1995 saw plenty of groundbreaking movies, from crime thrillers like Heat to family movies like Toy Story.
Marking the halfway point of the decade, 1995 is best remembered for Michael Jordan returning to the Chicago Bulls after a short retirement, Coolio‘s “Gangsta’s Paradise,” while Seinfeld remained the biggest show on television.
That’s not all: 1995 was a huge year for film. We saw Jim Carrey‘s memorable turn as The Riddler in Batman Forever and Pierce Brosnan‘s debut as Bond in GoldenEye. Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson team up in the action classic Die Hard: With a Vengeance. Kids would fall in love with a talking pig named Babe, while Nicolas Cage won an Oscar for his portrayal of a troubled, alcoholic screenwriter in Leaving Las Vegas. This naturally leads to the question of which films of 1995 were the best and how they all rank.
10 ‘Sense and Sensibility’
Based on the classic Jane Austen novel, Sense and Sensibility follows the Dashwood sisters as they come to terms with the death of their father and the loss of his fortune. Faced with the prospect of poverty, the two oldest sisters, Elinor (Emma Thompson) and Marianne (Kate Winslet) are forced to provide for their family by finding wealthy husbands.
One of the best adaptations of Austen’s work, Sense and Sensibility strikes the perfect middle ground between being faithful to the source material while also appealing to modern audiences thanks to Thompson’s clever Academy-Award winning screenplay.
9 ‘Apollo 13’
Recreating the journey of the titular spacecraft, Apollo 13 follows the ship’s crew and the support staff on Earth as they try to land on the moon. When an accident deprives Apollo 13 of most of its oxygen supply, the voyage becomes a rescue mission as everyone works to get the trio of astronauts back home safely.
Committed to technical accuracy, director Ron Howard creates a movie that almost functions as a documentary of the true events that occurred in 1970. Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, and Bill Paxton are terrific as the trapped astronauts, while Ed Harris and Kathleen Quinlan earned Academy-Award nominations for their supporting roles.
8 ’12 Monkeys’
Beginning in 2035, 12 Monkeys depicts a world where a deadly virus has ravaged the population, forcing the survivors to live underground. When prisoner James Cole (Bruce Willis) volunteers for a mission in exchange for a lighter sentence, he is sent back in time to the 1990s to investigate the origin of the outbreak.
Directed by Terry Gilliam, 12 Monkeys evokes his classic Brazil as it depicts a dark and future far removed from the advanced universes depicted in other media. Its twisty story can be a little hard to follow as Cole jumps through time, but anyone with a love for science fiction will appreciate its mind-bending mystery.
7 ‘Before Sunrise’
While traveling on a train through Europe, American tourist Jesse (Ethan Hawke) meets a French woman named Celine (Julie Delpy). The pair strike up an immediate connection and decide to disembark in Vienna together, where they spend the night walking around discussing their lives and hopes for the future as Jesse awaits his flight back home.
One of the best romance movies of all time, Before Sunrise excels thanks to its low-key nature. Rather than featuring big gestures of love, the movie focuses on its characters and their inner workings, sparking an attraction that feels genuine and that is easily relatable to anyone who has ever been in love.
6 ‘Casino’
When Ace Rothstein (Robert De Niro) is asked to oversee the Mafia’s gambling operations in Las Vegas, he turns their casino business into an empire. While Ace experiences the high life thanks to his successful business, he also sees the breakdown of his relationships as the mafia’s influence on him grows apparent.
Martin Scorsese‘s next crime epic after Goodfellas, Casino tackles a different side of the criminal underworld. While some argue that Scorsese becomes predictable due to his constant focus on the mafia, the legendary director is a master of his craft, and no one comes close to exploring the inner workings of such criminals on the big screen, with Casino one of Scorsese’s best movies.
5 ‘The Usual Suspects’
When disabled criminal Verbal Kint (Kevin Spacey) is discovered as one of the few survivors of a massacre aboard a boat, he recounts a story of how he and four other criminals met in a police lineup and planned a heist. Eventually, the criminals found themselves in over their heads as they earned the wrath of legendary underworld figure Keyser Soze.
Possessing one of the greatest screenplays of all time, The Usual Suspects weaves an enthralling tale full of surprises. A perfect example of the neo-noir genre, The Usual Suspects offers one of the best mysteries ever as investigators try to piece together who just is the terrifying but elusive Soze.
4 ‘Toy Story’
Imagining a world where toys come alive when we are not looking, Toy Story follows the playthings of young Andy as they live together in his bedroom. When cowboy Woody (Tom Hanks) finds his status as Andy’s favorite toy threatened by the arrival of spaceman Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), their feud threatens to tear them apart from their owner forever.
The movie that helped make Pixar into the powerhouse they are today and the first computer-animated feature film, Toy Story is beloved by people of all ages. Its clever screenplay offers plenty of laughs while also providing some genuinely touching moments that will have even the most hardened viewer yearning for their youth.
3 ‘Braveheart’
Based on the life of William Wallace (Mel Gibson), Braveheart sees the warrior leading a Scottish rebellion against their English overlords after they murder his bride. As Wallace and his growing army win successive battles against their bigger counterparts, they create a legend that lives on to this day.
While the accuracy of Braveheart has been debated, it is nevertheless a rousing historical epic that would go on to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Its desire to showcase the cruelty and bloodshed that occurred in human history may prove too much for some, but it shines an important spotlight on a real-life rebellion.
2 ‘Heat’
As a team of career criminals led by Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro) attempts to pull off one last massive heist, they are doggedly pursued by veteran LAPD detective Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino). A crime epic follows as the lives of both men are explored before they collide together in an explosion of violence.
Viewed by many as the greatest heist movie of all time, Heat works as well as it does thanks to its commitment to exploring the psyche of its characters, brought to life by one of the best ensemble casts. Heat would inspire countless other projects, with Grand Theft Auto V wearings its Heat influence on its sleeve throughout its heist-driven story.
1 ‘Se7en’
When a twisted serial killer begins leaving a trail of victims stylized after the seven deadly sins, veteran detective Somerset (Morgan Freeman) and his new partner Mills (Brad Pitt) are on the case. As they sink deeper into the underworld the murderer inhabits, the two detectives face being swallowed up by the darkness they face.
David Fincher‘s best movie, Se7en is a classic crime film wrapped in an unforgettable mystery. Se7en even ventures into horror territory as each of the killer’s victims is treated to a horrific fate, while the hidden figure lurking in the shadows remains a constant
