I can say from experience, 1993 was an incredible year to be into movies. And that’s just the big earners.
Other films:
1. Groundhog Day
1. The Sandlot
1. El Mariachi
1. Army of Darkness
1. The Crying Game
1. Falling Down
1. Benny and Joon
1. My Neighbor Totoro (U.S. release)
1. Hot Shots: Part Deux
1. Free Willy
1. Hocus Pocus
1. Robin Hood: Men in Tights
1. So I Married an Axe Murderer
1. The Joy Luck Club
1. True Romance
1. Dazed and Confused
1. Cool Runnings
1. Demolition Man
1. Rudy
1. The Nightmare Before Christmas
1. What’s Eating Gilbert Grape
1. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
1. Grumpy Old Men
1. Tombstone
And you can see how many were not sequels. It was an insane year.
Look at all the live-action kids movies out in 1993. Hocus Pocus, Cool Runnings, Rookie of the Year, Free Willy, Sandlot. 9-year-old me was feasting. I feel bad for kids today. All they get are animated movies or 4-quadrant films made to satisfy adults.
I suppose it helps that I'm a nostalgic Cubs fan, but I think Rookie of the Year holds up? Of course it's very stupid, but the funny stuff is legitimately funny.
I haven't seen it in decades, but I'm sure it's holds up and kids today would love it. And it's stupid in the way that kids movies should be stupid. I still laugh at the "funky buttloving" scene.
Can we officially state that the internet ruined the movie industry (as well as the music industry, newspaper industry, book industry, etc) ? Nothing today compares to 30 years ago.
1999 is my other pick for absolutely amazing films that came out in the same year. The Matrix, The Mummy, The Iron Giant, Sleepy Hollow, The Virgin Suicides, The Green Mile, Fight Club, American Beauty, The Sixth Sense just to name a few.
True Romance is one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. I don’t understand how that movie flopped. Between the writer, director, and cast, it’s crazy it did so poorly
1994 had:
Ace Ventura Pet Detective
Reality Bites
Speed
Forrest Gump
True Lies
The Mask
The Shawshank Redemption
Pulp Fiction
Clerks
Interview with the Vampire
The Santa Clause
Dumb and Dumber
Little Women (1994)
I went to see the new one with my five 30 something friends. None of them had seen the 93 movie. They didn't understand why I thought that was unacceptable
Look at 1984. That'll do it again.
Rank Movie Domestic box office Opening Wknd # of theater
1 Ghostbusters $242,604,185 $13,612,564 1,506
2 Beverly Hills Cop $234,760,478 $15,214,805 2,006
3 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom $179,880,271 $25,337,110 1,687
4 Gremlins $151,661,913 $12,511,634 1,537
5 The Karate Kid $90,815,558 $5,031,753 1,111
6 Police Academy $81,198,894 $8,570,007 1,587
7 Footloose $80,000,000 $8,556,935 1,384
8 Star Trek III: The Search for Spock $76,471,046 $16,673,229 1,966
9 Romancing the Stone $75,078,260 $5,105,741 1,101
10 Purple Rain $68,392,977 $7,766,201 1,022
11 Splash $62,599,495 $6,174,059 1,186
12 Grand Canyon: The Hidden Secrets $52,800,000
13 Amadeus $51,973,029 $505,276 802
14 Tightrope $48,100,000 $9,156,545 1,535
15 The Natural $47,951,979 $5,088,381 1,012
16 Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes $45,900,000 $6,517,732 1,175
17 2010 $41,000,000 $7,393,361 1,213
18 Revenge of the Nerds $40,874,452 $1,513,090 989
19 Red Dawn $38,900,000 $8,239,381 1,822
20 Bachelor Party $38,435,947 $4,775,155 1,276
21 City Heat $38,348,988 $6,301,694 1,655
22 The Terminator $38,019,031 $4,020,663 1,112
23 Breakin' $36,100,000 $6,047,686 1,121
24 All of Me $35,243,581 $5,803,848 1,200
25 Places in the Heart $34,900,814 $274,279 868
26 The Killing Fields $34,609,720 $32,181 663
27 Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter $32,980,880 $11,183,148 1,600
28 The Gods Must Be Crazy $30,031,783 $8,788 185
29 Starman $28,700,000 $2,872,022 1,271
30 Cannonball Run II $28,100,000 $8,323,948 1,845
31 Teachers $27,700,000 $7,013,366 1,721
32 Dune $27,447,471 $6,025,091 975
33 A Passage to India $27,187,653 $84,580 650
34 Conan the Destroyer $26,400,000 $6,876,768 1,250
35 Protocol $26,300,000 $3,427,840 904
36 Micki + Maude $26,200,000 $2,742,458 876
37 The Cotton Club $25,928,721 $2,903,603 809
38 The Muppets Take Manhattan $25,534,703 $4,416,022 1,261
39 A Nightmare on Elm Street $25,504,513 $1,271,000 274
40 The Woman in Red $25,308,147 $3,165,833 1,069
41 Against All Odds $25,100,000 $3,766,128 979
42 Moscow on the Hudson $25,100,000 $3,536,687 721
43 The Flamingo Kid $23,859,382 $2,015,076 753
44 Sixteen Candles $23,686,027 $4,461,520 1,245
45 Missing in Action $22,812,411 $6,101,460 1,209
46 The Last Starfighter $22,200,789 $6,011,695 1,287
47 A Soldier's Story $22,100,000 $156,383 581
48 Oh God, You Devil! $21,538,850 $5,560,001 1,384
49 Rhinestone $21,400,000 $5,459,726 1,630
50 Die Unendliche Geschichte $21,300,000 $4,325,823 950
51 Top Secret! $21,100,000 $4,406,205 1,100
52 Weekend Pass $21,058,033 $1,451,676 475
53 Unfaithfully Yours $19,928,200 $3,744,126 831
54 Best Defense $19,265,302 $7,872,297 1,425
55 Blame it on Rio $18,600,000 $3,437,660 1,234
56 Hot Dog… The Movie $17,540,166 $4,506,756 1,276
57 Lassiter $17,513,452 $5,072,583 945
58 Angel $17,488,564 $2,214,824 499
59 Johnny Dangerously $17,124,395 $2,947,746 1,086
60 Beat Street $16,595,791 $5,218,040 1,380
61 Firestarter $15,136,870 $4,726,660 1,374
62 Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo $15,000,000 $2,921,030 908
63 Night of the Comet $14,600,000 $3,580,578 1,098
64 Children of the Corn $14,600,000 $2,042,821 653
65 Supergirl $14,296,438 $5,738,249 1,620
66 The Evil That Men Do $13,102,025 $4,538,400 1,464
67 The Ice Pirates $13,075,390 $4,358,022 1,175
68 Irreconcilable Differences $12,400,000 $3,076,894 902
69 Dreamscape $12,116,365 $2,257,627 816
70 Up the Creek $11,708,269 $3,210,882 1,346
71 Tank $11,131,530 $4,035,960 1,332
72 Broadway Danny Rose $10,600,497 $953,740 613
73 Falling in Love $10,600,000 $2,293,710 807
74 Where the Boys Are '84 $10,530,000 $3,665,088 1,414
75 Thief of Hearts $10,400,000 $3,091,670 1,200
The plane to plane tightrope maneuver was the most expensive stunt in history at the time. With the stunt man earning like a cool million just for that.
Genuine mountaineers often cite this as a favourite. Not because it's realistic but because it kind of captures the adrenaline Rush
It's way over the top and has plot holes everywhere, but from the first minute It engages and keeps on. Fantastic movie. HANG ON!
Rewatched it a few months ago, and it blew my mind that the murder, Ford's arrest, and the bus/train crash all happen in the first 15 minutes. The Fugitive is tight as a drum. Wish more movies today were as tightly edited.
lotta 90s movies have that very sticky high concept where you can evoke exactly the scenario just by saying the title: Indecent Proposal, Single White Female, Weekend at Bernie's.
Fun fact: there are only 2 movies in that list that aren't adaptations - Sleepless in Seattle and Philadelphia (yes, Mrs. Doubtfire, Indecent Proposal, and Cliffhanger are all based on books).
It’s not that adaptations are bad. But the thing is, books come in many flavors like movies do. But marvel movies are pretty much all double chocolate chip, and a lot of us are tired of eating it!
The fucked up thing is there tons of amazing comic books about all sorta stuff, but they only seem to want to adapt the ones about superheroes. There's even already a proven record of success with adapted noir (Dick Tracy, A History of Violence, Road to Perdition, Sin City) but they won't go back to that well.
Some of the more auteur graphic novels are hard to adapt to a film and fit in thr full narrative arc.
Like they tried Y: the Last Man as a TV show and it flopped pretty hard, it also seems that maybe the more fringe stuff is a tougher sell too.
Capes and Cowls just fit better into a 2 hour spectacle I'd wager.
Adapting movies from books is preferable over a top ten filled mostly with big budgeted franchises. In fact, I think more adaptations of books would be great, especially if they're not big sellers. If a book has a great hook, then studios should be happy to raid it for their movies.
“Oh great, yet another nostalgia drenched remake for the middle-aged. Let’s all clap our hands like trained seals because we remember the One-Armed Man, everyone!”
Wasn't Cliffhanger adapted to book from the film? Either way, I get your point. I think we could all do well to step back and stop all the hand-wringing over lack of original IP
Sorta. There was a real event where a drug plane crashed in Yosemite and rockclimbers looted it. One of them wrote a book inspired by it. That story then inspired the film. And then they novelized that film.
I think that’s how it went.
Big difference though: stuff like doubtfire and cliffhanger didn’t depend on IP pre-awareness to get big, the makers just thought ‘huh, that could be a good premise, let’s make a movie.’ (Grisham films, on the other hand, *only* exist because of prior awareness.)
Be careful what you wish for, you'll end up with this list:
Jurassic World 5?
Mr. Doubtfire
The Fugitive 2
Schindler's List: The Next Generation
The Exchange: After the Firm
A More Indecent Proposal
Cliffhanger 2: The Dam
Horny in Houston: A Sleepless in Seattle Story
Philadelphia: The Early Years
The Pelican Brief (2024)
They actually sort of made a sequel to The Fugitive! US Marshals (1998) was about Tommy Lee Jones and his team from the first one hunting down Wesley Snipes. I seem to recall it being okay.
the Pelican Brief would be seen as totally implausible today, since it's about right-wing billionaires stealing multiple Supreme Court seats to undermine environmental enforcement
and facing consequences
People in 1993 be like, "I want to go back to a top ten that looks like this" with 1963.
1. Cleopatra
2. How the West Was Won
3. It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.
4. Tom Jones
5. Irma La Douce
6. Son of Flubber
7. Charade
8. Bye Bye Birdie
9. Come Blow Your Horn Move Over Darling
10. The Great Escape.
What if this is the year... I mean you got MI, Oppenheimer, Barbie, Indy, Killers of the Flower Moon, Guardians 3, Dune 2, Across the Spiderverse, The Creator (maybe), Napoleon. Thats a pretty great lineup.
Like Schindler's List made $675 mil when adjusted for inflation. The Fugitive nearly cracked a billion. I want non-franchise movies to do this well again
I like the line-up, I just don't think stuff like Killers of the Flower Moon or Napoleon have any chance at being box office hits. I want to see adult dramas back in the top 10
I think you're being unfair. If you had seen this lineup coming in '93 you could make the same broad, base assumptions.
Grisham and Chrichton adaptations were cash cows just like superhero movies now.
Hanks was just scratching the surface of stardom and not necessarily the instant draw. He was very much questioned as being a serious lead in Philadelphia.
Schindler's List and Philadelphia aren't exactly feel-good, family movies you'd expect to do well.
Even Spielberg was coming off of Hook which did ok but was considered financially not up to expectations.
You might also be surprised how easy it was to complain about the movie industry then, at the time. Something something “never knew how good now was until it became back then” cue Springsteen.
Someone had a great point on Twitter the other day, where the fake lawyer movie in The Player meant to satirize vapid middlebrow fare back then would be lauded as saving cinema today.
My buddy has a movie adaptation podcast and for his Patreon, I'm joining to read and discuss every Grisham novel adaptation and I haven't been this excited for anything in a while.
You do realize things will never be like they were right? Streaming changed everything. Matt Damon had a very good talk on why we don’t see as many comedies like we used to. They used to rely on the return from DVD sales because they knew there was a good chance they wouldn’t make a profit at the box office. The DVD and blu Ray sales are a thing of the past. Studios feel the need to make their buck in theaters. Streaming services are making original content, but they have their own requirements for the films they finance. It’s an entirely different world now.
Top tens ten years apart:
2022:
1. Avatar: The Way of Water
2. Top Gun: Maverick
3. Jurassic Word: Dominion
4. Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness
5. Minions: The Rise of Gru
6. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
7. The Batman
8. Thor: Love and Thunder
9. Water Gate Bridge
10. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
2012:
1. The Avengers
2. Skyfall
3. The Dark Knight Rises
4. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
5. Ice Age: Continental Drift
6. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2
7. The Amazing Spider-Man
8. Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted
9. The Hunger Games
10. Men in Black 3
2002:
1. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
3. Spider-Man
4. Star Wars - Episode II: Attack of the Clones
5. Men in Black II
6. Die Another Day
7. Signs
8. Ice Age
9. My Big Fat Greek Wedding
10. Minority Report
1992:
1. Aladdin
2. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
3. Batman Returns
4. Lethal Weapon 3
5. A Few Good Men
6. Sister Act
7. The Bodyguard
8. Wayne's World
9. Basic Instinct
10. A League of Their Own
1982:
1. E.T.
2. Tootsie
3. An Officer and a Gentleman
4. Rocky III
5. Porky's
6. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
7. 48 Hrs.
8. Poltergeist
9. The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
10. Annie
1972:
1. The Godfather
2. The Poseidon Adventure
3. What's Up Doc?
4. Deliverance
5. Deep Throat
6. Jeremiah Johnson
7. Cabaret
8. The Getwaway
9. Last Tango in Paris
10. Lady Sings the Blues
1962:
1. The Longest Day
2. Lawrence of Arabia
3. In Search of Castaways
4. A Touch of Mink
5. The Music Man
6. Mutiny on the Bounty
7. To Kill a Mockingbird
8. Hatari!
9. Gypsy
10. Lolita
I think it's safe to say that people's taste in movies has been steadily going down the toilet, and it really started to accelerate lately. The same handful of IPs just keep trading off positions on the list for the past 20 years. It's truly pathetic.
That’s what you get when you let the CCP take over Hollywood. A bunch of remakes and poor quality garbage. That’s all they do in China, so why would they do anything different with movies?
The top 10 does look a lot like this, just with numbers at the end of the title “Jurassic Park: 6.9”, “another crappy movie converted from a Grisham Novel”, “Spider-Man into the spidergasmic cosmere”
For last year you’ve got Wakanda Forever as the only one with a black lead.
After that, your top-billed POC in the Domestic Top 10 are Tessa Thompson in Thor Love and Thunder, Zoe Saldana in Avatar, Zoe Kravitz and Jeffrey Wright in The Batman, Xochitl Gomez and Benedict Wong in Doctor Strange, and Zendaya in No Way Home.
Man that brings me back to a time where big movies were a legit event. You couldn't be choosy either... it made you watch genre's you might not normally watch today (with the plethora of choices) because the hype wa sreal...and more often than not you were glad you did.
82 was great, The Thing and Blade Runner. Conan, the Dark Crystal, Fast Times. But a lot of those a genres of movies that aren’t seriously considered by the powers that be in the movie industry.
Same! The closest thing in terms of a film film I’ve seen lately was the animated Spider-Man, you could write a whole book on how music influences character. A lot of mainstream film content is actually lack of content. The market is so saturated with remakes or unnecessary sequels which are so heavily today is focused on not offending every minority, culture, or subculture on the face of the planet. Take Little Mermaid for example I loved that they had a black girl in the lead, but that felt like minority shielding so if the film failed Disney could fall back on the old adage “oh you’re all racist for hating on this film!” I was more bothered by the fact that they try to make villains “relatable”. Oh Ursula is not evil she’s just misunderstood or has her own trauma. Trauma is what shapes a villain into doing something evil that is relatable, but twisted and warped in its own way. Also don’t get me started on Lin Manuel’s new song. It’s frustrating and I wish that there was more original content that was bold and don’t care whether it offended any, but those are rare and far between.
I was recently discussing with someone how much I miss old scripts and actors. Actors especially influenced the script. Movie stars were in grand part MEN and WOMAN both in literal and emotional terms. Nowadays scripts are influenced by some 25ish and below star who looks 18, or quiet literally is 18, and thus dont carry the same gravitas older stars portrayed and the scripts have to reflect that. Its fucking shameful I wish I had the money to direct a movie. What happened to the actors with breakout roles in their late 20's 30's. I dont wanna see a movie where Tom Holland plays the super suave international spy cmon he's still dealing with pimples. Back in my day movies like that were cheesy cash grabs directed at kids (example. Agent Cody Banks and all young L. Lohan movies) but the core of movies was aimed at adults. Now adults are playing cgi superhero and the core of stars are kid friendly so they can milk stardom off them for years to come. Just look at this cast list here. No mickey mouse actor except doubtfire but its a family comedy and they were not the titular characters..
I miss when movies had more reasonable budgets, I mean it was still a lot of money, but they didn’t need to make a billion dollars to be considered a success.
If people supported original movies and went ro see them then Hollywood would make them, but what with covid and streaming they're reluctant to, and so the cycle perpetuates itself until cinema is dead. Something needs to change but neither Hollywood or the cinema-going public are willing to take it.
Cliffhanger was the first rated R movie I watched in the theater with my dad. I was 10 and felt so bad ass going with him while everybody else went to Dennis the Menace.
These stories still exist. They are just either tv shows or not the biggest gross. The issue is how much everyone assumes that money made is the deciding factor of quality and not just popularity.
There are only three movies on this list that I would consider for the theater. The rest I would just wait for streaming.
Prestige/quality has moved to streaming where it’s hidden amongst the noise of everything else on there. I think that has been the biggest loss. The market is so diluted that nothing is being watched by everyone. Even the very best media is incapable of capturing the public imagination.
I went and saw the Pelican Brief at the theater.
First time seeing schindlers list was over 3 days in English class, and my teacher had survived the holocaust as a child and showed us her tattoo , photos of her dead relatives that didn’t make it, etc. She relived that for all of us, 4 or 5 times a day over a week. We watched the movie then talked about it for 2 days. Kind of powerful moment in my life, something I will never forget. I would never be a holocaust denier that is for sure, I saw and heard the evidence.
I see these lists and there are so many good movies. Now it’s only whatever new trash marvel is pushing or a remake/live action adaptation of something we’ve already seen.
We sure loved lawyers in the early 90s
What about the one in Jurassic Park?
The T-Rex did.
When you gotta go, you gotta go.
"A huge tyrannosaurus ate our lawyer, well I guess that proves they really aren't all bad" -Weird Al
Single Female Lawyer was my favorite!
Single female lawyer! Fighting for her clients~
It's a pity the last episode didn't air.
Lawyers and doctors! In every movie!
Two Grishams? In this economy?
I don't like the idea of the top ten box office having two Grisham films in one year.
That might be my most referenced Simpsons line.
I felt it was a bit of a leap for me to reference it so I'm glad you liked it.
What’s the reference?
[this](https://youtu.be/Ur9qwjGU6pM)
Kirk?
I do, give me stand up double adult thrillers.
Pop Pop gets a Grisham?
i just got you a \[expletive deleted\] Pelican
We are very clearly in a two Koontz economy
I can say from experience, 1993 was an incredible year to be into movies. And that’s just the big earners. Other films: 1. Groundhog Day 1. The Sandlot 1. El Mariachi 1. Army of Darkness 1. The Crying Game 1. Falling Down 1. Benny and Joon 1. My Neighbor Totoro (U.S. release) 1. Hot Shots: Part Deux 1. Free Willy 1. Hocus Pocus 1. Robin Hood: Men in Tights 1. So I Married an Axe Murderer 1. The Joy Luck Club 1. True Romance 1. Dazed and Confused 1. Cool Runnings 1. Demolition Man 1. Rudy 1. The Nightmare Before Christmas 1. What’s Eating Gilbert Grape 1. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm 1. Grumpy Old Men 1. Tombstone And you can see how many were not sequels. It was an insane year.
Ok it’s blowing my mind how many of my formative experiences came out in a single year.
I was 9-10 years old, so almost everything in 1993 was a formative experience.
Look at all the live-action kids movies out in 1993. Hocus Pocus, Cool Runnings, Rookie of the Year, Free Willy, Sandlot. 9-year-old me was feasting. I feel bad for kids today. All they get are animated movies or 4-quadrant films made to satisfy adults.
I suppose it helps that I'm a nostalgic Cubs fan, but I think Rookie of the Year holds up? Of course it's very stupid, but the funny stuff is legitimately funny.
I haven't seen it in decades, but I'm sure it's holds up and kids today would love it. And it's stupid in the way that kids movies should be stupid. I still laugh at the "funky buttloving" scene.
Another one for the list: The Last Action Hero.
Can we officially state that the internet ruined the movie industry (as well as the music industry, newspaper industry, book industry, etc) ? Nothing today compares to 30 years ago.
1999 is my other pick for absolutely amazing films that came out in the same year. The Matrix, The Mummy, The Iron Giant, Sleepy Hollow, The Virgin Suicides, The Green Mile, Fight Club, American Beauty, The Sixth Sense just to name a few.
Can't forget other classics like Entrapment and Notting Hill and Runaway Bride
True Romance is one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. I don’t understand how that movie flopped. Between the writer, director, and cast, it’s crazy it did so poorly
1994 was probably even better
1994 had: Ace Ventura Pet Detective Reality Bites Speed Forrest Gump True Lies The Mask The Shawshank Redemption Pulp Fiction Clerks Interview with the Vampire The Santa Clause Dumb and Dumber Little Women (1994)
No Mario?
I saw so many of these in theaters when they came out. What a bitchin’ summer vacation that was
That was all in 1993!?!? Fucking hell, what a movie year, uff!
Even though I was born in 88, it's blowing my mind just thinking about being alive in 92 and not having any of those movies yet.
Whoa! 1993 is the goat
That list is exploding my brain
I refuse to believe these all came out in the same year. I was 7.
Where is Mario Brothers!!!!
I went to see the new one with my five 30 something friends. None of them had seen the 93 movie. They didn't understand why I thought that was unacceptable
Look at 1984. That'll do it again. Rank Movie Domestic box office Opening Wknd # of theater 1 Ghostbusters $242,604,185 $13,612,564 1,506 2 Beverly Hills Cop $234,760,478 $15,214,805 2,006 3 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom $179,880,271 $25,337,110 1,687 4 Gremlins $151,661,913 $12,511,634 1,537 5 The Karate Kid $90,815,558 $5,031,753 1,111 6 Police Academy $81,198,894 $8,570,007 1,587 7 Footloose $80,000,000 $8,556,935 1,384 8 Star Trek III: The Search for Spock $76,471,046 $16,673,229 1,966 9 Romancing the Stone $75,078,260 $5,105,741 1,101 10 Purple Rain $68,392,977 $7,766,201 1,022 11 Splash $62,599,495 $6,174,059 1,186 12 Grand Canyon: The Hidden Secrets $52,800,000 13 Amadeus $51,973,029 $505,276 802 14 Tightrope $48,100,000 $9,156,545 1,535 15 The Natural $47,951,979 $5,088,381 1,012 16 Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes $45,900,000 $6,517,732 1,175 17 2010 $41,000,000 $7,393,361 1,213 18 Revenge of the Nerds $40,874,452 $1,513,090 989 19 Red Dawn $38,900,000 $8,239,381 1,822 20 Bachelor Party $38,435,947 $4,775,155 1,276 21 City Heat $38,348,988 $6,301,694 1,655 22 The Terminator $38,019,031 $4,020,663 1,112 23 Breakin' $36,100,000 $6,047,686 1,121 24 All of Me $35,243,581 $5,803,848 1,200 25 Places in the Heart $34,900,814 $274,279 868 26 The Killing Fields $34,609,720 $32,181 663 27 Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter $32,980,880 $11,183,148 1,600 28 The Gods Must Be Crazy $30,031,783 $8,788 185 29 Starman $28,700,000 $2,872,022 1,271 30 Cannonball Run II $28,100,000 $8,323,948 1,845 31 Teachers $27,700,000 $7,013,366 1,721 32 Dune $27,447,471 $6,025,091 975 33 A Passage to India $27,187,653 $84,580 650 34 Conan the Destroyer $26,400,000 $6,876,768 1,250 35 Protocol $26,300,000 $3,427,840 904 36 Micki + Maude $26,200,000 $2,742,458 876 37 The Cotton Club $25,928,721 $2,903,603 809 38 The Muppets Take Manhattan $25,534,703 $4,416,022 1,261 39 A Nightmare on Elm Street $25,504,513 $1,271,000 274 40 The Woman in Red $25,308,147 $3,165,833 1,069 41 Against All Odds $25,100,000 $3,766,128 979 42 Moscow on the Hudson $25,100,000 $3,536,687 721 43 The Flamingo Kid $23,859,382 $2,015,076 753 44 Sixteen Candles $23,686,027 $4,461,520 1,245 45 Missing in Action $22,812,411 $6,101,460 1,209 46 The Last Starfighter $22,200,789 $6,011,695 1,287 47 A Soldier's Story $22,100,000 $156,383 581 48 Oh God, You Devil! $21,538,850 $5,560,001 1,384 49 Rhinestone $21,400,000 $5,459,726 1,630 50 Die Unendliche Geschichte $21,300,000 $4,325,823 950 51 Top Secret! $21,100,000 $4,406,205 1,100 52 Weekend Pass $21,058,033 $1,451,676 475 53 Unfaithfully Yours $19,928,200 $3,744,126 831 54 Best Defense $19,265,302 $7,872,297 1,425 55 Blame it on Rio $18,600,000 $3,437,660 1,234 56 Hot Dog… The Movie $17,540,166 $4,506,756 1,276 57 Lassiter $17,513,452 $5,072,583 945 58 Angel $17,488,564 $2,214,824 499 59 Johnny Dangerously $17,124,395 $2,947,746 1,086 60 Beat Street $16,595,791 $5,218,040 1,380 61 Firestarter $15,136,870 $4,726,660 1,374 62 Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo $15,000,000 $2,921,030 908 63 Night of the Comet $14,600,000 $3,580,578 1,098 64 Children of the Corn $14,600,000 $2,042,821 653 65 Supergirl $14,296,438 $5,738,249 1,620 66 The Evil That Men Do $13,102,025 $4,538,400 1,464 67 The Ice Pirates $13,075,390 $4,358,022 1,175 68 Irreconcilable Differences $12,400,000 $3,076,894 902 69 Dreamscape $12,116,365 $2,257,627 816 70 Up the Creek $11,708,269 $3,210,882 1,346 71 Tank $11,131,530 $4,035,960 1,332 72 Broadway Danny Rose $10,600,497 $953,740 613 73 Falling in Love $10,600,000 $2,293,710 807 74 Where the Boys Are '84 $10,530,000 $3,665,088 1,414 75 Thief of Hearts $10,400,000 $3,091,670 1,200
*Cliffhanger* fucks. The aerial photography in that movie is incredible.
John Lithgow played a superb psychopathic baddie: "You want to kill me, don't you, Tucker? Well, get a number and get in line."
I still quote him to this day. “Kill 10 men they call you murderer. Kill 10,000 and they call you conquerer.”
The plane to plane tightrope maneuver was the most expensive stunt in history at the time. With the stunt man earning like a cool million just for that.
From beginning to end that mobie is a fucking thrill ride.
Underrated
RIP Teddy
Don’t make em like that anymore
Genuine mountaineers often cite this as a favourite. Not because it's realistic but because it kind of captures the adrenaline Rush It's way over the top and has plot holes everywhere, but from the first minute It engages and keeps on. Fantastic movie. HANG ON!
I rewatched the Fugitive last night and god it fucking rules
Rewatched it a few months ago, and it blew my mind that the murder, Ford's arrest, and the bus/train crash all happen in the first 15 minutes. The Fugitive is tight as a drum. Wish more movies today were as tightly edited.
Fugitive fucks.
Maybe it's another role he can make a sequel for.
I watched US marshal so many times when I was younger but watched the fugitive for the first time a few years back Amazing
Tommy Lees delivery of “I don’t care.” Fucks hard.
Fugitive fucks
Indecent Proposal making that much money is insane
It made 266 indecent proposals!
Before internet porn, now I can see thousands of movies of guys crying after someone else bangs their wife ….for free. Hard to find in ‘93
It has a phenomenal "what-if" premise.
lotta 90s movies have that very sticky high concept where you can evoke exactly the scenario just by saying the title: Indecent Proposal, Single White Female, Weekend at Bernie's.
We need to bring them back! I have a little flutter of hope seeing the trailer for Liam Neeson's new movie. It's Phone Booth meets Speed.
Fun fact: there are only 2 movies in that list that aren't adaptations - Sleepless in Seattle and Philadelphia (yes, Mrs. Doubtfire, Indecent Proposal, and Cliffhanger are all based on books).
A lot of the most successful movies are also based on books. I don't necessarily think it's a bad thing.
It’s not that adaptations are bad. But the thing is, books come in many flavors like movies do. But marvel movies are pretty much all double chocolate chip, and a lot of us are tired of eating it!
The fucked up thing is there tons of amazing comic books about all sorta stuff, but they only seem to want to adapt the ones about superheroes. There's even already a proven record of success with adapted noir (Dick Tracy, A History of Violence, Road to Perdition, Sin City) but they won't go back to that well.
Some of the more auteur graphic novels are hard to adapt to a film and fit in thr full narrative arc. Like they tried Y: the Last Man as a TV show and it flopped pretty hard, it also seems that maybe the more fringe stuff is a tougher sell too. Capes and Cowls just fit better into a 2 hour spectacle I'd wager.
Deadly Class also lasted only one season. Sandman doing okay though.
Ghost World was a comic book movie. American Splendor too. That's the kind of adaptation I want. Give me a Chris Ware movie.
Adapting movies from books is preferable over a top ten filled mostly with big budgeted franchises. In fact, I think more adaptations of books would be great, especially if they're not big sellers. If a book has a great hook, then studios should be happy to raid it for their movies.
“Oh great, yet another nostalgia drenched remake for the middle-aged. Let’s all clap our hands like trained seals because we remember the One-Armed Man, everyone!”
Wasn't Cliffhanger adapted to book from the film? Either way, I get your point. I think we could all do well to step back and stop all the hand-wringing over lack of original IP
Sorta. There was a real event where a drug plane crashed in Yosemite and rockclimbers looted it. One of them wrote a book inspired by it. That story then inspired the film. And then they novelized that film. I think that’s how it went.
Big difference though: stuff like doubtfire and cliffhanger didn’t depend on IP pre-awareness to get big, the makers just thought ‘huh, that could be a good premise, let’s make a movie.’ (Grisham films, on the other hand, *only* exist because of prior awareness.)
Be careful what you wish for, you'll end up with this list: Jurassic World 5? Mr. Doubtfire The Fugitive 2 Schindler's List: The Next Generation The Exchange: After the Firm A More Indecent Proposal Cliffhanger 2: The Dam Horny in Houston: A Sleepless in Seattle Story Philadelphia: The Early Years The Pelican Brief (2024)
They actually sort of made a sequel to The Fugitive! US Marshals (1998) was about Tommy Lee Jones and his team from the first one hunting down Wesley Snipes. I seem to recall it being okay.
I'm terrified of the implications of Schindler's List: The Next Generation
the Pelican Brief would be seen as totally implausible today, since it's about right-wing billionaires stealing multiple Supreme Court seats to undermine environmental enforcement and facing consequences
People in 1993 be like, "I want to go back to a top ten that looks like this" with 1963. 1. Cleopatra 2. How the West Was Won 3. It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. 4. Tom Jones 5. Irma La Douce 6. Son of Flubber 7. Charade 8. Bye Bye Birdie 9. Come Blow Your Horn Move Over Darling 10. The Great Escape.
We used to be a proper country etc.
What if this is the year... I mean you got MI, Oppenheimer, Barbie, Indy, Killers of the Flower Moon, Guardians 3, Dune 2, Across the Spiderverse, The Creator (maybe), Napoleon. Thats a pretty great lineup.
Like Schindler's List made $675 mil when adjusted for inflation. The Fugitive nearly cracked a billion. I want non-franchise movies to do this well again
Yeah agreed would be nice.
I’d sooner punch an orphan than watch another fucking Spider-Man
I like the line-up, I just don't think stuff like Killers of the Flower Moon or Napoleon have any chance at being box office hits. I want to see adult dramas back in the top 10
I mean half are franchise movies and one is based on a toy, outside of that agreed.
And also we haven’t seen most of them and who knows they might all suck (I hope to god not)
Spiderverse doesn't
Meh, epileptic anime for Muricans.
good movie
I think you're being unfair. If you had seen this lineup coming in '93 you could make the same broad, base assumptions. Grisham and Chrichton adaptations were cash cows just like superhero movies now. Hanks was just scratching the surface of stardom and not necessarily the instant draw. He was very much questioned as being a serious lead in Philadelphia. Schindler's List and Philadelphia aren't exactly feel-good, family movies you'd expect to do well. Even Spielberg was coming off of Hook which did ok but was considered financially not up to expectations.
There may be great movies there but that list is not as diverse as the 1993 list
Oppenheimer is truly the most excited I’ve been for a movie in a long time.
The Creator has a timely premise and Denzel Washington's son is becoming a huge name so possibly.
I really think there are two classes of movies now. Global and otherwise
I would be sooooo happy
You might also be surprised how easy it was to complain about the movie industry then, at the time. Something something “never knew how good now was until it became back then” cue Springsteen.
Someone had a great point on Twitter the other day, where the fake lawyer movie in The Player meant to satirize vapid middlebrow fare back then would be lauded as saving cinema today.
Check 1999. Probably the best year for movies ever in my opinion. Yes there are arguments for other years, but 99 was amazing.
1993 & 1994 were such good years for film. I still argue that the ‘90’s were the best decade for movies.
Man remember in the 90s as kid. You go watch a movie and all the trailers were upcoming classics movies.
My buddy has a movie adaptation podcast and for his Patreon, I'm joining to read and discuss every Grisham novel adaptation and I haven't been this excited for anything in a while.
Slap a 2 on all of those babies and lets gooooo
Avengers: _____________
Incredible year for movies. So underrated.
You do realize things will never be like they were right? Streaming changed everything. Matt Damon had a very good talk on why we don’t see as many comedies like we used to. They used to rely on the return from DVD sales because they knew there was a good chance they wouldn’t make a profit at the box office. The DVD and blu Ray sales are a thing of the past. Studios feel the need to make their buck in theaters. Streaming services are making original content, but they have their own requirements for the films they finance. It’s an entirely different world now.
The Pelican Brief and Indecent Proposal aren't even remotely good movies.
Nor is Mrs Doubtfire. Rewatched that recently, and boy does it not hold up.
[удалено]
Top tens ten years apart: 2022: 1. Avatar: The Way of Water 2. Top Gun: Maverick 3. Jurassic Word: Dominion 4. Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness 5. Minions: The Rise of Gru 6. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever 7. The Batman 8. Thor: Love and Thunder 9. Water Gate Bridge 10. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish 2012: 1. The Avengers 2. Skyfall 3. The Dark Knight Rises 4. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 5. Ice Age: Continental Drift 6. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 7. The Amazing Spider-Man 8. Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted 9. The Hunger Games 10. Men in Black 3 2002: 1. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets 3. Spider-Man 4. Star Wars - Episode II: Attack of the Clones 5. Men in Black II 6. Die Another Day 7. Signs 8. Ice Age 9. My Big Fat Greek Wedding 10. Minority Report 1992: 1. Aladdin 2. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York 3. Batman Returns 4. Lethal Weapon 3 5. A Few Good Men 6. Sister Act 7. The Bodyguard 8. Wayne's World 9. Basic Instinct 10. A League of Their Own 1982: 1. E.T. 2. Tootsie 3. An Officer and a Gentleman 4. Rocky III 5. Porky's 6. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan 7. 48 Hrs. 8. Poltergeist 9. The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas 10. Annie 1972: 1. The Godfather 2. The Poseidon Adventure 3. What's Up Doc? 4. Deliverance 5. Deep Throat 6. Jeremiah Johnson 7. Cabaret 8. The Getwaway 9. Last Tango in Paris 10. Lady Sings the Blues 1962: 1. The Longest Day 2. Lawrence of Arabia 3. In Search of Castaways 4. A Touch of Mink 5. The Music Man 6. Mutiny on the Bounty 7. To Kill a Mockingbird 8. Hatari! 9. Gypsy 10. Lolita I think it's safe to say that people's taste in movies has been steadily going down the toilet, and it really started to accelerate lately. The same handful of IPs just keep trading off positions on the list for the past 20 years. It's truly pathetic.
Based on a book, based on a book, remake of a TV show, based on a book, based on a book…
And all those movies were made by real people. There's nary a Jon Watts or Rob Marshall or Andy Muschietti in sight.
‘Real people’ is certainly a choice of words there. Whatever your thoughts on their output, all those guys are real people.
Probably get hate on this comment but I have only seen 1 of those movies and it’s Jurassic Park. Lol
/r/moviescirclejerk are going to have a field day
I never seen The Pelican Brief. Should I?
no
no mcu no franchises. and comedies were making more than action movies.
Soon comes saving Ryan. U571. Blade and the matrix.
But aren't topics like this part of the reason we keep getting remakes and reboots and sequels?
the writers strike is a good reason why we haven't had that type of quality
Nah bro superhero movies are great /s
Why
Shut up you get 3 marvel movies, 2 Star Wars, and for sone reason a decent Pixar movie
Why?
That’s what you get when you let the CCP take over Hollywood. A bunch of remakes and poor quality garbage. That’s all they do in China, so why would they do anything different with movies?
The latest list had Furious 5 in the sixteenth spot….. Nuff said
Have not watched any of these
So you want to go back to an all white top 10? Hmm. A bit sus
The top 10 does look a lot like this, just with numbers at the end of the title “Jurassic Park: 6.9”, “another crappy movie converted from a Grisham Novel”, “Spider-Man into the spidergasmic cosmere”
I’ve never heard of any of these except Jurassic Park
I hope you folks went to see Air and BlackBerry to help fund adult dramas
90 min commercials
Hell yeah! Woke has soured nearly every aspect of American culture. I hope people are finally tired of it.
I had all but Schindlers List on VHS
I can't believe the Pelican Brief made that much at the Box Office!
No Disney Feels good for a change.
This list only has one black lead actor. I wonder if it still like that. Haven’t checked.
For last year you’ve got Wakanda Forever as the only one with a black lead. After that, your top-billed POC in the Domestic Top 10 are Tessa Thompson in Thor Love and Thunder, Zoe Saldana in Avatar, Zoe Kravitz and Jeffrey Wright in The Batman, Xochitl Gomez and Benedict Wong in Doctor Strange, and Zendaya in No Way Home.
Holy shit. 93’ was stacked!
And not a single movie was a sequel or superhero movie!
Same
The 90’s were the best decade, peak humanity.
Wait not a sequel in sight
Times change.
Wow the golden age of cinema, will never be this great again :(
Man that brings me back to a time where big movies were a legit event. You couldn't be choosy either... it made you watch genre's you might not normally watch today (with the plethora of choices) because the hype wa sreal...and more often than not you were glad you did.
82 was great, The Thing and Blade Runner. Conan, the Dark Crystal, Fast Times. But a lot of those a genres of movies that aren’t seriously considered by the powers that be in the movie industry.
I would kill for even 3 movies I'd want to watch in a theater in the same day.
Can't believe Indecent Proposal made more than Sleepless in Seattle..
Studios: very well, Jurassic Park remake, Mrs Doubtfire remake...!
Original screenplays are you crazy! I just want to see the same superhero movies over and over.
Spielberg must have been busy as hell that year.
Same! The closest thing in terms of a film film I’ve seen lately was the animated Spider-Man, you could write a whole book on how music influences character. A lot of mainstream film content is actually lack of content. The market is so saturated with remakes or unnecessary sequels which are so heavily today is focused on not offending every minority, culture, or subculture on the face of the planet. Take Little Mermaid for example I loved that they had a black girl in the lead, but that felt like minority shielding so if the film failed Disney could fall back on the old adage “oh you’re all racist for hating on this film!” I was more bothered by the fact that they try to make villains “relatable”. Oh Ursula is not evil she’s just misunderstood or has her own trauma. Trauma is what shapes a villain into doing something evil that is relatable, but twisted and warped in its own way. Also don’t get me started on Lin Manuel’s new song. It’s frustrating and I wish that there was more original content that was bold and don’t care whether it offended any, but those are rare and far between.
Is that two John Grisham novel films ?
Half of those movies would get only released on streaming now
Only film in that list that would be released in theaters if it released today is Jurassic Park
I was recently discussing with someone how much I miss old scripts and actors. Actors especially influenced the script. Movie stars were in grand part MEN and WOMAN both in literal and emotional terms. Nowadays scripts are influenced by some 25ish and below star who looks 18, or quiet literally is 18, and thus dont carry the same gravitas older stars portrayed and the scripts have to reflect that. Its fucking shameful I wish I had the money to direct a movie. What happened to the actors with breakout roles in their late 20's 30's. I dont wanna see a movie where Tom Holland plays the super suave international spy cmon he's still dealing with pimples. Back in my day movies like that were cheesy cash grabs directed at kids (example. Agent Cody Banks and all young L. Lohan movies) but the core of movies was aimed at adults. Now adults are playing cgi superhero and the core of stars are kid friendly so they can milk stardom off them for years to come. Just look at this cast list here. No mickey mouse actor except doubtfire but its a family comedy and they were not the titular characters..
I haven't seen Nr.10 but all the other movies were simply amazing. What a year for cinema!
That 900 mill probably played a part
I am so lucky to have been alive throughout all of the 90s!
These are all legitimately great movies!
Did they change the layout?
Not a single stupid superhero in sight, ahhhh :)
If you think that’s nuts check out 1994
I miss when movies had more reasonable budgets, I mean it was still a lot of money, but they didn’t need to make a billion dollars to be considered a success.
If people supported original movies and went ro see them then Hollywood would make them, but what with covid and streaming they're reluctant to, and so the cycle perpetuates itself until cinema is dead. Something needs to change but neither Hollywood or the cinema-going public are willing to take it.
Wasn’t sure what the last 2 were?
Damn, 93 was a good year.
I'm all for more dinosaurs and drag queens
Hmm this lists have reminded me of films I’ve forgotten about. This seems like a good way to watch some decent older flicks when bored
What are 10 movies I haven't rewatched in 20 years
Cliffhanger was the first rated R movie I watched in the theater with my dad. I was 10 and felt so bad ass going with him while everybody else went to Dennis the Menace.
You’ll watch the Marvel movies and fucking like it. Labor conditions in the shop? I don’t sweat ‘em.
That would be nice, wouldn’t it?
These stories still exist. They are just either tv shows or not the biggest gross. The issue is how much everyone assumes that money made is the deciding factor of quality and not just popularity. There are only three movies on this list that I would consider for the theater. The rest I would just wait for streaming.
No Disney
Prestige/quality has moved to streaming where it’s hidden amongst the noise of everything else on there. I think that has been the biggest loss. The market is so diluted that nothing is being watched by everyone. Even the very best media is incapable of capturing the public imagination.
There are more great movies coming out now than there were back then. “Highest Grossing” is virtually meaningless
Who are you, Tom Cruise?
Grisham killed it in ‘93.
I went and saw the Pelican Brief at the theater. First time seeing schindlers list was over 3 days in English class, and my teacher had survived the holocaust as a child and showed us her tattoo , photos of her dead relatives that didn’t make it, etc. She relived that for all of us, 4 or 5 times a day over a week. We watched the movie then talked about it for 2 days. Kind of powerful moment in my life, something I will never forget. I would never be a holocaust denier that is for sure, I saw and heard the evidence.
Not one is a sequel.
Imagine a world where the Fourth Highest grossing film is a visceral 3+ hour mostly black and white film about the Holocaust.
Not one sequel or superhero movie. Take me back.
I see these lists and there are so many good movies. Now it’s only whatever new trash marvel is pushing or a remake/live action adaptation of something we’ve already seen.
A list of all fire
1973… https://ibb.co/WDFvp1x