There are a lot of movies that feel like they came out just yesterday. Sometimes it’s because they’re so timeless, it’s hard to pinpoint when they dropped. Other times it’s because your brain has tricked you into believing that it couldn’t have possibly been 20 freaking years since you bought a ticket to see Mulan in theaters. Alas, it has been.
Mulan isn’t the only movie that turns 20 in 2018. That classic flick, along with other Disney movies, iconic romantic-comedies, and even a horror movie favorite, are all celebrating their 20th anniversaries in 2018.
20. Spice World: January 23, 1998
Any kid growing up in the late ’90s knows that if you didn’t see Spice World as soon as it came out, you were a total loser. I didn’t make that rule. That’s just the way it was. I was, however, more than happy to run to the theater with my elementary school pal to see the best girl group ever on the big screen. Watching it back today, it’s possibly the cheesiest movie ever made, but it still manages to bring a smile to fans’ faces nevertheless.
19. The Wedding Singer: February 13, 1998
Adam Sandler was a king of comedy in the ’90s. Now? He makes hard-to-watch movies for Netflix and beyond. No offense is you’re a fan. (Does Adam Sandler have fans?)
Regardless, let’s focus on his prime. You couldn’t get better than The Wedding Singer in 1998. It was the first time Sandler and Drew Barrymore teamed up, and they were perfect together on screen. This movie wasn’t your typical romantic comedy, but it was one that pretty much anyone could enjoy, which for 1998 was fairly rare.
18. There’s Something About Mary: July 15, 1998
Adam Sandler wasn’t the only funny man owning our hearts with comedic romance. Ben Stiller cemented his name into our lives when he starred in There’s Something About Mary. Cameron Diaz was also owning the big screen at the time. The zipper scene and the true status of the “hair gel” is what made this movie the classic raunchy comedy it is, and if you don’t know what I’m talking about here — it’s time to give it a re-watch.
17. The Man In The Iron Mask: March 13, 1998
After Titanic, Leonardo DiCaprio was everywhere. He was so in demand that his handsome face even tricked us into seeing The Man in the Iron Mask. It was far from being as enthralling as Titanic or even 1996’s Romeo + Juliet. Leo rocked a weird wig. A wig that could still possibly give us nightmares to this day. It just wasn’t his best look. While the movie wasn’t the greatest ever, and is definitely one of Leo’s we’d like to forget, we still can’t believe that movie is 20-years-old already.
16. Wild Things: March 20, 1998
Anyone who still had to get their parent’s signature to go on a field trip was not supposed to watch Wild Things. It was the basically the movie theater equivalent of late-night programming on Cinemax. At least that’s how it felt when you were a junior high kid sneaking in a viewing once it was on VHS. That was the only way you were seeing this one back in the day. Today you’re free to watch it anytime, anywhere because you’re 20-years-older and so is that movie.
15. City Of Angels: April 10, 1998
The only reason any of us were the least bit interested in a movie starring Nicholas Cage was that it had a killer soundtrack. Correction, it had one killer song on the soundtrack. It’s hard to believe we’ve been singing the Goo Goo Dolls‘ “Iris” for two decades than it is to believe City of Angels came out back in 1998.
14. Armageddon: June 30, 1998
Like City of Angels, Armageddon had a bomb song. Aerosmith may’ve been grandpas but man, oh man, did they know how to deliver a jam. If I’m being honest, I know more about “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” than this space movie. It starred the lovable Bruce Willis and a pre-publicly-problematic Ben Affleck and was all about space-related doom, naturally.
13. Hope Floats: May 29, 1998
Sandra Bullock has the absolute worst luck in Hope Floats. Her man admits he’s been cheating on her on TV and then she’s forced to move her and her daughter back to her hometown to live with her mother. It’s not all bad news, though, because she falls in love with the swoontastic Harry Connick Jr. Since Hope Floats, Sandra has gone on to win an Oscar, and as for Harry? Well, he’s judged American Idol and scored a talk show. Time has sure treated them well, right?
12. The Truman Show: June 5, 1998
If The Truman Show didn’t give you some serious paranoia about the reality of your own life, you’re a lot more mentally strong than the rest of us. Jim Carrey was the ultimate funny guy in the ’90s but this movie was kind of his first BIG step into the drama realm he later tried out in the ’00s. Playing a man who is unknowingly the star of his own reality TV show — and has been since birth — he kills it. This movie was before the reality TV boom, so seeing the dangers of constant real-life broadcast played out twenty years ago seems almost like a premonition.
11. Can’t Hardly Wait: June 12, 1998
When it comes to teen movies, the late ’90s arguably has the best. While they aren’t as emotionally impactful as John Hughes‘s Brat Pack of the ’80s, they were slightly more entertaining and definitely pushed the boundaries a bit more. In this 1998 flick, Ethan Embry is perfection as a high school dud who wants nothing more than to tell the popular girl how he’s felt about her the past four years at a grad party. Every high school cliche is delightfully presented in this movie from the desperate virgin (thank you, Seth Green) to the jock who realizes his time as king is up. Can we get more movies like this these days, please?
10. I Still Know What You Did Last Summer: November 13, 1998
Jennifer Love Hewitt was busy in 1998. She had Can’t Hardly Wait and I Still Know What You Did Last Summer drop. I’d say Still Know was better than the original. Controversial, I know. There were just more twists and turns in the sequel that had us all jumping in the theater. the third flick didn’t even hold a candle to the first two. Like, at all.
9. Mulan: June 5, 1998
Disney seems to be on a mission to remake all of their classics into live-action movies. Mulan is the next one on the list. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to match up the release of the original with the new one, so it looks like it’ll be a big year for Mulan two times in a row. The live-action version is slated to drop in 2019. I guess 2018 will be the year of “Reflection,” especially considering the next year’s remake is TRAGICALLY not a musical. Yes, we’re as mad as you are.
8. A Bug’s Life: November 14, 1998
It always feels like people sleep on how great A Bug’s Life is. It came three years after Pixar blew us away with Toy Story and just a year before Woody and Co. were back for #2. Perhaps it was just lost in the Toy Story fever, but alas it is STILL one of Pixar’s best. So if you haven’t shown it any love for the past 20 years, do so now.
7. Dr. Dolittle: June 23, 1998
Dr. Dolittle was nothing new in 1998. It was just a remake. But somehow Eddie Murphy‘s version became the only version anyone actually knows about. We’re okay with that. Especially because we’ll always love a comedy that stars Chris Rock as a sassy guinea pig.
6. Small Soldiers: July 10, 1998
From talking animals to talking toys. Small Soldiers wasn’t all cute and cuddly like Toy Story. Small Soldiers could’ve been considered a horror movie if it had some blood. Instead, this somehow passed as a kids’ movie. I’m still unconvinced. Clearly, if you want a movie about toys coming to life, Pixar’s the way to go.
5. Bride Of Chucky: October 16, 1998
When you get older, you realize that Chucky isn’t as frightening as he is just a hilarious jerk. At the time, though, he was horrifying. With Bride of Chucky, he was teamed up with Tiffany, a female doll that went on to be as iconic as the ’80s villain. While some of the movies on this list seem more recent than 20 years old, I would’ve thought Bride of Chucky was older than a 1998 premiere! Maybe because Chucky is such a ’80s icon!
4. Ever After: A Cinderella Story: July 31, 1998
By now there has been a million and one versions of Cinderella pushed out into the world. It seems like every culture has one and in America, we seem to get a new one every time Hollywood feels like it’s time. For me, Ever After was and is the best version. Drew Barrymore played the classic character more like a heroine than a damsel in distress which finally transformed Cinderella into a feminist icon.
3. The Rugrats Movie: November 20, 1998
Watching Rugrats daily back in 1998 was as normal to kids as breathing. Then Nickelodeon decided to make it into a movie and things, well, got weird. That was mostly due to the animation. Why was it so dark? At the end of the day though, this movie has really made its mark on the Rugrats legacy. Most of cannot, and will not, believe that Dil Pickle, who was first introduced in the movie, is 20 now.
2. Stepmom: December 25, 1998
Now that 20 years have passed, can we ask why this movie was released on Christmas Day in 1998? There isn’t another movie dropped that year that could make you cry the way Stepmom does. Susan Sarandon plays a mother diagnosed with terminal cancer who meets the soon-to-be stepmom of her two kids. Anytime there is “terminal cancer” in a movie, you very well know it’s not going to be a happy-go-lucky time making Christmas — I don’t know — the worst possible release date. If you’ve avoided this movie all these years, I don’t blame you. I do encourage you to watch, however, because despite the boxes of tissues you will almost certainly go through, it’s damn good.
1. The Parent Trap: July 20, 1998
Anytime we can remember Lindsay Lohan before the drama and DUIs, we’ll take it. The Parent Trap was a remake but somehow Lohan made it her own. To many, her version is a million times better than the original and I am one of those many. Lohan plays twins who try to get their parents back together — though most of us probably didn’t realize she was only one person unbtil the mid-2000s. Like, who would’ve thunk technology was that good in 1998? So believable.