1997 Best Movies - By: W.R.

by waelnovel | created - 12 Dec 2016 | updated - 1 month ago | Public
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1. Cure (1997)

Not Rated | 111 min | Crime, Horror, Mystery

70 Metascore

A frustrated detective deals with the case of several gruesome murders committed by people who have no recollection of what they've done.

Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa | Stars: Masato Hagiwara, Koji Yakusho, Tsuyoshi Ujiki, Anna Nakagawa

Votes: 23,092 | Gross: $0.09M

2. Lost Highway (1997)

R | 134 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller

53 Metascore

Anonymous videotapes presage a musician's murder conviction, and a gangster's girlfriend leads a mechanic astray.

Director: David Lynch | Stars: Bill Pullman, Patricia Arquette, John Roselius, Louis Eppolito

Votes: 153,259 | Gross: $3.80M

3. Perfect Blue (1997)

R | 81 min | Animation, Crime, Drama

67 Metascore

A pop singer gives up her career to become an actress, but she slowly goes insane when she starts being stalked by an obsessed fan and what seems to be a ghost of her past.

Director: Satoshi Kon | Stars: Junko Iwao, Rica Matsumoto, Shinpachi Tsuji, Masaaki Ôkura

Votes: 95,634 | Gross: $0.78M

4. Event Horizon (1997)

R | 96 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller

35 Metascore

A rescue crew is tasked with investigating the mysterious reappearance of a spaceship that had been lost for seven years.

Director: Paul W.S. Anderson | Stars: Laurence Fishburne, Sam Neill, Kathleen Quinlan, Joely Richardson

Votes: 197,257 | Gross: $26.67M

5. The Devil's Advocate (1997)

R | 144 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery

60 Metascore

An exceptionally-adept Florida lawyer is offered a job at a high-end New York City law firm with a high-end boss--the biggest opportunity of his career to date.

Director: Taylor Hackford | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Al Pacino, Charlize Theron, Jeffrey Jones

Votes: 402,071 | Gross: $60.98M

6. Wag the Dog (1997)

R | 97 min | Comedy, Drama

74 Metascore

Shortly before an election, a spin-doctor and a Hollywood producer join efforts to fabricate a war in order to cover up a Presidential sex scandal.

Director: Barry Levinson | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro, Anne Heche, Woody Harrelson

Votes: 88,485 | Gross: $43.02M

7. Donnie Brasco (1997)

R | 127 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

77 Metascore

An FBI undercover agent infiltrates the mob and finds himself identifying more with the Mafia life--at the expense of his regular one.

Director: Mike Newell | Stars: Al Pacino, Johnny Depp, Michael Madsen, Bruno Kirby

Votes: 332,381 | Gross: $41.91M

8. Face/Off (1997)

R | 138 min | Action, Crime, Sci-Fi

82 Metascore

To foil a terrorist plot, FBI agent Sean Archer assumes the identity of the criminal Castor Troy who murdered his son through facial transplant surgery, but the crook wakes up prematurely and vows revenge.

Director: John Woo | Stars: John Travolta, Nicolas Cage, Joan Allen, Alessandro Nivola

Votes: 401,035 | Gross: $112.23M

9. The Game (1997)

R | 129 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller

63 Metascore

After a wealthy San Francisco banker is given an opportunity to participate in a mysterious game, his life is turned upside down as he begins to question if it might really be a concealed conspiracy to destroy him.

Director: David Fincher | Stars: Michael Douglas, Deborah Kara Unger, Sean Penn, James Rebhorn

Votes: 429,594 | Gross: $48.32M

10. L.A. Confidential (1997)

R | 138 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

91 Metascore

As corruption grows in 1950s Los Angeles, three policemen - one strait-laced, one brutal, and one sleazy - investigate a series of murders with their own brand of justice.

Director: Curtis Hanson | Stars: Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kim Basinger

Votes: 618,041 | Gross: $64.62M

11. The Castle (1997)

R | 85 min | Comedy, Drama

A working-class family from Melbourne, Australia fights city hall after being told they must vacate their beloved family home to allow for infrastructural expansion.

Director: Rob Sitch | Stars: Michael Caton, Anne Tenney, Stephen Curry, Anthony Simcoe

Votes: 17,494 | Gross: $0.86M

12. The Fifth Element (1997)

PG-13 | 126 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

52 Metascore

In the colorful future, a cab driver unwittingly becomes the central figure in the search for a legendary cosmic weapon to keep Evil and Mr. Zorg at bay.

Director: Luc Besson | Stars: Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich, Gary Oldman, Ian Holm

Votes: 506,492 | Gross: $63.54M

13. Princess Mononoke (1997)

PG-13 | 134 min | Animation, Action, Adventure

76 Metascore

On a journey to find the cure for a Tatarigami's curse, Ashitaka finds himself in the middle of a war between the forest gods and Tatara, a mining colony. In this quest he also meets San, the Mononoke Hime.

Director: Hayao Miyazaki | Stars: Yôji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida, Yûko Tanaka, Billy Crudup

Votes: 433,940 | Gross: $2.38M

14. Chicago Cab (1997)

R | 96 min | Comedy, Drama

There is more to this story than this review lets on. It reflects all different facets of society over one driver's shift. As he starts out, he seems cold and ignorant, but his character ... See full summary »

Directors: Mary Cybulski, John Tintori | Stars: Paul Dillon, Tim Gamble, Olivia Trevino, Moira Sinise

Votes: 2,084 | Gross: $0.00M

15. Gridlock'd (1997)

R | 91 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama

Two friends try to kick their drug addiction after a friend dies from an overdose, when they try to enroll in a detox program, things quickly go wrong.

Director: Vondie Curtis-Hall | Stars: Tupac Shakur, Tim Roth, Thandiwe Newton, Charles Fleischer

Votes: 16,597 | Gross: $5.48M

16. Hercules (1997)

G | 93 min | Animation, Action, Adventure

74 Metascore

The son of Zeus and Hera is stripped of his immortality as an infant and must become a true hero in order to reclaim it.

Directors: Ron Clements, John Musker | Stars: Tate Donovan, Susan Egan, James Woods, Barbara Barrie

Votes: 255,289 | Gross: $99.05M

17. Boogie Nights (1997)

R | 155 min | Drama

86 Metascore

Back when sex was safe, pleasure was a business and business was booming, an idealistic porn producer aspires to elevate his craft to an art when he discovers a hot young talent.

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson | Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, Burt Reynolds, Luis Guzmán

Votes: 282,159 | Gross: $26.40M

18. Men in Black (1997)

PG-13 | 98 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy

72 Metascore

James, an NYC cop, is hired by Agent K of a secret government agency that monitors extraterrestrial life on Earth. Together, they must recover an item that has been stolen by an intergalactic villain.

Director: Barry Sonnenfeld | Stars: Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith, Linda Fiorentino, Vincent D'Onofrio

Votes: 613,158 | Gross: $250.69M

19. Cop Land (1997)

R | 105 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

64 Metascore

The Sheriff of a suburban New Jersey community, populated by New York City police officers, slowly discovers the town is a front for mob connections and corruption.

Director: James Mangold | Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro

Votes: 106,429 | Gross: $44.89M

20. Contact (1997)

PG | 150 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi

62 Metascore

Dr. Ellie Arroway, after years of searching, finds conclusive radio proof of extraterrestrial intelligence, sending plans for a mysterious machine.

Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Jodie Foster, Matthew McConaughey, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt

Votes: 293,197 | Gross: $100.92M

21. Insomnia (1997)

Not Rated | 96 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller

In a Norwegian city with a 24-hour daylight cycle a Swedish murder investigator has been brought in on a special case. Sleep deprived, he makes a horrible mistake which is discovered by the killer he has been hunting.

Director: Erik Skjoldbjærg | Stars: Stellan Skarsgård, Sverre Anker Ousdal, Maria Mathiesen, Gisken Armand

Votes: 15,592 | Gross: $0.22M

22. The Man Who Knew Too Little (1997)

PG | 94 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama

Wallace Ritchie is mistaken for a spy and must stop a plot to assassinate international leaders at a banquet.

Director: Jon Amiel | Stars: Bill Murray, Joanne Whalley, Peter Gallagher, Richard Wilson

Votes: 34,413 | Gross: $13.80M

23. The Night Flier (1997)

R | 97 min | Fantasy, Horror, Mystery

36 Metascore

A reporter is on the trail of a vampiric murderer who travels by plane.

Director: Mark Pavia | Stars: Miguel Ferrer, Julie Entwisle, Dan Monahan, Michael H. Moss

Votes: 12,018 | Gross: $0.13M

24. Cube (1997)

R | 90 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi

61 Metascore

A group of strangers awaken to find themselves placed in a giant cube. Each one of them is gifted with a special skill and they must work together to escape an endless maze of deadly traps.

Director: Vincenzo Natali | Stars: Nicole de Boer, Maurice Dean Wint, David Hewlett, Andrew Miller

Votes: 247,704 | Gross: $0.50M

25. Fireworks (1997)

103 min | Crime, Drama, Romance

83 Metascore

Nishi leaves the police in the face of harrowing personal and professional difficulties. Spiraling into depression, he makes questionable decisions.

Director: Takeshi Kitano | Stars: Takeshi Kitano, Kayoko Kishimoto, Ren Ôsugi, Susumu Terajima

Votes: 33,194 | Gross: $0.23M

26. One Eight Seven (1997)

R | 119 min | Drama, Thriller

41 Metascore

15 months after being stabbed 9 times by a student at work as a high school teacher in NYC, Mr. Garfield is working in LA as a substitute teacher come full-time. He refuses to be a victim anymore.

Director: Kevin Reynolds | Stars: Samuel L. Jackson, John Heard, Kelly Rowan, Clifton Collins Jr.

Votes: 25,115 | Gross: $5.72M

27. Con Air (1997)

R | 115 min | Action, Crime, Thriller

52 Metascore

Newly-paroled ex-con and former U.S. Ranger Cameron Poe finds himself trapped in a prisoner-transport plane when the passengers seize control.

Director: Simon West | Stars: Nicolas Cage, John Cusack, John Malkovich, Colm Meaney

Votes: 319,371 | Gross: $101.12M

28. Retroactive (1997)

R | 91 min | Action, Crime, Drama

A psychiatrist makes multiple trips through time to save a woman that was murdered by her brutal husband.

Director: Louis Morneau | Stars: Jim Belushi, Kylie Travis, Shannon Whirry, Frank Whaley

Votes: 6,707

29. Starship Troopers (1997)

R | 129 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

52 Metascore

Humans, in a fascist militaristic future, wage war with giant alien bugs.

Director: Paul Verhoeven | Stars: Casper Van Dien, Denise Richards, Dina Meyer, Jake Busey

Votes: 321,312 | Gross: $54.81M

30. Mousehunt (1997)

PG | 98 min | Comedy

53 Metascore

Two stumblebum inheritors are determined to rid their antique house of a mouse who is equally determined to stay where he is.

Director: Gore Verbinski | Stars: Nathan Lane, Lee Evans, Vicki Lewis, Maury Chaykin

Votes: 60,518 | Gross: $61.92M



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