Top Ten Films of 1993

This is known as the year Jurassic Park came out. And for good reason. But it also adds so much to the 90’s deep bench of good movies. There’s quite a few I just left off so I just made a top 25 instead.

I wouldn’t do it unless I felt like there were too many to only do 10. I won’t rank my 11-25 but here they are listed with where you can find them for free. Most of these are available to buy or rent also of course.

My 11-25 in alphabetical order.

A Perfect World (Directed by Clint Eastwood) - HBO Max

Carlito’s Way (Directed by Brian De Palma)

Cliffhanger (Directed by Renny Harlin)

Dave (Directed by Ivan Reitman) - Hulu

Dazed and Confused (Directed by Richard Linklater)

Demolition Man (Directed by Marco Brambilla)

Falling Down (Directed by Joel Schumacher)

Fearless (Directed by Peter Weir)

Hard Target (Directed by John Woo)

Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (Directed by Duwayne Dunham)

In the Line of Fire (Directed by Wolfgang Petersen) - Hulu

Kalifornia (Directed by Dominic Sena) - Amazon Prime

Philadelphia (Directed by Jonathan Demme) - Netflix

Wayne’s World 2 (Directed by Stephen Surjik) Amazon Prime & Hulu

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? (Directed by Lasse Hallstrom) - Amazon Prime

Now my top ten!

10. Green Snake (Directed by Tsui Hark)

Can’t really explain this one so I won’t. It’s purely Hong Kong cinema and full of wild tone shifts, weird practical effects and emotional beats, and silly. I loved it when I saw it at the wonderful Music Box theater (I miss theaters quite a bit) and I wish I could show this to all my friends. It has people turning into snakes. Watch it if you ever come across it.

9. Schindler’s List (Directed by Steven Spielberg) - Netflix

Spielberg getting on my top 10 twice. He loves making movies back to back. That’s his usual. Going from Jurassic Park to Schindler’s List is just a massive swing of tone. It’s his peak to me, and although this movie is the joke answer to a lot of movie questions it is worth any time you can give it. Important and great in equal measure.

8. Short Cuts (Directed by Robert Altman)

A hard movie to love for me but I like the way it plays out and for being as long as it is and having some of the least likable characters imaginable it is engrossing. Altman’s touch and a cast that includes too many to name despite what you’ll read in my other cast listing nonsense.

7. Matinee (Directed by Joe Dante)

A pleasant movie of simpler times that turn out to be not so simple. It felt so resonant to our current time and I recommend this to anyone. It has nothing to be offended by except just the normal everyday disappointment in the way America has ran its systems. If Goodman were in this more it would be a top 5 of this year for me.

6. Age of Innocence (Directed by Martin Scorsese) - Criterion Channel

A Scorsese movie about delicate and passionate love. The deep repression and fear of the time is all over the movie. It doesn’t fit the narrative most have of his career, but Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfieffer and Winona Ryder are fantastic.

5. True Romance (Directed by Tony Scott)

One of those would-not-be-made-now movies. At least not in the same way. There are characters and monologues that are so problematic and I’m still fascinated. A star turn by Patricia Arquette, and Christian Slater at his most likably annoying. The secret here is Tony Scott being a madman director and filling it with cameos and supporting roles from James Gandolfini, Christopher Walken, Dennis Hopper, Brad Pitt, Samuel L. Jackson, Gary Oldman, and Val Kilmer. This might not be your dad’s movie, but it is a millennial dad movie.

4. Tombstone (Directed by George P. Cosmatos/maybe Kurt Russell)

Another of the watchable dad movies high on this list. This movie is mostly cast. Kilmer throwing heat the entire time and Kurt Russell being dependably good. Powers Boothe, Bill Paxton, Sam Elliot, Michael Biehn, Billy Bob Thornton, Charlton Heston, Stephen Lang, Thomas Haden Church, Dana Delany, and Paula Malcomson. Murderers row and then some.

3. The Fugitive (Directed by Andrew Davis) - HBO Max & on AMC perpetually until the end of time.

The joke of this movie always being on is right. There’s a reason for that. It is incredibly watchable. Every scene moves and adds to the story or characters. It’s fast while also taking its time to show process and the search. Harrison Ford is good, but Tommy Lee Jones carries this thing across the finish line. He nails one of my favorite line deliveries of all time.

2. Three Colors: Blue (Directed by Krzysztof Kiéslowski) - HBO Max & Criterion Channel

One of the best movies about depression you’ll find. The true sense of helplessness during a loss. It isn’t a grueling watch the way some films about similar topics can be. I found it uplifting in a melancholy way. Fantastic acting and gorgeous images really impacted me.

1. Jurassic Park (Directed by Steven Spielberg) - Netflix

I wish Spielberg made more horror films. He has it inside him but he chooses a more financially positive and focus group style of movie making for my liking. This is his best to me. A cast that gives each character an entire life while he doesn’t show the Dinos too much, until he really does. The suspense is palpable. It’s a beloved movie for a reason.

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