I was really looking forward to watching this show as I had really enjoyed their previous outing in The 80's - The Decade that Made Us, but what I felt was missing from this 90's look-back was the impact of popular culture. There was a slight mention of Nirvana, Friends and Seinfeld but not much else, which got me thinking about what was great during the 90's, so over the next few posts I'll be looking at some of the great movies, bands and television shows that came out of the 90's. The last great decade? Possibly not but did get some great things out of it, such as some of the following;
The Summer Blockbuster
The 90's did really feel like the last decade of the proper summer blockbuster. As the 00's gave us epic movies like The Lord of the Ring's, popular adaptions such as Harry Potter and the complete takeover of Marvel at the local multiplex the stand alone summer juggernauts came to a bit of a standstill, but the 90's were a glorious time to lose yourself in an action flick over the summer holiday's.
Best of the Decade: Summer Blockbusters
Jurassic Park
Independence Day
The Rock
Bad Boys
Con Air
Speed
Armageddon
The Game Changers
What would any good decade be without something that changes the way we look at things? The 90's could be remembered for the decade that finally gave us super realistic SFX. James Cameron lead the way with Terminator 2: Judgement Day and his impossibly impressive T-1000 and finished it with a giant iceberg in Titanic. Robert Zemeckis would digitally add Forrest Gump to any part of history he fancied and The Wachowski's made the impossible, possible in The Matrix. I would also add in Episode One but the less said about that the better.
But it wasn't all just SFX that shook up the decade, a director by the name of Wes Craven (AKA creator of your nightmares) decided to shake up the horror genre with a fresh take on the teen slasher genre and created one of the best horror movie questions ever, "What's your favourite scary movie?" Then some young directors also decided to take the old school Hollywood formula and turn it on its head. First Quentin Tarantino made a film that shot the idea of linear film making out of the window with his masterpiece Pulp Fiction, Kevin Smith proved you don't need millions of dollars to make a funny and successful movie with Clerks (and a personal favourite Chasing Amy) and M Night Shyamalan brought 'the twist' back to mainstream cinema with masterful The Sixth Sense.
Best of the Decade: Game Changers
Terminator 2: Judgement Day
Forrest Gump
Scream
Pulp Fiction
Titanic
Clerks
Saving Private Ryan
The Sixth Sense
The Matrix
Teenage Kicks
As somebody who straddled the 90's and 00's as a teenager I wasn't short of movies aimed at my demographic to watch, but more importantly the movie output for teens was becoming more interesting and diverse. Some things remained the same, gross-out comedies such as American Pie became the new Porky's and romances were a dime a dozen, however movies like The Faculty and The Craft began to move the boundaries and lead to far more interesting movies being made and becoming a success with the mainstream audience. The two greatest movies of the decade for me personally though were Clueless and 10 Things I Hate About You - both were so clever and slightly subversive, I can't help but love them until this day.
Best of the Decade: Teen Movies
10 Things I Hate About YouClueless
Pump Up the Volume
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
The Craft
Can't Hardly Wait
The Faculty
Cruel Intentions
Idle Hands
She's All That
American Pie
Romeo + Juliet
Doing It For the Kids
As I mentioned above my adolescent/teenage years were split across the 90's so I have plenty of time to enjoy the vast range of movies aimed at both demographics. It may be that now I look at these through rose tinted glasses but I really do think that movies aimed at kids (much like the television of the time) was far superior to what is shown now. You had somewhat subversively dark movies like The Addams Family and The Witches, action/adventure like Hook or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and broad comedies with soul like Mrs. Doubtfire. However the 90's was the decade that gave us not only one of my all time favourite movies but a Christmas classic to be enjoyed through the ages, The Muppet Christmas Carol and who couldn't be thankful for that? The 90's also signalled the resurgence of The House of Mouse, with Disney releasing a slew of classic animations that are still beloved today. The late 90's also saw the coming out party of a little studio know as Pixar and with it's first feature length feature, Toy Story, took us all to infinity and beyond.
Home Alone
Hocus Pocus
Beauty and the Beast
Addams Family Values
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Aladdin
The Witches
Hook
The Mighty Ducks
The Muppet Christmas Carol
The Lion King
Mrs. Doubtfire
Toy Story
And the Rest...
I could go on for ages more about all the great films of the 90's, how Bill Murray provided a comedy masterclass in Groundhog Day, how Julia Robert's became America's sweetheart by playing a tart with a heart in Pretty Woman, how a million catchphrases were born with the release of Wayne's World, how Tom Hanks broke a millions hearts as the shy widower in Sleepless in Seattle, how Arnie showed his softer side in Kindergarten Cop or what Brad Pitt found in that box in Seven. Needless to say there is plenty of great movies to catch up with from the 90's and the best of the rest is listed below.
Best of the Rest
Batman Returns
Ghost
Pretty Woman
Sleepless in Seattle
Soapdish
Wanye's World
Total Recall
Kindergarten Cop
Schindler's List
Groundhog Day
True Romance
Demolition Man
What's Eating Gilbert Grape?
True Lies
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Interview with the Vampire
Reality Bites
The Shawshank Redemption
The Usual Suspects
Seven
Jerry Maguire
The First Wives Club
The Fifth Element
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
Good Will Hunting
Shakespeare in Love
The Wedding Singer
What a great article - lots of movies there to go back and revisit. :)
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