Added by Nosoki on 2 Feb 2009 02:27

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TOP-50 of the 1990's

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Decade: Rating: List Type:

643

8.1

7.7

Fireworks

One of the greatest films ever. Takeshi Kitano and Kayoko Kishimoto are superb in their roles and Joe Hisaishi's score is one of the best I've ever heard in a movie. The film is a really emotional piece that tells how some people can find a new meaning to their lives after a tragedy. Visually it is stunning with some really great camera movements.

Nosoki's rating:

8.1

5.5

The Black Panther Warriors (1993)

This movie is what Hong Kong comedy is all about. Totally random and insane situations that make absolutely no sense and are really insulting towards some people. Of course the editing adds a lot to the overall insanity because it is so fast paced and shows a lot of Chinese people just shouting really loud and as a crowd. When you add wizards, flying ninjas and S&M loving fat men to this, you'll get one of the most hilarious films ever made.

Nosoki's rating:

913

8.1

La Haine (1995)

A really strong tale of French youngsters living rough life on the streets. The black & whiteness of the film works well and the actors are good in their roles.

Nosoki's rating:

222

7.6

Clean, Shaven (1993)

A brilliant depiction of alienation and schizophrenia. A really disturbing movie with great soundscape that really sucks you into the movie and into the heads of the characters while they wither away in their own misery. Peter Greene is usually seen as a random thug in action movies but in this one he makes a terrific lead role as an insane man who wants to find his daughter that was taken away from him. Disturbing, haunting and absolutely awesome.

Nosoki's rating:

2161

6.7

7.3

Starship Troopers (1997) (1997)

A great satire of a society where war is a thing that should be glorified. Soldiers are trained to be faceless and without a personality so they could be sacrificed unnecessarily for "the greater good". Verhoeven's style of using the worst possible actors and putting them to represent the stereotypes that they actually are is great and reminds us how the jocks are today when they don't want to think with their own brains and want to only be commanded because it is so god damn cool. Of course the provokating violence and nudity are trademarks of Verhoeven and we see some really rude gore effects in a mainstream movie. We also are reminded what happens when all soldiers are the same and there are no genders when really everyone just wants to have sex with the opposite sex etc. A compilation of really important things that represent the society of today in a hilariously over-the-top way.

Nosoki's rating:

191

7.9

Love Letter (1995)

A really touching drama about a girl who finds out that her boyfriend who died in an accident loved her because she reminded him of his former girlfriend. Young actors are astounding and the visual style fits the movie really good. The music is minimalistic and great and the ending one of the most touching I've ever seen.

Nosoki's rating:

6687

7.8

8.3

American Beauty (1999)

The actors, especially Kevin Spacey, are good and the movie itself manages to be funny when it wants to be and touching when it needs to.

Nosoki's rating:

204

7.7

La vie de bohème (1992)

A fun look to the world of artists. A Finnish movie where everyone speaks French is great fun and it is simultaneously glorifying the culture and making fun of it via stereotypes that people have.

Nosoki's rating:

5278

8.1

8.3

Reservoir Dogs (1992)

Low budget, some great actors, only a few shooting places and a really well written plot that removes all the bad things from City on Fire which was the main inspiration for this. One of the best debut features ever and still so stylish and cool.

Nosoki's rating:

7.6

7.5

Swallowtail Butterfly

A great mix of a lot of different movie genres with some good actors and a pretty convincing story about immigrants in Japan and their few moments of joy in the middle of a world gone bad.

Nosoki's rating:

105

7.7

7.5

Center Stage

Visually just breathtaking mix of biopic and documentary. The actors play their characters, themselves playing the characters and are themselves in interviews. This works very well. The whole cast is great and their calm and minimalistic acting style fits the movie perfectly and is rare to see in a Hong Kong movie.

Nosoki's rating:

9305

8.3

8.8

Fight Club (1999)

I have a feeling that this movie needs rewatching but from the little I remember from it, I'd say that the plot is pretty well written and the acting is good.

Nosoki's rating:

4707

6.3

6.7

Armageddon

I can't but praise this movie for being so awfully bad that it is actually really hilarious. It has like 800 common mistakes in the science section and the plot of sending some oil drillers to save the world is a real gem. It has a lot of "sentimental" moments where you'll just laugh your ass off because they are so corny and Owen Wilson's character is something you'll have to see to like him and what he does in the movie. Aerosmith's theme song is just what a ridiculously bad movie needs and adds some funny moments to it because it is used in so cheesy ways.

Nosoki's rating:

4854

7.6

8.3

Braveheart (1995)

So epic that it is really fun to watch. The costumes and landscapes are really awesome and the violence level what it needs to be. Some historical facts are sacrificed for the sake of entertainment and that is a good solution because we need a romance with Sophie Marceau and so on. The battle scenes are really intense and you can actually see what happens there even though the camera jumps like hell.

Nosoki's rating:

2842

7.6

Magnolia

A very well-written and quite funny movie which has many plots that make the whole picture.

Nosoki's rating:

4632

8.1

8.5

American History X

This too needs a rewatching because I'm sure that I wouldn't give it five stars again. It is a good movie ok, but from what I can remember it tells its story in too much of a sentimental and annoying way. Edward Norton is good though.

Nosoki's rating:

6109

8.6

9.3

The Shawshank Redemption

This film gets five stars from me because this is perhaps the easiest movie to watch with a bunch of friends. Usually when you watch a movie with a group of normal movie watchers, you'll need to pick something that has an exploding car every three minutes so this is a movie that focuses on something else and nearly everyone will love it no matter what.

Nosoki's rating:

2885

7.1

7.3

Natural Born Killers (1994)

A great media satire in which the nightmarish editing style makes it so powerful.

Nosoki's rating:

1344

7.3

JFK (1991)

Some nice ideas and speculation of what really happened to JFK. Doesn't really say anything of importance but is interesting to watch because it tells one more theory of the incident.

Nosoki's rating:

Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion

716

8.8

Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion...

Doesn't make any sense unless you have seen the series but is a really good WTF-experience with philosophical views and a lot of well-made teenage angst.

Nosoki's rating:

5898

8.4

Schindler's List

A really strong and emotional movie with everything where it needs to be.

Nosoki's rating:

969

8.1

Chungking Express (1994)

Christopher Doyle's cinematography, good characters and a great soundtrack make this a real masterpiece.

Nosoki's rating:

6226

7.6

8.2

The Truman Show (1998)

Nosoki's rating:

678

7.9

7.7

Hard Boiled

Very nice camera angles in action sequences that have balls. Chow Yun-Fat, Tony Leung and Anthony Wong are great as always.

Nosoki's rating:

7.5

7.2

The Emperor and the Assassin (1998)

Nice costumes and scenery make this a visually superb film. Gong Li is awesome in her role and the other actors are good too. The plotting inside the royal palace is well-written and even though the movie is really long, the length isn't a problem at any time as long as you don't expect to see massive fight scenes every five minutes.

Nosoki's rating:

405

7.8

7.6

Europa (1991)

Visually really great and pretty disturbing with lots of mindfucks.

Nosoki's rating:

116

7.6

7.1

April Story (1998)

A great story of a lonely girl living on her own for the first time in her life. She is really alone and not good at making contacts with others so every other character in the movie is really shallow because we see them as the girl sees them - with no real contacts made. The movie is visually really nice and the soundtrack is great.

Nosoki's rating:

6.6

6.8

Rose Rose I Love You

This is one of the most hilarious Hong Kong comedies ever. Tony Leung Ka Fai's character is a cop with absolutely no morale. He makes a guy lose his apartment and sell himself to get money and he is ready to make a woman kill herself to make his own love scheme work. Non-stop and completely insane gags fill the film and there isn't two minutes without something completely unrelated and so retarded that you'll just have to keep laughing.

Nosoki's rating:

1116

8.2

8.1

Three Colours: Red (1994)

Can't remember much of this except for the visual style that is concentrated on the color red.

Nosoki's rating:

2742

7.6

7.8

Ed Wood (1994)

A funny movie of one of the worst directors ever. Johnny Depp and Martin Landau are great in their roles. This movie made me watch Ed Wood's movies instantly and even though they are horrible, they are a piece of movie history.

Nosoki's rating:

1287

7.9

Three Colours: Blue

Unfortunately the same thing as with Three Colors: Red.

Nosoki's rating:

2092

8.2

Unforgiven (1992)

A quite sad story about the dying ideals of the wild west. Those who once were heroes are now next to nothing and the things they have done haunt them.

Nosoki's rating:

3223

7.2

7.4

Dracula

I happen to like this movie a lot because of its visual style and the fact that Winona Ryder and Monica Bellucci are as hot as hell in this one. It is also fun to see Tom Waits acting.

Nosoki's rating:

207

4.9

4.5

Highlander: The Final Dimension (1994)

This is the one movie on the list that I'd recommend staying away from if you're reading the list for recommendations. It doesn't have anything good when evaluated objectively but I just happen to be a Highlander fanatic and love nearly anything that has immortals killing each other so that's why I love this one too.

Nosoki's rating:

153

7.2

7.4

The Scent of Green Papaya (1994)

A lot of green color in the images works well. The peaceful style of the movie is really relaxing and I liked the way that a lot of things were shot through a fence or something similar so there is a nice effect seldom seen in movies that makes this a unique experience.

Nosoki's rating:

882

6.3

6.6

The 13th Warrior (1999)

Vikings in general and more specifically vikings laughing at muslims are the reasons why I love this.

Nosoki's rating:

1872

7.4

7.6

The Thin Red Line

Visually breathtaking movie that really makes you think. The characters are very well written and the scenery is just awesome.

Nosoki's rating:

7.4

7.1

A Tale of Springtime (1990)

A well-paced calm drama about a young girl who befriends an older woman who she tries to marry to her father. Very natural by all means and technically excellent. The actors are great and the unique style of director Eric Rohmer has always been one of my weak spots.

Nosoki's rating:

8623

8.3

8.9

Pulp Fiction (1994)

Cool as hell and so on. No point in telling what's great in this since everybody's seen it.

Nosoki's rating:

92 Legendary La Rose Noire

An insane mix of references to famous Hong Kong movies and total randomness where, for example, main characters steal milk from little kids or Tony Leung Ka Fai sings with wet clay on his head.

Nosoki's rating:

658

7.7

Night on Earth (1991)

Great dialogue and well-placed camera make this one a joy to watch. The humor is funny and it's nice to see Finnish melancholy in an American movie. Tom Waits's songs are awesome.

Nosoki's rating:

6.7

6.6

Undo (1994)

Quite disturbing movie that has very strong atmosphere. A woman's desperate cry for help doesn't reach her lover because he is more interested in making the woman stop asking for help than actually helping her.

Nosoki's rating:

2604

7.5

7.7

What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)

Worth watching because of Leonardo DiCaprio's awesome acting.

Nosoki's rating:

2191

7.4

Dances with Wolves (1990)

The scenery is really magnificent and the way the indians are portrayed is nice.

Nosoki's rating:

6496

8.1

8.6

Seven (1995)

A well-written and really intense movie with great ending.

Nosoki's rating:

6.8

Dragon from Russia

More insane Hong Kong comedy with fart humour and a lot of Chinese team shouting with fast editing that makes no sense.

Nosoki's rating:

1777

7.9

Ghost in the Shell

Tells an important message about what is actually human and what is not when humans want to make themselves immortal with computers and the highly advanced computer AI:s want to become more human by wanting the chance of being destroyed and forgotten.

Nosoki's rating:

126

6.9

7.1

Irma Vep

Maggie Cheung is at her sexiest jumping over rooftops in black PVC in this movie that tells of the making of an imaginary remake of Louis Feuillade's silent movie serial Les Vampires. A rare idea for a movie works exceptionally well.

Nosoki's rating:

2346

6.5

6.9

Con Air (1997)

One of the last real Hollywood action movies without butt-ugly CGI, rap or metalcore soundtracks and PG-13 ratings. In a way, one could compare this to movies like The Wild Bunch that depict the end of an era.

Nosoki's rating:

6.2

5.9

Gun 'n Rose

I can't think of a better name for a 1992 movie than Gun 'n Rose. More Hong Kong comedy insanity with random events. Recommended for those who have become interested in HK comedy by reading this list (or already are).

Nosoki's rating:

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Voters of this movie list - View all

My 50 favorite movies from the 1990s. Some of the films need rewatching but I doubt I'll have the time for them anytime soon. I'll be updating the list as I see movies that deserve their place in the list, but as this list is for one specific project, I believe that I'll stop updating it in half a year when the project's timeline ends. The list consists mainly of Hong Kong movies from the beginning of the 1990s and mainstream Hollywood because at the beginning of my movie hobby I watched a lot of Hollywood and gave them higher ratings than I would nowadays and Hong Kong cinema was at its full potential in terms of insane comedy then. I hope you will find some recommendations here and get ideas for what to watch here. This goes for me too, so if you have any suggestions for movies I should see, I'd be happy to hear them. Remember though that I'll be more interested in recommendations from outside of Hollywood.

Note that I'm still updating the list but not dropping those that nearly missed the TOP-50 off anymore.

EDIT: Actually I'm not updating the list anymore because the listing project is long gone. After some of the rewatches I've done since making this list, this is not accurate because films like American History X didn't leave an impact on me anymore.