While the ‘80s featured the beginning of some truly iconic movie franchises, the ‘90s were, well, a bit more lackluster in comparison. Would we call most of these iconic? Maybe a few, but definitely not all. As a reminder, to be included, the franchise had to begin in the ‘90s, and has to have at least three movies at the time of this posting. But let’s not dilly dally any longer… it’s time to go over the best ’90s movie franchises!
Want to read about the most memorable ‘80s movie franchises? Click here!
Toy Story
The Toy Story franchise began in 1995 with Pixar’s first-ever feature-length CGI film of the same name. It not only revolutionized animation techniques, but also set the standard for heartfelt storytelling, creating a bond with audiences that has spanned generations to the kids of today (and beyond!). So far, there have been four feature-length movies in this franchise… will there be more? Only time will tell.
Mission: Impossible
Though technically Mission: Impossible first began with a television series, the franchise really took off with the first movie in 1996 starring Tom Cruise as our favorite spy Ethan Hunt. While the first movie is more of a spy thriller, the following movies have pushed the envelope on the action, with Tom Cruise doing his own stunts in more and more impressive ways. As of today, there are seven M:I movies release, with another coming in 2024. Unless Tom doesn’t want to make them anymore, it seems like they will keep going.
The Matrix
Just barely making the cut to be considered as a franchise of the ‘90s, The Matrix, released in 1999, really influenced scifi and action movies in the future. The first movie was unlike any that had come out before it… and to be honest, it’s really the only good movie in the franchise. That said, we figured it should be included because of just how influential it has been. After all, there was no bullet-time before The Matrix.
Where does The Matrix rank among the top scifi movies of the ’90s? Click to find out.
Jurassic Park
While dinosaurs had been on the big screen in the past, Jurassic Park really upped the ante in 1993 when it came out and featured a mixture of both practical and CGI special effects. The Jurassic Park franchise, while popular in the ‘90s, has again exploded in popularity with the introduction of the Jurassic World movies. Still, none of the sequels to Jurassic Park live up to the original.
Men in Black
In 1997, the Men in Black franchise burst onto the scene, blending scifi and humor in a fresh and entertaining way. Starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones as the titular Men in Black, the series features aliens secretly living amongst humans on Earth. As of today, there have been four movies in the franchise, with the first three featuring the original characters, and the last one featuring a new cast in Men in Black: International. While the original trilogy is pretty decent, the newer one didn’t live up to its predecessors.
The Mummy
Of course, while The Mummy has been around as part of the classic Universal Monsters since the 1930s, it was in 1999 that this series kicked off, breathing new life into classic adventure films with its supernatural twists. While the second Mummy movie was okay, the third movie lost Rachel Weisz as the female lead, thus losing much of its charm. Universal also tried to reboot the franchise in 2017 with Tom Cruise in the lead role, but it just didn’t hit the same vibe as the originals starring Brendan Fraser.
Scream
In 1997, the slasher genre was revitalized with the introduction of Scream, which subverted traditional horror movie cliches. Self-aware and very meta, Scream and its many sequels (six so far) have provided a fresh take on the teen horror genre. The Ghostface killer has become a classic at Halloween, and if you haven’t said, “Do you like scary movies?” at some point, have you even lived?
Where does Scream rank among ‘90s teen horror movies? Click to find out!
The Mighty Ducks
If you grew up in the ‘90s, you probably at some point wanted to try doing the Flying V with your friends on your rollerblades (let’s be honest, more people rollerbladed than played hockey). That was all thanks to 1992’s The Mighty Ducks and its sequels, which put youth hockey on the map. While the original trilogy ended in 1996, the series was also revived in television form with the Disney+ Series The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, which aired two seasons from 2021-2022 and featured a number of cameos from the original Ducks.
Where does The Mighty Ducks rank among ‘90s kids sports movies? Click to find out!
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Originally released as a comic book series and then a television animated series, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles burst onto the movie scene in 1990 with the live action film of the same name. If you grew up in the ‘90s, you definitely had a favorite turtle, whether it be Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, or Raphael. This franchise has continued to endure over the years with seven movies being released (as of 2023), and likely more on the way. Do any of the more recent computer animated versions beat out the original live action versions? Not in our eyes!
Where does Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles rank among the ‘90s ninja movies made for kids? Click to find out!
American Pie
In 1999, American Pie changed up the teen comedy genre by really upping the ante on the raunch factor. It’s probably safe to say that no one really expected the movie to generate sequels, but generate them it did, with a grand total of four movies (so far) in the American Pie franchise. While the series started out following the trials and tribulations of high school boys wanting to have sex, the other films followed the cast through college, weddings, and even a reunion many years later.
What was your favorite ‘90s movie franchise? Any we didn’t include that you adored? Let us know in the comments!
- The Men in Black headquarters in the films is an actual building located in New York City. Known as the “Neue Galerie,” it’s an art museum specializing in German and Austrian art from the early 20th century.
- Before it made its screen debut in Scream in 1997, Ghostface was sold en masse as part of a “Fantastic Faces” masks pack designed for Fun World in 1991 by either Brigitte Sleiertin-Linden or her boss Alan Geller, depending on who you believe.
- American Pie was originally rated NC17 by the MPAA. The filmmakers had to edit and resubmit it three separate times to eventually get the R rating it ended up with.
- Tom Hanks does not always voice Woody for items like toys, video games, pinball machines, and more – his brother Jim actually sometimes voices the character for those other projects. So if you think you’re hearing Tom, it may be Jim.
- While we all know the colors of each Ninja Turtle today, in their original comic book appearance, they all wore red masks. The different colors were introduced in the animated series, and have stuck ever since.
- The Men in Black headquarters in the films is an actual building located in New York City. Known as the “Neue Galerie,” it’s an art museum specializing in German and Austrian art from the early 20th century.
- Before it made its screen debut in Scream in 1997, Ghostface was sold en masse as part of a “Fantastic Faces” masks pack designed for Fun World in 1991 by either Brigitte Sleiertin-Linden or her boss Alan Geller, depending on who you believe.
- American Pie was originally rated NC17 by the MPAA. The filmmakers had to edit and resubmit it three separate times to eventually get the R rating it ended up with.
- Tom Hanks does not always voice Woody for items like toys, video games, pinball machines, and more – his brother Jim actually sometimes voices the character for those other projects. So if you think you’re hearing Tom, it may be Jim.
- While we all know the colors of each Ninja Turtle today, in their original comic book appearance, they all wore red masks. The different colors were introduced in the animated series, and have stuck ever since.
