What was the most 90s movie in the 90s?

[Admiral Yi]

Wonder no more you wacko.  It's a chief doover.  One of the best movies ever made.

[11B4V]

Singles

[Tonitrus]

Singles

A very Seattle-area answer. 

But for me, I'll be brave enough to say it....

Independence Day.

[Eddie Teach]

Pulp Fiction is one of the best movies ever and far and away Tarantino's peak. Ffs Ide.

[Caliga]

I wonder if I'm the only one who thinks it's actually at the bottom of the first tier of his efforts?

Yes, yes you are.  I agree with others that it's one of the best movies of all time.

[Tonitrus]

I have never seen Pulp Fiction, nor does it interest me in the slightest. 

[Ideologue]

Pulp Fiction is one of the best movies ever and far and away Tarantino's peak. Ffs Ide.

Far and away?  You've gotta be kidding me.  It's not like we're talking some joker who made one hit movie, or even someone who ever descended into mediocrity.  The whole body of work is pretty golden, the range only going between "the really fucking good" and "the essentially perfect."

Pulp Fiction's in the essentially perfect column, but at the bottom.  Under Death Proof, the Kill Bills, and Django.

[Eddie Teach]

As grumbler would say, stop digging. 

[Admiral Yi]

I have never seen Pulp Fiction, nor does it interest me in the slightest. 

Hipsters. 

[jimmy olsen]

I'm not sold on Pulp Fiction at all.  I wonder if I'm the only one who thinks it's actually at the bottom of the first tier of his efforts? I think I remember when I ran the best Tarantino poll about a year ago, it won.

You're mad, it's one of the best movies ever made.

[Syt]

Pulp Fiction is one of the best movies ever and far and away Tarantino's peak. Ffs Ide.

Far and away?  You've gotta be kidding me.  It's not like we're talking some joker who made one hit movie, or even someone who ever descended into mediocrity.  The whole body of work is pretty golden, the range only going between "the really fucking good" and "the essentially perfect."

Pulp Fiction's in the essentially perfect column, but at the bottom.  Under Death Proof, the Kill Bills, and Django.

Well, you are entitled to your opinion, of course. I didn't buy into the Pulp Fiction hype when the movie came out. However, I taped it when it was on TV in the late 90s. And it's the only movie that, after watching it the first time, I immediately re-watched. I like his other movies, but I find it hard to rank them as I like each movie for different reasons.

[Gups]

Trainspotting for me but might be a Brit thing.

Possible shortlistees:

Big Lebowski
Toy Story

[Syt]

As for the most 90est of the 90s movies, it's kind of hard. There's some that are popular or well known in North America, that weren't very relevant over here.

If I had to make a shortlist it would probably be
- Pulp Fiction
- Trainspotting
- Wayne's World
- Seven
- Forrest Gump
- American Beauty

I guess American Beauty will be a controversial choice, but I think it encapsulates the middle class ennui of the time and aimlessness of the young generation.

[Ideologue]

I'm not sold on Pulp Fiction at all.  I wonder if I'm the only one who thinks it's actually at the bottom of the first tier of his efforts? I think I remember when I ran the best Tarantino poll about a year ago, it won.

You're mad, it's one of the best movies ever made.

Relax.  I'd give it a 9/10 or 10/10; certainly an A+.  But every movie is technically one of the best ever made.  I dunno if Pulp Fiction would place on a top 100 of my lifetime.  A top 100 of the 90s, sure; but almost surely not of the past century.  I could think of 100 movies off the top of my head that are better, and four of them are Tarantino pictures.  But Phantom of the Opera is better.  The General is better.  Design for Living is better.  Double Indemnity is better.  The Incredible Shrinking Man is better, as is Forbidden Planet.  Dr. Strangelove is better, as is 2001.  Star Wars and Raiders are better.  Gravity is better.  Obviously this is just an opinion, but it's not like those are not picks from the canon--I didn't even mention Flash Gordon or Rope.

Now, I know why it evokes such harsh emotion: Pulp Fiction's the moment when a lot of people around our age saw a movie and managed to be impressed by the obvious craftsmanship that went into its narrative, editing, and dialogue.  It had a freshness to it.  Then it became a zeitgeist hit--something for people to talk about and bond over.  A big part of the reason people can get upset over the mildest dismissal of Pulp Fiction is called "nostalgia."

In its defense, it holds up much better to scrutiny than so many other zeitgeisty films, e.g., The Graduate, or Bullitt, or Gone With the Wind, or even The Matrix or--to come full circle--American Beauty.

Doesn't mean it's as big a deal as it was in 1994.  And I suspect its stature will fade, a touch, as Gen X and us Millennials fade too.  It probably won't ever be "that movie where Grease gets killed while he's taking a shit" to those with a sense of history, but I imagine that, to the general public, that could easily be its legacy.

[Martinus]

I thought it was American Beauty. A story about people without any problems creating problems so they can feel alive. Rather like how OJ Simpson and Presidential blow jobs were points of passionate outrage back in those days.

I think Fight Club could get a vote for the very same reason. The 90s were defined by the "end of history" - the West won over the Soviet Union and noone really knew what to do about there being no visible enemy or threat. So people coped by inventing problems.