1991 was a pretty significant year in film history. Only one year into the decade and it heldseveral true masterpiecesandessential entries for horror, action and animation. There were debut films, breakout performances and iconic characters galore. Sliced any way, 1991 was a year that offered great films for fans of any genre, some of which are still often held asthe greatest examples within those genres.
It was also the year of the initial launch of the World Wide Web, which would eventually allow forthe essential films of the year to be ranked on completely subjective lists like thisand for people to comment in irrational anger about the inaccuracy of said list. So, without further ado, these arethe ten most essential films from 1991.
10’Point Break' (1991)
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow
Kathryn Bigelow’scult classicPoint Breakfeatures just about everything one would expect in a 90s action movie. Surfing, sky-diving,Keanu ReevesandPatrick Swayzebro-ing out to the max and an unhingedGary Buseyperformance. It’s the movie that should be used as the standard definition of rad.
Reeves, in his first major action movie, plays Johnny Utah, a former college football phenom turned FBI agent who discovers that the group behind a series of bank robberies are surfers, so he goes undercover to catch the cool criminals. That’s when he meets Zen guru surf leader Bodhi, played bySwayze at the peak of his “Sexiest Man Alive” status. The movie is all action, stunts and male boding with Bigelow going full tilt in her direction. Skipthe bad remakeand stick with the tubular original.
Point Break
9’The Addams Family' (1991)
Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld
Coming off a successful career as a cinematographer for filmmakers like theCoen BrothersandRob Reiner,Barry Sonnenfeldchose the iconic family from creatorCharles Addamsto adapt for his directorial debut. The result, with all due respect to fans ofJohn AstinorJenna Ortega, remains thedefinitive interpretation of the characters.
Sonnenfeld brings madcap energy to the macabre setting and characters, and the cast absolutely kills it.Christopher Lloydbrings the same over-the-top quality to Uncle Fester as he did Doc Brown,Christina Ricciis iconic as the morose Wednesday, andRaul JuliaandAnjelica Hustonburn up the screen asMorticia and Gomez, the epitome of romantic love. The movie was a box office hit, led toan even better sequel, and reinvigorated a franchise that’s still alive and well today.
The Addams Family
8’Thelma & Louise' (1991)
Directed by Ridley Scott
One ofRidley Scott’sbest moviesis the surprisingfemale buddy road movieThelma and Louise. The film is best remembered for its iconic ending, but has so much more to offer inits feminist themes and terrific performances.Geena Davisis Thelma, a housewife in a toxic marriage, andSusan Sarandonis Louise, a free-spirited waitress. Together they go on a road trip thatturns into a run from the law after they shoot and kill a would-be assaulter.
The road trip is a scenic travelogue of the American Southwest, shot on location in California and Utah. Davis and Sarandon both give wonderfully nuanced performances (both were nominated for Academy Awards) andBrad Pittshows up in a scene-stealing star-making turn as a charming, conning drifter. The movie ranks high among Scott’s filmography, andearned him a long-overdue Oscar nomination, but is also strangely overlooked in favor of his genre-heavy work. It certainly deserves praise andmore recognition for its female-centric working class focus.
Thelma & Louise
7’The Commitments' (1991)
Directed by Alan Parker
The Commitments, a musical dramedy about unemployed Dublin youths that start a soul band, may be the most overlooked film of 1991, which is a shame because it’s charming as hell and inspirational in a way that avoids the cloying natureof similar Hollywood musicals.
English directorAlan Parkerhad a career that included both musicals likeEvitaandPink Floyd - The Wall, as well asdark dramas likeMississippi BurningandMidnight Express. He brought both sides of talent to makingThe Commitments,adapting authorRoddy Doyle’snovel into a tribute to music and the hard-fought artists behind it. Thecharacters never find success in the movie, but it’s hard not to love the journey, and the young cast is filled with a charisma that makes them impossible not to root for.
The Commitments
6’Cape Fear' (1991)
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese’sremake of the 1962 suspense filmCape Fearamped up the horror for 90s audiences, delivering an unsettling movie with a villain who is hard to shake off.Robert De Niroplays Max Cady, a sadistic convicted rapist who blames his incarceration on his defense lawyer Sam Bowden, played byNick Nolte, who deliberately suppressed evidence that could have gotten Cady acquitted. After serving fourteen years,Cady is released and looking for revenge.
De Niro is downright terrifying in his role, and the rest of the cast is uniformly excellent, includingJessica LangeandJuliette Lewisas Nolte’s wife and daughter, respectively, with Lewis getting an Oscar nod alongside De Niro. The stars of the original film,Gregory PeckandRobert Mitchum, also show up in fun small roles. Scorsese,who traded directing this film with Steven Spielberg overSchindler’s List,uses a bold visual style that sets his film apart from its predecessor while also wisely havingElmer BernsteinemulateBernard Herrmann’soriginal iconic musical score.
5’Beauty and the Beast' (1991)
Directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise
The Little Mermaidmay have started the Disney Renaissance period, but it was the groundbreakingBeauty and the Beastthat was its guarantor. This enchanting fantasy broke records for the House of Mouse and was the firstanimated film to be nominated for Best Pictureat the Academy Awards. It was also one of the last films to featurethe work of lyricistHoward Ashman, who died before the film was completed and is generally considered to beone of the greatest contributors to Disney’s resurgence.
Following Belle, the titular beauty, as she ventures outside her provincial life and ends up as a captive of the Beast, the movie may have some questionable plot threads involving Stockholm Syndrome, but they are easy to overlook whenthe songs are this sweeping and the animation this beautiful. The use of the CAPS technology to combine 2D and 3D animation as in the iconic ballroom sequence was a landmark moment in animationmatched only by the Academy Award-winning love ballad that complements it.
Beauty and the Beast
4’JFK' (1991)
Directed by Oliver Stone
JFKis an essential political thriller that may also bedirectorOliver Stone’smasterpiece. Regardless of the movie’swildly inaccurate claims, the entertainment value of it has never diminished and Stone’s kaleidoscopic direction is bold and vivid in a way that has beensorely missing in the director’s career in the past two decades.
Kevin Costnerplays district attorneyJim Garrisonas he sifts through the truths, lies and theories that swirl around the assassination ofJohn F. Kennedy. It’s an epic-sized mystery thriller with an all-star cast that crams in every possible conspiracy regarding the assassination without ever losing steam or letting the audience’s interest flag. It’s American myth-making by one of its boldest cinematic myth-makers, and it remains controversial years later whilegaining even more relevance in our post-truth, conspiracy-obsessed internet culture.
3’Boyz N the Hood' (1991)
Directed by John Singleton
Boyz N the Hoodwas a watershed filmfor its portrayal of a culture that had barely been glimpsed in film before and for the emergence of a bold directorial talent inJohn Singleton, who would become thefirst Black director nominated for an Academy Awardand who still holds the record as the youngest. Along with films likeDo the Right ThingandMenace II Society, it was part of a shift seen in films, as well as music, of a new generation of Black creative voices taking control of their narratives.
A coming-of-age film,Boyz N the Hoodtracks the lives of a group of young people coming up in South Central Los Angeles.Cuba Gooding Jr.plays Tre, a level-headed teen with a bright future who is close friends with Ricky, a high school football hopeful played byMorris Chestnut, and his brother Doughboy, a member of the Crips with a violent temper played with ferocity byIce Cubein his first film role. Hollywood would try and exploit the popularity offilms likeBoyz N the Hoodwith young audiences with their own hollow attempts, butnothing quite matches the raw power of filmmakers like Singleton.
Boyz n the Hood
2’Terminator 2: Judgment Day' (1991)
Directed by James Cameron
The highest-grossing movie of 1991 wasJames Cameron’sOscar-winning big-budget sequelto his seminal sci-fi action filmThe Terminator. Re-teaming withArnold Schwarzeneggerto reprise his iconic role, this time as a hero, Cameron upped the action, stakes and effects work to makeTerminator 2: Judgment Daya landmarkof its genre.
Linda Hamiltonalso returned as Sarah Connor, now developed into a lean mean killing machine herself, and newcomerEdward Furlongwould join as the prodigal John Connor. The biggest addition to the cast, though, wasRobert Patrickas the upgraded T-1000, a liquid metal murderer that saw ILM breaking new ground in digital technology. Cameron, always at the forefront of using new technology, directed an action movie that still holds up and in many ways isbetter than the majority of action films being released today.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
1’The Silence of the Lambs' (1991)
Directed by Jonathan Demme
The best film of its year andthe best horror movie of its decade,The Silence of the Lambsis incredibly well written, directed and acted, and it rightfully earned Academy Awards in all those categories, breaking through a notorious barrier that the awards group has often placed in front of horror films.Jonathan Demme’smasterpiecetakesThomas Harris’cannibal character Hannibal Lecter, who had previously been featured inMichael Mann’sunderratedManhunter, and turns him into a horror movie icon.
Anthony Hopkins, with minimal screentime, manages to make the psychopathic Dr. Lecter compelling, charming and utterly terrifying. He’s matched byJodie Foster, who makes Clarice Starling stand out as a film hero who overcomes her inexperience and gender disparity with grit and determination.Ted Levine is also often overlooked for his disturbing portrayal of serial killer Buffalo Bill, an unforgettable character who has inspired a lot of debate and discourse. Demme manages to handle the gender politics and suspense of Harris' story without ever becoming too heavy-handed and lets the visuals underpin the story. The success of this film led to Hannibal becominga household name that has anchored an entire franchise for several decades.
