Have you ever been into a good movie on TV and was thinking it was a bit recent when you notice the cars rolling by and they look like boats on wheels or someone whips out a cell phone and its huge. Then it's like oh, ok this movie is from 1990 something. It's just kind of funny to see the progression society has made in terms of cars and cell phones. Does anyone else think that's kind of funny when watching a movie?
LOL.. especially the phone thing. A while back my son and I were watching the first Scream movie and laughed every time they lugged out their caveman technology and called it a cellular phone. But, I also know a 90s movie by the writing. There are some great movies made today, don't get me wrong.. but they were more frequent then. Better story lines, more depth. These days movies are made for short attention spans
I think the Nokia 3330 was out in the 90's wasn't it, or perhaps it was slightly later. But yeah those phones were quite oversized lol. At least 90's phones were usable though. The 80's ones were like proper bricks in a real sense of the word. I think seeing a slightly fuzzy screen was also a sign that it was the 90's before digital started becoming mainstream.
The hairstyles and the fashions of the time as well! Shoulder pads, high waisted jeans and mullets, though some people still wear both. Women with perms and big hair, versus straighten hair these days and I remember Ross in Friends with his pager. In those days having a pager was still a weird thing to have, but I think I may have some old ones in the attic.
The hair and clothes defiantly tell if a movie or show is from the 90s. Also you can tell by how bad the graphics and fighting is in certain movies.
I get amused when I see the obsolete and inferior technology of years past in the movies. I instantly know if the movie is from the 80's or early 90's just by the fashion and hair. I just saw the screenshots of the 60's movie Rosemary's Baby, and it sure reeked of 60's fashion!
Pretty much the most obvious way to tell that a movie is from the 90's is if they wear fashions and hairstyles similar to the cast of Friends or Seinfeld. Those are two sitcoms that are prime examples of the trends of the 90's. Also, if the cellphones are huge and/or are connected to someone's car, that's an obvious indicator of a 90's movie.
I don't know how to explain it but I can tell the difference between a 90s movie and a movie from the 21st century. Most movies from the 1990s have this pastel-look about them. When you watch them, the colors are relatively lighter or a bit blurred compared to the movies we're used to seeing nowadays. Of course, the background music and the characters' mode of dressing give the timeline away too.
I think the action movies of the 90s were much more exaggerated, with lots of explosions, shooting unnecessary violence and swearing. Just look at Bad Boys 1 and 2 featuring Will Smith and Martin Lawerence. Today Will Smith acts nothing like the hot-headed police officer he once was in those two movies, he is much more well-mannered. I think as a whole the movie industry moved towards less violence, possibly due to some complaints from the public.
I love 90's movies. They can be so cheesy and have the best music. The big cell phones do make me laugh...also pagers. Squigly is right, 90's movies are very over the top, especially the comedies. I like watching them on tv.
Don't just look at the technology, but notice everyone smoking and drinking. I was watching re-runs of the 80s version of Dallas, those people were drinking constantly! And on law & order, they were smoking on planes! Today, the Las Vegas airport has a small "room" made of plexiglass where 100 people will squeeze in, no matter how tight, so they can smoke. I had metrophone "bag phone" in 1991-- yep, it had a shoulder strap and looked like a purse. The monthly service was $50, but I got charged every cell tower hit. Stupid me, I took the phone across country with me, and wound up with a $1300 bill that month. Wanna hear something else you mght not know? In 1983, not only did we pay a monthly fee of $30 to get online, but we paid 10 cents per minute. On top of that, we paid "toll calls" to have the computer dial through the phone line to the nearest "server". So just to be online, it was quite possible to pay $400 for online and $400 for the phone--- that is 1983 dollars, I have no idea what it would equate to in today's money. I look for all those things in the older movies.
The hacking scenes get me everytime, they're so unrealistic it's hilarious, although I can't say they've gotten much better. We can't forget about how their hair is done either, something always seems so 90's about certain styles, especially on kids. Also there's this style that movies from the 80's and 90's are recorded in sometimes, it's hard to explain but it just screams "90's".
