When waves of ‘90s nostalgia hit, throwing on Korn or Hootie and the Blowfish’s debut album can sometimes scratch the itch, as can watching seasons of Friends and Seinfeld. But sometimes it takes diving into one of the myriad film classics from the decade to fully deliver peak vibes, and one of the easiest ways to get that fix is with a Netflix subscription. Though the streaming giant’s library of licensed cinema is a shadow of its former self, audiences can still find some of the best movies of the 1990s on the service.
Whether you’re looking for family films, emotional dramas, or action movies that made waves in the 1990s, Netflix has you covered. Check out the best ‘90s movies currently available on the streaming service, while noting that its library does change monthly.
Boyz N The Hood (1991)
Considering how acclaimed and timeless Boyz n the Hood remains this many decades after its release, it’s easy to forget the coming-of-age drama was the first big cinematic claim to fame for co-stars Ice Cube, Cuba Gooding Jr., Nia Long, Morris Chestnut, Angela Bassett and others. And that it was the Oscar-nominated first feature written and directed by John Singleton. The hood-centric tale was inspired both by Singleton’s life and by Rob Reiner’s Stephen King adaptation Stand By Me, with its core characters also violently thrust into a sense of adulthood they perhaps weren’t fully equipped for, with audiences witnessing the after-effects of those life-shaping events. It’s a movie that spawned many copycats that mostly lacked the heart imbued within Tre, Doughboy, Brandi and Ricky.
Desperado (1995)
As the second film in Robert Rodriguez’s Mexico Trilogy (and his filmography on the whole) 1995’s Desperado is also arguably the best of the three, with Antonio Banderas taking over the role of El Mariachi. The tale of revenge over the death of a lover is only on a slightly larger scale than its 1992 predecessor, and was thankfully created at a point before Rodriguez found more commercial success, as its 2003 sequel Once Upon a Time in Mexico upped the ante a bit too considerably. Desperado is shoestring-budgeting at its best, however, bolstered by strong performances from co-stars such as Steve Buscemi, Cheer Marin, Danny Trejo and a breakout performance from Salma Hayek. (Can’t forget about the director’s buddy and co-filmmaker Quentin Tarantino popping up as Pick-Up Guy, either.)
Jurassic Park (1993)
Steven Spielberg jumpstarted the blockbuster era with Jaws in the ‘70s, and reached even greater heights by bringing the CGI era to life with 1993’s Jurassic Park, whose visual effects have held up as well as everything else in this dino-studded extravaganza. (Especially when compared to all the FX-heavy ‘90s movies that haven’t aged as well.) Based on Michael Crichton’s bestselling novel of scientific progress gone kablooey, Jurassic Park boasts everything a classic film should, from a stellar cast (including Jeff Goldblum, Laura Dern, Sam Neill and many more) to a thought-provoking story to clip-worthy sequences to endlessly repeatable quotes. A clever girl indeed.
Fried Green Tomatoes (1991)
The directorial debut for filmmaker Jon Avnet, 1991’s Fried Green Tomatoes is probably remembered less for its direction and cinematography and more for its stellar multi-generational ensemble of actresses at the heart of the comedic drama’s dual timelines. Based on the Fannie Flagg novel, the adaptation centers on the relationship between Kathy Bates’ restless housewife Evelyn and the Oscar-nominated Jessica Tandy’s Ninny, who inspires Evelyn with her engaging and murderous tales from those residing in the long-abandoned town of Whistle Stop. That pair of superstars is complemented by flashback performances from Mary Stuart Masterson, Mary-Louise Parker and Cicely Tyson, not to mention early roles from Chris O’Donnell and Nick Searcy.
Jackie Brown (1997)
With Jackie Brown, writer/director Quentin Tarantino combined his love of Elmore Leonard with his adoration of the blaxploitation era —- it’s his only direct adaptation — and delivered one of his best movies and characters in Pam Grier’s titular flight attendant and occasional money smuggler. The movie features an expectedly twisty crime tale headed up by a slew of other A+ actors such as Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Forster, Robert De Niro, Bridget Fonda, and Michael Keaton (whose ATF Agent Ray Nicolette famously also appears in Steven Soderberg’s Out of Sight). Not to mention smaller roles from In Living Color’s T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh, Friday co-stars Tommy “Tiny” Lister Jr. and Chris Tucker, horror vet Sid Haig, and music legend Tony Curtis.
Beethoven (1994)
The early ‘90s were filled with family movies about a rambunctious child or animal causing increasingly destructive chaos for an otherwise normal family, and director Brian Levant knows a thing or two about it, having followed up on his debut film Problem Child 2 with the star-filled doggie disaster comedy Beethoven. The stress-inducing hijinks are pretty solid, as there are few things more unnerving than taking a face full of water that a huge dog just shook from its fur, but the real winners behind this kid-friendly flick are the screenplay written via pseudonym by John Hughes, and the cast headed up by comedy masterminds Charles Grodin and Bonnie Hunt. (But don’t sleep on Oliver Platt, Stanley Tucci, David Duchovny and Patricia Heaton.)
My Best Friend's Wedding (1997)
Director P.J. Hogan followed up on his acclaimed 1994 dramedy Muriel’s Wedding with another nuptials-centered tale led by a talented cast. This time around, audiences were treated to the dreaming and scheming of My Best Friend’s Wedding, in which Julia Roberts’ Jules realizes her feelings for best friend Michael (Dermot Mulroney) only after she discovers he’s getting married to a younger woman named Kimmy (Cameron Diaz), with Rupert Everrett playing Jules’ gay friend who’s tasked with pretending to be her boyfriend. What could have been a forgetful farce instead turned into one of the most memorable rom-coms in a decade full of memorable examples, with Roberts’ anchoring the shenanigans with ease.
Apollo 13 (1995)
It’s okay if no one can hear you scream in space so long as Tom Hanks is around to calmly alert everyone to ongoing emergencies. Such was the case in Apollo 13, Ron Howard’s star-studded dramatization (not a space pun) of NASA’s calamitous and nearly fatal Apollo 13 lunar mission in 1970. Now a part of the National Film Registry, the suspenseful and inspiring drama focuses on the once-in-a-lifetime mission fronted by astronauts Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert and Fred Haise, whose goal to set up the third moon landing was thwarted by a host of technical setbacks initially sparked by an electrical short. With a huge cast that also included cameos from the real Lovell and his wife Marilyn, Apollo 13 stands the test of time thanks in large part to Howard’s creative team prioritizing the science and authenticity. There's no question why it's one of the best space movies of all time.
L.A. Confidential (1997)
With plenty of Oscar nominations, a boffo box office showing, and a National Film Registry spot to show for its efforts, Curtis Hanson’s 1997 neo-noir crime drama L.A. Confidential is arguably still the most overlooked gem of the 1990s, which makes it such a joy each time one goes back to rewatch the cinematic chronicling of LAPD corruption in 1950s Hollywood. With future headliners Guy Pearce and Russell Crowe as the respective brainy detective and gut-driven cop, L.A. Confidential successfully brings to life the events from James Ellroy’s 1990 novel in compelling and emotional ways, down to its initially unlikeable characters. The film’s dense cast, which also includes Kim Basinger, James Cromwell, Kevin Spacey and Danny DeVito, are all at the top of their games within this sordid and violent world.
Blue Streak (1999)
While none of Martin Lawrence’s non-Bad Boys action movies were anywhere near Michael Bay’s level of explosive bombast, the actor’s efforts in the comedy-action genre still hold up better than a ton of other similar fare from the ‘90s and 2000s. (I’m looking at you, Double Team, Knock Off, and others that don’t necessarily co-star Jean-Claude Van Damme.) In the film, Lawrence plays a thief who poses as a detective in order to retrieve a huge diamond score from years past, with co-stars such as Luke Wilson, Dave Chappelle and Nicole Ari Parker filling out the cast. The film was a huge success when it was released, though the screenplay written to be its sequel was later shifted to become Joel Schumacher’s 2002 film Bad Company.
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
“All that is sequel does not glitter” is a paraphrasing that has long been applicable when talking about Steven Spielberg’s unexpectedly mid return to the Jurassic Park universe with The Lost World. The sequel’s effects and animatronics still hold up quite strongly, even if all the human characters remain somewhat lacking — which is almost a feat for someone like Jeff Goldblum — and it certainly crushed it at the box office at the time. What may help viewers’ appreciation for the comparatively simpler times of The Lost World may be the widely disappointing Jurassic World: Dominion, and the promise of another new Jurassic World project already in development.
To see what upcoming movies that might be making similar lists like this 30 years from now, head to our 2024 movie schedule.
