Movies that define the 90s.

[mrbasehart]

What hasn't been mentioned are a clutch of films centered around computer technology that sprung up from the 90s:

Johnny Mnemonic
Strange Days
Virtuosity
Lawnmower Man

While only one of them is genuinely good (Strange Days) the others are a guilty pleasure because of how they predict technology will evolve in the future in a way that's just as naive as the 50s were. 

[stansimpson]

I'll second the Pokemon movie. 90s animation was a cluster of Japanese imports, and the studios seemed to be dubbing just about any "collect and trade" style anime they could get their hands on; a practice that hasn't ceased through today. The Pokemon film was sort of the crest of that wave.

While true for the late 90s, the early 90s had some of the best mass market animation since the dawn of the genre.  This included the Disney Renaissance, something they've been trying to recapture ever since.  An innocent time too, devoid of unnecessary straight-to-video sequels and anyone-with-a-studio-can-poop-out-a-cartoon-movie.  There's a reason why Walt Disney never made sequels.


Yes... I know Rescuers Down Under was early 90s.  Cheeky bugger.

[SJP]

While only one of them is genuinely good (Strange Days) the others are a guilty pleasure because of how they predict technology will evolve in the future in a way that's just as naive as the 50s were. 

I was actually going to mention Strange Days, but two things stopped me:
1. I was going on way too long as it was.
2. I haven't actually seen it, so I didn't think it would be right to mention it.

But it's true...that one in particular was mind-blowingly optimistic, because it figured we would have virtual reality in every home by the year 2000...and it was made in '95.  Didn't know it was a Bigelow/Cameron production, though...sort of amazing that it would take her 15 years to finally win an Oscar, while her husband already had a handful even before Titanic.  Or, at least, his effects crew did.

But yes, we suddenly did have unrealistic fantasies about computers in the nineties.  We thought we'd have hard drives in our brains, virtual reality, computer-based clones...today, our computers are hyper-fast, capable of achieving all sorts of new ways to freeze and shut down while opening a Microsoft Office file.   

Although ONE did come true...Second Life did realize Lawnmower Man's dream of living as a horrible facsimile of one's self in a poorly-rendered 3-D world.   

[stansimpson]

Although ONE did come true...Second Life did realize Lawnmower Man's dream of living as a horrible facsimile of one's self in a poorly-rendered 3-D world.   

  Haha.

I'll second Wayne's World.  It's very much of its time but I think more as an influence than as a time capsule.

Also, Tank Girl.


EDIT:  Not that I think anyone will notice this now-buried post, but....... 3,000th POST!!! WOO!!!

[Courtney]

The Saint (Seriously. You've got a broken up USSR, a military plot to destroy democracy, a non-violent hero, the superhot female scientist and an obsession with clean, environmentally safe cold fusion. That's about half the movie cliche checklist for the second half of the decade, all in one film.)

Plus it has this on the soundtrack

And that just shrieks Mid '90s

I love that song still to this day.

[Tripe]

So do I, and Kelli's a really nice girl.

[mattwnelson]

While true for the late 90s, the early 90s had some of the best mass market animation since the dawn of the genre.  This included the Disney Renaissance, something they've been trying to recapture ever since.  An innocent time too, devoid of unnecessary straight-to-video sequels and anyone-with-a-studio-can-poop-out-a-cartoon-movie.  There's a reason why Walt Disney never made sequels.


Yes... I know Rescuers Down Under was early 90s.  Cheeky bugger.

True, but I'd say that the anime wave had a larger influence, at least on television. After all, it can still be felt in the highly stylized cartoons of this last decade, and ever since it was figured out that they can save a buck by importing other people's work, there's been no stopping it. BUT I DIGRESS.

I do take off my hat to your point about the Disney era, however. There were some fantastic films out of the 90s, and actually I would include Rescuers Down Under in that group - even, in my humble opinion, surpassing the original Rescuers, which I found boring, boring, BORING. Looking at the list on Wikipedia, there are indeed some gems.

BUT, still in my defense of the Pokemon, sad though it's beginning to become, that cartoon had a HUGE cultural impact, and I'd even venture to say a longer-lasting one than any of the Disney films (unless you count the aggressive marketing strategy of the Princesses, but I'd say that's been more over this past decade).

Bah. I'm getting sick of my own argument. To sum up: lot of good animated films out of the 90s. Disney was high quality, Pokemans was big and noisy.

[mattwnelson]

Although ONE did come true...Second Life did realize Lawnmower Man's dream of living as a horrible facsimile of one's self in a poorly-rendered 3-D world.   

[stansimpson]

To sum up: lot of good animated films out of the 90s. Disney was high quality, Pokemans was big and noisy.

POKEMAN!?!

P.S.  Yes, I'd agree about Rescuers Down Under.  IMO, superior to the original, but nevertheless, still a sequel (albeit a good one).

[Minnesota]

What hasn't been mentioned are a clutch of films centered around computer technology that sprung up from the 90s:

Johnny Mnemonic
Strange Days
Virtuosity
Lawnmower Man

While only one of them is genuinely good (Strange Days) the others are a guilty pleasure because of how they predict technology will evolve in the future in a way that's just as naive as the 50s were. 

Can I add Brainscan to that list!