90 Greatest '90s Movie Moments

Basic Instinct (1992)

The Moment: Catherine Tramell (Sharon Stone) turns the tables on her interrogators by revealing that she couldn't possibly be hiding anything because she's not even wearing knickers.

Only In The '90s: Stardom for Sharon Stone, modern-day femme fatale and post-feminist sex siren.

If It Was Made Today: Hollywood would chicken out by filming that shot from the back and leaving the audience to figure out what she's flashing.

The Matrix (1999)

The Moment: Neo (Keanu Reeves) is shot at by the Matrix's goons, only to dodge the bullets by reacting in 'bullet time.'

Only In The '90s: It was still possible to stop audiences in their tracks with a new kind of visual effect.

If It Was Made Today: Bullet time would look a decade out of date.

Se7en (1995)

The Moment: Detectives Mills (Brad Pitt) and Somerset (Morgan Freeman) escort serial killer John Doe (Kevin Spacey) to the desert in search of his last victim's bodies, only for a delivery van to drop off a package. "What's in the box?" Victory for Doe, that's what.

Only In The '90s: Kevin Spacey could still go uncredited to preserve the brutal shocks of the film's final half-hour.

If It Was Made Today: We'd see every gory last detail of Doe's masterplan.

Magnolia (1999)

The Moment: As several characters reach crisis point, it begins raining frogs. What are the odds?

Only In The '90s: Filmmakers weren't shy about using a good old-fashioned deus ex machina ending. See also: the earthquake that ends Short Cuts.

If It Was Made Today: The 'weird weather' genre has moved into animation with Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs .

Jurassic Park (1993)

The Moment: A thudding echo and a rippling glass of water herald the arrival of a T Rex, changing the rules for Hollywood forever.

Only In The '90s: The FX work is so surprising that disbelief is suspended, along with our jaw muscles.

If It Was Made Today: A million wise-ass fanboys complaining about the CGI rendering.

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

The Moment: The big reveal, as Warden Norton (Bob Gunton) discovers a tunnel behind a poster of Raquel Welch in the cell of escaped convict Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins).

Only In The '90s: ...would everybody be too wowed by the post-modern hi-jinks in indie cinema to spot a proper, old-school classic hiding in the multiplexes. Thank goodness for home video and word-of-mouth.

If It Was Made Today: Andy would have a poster of Kim Kardashian.

Heat (1995)

The Moment: De Niro and Pacino's coffee shop chat? Iconic, but too easy - especially compared to Michael Mann's jaw-dropping orchestration of a cops vs robbers firefight in a busy L.A. street in broad daylight.

Only In The '90s: Actors got ridiculously dedicated to on-screen realism - Val Kilmer proved so good at reloading his Colt carbine rifle the footage is used to train American Special Forces recruits.

If It Was Made Today: Mann would cast Christian Bale... in every role.

Reservoir Dogs (1992)

The Moment: Mr Blonde (Michael Madsen) doesn't give a good fuck what Marvin the cop (Kirk Baltz) does or doesn't know. He's gonna torture him anyway, especially when K-Billy's Super Sounds of the Seventies is playing the perfect song for ear-slicing antics.

Only In The '90s: Stealers Wheel's Stuck In The Middle Of You can go from obscurity to era-defining hit, despite being twenty years old.

If It Was Made Today: They'd use Louise Redknapp's cover version of the song.

The Usual Suspects (1995)

The Moment: The greatest trick the devil ever pulled? Certainly the greatest twist the Nineties ever pulled, as Verbal Kint (Kevin Spacey) proves he's not such a cripple he can't do a runner from the law.

Only In The '90s: A young director like Bryan Singer could assemble a top-notch cast of actors like Spacey who the studios had basically overlooked.

If It Was Made Today: How's this for a line-up? Michael Fassbender, Ryan Gosling, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Javier Bardem and Scoot McNairy as Verbal.

Pulp Fiction (1994)

The Moment: It had to be Pulp Fiction , of course - practically a compendium of the decade's finest moments. But which one to go for? "I'll execute every motherfucking last one of you"? Ezekiel 25:17? "Bring out the gimp?" "You shot Marvin in the face?"

Ultimately, though, it has to be Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Mia Wallace (Uma Thurman) doing the Twist to Chuck Berry's You Never Can Tell - so cool it's still imitated today.

Only In The '90s : Thurman's nose-holding underwater moves.

If It Was Made Today: It'd be a big Glee -style musical number.