Top 100 Films of the '90s?

The International Cinephile Society released a list of the Top 100 Films of the 1990s, and their picks may surprise you.

Their intro goes as follows: "ICS has spent the past few months painting a many-colored mural of what we consider the filmic masterworks of the 1990s. Not only that, we’ve created a write-up for each film on the list, highlighting our own distinct view of these icons and oddities from a decade famed for both. Overall, 28 ICS members from 10 different countries contributed their work and their expertise. Some went in for scholarly analysis, others penned pithy short reviews, while a few came up with surprising personal takes on 'what this movie means to me.' Expressed in varying shades of depth, passion, intellect, impressionism and playfulness, here are our choices and our rationale.

Who are the International Cinephile Society? An online group made up of 60 accredited journalists, film scholars, historians and other industry professionals who cover film festivals and events on five continents, according to their web site.

Missing? Many are sure to cry foul that Saving Private Ryan and Titanic aren't on the list (the latter, while slammed often nowadays, would surely have made a top 100 list, no?) but that's why these lists are fun. You can see the top 100 below, or read through the countdown to see their rationale.

01. The Thin Red Line (Malick, 1998)
02. Short Cuts (Altman, 1993)
03. Trois couleurs: Rouge (Kieslowski, 1994)
04. Breaking the Waves (von Trier, 1996)
05. The Age of Innocence (Scorsese, 1993)
06. My Own Private Idaho (Van Sant, 1991)
07. Eyes Wide Shut (Kubrick, 1999)
08. Trois couleurs: Bleu (Kieslowski, 1993)
09. The Ice Storm (Lee, 1997)
10. Goodfellas (Scorsese, 1990)
11. Being John Malkovich (Jonze, 1999)
12. LA Confidential (Hanson, 1997)
13. Sense and Sensibility (Lee, 1995)
14. The Double Life of Véronique (Kieslowski, 1991)
15. Safe (Haynes, 1995)
16. All About My Mother (Almodóvar, 1999)
17. Unforgiven (Eastwood, 1992)
18. The Remains of the Day (Ivory, 1993)
19. Pulp Fiction (Tarantino, 1994)
20. The English Patient (Minghella, 1996)
21. Chungking Express (Wong, 1994)
22. Close-Up (Kiarostami, 1990)
23. The Grifters (Frears, 1990)
24. Barton Fink (Coen & Coen, 1991)
25. The Piano (Campion, 1993)
26. Secrets & Lies (Leigh, 1996)
27. A Taste of Cherry (Kiarostami, 1997)
28. Ed Wood (Burton, 1994)
29. Lost Highway (Lynch, 1997)
30. Happy Together (Wong, 1997)
31. Mother and Son (Sokurov, 1997)
32. Magnolia (Anderson, 1999)
33. Howards End (Ivory, 1992)
34. Les amants du Pont-Neuf (Carax, 1991)
35. The Long Day Closes (Davies, 1992)
36. The Silence of the Lambs (Demme, 1991)
37. Naked Lunch (Cronenberg, 1991)
38. Heavenly Creatures (Jackson, 1994)
39. Lone Star (Sayles, 1996)
40. Raise the Red Lantern (Zhang, 1991)
41. Edward Scissorhands (Burton, 1990)
42. Naked (Leigh, 1993)
43. Fargo (Coen & Coen, 1996)
44. Schindler’s List (Spielberg, 1993)
45. Husbands and Wives (Allen, 1992)
46. Beauty and the Beast (Trousdale & Wise, 1991)
47. The Truman Show (Weir, 1998)
48. La belle noiseuse (Rivette, 1991)
49. Miller’s Crossing (Coen & Coen, 1990)
50. Sátántangó (Tarr, 1994)
51. Jackie Brown (Tarantino, 1997)
52. Rushmore (Anderson, 1998)
53. Rosetta (Dardenne & Dardenne, 1999)
54. Dead Man (Jarmusch, 1995)
55. Groundhog Day (Ramis, 1993)
56. Underground (Kusturica, 1995)
57. Flowers of Shanghai (Hou, 1998)
58. The Wind Will Carry Us (Kiarostami, 1999)
59. Starship Troopers (Verhoeven, 1997)
60. Thelma & Louise (Scott, 1991)
61. Wild at Heart (Lynch, 1990)
62. Days of Being Wild (Wong, 1990)
63. The Player (Altman, 1992)
64. La cérémonie (Chabrol, 1995)
65. Beau travail (Denis, 1999)
66. The Talented Mr. Ripley (Minghella, 1999)
67. Fallen Angels (Wong, 1995)
68. The Big Lebowski (Coen & Coen, 1998)
69. Titus (Taymor, 1999)
70. Vanya on 42nd Street (Malle, 1994)
71. Crash (Cronenberg, 1996)
72. Ulysses’ Gaze (Angelopoulos, 1995)
73. Van Gogh (Pialat, 1991)
74. Babe (Noonan, 1995)
75. Before Sunrise (Linklater, 1995)
76. A Brighter Summer Day (Yang, 1991)
77. Boogie Nights (Anderson, 1997)
78. American Beauty (Mendes, 1999)
79. Dead Man Walking (Robbins, 1995)
80. Kundun (Scorsese, 1997)
81. Porco Rosso (Miyazaki, 1992)
82. Smoking/No Smoking (Resnais, 1993)
83. The Crying Game (Jordan, 1992)
84. Gattaca (Niccol, 1997)
85. The Nightmare Before Christmas (Selick, 1993)
86. Trainspotting (Boyle, 1996)
87. Trois couleurs: Blanc (Kieslowski, 1994)
88. Bullets Over Broadway (Allen, 1994)
89. Everyone Says I Love You (Allen, 1996)
90. Eve’s Bayou (Lemmons, 1997)
91. Goodbye South, Goodbye (Hou, 1996)
92. Se7en (Fincher, 1995)
93. Carlito’s Way (De Palma, 1993)
94. Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion (Mirkin, 1997)
95. Un coeur en hiver (Sautet, 1992)
96. The Straight Story (Lynch, 1999)
97. Dong (Tsai, 1998)
98. JFK (Stone, 1991)
99. A Summer’s Tale (Rohmer, 1996)
100. Edward II (Jarman, 1991)

Do you agree? My biggest beefs are the inclusion of Starship Troopers, Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (which had flashes of brilliance but didn't live up to its comic potential); and Everyone Says I Love You, which I thought was horrible. I might be one of the few who enjoyed Trois Couleurs: Bleu (#8) more than Trois Couleurs: Rouge (#3), but was glad to see the underrated Blanc (#87) also made the list. I think it's daring they put Scorsese's Age of Innocence higher than Goodfellas, which is probably unpopular but not really wrong either. I'm also happy with the rankings of Remains of the Day over Howards End; like Sense & Sensibility and The Truman Show where they are; but think Babe could have been higher. --Ellen

P.S.: After actually thinking about films from the '90s I would have added Toy Story/Toy Story 2, The Fugitive, and Out of Sight. That's just off the top of my head though.

Comments

[Marcus on April 07, 2010 at 07:37 PM]

There is absolutely no freaking way Starship Troopers should be on this list. Maybe worst 100. Heinlein is spinning at about 64K rpm, abrading the walls of his coffin, for what they did to his book.

[Will Collier on April 08, 2010 at 06:15 AM]

Starship Troopers?!?! I think you misplaced that travesty from the "worst movies of all time" list.

[jwriddle on April 08, 2010 at 06:20 AM]

I have to agree with Marcus about Starship Troopers. Absolutely one of the worst movies ever.
What the directors of this movie did to Heinlein's book should be grounds for flogging!!!
I also disagree with inclusion of Pulp Fiction, which I regard as a crock of excrement. Of course I think all of Tarentinos movies are in the same catagory.

[Ken on April 08, 2010 at 06:20 AM]

Starship Troopers should indeed be on there. In fact, and at serious risk of pissing everyone off, it was better than the book.

My biggest beef with this list is that I didn't recognize a lot of these movies, which makes me think the list makers are a bunch of pretentious ninnies. I can think of three movies that should definitely have made the list:

The Matrix
Shawshank Redemption
Forrest Gump

And a couple that maybe should have made it:
Pretty Woman
Braveheart
Zero Effect
Austin Powers
Twelve Monkeys
Fight Club
Ronin

I'm sure I could come up with a much better list than the above. Generally, I think the list is pretty poor.

Regards,
Ken

[Reno Sepulveda on April 08, 2010 at 06:22 AM]

MIchael Mann's Heat not in the top 100? Hey at least The Big Lebowski made it, but come on #68?

[Bob Gnarly on April 08, 2010 at 06:26 AM]

I watch Starship Troopers every chance I get. Campy, fun, lots of blood, I'd like to see it on every Top 100 list!=) Now seriously, Eyes Wide Shut at number 7?

[Wood Yi on April 08, 2010 at 06:26 AM]

No Richard Linklaters' Slacker. Lame

[Josh on April 08, 2010 at 06:27 AM]

I was a little surprised at the lack of The Matrix, but I figured, Hey, Scifi films don't normally make these sorts of films, whether or not they massively influence culture--- but STARSHIP TROOPERS?! Really?

[Starman on April 08, 2010 at 06:28 AM]

The whole list is BS...Dumb and Dumber is completely absent....;-)

[James Felix on April 08, 2010 at 06:31 AM]

@Ken

The movie Starship Troopers better than the book? Honestly I don't even know how to rebut that. It's like someone coming in here and asserting a flat Earth or geocentric solar system... one can only gaze in slack-jawed amazement that someone could hold an idea so profoundly and self-evidently wrong.

[Mark on April 08, 2010 at 06:34 AM]

It lost me after number 1 The Thin Red Line. Adding in Starship Troopers at all means they were grasping for movies.

[JohnMc on April 08, 2010 at 06:40 AM]

Forget Troopers, why is Eyes Wide Shut listed in the top ten? It was a dog in the reviews and a classic bomb at the box office. Could it be that the reviewers/selectors for this list are closet Gothers??

[Andrew on April 08, 2010 at 06:41 AM]

"Thin Red Line"? Really? That was a pretentious piece of crap. I almost fell asleep watching that movie.

[Brian on April 08, 2010 at 06:47 AM]

How could Shawshank Redemption and Forrest Gump NOT be on this list of 100 films?

Thin Red Line???

[jim on April 08, 2010 at 06:48 AM]

Some good movies on this list. Also some that I can't believe made it.
FWIW, here is my top 20 taken from this list:
Big Lebowski
Fargo
Unforgiven
Remains of the Day
Pulp Fiction
Magnolia
Schindler's List
Miller's Crossing
Jackie Brown
Being John Malkovich
Lone Star
Dead Man Walking
Groundhog Day
Starship Troopers
Crash
Eve's Bayou
Seven
Carlito's Way
The Straight Story
LA Confidential

[JDW on April 08, 2010 at 06:51 AM]

Farewell My Concubine is one of the most beautiful films ever, nevermind for the 90's. Where is it?

[Robbins Mitchell on April 08, 2010 at 07:01 AM]

Yea,really...being a Heinlein fan,I had read "Starship Troopers" long ago just after it had won the Hugo Award and had been waiting for years for it to be made into a movie...the sheer schlockiness of it disappointed me beyond words....almost as if they were trying to camp it up...it should have gotten a Razzie.

[Ringo on April 08, 2010 at 07:05 AM]

Dissenting opinion: Starship Troopers was a brilliant piece of fascist pop-art. Yeah, wasn't a great recreation of the book, but what fan-boy is ever happy with a movie adaptation? S/T stands on its own in this regard. Watch the special features sometime, or the directors talk over version.

[Miton on April 08, 2010 at 07:08 AM]

Horrible list. How many of these are independent films? That Kieslowski guy must be the best director ever to have three in the top 15. Silence of the Lambs is beaten by such gems as the Ice Storm (awful), Sense and Sensibility (fell asleep), English Patient (fell asleep again) and Ed friggin Wood. Only people who like the history of movies like a movie like Ed Wood. The movie Seven gave me nightmares. Silence of the Lambs is a significant part of our popular culture. "Run Forest, run" and life is "like a box of chocolates" are part of our popular culture. But Forest Gump isn't on the list?

High school history teachers will be showing Saving Private Ryan to their classes 30 years from now. But Romey and Michelle's High School Reunion is on the list.

Crap.

[James Felix on April 08, 2010 at 07:10 AM]

@Ringo

"what fan-boy is ever happy with a movie adaptation?"

Off the top of my head?
Jaws
Goodfellas
The Silence of the Lambs
The 13th Warrior
300
Sin City
Blade Runner

All movies that equalled or surpassed the books they were based on. It's entirely possible to make a good movie out of a good book, unless of course you have zero respect for the source material and decide you want to camp it up.

[Bob453 on April 08, 2010 at 07:11 AM]

The Thin Red Line? Only a film critic could love something that, by their own admission, intentionally confuses its audience.

[Kasper Hauser... on April 08, 2010 at 07:13 AM]

"The Thin Red Line" (a.k.a "Holden Caufield Goes to War") is number 1????

I would rather go through the battle of Guadalcanal personally than watch that boring, self-indulgent and masturbatory piece or crap again.

[Georg Felis on April 08, 2010 at 07:15 AM]

Heh. The reason Starship Troopers gets such great positive and horrible negative marks is because the movie only took the basic premise and character names from the book of the same title, and promptly changed *everything* else. Heck, the *cartoon* did a better job of sticking with the book. If the movie had been called something like "Dominent Species" and renamed all the characters, it would have made almost the same amount of money, and it would not have cheezed off so many of us Heinlein fans.

In short, the movie matches the book as well as "JFK" (#97) matches the facts. Neither of them should be watched as representatives of their origin, but as neat little fantasy movies having no basis in anything else.

Of course that is because I'm "out of touch", having gotten to #17 (Unforgiven) on the list before finding a movie I had actually seen, and #46 (Beauty and the Beast) before finding a movie I really liked, and #85 (The Nightmare Before Christmas) to find a movie I could watch every year.

[John on April 08, 2010 at 07:15 AM]

Apollo 13 belongs on this list, and rather high on it too.

[M. Report on April 08, 2010 at 07:18 AM]

Interesting insight into the minds of the ICS. :)

I agree that these films are masterworks, at expressing
the worldview of the ICS: Depressing, distorted, distopian.

Heinlein's ashes, and those of his wife, were returned
to the Pacific ocean. The water temperature there does
measure slightly above average, but it is a glow of
anticipation; His Future History is right on schedule:
The Crazy Years are coming to and end, and, after a
period of 'Civil Unrest' the survivors will establish
the first mature human society.