The best films of the 90s

Most of us have fond memories of the 90s: in particular, the style of dress that took some getting used to and the variety of the most unusual music styles are considered trademarks. The number of great films made in this decade can be lost in the brilliant overall picture. Yet many legendary films saw the light of day during this period, shaping entire generations and setting new standards for the film industry. We show you which films are meant by this and which film was actually the best.

In the search for the best films, the question inevitably arises as to which yardstick to use. After all, we are talking about subjective perception: Films are so tied to emotional perception that blanket statements may be considered unwise. The individual evaluation of a film depends on several factors:

• Age
• Mood
• Personal taste
• Origin and life experience
• And much more!

For now, let's take our cue from the masses and take a look at the best-rated films on imdb.com:

However, this also shows the problem of the rating system: emotional and meaningful dramas are usually rated more highly by critics because they remain in the memory longer. Six of the titles mentioned above, for example, deal with more serious and difficult-to-digest themes. The remaining four films were particularly convincing with their offbeat ideas and incomparable nature. The Shawshank Redemption has now been greeting us from the top of the imdb charts for over a decade and the film is generally often referred to as the best film of all time. Based on the novel by Stephen King, the film tells the moving story of a wrongfully imprisoned bank manager. With Stephen King and Frank Darabont, 2 full professionals were already at work on the screenplay and direction, who also realised The Green Mile (29th place in the imdb list) together, among others. With Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman, there were also two world-class actors in the leading roles, who together fired off a firework of emotions and made the audience sympathise in a pleasantly comprehensible way.

Does this predictable formula for success make them worse films? - Not at all! Pulp Fictionis still one of the greatest cult films of all time and Forrest Gump is something pretty much all of us should have seen at some point. Each of the films could impress in its own way and has thus earned its place in this list.

Nevertheless, we have to ask ourselves whether the rating system is the best basis for our Best Movies 90s search. Older films or American romance films, for example, are traditionally rated lower because there will always be a large number of people who dislike such films - no matter how many cinema-goers were enthusiastic. So let's rather look at how successful the individual films were:

Many of you won't even call these films good films these days. On the contrary: Independence Day has not aged well at all, The Dark Menace is considered by many to be the worst Star Wars film of all time and we don't even need to start with the little pig called Babe in this context. Ultimately, however, even these films have their justification if we put it in the context of the time: Independence Day was an unparalleled spectacle up to that point, and nowadays it looks even better than comparable older films. Episode 1 of the science fiction epic is also one of the biggest cult films of our time and was instrumental in keeping the successful series going.

It is also interesting that the aforementioned American love stories do particularly well in this statistic. James Cameron's masterpiece Titanic attracted every couple to the cinemas at the time and was nominally the best film of the 1990s by far, winning 11 Oscars. Moreover, the loving story about the prostitute Vivian in Pretty Woman was not only the starting signal for a great career of Julia Roberts, but has recently been presented as a musical. So ratings are no guarantee of success.
But is success a better indication of quality? We, at least, find it difficult to include films like Men in Black among the best films of the 90s just because it was successful at the time...

There are those films that rarely end up on any top lists. Legendary films that have become so commonplace that they are often not even mentioned. A good example of this is Kevin - Alone at Home. The affectionate comedy from 1990 is an absolute classic and it is hard to imagine our Christmas rituals without it. There is hardly anyone who doesn't enjoy the film, as it is suitable for all age groups and is fun for the whole family even after watching it several times. It is a similar story with ...und täglich greüßt das Murmeltier. These are films that won't be old even in 20 years' time and accordingly still come across as impressive decades later.

Isn't that what makes a true cult film?

Terminator 2: Judgment Day can be cited as a counter-example. With groundbreaking surround sounds and state-of-the-art CGI effects, going to the cinema became a true spectacle. In the meantime, the effects and thus the film have become significantly outdated. Nevertheless, everyone will remember the cinema experience in 1991 fondly - and the Terminator will be remembered forever as a cult film!

The truth, as always, lies somewhere in between. Legendary films can be moving or cheesy, mass appeal or special, timeless or out of time. In the end, all that counts are the personal experiences and positive memories you associate with the film. In this respect, we leave it up to you to decide for yourself what the best film of the 90s is for you.