These 10 Movies Are the Definitive Masterpieces of the '90s

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Marge Gunderson looking up in an office in Fargo

Published Jan 30, 2026, 6:29 PM EST

Shawn Van Horn is a Senior Author for Collider. He's watched way too many slasher movies over the decades, which makes him an aficionado on all things Halloween and Friday the 13th. Don't ask him to choose between Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees because he can't do it. He grew up in the 90s, when Seinfeld, Everybody Loves Raymond, and TGIF were his life, and still watches them religiously to this day. Larry David is his spirit animal. His love for entertainment spreads to the written word as well. He has written two novels and is neck deep in the querying trenches. He is also a short story maker upper and poet with a dozen publishing credits to his name. He lives in small town Ohio, where he likes to watch professional wrestling and movies.

For many, the 1990s are seen as the last pure decade of cinema. It's when movies were at their peak, with so many household names dominating theaters, and box office receipts going up every year. Today, with the theater experience in decline, fewer heavyweight celebrities, so many titles to choose from, and too many sequels at the multiplex, many fans wish they could go back to a simpler era.

Today, more than ever, movies from the 1990s are loved by audiences, even over three decades after they debuted. Call it nostalgia or simply good taste, but the movies of this 10-year era have a strong hold over the masses. The movies on this list are perfection and the definite triumphs of the '90s, representing everything that's great about this seminal period in filmmaking history.

'Groundhog Day' (1993)

It was a Ghostbusters reunion of sorts when Bill Murray reunited with Harold Ramis for Groundhog Day, although Ramis had only a small role as a doctor in the film. Instead, he's the director, and although the movie ended with the real-life friends having a falling out that lasted decades, they made on-screen magic once again. Murray plays Phil Connors, a moody weatherman sent to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, to capture the town's Groundhog Day ceremonies. Connor finds himself waking up on Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney every day, trapped in a time loop he can't escape.

Groundhog Day popularized the repetitive time loop genre we continue to see today with movies like Palm Springs and Happy Death Day. This one is not only the first but the best of the best, thanks to Danny Rubin and Ramis' script, which not only brings the jokes, but is a beautiful romance thanks to the addition of Andie MacDowell as Rita, and the deeper message at hand. Groundhog Day will make you laugh, for sure, while also making you think. It's a movie you could watch every single day again.

'Terminator 2: Judgment Day' (1991)

James Cameron burst onto the scene in 1984 with his second film, The Terminator, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as a cyborg from the future sent back in time to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), the future mother of the human resistance against Skynet. What Cameron created was a terrifying sci-fi horror masterpiece that felt like a slasher with a robot. Seven years later, Cameron, Schwarzenegger, and Hamilton returned, but they weren't interested in doing the same thing twice.

Sequels are often bigger and bolder than what came before, and Terminator 2: Judgment Day is no different. This time, in a perfect twist, Schwarzenegger's character is the good guy, sent back to protect John Connor (Edward Furlong) as a child. Hamilton's Sarah Connor is as badass as ever in this new dynamic, while Robert Patrick's T-1000 liquid metal villain is the most chilling bad guy the king of the action movies ever faced.

'Se7en' (1995)

David Mills (Brad Pitt) with tears in his eyes as he points a gun in 'Seven'

In 1995, David Fincher was just the guy who made the highly disappointing Alien 3, so there was no reason to expect anything much from his follow-up, even if it did star Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. On paper, Se7en could be just another run-of-the-mill thriller about an old and young detective paired together to track down a killer. However, this one excels by going dark and forcing audiences to sit in it.

Se7en is a slow build, with David Mills (Pitt) and William Somerset (Freeman) trying to find the serial killer who murders his victims based on the seven deadly sins. The twist is not when Kevin Spacey enters as the calm madman. No, it's the shocking ending, with one of the most jaw-dropping finales ever put on screen, which left audiences stunned forever and sent Fincher on a path to becoming one of Hollywood's best directors.

'The Matrix' (1999)

1999 was a huge year for movies, and none were more inventive than The Matrix. Written and directed by The Wachowskis, and starring Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Laurence Fishburne, The Matrix revolves around Neo (Reeves), a computer hacker who discovers reality isn't what he thinks. With humans trapped in a simulation known as the Matrix, it's up to Neo to help save humanity.

The Matrix took over pop culture when it came out. No movie had ever looked like this one, with impossible choreography, irresistible cyberpunk style, and humans moving beyond their limitations. It's a sci-fi masterpiece and a beautiful piece of art all in one. None of the sequels could recapture what the first did, yet over a quarter of a century later, the first is more relevant now than ever.

'Toy Story' (1995)

Buzz and Woody racing down a street on a remote control car reaching out and looking stressed in Toy Story.

Toy Story might be the most groundbreaking film of the decade, even more than The Matrix was. In the '90s, hand-drawn animation was still very popular, with Disney rolling out hit after hit. Then along came an unknown animation studio called Pixar with the computer-animated Toy Story. Computer animation had been seen before, but not so lifelike and awe-inspiring as this seminal effort.

Why Toy Story is timeless, however, is not because of its gimmick, but because of the story and characters that audiences love so much. The tale of a child's toys coming to life when humans aren't around is just as enthralling as the animation style. Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) and Woody (Tom Hanks) have a compelling dynamic of enemies turned friends who must work together to get them and their friends back home. Toy Story will make you laugh and cry, and with Toy Story 5 coming out this year, it continues to leave us wanting more.

'Goodfellas' (1990)

Joe Pesci laughing in a bar in Goodfellas

Martin Scorsese won a Best Director Oscar in 2006 (somehow his one and only), but 1990's Goodfellas is arguably his best movie and always will be. Scorsese wrote the film with Nicholas Pileggi, which is based on his book about the real-life informant Henry Hill. The late, great Ray Liotta is the lead as the character, with a stellar cast that also includes Robert De Niro, Lorraine Bracco, and Joe Pesci.

Goodfellas is the quintessential mob movie, with the coolest of anti-heroes, plenty of violence, and a brutal performance by Pesci, who has one of the most uncomfortable scenes and most memorable lines of the decade. Pesci deservedly won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar in the same year that he also starred in Home Alone! Talk about range!

'Fargo' (1996)

Marge Gunderson, sitting in a cop car and looking sad in Fargo

You betcha that this movie was going to be on the list. Joel Coen and Ethan Coen already had a successful resume of quirky hits under their belt before 1996, but it's Fargo that became their pinnacle. The brothers co-wrote the script, which won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, about a murder mystery in the snowy cold of Fargo, North Dakota. It made for a unique setting with Frances McDormand as a very pregnant small-town police chief seeking to track down the culprits of a murder spree.

Fargo, which also stars William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi, and Peter Stormare, is filled with twists and some of the most unique characters you'll ever meet. Watching it all fall apart for the villains is captivating, yet it's McDormand as Marge Gunderson who carries the film as a woman so much more intuitive than anyone gives her credit for. Without her character's intelligence, there is no plot. McDormand was rewarded with an Oscar win for Best Actress.

'Pulp Fiction' (1994)

John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson as Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield wearing black suits and holding a gun in 'Pulp Fiction'

While we wait for what should be Quentin Tarantino's last film, we debate which of his previous ones was the best. There are many great ones to choose from, but in the 1990s, few matched what Pulp Fiction created. The ingenious plot device of showing the scenes out of order only adds to the chaos of this interwoven story, with the main plot point focusing on two hitmen and the chaos they get into with the mob boss' wife.

Tarantino's script pops with witty dialogue, ultra-violence, and coolness. An ensemble cast doesn't get any better than this one, either. We already know how great the likes of Samuel L. Jackson and Harvey Keitel are, yet it's this one that was John Travolta's big comeback, while turning Uma Thurman into an A-lister. When Bruce Willis is killing it in your movie, and he's nowhere near being the lead, you know you've got something special.

'The Silence of the Lambs' (1991)

Hannibal Lecter had been shown on screen before, played by Brian Cox in 1987's Manhunter, but that portrayal had nothing on what Anthony Hopkins created in Jonathan Demme's The Silence of the Lambs. Hopkins isn't the lead here; in fact, he's only in the film for 16 minutes. The story is instead told through a young FBI agent named Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster), a confident woman seeking to catch a serial killer called Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine) with the help of the imprisoned cannibalistic doctor.

There's already a chilling cat-and-mouse film without Dr. Lecter, all leading to a tense climax, yet it's the slowed-down, dialogue-heavy scenes between Lecter and Starling that are the most memorable. The Silence of the Lambs is one of the rare horror movies to be honored by the Academy Awards. It hit a grand slam, racking up wins for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Actress. In the 1990s, it's simply just the best... almost.

'The Shawshank Redemption' (1994)

Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman looking in the same direction in The Shawshank Redemption.

Few authors have had their work adapted as much as Stephen King. The master of horror has seen countless novels and stories turned into terrifying horror movies, so it's a bit of a surprise that his most loved adaptation isn't in the horror genre at all... at least in the traditional sense. Written and directed by Frank Darabont, The Shawshank Redemption follows Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), a man wrongly convicted of killing his wife and lover, who now must endure the hell of prison for decades. Along the way, he becomes friends with the kind Red (Morgan Freeman), while never forgetting his dream of escape.

The Shawshank Redemption is filled with heartbreak and brutality, but it's the hope that keeps viewers coming back three decades later. We want to watch Andy overcome and escape, freeing himself from those who hold him down. It didn't win any of the seven Oscars it was nominated for, and it didn't need to. The audience spoke for it, giving the film the highest rating in the history of IMDb. Get busy watching this one again.

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