What is the most quintessential 90s movie?
Personally I'd go with Independence Day if I had to pick a movie that felt the most 90s.
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Personally I'd go with Independence Day if I had to pick a movie that felt the most 90s.
The Matrix and Jurassic Park come to mind.
There's a filter that I apply to these kinds of questions, and it's that there are some works that are of a particular time, but they ascend beyond that time and just become a part of culture, broadly. Like, Wizard of Oz just IS, Bohemian Rhapsody just IS; they aren't bounded by their decades of origin.
I'd argue that at least Jurassic Park, and arguably also The Matrix, are above and beyond the '90s in ways that other movies can't quite achieve.
At least Matrix has a lot of 90's references and a very 90's setting. Mostly the pay phone I suppose, but they're a big part of the movie lol.
For sure, the technology and fashion is all VERY late-90s. But the way that The Matrix informed SO many action and scifi movies to follow, and spawned so many cultural touchstones made it break containment.
And then you've got subjects that it brings up, like mixed technophobia and technophilia, gender identity, anti-authoritarianism, and so on that are still at the forefront of our cultural awareness. The Matrix has stayed relevant and meaningful in ways that very few works have managed to.