Most Controversial ’90s Movies, Ranked

The 90s has seen the world getting reconfigured and facing a flood of technological advancements all of a sudden. At the same time, the decade has also experienced an intriguing balance in the cinema world. After having a 70s that was full of conscious creativity and an 80s that had some really significant blockbusters, the 1990s were all set for investing more in rich productions and reaching a broader audience. Maybe that is why some movies fall into the trap of controversies. In fact, both mainstream and side productions faced issues because of the clichés in their films, for example – doing some really irregular experiment on-screen or trying to portray transgression to others.

While the 90s has delivered some of the biggest classics of all time, it had some films that went too far with the controversies. These are some of them –

Aladdin (1992)

It was Disney’s adaptation of the most famous tale by One Thousand and One Night and it was about a young man who discovers a marvelous lamp. While the major sample of Disney’s Renaissance was perhaps great to be introduced, it faced some issues due to the stereotypical racism concept that the film unintentionally highlighted. However, such a major controversy failed to overshadow Aladdin’s massive success. However, the makers had to pull down one of their songs as a result of the protest carried forwards by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee who had enough reasons to do so.

Boy Meets Girl (1994)

This film was about a man who one day wakes up strapped on a dentist chair and getting brutal torture right after he met a girl in a bar. As a result of the politically correct version of censorship, Boy Meets Girl was denied any rating certificate from the British Board of Film Classification. As a result, now that the film was shot and the production was almost wrapped up, the film ran entirely underground and not in the theaters. After staying banned for around eight years, Boy Meets Girl got a release date but via DVD.

Romance (1999)

This film was Catherine Breillat’s depiction of the space between love and sexuality. The story of Romance follows the life of a sexually frustrated teacher when she embarks on a route of carnal redemption and empowerment. With that being said, this film was perhaps one of the biggest controversial movies ever made in history. Due to this, it faced multiple censorship issues and an extreme depiction of nudity and sexuality. However, that doesn’t mean Romance is any far from being called a good film after all.

Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Based completely on a dream story, Eyes Wide Shut follows the story of a dream-like night where a doctor pushes himself into a dangerous and unsatisfying odyssey when his wife finally confesses something. It was about the fact that she fantasized about doing sex with other men. While the makers tried to keep the film within its dream sequence-oriented craft, it still faced multiple controversies one after the other. As a result, it became Stanley Kubrick’s worthy closure to his filmmaking career.