The decade of the 1990s in film involved many significant developments in the industry of cinema. Numerous feature-length movies were specifically filmed and/or edited to be displayed not only on theater screens but also the smaller TV screens, like showing more close-ups and less wide shots during dialogue scenes. Moreover, the home video market grew into being a major factor on the total revenue of a theatrical film, often doubling the amount. An example of both cases is Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, which was initially intended as a direct-to-video release.
Trends These particular ten years are notable for milestone advancements in CGI technology, seen in such motion pictures as Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Jurassic Park, and Forrest Gump courtesy of Industrial Light & Magic. 1995's Toy Story by Pixar became the first feature film to be completely computer-animated, heralding the use of 3D graphics as a tool for filmmakers to achieve new visuals on-screen. Stemming from the tail end of the 1980s, the mainstream successes of low-budget auteurs like Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, Kevin Smith, Paul Thomas Anderson, Gus Van Sant, Richard Linklater, Steven Soderbergh, and the Coen brothers; alongside the increased prominence of independent and mini-major movie studios such as New Line Cinema, Miramax Films, and Gramercy Pictures; gave rise to a boom period of highly profitable indie films that include Pulp Fiction, Fargo, Boogie Nights, Good Will Hunting, The Big Lebowski, and The Blair Witch Project. The Disney Renaissance began in late 1989 with The Little Mermaid, reached peak popularity with The Lion King in 1994, and ended in 1999 with Tarzan. During its influential run, the mass appeal of animated musicals got exceptionally rejuvenated (as opposed to The Rescuers Down Under in 1990, which contains no original songs and has been generally deemed a commercial disappointment even compared to its 1977 predecessor), resulting in supposed emulations from similar production companies. However, merely three of said attempts proved to be lucrative, namely The Nightmare Before Christmas by Skellington, Anastasia by Fox, and The Prince of Egypt by DreamWorks. Around six months prior to the decade's conclusion, Comedy Central's South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut prospered in part through parodying the conventions of this trend. The influence of MTV continued as an influx of stylish music video directors, mostly from Propaganda Films, was given opportunities to helm significant titles. David Fincher, Alex Proyas, Michael Bay, Spike Jonze, Dominic Sena, Simon West, Gore Verbinski, Antoine Fuqua, and others contributed to the silver screen's aesthetics with The Crow, Bad Boys, Seven, Dark City, Being John Malkovich, Fight Club, and so on. 1988's Die Hard and the subsequent Die Hard 2 established what became a common plot scenario for many 1990s action films, which is the matchup of an everyman hero against a colorful villain who is threatening the lives of innocents in an isolated setting, though with certain variations. Features of this kind, and the sequels that followed some of them, are often referred to as "Die Hard on a _____": Under Siege (battleship), Cliffhanger (mountain), Speed (bus), The Rock (prison island), Con Air (prison plane), Air Force One (presidential plane), and so forth. A resurgence of disaster films dominated the box office with blockbusters such as Twister, Independence Day, Titanic, and Armageddon. Several leading figures of 1980s to mid-1990s Hong Kong action cinema migrated to Hollywood with varying success: Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Chow Yun-fat, Michelle Yeoh, John Woo, Yuen Woo-ping, Tsui Hark, Ringo Lam, etc. Updating martial arts and gunfight choreography in American motion pictures with such releases as Broken Arrow, Face/Off, Tomorrow Never Dies, Lethal Weapon 4, Rush Hour, and The Matrix. Three Western world directorial debuts of established Eastern filmmakers were for Jean-Claude Van Damme star vehicles, though these collaborations only performed moderately en masse at the global market. Wes Craven's Scream revitalized the declining interest in slasher films through satirizing the subgenre with characters that are well-versed in its clichés. Leading to studios capitalizing especially on the high school to college age demographic with the likes of I Know What You Did Last Summer, Scream 2, Urban Legend, and I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. The three biggest hits among all these movies were written or adapted by Kevin Williamson, who also co-wrote the sci-fi horror The Faculty, which targeted the same audience as well.
Highest-grossing films
+List of worldwide highest-grossing films Rank Title Studios Worldwide gross Year Ref.1TitanicParamount Pictures/20th Century Fox$1,843,201,26819972Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace20th Century Fox$924,317,55819993Jurassic ParkUniversal Pictures$914,691,11819934Independence Day20th Century Fox$817,400,89119965The Lion KingWalt Disney Studios$763,455,56119946Forrest GumpParamount Pictures$677,387,71619947The Sixth Sense Walt Disney Studios$672,806,29219998The Lost World: Jurassic ParkUniversal Pictures$618,638,99919979Men in BlackSony Pictures/Columbia Pictures$589,390,539199710ArmageddonWalt Disney Studios$553,709,788199811Terminator 2: Judgment DayTriStar Pictures$519,843,345199112GhostParamount Pictures$505,702,588199013AladdinWalt Disney Studios$504,050,219199214TwisterWarner Bros./Universal Pictures$494,471,524199615Toy Story 2Walt Disney Studios$485,015,179199916Saving Private RyanParamount Pictures/DreamWorks Pictures$481,840,909199817Home Alone20th Century Fox$476,684,675199018The MatrixWarner Bros.$463,517,383199919Pretty WomanWalt Disney Studios$463,406,268199020Mission: ImpossibleParamount Pictures$457,696,359199621TarzanWalt Disney Studios$448,191,819199922Mrs. Doubtfire20th Century Fox$441,286,195199323Dances with WolvesOrion Pictures$424,208,848199024The MummyUniversal Pictures$415,933,406199925The BodyguardWarner Bros.$411,006,740199226Robin Hood: Prince of ThievesWarner Bros.$390,493,908199127GodzillaTriStar Pictures$379,014,294199828True Lies20th Century Fox$378,882,411199429Toy StoryWalt Disney Studios$373,554,033199530There's Something About Mary20th Century Fox$369,884,651199831The FugitiveWarner Bros.$368,875,760199332Die Hard with a Vengeance20th Century Fox/Cinergi Pictures$366,101,666199533Notting HillUniversal Pictures $363,889,678199934A Bug's LifeWalt Disney Studios$363,398,565199835The World Is Not EnoughMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures$361,832,400199936Home Alone 2: Lost in New York20th Century Fox$358,994,850199237American BeautyDreamWorks Pictures$356,296,601199938Apollo 13Universal Pictures/Imagine Entertainment$355,237,933199539Basic InstinctTriStar Pictures$352,927,224199240GoldenEyeMGM/United Artists$352,194,034199541The MaskNew Line Cinema$351,583,407199442Speed20th Century Fox$350,448,145199443Deep ImpactParamount Pictures/DreamWorks Pictures$349,464,664199844Beauty and the BeastWalt Disney Studios$346,317,207199145PocahontasWalt Disney Studios$346,079,773199546The FlintstonesUniversal Pictures$341,631,208199447Batman ForeverWarner Bros.$336,529,144199548The RockWalt Disney Studios$335,062,621199649Tomorrow Never DiesMGM/United Artists$333,011,068199750SevenNew Line Cinema$327,311,8591995
Accolades The following films received the most acclaim at the Academy Awards during the 1990s. Year Ceremony Most nominations Most awards Best Picture 1990 63rd Dances with Wolves (12) Dances with Wolves (7) Dances with Wolves 1991 64th Bugsy (10) The Silence of the Lambs (5) The Silence of the Lambs 1992 65th Howards End and Unforgiven (9) Unforgiven (4) Unforgiven 1993 66th Schindler's List (12) Schindler's List (7) Schindler's List 1994 67th Forrest Gump (13) Forrest Gump (6) Forrest Gump 1995 68th Braveheart (10) Braveheart (5) Braveheart 1996 69th The English Patient (12) The English Patient (9) The English Patient 1997 70th Titanic (14) Titanic (11) Titanic 1998 71st Shakespeare in Love (13) Shakespeare in Love (7) Shakespeare in Love 1999 72nd American Beauty (8) American Beauty (5) American Beauty
List of films
1990 in film 1991 in film 1992 in film 1993 in film 1994 in film 1995 in film 1996 in film 1997 in film 1998 in film 1999 in film
See also Film, History of film, lists of films Popular culture: 1990s in music, 1990s in television
References
External links List of 1990s films at IMDb List of 1990s deaths at IMDb List of 1990s births at IMDb