The 1990s (pronounced "nineteen-nineties"; shortened to "the '90s") was a decade of the Gregorian calendar that began on 1 January 1990, and ended on 31 December 1999.
In the absence of world communism, which collapsed in the first two years of the decade, the 1990s was politically defined by a movement towards the right-wing, including increase in support for far-right parties in Europe[1] as well as the advent of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party[2] and cuts in social spending in the United States,[3] Canada,[4] New Zealand,[5] and the UK.[6] The United States also saw a massive revival in the use of the death penalty in the 1990s, which reversed in the early 21st century.[7] During the 1990s the character of the European Union and Euro were formed and codified in treaties.
A combination of factors, including the continued mass mobilization of capital markets through neo-liberalism, the thawing of the decades-long Cold War, the beginning of the widespread proliferation of new media such as the Internet from the middle of the decade onwards, increasing skepticism towards government, and the dissolution of the Soviet Union led to a realignment and reconsolidation of economic and political power across the world and within countries. The dot-com bubble of 1997–2000 brought wealth to some entrepreneurs before its crash between 2000 and 2001.
The 1990s saw extreme advances in technology, with the World Wide Web, the first gene therapy trial, and the first designer babies[8] all emerging in 1990 and being improved and built upon throughout the decade.
18 events in Figure skating, short track speed skating, speed skating, and the opening and closing ceremonies took place in Albertville. The 39 other events were held in the nearby 9 villages and resorts around Savoie: Courchevel, La Plagne, Les Arcs, Les Menuires, Les Saisies, Méribel, Pralognan-la-Vanoise, Tignes, and Val d'Isère. Sixty-four National Olympic Committees and 1,801 athletes participated in six sports and fifty-seven events. This included both the Unified Team, representing the non-Baltic former Soviet republics, and Germany, newly consolidated again as a team following the reunification of the former East and West Germany in 1990. The event also saw the debut of eight nations in the Winter Olympics. The Winter Olympic program has grown this time with the addition of 11 new events. While sports that were already on the program received 5 new events (2 new events in cross-country skiing, at the same time women were allowed to compete in biathlon for the first time and won 3 events exclusive to them.) Another 6 events were added with the implementation of 2 sports that were demonstrated 4 years earlier (freestyle skiing and short track speed skating).These were the last Winter Olympics to include demonstration sports, consisting of curling, aerials and ski ballet, and speed skiing. Due to a rule change implemented in 1986, this was the last edition in the history of the Winter Olympic Games in which all speed skating events were held in an open-air venue. (Full article...)
... that Cliff Christl, who became the Green Bay Packers team historian in 2014, estimated that he had recorded more than 250 oral histories with past players and coaches since the 1990s?
... that Bulkboeken ('bulk books') were cheap reprints of Dutch literary classics, published from 1971 to the late 1990s, and again from 2007?
... that Univel was an early-1990s attempt to compete with Microsoft on the desktop, but one industry consultant said of the company's goal, "they're dreaming"?
Image 27Red and cream Indian woman's saree, late 1990s (from 1990s in fashion)
Image 28The catsuit became a trend in the late 1990s. Normally made of latex, PVC, or spandex, it was often worn with high-heeled boots. (from 1990s in fashion)
Image 29Trio in 1995 wearing neutral-colored tops and relaxed-fit, slim-leg pants and jeans. (from 1990s in fashion)
Image 30Rwandan genocide: Bones of genocide victims in Murambi Technical School. Estimates put the death toll of the Rwandan genocide as high as 800,000 people. (from 1990s)
Image 31Young woman standing on sidewalk, Uptown New Orleans, 1992. (from 1990s in fashion)
Image 46Flag map of the world from 1992 (from 1990s)
Image 47Block-heeled shoes, popular from 1995 to 2001. (from 1990s in fashion)
Image 48Go-go boots became fashionable again in 1995. They were worn by women of the hip-hop, alternative, and dance subcultures. (from 1990s in fashion)
Image 74The federal building that was bombed in the Oklahoma City bombing two days after the bombing, viewed from across the adjacent parking lot. (from 1990s)
Image 82The compact disc reached its peak in popularity in the 1990s, and not once did another audio format surpass the CD in music sales from 1991 throughout the remainder of the decade. By 2000, the CD accounted for 92.3% of the entire market share in regard to music sales. (from 1990s)
Image 128The Nasdaq Composite displaying the dot-com bubble, which ballooned between 1997 and 2000. The bubble peaked on Friday, 10 March 2000. (from 1990s)
These are Good articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.
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The Mask of Zorro is a 1998 American Westernswashbuckler film based on the fictional character Zorro by Johnston McCulley. It was directed by Martin Campbell and stars Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Stuart Wilson. The film features the original Zorro, Don Diego de la Vega (Hopkins), escaping from prison to find his long-lost daughter (Zeta-Jones) and avenge the death of his wife at the hands of the corrupt governor Rafael Montero (Wilson). He is aided by his successor (Banderas), who is pursuing his own vendetta against the governor's right-hand man while falling in love with de la Vega's daughter.
Skin & Bone is a 1996 American crime drama film written and directed by Everett Lewis. It is the story of three Los Angeles-area hustlers, or male prostitutes, and their female pimp. The three men are at different stages of their hustling careers: Dean is just beginning; Billy is somewhat more experienced but still naive; and Harry actively wants to get out, and is looking to break into film acting. Ghislane, the pimp, sends each of the three young men into increasingly dangerous scenarios with clients, until both Billy and Harry are killed. The film stars B. Wyatt, Alan Boyce, Garret Scullin, and Nicole Dillenberg.
Lewis financed the film almost entirely, using money earned working on other films. Skin & Bone was originally intended to be entirely improvised, but after a year of filming Lewis decided to script some of it to add shape to the story. The film alternates between black and white and color, marking shifts between depictions of a character's fantasy and reality. (Full article...)
Cameron's inspiration for the film came from his fascination with shipwrecks. He felt a love story interspersed with human loss would be essential to convey the emotional impact of the disaster. Production began on September 1, 1995, when Cameron shot footage of the Titanic wreck. The modern scenes on the research vesselwere shot on board the Akademik Mstislav Keldysh, which Cameron had used as a base when filming the wreck. Scale models, computer-generated imagery, and a reconstruction of the Titanic built at Baja Studios were used to recreate the sinking. The film was initially in development at 20th Century Fox, but a mounting budget and being behind schedule resulted in Fox asking Paramount Pictures for financial help; Paramount handled distribution in the United States and Canada, while Fox released the film internationally. Titanic was the most expensive film ever made at the time, with a production budget of $200 million. Filming took place from July 1996 to March 1997. (Full article...)
The film was John Woo's last Hong Kong film before his transition to Hollywood. After receiving criticism for making films that glamorized gangsters, Woo wanted to make a Dirty Harry-styled film to glamorize the police. With the death of screenwriter Barry Wong, the film's screenplay underwent constant changes during filming. New characters such as Mad Dog and Mr. Woo were introduced, while the original plotline of a baby-poisoning psychopath was cut. (Full article...)
The Messenger portrays the story of Joan of Arc, the French war heroine and religious martyr of the Hundred Years War. It begins with young Joan as she witnesses the atrocities of the English against her family, and she has visions that inspire her to lead the French in battle against the occupying English. Her success in routing the English allows Charles VII to take the throne. Eventually, Joan is captured by the English, tried and executed for heresy. (Full article...)
Varma, initially planned to make an action film, but decided to make a film focusing on felonies after meeting some criminals. He hired Kashyap and Shukla to write the film, and opted to use lesser-known actors. The soundtrack and score were composed by Vishal Bhardwaj and Sandeep Chowta, respectively, while the lyrics were written by Gulzar. Its early cinematography was done by Gerard Hooper, who was replaced by Mazhar Kamran. The film was shot in Mumbai on a budget of ₹2.5 crore (US$300,000). (Full article...)
The film was conceived by Feldman in 1987, and was originally pitched as a film treatment in the style of a police procedural, entitled The Message. When The Message failed to attract the studios, Feldman re-wrote it as a spec script, which ultimately led to the making of the film. The extraterrestrial aspect of Sil's character was created by H. R. Giger, who was also responsible for the beings from the Alien franchise. The effects combined practical models designed by Giger collaborator Steve Johnson and XFX, with computer-generated imagery done by Richard Edlund's Boss Film Studios. Giger felt that the film and the character were too similar to Alien, so he pushed for script changes. (Full article...)
The Nightmare Before Christmas originated from a poem written by Burton in 1982 while he was working as an animator at Walt Disney Productions. With the critical success of Vincent that same year, Burton began to consider developing the film as either a short film or a half-hour television special, to no avail. Over the years, Burton's thoughts regularly returned to the project, and, in 1990, he made a development deal with Walt Disney Studios. Production started in July 1991; Disney initially released the film through the Touchstone Pictures label because the studio believed the film's gothic tone would be "too dark and scary for kids". (Full article...)
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Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! (HAHK, transl. Who am I to you?) is a 1994 Indian Hindi-language musicalromantic drama film written and directed by Sooraj Barjatya and produced by Rajshri Productions. The film stars Madhuri Dixit and Salman Khan and celebrates Indian wedding traditions by means of a story of a married couple and the relationship between their families; a story about sacrificing one's love for one's family. The basic plot is based on the studio's earlier film Nadiya Ke Paar (1982), which was based on Keshav Prasad Mishra's Hindi novel Kohbar Ki Shart. The film features music by Raamlaxman who also composed a 14-song soundtrack, an unusually large number of songs for that period.
Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! was released on 5 August 1994, and became the highest-grossing film of the year, having grossed between ₹111.63 and ₹128 crore worldwide. It also became the highest-grossing Indian film at the time of its release. It contributed to a change in the Indian film industry, with new methods of distribution and a turn towards less violent stories. It was the first film to gross over ₹1 billion in India, and when adjusted for inflation, is the highest-grossing Indian film of the 1990s and also one of the highest-earning Bollywood films ever. Box Office India described it as "the biggest blockbuster of the modern era." (Full article...)
Apt Pupil is a 1998 American thriller film directed by Bryan Singer and starring Ian McKellen and Brad Renfro. It is based on the 1982 novella of the same name by Stephen King. In the 1980s in southern California, high school student Todd Bowden (Renfro) discovers fugitive Naziwar criminal Kurt Dussander (McKellen) living in his neighborhood under the pseudonym Arthur Denker. Bowden, obsessed with Nazism and acts of the Holocaust, persuades Dussander to share his stories, and their relationship stirs malice in each of them.
The novella was first published in King's 1982 collection Different Seasons. Producer Richard Kobritz sought to adapt the novella into a film during the 1980s, but two actors he invited to play Dussander died. When filming began in 1987, a loss of financing led to the production being shut down. Forty minutes of usable footage existed, but production was never revived. In 1995, when rights to the novella returned to King, Bryan Singer petitioned the author for an opportunity to adapt the novella. With King's support, Singer filmed Apt Pupil with McKellen and Renfro in Altadena, California, in 1997. The director shortened the novella's storyline, reduced its violence, and changed the ending. Singer called Apt Pupil "a study in cruelty" with Nazism only serving as a vehicle for the capacity of evil. (Full article...)
The film was shot in Nagoya, Japan, and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on a $25 million budget, and premiered in February 1995, taking in $6.6 million in U.S. box office. Most critic reviews found the plot clichéed and the acting unconvincing, while some praised Harada's performance. The critically well-received soundtrack featured music by the Japanese taiko troupe Kodō, which pervades the film. (Full article...)
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Ghibli Experimental Theater On Your Mark (Japanese: ジブリ実験劇場 On Your Mark, Hepburn: Jiburi Jikkengekijō On Yua Māku) is an animated music video created by Studio Ghibli for the song "On Your Mark" (also released in English as "Castles in the Air") by the Japanese rock duo Chage and Aska . The song was released in 1994 as part of the single "Heart". In 1995, Hayao Miyazaki wrote and directed the short film for the song as a side-project after having writer's block with Princess Mononoke. The anime music video is non-linear, providing multiple reiterations and alternate scenes to depict the events. The music video added sound effects to the audio track, but contains no dialogue. Miyazaki purposely misinterpreted the lyrics to present his vision of a world where the surface becomes inhospitable and humans live in an underground city. He made the video cryptic to evoke creative interpretations among viewers.
The music video follows two policemen who raid and massacre a religious cult and find an angelic being, only to have her taken away and confined to a secure laboratory. Haunted by the fate of the angel, the two men formulate a plan and break into the laboratory. Fleeing in an armored truck, the three plummet into an abyss after trying to force past a police aircraft along a narrow, suspended roadway. After a montage of the previous scenes, the armored truck suddenly rockets into an apartment complex, allowing their escape. The three escape to the surface, ignoring the radiation and danger signs, emerging near an encased nuclear reactor. The two men set the angel free and she flies off into the sky. (Full article...)
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