Entertainment
32 '90s Movies With Amazing Cover Art That You Just Had To Have
Miramax Films
Scrolling through Netflix is a fun way to spend a half an hour, but even with the added ease, it can't compare to walking through the doors of a video rental store. I treasure those memories of going out for videos with my parents and later, my friends. We'd scan the New Releases to see what recent hits were still left on the shelves or go searching the archives for our old favorites: the movies we didn't buy, for some reason, but would still rent on a regular basis. I miss those shelves stacked floor-to-ceiling with VHS boxes, all displaying the artwork of the movie on the inside. So I'm going to recreate a few of them with this list of 32 '90s movies with awesome cover art.
Cover art is still important, though it doesn't have to catch your eye like it did before streaming services killed the video store. These are the designs that called to you from their Blockbuster home, begging you to take them with you. Bold colors, iconic imagery, and front-and-center stars characterize the movie covers of that decade. Pour one out for the video stores of the past and take a nostalgic trip through their inventory.
1. 'The Addams Family'
America's First Family of the macabre are looking spooky and stylish on this cover art.
2. 'Clueless'
I didn't just want this movie, I wanted this life.
3. 'Cry-Baby'
The social conflict between the "squares" and the "drapes" is set up nicely with this candy-colored artwork. And young Johnny Depp really was pin-up status.
4. 'Dangerous Minds'
It's a reductive fairy tale with a "white savior" narrative, but all I knew at the time was that Michelle Pfeiffer looked cool in a leather jacket.
5. 'Fargo'
Fargo's art is brutal and morbidly funny, just like the film.
6. 'Hook'
Robin Williams embodied the boy who never grew up with his impish humor, so obviously he made a perfect adult Peter Pan.
7. 'Homeward Bound'
Look at the adventure they're about to go on!
8. 'Hackers'
I don't know why everything related to computers had this aesthetic in the '90s, but it did.
9. 'Gremlins 2: The New Batch'
By the second movie, everyone knew the rules of mogwai care. So this minimalist poster gave away nothing more than it needed to about the Gremlins sequel.
10. 'The Fugitive'
The diagonal blocking is very retro, befitting a modern remake of a classic '60s TV show.
11. 'Mortal Kombat'
The promise here is that all your favorite 16-bit showdowns will be recreated in thrilling high-def.
12. 'Man Of The House'
All a studio had to do was put Jonathan Taylor Thomas on the poster to inspire millions of his fans to beg their parents for the rental fee.
13. 'Mallrats'
Kevin Smith's studio follow-up to his independent debut came with this kick-ass comic book inspired artwork.
14. 'Being John Malkovich'
How could any cerebral introvert resist this one?
15. 'Problem Child 2'
How'd John Ritter's head get into the washing machine? You'll have to see it to find out.
16. 'Pulp Fiction'
Probably my favorite movie poster of the entire decade, Pulp Fiction's has been recreated and parodied all over the place.
17. 'Reservoir Dogs'
Another Tarantino visual pays homage to the vintage heist movies that inspired him.
18. 'The Santa Clause'
You can practically hear Tim Taylor's "huuhh?" coming through that facial expression.
19. 'Scream'
This poster: "Hot people. Scary stuff!" Me: "Yes to both!"
20. 'She's All That'
Several '90s romantic comedies utilized the split screen effect, but none of them had "Kimberly 'Lil Kim' Jones" listed among their supporting cast.
21. 'Space Jam'
It just says it all, doesn't it?
22. 'The Crow'
For days when the teen angst really kicked in, only something stylistic and goth would do.
23. 'The Matrix'
So much black, so much leather, so many lines of code!
24. 'The Witches'
This poster doesn't communicate how bone-chillingly horrifying this movie is, so I'm sure a lot of kids got a big surprise after they were draw in by the Disney-fied artwork.
25. 'Titanic'
The Titanic poster brings the history and the romance in equally enticing amounts.
26. 'Tommy Boy'
All this graphic had to do was tap into the Saturday Night Live cred of Tommy Boy's two stars.
27. 'The Usual Suspects'
A line-up is such an obvious choice to represent this movie but so elegant too. And each one of these guys looks shiftier than the last.
28. 'Varsity Blues'
TV's Dawson got top billing, but the poster features the entire attractive core cast of this Texas sports soap opera.
29. 'Wayne's World'
The world was familiar with the entrepreneurial hosts of the basement cable access show Wayne's World by the time the movie came around. This poster wisely doesn't change a thing about the popular SNL characters.
30. 'Weekend At Bernie's 2'
"You thought we'd squeezed all the comedy we could out of this concept. Think again!"
31. 'Booty Call'
Give this graphic designer a raise, post haste.
32. 'Super Mario Bros.'
No matter how weird the tone or bizarrely adult the subject matter, any Super Mario Bros. movie adaptation already had the loyalty of a nation of Nintendo addicts.
