A Reel 30: The Year in Film 1991

This month marks 30 years since this Blogger graduated high school. While this cap-tossing feat is stupendous enough to celebrate, it’s also an opportunity to look back at the films that were populating theatres 30 years ago. 

The early months of the year delivered a handful of gems along with one classic. We had the Julia Roberts-led thriller SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY, the Charlie and Martin Sheen military drama CADENCE, and the Chevy Chase comedy NOTHING BUT TROUBLE. 

 

But it was in early February when Jonathan Demme’s adaptation of a Thomas Harris novel where history was made. Sir Anthony Hopkins took on the role of Dr. Hannibal Lecter and Jodie Foster played FBI Agent Clarice Starling in THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. LAMBS became only the third film to win Oscars in the top five categories; Best Picture, Director (Demme), Actor (Hopkins), Actress (Foster), and Adapted Screenplay. To this day it is still the only horror film to win Best Picture. 

 

The rest of the Spring season brought us Val Kilmer as Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone’s THE DOORS, the gangster flick NEW JACK CITY, the Bill Murray comedy WHAT ABOUT BOB?, and Ridley Scott’s Oscar-nominated THELMA & LOUISE. 

 

The Summer Movie season got off to a hot start with Ron Howard’s firefighter drama BACKDRAFT. A few weeks later, ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THIEVES became a box office monster. The Kevin Costner-led film, with help from the Bryan Adams single (Everything I Do) I Do It For You, would finish as the second-highest earner of the year, and earn the late great Alan Rickman a BAFTA Award for his role as the Sheriff of Nottingham. 

 

The July 4^th weekend saw one of the biggest films of all time arrive: TERMINATOR 2: JUDGEMENT DAY. James Cameron returned to direct the sequel to his own 1984 sci-fi thriller, as did Arnold Schwarzenegger…who was arguably the biggest movie star on the planet at the time. Linda Hamilton set a new standard for the female action hero, and the film set other high bars for sequels and for visual effects. Cross-promoted by the Guns N’ Roses single You Could Be Mine, T2 would finish as 1991’s box office champion, along with four Oscar wins. 

 

Other Summer hits included the late great John Singleton’s BOYZ N THE HOOD, the action thriller POINT BREAK, and the Harrison Ford drama REGARDING HENRY. The Billy Crystal comedy CITY SLICKERS would earn an Oscar win for the late great Jack Palance. 

 

The Fall started with the sixth Freddy Krueger film, FREDDY’S DEAD: THE FINAL NIGHTMARE, along with Terry Gilliam’s Oscar darling THE FISHER KING, and the football comedy NECESSARY ROUGHNESS. By October we were having plenty of laughs watching Joe Pesci as a slumlord in THE SUPER. 

 

November came in like a literal beast, when Disney’s BEAUTY AND THE BEAST wowed audiences of all ages and ushered in a new era for the house that Walt built. BEAST would become a cultural icon for all time, a box office hit, and the first animated film to be nominated for Best Picture. Other hits from November included Martin Scorsese’s CAPE FEAR, the creepy and cooky THE ADDAMS FAMILY, the animated film AN AMERICAN TAIL: FIEVEL GOES WEST, and the comedy/drama MY GIRL. 

 

The final month of the year set off for new frontiers with STAR TREK VI: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY, which would be the final film with the entire original STAR TREK cast. Steven Spielberg would deliver his Peter Pan tale HOOK, and Oliver Stone’s JFK would spin heads. Other notable releases in this month would include THE FATHER OF THE BRIDE, FRIED GREEN TOMATOES, and another Oscar darling, THE PRINCE OF TIDES. 

 

There were some significant film debuts in 1991. This was the year we were introduced to Leonardo DiCaprio (CRITTERS 3), Reese Witherspoon (THE MAN IN THE MOON), Steve Carell (CURLY SUE), James Gandolfini (THE LAST BOY SCOUT), Paul Giamatti (PAST MIDNIGHT), Heath Ledger (CLOWNING AROUND), and Gwyneth Paltrow (SHOUT). 

 

Other notable films from 1991 included JUNGLE FEVER, BARTON FINK, DON’T TELL MOM THE BABYSITTER’S DEAD, THE ROCKETEER, BILL AND TED’S BOGUS JOURNEY, DOC HOLLYWOOD, and RICOCHET. 

 

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A look back at 1991 shows a vastly different era. Superheroes in cinema were scarce, STAR WARS was in the middle of a 17-year hiatus, and the idea of using computers to make movies was being laughed at. But it was in this year where the roots were planted that would change cinema forever. TERMINATOR 2 re-wrote the book for visual effects by way of Computer Generated Imagery (CGI), which would assist James Cameron in his making of TITANIC (1997); the film that would alter blockbuster filmmaking to this day. Disney’s BEAUTY AND THE BEAST would change the world’s thinking towards animated films while making new icons for themselves, and THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS would renew the legitimacy that the horror genre had not enjoyed since THE EXORCIST (1973). 1991 was a special year, one that it’s class of movies can proudly toss their caps for.