Some incredible movies from the 90s were so good that fans quickly wanted to watch them twice. This was thanks to several reasons, including films with big twists at the end that shook up everything that happened before. However, there were other reasons, including densely plotted stories and big action sequences that demanded repeat viewings.

Filmmakers like M. Night Shyamalan and Quentin Tarantino came onto the scene and delivered masterfully plotted films that demanded repeat viewings to place all the pieces together. Other movies like The Matrix and Fight Club were so mind-blowing that fans often went back to see them a second time immediately after their initial viewing.

Jacob’s Ladder (1990)

One mind-blowing film with a dramatic twist ending hit theaters in the first year of the 1990s. Directed by Adrian Lyne, Jacob’s Ladder was a movie with Tim Robbins starring as a Vietnam veteran who returns home only to find demonic beings in pursuit of him as he tries to understand what happened to him in the war.

The movie deserved a second watch after Jacob’s Ladder’s twist ending reveals that Robbins’ Jacob Singer never returned home from the war at all. This was hinted at in the movie’s opening, but the plot was so intricate that it still came as a surprise to know that Jacob died in the war during that opening scene.

Watching Jacob’s Ladder over again delivers the hints that Jacob wasn’t really in New York City at all, but in his own version of Hell, or possibly purgatory. It was a brilliant tale that looked at both PTSD and the horrors that many soldiers never came home from that terrible war at all.

Matilda (1996)

Matilda is a movie that deserved repeat viewings for a very different reason. There was no twist ending, and there was no deep, intricate storyline that needed to be seen twice to understand. Matilda was simply a pleasure to watch, and the film featured some great songs that deserved revisiting.

Sometimes, a movie is just so good that it is a pleasure to rewatch over and over again, and Matilda fits that description. Danny DeVito did a great job directing the film, and Mara Wilson was a pleasure as the young witch.

If anything, this movie deserved rewatching primarily to sing along to “Send Me on My Way” and join in reciting the poem that helped the kids learn how to spell “difficulty.”

The Truman Show (1998)

The Truman Show was a fantastic feat of storytelling because director Peter Weir let the viewers in early on that Truman Burbank was living in a fake society and didn’t know it. Viewers could rewatch The Truman Show for a darker experience, but it is perfect in its original format.

However, the joy of watching the movie is seeing Truman slowly start to realize that he is not living in the real world. Once The Truman Show ends, and Truman triumphantly escapes his fake town for the real world, the viewers then have a unique experience.

Knowing how the movie ends, viewers can go back and scour for clues that show that nothing was as it seemed. While it is easy to catch some moments during the first viewing, such as the product placement, The Truman Show is a film that rewards rewatches to discover all the Easter eggs.

Heat (1995)

Heat is another movie that doesn’t have a twist that viewers need to go back and rewatch to understand. It also isn’t a deep movie that requires multiple viewings to understand everything. This is a tale of a police detective and his team trying to stop a master thief and his crew.

However, with that said, the movie has an incredible cast, delivering masterful performances. This was the first time Robert De Niro and Al Pacino shared a scene, and that diner moment deserves rewatching. It is also a movie in which Val Kilmer stole every scene he was in.

Finally, the giant gun fight between the two sides outside the robbery was one of the best action scenes ever filmed. Between the great dialogue and that gun fight, there is a lot here to love, and it all deserves to be watched over and over again.

The Usual Suspects (1995)

The Usual Suspects is a movie with a twist ending that seemed to come out of nowhere. The story follows a group of criminals preparing to pull off a heist. However, they can’t trust each other, and in the end, they are betrayed by one of their own, who was the mastermind, pretending to be one of the crew.

The minute that Verbal Kint (Kevin Spacey) left the police station and then straightened to show he wasn’t what he seemed, it changed everything that came before. When the police detective, Kujan (Chazz Palminteri), realizes that Verbal is Keyser Söze, it is too late.

At that moment, most viewers wanted to go back to the beginning to pick out clues throughout that reveal Verbal’s deceit, which was all laid out perfectly.

Magnolia (1999)

Magnolia is a masterpiece that deserves repeated viewings simply based on the fact that so much is going on, and every story here deserves a chance to shine. That isn’t to say that Paul Thomas Anderson made a confusing movie. It was just a big ensemble piece that had some of the best actors working in the 1990s.

Jason Robards is a famous former game show producer who is slowly dying of cancer. Philip Seymour Hoffman is his nurse, Julianne Moore is his wife, and Tom Cruise is his estranged son. Add in names like Melora Walters, Philip Baker Hall, John C. Reilly, William H. Macy, and many more, and its an embarrasment of riches.

This is one of the best movies of the 1990s, regardless of genre, and every actor in this movie gives their best. This is a movie worth rewatching for that reason alone.

The Matrix (1999)

The Matrix is a movie that has so much going on that viewers can watch it multiple times and catch something new each time. The film opens with Neo (Keanu Reeves) in the “real world” and then quickly discovers he is in the Matrix, and the real world is an apocalyptic landscape that is run by machines.

When Neo ends up figuring out what is real, the film jumps into overdrive with the incredible choreography and the Bullet Time effects. Between the Easter eggs to show when things are inside the Matrix and the repeated viewings of the fight scenes, there is a lot about The Matrix to love concerning the sci-fi masterpiece.

The Sixth Sense (1999)

If there was one movie that demanded repeat screenings, it was M. Night Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense. This movie put Shyamalan on the map and started his long legacy of twist endings, while this was the best of his films. The best thing about the movie was the clues that Shyamalan laid throughout its running time.

There are so many things to see when re-watching The Sixth Sense after knowing the ending. Watching every scene where Malcolm (Bruce Willis) is talking to other people is fascinating, and listening to the dialogue that Cole (Haley Joel Osment) says is also incredible. There are also several other Easter eggs (red door knobs).

Shyamalan has been ridiculed for his twists, but this was a movie that masterfully pulled it off. It remains one of the best 90s movies that deserves a second watch.

Pulp Fiction (1994)

Pulp Fiction is an easy movie to follow, even though it is told in a non-chronological order and tells than three different stories. The first story is about two hitmen on a mission, the second is about a boxer asked to throw a fight, and the third is a date between one of the hitmen and the mob boss’s wife.

Bookending it all is an attempted robbery at a diner, where the two hitmen are eating. Once the movie is over, it ties together beautifully, and there is no reason to think Pulp Fiction would have worked so well told in order.

However, it is also a movie that pays off second viewings. Once the viewer experiences the perfection that Quentin Tarantino offers in his script, watching it a second time allows them to see connections that tie into scenes that occur both before and after it chronologically, thereby enhancing the experience.

Fight Club (1999)

One of the best movies from the 90s to watch a second time is David Fincher’s Fight Club. That is, just like The Sixth Sense, the twist in this film completely changes what the viewer thinks they know about everything that came before it. The movie doesn’t cheat either, and watching it carefully lays out clues to the twist.

Fight Club’s ending shouldn’t be spoiled to enjoy the film as it was meant to be seen. However, once the film has ended, rewatch it a second time to see where Fincher masterfully placed the surprising moments to help pay off that incredible twist at the end.

There are a lot of things to love about movies like Fight Club, but the best thing is that these ’90s movies all reward second watches. Whether it is a shocking twist or a movie that offers more enjoyment when delving into what made it great, they are among the best films of the decade.