Best Drama Movies of 1990

The highest-rated drama films from 1990, ranked by MovieMagicScore based on authentic viewer ratings.

Drama 1989 Drama 1991 All Time Drama

Action Comedy Horror Science Fiction Thriller Romance Animation Documentary Fantasy Crime

GoodFellas

1990

The true story of Henry Hill, a half-Irish, half-Sicilian Brooklyn kid who is adopted by neighbourhood gangsters at an early age and climbs the ranks of a Mafia family under the guidance of Jimmy Conway.

8.5

Dances with Wolves

1990

Wounded Civil War soldier John Dunbar tries to commit suicide—and becomes a hero instead. As a reward, he's assigned to his dream post, a remote junction on the Western frontier, and soon makes unlikely friends with the local Sioux tribe.

7.8

Edward Scissorhands

1990

A small suburban town receives a visit from a castaway unfinished science experiment named Edward.

7.7

Misery

1990

After an accident, acclaimed novelist Paul Sheldon is rescued by a nurse who claims to be his biggest fan. Her obsession takes a dark turn when she holds him captive in her remote Colorado home and forces him to write back to life the popular literary character he killed off.

7.7

Awakenings

1990

Dr. Malcolm Sayer, a shy research physician, uses an experimental drug to "awaken" the catatonic victims of a rare disease. Leonard is the first patient to receive the controversial treatment. His awakening, filled with awe and enthusiasm, proves a rebirth for Sayer too, as the exuberant patient reveals life's simple but unutterably sweet pleasures to the introverted doctor.

7.8

The Godfather Part III

1990

In the midst of trying to legitimize his business dealings in 1979 New York and Italy, aging mafia don, Michael Corleone seeks forgiveness for his sins while taking a young protege under his wing.

7.4

Close-Up

1990

This fiction-documentary hybrid uses a sensational real-life event—the arrest of a young man on charges that he fraudulently impersonated the well-known filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf—as the basis for a stunning, multilayered investigation into movies, identity, artistic creation, and existence, in which the real people from the case play themselves.

8.0

Miller's Crossing

1990

Set in 1929, a political boss and his advisor have a parting of the ways when they both fall for the same woman.

7.4

Dreams

1990

Eight visually rich vignettes drawn from Kurosawa’s own dreams—fox weddings and vanished orchards, a soldier’s ghosts, a walk through Van Gogh’s canvases, nuclear nightmares, and a water-mill utopia—meditate on childhood, art, mortality, and humanity’s uneasy bond with nature.

7.7

#10

Dragon Ball Z: Bardock - The Father of Goku

1990

Bardock, Son Goku's father, is a low-ranking Saiyan soldier who was given the power to see into the future by the last remaining alien on a planet he just destroyed. He witnesses the destruction of his race and must now do his best to stop Frieza's impending massacre.

7.6

#11

Jacob's Ladder

1990

After returning home from the Vietnam War, veteran Jacob Singer struggles to maintain his sanity. Plagued by hallucinations and flashbacks, Singer rapidly falls apart as the world and people around him morph and twist into disturbing images. His girlfriend, Jezzie, and ex-wife, Sarah, try to help, but to little avail. Even Singer's chiropractor friend, Louis, fails to reach him as he descends into madness.

7.3

#12

Ghost

1990

After a young man is murdered, his spirit stays behind to warn his lover of impending danger, with the help of a reluctant psychic.

7.2

#13

Cyrano de Bergerac

1990

Famed swordsman and poet Cyrano de Bergerac is in love with his cousin Roxane. He has never expressed his love for her as he his large nose undermines his self-confidence. Then he finds a way to express his love to her, indirectly.

7.3

#14

Red Dawn

1990

On October 2, 1968, a student uprising descends into violence after the Mexican government begins to use lethal force against the protesters.

8.1

#15

Days of Being Wild

1990

Yuddy, a Hong Kong playboy known for breaking girls' hearts, tries to find solace and the truth after discovering the woman who raised him isn't his mother.

7.3

#16

My Father's Glory

1990

Raised by his science teacher father, Joseph Pagnol, and seamstress mother Augustine, young Marcel grows up during the turn of the century in awe of his rationalist dad. When the family takes a summer vacation in the countryside, Marcel becomes friends with Lili, who teaches him about rural life.

7.3

#17

The Match Factory Girl

1990

Iris is a shy and dowdy young woman stuck in a dead-end job at a match factory, who dreams of finding love at the local dancehall. Finding herself pregnant after a one-night stand and abandoned by the father, Iris finally decides the time has come to get even and she begins to plot her revenge.

7.3

#18

The Long Walk Home

1990

Two women, black and white, in 1955 Montgomery Alabama, must decide what they are going to do in response to the famous bus boycott led by Martin Luther King.

7.6

#19

Europa Europa

1990

A Jewish boy separated from his family in the early days of WWII poses as a German orphan and is taken into the heart of the Nazi world as a 'war hero' and eventually becomes a Hitler Youth.

7.2

#20

My Mother's Castle

1990

To his chagrin, young Marcel Pagnol and his family move back to their home in Marseille, France, far from their pastoral holiday cottage in the hills. Determined, Marcel makes the long voyage back to the cottage on foot and lands himself in trouble. One day Marcel's father discovers a shortcut to the cottage, but it requires trespassing. Despite their trepidations, Marcel and his family begin using the secret trail to reach their cottage.

7.2

Page 1 of 4

Best Drama Movies of 1990

This ranking features the top drama movies released in 1990, sorted by MovieMagicScore viewer ratings. Looking for more? Browse all genres from 1990 or see the best drama movies of all time.