1994: Forrest Gump vs Pulp Fiction vs The Shawshank Redemption

[hugekent]

Pulp Fiction by a long way. Only Leon the Professional and The Lion King come close from that year.

 

[Zanham]

You mention the nominee's of 1994 but there were many more releases that year which have stood the test of time. It was a really good year for movies.

The Lion King
Interview with the Vampire
The Crow
Immortal Beloved
Mary Shelly's Frankenstein
Natural Born Killers
The Postman
Wyatt Earp
Leon
Legends of the Fall
True Lies
Stargate
Clerks
Speed

and there was also a slew of sequels:

Beverly Hills Cop 3
City Slickers 2
D2: The Mighty Ducks
Death Wish 5
Highlander 3
House Party 3
Leprechaun 2
Major League 2
My Girl 2
Naked Gun 33 1/3
The Next Karate Kid
Phantasm 3
Police Academy 6
Puppet Master 5
Star Trek Generations
White Fang 2
Wes Craven's New Nightmare

We also got some of the what many would regard as most horrid movies of all time:

Dumb & Dumber
Airheads
Blankman
Cabin Boy
Double Dragon
Junior

No matter anyone's opinion on any of these titles, 1994 looks like one of the more impactful years on film today.

 

[DACrowe]

1. Pulp Fiction





2. Shawshank Redemption



























3. Forrest Gump


Gump is a decent film, Shawshank is arguably a great one, but Pulp Fiction is a modern day masterpiece that changed the way films were made, distributed and, in many places, viewed. Pulp Fiction is one of those rare few-times-in-a-generation kind of movie and the fact it got stepped over for Oscar/Baby Boomer feel-good bait is kind of sad.

 

[Tron Bonne]

It's a hard one for me, really. I like all three quite a bit. Forrest Gump seems to be kind of the cool thing to hate one for a lot of people nowadays, but I still find it to be quite a good film, and something I don't mind watching every once and awhile. The Shawshank Redemption is quite fantastic. Probably one of the most uplifting films of all time. Of course, Pulp Fiction is great, as well, though I hear Mystery Train steals some of it's 'revolutionary' factor in the non-linearity storytelling department (don't know, though, haven't seen it as of yet).

Hard choice really. That was a pretty good year for films. If I had to choose one, I would probably go for Pulp Fiction, but they all were totally appropriate winners for Best Picture.

 

[Doctor Jones]

Yeah, there seems to be some bandwagon hate for Gump, or people who hate it are finally coming out of the woodwork because no one else would before.

Shawshank Redemption saved a man from killing himself when he saw it. Now if a film can do that, it's the best a film can do. Change lives.

 

[DACrowe]

I'm bumping this as it is an interesting discussion post-TKS over TSN. Also, because I did look up as a previous poster did what came out in 1994...and WOAH. That was a great year. Forrest Gump barely makes my top 10:

1. Pulp Fiction
2. The Lion King
3. The Shawshank Redemption
4. Ed Wood
5. Léon/The Professional
6. Clerks
7. Little Women
8. The Paper
9. Quiz Show
10. Forrest Gump

Honorable mentions:

11. Interview with the Vampire
12. Maverick
13. The River Wild
14. Exotica
15. Guarding Tess

What a great year for movies.

 

[Doctor Jones]

The 90's were a great decade for films all around.

 

[hugekent]

1995 is even better than 1994 out of the water in my opinion.

The Usual Suspects
Seven
Heat
Toy Story
12 Monkeys
Before Sunrise
Apollo 13
Dead Man Walking
Leaving Las Vegas
Casino
Clueless
Babe

And for a lot of people, Braveheart. One of my favourite years, pretty close to 2007.

 

[Why Are You Crouching Spock?]

Probably Shawshank Redemption, always nice to see the good guy get one over the bad guys.

 

[El Payaso]

All of them great but Pulp Fiction is the better one.

Now as for the Academy I think they just choose the award playing paper, rock, scissors.

 

[dark_b]

Yeah, there seems to be some bandwagon hate for Gump, or people who hate it are finally coming out of the woodwork because no one else would before.

Shawshank Redemption saved a man from killing himself when he saw it. Now if a film can do that, it's the best a film can do. Change lives.

the story changed hes life. not the movie.

should every movie have the same type of story so that a man will not kill himeself? this is how the best movie should be done?t:

 

[Mister H.]

Natural Born Killers is better than all three of those. But since its unpopular and not an option here, I'll rank the movies I was given.

Shawshank Redemption>Forrest Gump>Pulp Fiction

I try to critique films in a vacuum so I don't get caught up in the way the movie influenced pop culture, changed cinema, those types of things, as they don't necessarily equate to being a great film. Pulp Fiction is a fine movie, but I don't think its as good as the other two.

 

[lime]

My ranking:

1. The Shawshank Redemption
2. The Shawshank Redemption
3. The Shawshank Redemption

 

[Pittman4Two]

Wow, Forrest Gump getting a lot of hate for some reason.

 

[lime]

Wow, Forrest Gump getting a lot of hate for some reason.

It's not hate from me, it's just that I loved Shawshank on a different level. I don't care mutch about Pulp Fiction.

 

[Pittman4Two]

Hey lime, not singling you out by any means. I also loved Shawshank. Didn't care about Pulp Fiction at all. Turned it off after 20 minutes.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

Pulp Fiction has so many great moments and it isn't as dated as the other two so, Pulp Fiction FTW.

 

[choskins]

We also got some of the what many would regard as most horrid movies of all time:

Dumb & Dumber

Seriously!?! I don't think anyone regards Dumb and Dumber as one of the "most horrid movies of all time". In fact, it is generally regarded as one of the funniest movies of modern times. In my opnion, it ranks up there with There's Something about Mary, Old School and probably Hangover as the funniest of the last two decades.

As for the main poll, I rank them:

1) Forrest Gump
2) Shawshank
3) Pulp Fiction

but they are all great!

 

[Bim]

1. Forrest Gump
2. The Shawshank Redemption
3. Pulp Fiction

 

[WalkingDeadMike]

Pulp Fiction > Shawshank Redemption >>>>>>>>>>>> Forrest Gump.

 

[WalkingDeadMike]

Seriously!?! I don't think anyone regards Dumb and Dumber as one of the "most horrid movies of all time". In fact, it is generally regarded as one of the funniest movies of modern times. In my opnion, it ranks up there with There's Something about Mary, Old School and probably Hangover as the funniest of the last two decades.

I wouldn't call it one of the most horrid movies of all time, but it most certainly is not one of the funniest movies of modern times either. Hell, it's not even the funniest Jim Carrey movie. And it has no business being mentioned in the same breathe as the others you mentioned, IMO.

 

[DACrowe]

Hey lime, not singling you out by any means. I also loved Shawshank. Didn't care about Pulp Fiction at all. Turned it off after 20 minutes.

All art is subjective but....you sit down and watch all of Pulp Fiction and don't come back until you do!

Seriously, a it is a masterpiece that changed the way people made movies forevermore. It is worth multiple viewings to sink into.

 

[Thebumwhowalks]

I wouldn't call it one of the most horrid movies of all time, but it most certainly is not one of the funniest movies of modern times either. Hell, it's not even the funniest Jim Carrey movie. And it has no business being mentioned in the same breathe as the others you mentioned, IMO.

No matter what you think of the movie, 'Dumb and Dumber' is in fact very highly regarded as a comedy movie. If you go and look up film reviews, film sites, film critisicm, you will see that evidence for yourself.
Hell, only this morning on aicn, they were talking about the fact the Farrelleys are trying to get a sequel off the ground with Carrey and Daniels, *because* it is so highly regarded, and so many people keep asking for a sequel with the original leads. I think it's one of the best modern comedies, along with Groundhog Day and Superbad.

 

[choskins]

True. Not only did it do $130 million domestically (6th highest grossing film of 1994) and $250 worldwide (7th highest grossing of 1994), but it also spawned a prequel, an animated series, and a sequel currently in development (17 years later).