“I’m your huckleberry.” – Tombstone
I have no idea who half the people in the picture are, but, hey, the logo rocks.
1993 continues the descent from the 1980s and Peak Movie, but as comedy fell, action movies continued to produce fun films. What did become more pronounced was the dismal “woke” viewpoint as shown in Falling Down.
As usual, there are no sequels on the list, though in 1993 there were 13 major releases that were sequels. In 2013, there were 33. In 1973, there were just five.
Let’s start with a movie that you can sink your teeth into:
I guess rugby players really will eat anything, but why didn’t they eat all those darn cats before carving up Carlo?
Alive – Not the best movie to take a date to if you’re planning on having dinner afterwards, this straight-forward tale of the rugby team stuck in the Andes when their plane crashes nevertheless nourish the soul with the feeling that people of taste will always be tender friends. When I left the theater, I felt so full . . . of life. In reality, most of the survivors were outrageously successful, since life had already thrown the biggest hurdle that it could at them and they came away satisfied. Note: although they were from pretty rich families, but, hey, they turned out to be salty guys in a savory story.
If this movie were about lawncare, that poster would be perfect.
Hexed – I first saw this on a video I rented from Blockbuster™. It didn’t have a big budget, and it lived up to it. In a sense, this is a throwback to an 80s comedy with a bit of Fatal Attraction thrown in for good measure. Is it a good movie that I would recommend? No. Is it a footnote of a fading genre? Yes. Bonus points: Claudia Christian’s body double is naked.
I told Grok® to have Tom Berenger eating crayons, but Grok™ told me he played a Marine, so that would be redundant.
Sniper – Sniper inspired 10, yes 10 sequels. It is an action film where Tom Berenger and Billy Zane play snipers wandering around South America shooting people. It’s decent action, and, obviously cheap enough to make that all of the sequels were profitable.
Now hear me out, every character except Murray is a groundhog.
Groundhog Day – This movie is about the invasion of giant, sentient, robotic groundhogs that just want to burrow and take over humanity, but are instead frightened when they see their shadow . . . from an atomic explosion. Just kidding. You know this one, the best romcom of all time (with the exception of Sniper Six, The Unsnipable). ‘nuff said.
Okay, Antonio Banderas wasn’t in the movie, but Grok® made the poster like this, and I loved it.
El Mariachi – Shot on a $7,000 budget in 14 days (from money raised by being a lab rat for experimental drug testing) El Mariachi is pretty good, and I was really surprised by it when I saw it on VHS back in the day. A tale of violent Mexican crime, you can now save your theater dollars and just watch the news from Los Angeles.
This would probably have been a more positive movie.
Falling Down – Where to start on this one? First, it’s probably the most prophetic movie on the list. Micheal Douglas plays a disgruntled, unemployed engineer whose wife got bored and divorced him. In short, he’s a person that society has passed by and from his perspective, the world is dystopian, so why not blow it all up? The parallel character in the film is the cop chasing the engineer, played by Robert Duvall. In one scene we see that the cop is retiring, and that he is being (not so subtly) replaced by a Hispanic. And, I think that (less than secretly) the director, Joel Schumacher (a gay GloboLeftist) was enjoying the torture of the Douglas character as he watched the world he grew up in implode. I wrote the preceding before I found this quote from the author: “The main character represents the old power structure of the of the U.S. that has now become archaic, and hopelessly lost.” So, yeah, nailed it.
Turns out the Roadrunner™ was trying to knock over the Fed®.
Cliffhanger – Whew, that last one was dark. This one, not so much. While the 1990s may have killed the comedy, the action film was still going strong. The move stars Sylvester Stallone, John Lithgow, some other people, and a mountain. Guns? Yes. Climbing? Yes. Tension? Well, we know the good guy is going to win, so, not so much. A fun ride.
Is Jurassic Pork the bacon I’ve left in the fridge that scientists brought back to life because they could, but never asked if they should?
Jurassic Park – This was Spielberg at, perhaps, his best. It was the number one hit of the year, and ended up on every lunchbox, video game, comic book, t-shirt, and tattoo in 1993. It was also the highest-grossing film of all time until Titanic ruined James Cameron for us. Everything came together in this one – the music, the cast, the story, the special effects, all perfect for the time and place. Sadly, they never made a sequel.
Back, and to the left. And then the PEZ™ comes out!
In the Line of Fire – Again, action movies were pretty strong in 1993, and Clint Eastwood taking on an evil genius assassin played John Malkovich is a pretty good story. Dylan McDermott Mulrooney is also in it. Okay, I know that Dylan McDermott and McDermott Mulrooney are supposed to be two different people, but, really, have you ever seen them together?
I was wondering how to get this joke into the post, and Grok™ did it for me.
So I Married an Axe Murderer – Before Michael Myers was shagging spies, there was this lighthearted movie about a woman whose romantic interests keep being murdered. Hint to everyone: this does not indicate the basis for a stable relationship, since that’s a 10 on the hot/crazy matrix, she’d have to be a 10.
So, it looks like the acid made them all Salvador Dali.
Dazed and Confused – Nostalgia for the relatively free-range days of the 1970s had already hit the people having kids in 1993, or so the producers hoped. This movie was made for late-stage Boomer/early-stage Gen X kids who didn’t go to see it, since it was a box office bomb that has sent become a cult favorite after the careers of so many actors that were in it took off. Watch this right after Falling Down as a palate cleanser. Or, that might make it worse, seeing what we’ve lost.
I tried to make Grok® do Sandra Bullock in a swimsuit, but that was a massive failure.
Demolition Man – I love stupid action movies. This is set in the distant future of 2032 where woke culture has taken over and no one has sex anymore. Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes were frozen during this time so that the plot can happen, as two barbarians from the 1990s make fun of woke culture.
No one is doubting that fire.
Mrs. Doubtfire – Is it predictive programming to try to shove strong, independent women plus crossdressing in the same movie? I did not like this movie even though I’ve found several of Robin Williams’ movies to be okay, but the divorce theme soured the whole plot for me. Apparently, I was alone, since this was the second-highest grossing movie of 1993.
Okay, at this point, Grok© would only draw Mrs. Doubtfire. So? I went with it.
Tombstone – Tombstone was on the list even before I had heard Val Kilmer had died, and he really had the best performance in this popular movie. I still rank this as my third-favorite Kilmer role, behind his roles in Top Secret! And Willow. Tombstone, though was a solid Hollywood western.
As we move along, comedy is obviously dying out though one of the greatest is on this list with Groundhog Day, but action movies are doing okay, even if they’re becoming a bit more comic book and less Dirty Harry each year.
But I’ll always remember the wisdom I learned from Alive: the more you eat, the lonelier you get.
What did I miss?
I never realized that Ricky had made a cameo appearance in Cliffhanger.
J-Bird
Me either, yet there I am! 🙂
Ha!
One thing I love about Falling Down is that the message the targets of the film, middle aged White guys, is completely opposite of what was intended. Is there any guy Gen X aged or older that doesn’t at least at some level identify with Michael Foster? Who hasn’t dreamed of blowing up stuff in response to the myriad daily indignities heaped on us by Them?
As for the rest, Tombstone is a favorite of mine as it is with a lot of guys, Demolition Man is fun and In the Line of Fire is still quite good. Jurassic Park is a bit dated but reminds us how awful most sequels are compared to the original
Falling Down was predictive in nature. I re-watched Tombstone a few years ago, and it held up really well, as did the others you mentioned. Even 1993 “okay” movies are better than most of the “best” stuff today.
As for “Falling Down”, looks like the US is pining for that “old power structure”…because it worked. BTW, Dylan McDermott is one of the three republicans in Hollywood. Clint & James Woods are the other two.
My favorite Val movie is “Spartan”. Had to do a search, but I’d include “The Fugitive”, “Rudy” (despite it’s about ND), & “Robin Hood: Men In Tights” (hey, it’s a Mel Brooks film).
Some pretty good ones. Tommy Lee knocked it out of the park in The Fugitive.
After going down the Wikipedia list of 1993 films, the word I keep coming up with is “forgettable”. Both those I had seen myself and forgotten, and those not worth remembering today.
I remember Mrs. Doubtfire very well, I was in the first years of my divorce and agonizing over my reduced contact with my beloved children, which of course is the prime motivation for Robin Williams to cross-dress in this film. But I would also posit the MD was an early harbinger of the woke flood of films to come dealing with LGBTQ topics er, dressed up for mass consumption in the new Bill Clinton era. Examples from 1993 include Philadelphia, Ballad of Little Jo and The Crying Game, which I saw first run because I was interested in a British dramatic portrayal of The Troubles and was shocked, shocked! I say by what the film’s true agenda was.
There were a few lighthearted films that became classics from 1993, like Robin Hood: Men In Tights and especially the Halloween staple Hocus Pocus.
I note the fairly successful 1993 film Dave foreshadowed “Joe Biden’s” term as President.
Point Of No Return (an American remake of Luc Besson’s 1990 French film) introduced me to the La Femme Nikita franchise and I became a big fan. I would rank PONR below the first three seasons of the late1990s USA Network TV incarnation with Peta Wilson, which is brilliant drama, but above the 2010 CW Network reboot and of course the abominable final two seasons of the USA Network version. The original French film is in a class all by itself.
Which all leads up two the three films John didn’t mention that are definitely unforgettable. The Fugitive, which saw Tommy Lee Jones instantly flip from antagonist into a sympathetic sequel-worthy protagonist with his key line of “I don’t care!”. Gettysburg, which showed how violent men can be when you give them guns and cannons. And Schindler’s List, which showed how evil men can be when you give them railroad box cars.
https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/the-fugitive-brilliance-tommy-lee-jones-i-dont-care/
La Feme Nikita is at its heart a retelling of Pygmalion and My Fair Lady, and several actresses have portrayed her – Anne Parillaud, Bridget Fonda, Maggie Q. But for my money Peta Wilson owns the role in by far the best version of the concept. The first three seasons of the USA Network drama in the late 1990s did its eerily prophetic very best to warn us that 9/11 was coming – and that the shadowy people supposed to protect us from it had an agenda all their own.
Firefly deserved more than 14 episodes, and La Femme Nikita deserved a final two seasons highlighting Jurgen instead of all that ridiculous Jason / Mick / Mr. Jones nonsense. But nothing lasts forever. Sigh.
I have never watched The Crying Game because I heard about “the secret” and that was enough for me.
1993 – The year Brandon Lee and River Phoenix both died of stupidity.
Matinee – The wrapper for the real movie, Mant!
Army of Darkness – I don’t care that’s it’s a sequel, it goes on the list.
Much Ado About Nothing – Kenneth Branagh (producer, director, lead actor) does Shakespeare comedy.
My Neighbor Totoro – Studio Ghibli classic.
Super Mario Bros – Incredibly stupid, silly fun.
Last Action Hero – Ahnold spoofing his own movies.
The Crying Game – The audience all glared at me after I guffawed when the Scorpion killed the Frog.
The Fugitive – In any year without Jurassic Park, this would have been the movie of the year.
The Secret Garden – Victorian childhood magic.
Cool Runnings – The Jamaican bobsled team, coached by John Candy.
Gettysburg – Filmed on location, with a cast of thousands. Fix bayonets!
The Nightmare Before Christmas – Stop motion animation is still cool.
The Three Musketeers – Yes, it’s been done before. But never with Tim Curry as Cardinal Richelieu.
Schindler’s List – The Germans were the most inefficient people in history.
Super Mario Brothers almost made the list – I thought that I was the only one on the planet who enjoyed it.
Has it ever occurred to you that Groundhog Day is kind of about making any other movie with Bill Murray in it? I mean, everybody else has to keep repeating the scenes, over and over, until Murray gets it right.
I really wish that there had been a tiny flash of recognition, maybe from the bartender, that he’s done all this before, and is there to help Murray’s character make a little progress.
Rumor has it that Murray was known to lose interest during filming, so Groundhog Day was shot in reverse. The happy successful guy is just getting started, and he’s actually feeling pretty obnoxious by the time they get to shooting the initial scenes of the disgruntled weather forecaster.
Lathechuck
Despite him being cranky, Murray is a genius.
I went by the original release date so I already brought up El Mariachi in the 1992 part. Better than the big budget sequels, though the sequels are improved if you imagine that they’re the legends that arose from the actual events of the first movie.
Fortress – Dystopian prison escape movie with Christopher Lambert seeking to get free before the deadline of his equally imprisoned wife gives birth.
The Three Musketeers – It takes a lot of liberties with the original story, but it has Tim Curry playing the villain.
Last Action Hero – Classic action comedy that makes great use of the tropes and meta surrounding action movies.
Grumpy Old Men – Fun comedy with some serious moments. Comes with the important reminder that IRS agents are scum who should be abused at any opportunity.
Animated movies tend to get overlooked, so have a couple of those:
The Thief and the Cobbler – The Magnum Opus with an infamously long production time before it was cut down and forced out by executives, but the Recobbled Cut does its best to restore the intended vision.
Ninja Scroll – Weirdoes with strange powers murder each other in feudal Japan over conspiracies. What’s not to love?
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm – Weirdoes without strange powers fight crime and each other in Gotham. I could go into details, but it is best experienced on your own. Watch Batman the Animated Series*. Watch this. Watch Batman Beyond. Watch the Justice League Unlimited episode “Epilogue” tying it all together.
*Watch Superman the Animated series and Justice League while you’re at it.
Ha! Fortress was fun, as was Last Action Hero. Never did see the animated ones on your list. I’ll keep my eye out for them.
I don’t know if you’re much for cartoon series, but the DC Animated Universe is outstanding, at least the parts known as Timmverse or Diniverse from the creators Bruce Timm and Paul Dini. Batman the Animated Series gets most of the attention for starting it all and for even influencing the comics, but the other series lives up to the example it sets. I can’t do a better job of selling it than the series itself does, just watch this:
And if you didn’t catch it all, read this analysis to understand just how brilliantly it tells us everything we need to know about Batman in one minute:
https://comicsalliance.com/ask-chris-78-why-the-batman-the-animated-series-opening-is/
It was nice when these shows were just trying to tell a story . . .
The Sandlot was a great flick from that year, but one that I didn’t see until a couple of years ago. I wasn’t even aware of it until I started seeing a lot of the “You’re killing me Smalls” shirts around town.
Many have mentioned Point of No Return and that was probably my favorite from 1993. My French girlfriend wanted to see it and thought it was better than the original (which surprised me). She also later made me watch the Three Colors trilogy (Three Colors: Bleu was made in 1993). The trilogy was good (and highly acclaimed), but like many foreign films, the endings were a bit jarring.
Dazed and Confused is another one that I only saw recently. It almost reminds of a documentary albeit a documentary written and produced by stoners. I still enjoyed it because, as John mentioned, it reminds me of the free range happier times when kids could just hang out (and they didn’t have cell phones).
J-Bird
I haven’t seen The Sandlot, but it looks good. I’ll keep an eye out for it.