The summer of 2026 was a return to form at the box office. There were 18 major studio movies released—including big hits like Toy Story 5, The Odyssey, and Spider-Man: Brand New Day. And that doesn’t even include releases from smaller studios like A24, Neon, Angel, or Bleecker Street.
Still, summer 2026 has nothing on the summer movie season from 35 years ago when the big studios released 39 films—including Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Point Break, Thelma & Louise, Backdraft, Boyz n the Hood, and City Slickers. And that doesn’t even include movies from mid-majors like Orion and New Line Cinema or the Disney rerelease of One Hundred and One Dalmatians (which raked in more than $60M).
And it wasn’t just the summer that ruled, 1991 was actually a sneaky great movie year. It had action, comedy, movie stars, and sleeper hits. It had Spielberg and Scorsese. It had a Disney classic, a horror thriller that won Best Picture, and multiple Jean Claude Van Damme movies. It really had it all.
To pay tribute to this exceptional movie year on its 35th anniversary, here are some awards (and honorable mentions) for a handful of the notable 1991 films…
Best “Pump Up the Jam” Movie
For a movie with a song that became part of its identity
WINNER: New Jack City
This is admittedly a little bit of a swerve. There were movies with bigger songs (see the two honorables below). But no movie captured the vibe of the movie it was in better than “New Jack Hustler” from the New Jack City soundtrack, which was written and performed by Ice T—who was in the movie. And, guess what, this song still rips.
Honorable Mentions:
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves — When this movie came out, you could not escape Bryan Adams’s “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You”.
Terminator 2: Judgement Day — The biggest movie of 1991 featured a great song from one of the biggest bands of the time: Guns N Roses’ “You Could Be Mine”.
Best “Carried Entirely On Their Back” Movie
For the movie that was all about star power
WINNER: Sleeping With the Enemy
Sometimes fortune smiles on a movie. Sleeping With the Enemy started filming in April 1990, right after Pretty Woman was released, before anyone knew what a smash it would be. By the time this rolled into theaters in 1991, Julia Roberts was a megastar. She takes what is basically a “from hell” movie (granted, a pretty good one) and makes it one of the biggest hits of the year—earning over $100M at the domestic box office.
Honorable Mentions:
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves — While this movie has a strong supporting cast, a hit song, and a big budget, it became the second biggest movie of the year almost entirely because of Costner, who was scorching hot coming off the Oscar-winning Dances With Wolves.
Double Impact — Jean-Claude Van Damme plays two parts in one of his best movies, which earned $30M domestic.
Best “You Had to Be There” Movie
For the movie that feels most like a product of the time
WINNER: Cool as Ice
Try explaining Cool as Ice—which stars Vanilla Ice as a rapper who gets stuck in a small town and falls for a girl whose family is in witness protection—to any one under age 30 and watch their face contort in complete bewilderment. But this is a thing that happened. And Ice’s hair is mesmerizing.
Honorable Mentions:
Ernest Scared Stupid — Between 1987 and 1998, Jim Varney made nine movies as Ernest. Sometimes comedy really exists in a vacuum—know what I mean, Vern?
The Pope Must Diet — This forgotten movie received such a backlash upon its release that they changed the title from “Die” to “Diet”.
Best “Still Doing the Work” Movie
For the movie that has stood the test of time
WINNER: Terminator 2: Judgement Day
Tough category. But I’m giving T2 the slight edge over the honorables listed below because I think this is an all-time summer action blockbuster—like Jaws or Back to the Future—where almost anyone will watch it and like it at any time. I recently named it the number-one James Cameron movie (on a list that includes several all timers). The effects still look great. The action still rocks. And Schwarzenegger, who was at his movie star peak in 1991, has never been better.
Honorable Mentions:
The Silence of the Lambs — Considered by many to be one of the best Best Picture winners of all time. About as iconic a movie as you can get. Remains just as thrilling and terrifying as it was in 1991.
Beauty and the Beast — Disney movies hold their value over time like no other. Coming out during one of the great periods of Disney animation, this remains a fan favorite. Somehow you know all the songs even if you don’t know the songs.
Best “Lost to Time” Movie
For a movie no one really talks about much anymore
WINNER: Toy Soldiers
Colombian terrorists hold teens at a U.S. military school hostage to get their demands met… until the students decide to fight back. The plot feels like an 80s movie even though we got it in ‘91. It was notable back then for featuring the kid from The Goonies, the kid from Stand By Me, the kid from Adventures in Babysitting. Now it’s notable for just being a fun B movie. This is the type of movie we’re sorely missing in theaters now because they just get sent to streaming (and they’re garbage).
Honorable Mentions:
Late for Dinner — Two young men (one is Peter Berg) are cryogenically frozen in the early ‘60s and then wake up in the ‘90s. We must’ve had a thing with freezing around this time because we got the similar Mel Gibson movie Forever Young a year later.
Rush — Not the 2013 race car movie, but the movie about two undercover Texas cops (Jason Patrick and Jennifer Jason Leigh) in the 1970s who go in too deep and get hooked on drugs.
My 10 Favorite Movies of 1991
Highly subjective and significantly impacted by both extreme nostalgia and decades of rewatches, here’s my 1991 top 10…
Point Break
Terminator 2: Judgement Day
The Doors
Barton Fink
Cape Fear
The Silence of the Lambs
Double Impact
Hot Shots!
Backdraft
Slacker
Honorable Mentions (in alphabetical order):
Boyz N the Hood
Doc Hollywood
Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead
Father of the Bride
JFK
The Last Boy Scout
New Jack City
Out for Justice
Toy Soldiers
And one (maybe) hot take…
Hook might be the worst movie Spielberg ever made