Updated October 23, 2023 15.8K votes 3.7K voters 213.7K views
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Over 3.7K Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of Underrated 1990s Movies Overshadowed By Their More Successful 'Twin Film'
Voting Rules
Vote up the most underrated '90s movies that got overshadowed by a very similar film.
Isn't it strange how every few years, similar films are released at practically the same time? These "twin films" might have almost identical plots or focus on the same figures, dropping too close to each other to allow for breathing space. Surprisingly, this happened in the 1990s quite often.
From Gordy to House on Haunted Hill to Rob Roy, too many movies got lost in the pack and overshadowed by similar projects. With that said, let's give these features their due and take a look back at the best twin films of the era. Don't forget to vote up your favorites!
In the late 1990s, Hollywood feared the end of the world with the pending millennium around the corner. This seeped into the types of films produced, with disaster movies being particularly in vogue. In 1998, two films arrived - one about an asteroid (Armageddon) and the other about a comet (Deep Impact) - both set to turn Earth into pancake batter, which made many viewers roll up in the fetal position under the covers.
The year 1995 was all about historical Scottish warriors. Braveheart follows William Wallace (Mel Gibson) in his fight for Scottish freedom in the 13th century. The revered action drama cleaned up at the Academy Awards and the box office, becoming one of the most celebrated epics of all time.
Rob Roy is no pretender, though. The biographical drama sees Liam Neeson as 18th-century Scottish clan chief Rob Roy MacGregor, while Tim Roth puts in a seismic performance as the aristocratic and antagonistic Archibald Cunningham. In fact, Roth's portrayal was so good that he won a BAFTA Award and received an Academy Award nomination for it.
What? You're saying A Bug's Life and Antz aren't the same movie? It's easy to make this mistake, as insects are at the heart of both stories, and ants are the leading players. Equally interesting, Antz and A Bug's Life were released only a few months apart, and even resulted in a few strong accusations between the respective studios and filmmakers about someone copying another's homework.
Regardless of the striking similarities, Antz remains a supremely animated and heartfelt tale. Plus, how can anyone not be impressed by a cast that features the voices of Sharon Stone, Woody Allen, Sylvester Stallone, Dan Aykroyd, and Gene Hackman?
Released Before or After Natural Born Killers: Before
Stories about serial killers always seem to do the business in TV and film, which says something about society - but that's a discussion for another day. As twin films, Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers and Dominic Sena's Kalifornia hold three similarities: a journalist is involved; a murder-happy couple goes on a road trip; and Juliette Lewis portrays a stone-cold killer.
Kalifornia explores the inner psyche of serial killers, peeling back the layers to show why these people do the twisted things they do. If that doesn't sell the movie enough, then consider the fact Brad Pitt, David Duchovny, and Michelle Forbes are all part of the main cast, along with Lewis.
Released Before or After Saving Private Ryan: After
Unquestionably, Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan, featuring Tom Hanks and Matt Damon, stands out as war movie royalty. The WWII film didn't simply clean up at the awards ceremonies, but also at the box office. As a result, it eclipsed Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line, which is a notable movie in its own right and marked the filmmaker's return after a two-decade hiatus.
The Thin Red Line did garner its own accolades and praise from critics and the public, however. This second film adaptation of the 1962 James Jones novel about the Battle of Mount Austen is a tense and emotional affair. It also features a star-studded cast that includes Nick Nolte, George Clooney, Adrien Brody, Sean Penn, and Woody Harrelson.
When two movies tackle haunted houses and people being locked inside, it's easy to see where the confusion comes in. After all, Jan de Bont's The Haunting is an adaptation of Shirley Jackson's famous novel The Haunting of Hill House, while William Malone's House on Haunted Hill is a remake of a 1959 Vincent Price film. What is it with all these films using "haunt," "house" and "hill" in their titles? Some originality, please!
House on Haunted Hill plays like a horror-themed rollercoaster as strangers are put together in a spooky house and offered $1 million if they survive the overnight experience. It's not exactly the most original of ideas, but it's a fun time held up by strong performances from Geoffrey Rush, Famke Janssen, and Taye Diggs.
