From box office disappointments to beloved classics! Join us as we explore these fascinating '90s films that initially stumbled but found their audience years later. These movies prove that sometimes it takes time for true cinematic gems to be appreciated, whether through home video releases, critical reappraisal, or word of mouth.
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo and today we're counting down our picks for the 90s flops that have
00:09since become cult classics. 10. Starship Troopers
00:20Once, somebody asked me if I knew the difference between a citizen and a civilian. I can tell you
00:27now. A citizen has the courage to make the safety of the human race their personal responsibility.
00:34Producer John Davidson told Paul Verhoeven that Starship Troopers would not make its money back.
00:39Well, he was right. The movie came with a very hefty budget of $100 million, an extraordinary
00:45amount not only for the time, but for an adaptation of a controversial book that was nearly 40 years
00:50old. Starship Troopers was met with a mixed critical response and disappointing box office
01:08numbers, failing to recoup its budget and marketing costs. By all accounts, it was a flop, but over
01:13time, viewers began to re-evaluate the film, coming to appreciate the satire that was largely missed
01:18on release. It also received a second life on DVD and found political relevance after 9-11,
01:23when its themes hit a lot harder.
01:24When you vote, you are exercising political authority. You're using force. And force,
01:30my friends, is violence. The supreme authority from which all other authority is derived.
01:359. Dark City
01:37Considered one of the greatest sci-fi films of the 90s, Dark City has drawn widespread acclaim
01:54for its inventive storytelling, tech-noir aesthetic, and brilliant production design. And to think,
01:59virtually nobody saw it upon release.
02:01First, there was darkness. Then came the strangers. They abducted us and brought us here.
02:12This city, everyone in it, is their experiment.
02:16It was a bit too weird for general audiences, and obstacles like studio interference and a bad
02:21release window hampered its success at the box office. It ended up grossing $27 million,
02:26which, coincidentally, was exactly how much it cost to make. But following its theatrical flop,
02:31Dark City found new life on VHS and DVD. In fact, the DVD was one of the first to embrace special
02:36features, including a commentary track from Roger Ebert, who helped give the movie a greater
02:40appreciation among film buffs.
02:42You wanted to know what it was about us that made us human. Well, you're not going to find it
02:48in here. You went looking in the wrong place.
02:55Number 8. Hocus Pocus
02:57You know, I always wanted a child, and now I think I'll have one.
03:01A toast!
03:03Few movies define the 90s quite like Hocus Pocus, but believe it or not, this film was considered
03:09a huge disappointment at the time. It opened way down in fourth place, and was booted from
03:13the top 10 in just two weeks. It finished with about $37 million at the domestic box office,
03:18costing Disney about $16 million.
03:21No way! This is my first time! I'll get lost! Besides, it's a full moon outside! The weirdos are out!
03:28Part of its failure is due to the mediocre critical reception, and partly because of its release
03:32in July. July! For a Halloween movie! The hope was to catch kids while they were out of school
03:37for summer break, but yeah, that didn't work. But thanks to home video and annual airings
03:42on TV every Halloween, Hocus Pocus eventually snowballed, or leaf-balled? Into a holiday classic.
03:50Number 7. Eyes Wide Shut
03:57Coming in the summer of 1999, Eyes Wide Shut was a posthumous release for Stanley Kubrick,
04:16as he died the previous March. Despite Kubrick humbly calling it the greatest contribution
04:20to the art of cinema, it opened to a mixed response, with many calling it boring, nonsensical,
04:25and pretentious. Ladies, where exactly are we going? Exactly.
04:35Where the rainbow ends. Where the rainbow ends. Don't you want to go where the rainbow ends?
04:44It also underperformed relative to expectations, especially with the collective star power of Tom
04:49Cruise and Nicole Kidman. But over time, fans and scholars began re-watching the film and analyzing
04:54it more seriously, uncovering its surrealism and deeper psychological themes. Furthermore,
04:59famous directors like Paul Thomas Anderson and Christopher Nolan have praised it, and it went
05:03on to influence things like art, fashion, and even conspiracy theories with its masked secret
05:08society of elites.
05:09Listen, Bill, I don't think you realize what kind of trouble you were in last night.
05:15Who do you think those people were? Those were not just ordinary people there. If I told you their
05:21names, I'm not going to tell you their names. But if I did, I don't think you'd sleep so well.
05:27Number 6. Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me
05:30Twin Peaks was a cultural phenomenon in the early 90s, and it was followed up by a prequel
05:46film titled Fire Walk With Me. It was not what fans were expecting. Gone was the quirky small town
05:52coziness in the show, replaced with a deeply troubling story about sexual abuse and missing
05:57most of its beloved characters. Get lost, Bobby. Oh, yeah? You'll be calm soon and maybe I won't be
06:04around. The film was quickly dismissed, earning scathing reviews, bombing at the box office, and
06:10according to David Lynch, even being loudly booed at Cannes. However, fans have since been able to
06:15divorce Fire Walk With Me from its parent show and evaluate it on its own terms, and in the process,
06:20they discovered one of the director's finest accomplishments. This is quintessential Lynch.
06:24dark, difficult, and very, very weird.
06:27Darmon Gosey.
06:32This is the
06:34Fire Walk With Me
06:36Oh, believe me, I follow
06:38This is the
06:41At the stream
06:45We live
06:47Inside the stream
06:50Number 5. Event Horizon
06:52You ever seen fire and zero gravity?
06:57It's beautiful
07:01It's like liquid
07:04Slides all over everything
07:06Sometimes, a studio is forced to eat their own words. Paramount rushed production on Event Horizon so
07:12they didn't have to compete with Titanic, and they later demanded extreme cuts, butchering the movie from 130
07:17minutes to just 96, and they were not happy with the results.
07:21It shows you things. Horrible things.
07:26What does?
07:27The dark inside me, from the other place. I won't go back there. I won't.
07:33Event Horizon bombed both critically and financially, grossing just $42 million on a $60 million budget,
07:40and earning a horrific D-plus cinema score. Like many cult films, Event Horizon later found its
07:45dedicated audience through home video and cable TV, and people began to appreciate its unique story
07:50and aesthetic. It sold well on DVD that Paramount inquired about restoring the deleted footage for
07:55a special director's cut release, at which point, it had already been destroyed.
07:59Get the files. Vacate. I want off this ship.
08:02You can't leave. She won't let you.
08:05Number 4. Office Space
08:08Yeah. If you could just go ahead and make sure you do that from now on, that would be great.
08:14Considering its enormous fame and meme culture, it's hard to imagine a time when Office Space was
08:18considered irrelevant. One only needs to go back to the winter of 1999. Despite strong reviews,
08:24Office Space performed about as well as that printer, spending just one week in the top 10,
08:28when it debuted at number 8. It went on to gross just $12 million, which was considered a huge
08:33disappointment for both Fox and director Mike Judge. You were supposed to come in on Saturday. What
08:37were you doing? Michael, I did nothing. I did absolutely nothing, and it was everything that I
08:44thought it could be. But it wasn't long before word of mouth and Lumberg impressions spread, and the
08:50movie sold like hotcakes on DVD. It soon exploded in popularity and is now seen as one of the defining
08:56workplace comedies, not to mention one of the most quotable movies ever. What would you say
09:02you do here? Number 3. Fight Club
09:06The first rule of Fight Club is, you do not talk about Fight Club. The second rule of Fight Club is,
09:13you do not talk about Fight Club. In 1995, David Fincher released 7, which instantly made him a
09:21household name. It received praise for its story and famous twist ending, helping solidify Brad Pitt
09:26as a star, and grossed over $320 million. By comparison, Fight Club was a huge disappointment.
09:33I found freedom. Losing all hope was freedom.
09:40It was a marketing misfire, with Fox leaning into the bare-knuckle fighting and making it look like
09:45a macho action movie. As such, it earned a very middling B-minus cinema score and underperformed at the
09:50box office, grossing $100 million on a $65 million budget. But once again, DVD strongly helped its reception,
09:58and the country's post-911 malaise helped it resonate more strongly with the now disillusioned populace.
10:03It is now considered one of Fincher's finest, and easily one of his most popular.
10:14You met me at a very strange time in my life. Number 2. The Iron Giant
10:20We did find this. United States government, huh? Guess that means something big's happening here, eh?
10:29Warner Bros. president Lorenzo D. Bonaventura was irate at the failure of The Iron Giant,
10:34claiming that its box office performance was exactly why studios don't make good original movies.
10:39According to him, every time you do, you get slaughtered. And The Iron Giant was indeed slaughtered,
10:44opening in 9th place and grossing just $31 million on a $50 million budget.
10:49He's not the hero. He's the villain. He's not like you. You're a good guy. Like Superman.
11:01The reasons for its failure are many, including poor marketing as a result of Warner Bros. losing
11:05confidence in animation due to the failure of 1998's Quest for Camelot, and a mistimed release
11:10window, forcing it to compete with cultural juggernauts like The Sixth Sense and The Blair
11:14Witch Project. Regardless, it was, and continues to be, a widely praised film, with many devotees
11:20calling it one of the best animated movies of all time.
11:23It's difficult to raise a boy all alone. We could make it more difficult. In fact, we could make it so
11:29difficult that it would be irresponsible for us to leave you in her care, and all that that implies.
11:35You'll be taken away from her, Hogarth. You can't do that! Oh, we can. And we will.
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11:56Number 1. The Shawshank Redemption
11:59Let me tell you something, my friend. Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane.
12:08The critics had it right. The Shawshank Redemption received excellent reviews upon release,
12:12and was nominated for seven Academy Awards, making it a bonafide critical darling. But,
12:17like most critical darlings, it failed to find a wide audience, grossing just $16 million on a $25
12:22million budget. According to one funny anecdote, director Frank Darabont and producer Liz Glotzer
12:36went to the Hollywood Cinerama Dome one night to gauge the audience's reaction, only to find the
12:41theater completely empty. Of course, no one could predict just what a behemoth the Shawshank
12:45Redemption would become, and it is proudly set atop the IMDb Top 250 for many years,
12:51even beating The Godfather. What other cult classics from the 90s do you recommend?
13:06Let us know in the comments below.
13:07It's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything.