With the dawn of CGI technologies, science fiction cinema was opened up to all new creative possibilities in the 1990s. From a theme park filled with cloned dinosaurs to a Terminator model that could shapeshift by turning into liquid metal, sci-fi cinema was joined by all kinds of blockbuster spectacle throughout the ‘90s.
As is always the case, there were plenty of duds that were either dead on arrival or didn’t age well. But directors like Steven Spielberg and James Cameron made sure it wasn’t all bad.
Best: Starship Troopers (1997)
From RoboCop to Total Recall, Paul Verhoeven is a master of directing ultraviolent sci-fi satire for the big screen. The pinnacle of this is his hysterical adaptation of the Robert A. Heinlein novel Starship Troopers.
The movie spectacularly lampoons the military-industrial complex through a tale of human colonizers waging war against an alien race of giant insects in the 23rd century.
Worst: Armageddon (1998)
The quickest way to ensure that a Michael Bay movie will suck is to give him a huge budget. In Armageddon, a team of drillers are sent into space to save the world. As Ben Affleck has pointed out (and pointed out to Bay on the set before being told to shut the f*** up), it would be easier to train astronauts to drill than to train drillers to go into space, so the premise doesn’t make sense.
The personal conflicts at the heart of the movie are antiquated, concerning a father handing over proverbial ownership of his daughter to her boyfriend, and what’s even creepier is that the movie’s theme song, a love ballad about the female lead. was performed by the father of the female lead.
Best: Ghost In The Shell (1995)
The whitewashed live-action remake of Ghost in the Shell is a boring slog, but the 1995 original is one of the greatest anime movies ever made. By combining traditional cel animation with then-newfangled computer-generated animation, director Mamoru Oshii gave Ghost in the Shell a unique visual style.
The plot, adapted from the manga of the same name, is riveting from start to finish, while Kenji Kawai’s musical score perfectly captures the movie’s futuristic feel.
Worst: Johnny Mnemonic (1995)
A few years before he’d star in cyberpunk masterpiece The Matrix, Keanu Reeves starred in cyberpunk dud Johnny Mnemonic. William Gibson adapted his own story into a screenplay, but managed to screw it up pretty badly.
The final result of this movie comes off as a pale imitation of Blade Runner. Reeves was nominated for a Razzie for his performance as the title character.
Best: Gattaca (1997)
Written and directed by Andrew Niccol, the mind from which some of cinema’s most thought-provoking (The Truman Show) and least thought-provoking (In Time) sci-fi movies were born, Gattaca takes place in a eugenics-driven future society.
It’s about a man with inferior genes who poses as a man with superior genes in order to fulfill his lifelong dream of going to space. Gattaca is a prime example of biopunk, which isn’t often seen on the big screen.
Worst: Waterworld (1995)
One of the biggest box office bombs ever made, Waterworld is a kind of weak riff on the Mad Max mythology. Instead of a barren wasteland where gasoline is precious currency, Waterworld is set in a post-apocalyptic future in which the world is completely flooded.
Kevin Costner stars as the Mariner, an unnamed antihero who sails across the Earth on a trimaran. Sadly, the movie fails to live up to the potential of its premise.
Best: Jurassic Park (1993)
Having already directed two movies that broke the record for the highest grossing movie of all time (Jaws and E.T.), Steven Spielberg went for a hat-trick with a third one, Jurassic Park. Spielberg imbued the movie with lofty philosophical musings without losing sight of the action-adventure spectacle.
As a cautionary tale about the dangers of playing God, Jurassic Park is essentially a Frankenstein story, and it plays into those themes beautifully. Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum are iconic as the central trio.
Worst: Universal Soldier (1992)
If you go into a movie directed by Roland Emmerich of The Day After Tomorrow and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme of Double Target expecting it to be a masterwork of cinema, you’ll be sorely disappointed. But even by those standards, Universal Soldier is a terrible showing.
It’s about rivaling Vietnam veterans who were killed in action being resurrected as superhumans by a top-secret government project. Unfortunately, it’s not as so-bad-it’s-good as the premise makes it sound; it’s more just so-bad-it’s-bad.
Best: The Matrix (1999)
The Wachowskis drew from a wide range of influences when they wrote and directed The Matrix: Japanese martial arts movies, William Gibson’s cyberpunk literature, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, anime etc. This cocktail of inspirations shows in the movie’s unique visual style. On top of its unparalleled production design and action-packed spectacle, The Matrix explores mind-boggling questions about the nature of reality.
Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Laurence Fishburne have impeccable chemistry as the movie’s heroes, while Hugo Weaving gives a striking performance as the villain, Agent Smith.
Worst: Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace (1996)
The first Lawnmower Man movie is hardly a masterpiece, but it’s an interesting enough foray into cyberspace that’s earned itself a spot as one of science fiction’s must-see movies.
Its sequel, however, which is actually more of a reboot, is a depressing affair. Its visual effects are surprisingly decent, but its plot is overly complex and really dumb at the same time.