masuo, Seiji Mizushima, Tensai Okamura, Keiichi Sugiyama, Akira Takamura, Kazuya Tsurumaki, Tetsuya Watanabe, Minoru Ôhara, Masahiko Ôtsuka | Stars: Megumi Ogata, Megumi Hayashibara, Yûko Miyamura, Kotono Mitsuishi
Votes: 15,630
8/10*
24. Wag the Dog (1997)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Drama
Shortly before an election, a spin-doctor and a Hollywood producer join efforts to fabricate a war in order to cover up a Presidential sex scandal.
Director: Barry Levinson | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro, Anne Heche, Woody Harrelson
Votes: 88,483 | Gross: $43.02M
7/10
25. Cube (1997)
R | 90 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A group of strangers awaken to find themselves placed in a giant cube. Each one of them is gifted with a special skill and they must work together to escape an endless maze of deadly traps.
Director: Vincenzo Natali | Stars: Nicole de Boer, Maurice Dean Wint, David Hewlett, Andrew Miller
Votes: 247,690 | Gross: $0.50M
7/10*
26. Conspiracy Theory (1997)
R | 135 min | Action, Drama, Mystery
A taxi driver with a penchant for conspiracy theories becomes a target after one of these theories turns out to be true. Unfortunately, to save himself, he has to figure out which theory it is.
Director: Richard Donner | Stars: Mel Gibson, Julia Roberts, Patrick Stewart, Cylk Cozart
Votes: 107,255 | Gross: $75.98M
7/10*
27. Hercules (1997)
G | 93 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
The son of Zeus and Hera is stripped of his immortality as an infant and must become a true hero in order to reclaim it.
Directors: Ron Clements, John Musker | Stars: Tate Donovan, Susan Egan, James Woods, Barbara Barrie
Votes: 255,245 | Gross: $99.05M
7/10
28. Perdita Durango (1997)
R | 129 min | Action, Crime, Horror
A psychotic criminal couple kidnaps a random teenage couple. The woman rapes the male captive, and lets him watch his lover being raped by the man. They then plan to sacrifice the couple.
Director: Álex de la Iglesia | Stars: Rosie Perez, Javier Bardem, Harley Cross, Aimee Graham
Votes: 9,846
7/10
29. City of Industry (1997)
R | 97 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A retired thief swears revenge on the lunatic who murdered his brother and partner, while going on the run with the loot they stole.
Director: John Irvin | Stars: Harvey Keitel, Stephen Dorff, Timothy Hutton, Famke Janssen
Votes: 6,500 | Gross: $1.50M
6/10
30. Nil by Mouth (1997)
R | 128 min | Drama
A rough, short-tempered patriarch of a working-class family sees his life and the relationships around him slowly unravel.
Director: Gary Oldman | Stars: Ray Winstone, Kathy Burke, Charlie Creed-Miles, Laila Morse
Votes: 10,198
6/10
31. Good Will Hunting (1997)
R | 126 min | Drama, Romance
Will Hunting, a janitor at M.I.T., has a gift for mathematics, but needs help from a psychologist to find direction in his life.
Director: Gus Van Sant | Stars: Robin Williams, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Stellan Skarsgård
Votes: 1,068,500 | Gross: $138.43M
6/10
32. The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
PG-13 | 129 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A research team is sent to the Jurassic Park Site B island to study the dinosaurs there, while an InGen team approaches with another agenda.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Jeff Goldblum, Julianne Moore, Pete Postlethwaite, Vince Vaughn
Votes: 444,165 | Gross: $229.09M
6/10
33. Suicide Kings (1997)
R | 106 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A group of youngsters kidnap a respected Mafia figure.
Director: Peter O'Fallon | Stars: Christopher Walken, Denis Leary, Sean Patrick Flanery, Mark Watson
Votes: 29,186 | Gross: $1.69M
6/10
34. Breakdown (I) (1997)
R | 93 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A man searches for his missing wife after his car breaks down in the middle of the desert.
Director: Jonathan Mostow | Stars: Kurt Russell, J.T. Walsh, Kathleen Quinlan, M.C. Gainey
Votes: 61,762 | Gross: $50.13M
6/10
35. A Chinese Ghost Story: The Tsui Hark Animation (1997)
84 min | Animation, Adventure, Fantasy
A young man falls in love with a ghost and must avoid a variety of ghostbusters out to eliminate her and each other.
Director: Andrew Chan | Stars: Don Brown, Jordan Chan, Sylvia Chang, Kelly Chen
Votes: 854
6/10
36. Gummo (1997)
R | 89 min | Comedy, Drama
Lonely residents of a tornado-stricken Ohio town wander the deserted landscape trying to fulfill their boring, nihilistic lives.
Director: Harmony Korine | Stars: Nick Sutton, Jacob Sewell, Lara Tosh, Jacob Reynolds
Votes: 38,258 | Gross: $0.02M
6/10
37. Face/Off (1997)
R | 138 min | Action, Crime, Sci-Fi
To foil a terrorist plot, FBI agent Sean Archer assumes the identity of the criminal Castor Troy who murdered his son through facial transplant surgery, but the crook wakes up prematurely and vows revenge.
Director: John Woo | Stars: John Travolta, Nicolas Cage, Joan Allen, Alessandro Nivola
Votes: 400,994 | Gross: $112.23M
5/10*
38. TwentyFourSeven (1997)
R | 96 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
In a typical English working-class town, the juveniles have nothing more to do than hang around in gangs. One day, Alan Darcy, a highly motivated man with the same kind of youth experience,... See full summary »
Director: Shane Meadows | Stars: Bob Hoskins, Danny Nussbaum, Toby, Bruce Jones
Votes: 2,722
5/10
39. Con Air (1997)
R | 115 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Newly-paroled ex-con and former U.S. Ranger Cameron Poe finds himself trapped in a prisoner-transport plane when the passengers seize control.
Director: Simon West | Stars: Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, John Malkovich, Colm Meaney
Votes: 319,355 | Gross: $101.12M
5/10
40. Hoodlum (1997)
R | 130 min | Crime, Drama
Black gangsters in 1930 Harlem fights Dutch Schultz who is trying to horn in on their numbers racket.
Director: Bill Duke | Stars: Laurence Fishburne, Tim Roth, Vanessa Williams, Andy Garcia
Votes: 12,574 | Gross: $23.46M
5/10
41. Mimic (1997)
R | 105 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
Three years ago, entomologist Dr. Susan Tyler genetically created an insect to kill cockroaches carrying a virulent disease. Now, the insects are out to destroy their only predator, mankind.
Director: Guillermo del Toro | Stars: Mira Sorvino, Jeremy Northam, Alexander Goodwin, Giancarlo Giannini
Votes: 55,685 | Gross: $25.48M
4/10
42. Gang Related (1997)
R | 111 min | Action, Crime, Drama
After murdering an undercover DEA agent, two corrupt cops scramble to cover up what they've done.
Director: Jim Kouf | Stars: Jim Belushi, Tupac Shakur, Lela Rochon, Dennis Quaid
Votes: 10,016 | Gross: $5.79M
4/10
43. Kiss the Girls (1997)
R | 115 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Police hunting for a serial kidnapper are helped when a victim manages to escape for the first time.
Director: Gary Fleder | Stars: Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd, Cary Elwes, Alex McArthur
Votes: 81,224 | Gross: $60.53M
4/10
44. Anastasia (1997)
G | 94 min | Animation, Adventure, Drama
The last surviving child of the Russian Royal Family joins two con men to reunite with her grandmother, the Dowager Empress, while the undead Rasputin seeks her death.
Directors: Don Bluth, Gary Goldman | Stars: Meg Ryan, John Cusack, Christopher Lloyd, Kelsey Grammer
Votes: 136,074 | Gross: $58.41M
4/10
45. Gridlock'd (1997)
R | 91 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Two friends try to kick their drug addiction after a friend dies from an overdose, when they try to enroll in a detox program, things quickly go wrong.
Director: Vondie Curtis-Hall | Stars: Tupac Shakur, Tim Roth, Thandiwe Newton, Charles Fleischer
Votes: 16,596 | Gross: $5.48M
4/10
46. Mr. Nice Guy (1997)
PG-13 | 88 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
A Chinese chef accidentally gets involved with a news reporter who filmed a drug bust that went awry, and is now being chased by gangs who are trying to get the video tape.
Director: Sammo Kam-Bo Hung | Stars: Jackie Chan, Richard Norton, Miki Lee, Karen McLymont
Votes: 28,816 | Gross: $12.67M
3/10
47. One Eight Seven (1997)
R | 119 min | Drama, Thriller
15 months after being stabbed 9 times by a student at work as a high school teacher in NYC, Mr. Garfield is working in LA as a substitute teacher come full-time. He refuses to be a victim anymore.
Director: Kevin Reynolds | Stars: Samuel L. Jackson, John Heard, Kelly Rowan, Clifton Collins Jr.
Votes: 25,111 | Gross: $5.72M
3/10*
48. Anaconda (1997)
PG-13 | 89 min | Action, Adventure, Horror
A "National Geographic" film crew is taken hostage by an insane hunter, who forces them along on his quest to capture the world's largest - and deadliest - snake.
Director: Luis Llosa | Stars: Jon Voight, Jennifer Lopez, Eric Stoltz, Ice Cube
Votes: 112,045 | Gross: $65.89M
2/10
49. U Turn (1997)
R | 125 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A man heading to Vegas to pay off his gambling debt before the Russian mafia kills him is forced to stop in an Arizona town where everything that can go wrong does go wrong.
Director: Oliver Stone | Stars: Sean Penn, Jennifer Lopez, Nick Nolte, Billy Bob Thornton
Votes: 54,775 | Gross: $6.63M
2/10
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