Films of 1990: From Best to Worst
by spencergrande6 | created - 05 Nov 2011 | updated - 12 Dec 2016 | PublicOriginal theatrical release.
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1. Goodfellas (1990)
R | 145 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
The story of Henry Hill and his life in the mafia, covering his relationship with his wife Karen and his mob partners Jimmy Conway and Tommy DeVito.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco
Votes: 1,256,661 | Gross: $46.84M
2. Days of Being Wild (1990)
Not Rated | 94 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A man tries to find out who his real mother is after the woman who raised him tells him the truth.
Director: Kar-Wai Wong | Stars: Leslie Cheung, Maggie Cheung, Andy Lau, Carina Lau
Votes: 25,467 | Gross: $0.14M
3. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)
Unrated | 83 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Arriving in Chicago, Henry moves in with ex-con acquaintance Otis and starts schooling him in the ways of the serial killer.
Director: John McNaughton | Stars: Michael Rooker, Tracy Arnold, Tom Towles, Mary Demas
Votes: 40,415 | Gross: $0.61M
4. Edward Scissorhands (1990)
PG-13 | 105 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
The solitary life of an artificial man - who was incompletely constructed and has scissors for hands - is upended when he is taken in by a suburban family.
Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Dianne Wiest, Anthony Michael Hall
Votes: 523,607 | Gross: $56.36M
5. Ghost (1990)
PG-13 | 127 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
After a young man is murdered, his spirit stays behind to warn his lover of impending danger, with the help of a reluctant psychic.
Director: Jerry Zucker | Stars: Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, Whoopi Goldberg, Tony Goldwyn
Votes: 235,826 | Gross: $217.63M
6. It (1990)
TV-14 | 96 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
In 1960, seven pre-teen outcasts fight an evil demon who poses as a child-killing clown. Thirty years later, they reunite to stop the demon once and for all when it returns to their hometown.
Stars: Richard Thomas, Tim Reid, Annette O'Toole, Harry Anderson
Votes: 140,829
7. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)
PG | 93 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
Four teenage mutant ninja turtles emerge from the shadows to protect New York City from a gang of criminal ninjas.
Director: Steve Barron | Stars: Judith Hoag, Elias Koteas, Josh Pais, David Forman
Votes: 104,782 | Gross: $135.27M
8. Wild at Heart (1990)
R | 125 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Young lovers Sailor and Lula run from the variety of weirdos that Lula's mom has hired to kill Sailor.
Director: David Lynch | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Laura Dern, Willem Dafoe, J.E. Freeman
Votes: 100,906 | Gross: $14.56M
9. Total Recall (1990)
R | 113 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
When a man goes in to have virtual vacation memories of the planet Mars implanted in his mind, an unexpected and harrowing series of events forces him to go to the planet for real - or is he?
Director: Paul Verhoeven | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sharon Stone, Michael Ironside, Rachel Ticotin
Votes: 354,389 | Gross: $119.39M
10. Miller's Crossing (1990)
R | 115 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Tom Reagan, an advisor to a Prohibition-era crime boss, tries to keep the peace between warring mobs but gets caught in divided loyalties.
Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen | Stars: Gabriel Byrne, Albert Finney, John Turturro, Marcia Gay Harden
Votes: 142,092 | Gross: $5.08M
11. Flatliners (1990)
R | 115 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
Five medical students experiment with "near death" experiences, until the dark consequences of past tragedies begin to jeopardize their lives.
Director: Joel Schumacher | Stars: Kiefer Sutherland, Kevin Bacon, Julia Roberts, William Baldwin
Votes: 93,388 | Gross: $61.49M
12. Home Alone (1990)
PG | 103 min | Comedy, Family
An eight-year-old troublemaker, mistakenly left home alone, must defend his home against a pair of burglars on Christmas Eve.
Director: Chris Columbus | Stars: Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Heard
Votes: 652,599 | Gross: $285.76M
13. Dances with Wolves (1990)
PG-13 | 181 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
Lieutenant John Dunbar, assigned to a remote western Civil War outpost, finds himself engaging with a neighbouring Sioux settlement, causing him to question his own purpose.
Director: Kevin Costner | Stars: Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, Graham Greene, Rodney A. Grant
Votes: 290,461 | Gross: $184.21M
14. Hardware (1990)
R | 94 min | Sci-Fi, Thriller
The head of a cyborg reactivates, rebuilds itself, and goes on a violent rampage in a space marine's girlfriend's apartment.
Director: Richard Stanley | Stars: Dylan McDermott, Stacey Travis, John Lynch, Carl McCoy
Votes: 16,441 | Gross: $5.73M
15. Night of the Living Dead (1990)
R | 92 min | Horror
When the unburied dead return to life and seek human victims, seven refugees shelter in a house in the Pennsylvanian countryside.
Director: Tom Savini | Stars: Tony Todd, Patricia Tallman, Tom Towles, McKee Anderson
Votes: 45,483 | Gross: $5.84M
16. Presumed Innocent (1990)
R | 127 min | Mystery, Thriller
As a lawyer investigates the murder of a colleague, he finds himself more connected to the crime than anyone else.
Director: Alan J. Pakula | Stars: Harrison Ford, Raul Julia, Greta Scacchi, Brian Dennehy
Votes: 45,769 | Gross: $86.30M
17. The Rescuers Down Under (1990)
G | 77 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
R.A.S. agents Miss Bianca and Bernard race to Australia to save a little boy and a rare golden eagle from a murderous poacher.
Directors: Hendel Butoy, Mike Gabriel | Stars: Bob Newhart, Eva Gabor, John Candy, Tristan Rogers
Votes: 47,242 | Gross: $27.93M
18. Die Hard 2 (1990)
R | 124 min | Action, Thriller
John McClane attempts to avert disaster as rogue military operatives seize control of Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C.
Director: Renny Harlin | Stars: Bruce Willis, William Atherton, Bonnie Bedelia, Reginald VelJohnson
Votes: 382,959 | Gross: $117.54M
19. Darkman (1990)
R | 96 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A brilliant scientist left for dead returns to exact revenge on the people who burned him alive.
Director: Sam Raimi | Stars: Liam Neeson, Frances McDormand, Colin Friels, Larry Drake
Votes: 69,808 | Gross: $33.88M
20. Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990)
R | 85 min | Horror, Thriller
A California couple and a survivalist encounter Leatherface and his family.
Director: Jeff Burr | Stars: Kate Hodge, Ken Foree, R.A. Mihailoff, William Butler
Votes: 19,348 | Gross: $5.77M
21. RoboCop 2 (1990)
R | 117 min | Action, Crime, Sci-Fi
RoboCop returns to protect the citizens of old Detroit but faces a deadly challenge when a rogue OCP member secretly creates a new, evil RoboCop 2.
Director: Irvin Kershner | Stars: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Belinda Bauer, Dan O'Herlihy
Votes: 93,129 | Gross: $45.68M
22. Graveyard Shift (1990)
R | 86 min | Horror
In a very old textile mill with a serious rat infestation, deadly accidents start happening, but the corrupt foreman continues to put his workers in danger, until they discover a horrifying secret deep in the basement.
Director: Ralph S. Singleton | Stars: David Andrews, Kelly Wolf, Stephen Macht, Andrew Divoff
Votes: 12,640 | Gross: $11.58M
A surprisingly good rat flick (another in a long line of minor classic neglected King adaptations). The changes made to the story are really quite good. In particular Brad Dourif as the Exterminator. He has a scene where he's describing how rats were used in 'Nam (not present in the short story) that's mesmerizing -- Dourif completely owns it.
Stephen Macht is great with his ridiculous "Maine" accent and scene chewing. It's a kind of perfect demented B-movie performance.
This is just another good rat movie let down by an abrupt, nonsensical ending. This one ends as just a boring creature feature with a giant bat underground. None of the foreboding or terror that preceded it. Killing off the best characters in lackluster ways. It really felt like the filmmakers had no idea where to take it, or ran out of time and money. Sad.
23. Tremors (1990)
PG-13 | 96 min | Comedy, Horror
Natives of a small isolated town defend themselves against strange underground creatures which are killing them one by one.
Director: Ron Underwood | Stars: Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward, Finn Carter, Michael Gross
Votes: 150,424 | Gross: $16.67M
24. Two Evil Eyes (1990)
R | 120 min | Horror
A duo of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations about a greedy wife's attempt to embezzle her dying husband's fortune, and a sleazy reporter's adoption of a strange black cat.
Directors: Dario Argento, George A. Romero | Stars: Adrienne Barbeau, Harvey Keitel, Ramy Zada, Bingo O'Malley
Votes: 8,133 | Gross: $0.35M
25. Arachnophobia (1990)
PG-13 | 109 min | Comedy, Horror, Thriller
A new species of South American killer spider hitches a lift to a small California town in a coffin and starts to breed, leaving a trail of deaths that puzzle and terrify the young doctor newly arrived in town with his family.
Director: Frank Marshall | Stars: Jeff Daniels, Julian Sands, John Goodman, Harley Jane Kozak
Votes: 75,764 | Gross: $53.21M
26. Days of Thunder (1990)
PG-13 | 107 min | Action, Drama, Sport
A young hot-shot stock car driver gets his chance to compete at the top level.
Director: Tony Scott | Stars: Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Robert Duvall, Randy Quaid
Votes: 96,359 | Gross: $82.67M
27. Predator 2 (1990)
R | 108 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
The Predator returns to Earth, this time to stake a claim on the war-torn streets of a dystopian Los Angeles.
Director: Stephen Hopkins | Stars: Danny Glover, Gary Busey, Kevin Peter Hall, Rubén Blades
Votes: 182,427 | Gross: $30.67M
28. Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990)
R | 93 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
To stall a witch plotting to eat him, a boy reads her horror tales dealing with a collegian's resurrection of a mummy, a murderous cat, and an artist's pact with a gargoyle.
Director: John Harrison | Stars: Debbie Harry, Matthew Lawrence, Christian Slater, David Forrester
Votes: 19,358 | Gross: $16.32M
29. Blue Steel (1990)
R | 102 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A rookie in the police force must engage in a cat-and-mouse game with a pistol-wielding psychopath who becomes obsessed with her.
Director: Kathryn Bigelow | Stars: Jamie Lee Curtis, Ron Silver, Clancy Brown, Elizabeth Peña
Votes: 17,758 | Gross: $8.22M
30. Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)
PG-13 | 106 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
The Gremlins are back, and this time, they've taken control of a New York City media mogul's high-tech skyscraper.
Directors: Joe Dante, Chuck Jones | Stars: Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Howie Mandel, Tony Randall
Votes: 112,789 | Gross: $41.48M
31. Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation (1990 Video)
R | 87 min | Horror
A reporter investigating the bizarre death of a woman who leaped from a building in flames finds herself mixed up in a cult of witches who are making her part of their sacrificial ceremony during the Christmas season.
Director: Brian Yuzna | Stars: Clint Howard, Neith Hunter, Tommy Hinkley, Hugh Fink
Votes: 2,811
32. Back to the Future Part III (1990)
PG | 118 min | Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Stranded in 1955, Marty McFly learns about the death of Doc Brown in 1885 and must travel back in time to save him. With no fuel readily available for the DeLorean, the two must figure how to escape the Old West before Emmett is murdered.
Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Mary Steenburgen, Tom Wilson
Votes: 480,568 | Gross: $87.73M
33. Joe Versus the Volcano (1990)
PG | 102 min | Comedy, Romance
When a hypochondriac learns that he is dying, he accepts an offer to throw himself in a volcano at a tropical island, and along the way there, learns to truly live.
Director: John Patrick Shanley | Stars: Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Lloyd Bridges, Robert Stack
Votes: 39,793 | Gross: $39.40M
34. Slumber Party Massacre III (1990)
R | 87 min | Comedy, Horror
Jackie Cassidy and her friends are stalked by a serial killer while having a slumber party.
Director: Sally Mattison | Stars: Keely Christian, Brittain Frye, Michael Harris, David Greenlee
Votes: 3,447 | Gross: $1.24M
35. Look Who's Talking Too (1990)
PG-13 | 81 min | Comedy, Family, Romance
This time, a new baby is on the way, and it's a girl. Wrapped together with the standard conflict between mother and father, Mikey engages in a bit of sibling rivalry with his new sister.
Director: Amy Heckerling | Stars: John Travolta, Kirstie Alley, Olympia Dukakis, Elias Koteas
Votes: 48,820 | Gross: $47.49M
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