While these 90s movies might not seem like the typical award contenders, you might be surprised that all of them have received at least one Oscar. There are plenty of Oscar-winning movies from the 1990s that have stood the test of time and whose big wins have remained part of their legacy. Forrest Gump‘s Best Picture win cemented it as a true crowdpleaser, while some people are still angry over Shakespeare in Love beating Saving Private Ryan for the top prize.

However, the 1990s also saw some surprising movies take the stage at the Oscars. This ranges from some genre movies with technical qualities that wowed the Academy to acclaimed performances in genre movies that don’t typically get recognized. While these movies might not be considered the best of the 1990s, no one can take away those Oscar wins, no matter how surprising they are.

10

The Ghost And The Darkness (1996)

Oscar Win: Best Sound Editing

While The Ghost and the Darkness was critically panned when it was first released, it has since earned something of a cult status. The underrated Val Kilmer movie finds him playing an engineer overseeing the construction of a bridge in Africa, only for the job site to become the hunting ground for two man-eating lions. The movie is loosely based on a true story that happened in 1889 in Kenya.

Despite the poor critical reception, including Kilmer being nominated for a Razzie Award for his performance (as well as his work in The Island of Dr. Moreau). However, the impressive action elements of the movie, including some visceral lion attack sequences, led to the film winning the Oscar for Best Sound Mixing. The blending of animal sounds, dialogue, and intense music was enough to make The Ghost and the Darkness an Oscar winner.

9

My Cousin Vinny (1992)

Oscar Win: Best Actress In A Supporting Role

Joe Pesci’s career in the 1990s seemed to be jumping between his intimidating gangster roles, like Goodfellas and Casino, and his comedy roles, like Home Alone and this hilarious classic. My Cousin Vinny is a blend of a legal drama and a fish-out-of-water comedy as it follows two young men wrongfully accused of murder in a small rural town, with one of them reaching out to his New York City cousin, who just pᴀssed the bar exam, to defend them.

Pesci is terrific in the lead role, but it is another scene-stealing performance that earned the movie its one Oscar. Marisa Tomei found her breakout role in the film as Mona Lisa Vito, Vinny’s supportive yet boisterous girlfriend. Tomei’s win for Best Supporting Actress was a huge surprise, mostly because such comedic performances are not often recognized by the Oscars.

8

Men In Black (1997)

Oscar Win: Best Makeup

While the Men in Black franchise is filled with more misfires than successes, the original 1997 movie remains a hugely entertaining action sci-fi comedy that influenced many modern blockbusters. Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones make for a perfect duo as agents working in a special organization that oversees the activity of aliens hiding out on Earth.

Despite the film being a terrific blockbuster, fans might be surprised to learn that Men in Black was actually nominated for three Oscars. While the movie did not win for its impressive art direction or memorable original score, the makeup by famed makeup artist Rick Baker did win an Oscar. It was this work that helped make Vincent D’Onofrio unrecognizable in the villainous role of Edgar. The win was actually Baker’s fifth Oscar, and he has since won two more.

7

Sleepy Hollow (1999)

Oscar Win: Best Art Direction

Another collaboration between Tim Burton and Johnny Depp, Sleepy Hollow was a blockbuster take on the legendary tale of the Headless Horseman from Washington Irving. In this version of the story, Ichabod Crane (Depp) is an eccentric detective who has been summoned to the town of Sleepy Hollow to investigate a series of murders in which the victims have been decapitated. However, he soon learns the truth might be supernatural.

While the movie was a modest critical success, it was a more mainstream horror blockbuster, and the Oscars have always been reluctant to recognize even the more prestigious horror movies. However, Sleepy Hollow earned three Oscar nominations, losing in the categories of Best Cinematography and Best Costume Design. Not surprisingly for a Tim Burton movie though, it was the Best Art Direction Oscar that the film ended up winning, celebrating the impressive gothic look.

6

Babe (1995)

Oscar Win: Best Visual Effects

Babe is a movie full of surprises. First of all, it is baffling that George Miller, the genius behind the Mad Max movies, would write a family-friendly comedy about a talking pig. Secondly, the fact that it would become a true Oscar contender is an even bigger surprise. The charming little movie follows the тιтular young pig who is taken to a new life on a farm. He is taken in by a family of sheepdogs and decides that it is also his calling to herd sheep.

The film is remembered as a thoroughly satisfying family-friendly movie that is not complex, but pitch-perfect in its storytelling. However, even with the acclaim, the fact that Babe earned seven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, is incredible to look back on. It was Best Visual Effects that the movie won for, with the animatronics helping to bring these animals to life.

5

Dick Tracy (1990)

Oscar Win: Best Original Song, Best Makeup, And Best Art Direction

The idea of a crime film starring Warren Beatty, Al Pacino, and Dustin Hoffman would seem like the kind of project that would clean up at the Oscars. However, Dick Tracy was a very different crime movie, bringing the iconic comic strip to life before comic book adaptations were big in Hollywood. The film stars Beatty as the тιтular hard-boiled cop, taking on the criminal underbelly of his city.

Despite being a silly and mainstream action movie, Dick Tracy earned seven Oscar nominations, including one for Pacino’s hilariously over-the-top performance as the villainous Big Boy Caprice. The movie ended up winning three Oscars, including Best Makeup and Best Art Direction, which helped create the film’s memorably grotesque villains, as well as bringing the vibrant colors of the comic book to the screen. Dick Tracy also won Best Original Song for “Sooner or Later (I Always Get My Man),” performed in the movie by Madonna.

4

Independence Day (1996)

Oscar Win: Best Visual Effects

Independence Day was one of the defining summer blockbusters of the 1990s and the other 90s alien-centric movie starring Will Smith. Independence Day depicts Earth’s fight against the invading alien forces that have arrived and decimated many of the planet’s largest cities. The movie earned over $800 million worldwide (via Box Office Mojo), but the critical response was slightly more mixed.

Box office does not usually mean much to Oscar voters, especially when it comes to popcorn movies like Independence Day. However, the Academy could not ignore the ground-breaking special effects on display in the film, earning Independence Day its Oscar. The sequence in which the aliens use their powerful weapons to blow up the White House was enough to secure that win. The film was also nominated for Best Sound.

3

Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)

Oscar Win: Best Makeup

Mrs. Doubtfire is one of the funniest comedies of the 1990s and is still fondly remembered as a defining role of Robin Williams’ amazing career. He plays an immature yet caring divorced father who disguises himself as a kindly Scottish nanny in order to spend more time with his children. It is a tour de force comedic performance from Williams, and while he won a Golden Globe for the performance, there are many fans who would argue it was an Oscar-worthy performance.

However, overtly comedic roles like this one are often overlooked by the Academy, so Mrs. Doubtfire had to settle for recognition for another impressive aspect of the movie. The movie won Best Makeup for transforming Williams into the unrecognizable тιтular nanny. Even with Williams’ committed performance doing a lot to help with that transformation, the makeup remains a key part of the film’s success to this day.

2

Speed (1994)

Oscar Win: Best Sound, Best Sound Effects Editing

One of Keanu Reeves’ best movies from the 1990s, Speed still holds up as a thrill ride of an action flick. Reeves plays a heroic LAPD cop who must save a bus filled with pᴀssengers after a villain rigged it with a bomb that will explode if its speed drops below 50 mph. Reeves is in top action hero mode, Sandra Bullock makes for a charming love interest, and Dennis Hopper is excellent as the villain.

Despite Speed being a nearly perfect action movie, the genre is not a favorite at the Oscars. However, Speed managed to win in the two categories in which action movies can often have the best chance: Best Sound and Best Sound Effects Editing. Indeed, the sound work in the film helps to immerse the audience into the action, making for one of the most entertaining movies of the decade.

1

The Nutty Professor (1996)

Oscar Win: Best Makeup

The Nutty Professor is not only one of Eddie Murphy’s best movies of the 1990s but also served as a comeback for the comedy icon after a series of flops. The remake of a Jerry Lewis comedy from 1963, Murphy stars in the film as a kind-hearted and overweight scientist who seeks to transform himself with a special serum, only for it to develop a wild and more villainous persona, Buddy Love.

Along with playing these two personalities of the same character, Murphy plays multiple roles in The Nutty Professor as the Klump family. Each character required some brilliant makeup work to create, which led to yet another Oscar win for Rick Baker. It is not surprising that Baker was brought in for this movie, as he also did the impressive makeup for Murphy’s other comedy classic, Coming to America.