While nostalgia may overestimate the utopic nature of filmmaking and film-watching in the 1990s, it is undeniable that all evidence points to it being an excellent decade for cinema. Right in the middle of independent cinema's expansion and the continuous growth of blockbuster filmmaking, 1995, more so than other years in the decade, boasts an enviable balance of blockbuster filmmaking, mid-budget production, and independent cinema on its roster.

In a year that housed the third and films and the seventeenth film, 1995 would eventually grow to be marked by its excellent auteur-driven projects. From greats like and delivering some of their best work to career-defining directorial efforts and star-making performances, 1995 was a pivotal and formative year in today's cinema landscape. Today, , thanks to their memorable and gripping narratives and characters, cementing their legacy.

In 's , plays James Cole, a prisoner in the future who is sent back in time to gather information on the virus that created his post-apocalyptic reality. Written by , the film also features , and in an Academy Award-nominated performance.

Terry Gilliam uses the film and James Cole's anachronistic existence to examine the oddities of contemporary life. He engages in the modern-day struggle of separating important information from the constant barrage of distracting and unimportant noise. The film also deals with themes of insanity, environmentalism and anti-capitalism. A commercial and critical success, 12 Monkeys is an entertaining, highly rewatchable film and .

In the second of their five collaborations, and brought to the screen the story of the 1970 Apollo Lunar mission. The film depicts the story of Apollo 13, the United States' fifth manned mission to the moon and the intended third to land. When an explosion affects the ship's electrical and oxygen supply, the mission is abandoned, and solutions must be improvised to return the three astronauts—, and —safely to Earth.

Based on Jim Lovell and 's 1994 book, stars Hanks as Lovell, as Swigert, and the late as Haise. Ron Howard famously conducted extensive research to ensure that Apollo 13 was as historically accurate as possible. The exhaustive research, great acting performances and excellent technical filmmaking resulted in a critical hit, a nine-time Academy Award-nominated film and the third-highest-grossing film of the year.

Two years after delivering the high school slacker comedy , embraced love and young adulthood with the excellent , co-written with . Before Sunrise depicts the conversations and love story between Jesse () and Céline () after they meet on a Eurail train and alight in Vienna to spend the night together.

Essentially a continuous conversation of monologues, the film deals with . Bursting with excellent dialogue, Before Sunrise is an oft-quoted film thanks to its humorous, insightful and authentic depictions of romance and young adult life. The film is the first installment in the beloved trilogy, which includes the sequels and .

Adapted by Martin Scorsese and from Pileggi's non-fiction book, reunited and with their and director. Casino tells the epic crime story of the corrupt and deadly involvement of the Italian mafia in the daily operations of Las Vegas casinos in the 1970s and 1980s.

While some initial criticism was levied against Casino for being a retread of Goodfellas, which came out five years earlier, the film has . Casino is an excellent film that stands on its own but also engages in a stirring, thoughtful conversation with both Goodfellas and Scorsese's 2019 film, . Joining De Niro and Pesci in the film were , and in an Academy Award-nominated performance.

wrote and directed, the most loosely adapted of the year's three adaptations. Starring , it is an adaptation of Austen's 1815 novel Emma. Silverstone plays Cher Horowitz, a wealthy, popular and self-centered high school student who decides to carry out charitable deeds because of how they make her feel.

A perfect teen movie for the '90s, Clueless is a . Just like the successful teen films of the '70s and '80s, Clueless simultaneously authentically represents the era while providing its teens with an aspirational admiration of the characters and storylines. The film is realistic while providing its audience with a worthwhile, entertaining and fulfilling cinematic escape.

In a banner year for Robert De Niro, he also appeared in Michael Mann's expertly directed crime thriller . Set in LA, it sees De Niro as Neil McCauley, a career criminal whose recent actions have attracted the attention of an LAPD lieutenant, Vincent Hanna (). While they had both appeared in , Heat was the first time the legendary actors shared a scene.

Heat is between the criminal gang and the LAPD task force investigating them. With expertly staged bank robbery and shootout sequences, Heat laid the groundwork for three decades of homages from films in the genre. Despite its high-octane action, the film takes time to examine the effects of the characters' professional obsessions on their personal lives. Co-starring , , and , among a larger ensemble of actors, Heat is .

wrote and starred in 's adaptation of 's . Thompson starred as Elinor Dashwood, the older of the wealthy Dashwood sisters, with as her younger sister, Marianne. When their family suddenly loses their wealth, the sisters seek financial security through marriage. and ​​​​​​portray their respective suitors.

Nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, Sense and Sensibilityreceived widespread critical acclaim and was a box office hit. Particular praise was given to the performances of Thompson and Winslet and the script by first-time screenwriter Thompson. The film effectively , including everlasting themes like class and gender roles, for modern audiences. Thompson and Winslet were Academy Award-nominated for their performances, and the former received her second Academy Award for her screenplay.

's is perhaps the bleakest film of 1995. The psychological crime thriller, written by , follows and Brad Pitt as two police detectives investigating a serial killer targeting his victims based on the seven deadly sins. Along with Morgan Freeman's disillusioned Detective Somerset and Brad Pitt's eager Detective Mills, the film features performances from and .

Se7en takes and the capacity for cruelty inherent in everyone. It tackles the motivations behind such deeds and examines the toll fighting they can have on those who do them. Impressively, it remains entertaining while juggling such bleak and dour themes. A riveting, grimy, cat-and-mouse thriller, Se7en made over $300 million at the box office and is widely regarded as the seminal serial killer film. While Se7en has created many copycats in the three decades since its release, .

The first installment of the beloved Toy Story franchise, Pixar's Toy Story was the studio's first feature and the first entirely computer-animated film. Tom Hanks and Woody Allen led the film's impressive voice cast, which also included Don Rickles and Wallace Shawn, to becoming the second-highest-grossing film of 1995 and giving Hanks two of the three top spots in the chart (the other was, of course, Apollo 13).

Told from the point of view of a child's toys, the film centers on the relationship between a cowboy doll, Woody (Hanks), who becomes jealous when a new space cadet toy, Buzz Lightyear (Allen), becomes their owner's favorite toy. Toy Story engages with themes of community, friendship and empathy while Trojan horsing, for adults, discussions about self-purpose, existentialism and identity.

Before Christopher McQuarrie became one of the most important action mavens, he was winning Academy Awards for his excellent screenplay for The Usual Suspects. The twisty crime thriller follows the interrogation of small-time criminal Verbal Kint as the police try to ascertain the events that led to a massacre and fire at a shipport and the identity of a mysterious kingpin known as Keyser Söze.

The Usual Suspects has one of the greatest twists in film history. Like most brilliant mystery thrillers, it benefits from repeated viewings, with knowledge of the film's plot enhancing the experience and not taking from it. A divisive film upon its release, including a notoriously critical review from Roger Ebert, The Usual Suspect's reputation has consistently improved in the thirty years since. Its critical reassessment was crystalized in 2008 when the American Film Institute named it the tenth-best mystery film.