Image credit: Warner Bros., MGM, Polygram Filmed Entertainment, Universal Pictures, Miramax, Largo Entertainment, Baltimore Pictures
These are the very definition of a "cult classic."
Insanely rewatchable, simply brilliant plot-wise, these films still hold up in 2023, even though they were released all the way back in the '90s.
1. Heat (1995) Rotten Tomatoes score: 89% Robert De Niro as Neil McCauley, a seasoned criminal mastermind, and Al Pacino as Lt. Vincent Hanna, a cop who lives for the chase. McCauley is planning this massive bank heist. The stakes are high; we're talking millions. But Hanna is on his tail. These two have a famous coffee shop scene where they lay it all out, basically saying, "I'm gonna get you" and "Try and catch me if you can."
Tensions escalate as the police close in and the heist crew starts to feel the heat. Members of McCauley's crew get picked off, one by one, and it becomes clear that it's only a matter of time before these two heavyweights face off.
2. The Usual Suspects (1995) Rotten Tomatoes score: 88% The movie starts with a massacre on a ship, and then we meet Roger 'Verbal' Kint (Kevin Spacey), a small-time crook and the only survivor. He starts spilling the beans about how he and four other criminals got roped into this job by the mythical Keyser Söze.
There are double-crosses, shifting alliances, and a whole lot of deception. Through Kint's narration, the story unfolds in flashbacks — cons, heists, the whole nine yards. The cops are desperate to figure out who this Keyser Söze really is, but it's like chasing a ghost.
3. Out of Sight (1998) Rotten Tomatoes score: 94% George Clooney is Jack Foley, a career bank robber, and Jennifer Lopez is Karen Sisco, a U.S. Marshal. Foley busts out of prison with his buddy Buddy (Ving Rhames), but in the process, he winds up sharing a car trunk with Sisco. Sisco is conflicted because the guy's a charmer, but she's still got a job to do.
Foley's grand plan is to rob a former prison mate, Richard Ripley (Albert Brooks), who's sitting on a stash of uncut diamonds. As the day of the heist nears, it's anybody's guess whether Sisco will bring Foley in or let her feelings get in the way.
4. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) Rotten Tomatoes score: 75% Four friends — Eddy, Tom, Soap, and Bacon — pool their money to enter a high-stakes card game. Eddy's supposed to be the card shark, but they end up losing to a local gangster, Hatchet Harry. Now they owe Harry a ton of cash and have one week to cough it up. The solution? Rob their pot-growing neighbors who're planning to rob a group of gangsters.
Guns, drugs, money, and an antique pair of shotguns (the "two smoking barrels") are all in play. Things get complicated real quick, with everyone from loan sharks to thugs getting involved.
5. Jackie Brown (1997) Rotten Tomatoes score: 88% Directed by Quentin Tarantino, this one's a bit different from his usual blood and gore. Jackie Brown (Pam Grier) is a flight attendant who smuggles money from Mexico for Ordell Robbie, a gun runner. When the ATF catches her, she's stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Enter Max Cherry (Robert Forster), a bail bondsman who takes a liking to her. Together, they hatch a plan to outwit both the ATF and Ordell. Jackie pretends to help the ATF catch Ordell while actually planning to make off with Ordell's $500,000.
6. Point Break (1991) Rotten Tomatoes score: 70% Keanu Reeves plays Johnny Utah, an FBI agent assigned to crack down on a gang of bank robbers known as the "Ex-Presidents." They wear masks of former U.S. Presidents during their heists. Utah gets a tip that the robbers are surfers, so he goes undercover to infiltrate the surfing community. He befriends Bodhi (Patrick Swayze), a charismatic surfer with a knack for adrenaline-pumping stunts.
As Utah gets pulled deeper into Bodhi's thrill-seeking world, he starts questioning his own loyalties.
7. Fargo (1996) Rotten Tomatoes score: 94% Set in the icy landscapes of Minnesota, "Fargo" follows Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy), a car salesman desperate for cash. What's his big idea? Have his own wife kidnapped so he can split the ransom money with the kidnappers. He hires two bumbling criminals, Carl (Steve Buscemi) and Gaear (Peter Stormare), to do the dirty work.
But, as you can guess, things don't go as planned. A lot of people end up dead, and pregnant police chief Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand) steps in to solve the case.
8. Sneakers (1992) Rotten Tomatoes score: 80% Robert Redford plays Martin Bishop, who leads a team of security experts hired to steal a mysterious black box. When they discover that the box can decode any encryption system in the world, things take a serious turn. The government and a bunch of bad guys are after it, and the crew has to use their skills to keep it from falling into the wrong hands.
For a movie from the early '90s, the tech stuff doesn't feel too dated, honestly.
9. The Thomas Crown Affair (1999) Rotten Tomatoes score: 69% Pierce Brosnan as Thomas Crown, a suave millionaire who steals a priceless Monet painting just for the thrill of it. Enter Catherine Banning (Rene Russo), an insurance investigator determined to get that painting back. She figures Crown is the culprit but can't pin it on him. So begins a tantalizing dance of seduction and deception.
They're obviously attracted to each other, but hey, business is business. Banning has to keep her wits about her if she's going to outsmart this charming art thief.
10. Donnie Brasco (1997) Rotten Tomatoes score: 88% Johnny Depp plays Joe Pistone, an FBI agent who goes undercover as "Donnie Brasco" to infiltrate the Mafia. He gets close to Lefty Ruggiero, played by Al Pacino, an aging hitman with a soft spot for Donnie. As Pistone dives deeper into the Mafia world, he faces moral dilemmas and mounting risks.
His relationship with Lefty becomes a focal point, forcing him to juggle his responsibilities as an agent and his growing friendship with the mobster.
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