15 Most Underrated Movies Of The 90s

1. Space Jam

Space Jam Jordan Murray Bunny
Warner Bros

Michael Jordan returning to the peak of his powers. The Looney Tunes as one of the biggest brands on Earth. Bill Murray in his extremely weird, extremely underrated post-Groundhog Day, pre-Rushmore era. A soundtrack featuring Seal and an unproblematic R. Kelly. Wayne freaking Knight. Space Jam isn't just the most underrated movie of the 90s, it's the defining movie of the decade.

Yes, the concept might be a little, er, looney, but that merely gives this movie a charm that fits so perfectly with its decade, and it's a whole lot of fun to boot. The Tune Squad at this point in time were genuinely entertaining, and watching the oft-serious MJ bounce off them made for some brilliantly off-kilter humour.

It works, too, as a sporting movie: the game between the Tune Squad and the Monstars is fascinating, mixing the end-to-end excitement of an actual basketball game with cartoon madness that results not only in Jordan's arm defying physics to secure the win for the heroes, but a riotously entertaining movie for all the family.

Space Jam doesn't need a LeBron James remake. The special stuff was inside it all along.

[JH]

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We love teamwork! Who doesn't? This article is a collaborative effort between James Hunt, Simon Gallagher, Scott Tailford, Adam Clery, Josh Brown, Ewan Paterson and Ashleigh Millman.
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NCTJ-qualified journalist. Most definitely not a racing driver. Drink too much tea; eat too much peanut butter; watch too much TV. Sadly only the latter paying off so far. A mix of wise-old man in a young man's body with a child-like wonder about him and a great otherworldly sensibility.

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WhatCulture's former COO, veteran writer and editor.

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WhatCulture's Head of Gaming.

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WhatCulture's Managing Editor and Chief Reporter | Previously seen in Vice, Esquire, FourFourTwo, Sabotage Times, Loaded, The Set Pieces, and Mundial Magazine

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Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked nine of those years as a full-time content producer at WhatCulture. In that period he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple WhatCulture channels, specialising in gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 UK most listened to gaming podcast that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, opined on breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.

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WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.

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Horror film junkie, burrito connoisseur, and serial cat stroker. WhatCulture's least favourite ginger.