The 1990s were an exciting time for cinephiles, with rising filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino, John Singleton, The Wachowskis, Sofia Coppola, Robert Rodriguez, and Kevin Smith churning out their first masterpieces, independent cinema stepping out into the spotlight in a major way, horror reinventing itself multiple times, and much more.
There was so much going on in the 1990s that it can be hard to keep track of what to watch, so let’s simplify things by drilling down on 10 essential titles from one single year out of that entire decade: 1995.
10. Se7en
Another legendary filmmaker who had their feature directorial debut in the 1990s was David Fincher. Long before Fight Club or The Social Network or Gone Girl came his sophomore feature, Se7en. Although his actual debut, 1992’s Alien 3, ended up being a compromised effort, the serial killer thriller Se7en perfectly captures the technically precise, but often edgy and squalid sensibility that he would bring to his future work.
9. Sense and Sensibility
The success of the Jane Austen adaptation Sense and Sensibility, which was a financial smash hit in addition to being nominated for seven Oscars (winning one) and six Golden Globes (winning two), has had a huge ripple effect. First of all, as Ang Lee’s first full English-language feature, it led the filmmaker to become a huge success in the United States, allowing him to keep working in the language, helming other huge titles like Brokeback Mountain and Life of Pi.
However, as part of the Jane Austen Renaissance of 1995, which included the Colin Firth Pride and Prejudice miniseries and the Emma adaptation Clueless (more on that later), it also led to a resurgence of interest in Jane Austen’s work that has resulted in a flood of major adaptations of the literary giant’s work (including everything from 2005’s Pride and Prejudice to Bridget Jones’s Diary to Becoming Jane to Fire Island).
8. Jumanji
Family blockbusters are just as essential as literary adaptations and gritty crime thrillers! Jumanji, which follows the chaos that ensues when the world of a safari-themed board game bleeds out into suburbia, is an enduring classic that has since spawned a hit franchise, and it’s part of an incredible run of notable Robin Williams movies from throughout the 1990s, which also includes The Fisher King, Aladdin, Mrs. Doubtfire, The Birdcage, Flubber, Good Will Hunting, What Dreams May Come, and many more.
7. To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar
Even though the drag queen road trip comedy To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar is a bald-faced rip-off of the Australian 1994 movie The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert; it is quite nearly just as much of a classic.
The three stars they cast to shed their macho movie personas (Patrick Swayze, Wesley Snipes, and John Leguizamo) embrace their roles with aplomb and turn the movie into a sparkling romp that has aged shockingly well (though, naturally, it hasn’t aged perfectly). The movie is an excellent example of the fact that the New Queer Cinema movement wasn’t just an obscure indie scene in the 1990s. It was something that was bleeding into mainstream multiplexes in a way that changed the lives of many contemporary viewers.
6. Babe
Babe could very well be the most perfect family film ever made. Produced and co-written by Mad Max auteur George Miller, the movie about a charming talking pig who yearns to be taken seriously as a sheepdog nevertheless has an edge. It’s refreshingly frank about the death of barnyard animals, but treats grief and loss as part of the fabric of life in a way that tenderly teaches important lessons to kids and grown-ups alike. It also boasts incredible effects that still hold up marvelously, thanks in part to the work of Jim Henson's Creature Shop.
5. Showgirls
Showgirls (1995)Credit: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
Showgirls has been appraised and reappraised back and forth for decades, alternately considered one of the worst movies ever made, a work of genius, and everything in between. Whatever it is, Paul Verhoeven’s glittering, gleefully over-the-top satire of American capitalism as seen through the journey of a young woman trying to make it as a dancer in Las Vegas is certainly worth watching.
4. Waiting to Exhale
This Forest Whitaker-directed romantic dramedy about four friends helping one another navigate life and love is both a pillar of Gen X entertainment and a showcase of some of the best performers of the 1990s, including Whitney Houston, Angela Bassett as Bernadine "Bernie" Harris, Loretta Devine, Lela Rochon, Mykelti Williamson, Wesley Snipes (now making his second appearance on this list), and Giancarlo Esposito.
3. Toy Story
It’s completely fair to call Toy Story the most influential animated film of the last 35 years. First of all, it proved that CG animation could be used to craft a major hit (even though it’s admittedly rudimentary by today’s standards), leading to a major sea change as studios across the world moved away from traditional two-dimensional animation.
It was also the debut feature from Pixar Animation Studios, a company that would become synonymous with quality family entertainment. And they earned the heck out of that reputation. In fact, in the decade after the release of Toy Story alone, they crafted classic after classic, including A Bug's Life, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, and The Incredibles.
2. Friday
This landmark stoner comedy stars Ice Cube and Chris Tucker as a pair of down-on-their-luck friends trying to solve an ever-increasing pile of problems on an eventful Friday. It’s a seminal example of the comedic branch of the string of Black American cinema classics that burst onto the scene throughout the 1990s, kicked off by titles like Do the Right Thing, Boyz n the Hood, Juice, and Menace II Society. It also kickstarted its own franchise, spawning two sequels in the early 2000s.
1. Clueless
There is essentially nothing from the 1990s that Clueless didn’t influence. As previously mentioned, this modernized retelling of Jane Austen’s Emma was one of the titles that led to the Austenaissance. However, it also had a massive impact on teen fashion and slang (if you’re reading this and saying “as if,” you have Clueless to thank for that expression) and led to an explosion of teen movies modernizing classic literature, including everything from Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew (10 Things I Hate About You) and Twelfth Night (She’s the Man) to George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion (She’s All That) to the salacious French novel Dangerous Liaisons (Cruel Intentions).
So what are your essential movies of 1995, and did any of them make the list? Sound off in the comments below!
