10 Forgotten 90s Movies That Deserve Way More Attention

Every decade has movies that are absolute classics, but what about the ones that slip through the cracks? They're movies that are often just as awesome and memorable as the ones that we all remember, but for some reason people just seem to keep forgetting about this. Here are 10 movies from the 90s that, if you haven't seen them, you owe it to yourself to change that.

The Prince of Egypt

One of the earliest animated movies from DreamWorks, this retelling of the story of Moses offers a different, musical take on movies like The Ten Commandments, complete with an all-star cast including Val Kilmer, Ralph Fiennes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sandra Bullock, Jeff Goldblum, Danny Glover, Sir Patrick Stewart, Helen Mirren, Steve Martin, AND Martin Short. People don't talk about this one much anymore, but it remains amazing.

Léon: The Professional

The movie Luc Besson made to kill time while waiting for Bruce Willis' schedule to free up so they could make The Fifth Element (seriously, that's how it happened), Léon isn't just the director's best film; it's one of the best action movies of all time. When a young girl (played by a 12-year-old Natalie Portman) loses her family in an attack by dirty cops (lead by Gary Oldman), she seeks shelter with her neighbor; a hitman played by Jean Reno. The movie is tense, funny, heartwarming, and tragic all at once, and it's a masterpiece.

The Game

Before David Fincher delivered his massive sleeper hit with Fight Club and became an internationally beloved director, he cast Michael Douglas in this tense thriller where anybody at all can be part of a deadly game. It's not the director's absolute best, but it's a great watch that is often forgotten about next to Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and The Social Network.

Bound

Before their breakout success with The Matrix in 1999, the Wachowskis directed this low-scale, sensual thriller. Gina Gershon plays Corky, a handywoman who is seduced by her client, mob wife Violet (Jennifer Tilly), into killing her husband and taking off with his money. It has a really small cast (and features a pre-Matrix or Memento Joe Pantoliano as Violet's husband), but remains awesome thanks to a tight script and great performances.

Some of these next ones are pretty obscure, but definitely worth your time.

Gattaca

Loosely based on Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, Gattaca stars Ethan Hawke in a dystopian future where gene-coding is real and parents can pay money to ensure their child ends up in the upper echelons of society. Hawke attempts to join the space program, but because he isn't modified, he needs to try to manipulate the system, and the result is a sci-fi thriller that's tight, gripping, and will have you hooked 'til the end.

Stir of Echoes

Unfairly overlooked by audiences thanks to its similarity to the then immensely-popular The Sixth Sense, this movie stars Kevin Bacon in a tense murder mystery centered around a child who can see the dead. It goes for much more creep factor than Shyamalan's ode to plot twists, and Bacon is absolutely fantastic, as he always is.

Joe Vs The Volcano

Tom Hanks has six months to live, so what does he do? Why he agrees to take a massive fortune on the condition that he eventually throws himself into a volcano, of course! He ends up dating his regular rom-com co-star Meg Ryan (yes, before Sleepless In Seattle or You've Got Mail), and the results are both hilarious and charming.

Dark City

Director Alex Proyas followed up his cult hit comic book-adaptation The Crow (which is another excellent 90s movie) with this gorgeously dark look at a man who discovers that the world he lives in isn't what it seems. It would unfortunately be completely overshadowed by The Matrix only a year later, but thanks to the video release of the Director's Cut, you can enjoy this excellent bit of sci-fi for yourself!

Event Horizon

A movie so badass we did an entire article about it, Event Horizon is one of the coolest bits of sci-fi horror since the Alien franchise. Sam Neill and Laurence Fishburne star as members of a mining starship who need to investigate the sudden reappearance of the titular ship, which disappeared years ago around Neptune, with Neill's wife onboard. The discovery of what happened on the Event Horizon is genuinely chilling, and the movie still holds up today.

Miller's Crossing

Before the Coen Brothers would become household names thanks to movies like Fargo, The Big Lebowski, and O Brother, Where Art Thou?, they directed this mafia thriller set during Prohibition. It's tense, witty, beautiful, and just a flat-out great movie.