Goodfellas, Malcolm X, LA Confidential, Leaving Las Vegas, Schindler’s List, The Shawshank Redemption, Grave of the Fireflies, Pulp Fiction, etc.
Forrest Gump
I can’t think of another decade packed with so many excellent and substantial movies.
What says you mate?
Nope
The 1970s.
Just a short list…
1999, with American Beauty, Fight Club, Being John Malkovich, The Matrix, Iron Giant, The Sixth Sense, and Eyes Wide Shut, was a high-water mark for independent films and their concepts making it to a large release on the big screen. But like H.S.T. said, that’s the “place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.”
Comparing it to other decades is foolish.
Yeah, 70s. New Hollywood still hasn’t been topped.
While the 90s really did crank out memorable big screen productions, they seemed far apart, except for the period 1993-1994. And then there was Titanic. Besides that, not much in the way of good adaptations of stage musicals. This also must have been the decade of the remake. Lastly, you can’t make Leo Dicaprio and Brad Pitt act well by giving them Oscar-winning supporting actors and actresses.
nevadaexile got that list by going to DigitalDreamDoor, a website that gives the best films of each decade. I give below the list for each decade that the website lists. Using those lists, you can decide for yourself. It’s not a perfect set of lists, but it’s a place to start:
That makes me add “Three Kings” and “The Green Mile” to the 1999 list; that was a hell of a year.
97 had the first billion dollar movie, Titanic.
The problem with 99 was that Star Wars ep1 came out a month after The Matrix, sending the entire industry into a downward spiral of FX over substance.
A period which gave us Jurssaic Park.
Also The Mask and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. I had to say it. Jim Carrey’s 90s films are guilty pleasures of mine.
There really are some great films on that 90s list. I’m not sure we should have to get all the way down to #24 for Toy Story. I know it’s not about the Holocaust or mobsters, but it deserves better. Better than fucking Braveheart anyway.
Anyway, the 90s isn’t old enough to be the best yet. Give it another 10 or 20 years and people will be raving about it.
Wait, wait, wait.
Jurassic Park: #32?
The Lion King: #70?!?
I know we could do this all day according to our own tastes and favourites, but honestly!
That is where I got the list.
I had added 12 of my own choices last night but Straight Dope apparently ate my post. They were all ironically the same as ones on the list above.
I have seen all but six films on the list and with one or two exceptions I have to say that I agree with it. I would have included Trouble Man,Detroit 9000 Across 110th Street.
For the 90’s comedys…American Pie, Clerks and Dazed and Confused are tough to beat. I would say the 70’s and 90’s are pretty much tied when it comes to best movies though. I still don’t know what happened in the 80’s, even the tv shows were bad.
The 80’s had some rocking films. I still watch tron, terminator, indy 3, short circuit, the living dead series and robocop.
I blame george w. bush for the crap like 3 men and a baby, and all the films matthew broderick made. Oh, and that guy who made all those teen angst films should be shot: sixteen candles, say anything, breakfast club, etc.
TV was awesome: cosby show, head of the class, cheers, etc. etc. etc.
Grave of the FireFlies is from 1988.
Groundhog Day, 1993. /thread
Oh, another thing to throw into the discussion: there were a lot more movies made since the 90’s than any other time in history. Remember back in the 70’s, a movie would play for 1-2 months in the good theater, then 1-2 months in the small theater, then 3-6 months in the drive in? Nowadays, movies come out so often they barely stay in the theater for a month. Last I checked, movie to dvd takes less than 4 months.
That being said, it’s not possible that the 70’s had more good movies than the 90’s, and it’s highly likely that the 90’s had more bad movies than the 70’s. While it is possible that the good movies from the 70’s may or may not be better than the good movies of the 90’s, almost by default the 90’s has to have more good movies than any previous time period. When we look back at 2000-2009, we’re probably going to say the same thing.
One more thing to throw into the mix: when was the last time a movie truly scared you? For most people, that would be when they were 8-12 years old. If you saw the godfather at the exact age where you could understand it, you’ll probably think it’s a better movie than the matrix. However, the person who saw the matrix at the perfect age will never be convinced the godfather is better.
I felt that 96-03 was a little golden age.
70s. End of discussion.
Exactly. Hollywood grew up and was making films that were both serious and popular. They were exploring grown up themes and treated things in grown up ways.
Then came Jaws. And Star Wars.
Don’t get me wrong – they are both great films. But they showed that the audience would happily go to a certain type of film multiple times, making them massive box office hits. And the audience most willing to do this was teenage boys. By the end of the decade, that became the ideal demographic, and films with adult themes slowly became far more rare. Look at movies today: nearly all are action-adventure and animated films.
It’s one reason why the best drama today is on TV (cable, streaming, and broadcast).
If you want to consider a specific genre, I feel that the golden age for science fiction films ran from 1968 to 1977. It was a period when SF films were often about ideas. Then Star Wars came along and science fiction became sci-fi.