20 Awesome 90s Movies The World Forgot

4. Titus

There are hundreds of film adaptations of William Shakespeare's plays, and Titus might be the most underrated of them all. Few others can rival the sheer inventiveness of this one, which takes Titus Andronicus - easily one of Shakespeare's lesser works - and turns it into something truly captivating. 

Director Julie Taymor sets Titus in a vivid and idiosyncratic story-world that imagines the Roman Empire in the modern era and delivers a stunning spectacle in which her roots as a director of grandiose theatre shows (she actually created The Lion King musical) are on full display, and she also gets a fabulous cast together. Anthony Hopkins is outstanding in the titular role, while other greats such as Jessica Lange, Colm Feore, Laura Fraser, Alan Cumming, Matthew Rhys and many others are on excellent form as well. 

The deficiencies in the original play do occasionally distract but having said this, Taymor and her cast are able to lend this simplistic revenge tragedy an air of genuine pathos and melancholy. There is tender emotion amidst all the mesmerizing bombast, though fear not - Titus also has the gore and savagery that made the original play such a hit back in its day. 

Truly, this is one of the most underseen movies of the 90s. It's such a fascinating and unique piece of cinema, so it's a crying shame that more people haven't heard of it.