While many films from the '90s hold up to this day, others are, sadly, so of their time
that there's little reason to revisit them, save for a quick dose of nostalgia. From sci-fi
to prestige dramas, here are some '90s films that haven't aged well.
Released at the very onset of early internet culture, Iain Softley's Hackers isn't just
an ode to the Oregon Trail generation. It's a bright, shiny encapsulation of mid-'90s
computer technology, in all its rollerblading glory.
"Hack the planet! Hack the planet!"
The film centers on a group of teen hackers in New York, led by Dade "Zero Cool-slash-Crash
Override" Murphy and Kate "Acid Burn" Libby. Along with their friends "Cereal Killer,"
"Lord Nikon," and "The Phantom Phreak," Dade and Kate unite a worldwide network of hackers
to take down Ellingson Mineral Company computer security officer Eugene "The Plague" Belford
and Secret Service Agent Richard Gill.
Hackers worked in 1995, if for no other reason than the fact that the internet was still
such a new commodity. Many households had little to no interaction with the world wide
web outside of a few AOL emails. And the idea that the internet actually looked like something
— in this case, it's a mix of virtual cityscape and those old Magic Eye posters — was totally
believable because people had no idea that it didn't actually look like anything. Add
to that a group of high schoolers who exemplify the very height of '90s rave fashion, and
you've got a film that's pretty impossible to watch outside of nostalgia's sake.
Like Hackers, 1995's The Net was a reflection of a time when it was clear that Hollywood
had no idea what the internet was actually like. Unlike Hackers, however, The Net took
a far less optimistic approach to computers. In this film, systems analyst Angela Bennett
stumbles upon a cyber conspiracy that revolves around the use of a computer security system
called Gatekeeper. Once involved, Angela becomes the target of Gregg Microsystems, the software
company that owns and operates Gatekeeper. Her identity is erased, replaced with that
of a woman wanted by the FBI for, among other things, prostitution. It's a movie that spends
two hours trying to make a piece of malware look like it can take down the entire US government.
The Net also buys into the idea that people who work with computers are unable to also
have social lives. The biggest problem for Angela once she loses her identity is that
she can't convince anyone of who she is because she doesn't actually talk to anyone in the
real world. Her entire life exists online, from any sort of meaningful social interaction
to ordering pizza. In 1995, that was a potential death sentence. Today, it's Twitter and GrubHub.
The early '90s wasn't kind to video game adaptations. Super Mario Bros. failed to impress, and star
Bob Hoskins famously called the film, quote, "the worst thing I ever did." The following
year, both Double Dragon and Street Fighter fared even worse, with one critic calling
the former a, quote, "low-IQ futuristic slugfest," while the latter was marked by its inability
to live up to its source material.
As for Mortal Kombat, which hit theaters in August 1995, it stuck pretty close to the
original game's narrative. Three Earthrealm fighters Liu Kang, Johnny Cage, and Sonya
Blade are recruited by god of thunder Rayden to fight against Shang Tsung and the invading
forces of Outworld in an inter-dimensional tournament. It's a simple plot, but it was
a simple game, and at the time of its release, it all sort of worked.
Looking at it now, though, through the lens of over 25 years' worth of technological advancements
and arguably improvements in scripting, Mortal Kombat is a complete cheesefest that's difficult
to sit through without laughing. The dialogue comes across like parody, with Shang Tsung's
over-the-top-villainous one-liners of particular note.
"Your brother's soul is mine."
"Liu!"
"You will be next."
But the worst offense here is the effects, which were, by 1995 standards, passable. Today,
though, let's just forget all about Scorpion's palm spear.
The 1997 rom-com Chasing Amy tells the story of Holden McNeil, a comic book artist who
falls in love with fellow artist Alyssa Jones. There is, however, one difficult obstacle
in the way of Holden's pursuit of her: Alyssa is a lesbian. Ultimately, the pair do embark
on a romantic relationship, but it's plagued with issues specifically, Holden's insecurity
in finding out he isn't the first man Alyssa has been with. Upon its release, the film
was lauded for its progressive approach to sexuality and relationships, and it earned
Kevin Smith an Independent Spirit Award for his screenplay.
But Chasing Amy isn't without its flaws. The film has come under fire for perpetuating
an idea that a woman who identifies as a lesbian just needs to find the right man in order
to go straight, and that if a guy tries hard enough, he can convince any woman to fall
in love with him, regardless of her sexual preference. In an interview with BuzzFeed
News, Guinevere Turner, the real-life inspiration for Alyssa's character, noted that she understands
the aversion newer audiences might have toward the film. However, she defends it for being
one of the first to portray a lesbian character with a, quote, "complicated sexuality."
For anyone entering into adulthood in the mid-'90s, Reality Bites was pretty much considered
required viewing. Centering on the post-college lives of four friends Lelaina, Troy, Vickie,
and Sammy — who live together in Houston, the film was a perfect encapsulation of the
era and the disenfranchised youth that made up Generation X. In 1994, having no direction
in life and a combative-type attitude toward your friends was kind of attractive, so long
as you could write terrible coffeehouse poetry and talk for hours about important social
and moral issues while chain-smoking a pack of Marlboro Reds. Today, you'd probably get
dropped from your friend group.
We're specifically talking about Troy here because looking at Reality Bites through a
modern lens makes one thing perfectly, painfully clear Troy was the absolute worst. The '90s
were shockingly forgiving of some pretty unforgiving behaviors, especially when it came from a
guy in a loose button-down with unkempt hair and a crooked smile. Troy was narcissistic,
emotionally manipulative, and just kind of mean.
"I am really in love with you… Is that what you want to hear? Is it?"
While guys like Troy continue to exist in cinema today, they generally don't get the
girl in the end because the girl has had enough of Troy's garbage.
Four years before Keanu Reeves took on the role of Neo in the Matrix trilogy, he played
Johnny, the mnemonic courier turned internet hero in Robert Longo's cyberpunk sci-fi thriller
Johnny Mnemonic. In Longo's film, information is currency. People like Johnny have data
storage devices implanted into their brains for the express purpose of transferring sensitive
information across "the Net" for various corporations and organized crime circuits. When Johnny's
latest package happens to contain the cure for a neurological disease caused by using
the internet, he's forced into a fight not only with the head of a pharmacological company
that wants it for himself but also with the Yakuza.
As entertaining as Johnny Mnemonic is and watching Reeves' Johnny team up with Ice-T
and a cybernetic dolphin is endlessly entertaining it's hard to ignore just how bad the film's
depiction of future tech is. In order to access his brain's hard drive, Johnny enters into
a VR world through the use of a giant visor, a pair of gloves that look like high-tech
protective padding, and a fax machine. Because in 2021, the best and fastest way to transmit
information still involves dial-up. Longo probably meant for Johnny Mnemonic to be some
kind of statement on society's inevitable enslavement to technology, but it's hard to
American Beauty is something of an anomaly here in that it took home five Academy Awards,
sweeping most of the major categories. At the heart of the film is Lester Burnham, a
middle-aged magazine exec whose life is anything but fulfilling. When it all starts to unravel,
Lester embarks on a path of self-discovery and improvement, one that also happens to
include actively pursuing his teenage daughter's best friend, Angela.
As cringeworthy as that particular storyline may be on its own, what makes this one especially
awful to watch is the shadow of Spacey's personal life that looms so heavily over it, and subsequently,
over every other role he's had on screen. Following a series of sexual assault allegations
from over 30 victims, Spacey's career has been tainted, and trying to sit through an
on-screen flirtation between him and a young woman is anything but entertaining.
Nestled into the summer of 1999 was a film that would go on to define an entire generation
and one that would have a slew of sequels and spinoffs: American Pie. The raunchy teen
comedy made waves with its graphic depiction of coming-of-age hilarity, and it also launched
the careers of a number of actors. Some went on to have continued success while others...
not so much.
American Pie has no shortage of vulgar jokes and tasteless scenes, but there's one in particular
that makes it completely unwatchable today. When Jim's friends convince him to set up
a webcam in his room so they can watch foreign exchange student Nadia undress, the act is
treated like any other joke in the film.
"God bless the internet."
It's one that supposedly gets funnier once Jim decides to join in. Nowadays, the same
sort of "joke" would be punishable by a hefty fine and jail time. Filming someone without
their consent isn't funny. The fact that Nadia winds up losing her sponsorship over it, thereby
being the one punished, is even worse.
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