Looking back, the 1990s feel like a time of unbridled prosperity — especially when it comes to movies. In putting together our list of the best '90s movies on HBO Max, Mashable found that many of today's modern classics were borne of this weird, wonderful decade.
Some '90s films were so iconic that we've already got them in our exhaustive list of the best movies on HBO Max from any era. That's why you won't see The Matrix or Tom Hanks bangers like You've Got Mail and A League of Their Own — because that man is the best of the '90s!
So pour yourself a Zima and disconnect that landline. Here are the 19 best '90s movies on HBO Max.
1. Speed
Tom Cruise may have needed it, but Keanu Reeves redefined speed with this 1994 action thriller. A Los Angeles bus is strapped with a bomb that will go off if the bus drives too slowly, so LAPD Officer Jack Traven (Reeves) boards the bus to save everyone on it. The film takes place in real-time on the bus, where passengers panic and search desperately for a solution, all while Jack tracks the bomber and everyone must keep the bus traveling fast enough. Director Jan de Bont delivers a film so rife with adrenaline that finishing it feels like getting off a rollercoaster. Come for the thrills; stay for Sandra Bullock. — Proma Khosla, Entertainment Reporter
How to watch: Speed(opens in a new tab) is now streaming on HBO Max.(opens in a new tab)
2. The Mummy
They just don't make 'em like The Mummy anymore.
It’s a period supernatural action movie underscored by smoldering chemistry between an Egyptologist and an outrageously charming himbo with the job description “adventurer,” and there are locusts. The Mummy came out at the peak of Brendan Fraser's powers as bona fide movie star and stands as the breakout Hollywood performance of Rachel Weisz, who's still reminding everyone who's in charge with roles like Sarah Churchill in The Favourite and Melina Voskoff in Marvel's Black Widow.
The Mummy is the perfect late '90s blend of romance, humor, weird CGI, and genuine fun in a popcorn movie package. — Alexis Nedd, Senior Entertainment Reporter
How to watch: The Mummy(opens in a new tab) is now streaming on HBO Max.(opens in a new tab)
3. I Know What You Did Last Summer
Grab your dirtiest rain coat and scariest hook, because it's the Fourth of July in Southport! This schlocky 1997 offering from director Jim Gillespie is full of bad acting, worse writing, and some of the most outright unlikable victims in all of horror. So why recommend it?
First, there's an inherent enjoyment to this cast, composed of '90s darlings Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, and Freddie Prinze Jr. They bounce off each other in a way that's unique to this specific era of movie, and just too earnestly goofy to pass up.
And second, it's freakin' I Know What You Did Last Summer. Whether you've seen the ridiculous story of a fisherman out for revenge against some idiot teens or not, it has been mimicked and parodied ever since its release. It's one of those foundational flicks you just need to make time for. — A.F. *
How to watch: I Know What You Did Last Summer(opens in a new tab) is now streaming on HBO Max(opens in a new tab).
4. Princess Mononoke
Princess Mononoke is hands down one of Hayao Miyazaki’s best movies, and that’s saying something because it has some stiff competition. It’s an epic fantasy that tells the interweaving stories of Ashitaka, a prince burdened with a curse, and San, a woman raised by wolves. They find themselves embroiled in a war between god and man, nature and technology.
One of the most exciting things about Princess Mononoke is its moral ambiguity: Characters on either side of the conflict genuinely believe they’re doing the right thing, even if it’s at the expense of others. On top of that, the animation is gorgeous (but what else would you expect from Studio Ghibli?), as is Joe Hisaishi’s score. You’ll be immediately immersed in a world of forest gods, demons, and epic battles, and you’ll be unable to tear yourself away until the movie is over. — Belen Edwards, Entertainment Fellow
How to watch: Princess Mononoke(opens in a new tab) is now streaming on HBO Max.(opens in a new tab)
5. Blade
Marvel's vampire-hunting vampire — or "Daywalker," in the parlance of the comics — has yet to make his MCU debut, but 10 years before Robert Downey Jr. suited up as Iron Man for the first time we met Wesley Snipes' take on Blade. While filmmaker Stephen Norrington's first crack at the character would eventually be exceeded in Guillermo del Toro's 2002 sequel (also streaming on HBO Max(opens in a new tab)), Blade introduced us to a fascinating character and monster-heavy spin on the Marvel universe that was propelled mostly by a gloriously icy and cool performance from Snipes.
-Adam Rosenberg, Senior Entertainment Reporter & Weekend Editor
How to watch: Blade (opens in a new tab)is now streaming on HBO Max(opens in a new tab).
6. Space Jam
There can be no debate over the best sports movie of the '90s — nay, of history. Space Jam stars Michael Jordan as himself, a retired basketball player and underwhelming baseball player who gets caught in an all-star game for the ages. The cartoon Monstars, a group of aliens from Moron Mountain, have stolen the basketball talent of prolific NBA players, and it's up to Jordan and the Looney Tunes to beat them in a game and set things right. With signature Looney Tune one-liners, high-stakes athletic competition with a lot of heart, and a surprising amount of Bill Murray, Space Jam still scores big. — P.K.
How to watch: Space Jam(opens in a new tab) is now streaming on HBO Max.(opens in a new tab)
7. Happy Gilmore
The '90s were prime years for Adam Sandler, movie star, and Happy Gilmore remains one of his most beloved comedies from the era. (Though if you're more of a (opens in a new tab)Billy Madison(opens in a new tab) fan, HBO Max has that one, too.(opens in a new tab)) Sandler plays a middling hockey player who turns out to be a fantastic golfer, upending the genteel sport with his brash persona and attention-grabbing antics — so much so that he attracts the ire not only of golf pro Shooter McGavin (Christopher McDonald, delivering one of the most delightfully punchable faces of all time) but The Price is Right host Bob Barker.
Like Happy himself, Happy Gilmore isn't for everyone. But those who love classic Sandler will find few better examples of his winning combination of goofball humor, bottomless rage, and disarming sweetness. - Angie Han, Deputy Entertainment Editor
How to watch: Happy Gilmore(opens in a new tab) is now streaming on HBO Max.(opens in a new tab)
8. Jerry Maguire
Tom Cruise may be better known these days for his action derring-do than his romantic charisma, but he delivered one of the most winning love stories of the ’90s in Jerry Maguire.
Written and directed by Cameron Crowe with his signature idealism, the film stars Cruise as a sports agent who experiences a conscience of crisis. He strikes out on his own in pursuit of a more honest and humane approach to the job, but in the process loses the support of most of his colleagues, most of his clients, and his own fiancée. What he gains, instead, is true love with Dorothy (Renée Zellweger), quality time with her adorable son Ray (Jonathan Lipnicki), a genuine friendship with his only client Rod (Cuba Gooding Jr.) — and the enduring affection of generations of moviegoers. — A.H.
How to watch: Jerry Maguire(opens in a new tab) is now streaming on HBO Max(opens in a new tab).
9. Pulp Fiction
In the almost 20 years since Pulp Fiction hit theaters, Quentin Tarantino has become many things to many people — but Pulp Fiction remains some of his best work. Based on the violence and rapport of pulp novels and magazines, the film follows Vincent (John Travolta) and Jules (Samuel L. Jackson) in various chapters of their life of crime. But if you've seen Pulp Fiction or been vehemently told to, you know this isn't a film for story. It's a film you watch for structure, for style, for self-awareness and genre-bending and the alchemical pairing of Travolta and Jackson. The only itch you can scratch in watching Pulp Fiction is wanting to watch Pulp Fiction — and for that, nothing else comes close. — P.K.
How to watch: Pulp Fiction(opens in a new tab) is now streaming on HBO Max.(opens in a new tab)
10. Boogie Nights
As with its protagonist, there's more to Boogie Nights than one really big dick — though that dick is famous for good reason. Paul Thomas Anderson's breakout feature is an intoxicating ride through the porn industry from the late 1970s through the early 1980s. The cast is top-notch: Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, Burt Reynolds, Don Cheadle, John C. Reilly, Heather Graham, and Philip Seymour Hoffman all come out to play. The soundtrack is glittery disco perfection. So are the costumes and sets.
Its central story, about the meteoric rise and fall of porn star Dirk Diggler (Wahlberg), follows familiar beats, but there's nothing generic about its sense of time and place, and nothing predictable about its audacious style and depth of feeling. — A.H.
How to watch: Boogie Nights(opens in a new tab) is now streaming on HBO Max.(opens in a new tab)
11. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is the only traditionally animated Batman movie to get a theatrical release. It is also a masterpiece of '90s Batman storytelling. In Mask, which takes place outside the canon of Batman: The Animated Series but is created by the same team, another side of Bruce Wayne's origin story emerges when he meets a childhood friend at his family’s grave and falls for her. This rare love story reframes Bruce's later transformation into Batman as a horrific choice to abandon his chance at a normal life and actively embrace the tortured life of a vigilante, a choice that comes back to haunt him years later in the form of the mysterious villain The Phantasm. — A.N.
How to watch: Batman: Mask of the Phantasm(opens in a new tab) is now streaming on HBO Max.(opens in a new tab)
12. The Shawshank Redemption
Based on a Stephen King novella, The Shawshank Redemption follows the sentence of Andy (Tim Robbins), convicted of murdering his wife and her lover in cold blood. While doing time he befriends Red (Morgan Freeman) and forms other alliances, adjusting to prison life but never eliminating dreams of escape.
Like the best prison dramas, parts of Shawshank are genuinely difficult to watch. Andy witnesses rampant corruption and power abuse within the system, as well as how prison deteriorates the mental health of the long-incarcerated — who sometimes cannot reclaim their lives even after making parole. Andy's story often triumphs, but it is those whose end in tragedy that leave a mark. —P.K.
How to watch: The Shawshank Redemption(opens in a new tab) is now streaming on HBO Max(opens in a new tab).
13. Sneakers
This enduring cult hit from the early years of the information age casts Robert Redford as Martin Brice, who heads up a group of cybersecurity specialists — a cast that includes Dan Aykroyd, Sidney Poitier, David Strathairn, and River Phoenix — who help clients harden their digital defenses against hacker intrusions. Their safe world is torn asunder when a new government client leads the group to a powerful and unique decoder capable of breaking any encryption. The plot thickens further when Martin learns that everything he's dealing with has an unexpected tie to a dark moment from his past. Also starring Ben Kingsley and Mary McDonnell. — A.R.
How to watch: Sneakers(opens in a new tab) is now streaming on HBO Max.(opens in a new tab)
14. The Crow
The Crow is a comic book superhero movie from before everything was a comic book superhero movie, centering on a rock musician (Brandon Lee, who died making the film) who's brought back from the dead to avenge his own murder, along with that of his fiancée's. But what really makes The Crow special is that it is a mood: dripping with goth style, drowning in unbridled angst, and vibing to an incredible soundtrack that includes The Cure, Nine Inch Nails, and Rage Against the Machine.
It's so cherished even to this day that there's been a reboot in the works off and on for a decade now — but forget about that. The original remains a rare and precious gem even to this day. - A.H.
How to watch: The Crow(opens in a new tab) is now streaming on HBO Max.(opens in a new tab)
15. Eyes Wide Shut
Who's ready to get extremely uncomfortable?
Starring Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise from right before their highly-publicized divorce, this 1999 erotic thriller tells the story of a well-to-do couple whose marriage takes a turn for the scandalous when wife Alice (Kidman) tells her husband Bill (Cruise) she had been contemplating an affair.
The last title from historic director Stanley Kubrick, who died shortly after producing his first rough cut of the project to Warner Bros., Eyes Wide Shut adapts an old German novella into a breakneck journey through the dark and mysterious underbelly of New York City. It's a mesmerizing watch that picks apart the sometimes insidious connection between eroticism and anonymity, and features plenty of the iconic Kubrick shooting style cinephiles have come to cherish. It's divisive, yes, but has also proven itself more visionary with age(opens in a new tab). — A.F.
How to watch: Eyes Wide Shut(opens in a new tab) is now streaming on HBO Max(opens in a new tab).
16. My Girl
Weeping over My Girl at a slumber party was practically a rite of passage in the early ’90s. Unlike some childhood pastimes, however, it’s one that retains its bittersweet charms for adults as well.
Anna Chlumsky stars as Vada, who deals with the harsh realities of love, death, and change over the course of a single summer. As a nerdy 11-year-old growing up in a funeral home (run by her dad, played by Dan Aykroyd), Vada is precocious in the way of so many insufferable movie kids — but what makes My Girl so moving is that it sees through those quirks to the more complicated emotional turmoil underneath. Her story culminates in a heartbreaker of a climax involving her best friend (Macaulay Culkin), a mood ring, and a bunch of bees, that still has us tearing up 30 years later. —A.H.
How to watch: My Girl(opens in a new tab) is now streaming on HBO Max(opens in a new tab).
17. Point Break
Point Break is about as flawless a distillation of early '90s film trends as any movie can get. There's palpable awe for surfers, bank robberies, a zany FBI agent played by Gary Busey, and the eroticization of male friendship bordering on obsession between Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves. When Reeves' FBI agent Johnny Utah (also a very '90s name) needs to infiltrate California's surf scene to track down a crew of bank robbers, he can't blend in until he catches the attention of Bodhi (Swayze), the crew's super charismatic and reckless leader. Utah's tight-laced attitude doesn't last long under Bodhi’s influence, and the conflict of Bodhi's dark charm and Utah's mission leads to an action-packed crisis of conscience. And skydiving. A conflict of crisis and skydiving. — A.N.
How to watch: Point Break(opens in a new tab) is now streaming on HBO Max.(opens in a new tab)
18. Wag the Dog
Director Barry Levinson directs this blisteringly funny political satire scripted by David Mamet and Hilary Henkin, and starring the powerhouse duo of Robert De Niro and Dustin Hoffman. De Niro plays Conrad Brean, an ace political fixer and spin doctor who's called in by Winifred Ames (Anne Heche), a White House aide, after the U.S. president is caught in a sex scandal just a couple weeks before the upcoming election. To redirect the public's attention, Brean hires Hollywood super-producer Stanley Motss (Hoffman) to help him cook up a staged war in Albania and give the media something to focus on that's more compelling than a sex scandal. It works at first, but things quickly spiral out of control. — A.R.
How to watch: Wag the Dog(opens in a new tab) is now streaming on HBO Max.(opens in a new tab)
19. The Last Boy Scout
It may not be the best-known buddy action comedy of the '90s, but it's the only one that teams up Bruce Willis and Damon Wayans. It also takes a hard look at professional football, tying up the movie's fictionalized league in a big-money corruption plot that's exposed when Damon's Jimmy Dix, a disgraced ex-quarterback, sets out to investigate the murder of someone who was close to him. That leads him to the doorstep of Joe Hallenbeck (Willis), an ex-Secret Service agent-turned-private detective who has demons and vices of his own. — A.R.
How to watch: The Last Boy Scout(opens in a new tab) is now streaming on HBO Max.(opens in a new tab)
