As the year comes to close, we can look back and see that 2009 was a mediocre year for good films. Sure were though were breakthroughs like District 9,  Inglourious basterds but overall it was a year of big-budget family fare that ultimately couldn’t deliver.

But some years throughout history have delivered. Some of the below years were filled up to the brim with so much quality and quantity of cinema that I just couldn’t ignore them.

These are the five best years for films.

5. 1982

Probably the best year for sci-fi classics, 1982 was filled with movies that shaped the sci-fi genre forever.

There was the classic Harrison Ford starrer Blade Runner,arguably Star Trek’s greatest installment The Wrath of Khan, The Thing and it even had a children’s classic E.T.

Even if you’re not a big fan of the sci-fi genre, there were tons of other good films. For one, it saw the birth of an action hero Rambo in First Blood, and a horror fiesta The Poltergeist satisfied horror fans.

Other films: Tron, Tootsie, Fast times at Ridgemont high, Gandhi

4. 2004

The most recent year in good films, 2004 was a mixed bag of different genres, and new types of films.

Jim Carrey tried out a serious role in the cult title Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, light hearted philosophies of life were shared in Sideways, and the Spider-man franchise came out with an worthy sequel in Spiderman-2. Clint Eastwood’s Million dollar baby established itself as one of the best boxing movies in recent memory and made Hilary Swank a star.

The one good time you can say “You can’t see me” without thinking of John Cena

Pixar gave the superhero genre a genuinely quirky twist in The Incredibles . Another cult classic that established Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar wright as the deadly triple threat of witty comedy was Shaun of the dead, which made a killing at DVD-sales and is one of my personal favorite comedy movies.  SAW, the surprise hit of the year has become an annual halloween tradition. Hell, Napoleon Dynamite could be considered the funniest ‘G’ rated movie.

Zombieland? Pfft.

Other notable flicks: The House of Flying daggers, Before Sunset, Kill Bill: Volume 2, The aviator, Hotel Rwanda

3. 2001

Probably the best year for the birth of big-budget franchises that managed to garner critical acclaim, 2001 was an extremely fun year overall.

The lord of the rings: Fellowship of the ring made LOTR one of the most popular franchises to date, Harry potter and the sorcerer’s stone sparked a worldwide phenomenon, Shrek put Dreamworks back in the game, Ocean’s Eleven brought back the Sinatra-type class, The Fast and the Furious showed you how badass Vin diesel REALLY IS, and Spy kids become a favorite among kids.

Badass.

There were also tons of cult runaways in 2001, many from other countries.
Amelie, Spirited Away, Donnie Darko all went on to gain worldwide critical acclaim.

“This isn’t emo at all!”

Other notable flicks: A beautiful mind, Not another Teen movie, (criminally underrated), Monsters Inc, Moulin rouge.

2. 1994

I think this year needs little explanation. The movies speak for themselves.

Pulp fiction made Quentin Tarantino one of the most famous directors to date, Forrest Gump fully displayed that you never go full retard to get the oscars, and the Shawshank redemption gave another look at prison life.

You never go full retard

Leon was another great action flick that no one talks about anymore, the ultra-low budget Clerks. became a comedy cult classic and made Kevin Smith’s presence known in film. Jim Carrey also hit it big with Ace Ventura: Pet detective and Dumb and Dumber while Keanu reeves proved that he could also do things other than saying “Whoa” in Speed.

Oh Ted, how I miss you so.

Other than that, Disney’s The Lion King became a classic and changed animated films forever.

1. 1999

Well, you saw it coming. There hasn’t been any year in the entirety of the film industry that had such a big batch of revolutionary flicks.

Let’s just skip the descriptions (since you’ve seen them) and get right down to business:

The sixth sense, The usual suspects, American Beauty, The green mile, American history X, Magnolia, Toy story 2, South Park: Bigger longer and uncut.

He just found out that the Hannah Montana movie is getting a sequel

1999 was a year chocked full of sleeper hits and movies that garnered a cult following, such as the hilarious Office Space, Fight Club, and The Matrix. The Blair witch project basically single-handedly invented a genre of horror and a new form of advertising, The Matrix went on to become a surprise blockbuster hit, a sci-fi classic and managed to revolutionize action movies forever. Fight Club lands on every “best movies of all time” list there is, and is David Fincher’s masterpiece. Office space, well this should answer all your questions:

There hasn’t been a single year that has as much quality as 1999. Maybe people were motivated by the rumor that the world was going to end, but I’m just speculating. 1999 is undoubtedly the BEST year for movies for all time, and I hope that in the future, we can add a few years to this list.

Varun