Overview of the events of the 1990s in film
The decade of the 1990s in film involved many significant developments in the industry of cinema .[ 1] Numerous feature-length movies were specifically filmed or edited to be displayed not only on theater screens but also the smaller TV screens, like showing more close-ups and less wide shots during dialogue scenes . Moreover, the home video market grew into being a major factor in the total revenue of a theatrical film, often doubling the amount. An example of both cases is Batman: Mask of the Phantasm , which was initially planned to have a direct-to-video release.
These particular ten years are notable for milestone advancements in CGI technology, seen in such motion pictures as Terminator 2: Judgment Day , Jurassic Park , and Forrest Gump courtesy of Industrial Light & Magic . 1995's Toy Story by Pixar became the first feature film to be completely computer-animated , heralding the use of 3D graphics as a tool for filmmakers to achieve new visuals on-screen. Stemming from the tail end of the 1980s, the mainstream successes of low-budget directors like Quentin Tarantino , Robert Rodriguez , Kevin Smith , Paul Thomas Anderson , Gus Van Sant , Richard Linklater , Steven Soderbergh , and the Coen brothers ; alongside the increased prominence of independent movie studios such as New Line Cinema , Miramax Films , and Gramercy Pictures ; gave rise to a boom period of highly profitable indie films that include Pulp Fiction , Fargo , Boogie Nights , Good Will Hunting , The Big Lebowski , and The Blair Witch Project . The Disney Renaissance began in late 1989 with The Little Mermaid , reached peak popularity with The Lion King in 1994, and ended in 1999 with Tarzan . During its influential run, the mass appeal of animated musicals got exceptionally rejuvenated (as opposed to The Rescuers Down Under in 1990, which contains no original songs and has been generally deemed a commercial disappointment even compared to its 1977 predecessor ), resulting in supposed emulations from similar production companies . However, merely three of said attempts proved to be lucrative, namely The Nightmare Before Christmas by Skellington , Anastasia by Fox , and The Prince of Egypt by DreamWorks . Around six months prior to the decade's conclusion, Comedy Central 's South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut prospered in part through parodying the conventions of this trend. 1988's Die Hard established what would become a common plot scenario for many 1990s action films , which is the matchup of an everyman hero against a colorful villain who is threatening the lives of innocents in an isolated setting , though with certain variations. Features of this kind, and the sequels that followed some of them, are often referred to as "Die Hard on a _____": Under Siege (battleship), Cliffhanger (mountain), Speed (bus), The Rock (prison island), Con Air (prison plane), Air Force One (presidential plane), and so on. A resurgence of disaster films dominated the box office with blockbusters such as Twister , Independence Day , Titanic , and Armageddon . Several leading figures of 1980s to mid-1990s Hong Kong action cinema migrated to Hollywood with varying success: Jackie Chan , Jet Li , Chow Yun-fat , Michelle Yeoh , John Woo , Yuen Woo-ping , Tsui Hark , Ringo Lam , etc. Updating martial arts and gunfight choreography in American motion pictures with such releases as Broken Arrow , Face/Off , Tomorrow Never Dies , Lethal Weapon 4 , Rush Hour , and The Matrix . Three Western world directorial debuts of established Eastern filmmakers were for Jean-Claude Van Damme star vehicles , though these collaborations only performed moderately en masse at the global market. Wes Craven 's Scream revitalized the declining interest in slasher films through satirizing the subgenre with characters that are well-versed in its clichés . Leading to studios capitalizing especially on the high school to college age demographic with the likes of I Know What You Did Last Summer , Scream 2 , Urban Legend , and I Still Know What You Did Last Summer . The three biggest hits among these movies were written or adapted by Kevin Williamson , who also co-wrote the sci-fi horror The Faculty , which targeted the same audience as well. Highest-grossing films [ edit ] List of worldwide highest-grossing films Rank Title Studios Worldwide gross Year Ref. 1 Titanic Paramount Pictures /20th Century Fox $1,843,201,268 1997 2 Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace 20th Century Fox $924,317,558 1999 3 Jurassic Park Universal Pictures $914,691,118 1993 4 Independence Day 20th Century Fox $817,400,891 1996 5 The Lion King Walt Disney Studios $763,455,561 1994 6 Forrest Gump Paramount Pictures $677,387,716 1994 7 The Sixth Sense Walt Disney Studios $672,806,292 1999 8 The Lost World: Jurassic Park Universal Pictures $618,638,999 1997 9 Men in Black Sony Pictures /Columbia Pictures $589,390,539 1997 10 Armageddon Walt Disney Studios $553,709,788 1998 11 Terminator 2: Judgment Day TriStar Pictures $519,843,345 1991 12 Ghost Paramount Pictures $505,702,588 1990 13 Aladdin Walt Disney Studios $504,050,219 1992 14 Twister Warner Bros. /Universal Pictures $494,471,524 1996 15 Toy Story 2 Walt Disney Studios $485,015,179 1999 16 Saving Private Ryan DreamWorks Pictures /Paramount Pictures $481,840,909 1998 17 Home Alone 20th Century Fox $476,684,675 1990 18 The Matrix Warner Bros. $463,517,383 1999 19 Pretty Woman Walt Disney Studios $463,406,268 1990 20 Mission: Impossible Paramount Pictures $457,696,359 1996 21 Tarzan Walt Disney Studios $448,191,819 1999 22 Mrs. Doubtfire 20th Century Fox $441,286,195 1993 23 Dances with Wolves Orion Pictures $424,208,848 1990 24 The Mummy Universal Pictures $415,933,406 1999 25 The Bodyguard Warner Bros. $411,006,740 1992 26 Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves Warner Bros. $390,493,908 1991 27 Godzilla TriStar Pictures $379,014,294 1998 28 True Lies 20th Century Fox $378,882,411 1994 29 Toy Story Walt Disney Studios $373,554,033 1995 30 There's Something About Mary 20th Century Fox $369,884,651 1998 31 The Fugitive Warner Bros. $368,875,760 1993 32 Die Hard with a Vengeance 20th Century Fox/Cinergi Pictures $366,101,666 1995 33 Notting Hill PolyGram Filmed Entertainment $363,889,678 1999 34 A Bug's Life Walt Disney Studios $363,398,565 1998 35 The World Is Not Enough Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures $361,832,400 1999 36 Home Alone 2: Lost in New York 20th Century Fox $358,994,850 1992 37 American Beauty DreamWorks Pictures $356,296,601 1999 38 Apollo 13 Universal Pictures/Imagine Entertainment $355,237,933 1995 39 Basic Instinct TriStar Pictures $352,927,224 1992 40 GoldenEye MGM/United Artists $352,194,034 1995 41 The Mask New Line Cinema $351,583,407 1994 42 Speed 20th Century Fox $350,448,145 1994 43 Deep Impact Paramount Pictures/DreamWorks Pictures $349,464,664 1998 44 Beauty and the Beast Walt Disney Studios $346,317,207 1991 45 Pocahontas Walt Disney Studios $346,079,773 1995 46 The Flintstones Universal Pictures $341,631,208 1994 47 Batman Forever Warner Bros. $336,529,144 1995 48 The Rock Walt Disney Studios $335,062,621 1996 49 Tomorrow Never Dies MGM/United Artists $333,011,068 1997 50 Seven New Line Cinema $327,311,859 1995