Every ’90s Blockbuster Movie Ranked 

Adjusted Score: 106981%

Critics Consensus: The rare sequel that arguably improves on its predecessor, Toy Story 2 uses inventive storytelling, gorgeous animation, and a talented cast to deliver another rich moviegoing experience for all ages.

Adjusted Score: 105528%

Critics Consensus: Entertaining as it is innovative, Toy Story reinvigorated animation while heralding the arrival of Pixar as a family-friendly force to be reckoned with.

Adjusted Score: 101849%

Critics Consensus: It follows a predictable narrative arc, but Good Will Hunting adds enough quirks to the journey — and is loaded with enough powerful performances — that it remains an entertaining, emotionally rich drama.

Adjusted Score: 104385%

Critics Consensus: As both director and star, Clint Eastwood strips away decades of Hollywood varnish applied to the Wild West, and emerges with a series of harshly eloquent statements about the nature of violence.

Adjusted Score: 101528%

Critics Consensus: In recreating the troubled space mission, Apollo 13 pulls no punches: it’s a masterfully told drama from director Ron Howard, bolstered by an ensemble of solid performances.

Adjusted Score: 102109%

Critics Consensus: Exhilarating and intense, this high-impact chase thriller is a model of taut and efficient formula filmmaking, and it features Harrison Ford at his frantic best.

Adjusted Score: 101407%

Critics Consensus: A straightforward thriller of the highest order, In the Line of Fire benefits from Wolfgang Peterson’s taut direction and charismatic performances from Clint Eastwood and John Malkovich.

Adjusted Score: 102645%

Critics Consensus: A funny, tender, and thought-provoking film, The Truman Show is all the more noteworthy for its remarkably prescient vision of runaway celebrity culture and a nation with an insatiable thirst for the private details of ordinary lives.

Adjusted Score: 105599%

Critics Consensus: Director Jonathan Demme’s smart, taut thriller teeters on the edge between psychological study and all-out horror, and benefits greatly from stellar performances by Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster.

Adjusted Score: 100716%

Critics Consensus: A highly entertaining entry in Disney’s renaissance era,” Aladdin is beautifully drawn, with near-classic songs and a cast of scene-stealing characters.

Adjusted Score: 98982%

Critics Consensus: A terrific popcorn thriller, Speed is taut, tense, and energetic, with outstanding performances from Keanu Reeves, Dennis Hopper, and Sandra Bullock.

Adjusted Score: 101250%

Critics Consensus: Anchored by another winning performance from Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg’s unflinchingly realistic war film virtually redefines the genre.

Adjusted Score: 101282%

Critics Consensus: Emotionally stirring, richly drawn, and beautifully animated, The Lion King is a pride within Disney’s pantheon of classic family films.

Adjusted Score: 101295%

Critics Consensus: Enchanting, sweepingly romantic, and featuring plenty of wonderful musical numbers, Beauty and the Beast is one of Disney’s most elegant animated offerings.

Adjusted Score: 99250%

Critics Consensus: Endlessly witty, visually rapturous, and sweetly romantic, Shakespeare in Love is a delightful romantic comedy that succeeds on nearly every level.

Adjusted Score: 98849%

Critics Consensus: One of the most influential films of the 1990s, Pulp Fiction is a delirious post-modern mix of neo-noir thrills, pitch-black humor, and pop-culture touchstones.

Adjusted Score: 97044%

Critics Consensus: John Travolta and Nicolas Cage play cat-and-mouse (and literally play each other) against a beautifully stylized backdrop of typically elegant, over-the-top John Woo violence.

Adjusted Score: 96085%

Critics Consensus: A Bug’s Life is a rousing adventure that blends animated thrills with witty dialogue and memorable characters – and another smashing early success for Pixar.

Adjusted Score: 101937%

Critics Consensus: Jurassic Park is a spectacle of special effects and life-like animatronics, with some of Spielberg’s best sequences of sustained awe and sheer terror since Jaws.

Adjusted Score: 96044%

Critics Consensus: Thanks to a smart script, spectacular set pieces, and charismatic performances from its leads, Men in Black is an entirely satisfying summer blockbuster hit.

Adjusted Score: 96529%

Critics Consensus: T2 features thrilling action sequences and eye-popping visual effects, but what takes this sci-fi/ action landmark to the next level is the depth of the human (and cyborg) characters.

Adjusted Score: 92947%

Critics Consensus: Disney’s Tarzan takes the well-known story to a new level with spirited animation, a brisk pace, and some thrilling action set-pieces..

Adjusted Score: 91380%

Critics Consensus: With a supremely talented cast and just enough midlife drama to add weight to its wildly silly overtones, City Slickers uses universal themes to earn big laughs.

Adjusted Score: 103313%

Critics Consensus: A mostly unqualified triumph for James Cameron, who offers a dizzying blend of spectacular visuals and old-fashioned melodrama.

Adjusted Score: 94561%

Critics Consensus: Thanks to the Wachowskis’ imaginative vision, The Matrix is a smartly crafted combination of spectacular action and groundbreaking special effects.

Adjusted Score: 92757%

Critics Consensus: Perfectly cast and packed with suspense, The Hunt for Red October is an old-fashioned submarine thriller with plenty of firepower to spare.

Adjusted Score: 94914%

Critics Consensus: Flawlessly cast and brimming with dark, acid wit, American Beauty is a smart, provocative high point of late ’90s mainstream Hollywood film.

Adjusted Score: 95979%

Critics Consensus: Dances with Wolves suffers from a simplistic view of the culture it attempts to honor, but the end result remains a stirring western whose noble intentions are often matched by its epic grandeur.

Adjusted Score: 92934%

Critics Consensus: Full of creepy campfire scares, mock-doc The Blair Witch Project keeps audiences in the dark about its titular villain, proving once more that imagination can be as scary as anything onscreen.

Adjusted Score: 92514%

Critics Consensus: M Night Shayamalan’s The Sixth Sense is a twisty ghost story with all the style of a classical Hollywood picture, but all the chills of a modern horror flick.

Adjusted Score: 89746%

Critics Consensus: Exploring themes of family duty and honor, Mulan breaks new ground as a Disney film, while still bringing vibrant animation and sprightly characters to the screen.

Adjusted Score: 90394%

Critics Consensus: James L. Brooks and Jack Nicholson, doing what they do best, combine smart dialogue and flawless acting to squeeze fresh entertainment value out of the romantic-comedy genre.

Adjusted Score: 87901%

Critics Consensus: A rom-com with the right ingredients, Notting Hill proves there’s nothing like a love story well told — especially when Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts are your leads.

Adjusted Score: 91719%

Critics Consensus: While it’s fueled in part by outdated stereotypes, Driving Miss Daisy takes audiences on a heartwarming journey with a pair of outstanding actors.

Adjusted Score: 88761%

Critics Consensus: Anchored by dazzling performances from Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding Jr., and Renée Zellweger, as well as Cameron Crowe’s tender direction, Jerry Maguire meshes romance and sports with panache.

Adjusted Score: 87859%

Critics Consensus: There’s Something About Mary proves that unrelentingly, unabashedly puerile humor doesn’t necessarily come at the expense of a film’s heart.

Adjusted Score: 88769%

Critics Consensus: An old-fashioned courtroom drama with a contemporary edge, A Few Good Men succeeds on the strength of its stars, with Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, and especially Jack Nicholson delivering powerful performances that more than compensate for the predictable plot.

Adjusted Score: 86095%

Critics Consensus: Despite its thin plot, Liar Liar is elevated by Jim Carrey’s exuberant brand of physical humor, and the result is a laugh riot that helped to broaden the comedian’s appeal.

Adjusted Score: 85713%

Critics Consensus: Mike Nichols wrangles agreeably amusing performances from Robin Williams and Nathan Lane in this fun, if not quite essential, remake of the French comedy La Cage aux Folles.

Adjusted Score: 86780%

Critics Consensus: A brutal, relentlessly grimy shocker with taut performances, slick gore effects, and a haunting finale.

Adjusted Score: 86524%

Critics Consensus: As with the first film, Scream 2 is a gleeful takedown of scary movie conventions that manages to poke fun at terrible horror sequels without falling victim to the same fate.

Adjusted Score: 86834%

Critics Consensus: Under Paul Verhoeven’s frenetic direction, Total Recall is a fast-paced rush of violence, gore, and humor that never slacks.

Adjusted Score: 87663%

Critics Consensus: Director Tim Burton’s dark, brooding atmosphere, Michael Keaton’s work as the tormented hero, and the flawless casting of Danny DeVito as The Penguin and Christopher Walken as, well, Christopher Walken make the sequel better than the first.

Adjusted Score: 86802%

Critics Consensus: Sentimental and light, but still thoroughly charming, A League of Their Own is buoyed by solid performances from a wonderful cast.

Adjusted Score: 84569%

Critics Consensus: Horror icon Wes Craven’s subversive deconstruction of the genre is sly, witty, and surprisingly effective as a slasher film itself, even if it’s a little too cheeky for some.

Adjusted Score: 84780%

Critics Consensus: The first and best Pierce Brosnan Bond film, GoldenEye brings the series into a more modern context, and the result is a 007 entry that’s high-tech, action-packed, and urbane.

Adjusted Score: 82686%

Critics Consensus: It misses perhaps as often as it hits, but Jim Carrey’s manic bombast, Cameron Diaz’ blowsy appeal, and the film’s overall cartoony bombast keep The Mask afloat.

Adjusted Score: 82140%

Critics Consensus: Perfecting the formula established in earlier installments, Clear and Present Danger reunites its predecessor’s creative core to solidly entertaining effect.

Adjusted Score: 84347%

Critics Consensus: Though The Green Mile is long, critics say it’s an absorbing, emotionally powerful experience.

Adjusted Score: 86266%

Critics Consensus: An oddball comedy that revels in its silliness and memorable catch phrases, Wayne’s World is also fondly regarded because of its endearing characters.

Adjusted Score: 83198%

Critics Consensus: The Prince of Egypt‘s stunning visuals and first-rate voice cast more than compensate for the fact that it’s better crafted than it is emotionally involving.

Adjusted Score: 82290%

Critics Consensus: This late-period Harrison Ford actioner is full of palpable, if not entirely seamless, thrills.

Adjusted Score: 80178%

Critics Consensus: The Firm is a big studio thriller that amusingly tears apart the last of 1980s boardroom culture and the false securities it represented.

Adjusted Score: 80064%

Critics Consensus: Ghost offers viewers a poignant romance while blending elements of comedy, horror, and mystery, all adding up to one of the more enduringly watchable hits of its era.

Adjusted Score: 79266%

Critics Consensus: Sleepless in Seattle is a cute classic with a very light touch and real chemistry between the two leads — even when spending an entire movie apart.

Adjusted Score: 76411%

Critics Consensus: Looking for a sweet musical comedy about a witness to a crime hiding out from killers in a convent? There’s nun better than Sister Act.

Adjusted Score: 77737%

Critics Consensus: Directed with propulsive intensity by Ron Howard, Ransom is a fiery thriller packed with hot-blooded performances and jolting twists.

Adjusted Score: 76965%

Critics Consensus: Thanks to a charming performance from Julia Roberts and a subversive spin on the genre, My Best Friend’s Wedding is a refreshingly entertaining romantic comedy.

Adjusted Score: 76027%

Critics Consensus: The Santa Clause is utterly undemanding, but it’s firmly rooted in the sort of good old-fashioned holiday spirit missing from too many modern yuletide films.

Adjusted Score: 77303%

Critics Consensus: Forrest Gump may be an overly sentimental film with a somewhat problematic message, but its sweetness and charm are usually enough to approximate true depth and grace.

Adjusted Score: 73713%

Critics Consensus: Disney’s take on the Victor Hugo classic is dramatically uneven, but its strong visuals, dark themes, and message of tolerance make for a more-sophisticated-than-average children’s film.

Adjusted Score: 74834%

Critics Consensus: It isn’t Tim Burton’s best work, but Sleepy Hollow entertains with its stunning visuals and creepy atmosphere.

Adjusted Score: 74029%

Critics Consensus: Great chemistry between the leads made this a warm and charming delight.

Adjusted Score: 73746%

Critics Consensus: An entertaining, topical thriller that finds director Tony Scott on solid form and Will Smith confirming his action headliner status.

Adjusted Score: 74066%

Critics Consensus: It lacks the fresh thrills of its predecessor, but Die Hard 2 still works as an over-the-top — and reasonably taut — big-budget sequel, with plenty of set pieces to paper over the plot deficiencies.

Adjusted Score: 73740%

Critics Consensus: On paper, Mrs. Doubtfire might seem excessively broad or sentimental, but Robin Williams shines so brightly in the title role that the end result is difficult to resist.

Adjusted Score: 72686%

Critics Consensus: If it doesn’t reach the heights of director James Cameron’s and star Arnold Schwarzenegger’s previous collaborations, True Lies still packs enough action and humor into its sometimes absurd plot to entertain.

Adjusted Score: 72947%

Critics Consensus: Analyze This is a satisfying comedy with great performances by De Niro and Crystal.

Adjusted Score: 72121%

Critics Consensus: The plot is thin and so is character development, but as a thrilling, spectacle-filled summer movie, Independence Day delivers.

Adjusted Score: 71420%

Critics Consensus: Contact elucidates stirring scientific concepts and theological inquiry at the expense of satisfying storytelling, making for a brainy blockbuster that engages with its ideas, if not its characters.

Adjusted Score: 70835%

Critics Consensus: Overlong and superficial, A Time to Kill nonetheless succeeds on the strength of its skillful craftsmanship and top-notch performances.

Adjusted Score: 70822%

Critics Consensus: It isn’t terribly deep, but it’s witty and undeniably charming, and the cast is obviously having fun.

Adjusted Score: 70617%

Critics Consensus: A relentlessly stupid comedy elevated by its main actors: Jim Carrey goes bonkers and Jeff Daniels carries himself admirably in an against-type performance.

Adjusted Score: 70481%

Critics Consensus: Critics say Stuart Little is charming with kids and adults for its humor and visual effects.

Adjusted Score: 70609%

Critics Consensus: For visceral thrills, it can’t be beat. Just don’t expect The Rock to engage your brain.

Adjusted Score: 69994%

Critics Consensus: The movie is peppered with amusing sight gags and one-liners, but the disjointed script doesn’t cohere into a successful whole.

Adjusted Score: 69161%

Critics Consensus: Full of special effects, Brian DePalma’s update of Mission: Impossible has a lot of sweeping spectacle, but the plot is sometimes convoluted.

Adjusted Score: 69759%

Critics Consensus: Home Alone‘s uneven but frequently funny premise stretched unreasonably thin is buoyed by Macaulay Culkin’s cute performance and strong supporting stars.

Adjusted Score: 68834%

Critics Consensus: Pretty Woman may be a yuppie fantasy, but the film’s slick comedy, soundtrack, and casting can overcome misgivings.

Adjusted Score: 66585%

Critics Consensus: The Nutty Professor falls back on juvenile humor eagerly and often, but Eddie Murphy’s consistently funny work in dual roles means more for audiences to love.

Adjusted Score: 66545%

Critics Consensus: A high-concept blockbuster that emphasizes special effects over three-dimensional characters, Twister‘s visceral thrills are often offset by the film’s generic plot.

Adjusted Score: 66095%

Critics Consensus: Despite lacking some of the book’s subtler shadings, and suffering from some clumsy casting, Interview with a Vampire benefits from Neil Jordan’s atmospheric direction and a surfeit of gothic thrills.

Adjusted Score: 65294%

Critics Consensus: While it won’t win any awards for originality, the combustible chemistry between its stars means Rush Hour hits just as hard on either side of the action-comedy divide.

Adjusted Score: 65974%

Critics Consensus: So embarrassing it’s believable, American Pie succeeds in bringing back the teen movie genre.

Adjusted Score: 64375%

Critics Consensus: Dick Tracy is stylish, unique, and an undeniable technical triumph, but it ultimately struggles to rise above its two-dimensional artificiality.

Adjusted Score: 63714%

Critics Consensus: It’s difficult to make a persuasive argument for The Mummy as any kind of meaningful cinematic achievement, but it’s undeniably fun to watch.

Adjusted Score: 60882%

Critics Consensus: Charming characters; loads of fun for kids and adults.

Adjusted Score: 62236%

Critics Consensus: Die Hard with a Vengeance benefits from Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson’s barbed interplay, but clatters to a bombastic finish in a vain effort to cover for an overall lack of fresh ideas.

Adjusted Score: 61615%

Critics Consensus: Con Air won’t win any awards for believability – and all involved seem cheerfully aware of it, making some of this blockbuster action outing’s biggest flaws fairly easy to forgive.

Adjusted Score: 61133%

Critics Consensus: Murtaugh and Riggs remain an appealing partnership, but Lethal Weapon 3 struggles to give them a worthy new adventure as it cranks up the camp along with the mean-spiritedness.

Adjusted Score: 62044%

Critics Consensus: A competent, if sometimes by-the-numbers entry to the 007 franchise, Tomorrow Never Dies may not boast the most original plot but its action sequences are genuinely thrilling.

Adjusted Score: 61630%

Critics Consensus: Unevenly echoing the work of Alfred Hitchcock, Basic Instinct contains a star-making performance from Sharon Stone but is ultimately undone by its problematic, overly lurid plot.

Adjusted Score: 56097%

Critics Consensus: George of the Jungle is faithful to its source material — which, unfortunately, makes it a less-than-compelling feature film.

Adjusted Score: 58394%

Critics Consensus: The Lost World demonstrates how far CG effects have come in the four years since Jurassic Park; unfortunately, it also proves how difficult it can be to put together a truly compelling sequel.

Adjusted Score: 56876%

Critics Consensus: Pocahontas means well, and has moments of startling beauty, but it’s largely a bland, uninspired effort, with uneven plotting and an unfortunate lack of fun.

Adjusted Score: 57740%

Critics Consensus: Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington are a compelling team in the overlong Pelican Brief, a pulpy thriller that doesn’t quite justify the intellectual remove of Alan J. Pakula’s direction.

Adjusted Score: 56247%

Critics Consensus: Provides lots of laughs with Myers at the healm; as funny or funnier than the original.

Adjusted Score: 54786%

Critics Consensus: Jet Li’s arrival breathes fresh life into a tired franchise formula — but not enough to put Lethal Weapon 4 on equal footing with its predecessors.

Adjusted Score: 54128%

Critics Consensus: A feast for the eyes with a somewhat malnourished plot, Jumanji is an underachieving adventure that still offers a decent amount of fun for the whole family.

Adjusted Score: 61061%

Critics Consensus: Burdened by exposition and populated with stock characters, The Phantom Menace gets the Star Wars prequels off to a bumpy — albeit visually dazzling — start.

Adjusted Score: 56861%

Critics Consensus: Plagued by mediocre writing, uneven acting, and a fairly by-the-numbers plot, The World Is Not Enough is partially saved by some entertaining and truly Bond-worthy action sequences.

Adjusted Score: 54379%

Critics Consensus: Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves brings a wonderfully villainous Alan Rickman to this oft-adapted tale, but he’s robbed by big-budget bombast and a muddled screenplay.

Adjusted Score: 52788%

Critics Consensus: A meandering, mindless family movie that frequently resorts to special effects and transparent sappiness.

Adjusted Score: 53865%

Critics Consensus: First Wives Club is headlined by a trio of comedic dynamos, but the script lets them down with tepid plotting and a fatal lack of satirical bite.

Adjusted Score: 50369%

Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.

Adjusted Score: 49060%

Critics Consensus: Cliche story with lack of chemistry between Richard Gere and Julia Roberts.

Adjusted Score: 49368%

Critics Consensus: A tidal wave of melodrama sinks Deep Impact‘s chance at being the memorable disaster flick it aspires to be.

Adjusted Score: 44393%

Critics Consensus: Eraser‘s shoot-’em-up action might show off some cutting edge weaponry, but its rote story is embarrassingly obsolete.

Adjusted Score: 44145%

Critics Consensus: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is exactly as advertised: one-liners, brawls, and general silliness. Good for the young at heart, irritating for everyone else.

Adjusted Score: 42882%

Critics Consensus: Doctor Dolittle finds some mirth in the novelty of wisecracking critters, but this family feature’s treacly tone is made queasy by a reliance on scatological gags that undercut the intended warmth.

Adjusted Score: 42369%

Critics Consensus: Neat performance from Glenn Close aside, 101 Dalmatians is a bland, pointless remake.

Adjusted Score: 42387%

Critics Consensus: Adam Sandler acquits himself admirably, but his charm isn’t enough to make up for Big Daddy‘s jarring shifts between crude humor and mawkish sentimentality.

Adjusted Score: 42692%

Critics Consensus: Loud, excessively busy, and often boring, Batman Forever nonetheless has the charisma of Jim Carrey and Tommy Lee Jones to offer mild relief.

Adjusted Score: 44063%

Critics Consensus: Lovely to look at but about as intelligent as the asteroid that serves as the movie’s antagonist, Armageddon slickly sums up the cinematic legacies of producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Michael Bay.

Adjusted Score: 41305%

Critics Consensus: The Bodyguard is a cheesy, melodramatic potboiler with occasional moments of electricity from Whitney Houston.

Adjusted Score: 38908%

Critics Consensus: A change of venue — and more sentimentality and violence — can’t obscure the fact that Home Alone 2: Lost in New York is a less inspired facsimile of its predecessor.

Adjusted Score: 37125%

Critics Consensus: Lurid but acted with gusto, Indecent Proposal has difficulty keeping it up beyond its initial titillating premise.

Adjusted Score: 36238%

Critics Consensus: This is an insult to its genre with low humor and cheap gags.

Adjusted Score: 32993%

Critics Consensus: The look of Hook is lively indeed but Steven Spielberg directs on autopilot here, giving in too quickly to his sentimental, syrupy qualities.

Adjusted Score: 31060%

Critics Consensus: A talented cast fails to save this unremarkable thriller.

Adjusted Score: 25276%

Critics Consensus: The Flintstones wastes beloved source material and imaginative production design on a tepid script that plunks Bedrock’s favorite family into a cynical story awash with lame puns.

Adjusted Score: 23842%

Critics Consensus: A game Julia Roberts gives it her all, but Sleeping with the Enemy is one stalker thriller that’s unlikely to inspire many obsessions of its own.

Adjusted Score: 24200%

Critics Consensus: Contrived performances and over-the-top sequences offer little real drama.

Adjusted Score: 24012%

Critics Consensus: Syrupy performances and directing make this dramedy all too obvious.

Adjusted Score: 21904%

Critics Consensus: Nature Calls in this Ace Ventura sequel, and it’s answered by the law of diminishing returns.

Adjusted Score: 26306%

Critics Consensus: Without compelling characters or heart, Godzilla stomps on everything that made the original (or any monster movie worth its salt) a classic.

Adjusted Score: 21114%

Critics Consensus: Bombastic, manic, and largely laugh-free, Wild Wild West is a bizarre misfire in which greater care was lavished upon the special effects than on the script.

Adjusted Score: 17174%

Critics Consensus: Joel Schumacher’s tongue-in-cheek attitude hits an unbearable limit in Batman & Robin resulting in a frantic and mindless movie that’s too jokey to care much for.