The Top 100
of the 1990s
verybody
loves a list. Actually, everybody loves to hate a list, to argue with it, to
shriek at excessive volume, "WHAT THE HELL WERE THOSE PINHEADS THINKING?" So,
we pinheads here at AboutFilm.Com decided to give you an opportunity to shriek
about us.
Our reviewers have rated all the films released in the past decade. Below you will see our picks for The Best 100 Movies of the 1990s, ranked by their average rating. On our separate list of The Top 25, you will find the awards each film won, along with a rhapsodic comment from one of our reviewers stating why the film deserves its lofty ranking.
Note: Six AboutFilm.Com reviewers (Carlo, Dana, Jeff, Alison, Jen, and Kris ) participated in this feature. To qualify for our list, a movie had to be rated by at least 4 of the 6 reviewers.
Read our reviewers' comments on the Top 25.
Title | Stars | Director | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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1. | Goodfellas | Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro | Martin Scorsese | |
2. | Schindler's List | Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley | Steven Spielberg | |
3. | Miller's Crossing | Gabriel Byrne, Marcia Gay Harden | Joel Coen | |
4. | Titanic | Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet | James Cameron | |
5. | The Silence of the Lambs | Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins | Jonathan Demme | |
6. | Pulp Fiction | John Travolta, Samuel Jackson | Quentin Tarantino | |
7. | Dead Man Walking | Susan Sarandon, Sean Penn | Tim Robbins | |
8. | L.A. Confidential | Guy Pearce, Russell Crowe | Curtis Hanson | |
9. | Babe | James Cromwell, Magda Szubanski | Chris Noonan | |
10. | Unforgiven | Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman | Clint Eastwood | |
11. | Fight Club | Edward Norton, Brad Pitt | David Fincher | |
12. | Gods and Monsters | Ian McKellen, Brendan Fraser | Bill Condon | |
13. | Hoop Dreams | William Gates, Arthur Agee | Steve James | |
14. | Beauty and the Beast | Paige O'Hara, Robbie Benson | Trousdale & Wise | |
15. | The Matrix | Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne | Wachowski Bros. | |
16. | Fargo | Frances McDormand, William H. Macy | Joel Coen | |
17. | The Shawshank Redemption | Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman | Frank Darabont | |
18. | Glengarry Glen Ross | Jack Lemmon, Al Pacino | James Foley | |
19. | Election | Matthew Broderick, Reese Witherspoon | Alexander Payne | |
20. | Saving Private Ryan | Tom Hanks, Tom Sizemore | Steven Spielberg | |
21. | American Beauty | Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening | Sam Mendes | |
22. | Trainspotting | Ewan McGregor, Robert Carlyle | Danny Boyle | |
23. | Shakespeare in Love | Joseph Fiennes, Gwyneth Paltrow | John Madden | |
24. | American History X | Edward Norton, Edward Furlong | Tony Kaye | |
25. | The Ice Storm | Kevin Kline, Joan Allen | Ang Lee | |
26. | Reservoir Dogs | Harvey Keitel, Michael Madsen | Quentin Tarantino | |
27. | Searching for Bobby Fischer | Joe Mantegna, Ben Kingsley | Steven Zaillian | |
28. | Three Colors: Red | Irène Jacob, Jean-Louis Trintignant | Krzysztof Kieslowski | |
29. | The Straight Story | Richard Farnsworth, Sissy Spacek | David Lynch | |
30. | The End of the Affair | Ralph Fiennes, Julianne Moore | Neil Jordan | |
31. | Heat | Robert De Niro, Al Pacino | Michael Mann | |
32. | Thelma and Louise | Susan Sarandon, Geena Davis | Ridley Scott | |
33. | Quiz Show | Ralph Fiennes, John Turturro | Robert Redford | |
34. | The English Patient | Ralph Fiennes, Kristin Scott Thomas | Anthony Minghella | |
35. | The Talented Mr. Ripley | Matt Damon,Gwyneth Paltrow | Anthony Minghella | |
36. | Richard III | Ian McKellen, Annette Bening | Richard Loncraine | |
37. | Crumb | Robert Crumb, Aline Kominsky | Terry Zwigoff | |
38. | The Crying Game | Stephen Rea, Jaye Davidson | Neil Jordan | |
39. | Terminator 2: Judgement Day | Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton | James Cameron | |
40. | The Remains of the Day | Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson | James Ivory | |
41. | Se7en | Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt | David Fincher | |
42. | Out of Sight | George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez | Steven Soderberg | |
43. | The Insider | Al Pacino, Russell Crowe | Michael Mann | |
44. | Sense and Sensibility | Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet | Ang Lee | |
45. | JFK | Kevin Costner | Oliver Stone | |
46. | The Player | Tim Robbins, Greta Scacchi | Robert Altman | |
47. | Donnie Brasco | Johnny Depp, Al Pacino | Mike Newell | |
48. | Leaving Las Vegas | Nicolas Cage, Elisabeth Shue | Mike Figgis | |
49. | Eat Drink Man Woman | Sihung Lung, Yu-Wen Wang | Ang Lee | |
50. | Boys Don't Cry | Hilary Swank, Chlöe Sevigny | Kimberly Peirce | |
51. | The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert |
Terence Stamp, Hugo Weaving | Stephan Elliott | |
52. | Being John Malkovich | John Cusack, Catherine Keener | Spike Jonze | |
53. | Barton Fink | John Turturro, John Goodman | Joel Coen | |
54. | Waiting for Guffman | Christopher Guest, Lewis Arquette | Christopher Guest | |
55. | The Winslow Boy | Nigel Hawthorne, Jeremy Northam | David Mamet | |
56. | Run Lola Run | Franka Potente, Moritz Bleibtreu | Tom Tykwer | |
57. | Forrest Gump | Tom Hanks, Robin Wright Penn | Robert Zemeckis | |
58. | Gattaca | Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman | Andrew Niccol | |
59. | The Usual Suspects | Gabriel Byrne, Kevin Spacey | Bryan Singer | |
60. | Swingers | Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughn | Doug Liman | |
61. | Eyes Wide Shut | Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman | Stanley Kubrick | |
62. | Sonatine | Takeshi Kitano | Takeshi Kitano | |
63. | La Femme Nikita | Anne Parillaud, Marc Duret | Luc Besson | |
64. | Dogfight | River Phoenix, Lili Taylor | Nancy Savoca | |
65. | An Autumn Tale | Marie Rivière, Béatrice Romand | Eric Rohmer | |
66. | The Game | Michael Douglas, Sean Penn | David Fincher | |
67. | The Sweet Hereafter | Ian Holm, Sarah Polley | Atom Egoyan | |
68. | The Limey | Terence Stamp, Peter Fonda | Steven Soderberg | |
69. | Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels |
Jason Flemyng, Dexter Fletcher | Guy Ritchie | |
70. | Heavenly Creatures | Kate Winslet, Melanie Lynskey | Peter Jackson | |
71. | Hamlet | Kenneth Branagh, Kate Winslet | Kenneth Branagh | |
72. | The Fugitive | Harrison Ford, Tommy Lee Jones | Andrew Davis | |
73. | Edward Scissorhands | Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder | Tim Burton | |
74. | Apollo 13 | Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon | Ron Howard | |
75. | All About My Mother | Cecilia Roth, Marisa Paredes | Pedro Almodóvar | |
76. | True Romance | Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette | Tony Scott | |
77. | Ed Wood | Johnny Depp, Martin Landau | Tim Burton | |
78. | Pleasantville | Tobey Maguire, Reese Witherspoon | Gary Ross | |
79. | The Grifters | John Cusack, Anjelica Houston | Stephen Frears | |
80. | The Commitments | Robert Arkins, Michael Aherne | Alan Parker | |
81. | A Bronx Tale | Robert De Niro, Chazz Palminteri | Robert De Niro | |
82. | Secrets and Lies | Brenda Blethyn, Timothy Spall | Mike Leigh | |
83. | Happiness | Jane Adams, Dylan Baker | Todd Solondz | |
84. | In the Name of the Father | Daniel Day Lewis, Emma Thompson | Jim Sheridan | |
85. | Babe: Pig in the City | Magda Szubanski, Elizabeth Daily | George Miller | |
86. | The Spanish Prisoner | Scott Campbell | David Mamet | |
87. | Sling Blade | Billy Bob Thornton, Dwight Yoakam | Billy Bob Thornton | |
88. | Before Sunrise | Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy | Richard Linklater | |
89. | Twin Falls Idaho | Mark Polish, Michael Polish | Michael Polish | |
90. | Hilary and Jackie | Emily Watson, Rachel Griffiths | Anand Tucker | |
91. | The Truman Show | Jim Carrey, Laura Linney | Peter Weir | |
92. | The People vs. Larry Flynt | Woody Harrelson, Courtney Love | Milos Forman | |
93. | The Professional | Jean Reno, Natalie Portman | Luc Besson | |
94. | Dances with Wolves | Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell | Kevin Costner | |
95. | Clerks | Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson | Kevin Smith | |
96. | The Piano | Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel | Jane Campion | |
97. | The Joy Luck Club | Kieu Chinh, Tsai Chin, Lisa Lu | Wayne Wang | |
98. | Fearless | Jeff Bridges, Rosie Perez | Peter Weir | |
99. | The Dreamlife of Angels | Élodie Bouchez, Natacha Régnier | Erick Zoncka | |
100. | Natural Born Killers | Woody Harrelson, Juliette Lewis | Oliver Stone |
Almost Made It
Movies that failed to qualify for the top 100 because only 3 of our 6 reviewers had seen them:
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After
Life City of Hope Fast, Cheap and Out of Control Hard Boiled A Midnight Clear |
Muriel's Wedding Once Were Warriors One False Move Passion Fish |
Finger-Pointing
Some movies were torpedoed by a single low grade. They fell off the list of the top 100 movies because a single reviewer (out of a minimum of five who rated the movie) graded it a C+ or lower, while all the others rated it a B or better. The culprits and the victims are:
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Alison: none Carlo: The Blair Witch Project (D+), Rushmore (C+), To Die For (C+), Welcome to the Dollhouse (C+), South Park (C+) Dana: Howards End (C-), Four Weddings and a Funeral (C-) Jeff: The Sixth Sense (C+) Jen: The Age of Innocence (C), Aladdin (C+), Kundun (C+), Jerry Maguire (C+), Contact (C-), Short Cuts (D) Kris: Eve's Bayou (C+), Reversal of Fortune (C), The Full Monty (C), A Perfect World (C) |
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