The MoFos Top 100 of the 90s Countdown - Redux

Beauty - I read a book about DreamWorks, and how Spielberg was giving advice on this and that to the first time film director, but Mendes continued to do it his way, which included cutting back the story to its bare essentials, eliminating a court room scene, etc, which caused some concern with producers and studio heads who feared he was editing too much - despite this pruning, and the minimalism, the film has been analyzed and debated to the finest detail... its wiki page is loaded with this type of discourse. It also went on to win a host of awards.

Troopers - Funny how critics and others didn't get the satire and took this film at face value on its initial release... though people familiar with Heinlein’s novel might have been zeroed in on that and missed that the movie was taking the piss out the books pro-war leanings. Verhoeven has said he couldn't even finish the source material and had someone tell him what it was about, calling it "a bad book". The film has since found an appreciative audience.

The working title was "Bug Hunt at Outpost Nine"

Starship was #74 on the previous list - Beauty was #24

American Beauty falls from #24 on our first trip through the '90s as well as placing at #88 on the initial MoFo Top 100 and #79 on the Top 100 Reboot. Starship Troopers was #74 on that original 1990s list and #54 on the MoFo Top 100 Sci-Fi flicks.

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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

46. Starship Troopers (1997) - I've seen this one a few times - a popular one on these forums, and it has been discussed extensively. It may or may not be brilliant satire, but it does seem to exhibit a delirious mix of clever insight and dumb fun. I enjoy it well enough, but it's never been one of my favourite films, and however many sequels there have been I've seen none of them. It is quite funny at times, especially when it is being satirical. I think it was described in it's commentary as a response to the First Gulf War, and I should imagine it's even more applicable in the United States today than it was in the past, considering the latter-day Gulf War and how fascist elements seem to be on the rise. Anyway, watching future Nazis fight an entire planet of bugs has got to be memorable at the very least, and it seems Starship Troopers won't be forgotten any time soon. I'm kinda shocked it's appeared this high on this list - Top 50! Wow.

45. American Beauty (1999) - I haven't seen this for quite a while, but it made enough of an impression on me for me to have watched it a fair amount of times anyway - and for it to snag a spot on my ballot. Would the fact that Kevin Spacey plays the lead make a difference if I were to watch it today? Perhaps a more recent watch would have seen it drop off my ballot, who knows. What I do know is that American Beauty really blew me away when I first saw it, as an all-round well made film and an interesting comment on morality and life in the United States of America (and other similar places) at a time when it was hard to admit that most of us were paying attention to what's important in life and what's mere window-dressing. I was wondering where this would end up, but still pretty sure that it would do well enough - and this is about the place I'd expect it to show these days. I had it at #16.

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Seen : 55/56
I'd never even heard of : 1/56
Movies that had been on my radar, but I haven't seen yet : 0/56
Films from my list : 10 + 1 pointer

#45 - My #16 - American Beauty (1999)
#51 - My #7 - Raise the Red Lantern (1991)
#53 - My #13 - The Thin Red Line (1998)
#57 - My #17 - Barton Fink (1991)
#66 - My #6 - Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)
#68 - My #23 - Apollo 13 (1995)
#74 - My #18 - Election (1999)
#78 - My #2 - The Blair Witch Project (1999)
#81 - My #22 - Before Sunrise (1995)
#96 - My #15 - Fallen Angels (1995)
1-pointer - Deep Crimson (1996)

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48. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) I love stop-motion animation. And I love Tim Burton’s twisted mind when paired with stop-motion. However, I actually love the Burton-directed Corpse Bride more than this one. I think I admire and respect it more than love it. But an impressive piece of work and it really sat a standard for the style…

47. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) Once again, I prefer something else. I much prefer Snatch over this one. However, I’ve only seen it once a long time ago so I should probably see this again some time.

46. Starship Troopers (1997) Never been a fan.

45. American Beauty (1999) Great film. If my list wasn’t so packed already I could probably have voted for it.

It's an otherwise acclaimed book but funnily I haven't either have you read the book? has anyone here? are the final chapters considerably "better" so much so for me to get back on it?

Herzog has said he doesn't care for the Dracula novel too, lmao.

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HEI guys.

Pleasantly surprised to see Starship Troopers this high on the countdown. Wasn't aware Verhoeven was still this popular here. With two films on the list already, does this mean Basic Instinct will show up as well? Or how about the other Dutch director Jan De Bont with Speed and Twister? However you interpret ST it's great sci-fi and anything with 90s Denise Richards and an underlying anti-war message is a good thing, right?

Rated American Beauty pretty high after its theatrical release but haven't revisited it since. No votes today.

Seen 49/56
Ballot 5/25


In my top 100

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Letterboxd
Entertainment log

Ballot breakdown

1. 100%
2. 100%
3. 0%
4. 20%
5. A Few Good Men (1992)
6. The Remains of the Day (1993)
7. Carlito's Way (1993)
8. 100%
9. 25%
10. 0%
11. 25%
12. Point Break (1991)
13. 90%
14. 50%
15. 100%
16. 100%
17. 0%
18. 0%
19. 100%
20. 25%
21. Home Alone (1990)
22. 100%
23. 100%
24. 10%
25. 100%

Drama 4
Thriller Drama Crime 3
Western 2
Science Fiction 2
Drama, Music 2
Drama, Romance 1
Drama, History 1
Comedy Fantasy Romance 1
Comedy Drama Romance 1
Comedy, Family 1
Mystery Crime Thriller 1
Mystery Drama, Thriller 1
Thriller Action 1
Crime, Drama, Action 1
Romance Drama Western War 1
War Thriller 1
Adventure, Thriller 1

(1993) 5
(1995) 5
(1990) 4
(1992) 3
(1994) 3
(1991) 2
(1999) 2
(1998) 1

American Beauty was my #7. It's an entertaining film with a great screenplay and fantastic performances. Starship Troopers is fun and enjoyable, but didn't make my list.

Seen: 56/56

Starship is just ok for me.

I like American Beauty more and more every time. It was not on my list though.

always liked starship well enough. i liked american beauty the one time i saw it in high school but feel like it wouldn't be for me these days.

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slurps up! 🤙🤙

Both Henry's Selick's Tim Burton's A Nightmare Before Christmas and Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels (the latter not seen in over 25 years) are perfectly decent films. Slightly surprised to see them this high (especially Lock ...), but no strenouous objections.

Starship Troopers is fun--you rarely see a film take direct aim at its source material, so I can understand why fans of the book were unhappy with the film, but it's an honest choice from Verhoeven. American Beauty ... this just always felt like weak tea to me. Like if you have Lynch exposing suburbia's underbelly in films like Blue Velvet, why do we need this? Kevin Spacey is a good actor, though, whatever kind of a person he is.

I've seen Starship Troopers only once and thought it did what it said on the tin. But now it turns out that Casper van Dien (!) and Denise Richards (!) were starring in a brilliant satire. Well well, I guess it's due for a rewatch then.

I thoroughly enjoyed American Beauty at the time of release, but over the years I've fallen out of love with it.
To me it looks like a Try Hard Shocker that hasn't aged very well (regardless of you-know-who).
The Ice Storm did it better two years earlier, and fans of Dysfunctional Suburbia will probably know Bouquet Of Barbed Wire from the 1970s which still looks genuinely depressing and uncompromising.

Nevertheless, I knew American Beauty would show up in this list so it may as well happen today.

But all this was intended you to buy. Why are all the efforts then...

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"Population don't imitate art, population imitate bad television." W.A.
"You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." M.T.

Finally! Another one from my list and it's the "bug" one. Starship Troopers was my #20. It is a deliciously wicked action/sci-fi that manages to be fun, thrilling, and clever all at once. I've seen it a good bunch of times and I like it more now than I ever did when I was 19.

American Beauty is one I saw a lot back in the day. I remember thinking quite highly of it, great dialogue, performances, and all; it caps an all-time run for Kevin Spacey through the 90s. However, it's been a while and I wouldn't know how it would fare now on a rewatch. Should probably revisit it one of these days.


SEEN: 38/56
MY BALLOT: 5/25

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I know smarter people here might probably chime in on it but I think that's the brilliance of it. The film works on many levels, whether you're looking for a kick-ass action sci-fi about soldiers killing alien bugs, or you're looking for that brilliant satire on fascism and militarism.