Top Fifty Guy Movies of the 1990s
40. Starship Troopers, 1997
Premise: A group of graduating friends enlist for a war against an alien race of bugs.
Director: Paul Verhoeven
Stars: Casper Van Dien, Denise Richards, Dina Meyer
What you’ll Remember: The shower scene.
Reasons it is on the List: It’s a Verhoeven movie, so you’re pretty much guaranteed some skin and gratuitous violence. But there’s depth to the movie, as it’s actually a satire on war including visual allusions to propaganda films, and is littered with Nazi symbolism.
39. Tombstone, 1993
Premise: The story of Wyatt Earp and his move down to Tombstone, Arizona.
Director: George P. Cosmatos
Stars: Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer, Sam Elliott, Bill Paxton
What you’ll Remember: I’m your huckleberry…
Reasons it is on the List: Val Kilmer plays an incredible Doc Holliday, and you get to see a bad-ass Western icon like Wyatt Earp on the big screen shooting bad guys like at the O.K. Corrall. What guy wouldn’t like a grand Western filled with women, gambling, and guns?
38. Desperado, 1995
Premise: A Mariachi singer seeks vengeance for those that killed his love.
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Stars: Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Joaquim de Almeida
What you’ll Remember: Steve Buscemi’s stories.Well, actually its probably Salma Hayek.
Reasons it is on the List: The middle film of the “Mexico Trilogy” or El Mariachi movies, it has some stylish shootout scenes and insane use of guitar cases filled with weapons. Oh, and this movie helped introduce Salma Hayek to the world.
37. Boogie Nights, 1997
Premise: A nightclub dishwasher becomes a popular porn star and slowly descends into a nightmare of drug abuse.
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Burt Reynolds, Julianne Moore
What you’ll Remember: Rollergirl (not Dirk Diggler’s junk)
Reasons it is on the List: Burt Reynolds as a porn kingpin? Women posing as porn stars? This has winner written all over it. It’s not just some excuse for showing pretty women either, it’s actually a well written and directed film. And there’s plenty of sex, drugs, and disco to go around.
36. American History X, 1998
Premise: A Neo-Nazi racist returns from prison and is expected by his friends to pick up his old life, only to find out that prison changed him.
Director: Tony Kaye
Stars: Edward Norton, Edward Furlong, Beverly D’Angelo
What you’ll Remember: Someone biting a curb.
Reasons it is on the List: A fairly straight forward drama, it relies on a powerful story and the fact that Edward Norton delivers a staggering performance. It deals with gang life, violence, prison, and crime.
35. Unforgiven, 1990
Premise: An aging and retired gunslinger takes on one more job years after he hung up his guns.
Director: Clint Eastwood
Stars: Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman
What you’ll Remember: Hackman’s Little Bill Daggett.
Reasons it is on the List: It’s got Clint Eastwood and it’s a great Western. That should be enough. Also, Eastwood and Hackman beat the hell out of each other, a few dudes get shotgunned to death, and it has the Academy stamp of approval as Best Picture.
34. Boondock Saints, 1999
Premise: Two Catholic Irish-American fraternal twins become vigilantes, set out to rid their home city of crime and evil.
Director: Troy Duffy
Stars: Willem Dafoe, Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus
What you’ll Remember: Willem Dafoe’s late movie wardrobe.
Reasons it is on the List: A violent crime drama, it goes over the top with gratuitously brutal violence, but it works as an action film. It also sprinkles in an occasional chuckle to lighten the mood. Released in 1999 overseas, this movie saw only a minor release in the United States. In fact, the story behind the making of the film is as interesting as the film itself. The documentary Overnight outlines the account about the movie and its writer/director Troy Duffy.
33. Kingpin, 1996
Premise: A disgraced former pro bowler with one hand tries to coach an Amish man to win a prestigious bowling championship.
Director: Bobby and Peter Farrelly
Stars: Woody Harrelson, Randy Quaid, Vanessa Angel, Bill Murray
What you’ll Remember: I didn’t want to be “Munsoned” out in the middle of nowhere.
Reasons it is on the List: Maybe it’s just me, but I enjoy this Farrelly brothers gross out comedy more than their more mainstream hits such as Dumb and Dumber and There’s Something About Mary. Plus, this one features comic idol Bill Murray.
32. The Fifth Element, 1997
Premise: A taxicab driver and former Special Forces member is enlisted to stop a dark planet from destroying earth.
Director: Luc Besson
Stars: Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, Milla Jovovich
What you’ll Remember: The Fifth Element’s wardrobe.
Reasons it is on the List: Ignoring Chris Tucker’s annoying character, it’s a pretty action-packed movie, with a small touch of comedy and one scantily clad woman. Also, you’ll find flying cars, spaceships that go at the speed of light, weird creatures, and ugly aliens among the things that are present during this film.
31. The Hunt for Red October, 1990
Premise: A Lithuanian captain of a ballistic missile submarine equipped with a revolutionary silent propulsion heads toward the United States with questionable intentions.
Director: John McTiernan
Stars: Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, Scott Glenn
What you’ll Remember: One Ping Only.
Reasons it is on the List: The first and best of the Jack Ryan movie franchise, it’s simply a great story. Plus there are Russians involved and exploding submarines, always a good combo. While it’s not an all out action thrill ride, it balances intensity and drama effectively.
