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Best Drama Movies of the 1990s, Ranked by IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic and TMDB
353 drama films from the 1990s are in our catalog; the 50 best are ranked below. Top of the list is The Shawshank Redemption (1994), at 9.3 on IMDb. The average IMDb score across this list is 8.1. Biggest split between audiences and critics: Life Is Beautiful, 8.6 on IMDb against 58 on Metacritic.
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| # | Movie | Genre | IMDb | Tomato | Meta | TMDB | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Shawshank Redemption '1994 | Drama / Crime | 9.3 | 89% | 82 | 8.7 | Frank Darabont |
| 2 | Schindler's List '1993 | Drama / War | 9.0 | 98% | 95 | 8.6 | Steven Spielberg |
| 3 | Forrest Gump '1994 | Comedy / Drama / Romance | 8.8 | 75% | 82 | 8.5 | Robert Zemeckis |
| 4 | Fight Club '1999 | Drama / Thriller | 8.8 | 81% | 67 | 8.4 | David Fincher |
| 5 | GoodFellas '1990 | Drama / Crime | 8.7 | 93% | 92 | 8.5 | Martin Scorsese |
| 6 | The Silence of the Lambs '1991 | Crime / Thriller / Drama | 8.6 | 95% | 86 | 8.3 | Jonathan Demme |
| 7 | Saving Private Ryan '1998 | War / Drama | 8.6 | 94% | 91 | 8.2 | Steven Spielberg |
| 8 | The Green Mile '1999 | Fantasy / Drama / Crime | 8.6 | 78% | 61 | 8.5 | Frank Darabont |
| 9 | Léon: The Professional '1994 | Crime / Drama / Action | 8.5 | 76% | 64 | 8.3 | Luc Besson |
| 10 | The Lion King '1994 | Animation / Drama | 8.5 | 92% | 88 | 8.3 | Roger Allers |
| 11 | Life Is Beautiful '1997 | Comedy / Drama | 8.6 | 80% | 58 | 8.4 | Roberto Benigni |
| 12 | The Usual Suspects '1995 | Drama / Crime / Thriller | 8.5 | 87% | 76 | 8.2 | Bryan Singer |
| 13 | American History X '1998 | Drama | 8.5 | 84% | 62 | 8.3 | Tony Kaye |
| 14 | Good Will Hunting '1997 | Drama | 8.4 | 97% | 71 | 8.2 | Gus Van Sant |
| 15 | Braveheart '1995 | Drama / War | 8.3 | 74% | 68 | 7.9 | Mel Gibson |
| 16 | American Beauty '1999 | Drama | 8.3 | 87% | 84 | 8.0 | Sam Mendes |
| 17 | Heat '1995 | Crime / Drama / Action | 8.3 | 84% | 76 | 7.9 | Michael Mann |
| 18 | The Truman Show '1998 | Comedy / Drama | 8.2 | 94% | 90 | 8.2 | Peter Weir |
| 19 | The Sixth Sense '1999 | Mystery / Thriller / Drama | 8.2 | 86% | 64 | 8.0 | M. Night Shyamalan |
| 20 | Casino '1995 | Crime / Drama | 8.2 | 79% | 73 | 8.0 | Martin Scorsese |
| 21 | Fargo '1996 | Crime / Drama / Thriller | 8.1 | 95% | 88 | 7.8 | Joel Coen |
| 22 | Trainspotting '1996 | Drama / Crime | 8.1 | 93% | 83 | 8.0 | Danny Boyle |
| 23 | Titanic '1997 | Drama / Romance | 8.0 | 88% | 75 | 7.9 | James Cameron |
| 24 | Before Sunrise '1995 | Drama / Romance | 8.1 | 100% | 79 | 8.0 | Richard Linklater |
| 25 | Scent of a Woman '1992 | Drama | 8.0 | 82% | 57 | 7.8 | Martin Brest |
| 26 | In the Name of the Father '1993 | Drama | 8.1 | 94% | 84 | 7.9 | Jim Sheridan |
| 27 | Dances with Wolves '1990 | Drama / Western | 8.0 | 87% | 72 | 7.8 | Kevin Costner |
| 28 | La Haine '1995 | Drama | 8.1 | 96% | - | 8.1 | Mathieu Kassovitz |
| 29 | The Iron Giant '1999 | Animation / Drama / Sci-Fi | 8.1 | 96% | 85 | 8.0 | Brad Bird |
| 30 | Magnolia '1999 | Drama | 8.0 | 82% | 78 | 7.7 | Paul Thomas Anderson |
| 31 | Carlito's Way '1993 | Crime / Drama / Thriller | 7.9 | 84% | 66 | 7.8 | Brian De Palma |
| 32 | JFK '1991 | Drama / Thriller | 8.0 | 85% | 72 | 7.6 | Oliver Stone |
| 33 | Edward Scissorhands '1990 | Fantasy / Drama / Romance | 7.8 | 92% | 74 | 7.7 | Tim Burton |
| 34 | The Fugitive '1993 | Action / Thriller / Drama | 7.8 | 96% | 87 | 7.5 | Andrew Davis |
| 35 | Boogie Nights '1997 | Drama / Comedy | 7.9 | 91% | 87 | 7.6 | Paul Thomas Anderson |
| 36 | A Few Good Men '1992 | Drama | 7.8 | 85% | 62 | 7.6 | Rob Reiner |
| 37 | Misery '1990 | Drama / Thriller | 7.8 | 86% | 75 | 7.8 | Rob Reiner |
| 38 | A Bronx Tale '1993 | Drama / Crime | 7.8 | 97% | 80 | 7.9 | Robert De Niro |
| 39 | Philadelphia '1993 | Drama | 7.7 | 81% | 66 | 7.7 | Jonathan Demme |
| 40 | The Game '1997 | Drama / Thriller / Mystery | 7.7 | 77% | 63 | 7.6 | David Fincher |
| 41 | What's Eating Gilbert Grape '1993 | Romance / Drama | 7.7 | 90% | 73 | 7.7 | Lasse Hallström |
| 42 | Three Colors: Red '1994 | Drama / Mystery / Romance | 8.0 | 100% | 100 | 7.9 | Krzysztof Kieślowski |
| 43 | Ed Wood '1994 | Comedy / Drama | 7.8 | 92% | 71 | 7.5 | Tim Burton |
| 44 | Apollo 13 '1995 | Drama | 7.7 | 92% | 78 | 7.5 | Ron Howard |
| 45 | Donnie Brasco '1997 | Crime / Drama / Thriller | 7.7 | 88% | 77 | 7.5 | Mike Newell |
| 46 | Gattaca '1997 | Sci-Fi / Drama | 7.7 | 82% | 64 | 7.6 | Andrew Niccol |
| 47 | Being John Malkovich '1999 | Comedy / Drama / Fantasy | 7.7 | 94% | 90 | 7.4 | Spike Jonze |
| 48 | As Good as It Gets '1997 | Drama / Comedy / Romance | 7.7 | 86% | 67 | 7.4 | James L. Brooks |
| 49 | Awakenings '1990 | Drama | 7.8 | 81% | 74 | 7.8 | Penny Marshall |
| 50 | Three Colors: Blue '1993 | Drama | 7.8 | 98% | 87 | 7.6 | Krzysztof Kieślowski |
Our catalog covers roughly the 8,800 most-rated films on TMDB, so lesser-known titles may be missing. Order uses a confidence-weighted IMDb score so a perfect score from a handful of votes does not beat a well-established classic; the scores shown are the raw ones.
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Other genres in the 1990s
Action of the 1990s Animation of the 1990s Comedy of the 1990s Crime of the 1990s Fantasy of the 1990s Horror of the 1990s Mystery of the 1990s Romance of the 1990s Sci-Fi of the 1990s Thriller of the 1990s
Directors on this list
Steven Spielberg Robert Zemeckis David Fincher Martin Scorsese Jonathan Demme Luc Besson Roberto Benigni Bryan Singer Gus Van Sant Mel Gibson Sam Mendes Michael Mann
Actors on this list
Tim Robbins Morgan Freeman Liam Neeson Ben Kingsley Tom Hanks Robin Wright Edward Norton Brad Pitt Robert De Niro Ray Liotta Jodie Foster Anthony Hopkins