At Watch With Us, we absolutely love the movies of the ’90s.
But what are the most rewatchable movies from the 1990s? And what movies most deserve a rewatch? With so many films out there, it can feel tough to want to rewatch when there are so many first watches yet to discover.
Still, we’re positive that our five picks deserve you checking them out just one more time — whether it’s because we can’t get enough, or because they become more fulfilling on the second watch.
From Clifford to The Matrix, read on to see which ’90s flicks we can’t live without.
If You Have to Watch 5 Movies From the ’90s, Stream These 5 Masterpieces Now
5. ‘Clifford’ (1994)
Uptight architect Martin (Charles Grodin) has given his girlfriend Sarah (Mary Steenburgen) a beautiful new home, but seems hesitant to want to settle down yet. While she wonders if Martin doesn’t want kids, he gets the opportunity to bond with his nephew Clifford (Martin Short) when Martin’s estranged brother asks him to watch him for a while. But Clifford’s mischievous antics threaten to send Martin into psychosis.
If you ever wondered what it would be like if a movie starred an adult man playing a 10-year-old boy, look no further than Clifford. While a commercial failure, it developed a cult following in the years since for its absurd humor and two absolutely unhinged but perfectly matched performances from Short and Grodin.
4. ‘Gremlins 2: The New Batch’ (1990)
Infused with the anarchic spirit of a Looney Tunes short (and featuring segments animated by classic Tunes animator Chuck Jones), Gremlins 2: The New Batch swaps the Christmas cheer of Gremlins for a far more absurd tone, as Gizmo, Billy (Zach Galligan) and Kate (Phoebe Cates) find themselves battling chaotic gremlins in New York City. Gizmo makes his way to Billy’s new big city job and bedlam ensues when a spawn of genetically-mutated gremlins emerge, wreaking havoc all over New York.
Far more meta-textual, subversive satirical than its predecessor, Gremlins 2: The New Batch is balls-to-the-walls insanity with witty humor, a host of impressive practical effects, and a lampooning of the media landscape. The movie amps up the campy qualities as well as references to other films, which cinephiles will enjoy.
3. ‘The Matrix’ (1999)
Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves) works as a computer programmer by day, but in his free time, he goes by the hacker nickname “Neo.” Digging deeper into a mysterious figure known as Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), he catches the attention of Trinity (Carrie-Ann Moss). Neo learns that he lives inside a simulation known as the Matrix while the real world is ravaged by artificial intelligence — and Morpheus believes Neo to be the messiah who will save them.
The Matrix might seem so ubiquitous as to be forgettable, but then you watch and you realize it is so ingrained into the fiber of pop culture for a reason. The Wachowski sisters’ sci-fi action epic is not just perfectly paced, with eye-popping visuals, action sequences and the tightest script imaginable, some may forget that it is also one of the best romances of all time.
2. ‘Lost Highway’ (1997)
One of the main reasons that David Lynch’s Lost Highway deserves repeat viewings is that it will be completely impenetrable the first time you watch it. And while it continues to be impenetrable (by design) on rewatches, a deeper appreciation for its intentional mysteries, narrative abstractions and intense surrealist atmosphere is likely to emerge.
In the simplest terms, the plot follows saxophonist Fred Madison (Bill Pullman), who begins receiving cryptic videotapes in the mail that seem to be taken from the inside of his home. Suddenly, the tapes reveal that Fred killed his wife, Renee (Patricia Arquette), and he’s imprisoned. There, on a stormy night, he disappears in place of Pete Dayton (Balthazar Getty), an innocent man with no memory of how he got there. Pete becomes romantically intertwined with the girlfriend of a mobster (Robert Loggia), who looks exactly like Renee.
1. ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ (1999)
Following a drug-fueled fight with his wife Alice (Nicole Kidman), Bill Hartford (Tom Cruise) embarks on a late-night odyssey that changes his life forever. While strolling through the nearly empty New York City streets, he runs into his old friend Nick Nightingale (Todd Field), who gives him the password to a secret, elite sex party out of town. Bill attends, trying to remain hidden, but he is discovered. The next day, he finds that someone may be following him.
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Perhaps the most unlikely Christmas film of all time, the backdrop of the holiday spirit only adds to the eeriness in the atmosphere of Stanley Kubrick’s final film. Erotic, mysterious and driven by a performance from Cruise that is as tormented and sexually repressed as it is funny, Eyes Wide Shut feels like moving through the fog of a delirious dream-state.
