The '90s gave movie fans some of the greatest films of all time. Films like Pulp Fiction, Silence of the Lambs and Good Will Hunting is but a taste of what came out in the '90s. Some went on to break numerous records at the box office, while others broke Oscar Award records. But it's how these movies were made that made them huge box office hits.
Cinema in the '90s will probably always be remembered for its groundbreaking advancements in computer-generated images and special and practical effects. It gave birth to new ways to tell stories, jump-started the disaster movie genre, and even brought extinct animals back to life, sort of. All of which got movie fans into the theater to escape the reality of real life and to be entertained for a few hours.
10 Armageddon (1998)
Worldwide Box Office: $553.7 Million
Oh no! A giant asteroid is on a collision course with Earth! Quick, get Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, Steve Buscemi, and Aerosmith! Michael Bay assembled an all-star cast to make Armageddon. Here's the story: a massive asteroid is plummeting toward Earth, so the world leaders decide to nuke it. But they have to drill into the darn thing, which is why Willis and his oil crew are hired to become astronauts to save us from doom. Disaster movies are wild with their decision-making.
- Release Date
- July 1, 1998
- Runtime
- 151 minutes
Armageddon Brought Audiences to the Movie Theater
One of the greatest disaster movies of all time, Armageddon was a huge hit in 1998. Bringing in more than $500 million at the box office and breathing new life into Aerosmith's fan base with the song "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing," it's a fun movie that has all the elements of a great '90s popcorn film. We have romance, comedy, wild special effects, a killer soundtrack, and selfless sacrifice to save humanity.
9 Men in Black (1997)
Worldwide Box Office: $589.3 Million
By the time Men in Black hit the big screen in 1997, Hollywood had perfected the blend of CGI, practical effects, and animatronics. The opening scene of Men in Black is a textbook example of why Hollywood should still use the latter options instead of relying on CGI. While some of the CGI in Men in Black has become a product of its time, the effects still largely hold up to this day. Many critics say it's one of the movie's biggest legacies in cinema and why it made over $500 million at the box office.
- Release Date
- July 2, 1997
- Runtime
- 98
A Classic Popcorn Sci-Fi Action Film
The chemistry between Agent J (Will Smith) and Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) is perfect. K's numbness to life and the antics of the aliens are in complete contrast to the shock factor J is experiencing, giving the audience plenty of laughs. The movie's success led to three sequels, and like most classic '90s action movies, an animated series. But most fans will agree that the first Men in Black is the best in the franchise.
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8 The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
Worldwide Box Office: $618.6 Million
The sequel to the box office smash hit, The Lost World: Jurassic Park had a lot to live up to when it hit theaters in 1997. In terms of more groundbreaking, special, and practical effects, The Lost World 100% lived up to the legacy of the first film. In terms of overall film and plot, it's hit or miss with fans. But there is certainly no denying it was a smash hit at the box office, considering it made over $600 million.
- Release Date
- May 19, 1997
- Director
- Steven Speilberg
- Runtime
- 134minutes
Solid Sequel That Gives us More Dinosaurs
The Lost World gives us more Jeff Goldblum, reprising his role as Dr. Ian Malcom, and A LOT more action with dinosaurs in their natural habitat. We get people chasing various herbivores in cars and motorcycles, T-Rex parents throwing an RV over a cliff, and, of course, the "Don't go into the long grass" scene with the velociraptors.
It's the T-Rex loose in San Diego that seems to split the community, but considering that's the direction the Jurassic franchise went 30 years later, Lost World is technically ahead of its time. It's also what future Jurassic movies should look like.
7 The Sixth Sense (1999)
Worldwide Box Office: $672.8 Million
M. Night Shyamalan took Hollywood by storm when he directed The Sixth Sense. This ghost thriller is regarded as Shyamalan's best work to date, and for good reason. The twist ending is simply one of the best we've ever seen in the cinema. If you say you saw it coming, you are lying. The Sixth Sense is a movie that proves how powerful word of mouth can be, but also having Bruce Willis attached didn't hurt. Regardless of who or what made people show up, The Sixth Sense made over $600 million at the box office.
- Release Date
- August 6, 1999
- Runtime
- 115
The Mother of All Twist Endings
The plot of this movie is so eerie. Hayley Joel Osment plays a nine-year-old who communicates with dead people. Just saying that can give you shivers. Osment also gave us one of the most quotable lines in cinema, "I see dead people." Hot Take: The Sixth Sense is the reason people are always willing to give M. Night Shyamalan another chance, because one day, maybe one day, he will deliver a timeless classic.
6 Forrest Gump (1994)
Worldwide Box Office: $678.2 Million
If you're looking to take a walk through U.S. history from the '50s through the '70s, then pop in Forrest Gump and you actually might be able to pass a few high school history tests. Tom Hanks delivers an incredible performance as the title character, who may be a little slow, but throughout his life, Gump is tossed into the middle of some of the wildest and most historic headlines in U.S. history.
But it's his unyielding devotion to his childhood sweetheart Jenny (Robin Wright) that made movie fans fall in love with Gump, and led to it becoming a box office hit, bringing in over $600 million at the box office in 1994.
- Release Date
- July 6, 1994
- Director
- Robert Zemeckis
- Runtime
- 142
Life Is Like a Box of Chocolates
Unlike movies like Jurassic Park or Men in Black, Forrest Gump takes a different approach to using special effects. Instead of bringing dinosaurs back to life, or making aliens come to Earth, they use the groundbreaking special effects to put Tom Hanks into historic moments in history. This allows us to see Forrest Gump shaking hands with presidents like JFK and Lyndon B. Johnson, giving a speech before a massive audience at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, and being interviewed next to John Lennon on The Dick Cavett Show.
Forrest Gump should get a spiritual sequel every other decade. Especially with the unprecedented times we live in today, it would be fun to see Hollywood use these kinds of special effects to put a fictional character in old interviews, riot footage, or rallies.
5 Independence Day (1996)
Worldwide Box Office: $817.4 Million
One could say this was Will Smith's first audition for Men in Black. Smith teams up with stars like Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman in the 1996 box office smash hit Independence Day. The film follows an alien invasion of Earth that kills millions of people and the resistance to beat back the alien invaders. It's a popcorn disaster movie at its finest, that brought in over $800 million at the box office.
- Release Date
- June 25, 1996
- Runtime
- 2h 25m
Today We Celebrate Our Independence Day
The special effects in Independence Day are top-notch for its time. It won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for creating larger-than-life spaceships that battle with U.S. fighter jets in the Grand Canyon, and blow up the White House. The aliens are creepy and, at the time, were pretty realistic.
4 The Lion King (1994)
Worldwide Box Office: $968.7 Million
During the Disney Renaissance from 1989 to 1999, we got magical Disney classics almost every year. Films like Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and Mulan gave us memorable songs and characters that shaped most '90s kids' childhood. But only The Lion King managed to bring in over $900 million at the box office.
The Lion King (1994)
- Release Date
- June 24, 1994
- Runtime
- 88 Minutes
The King of the Disney Renaissance
A lot of The Lion King's success can be chalked up to the soundtrack. Bringing in Sir Elton John to write the music was a slam dunk move that gave us some of the best songs in Disney's music catalog. Hits like, "Hakuna Matata," "The Circle of Life," and "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" are still sung by kids 30 years after its release in 1994.
The characters were also a major factor in the film's success. Characters like Timon and Pumba made us laugh, but it was Mufasa who proved that the death of a lion can make a grown man cry.
3 Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
Worldwide Box Office: $1.04 Billion
What do you get when you have the most beloved science fiction trilogy and a fan base that's been itching for more movies for 16 years? A billion-dollar box office hit. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace was undoubtedly the most anticipated movie of the '90s. Promotions for this film were everywhere in 1999. Still, even though it had the biggest box office performance of the year, many people to this day claim that it almost ruined the franchise.
- Release Date
- May 19, 1999
- Cast
- Ewan McGregor , Liam Neeson , Natalie Portman , Jake Lloyd , Ahmed Best , Ian McDiarmid , Anthony Daniels , Kenny Baker , Pernilla August , Frank Oz , Ray Park , Samuel L. Jackson
- Runtime
- 133 minutes
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The Star Wars fanbase has long been criticized for toxic behavior, and the release of this movie ratcheted fan complaints up to a new level altogether. That said, though the prequel trilogy was largely rejected by fans at the time, the films have since become beloved in their own right in the decades since.
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2 Jurassic Park (1993)
Worldwide Box Office: $1.1 Billion
It's been over 30 years since we ventured into Jurassic Park, and while some scenes are starting to show their age, overall, the dinosaurs still look more realistic in this film than most other films over the last three decades. It's a story that writes itself; What would people do if we could bring dinosaurs back to life? Putting them in a zoo/biological preserve is probably the correct answer. Putting dinos in a theme park may not have ended well for the park visitors, but it sure ended well at the box office, bringing in over a billion dollars at the box office.
- Release Date
- June 11, 1993
- Runtime
- 127 minutes
Life Finds a Way
Jurassic Park quickly became the highest-grossing film of all time in 1993. Its use of CGI and robotics was revolutionary for film. Yes, thanks to science, we know many of these dinosaurs look different in real life, but it's still fair to say that Jurassic Park will probably be the closest mankind will ever get to seeing a real-life dinosaur. The film spawned a massive franchise, with Jurassic World and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom both making over a billion dollars at the box office.
1 Titanic (1997)
Worldwide Box Office: $2.26 Billion
James Cameron's Titanic may no longer be the highest-grossing film of all time, but to this day, it's still the only film to make over $2 billion at the box office that isn't part of a franchise. Titanic is a love story that follows Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose (Kate Winslet) as they journey on the doomed ship during its maiden voyage. The two come from completely different social classes but decide to go against the grain to pursue their relationship. Sadly, fate had other plans.
- Release Date
- November 18, 1997
- Runtime
- 194
Money From the Box Office, Hardware From the Academy
Titanic needed to be a big hit at the box office, because, at the time, it was the most expensive film ever made, costing $200 million to bring the sunken boat to life. Originally, it only made $1.8 billion at the box office. But thanks to the 25th Anniversary release and the 3-D release (cause that's what the movie was missing), the film now holds a $2.26 billion total.
Titanic wasn't just successful at the box office, it dominated the awards circuit. Winning 11 Academy Awards, and tying a decades-old record set by 1959's Ben Hur. Love for this movie is a phenomenon we likely won't see in a standalone film again.
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