Top 100 Movies Of The 1990's: #2 Pulp Fiction

Box Office: $107.2 Million Dollars

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture, Best Director (Quentin Tarantino), Best Actor (John Travolta), Best Supporting Actor (Samuel L. Jackson), Best Supporting Actress (Uma Thurman), Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing

Oscar Wins: Best Original Screenplay

MovieRankings.Net: 95/100

Available To Stream: Pluto TV, Paramount+, AppleTV ($4)

It sort of feels wrong not having Pulp Fiction as the #1 movie of the 1990's. I can't think of any film that better captures that specific decade of cinema. It began the true explosion of independent studios that dominated the next few years. It was also indirectly responsible for a bunch of lousy rip-off movies with criminals spouting off "witty" dialogue. But no one can blame Pulp Fiction for that. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery after all.

I was lucky enough to see Pulp Fiction in the theaters. My Dad had just passed away a couple weeks earlier and getting to see such a thrilling yet funny movie was almost cathartic for me. The whole movie just felt so cool. I even felt cool for seeing it. Which for someone like me saying they even felt remotely "cool" might be the film's greatest triumph. There was a fun energy in the theater. It's like everyone there knew we were seeing more than just a movie. This was the future of pop culture.

I may be in the minority but my favorite segment in the movie is the Bruce Willis one. I love every aspect of this movie so there is no wrong answer here. I don't know if I've ever been more on the edge of my seat then when the music drops out and Willis' Butch is running to his apartment to get the watch. Just the idea of intentionally going somewhere where you know people are waiting to kill you is such a great plot point that Quentin Tarantino pulls off flawlessly. Finding John Travolta walking out of the bathroom is perfect.

The whole movie is excellent. Uma Thurman is so sexy and cool that when she's recovering from her overdose, it's almost shocking to see her look and sound so sick. It's shocking to see that she is mortal. The chemistry between Samuel L. Jackson and Travolta is so good yet if someone drew up that partnership before seeing this movie, I'd have thought that to be a terrible idea. Harvey Keitel's Winston Wolfe is such a fun character, he somehow makes Tarantino's acting passable when they are in scenes together.

When it came out, people were really blown away with the jumping around in time that this does. I don't know if it's just been ripped off so many times but the more I rewatch it, the less I care about that. I find myself more and more drawn in to how great the dialogue is. I could listen to the people in this world have conversations all day. This is my favorite Tarantino film for that reason. This might be the greatest script ever written.

It's almost criminal that in the same year that Pulp Fiction and The Shawshank Redemption came out, Forrest Gump won Best Picture. But maybe that's the wrong way to look at it. It's more amazing that a movie written and directed by a 31 year old about hitmen, heroin users and second rate boxers would ever be nominated for Best Picture.

When I think of movies of the 1990's, this is the first one that comes to mind. It's impressive that a movie so of it's time has aged as well as it has. It moves at a great pace and having the three segments keeps it from dragging. It's also just a great movie. The great ones like Jaws, The Godfather, Back To The Future are able to defeat Father Time.

Pulp Fiction does not only that but also still remains very cool 30 years later. That should be impossible.

2. Pulp Fiction

3. The Shawshank Redemption

4. Good Will Hunting

5. Casino

6. Groundhog Day

7. The Silence Of The Lambs

8. Office Space

9. The Sixth Sense

10. Boogie Nights

11. Jurassic Park

12. Jackie Brown

13. A Few Good Men

14. The Fugitive

15. The Truman Show

16. Fargo

17. Swingers

18. Reservoir Dogs

19. There's Something About Mary

20. Sleepers

21. Schindler's List

22. Rushmore

23. Fight Club

24. Saving Private Ryan

25. True Romance

26. Dumb & Dumber

27. Kingpin

28. Donnie Brasco

29. Heat 

30. Terminator 2: Judgement Day

31. Rounders

32. Unforgiven

33. Trainspotting

34. The Game

35. Out Of Sight

36. Carlito's Way

37. Seven

38. L.A. Confidential

39. Speed

40. Gattaca

41. Misery

42. Tombstone

43. Ransom

44. Wayne's World

45. The Insider

46. Back To The Future Part III

47. A Bronx Tale

48. The People Vs. Larry Flynt

49. Eyes Wide Shut

50. The Sandlot

51. Happy Gilmore

52. Contact

53. The Green Mile

54. Man On The Moon

55. Boyz N The Hood

56. Grosse Pointe Blank

57. Independence Day

58. The Rainmaker

59. Go

60. The Firm

61. Magnolia

62. The Talented Mr. Ripley

63. Tommy Boy

64. The Usual Suspects

65. In The Line Of Fire

66. My Cousin Vinny

67. Awakenings

68. JFK

69. Toy Story

70. Home Alone

71. Jerry Maguire

72. Titanic

73. Billy Madison

74. Apollo 13

75. Braveheart

76. Edward Scissorhands

77. Cape Fear

78. The River Wild

79. What's Eating Gilbert Grape?

80. 12 Monkeys

81. Stir Of Echoes

82. Mission: Impossible

83. Total Recall

84. Quiz Show

85. For Love Of The Game

86. Being John Malkovich

87. Men In Black

88. Scream

89. Alive

90. Three Kings

91. Glengarry Glen Ross

92. Die Hard With A Vengeance

93. The Blair Witch Project

94. Twister

95. Dirty Work

96. Election

97. Tremors

98. Any Given Sunday

99. The Wedding Singer

100. Clerks