1996
by jcrissup | created - 03 Nov 2012 | updated - 01 Nov 2022 | PublicBest to worst of all the movies I have seen so far from 1996
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1. Trainspotting (1996)
R | 93 min | Drama
Renton, deeply immersed in the Edinburgh drug scene, tries to clean up and get out despite the allure of drugs and the influence of friends.
Director: Danny Boyle | Stars: Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Kevin McKidd
Votes: 725,370 | Gross: $16.50M
Danny Boyle's best film to date. This movie is just cool. (My rating since you can't see it: 10 Stars)
2. Swingers (1996)
R | 96 min | Comedy, Drama
A wannabe actor has a hard time moving on from a break-up, but he is lucky to have supportive friends.
Director: Doug Liman | Stars: Vince Vaughn, Heather Graham, Jon Favreau, Ron Livingston
Votes: 88,105 | Gross: $4.51M
May be high for some people, but this has always been one of my all time favorites. Maybe I just relate to several of the characters in this movie. Another cool movie. (10 Stars)
3. Jerry Maguire (1996)
R | 139 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
When a sports agent has a moral epiphany and is fired for expressing it, he decides to put his new philosophy to the test as an independent agent with the only athlete who stays with him and his former colleague.
Director: Cameron Crowe | Stars: Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding Jr., Renée Zellweger, Kelly Preston
Votes: 286,910 | Gross: $153.95M
Romance about a guy who loses everything and forced to rebuild. Excellent soundtrack as always coming from Crowe. (8 Stars)
4. Fargo (1996)
R | 98 min | Crime, Thriller
Minnesota car salesman Jerry Lundegaard's inept crime falls apart due to his and his henchmen's bungling and the persistent police work of the quite pregnant Marge Gunderson.
Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen | Stars: William H. Macy, Frances McDormand, Steve Buscemi, Peter Stormare
Votes: 726,298 | Gross: $24.61M
Typical Coen movie. Good mixture of humor and horror. Great cast too! (8 Stars)
5. Primal Fear (1996)
R | 129 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
An altar boy is accused of murdering a priest, and the truth is buried several layers deep.
Director: Gregory Hoblit | Stars: Richard Gere, Laura Linney, Edward Norton, John Mahoney
Votes: 246,865 | Gross: $56.12M
Fascinating murder mystery!! (10 Stars)
6. The Birdcage (1996)
R | 117 min | Comedy
A gay cabaret owner and his drag queen companion agree to put up a false straight front so that their son can introduce them to his fiancée's right-wing moralistic parents.
Director: Mike Nichols | Stars: Robin Williams, Nathan Lane, Gene Hackman, Dianne Wiest
Votes: 100,524 | Gross: $124.06M
Fun movie with excellent cast. Some hilarious scenes with Nathan Lane and Gene Hackman. (8 Stars)
7. Sleepers (1996)
R | 147 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
After a prank goes disastrously wrong, a group of boys are sent to a detention center where they are brutalized. Thirteen years later, an unexpected random encounter with a former guard gives them a chance for revenge.
Director: Barry Levinson | Stars: Robert De Niro, Kevin Bacon, Brad Pitt, Jason Patric
Votes: 237,481 | Gross: $49.10M
Great "sleeper" movie. A disturbing story but great cast and story. (8 Stars)
8. Bottle Rocket (1996)
R | 91 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Three friends plan to pull off a simple robbery and go on the run.
Director: Wes Anderson | Stars: Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson, Ned Dowd, Shea Fowler
Votes: 83,484 | Gross: $0.56M
Wes Anderson's first film. Flawed but a great start to a great career. (8 Stars)
9. The English Patient (1996)
R | 162 min | Drama, Romance, War
At the close of World War II, a young nurse tends to a badly burned plane crash victim. His past is shown in flashbacks, revealing an involvement in a fateful love affair.
Director: Anthony Minghella | Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, Kristin Scott Thomas
Votes: 200,736 | Gross: $78.65M
I understand why it would win best picture but I still felt it was overrated and long. (7 Stars)
10. The Cable Guy (1996)
PG-13 | 96 min | Comedy, Drama, Thriller
A designer makes a grievious mistake when he rejects the friendship of a borderline cable guy.
Director: Ben Stiller | Stars: Jim Carrey, Matthew Broderick, Leslie Mann, Jack Black
Votes: 178,022 | Gross: $60.24M
Dark comedy w/ the man, Jim Carrey. Broderick does well as the annoyed "friend". One of my more favorites of Carrey. (8 Stars)
11. Phenomenon (1996)
PG | 123 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
An ordinary man sees a bright light descend from the sky, and discovers he now has super-intelligence and telekinesis.
Director: Jon Turteltaub | Stars: John Travolta, Kyra Sedgwick, Forest Whitaker, Robert Duvall
Votes: 83,759 | Gross: $104.64M
Feel good story about a guy with unexplainable powers. (8 Stars)
12. Mission: Impossible (1996)
PG-13 | 110 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
An American agent, under false suspicion of disloyalty, must discover and expose the real spy without the help of his organization.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Tom Cruise, Jon Voight, Emmanuelle Béart, Henry Czerny
Votes: 470,105 | Gross: $180.98M
Entertaining remake of the TV series. (7 Stars)
13. A Time to Kill (1996)
R | 149 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
In Canton, Mississippi, a fearless young lawyer and his assistant defend a black man accused of murdering two white men who raped his ten-year-old daughter, inciting violent retribution and revenge from the Ku Klux Klan.
Director: Joel Schumacher | Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock, Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin Spacey
Votes: 181,566 | Gross: $108.77M
"Yes they deserve to die, and I hope they burn in Hell!!" -Samuel L. Jackson. That's all you need to know. (8 Stars)
14. Sling Blade (1996)
R | 135 min | Drama
Karl Childers, a simple man hospitalized since his childhood murder of his mother and her lover, is released to start a new life in a small town.
Director: Billy Bob Thornton | Stars: Billy Bob Thornton, Dwight Yoakam, J.T. Walsh, John Ritter
Votes: 98,774 | Gross: $24.48M
Mmmhmm... (7 Stars)
15. Scream (1996)
R | 111 min | Horror, Mystery
A year after the murder of her mother, a teenage girl is terrorized by a masked killer who targets her and her friends by using scary movies as part of a deadly game.
Director: Wes Craven | Stars: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Skeet Ulrich
Votes: 388,221 | Gross: $103.05M
Never really scared me, but apparently it did many others. Good, somewhat, realistic slasher movie and the beginning of multiple similar styled films to mimic the idea lasting multiple decades. (7 Stars)
16. Romeo + Juliet (1996)
PG-13 | 120 min | Drama, Romance
Shakespeare's famous play is updated to the hip modern suburb of Verona still retaining its original dialogue.
Director: Baz Luhrmann | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Claire Danes, John Leguizamo, Harold Perrineau
Votes: 244,676 | Gross: $46.35M
Fun twist on the Shakespeare classic. (7 Stars)
17. Pusher (1996)
Not Rated | 110 min | Crime, Thriller
A drug pusher grows increasingly desperate after a botched deal leaves him with a large debt to a ruthless drug lord.
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn | Stars: Kim Bodnia, Zlatko Buric, Laura Drasbæk, Slavko Labovic
Votes: 44,516 | Gross: $0.00M
The first of the cult trilogy. Still pretty raw, though. (6 Stars)
18. The Crucible (1996)
PG-13 | 124 min | Drama, History
A Salem resident attempts to frame her ex-lover's wife for being a witch in the middle of the 1692 witchcraft trials.
Director: Nicholas Hytner | Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Winona Ryder, Paul Scofield, Joan Allen
Votes: 40,158 | Gross: $7.34M
You know the story. (7 Stars)
19. Courage Under Fire (1996)
R | 116 min | Action, Drama, Mystery
A U.S. Army officer, despondent about a deadly mistake he made, investigates a female chopper commander's worthiness for the Medal of Honor.
Director: Edward Zwick | Stars: Denzel Washington, Meg Ryan, Lou Diamond Phillips, Michael Moriarty
Votes: 59,521 | Gross: $59.03M
(6 Stars)
20. White Squall (1996)
PG-13 | 129 min | Adventure, Drama
Teenage boys discover discipline and camaraderie on an ill-fated sailing voyage.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Jeff Bridges, Caroline Goodall, John Savage, Scott Wolf
Votes: 25,446 | Gross: $10.30M
Not Scott's best. (6 Stars)
21. The Fan (1996)
R | 116 min | Action, Drama, Sport
An all star baseball player becomes the unhealthy focus of a down on his luck salesman.
Director: Tony Scott | Stars: Robert De Niro, Wesley Snipes, Ellen Barkin, John Leguizamo
Votes: 51,386 | Gross: $18.57M
Good ol' Bobby D. (6 Stars)
22. Tin Cup (1996)
R | 135 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A washed-up golf pro working at a driving range tries to qualify for the U.S. Open in order to win the heart of his successful rival's girlfriend.
Director: Ron Shelton | Stars: Kevin Costner, Rene Russo, Don Johnson, Cheech Marin
Votes: 53,238 | Gross: $53.85M
I'm a golfer and this movie annoyed me. Often overrated by others but hard not to like Costner. (6 Stars)
23. The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996)
R | 130 min | Biography, Drama
The story of controversial pornography publisher Larry Flynt, and how he became a defender of free speech.
Director: Milos Forman | Stars: Woody Harrelson, Courtney Love, Edward Norton, Brett Harrelson
Votes: 100,697 | Gross: $20.19M
Good movie, just a rough story. (6 Stars)
24. The Rock (1996)
R | 136 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
A mild-mannered chemist and an ex-con must lead the counterstrike when a rogue group of military men, led by a renegade general, threaten a nerve gas attack from Alcatraz against San Francisco.
Director: Michael Bay | Stars: Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage, Ed Harris, John Spencer
Votes: 358,003 | Gross: $134.07M
I liked it as a kid, so Bruckheimer/Bay gets somewhat of a pass on this over-the-top (weird) action movie. (6 Stars)
25. Kingpin (1996)
PG-13 | 114 min | Comedy, Sport
A star bowler whose career was prematurely "cut off" hopes to ride a new prodigy to success and riches.
Directors: Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly | Stars: Woody Harrelson, Randy Quaid, Bill Murray, Vanessa Angel
Votes: 91,026 | Gross: $24.94M
Unnecessary in some places but still some classic scenes. (6 Stars)
26. Multiplicity (1996)
PG-13 | 117 min | Comedy, Romance, Sci-Fi
A man who never has enough time for the things he wants to do is offered the opportunity to have himself duplicated.
Director: Harold Ramis | Stars: Michael Keaton, Andie MacDowell, Zack Duhame, Katie Schlossberg
Votes: 35,026 | Gross: $20.10M
Gets a little stupid at the end, but Keaton is a lot of fun in this one. (6 Stars)
27. Independence Day (1996)
PG-13 | 145 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
The aliens are coming and their goal is to invade and destroy Earth. Fighting superior technology, mankind's best weapon is the will to survive.
Director: Roland Emmerich | Stars: Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Mary McDonnell
Votes: 605,362 | Gross: $306.17M
See The Rock (above). (6 Stars)
28. Happy Gilmore (1996)
PG-13 | 92 min | Comedy, Sport
After his grandmothers house is repossessed by the IRS, bad tempered hockey player takes his talents to golf to earn the big bucks and get his grandmothers house back.
Director: Dennis Dugan | Stars: Adam Sandler, Christopher McDonald, Julie Bowen, Frances Bay
Votes: 248,260 | Gross: $38.62M
Never realized until now (11/2/2012) that the only two golf movies I somewhat enjoy came out in the same year. Classic lines in this rare somewhat decent Adam Sandler film. (6 Stars)
29. The Nutty Professor (1996)
PG-13 | 95 min | Comedy, Romance, Sci-Fi
Grossly overweight yet good-hearted professor Sherman Klump takes a special chemical that turns him into the slim but obnoxious Buddy Love.
Director: Tom Shadyac | Stars: Eddie Murphy, Jada Pinkett Smith, James Coburn, Larry Miller
Votes: 123,632 | Gross: $128.81M
The start of Murphy's steep plummet to terrible movies. (tear drop) (6 Stars)
30. The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)
R | 121 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Samantha Caine lives in a small town with her daughter. Eight years ago she emerged, two months pregnant, from a nearby river with no memory of her past or who she is. However, she's getting closer to finding out about her past.
Director: Renny Harlin | Stars: Geena Davis, Samuel L. Jackson, Yvonne Zima, Craig Bierko
Votes: 85,647 | Gross: $33.33M
(6 Stars)
31. Space Jam (1996)
PG | 88 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
In a desperate attempt to win a basketball match and earn their freedom, the Looney Tunes seek the aid of retired basketball champion, Michael Jordan.
Director: Joe Pytka | Stars: Michael Jordan, Wayne Knight, Theresa Randle, Manner Washington
Votes: 213,329 | Gross: $90.46M
Fun movie if you're a kid basketball lover like I was. Jordan's acting skills might be better than his baseball skills. That's still not saying much. (6 Stars)
32. That Thing You Do! (1996)
PG | 108 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
A local Pennsylvania band scores a one-hit wonder in 1964 and rides the star-making machinery as long as they can, with lots of help from their manager.
Director: Tom Hanks | Stars: Tom Hanks, Liv Tyler, Charlize Theron, Tom Everett Scott
Votes: 73,542 | Gross: $25.81M
Didn't really do it for me. I would never buy the "hit" song. It is unbelievably annoying. (6 Stars)
33. The Craft (1996)
R | 101 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
A newcomer to a Catholic prep high school falls in with a trio of outcast teenage girls who practice witchcraft, and they all soon conjure up various spells and curses against those who anger them.
Director: Andrew Fleming | Stars: Robin Tunney, Fairuza Balk, Neve Campbell, Rachel True
Votes: 107,643 | Gross: $24.88M
Cool fight scene at the end. (6 Stars)
34. Up Close & Personal (1996)
PG-13 | 124 min | Drama, Romance
An ambitious young woman, determined to build a career in television journalism, gets good advice from her first boss, and they fall in love.
Director: Jon Avnet | Stars: Robert Redford, Michelle Pfeiffer, Stockard Channing, Joe Mantegna
Votes: 15,326 | Gross: $51.09M
Not even close to Redford's best. (6 Stars)
35. Twister (I) (1996)
PG-13 | 113 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
Two storm chasers on the brink of divorce must work together to create an advanced weather alert system by putting themselves in the cross-hairs of extremely violent tornadoes.
Director: Jan de Bont | Stars: Helen Hunt, Bill Paxton, Cary Elwes, Jami Gertz
Votes: 213,463 | Gross: $241.72M
Tough to watch this one, being from Oklahoma. Lots of unbelievable "Hollywood" action in this one. (5 Stars)
36. Fear (1996)
R | 97 min | Drama, Thriller
When Nicole met David; handsome, charming, affectionate, he was everything. It seemed perfect, but soon she sees that David has a darker side. And his adoration turns to obsession, their dream into a nightmare, and her love into fear.
Director: James Foley | Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Reese Witherspoon, William Petersen, Amy Brenneman
Votes: 54,805 | Gross: $20.75M
Don't ever watch the roller coaster scene with your mother and grandmother like my friend did. :) (5 Stars)
37. Michael Collins (1996)
R | 133 min | Biography, Drama, Thriller
Neil Jordan's historical biopic of Irish revolutionary Michael Collins, the man who led a guerrilla war against the UK, helped negotiate the creation of the Irish Free State, and led the National Army during the Irish Civil War.
Director: Neil Jordan | Stars: Liam Neeson, Aidan Quinn, Julia Roberts, Ian Hart
Votes: 33,741 | Gross: $11.09M
38. Black Sheep (1996)
PG-13 | 87 min | Comedy
A gubernatorial candidate hires a wormy special assistant whose only job is to make sure the candidate's well-meaning but incompetent brother doesn't ruin the election.
Director: Penelope Spheeris | Stars: Chris Farley, David Spade, Tim Matheson, Christine Ebersole
Votes: 43,663 | Gross: $32.38M
Same as Tommy Boy, but forgettable. (5 Stars)
39. Muppet Treasure Island (1996)
G | 99 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
The Muppets set sail in search of treasure, with Jim Hawkins and Long John Silver.
Director: Brian Henson | Stars: Tim Curry, Billy Connolly, Jennifer Saunders, Kevin Bishop
Votes: 26,545 | Gross: $33.61M
Had so many other better ones that blew this out of the water. No pun intended. (5 Stars)
40. One Fine Day (1996)
PG | 108 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
The lives of two strangers and their young children unexpectedly intersect on one hectic, stressful day in New York City.
Director: Michael Hoffman | Stars: Michelle Pfeiffer, George Clooney, Mae Whitman, Alex D. Linz
Votes: 48,504 | Gross: $46.15M
What people didn't know was the things to come from Clooney after this movie. (5 Stars)
41. Broken Arrow (1996)
R | 108 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
Terrorists steal nuclear warheads from the U.S. military but don't count on a pilot and park ranger spoiling their plans.
Director: John Woo | Stars: John Travolta, Christian Slater, Samantha Mathis, Delroy Lindo
Votes: 105,197 | Gross: $70.77M
Not very good. (5 Stars)
42. Bulletproof (1996)
R | 84 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Two criminals, Keats and Moses, end their friendship, when Keats turns out to be an undercover cop. Many years later, the two are forced to work together when Keats is assigned to protect Moses as a witness.
Director: Ernest R. Dickerson | Stars: Damon Wayans, Adam Sandler, James Caan, Jeep Swenson
Votes: 40,100 | Gross: $21.16M
Don't really remember it. (5 Stars)
43. Striptease (1996)
R | 115 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A stripper and single mother gets dragged into a dangerous situation after a congressman takes a fancy to her.
Director: Andrew Bergman | Stars: Demi Moore, Burt Reynolds, Armand Assante, Ving Rhames
Votes: 48,035 | Gross: $33.11M
Not a very good script to feel the need to expose your breasts. They were nice, just saying... (4 Stars)
44. From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
R | 108 min | Action, Crime, Horror
Two criminals and their hostages unknowingly seek temporary refuge in a truck stop populated by vampires, with chaotic results.
Director: Robert Rodriguez | Stars: Harvey Keitel, George Clooney, Juliette Lewis, Quentin Tarantino
Votes: 340,450 | Gross: $25.75M
I'm sure there are lots of people out there that enjoy this movie. I get it. I'm just not that entertained by unnecessary gore. (4 Stars)
45. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
G | 91 min | Animation, Drama, Family
A deformed bell-ringer must assert his independence from a vicious government minister in order to help his friend, a gypsy dancer.
Directors: Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise | Stars: Demi Moore, Jason Alexander, Mary Kay Bergman, Corey Burton
Votes: 171,585 | Gross: $100.14M
Bring on Pixar already! (4 Stars)
46. DragonHeart (1996)
PG-13 | 103 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
The last dragon and a disillusioned dragonslaying Knight must cooperate to stop an evil King, who was given partial immortality.
Director: Rob Cohen | Stars: Dennis Quaid, Sean Connery, Dina Meyer, Pete Postlethwaite
Votes: 101,748 | Gross: $51.37M
Another great example of why I don't understand why there are no good dragon movies? (3 Stars)
47. Jack (1996)
PG-13 | 113 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Because of an unusual disorder that has aged him four times faster than a typical human being, a boy looks like a 40-year-old man as he starts fifth grade at public school after being homeschooled.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Robin Williams, Diane Lane, Brian Kerwin, Jennifer Lopez
Votes: 63,805 | Gross: $58.62M
Robin Williams can be so bad. (3 Stars)
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