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Well, it looks as though we avoided the “Y2K” shutdown fears that swept the globe in 1999 (we must have, or else you wouldn’t be reading this now). Yes, the world a quarter-century ago was a simple, more innocent time when Americans were united…in their common dread of imminent technological and societal collapse. It was also the year that President Bill Clinton survived his impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate; the central Asian kingdom of Bhutan finally allowed TV transmission within its borders; somehow Shakespeare in Love beat out Saving Private Ryan for Best Picture at the 71st Academy Awards; and sharp-eyed, prescient moviegoers spotted Amy Adams, Hugh Jackman, Michael B. Jordan, Brie Larson, and Simon Pegg making their big-screen debuts. As for the American box office, these are the 10 biggest hits celebrating their silver anniversaries this year, with seven of them either starting or continuing franchises (Click the links to see the Top 10 lists for 1924, 1949, and 1974):
- Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace – The passage of time has worn down some of the criticism launched at George Lucas and company by fans who were disappointed at this first entry in the “prequel trilogy,” and whether you watched it in a theater in 1999 or grew up with it on home video will probably also color your feelings. Let’s just say the lightsaber battles are fantastic, kids still like Jar Jar Binks, and it’s one of only three 20th-century films to remain on the list of all-time box office champions.
- The Sixth Sense – SPOILER ALERT!: It turns out at the end that Bruce Willis was in Philadelphia all along. M. Night Shyamalan’s third directorial effort made him both an “overnight” celebrity and Hollywood’s “Master of the Twist Ending,” a mantle he has had to live up to–with uneven results–in the quarter-century since Haley Joel Osment declared he could “see dead people.” Fun Fact: 1999 was also the year Shyamalan co-wrote the screenplays for She’s All That and Stuart Little.
- Toy Story 2 – Just the scene where cowboy doll Woody, surrounded by TV memorabilia with his likeness on it, rediscovers his backstory makes this Disney/Pixar follow-up one for the ages. Made four years after the original film (and at first proposed as a direct-to-video quickie), Toy Story 2 amped up the emotional depth while showing what the fledgling Pixar studio–this was their third feature–was capable of. Oh, and it’s a crime that “You’ll Be in My Heart” (see #5 below) beat out “When Somebody Loved Me” for the Best Original Song Academy Award.
- The Matrix – It’s easy now to forget how mind-blowing the look and visual effects of the Wachowskis’ dystopic sci-di drama were to theatergoers 25 years ago. Mixing the style of Hong Kong action cinema with the look of anime and allusions to “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” the Oscar-winning thriller was star Keanu Reeves’ second crack at the cyberpunk genre (Anyone out there remember Johnny Mnemonic?) and gave pop culture the often-parodied “bullet time” sequence that revolutionized how action scenes were shot.
- Tarzan – Closing out the decade dubbed the “Disney Renaissance,” this animated take on the perennially popular jungle hero managed to balance a fairly faithful adherence to creator Edgar Rice Burroughs’ themes with the obligatory Disney talking animal sidekicks (no Cheeta the chimpanzee here). A fine voice cast headed by Tony Goldwyn, Minnie Driver, and Glenn Close and a Phil Collins soundtrack that included an Oscar-winning ballad (see #3 above) helped this Tarzan swing.
- The Mummy – Borrowing as much from the Indiana Jones films as its 1932 Karloff-led namesake, director/writer Stephen Summers’ sand-filled supernatural shocker benefited from a swashbuckling adventure tone, impressive CGI effects, and a game cast that included Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, Kevin J. O’Connor, and Arnold Vosloo as the revived, vengeance-seeking high priest Imhotep. The film’s success led to a pair of sequels, one prequel (The Scorpion King), and an animated series. The less said about the 2017 “Dark Universe” reboot with Tom Cruise (who, coincidentally, turned down Fraser’s role here), the better.
- Notting Hill – It was inevitable that the king (Hugh Grant) and queen (Julia Roberts) of 1990s romcoms would eventually team up, and director Roger Michell’s “London bookstore owner meets famous American actress” romp would surpass Four Weddings and a Funeral (written, like this film, by Richard Curtis) to become the highest-grossing British movie to date. It’s as charming and spunky as its co-stars, and while everyone knows Roberts’ line “I’m also just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her,” few seem to quote Rhys Ifans’ recalling “a girl at school called Pandora” (you can look up the rest on your own, thank you).
- The World Is Not Enough – The 19th film in the James Bond series and the third of four starring Pierce Brosnan as 007, The World Is Not Enough suffered from many of the excesses of the Roger Moore era (see Denise Richards as nuclear scientist Dr. Christmas Jones) while tentatively dipping its toes in the grittier feel of Daniel Craig’s tenure (see Robert Carlyle as brain-damaged KGB agent-turned-global terrorist Renard). This was also the final entry to feature Desmond Llewelyn as MI6 gadgetmaster Q; He had been featured in every Bond film since From Russia with Love, save for Live and Let Die.
- American Beauty – Well, this Oscar-winning Best Picture has certainly aged well, hasn’t it? Director Sam Mendes and writer Alan Ball’s darkly scathing glimpse behind the curtains of late 20th-century suburban life received overwhelming praise for its dialogue, camerawork, and performances upon its release. In the decades since, however–due in no small part by the scandals surrounding star Kevin Spacey–the bloom has fallen off the rose petals. A 2019 Time magazine reviewer wrote, “beating up on” the film “is so painfully easy that it seems unfair.”
- Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me – While 1997’s Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery was a box office success, taking in four times its production budget, it was home video that helped scripter/star Mike Myers’ Swinging ’60s spy spoof become a word-of-mouth sensation. As such, it’s no surprise that this follow-up made more money in its opening weekend than the first film did in its entire theatrical run. New to Austin’s demimonde in this installment were Heather Graham as CIA agent Felicity Shagwell, Verne Troyer as the diminutive Mini-Me, and Myers as obese Scottish assassin Fat Bastard. Fun Fact: When McFarlane Toys made a line of Austin Powers action figures, the mass merchant Fat Bastard toys had to be renamed “Fat Man” so as not to offend families.