7 Movies From the 1990s You Forgot Were Awesome

There’s no getting around it, the 1990s were just a great decade, especially when it comes to movies. Name your favorite genre, there was something great for you to head to the theater to watch or pop in your VCR or DVD player and enjoy at home. Action, animation, sci-fi, fantasy, drama — everything was at its peak in the 1990s. It was truly a golden age and it was a decade that put out some incredibly memorable films.

But in a decade of such wealth when it came to incredible movie entertainment, that means there are a lot of great movies that, over the years, we’ve forgotten about. These are films that have always been good but might have gotten lost a bit in our nostalgia shuffle and certain deserve to be revisited. Here are seven great and awesome films from the 1990s that you probably forgot about. Do yourself a favor and refresh your memory ASAP.

7) George of the Jungle

Brendan Fraser may well be having his renaissance moment in recent years, but that doesn’t mean we can’t appreciate his truly fantastic work from the ‘90s — and we should. And when it comes to his ‘90s films that we sometimes forget were awesome is George of the Jungle. Released by Walt Disney Pictures in 1997, the movie follows a man (Fraser) who is raised by animals in the jungle after being stranded in a plane crash. Years later, he encounters a wealthy heiress and falls in love which puts him into conflict with his self-absorbed fiancé.

The film is a comedy twist on Tarzan and, despite not exactly doing well with critics at the time of its release, is hilarious. It’s silly and lighthearted and a solid display of how funny Fraser is. It did well at the box office in its time and is still a great watch to this day.

6) Misery

Misery is one of those movies that is somehow timeless so it is easy to forget it actually came out in 1990. An adaptation of Stephen King’s 1987 novel of the same name, Misery stars Kathy Bates as a deranged fan who holds a romance novelist Paul (played by James Caan) hostage until he writes a new copy of his next book that ends in the way she wants it to.

Misery is a great film. Critics loved it, most viewers love it, it’s a great adaptation of King’s work and it has one of the scariest moments in movies ever — you know, that moment where Annie “hobbles” Paul. Truth be told, no one actually forgot that Misery is awesome. They just probably forgot it came out in the ‘90s/

5) Pleasantville

Released in 1998, Pleasantville didn’t do especially well at the box office so if you forgot this one was great, that might be why. Starring Tobey Maguire, Jeff Daniels, Joan Allen, William H. Macy, J.T. Walsh, Reese Witherspoon, Paul Walker and more, the movie centers around two teen siblings who inexplicably find themselves trapped in a 1950s TV show set in small town Midwest where everything is perfect and, well, pleasant, after they fight over and break remote control to their own television.

The film is interesting commentary on progress and change as well as how the past is often idealized. It’s also visually very interesting thanks to its use of black and white and color. It’s also worth noting that Jon M. Chu has cited Pleasantville as an influence on his portrayal of the Land of Oz in Wicked and Wicked: For Good.

4) Empire Records

Released in 1995, Empire Records follows a group of record store employees over the course of one day where they try to stop their store from being sold to a large change, learning about each other in the process. To be honest, the film did horribly when it was released. It was met with terrible reviews, it bombed at the box office. But the movie has a fantastic soundtrack and it’s become much more appreciated in the years since its release.

Part of what makes Empire Records such an underappreciated gem is that it is just so optimistic. A nod to the ‘80s teen comedy mixed with the anti-corporate, anti-establishment sentiment of the ‘90s, Empire Records is very much about the power of friendship fighting back against corporations and winning. It’s something that, while a little silly, really resonates.

3) The Rocketeer

Based on the character of the same name created by comic book artist and writer Dave Stevens, The Rocketeer is one of those ‘90s movies that pops up every so often, but we genuinely forget about, which is a shame because it’s genuinely awesome. Starring Billy Campbell, Jennifer Connelly, Timothy Dalton, Paul Sorvino, and Alan Arkin, The Rocketeer is set in 1938 and follows stunt pilot Cliff Secord who finds a hidden rocket pack and uses it to fly without need for a plane. That gets the attention of the feds and Howard Hughes — and Nazi operatives who stole it from Hughes in the first place.

A wild, high-flying adventure, The Rocketeer has a little bit of everything. There’s action, there’s adventure, there’s romance, there’s Nazi bad guys getting their comeuppance. It’s a great, fun movie — and people have been begging for a sequel for years.

2) The Hurricane

Coming in at the end of the decade, The Hurricane might be one of Denzel Washington’s best performances. Washington plays Rubin “The Hurricane” Carter, a former boxer wrongly convicted for triple murder who spends decades in jail before being freed. The film follows Carter’s arrest, time in prison, and ultimately him getting his freedom again thanks to the efforts of his Canadian foster family and a Brooklyn teen named Lesra Martin.

The Hurricane is a brilliantly done movie and it truly is one of Washington’s best performances. He Won a Golden Globe for Best Actor for the role and was nominated for an Academy Award as well. It’s certainly not a movie a lot of people think about when they think about ‘90s movies, but it’s an excellent one.

1) The Addams Family

While Netflix’s Wednesday may be wildly popular, there really is one Addams Family adaptation that reigns supreme and that is 1991’s The Addams Family. Starring Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia, Christopher Lloyd, and Christina Ricci, the film is pretty much the definitive adaptation of the beloved cartoon characters, creating a gold standard everything that has come since tries to live up to (even Wednesday).

In the film Gomez’s lawyer Tully Alford owes money to a loan shark and con artist and notices that said con artist’s son, Gordon, looks a lot like the missing Fester Addams. They conspire to have Gordon pose as Fester to get into the Addams house and into the hidden vault where the family keeps their wealth. Of course, the Addams family is no ordinary family so things go delightfully and bizarrely awry at just about every turn. The movie is iconic in almost every way and really, there is nothing better than Huston and Julia as Morticia and Gomez. They’re goals.

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