1998 Movies Ranked

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Obviously, there's a lot less movies per year since back then I couldn't go see movies whenever I felt like it.  Oddly enough, a lot of great 90's movies don't get much credit nowadays.

20. Buffalo ‘66

D: Vincent Gallo

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Another boring, art film passed off as a comedy despite not actually being one.  What passes for “jokes” are pointless filler and a flashback where the protagonist’s father brutally breaks a puppy’s neck in front of a child.  Said protagonist is unlikable, the pacing is awful and the female lead succumbs to Stockholm Syndrome.  I’d compare to Lost in Translation, except that was actually a technically good movie.  It doesn’t help knowing that Gallo reportedly mocked Christina Ricci mercilessly for an alleged weight problem.

19. Antz

D: Eric Darnell, Tim Johnson

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This overrated movie is every weak point in CGI cartoons in one place.  Attention-starved casting of celebrities in voice roles, lazy metahumor and off-putting character designs.  I guess this type of movie was a novelty back then, but I thought everyone would eventually realize the movie was stupid with time.

18. The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars

D: Robert C. Ramirez

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An utterly insane animated film and an ignominious final role for DeForest Kelley.

17. Star Trek: Insurrection

D: Jonathan Frakes

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Probably the worst in the series.  Our heroes prevent the spread of lifesaving material on behalf of a group of people who are hoarding it for themselves by pretending that they’re a primitive native culture in order to cheat the Prime Directive.

16. Lost in Space

D: Stephen Hopkins

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Bad story and atrocious CGI, but at least it had a goodcover of the theme song.

15. Armageddon

D: Michael Bay

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Awesome score.  Bad movie.

14. Elizabeth

D: Shekhar Kapur

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For some reason, my high school constantly showed this movie to me.  While cinematically well-made, it’s highly inaccurate and way too biased toward Elizabeth and the Protestants.  When you’re dealing with such a sensitive subject, you should make sure that you’re getting the material correct. 

13. The Swan Princess: Escape from Castle Mountain

D: Richard Rich

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Just another underwhelming direct-to-video sequel, except this one is actually no worse than the original.  The villain song is particularly absurd.

12. The Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to the Rescue

D: Dick Sebast

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A watered-down direct-to-video bastardization of my favorite animated movie.  I still like Jenny, though.

11. There’s Something About Mary

D: The Farrelly Bros.

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I’d like to say that Farrelly Bros. movies are crude, but I can’t help finding some of them funny.  Apparently Matt Dillon's supposed to be some sort of heartthrob, but he'll always be that creep P.I. to me.

10. Deep Rising

D: Stephen Sommers

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A funny, cheesy camp horror film.  Treat Williams is enjoyable as a poor man’s Bruce Campbell, and those gatling rifles are pretty cool, too.  The film gets genuinely scary only when you realize that it has a following among vore fetishists.

9. The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride

D: Darrell Rooney

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While the movie did have a good villain with a good villain song, it was mostly underwhelming.  I think Kovu was supposed to be Scar’s son until someone realized that he’s related to his love interest.  That’s why the movie seems determined to convince us that he’s not Scar’s son even though he has his exact color pattern.

8. BASEketball

D: David Zucker

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A very funny sports comedy starring the creators of South Park.  Possibly Zucker’s last good movie. 

7. The Big Lebowski

D: The Coen Bros.

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Great characters and sharp dialogue make this my favorite funny movie of all time.

6. Mulan

D: Tony Bancroft, Barry Cook

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Overall, a good animated movie, but it’s the villain who makes the movie stand out.  Shan Yu is one of the wittiest, most intimidating and most underrated of the Disney villains.

5. Dark City
D: Alex Proyas
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This movie's dark, atmospheric style makes it one of the best sci-fi movies.


4. Ronin
D: John Frankenheimer
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A thrilling actioner with great characters, car chases and twists.

3. The Prince of Egypt

D: Simon Wells, Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner

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Visually beautiful rendition of the Exodus that brings out the humanity of Moses and Rameses.  Does the drama well and is vastly superior to The Ten Commandments.  My only complaint is that there are some silly cartoony parts that stick out like a sore thumb.  It's hard to believe Dreamworks made this the same year they crapped out Antz.

2. Saving Private Ryan

D: Steven Spielberg

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The movie whose brutal depictions of combat made virtually every war movie made before it look like a joke.

1. Soldier
D: Paul W.S. Anderson
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Rewatched it and like it.  Though it has some tacky stylistic choices and the latter benefits from better directing, it's a better idea for a Blade Runner spin-off than 2049.

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