These 17 movies from 1997 are now 20 years old, and you need to rewatch them immediately
When temperatures are over 90 degrees and even your SPF is dripping off your face, it’s time to go indoors. And what better way to waste an entire summer evening than a movie marathon? (OK, there are a lot of better ways maybe, but movie night and homemade popcorn with too much salt on it is up there.) If you’re in the mood for a good flick, let’s time travel back to peak ’90s. All of these movies came out in 1997 and are 20 years old now. If you recognize most of the titles, you are officially old.
Whether you need to rewatch these 20-year-old movies or get to experience them for the first time, you’ll definitely notice they don’t make stuff like this anymore.
True, a lot of the punchlines rely on making fun of or fetishizing LGBTQ people and the storylines perpetuate gendered stereotypes that Hollywood is fighting to undo these days, but at least they have soundtracks that will bring you back to the days you shopped the Delia’s catalog and signed onto AIM to ask your friends to go see movies in an actual theaters.
Here are a some 20-year-old movies you definitely have to rewatch stat:
1Chasing Amy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiATQ04pH14?feature=oembed
Jason Lee and Ben Affleck chase the same girl, a bisexual played by Joey Lauren Adams. Silent Bob provides relationship advice, which is weird and also endearing. Bonus points for the lack of a happy ending. (This is also the movie Ben Affleck says made him a “gay actor.”)
2Selena
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVMSuZXEz4s?feature=oembed
Jennifer Lopez plays megastar Selena, who died in 1995. There are literally endless reasons to watch this movie.
3Men in Black
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYUd7AOw_lk?feature=oembed
Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones fight aliens in suits. What more do you want from a summer movie?
4The Fifth Element
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQ9RqgcR24g?feature=oembed
Oh, if only we had those futuristic Chanel make-up machines Mila Jovovitch’s character uses.
5I Know What You Did Last Summer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vk1p6x8_Rps?feature=oembed
Hey, wait a second — WTF is Jennifer Love Hewitt doing these days?
6Jackie Brown
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7HkBDNZV7s?feature=oembed
Tarantino directs Pam Grier and Samuel L. Jackson. Oh, those were the days.
7Wag the Dog
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNo0BicRM8k?feature=oembed
Let’s pretend it’s not 2017 with a dark comedy starring Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro, Anne Heche, and William H. Macy about manufacturing a war to detract from a presidential sex scandal. (This came out one month before the Monica Lewinsky headlines, BTW.)
8Gattaca
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpzVFdDeWyo?feature=oembed
Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, and Jude Law star in this science-fiction thriller about dystopian future based in eugenics.
9G.I. Jane
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDrXl6WOPZA?feature=oembed
We could watch Demi Moore go through bootcamp all day long, though the outdated themes of women in the military we could do without.
10My Best Friend’s Wedding
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2RzkwK3BtU?feature=oembed
Not going to lie, we already re-watch this on the regular.
11Soul Food
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OijFtJ5iHzg
If you want to get sappy AF, all you need is a Babyface-produced family movie starring Vanessa Williams, Vivica Fox, Mekhi Phifer, and Nia Long.
12The Game
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kqQNBR09Rc?feature=oembed
Michael Douglas and Sean Penn star in this quintessential thriller directed by none other than David Fincher.
13Boogie Nights
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOk0fsMGyck?feature=oembed
This Paul Thomas Anderson film about the 1970s porn industry is a cult classic.
14Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYPnUrREbRg?feature=oembed
Spoiler alert: It’s still perfect.
15Batman & Robin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RBXypX4qWI?feature=oembed
George Clooney as Batman, Chris O’Donnell as Robin, and Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze?
16Goodburger
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzoMkdsYHHQ?feature=oembed
Because sometimes you need to make brownies and watch Kenan and Kel.
17The Rainmaker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3L4HHwjcxc?feature=oembed
This was THE ERA of John Grisham novels being turned into thrillers. Matt Damon was getting famous for Good Will Hunting (which also came out in 1997), starred with Danny Devito in this Francis Ford Coppola flick.
For the record, Titanic, Hercules, and Austin Powers also came out this year. It was a very good year.
