Musical from the 1990s: the best movies
24 musical films from the 1990s, ranked by audience rating. The best of the decade, and it still holds up tonight. Updated September 25, 2026
Michael Jackson: Live in Bucharest - The Dangerous Tour leads with 8,7 out of 10, ahead of Metallica and San Francisco Symphony: S&M (8,7). Ratings range from 7,1 to 8,7. All were released between 1990 and 1999.
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Michael Jackson: Live in Bucharest - The Dangerous Tour
Michael Jackson's "Dangerous Tour" still sets the bar high for every touring artist today. Outdoing himself with the "Bad Tour", which was already considered the ultimate, the gigantic stage setting consisting of 20 trucks and a lavish arsenal of personnel took almost three days to set up - that alone is a logistical superlative for a worldwide tour with 69 concert stops and 3.5 million fans. The highlights of the show included pyrotechnic effects, several stage illusions and a stuntman. True to his aim of spreading love around the world, Jackson donated the proceeds from the tour (over $100 million) to charity. On October 1, 1992, the image and sound recordings that are hotly sought after by Jackson fans around the world were also made. The concert recording, which was broadcast on the HBO channel, picked up in 60 countries and also transmitted by countless radio stations, still inspires people around the globe.
Metallica and San Francisco Symphony: S&M
Michael Kamen conducts the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra in support of metal rockers Metallica in this 1999 concert performance.
Nirvana: Unplugged In New York
A live album by American rock band Nirvana, the album features an acoustic performance recorded at Sony Music Studios in New York City on 18 November 1993, for the television series MTV Unplugged.
The Legend of 1900
Musician Max Tooney goes to sell his prized Conn trumpet to a music shop, where he plays the instrument one last time. The shopkeeper recognises the song as one on a record matrix he found and asks who the piece is by. Tooney tells the story of an infant found abandoned in the first class dining room of the four-stacker ocean-liner SS Virginian on 1 January 1900. Danny Boodman, a coal-man from the boiler room, names the boy Danny Boodman T. D. Lemon 1900, after himself, the fruit crate the boy was found in, and the year, and raises him as his own.
Notre-Dame de Paris
A musical adaptation of Victor Hugo's novel "Notre Dame de Paris" which follows the gypsy dancer Esmeralda and the three men who vie for her love: the kind hunchback Quadimodo, the twisted priest Frollo, and the unfaithful soldier Phoebus.
Juan Gabriel en el Palacio de Bellas Artes
Juan Gabriel's historic live concert at the El Palacio de Bellas Artes, recorded on May 9-12th, 1990.
Ghosts
In the town of Normal Valley, an eccentric magician named Maestro entertains the local children every day in his spooky mansion. One stormy night, the town's mayor leads a group of angry citizens to the mansion in an attempt to run Maestro out of town.
Selena
In this biographical drama, Selena Quintanilla is born into a musical Mexican-American family in Texas. Her father, Abraham, realizes that his young daughter is talented and begins performing with her at small venues. She finds success and falls for her guitarist, Chris Perez, who draws the ire of her father. Seeking mainstream stardom, Selena begins recording an English-language album which, tragically, she would never complete.
Animaniacs: Wakko's Wish
The Warner Brothers (and the Warner Sister) go on a quest to find a fallen wishing star to help Dot with her illness. Unfortunately the rest of the town, including an evil king, also hear about the star and want to get to it first to have their own wishes come true. It's a race against time and it's up to the three zany siblings to get there first.
Buena Vista Social Club
In this fascinating Oscar-nominated documentary, American guitarist Ry Cooder brings together a group of legendary Cuban folk musicians (some in their 90s) to record a Grammy-winning CD in their native city of Havana. The result is a spectacular compilation of concert footage from the group's gigs in Amsterdam and New York City's famed Carnegie Hall, with director Wim Wenders capturing not only the music -- but also the musicians' life stories.
Swallowtail Butterfly
The struggles of a group of outcasts living in "Yentown", in an alternate-future Japan.
Shall We Dance?
A bored accountant spots a beautiful woman in the window of a ballroom dance studio. He secretly starts taking dancing lessons to be near her, and then over time discovers how much he loves dancing. His wife, meanwhile, has hired a private detective to find out why he has started coming home late smelling of perfume.
The Muppet Christmas Carol
A retelling of the classic Dickens tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, miser extraordinaire. He is held accountable for his dastardly ways during nighttime visitations by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future.
The Crazy Stranger
A man is looking for a singer he had heard on cassette. He finds much more.
The Red Violin
300 years of a remarkable musical instrument. Crafted by the Italian master Bussotti (Cecchi) in 1681, the red violin has traveled through Austria, England, China, and Canada, leaving both beauty and tragedy in its wake. In Montreal, Samuel L Jackson plays an appraiser going over its complex history.
Scooby-Doo! in Arabian Nights
Scooby-Doo and Shaggy travel to Arabia to become the Caliph's Royal Food Tasters. But they bite off more than they can chew and are forced to run for their lives! It's a wild magic carpet ride as Scooby-Doo, Shaggy and their genie (Yogi Bear) and a jolly sailor named Sinbad (Magilla Gorilla) take you on an adventure of mistaken identities, exotic locations and fun-filled action and surprises!
The Five Heartbeats
In the early 1960s, a quintet of hopeful, young African-American men form an amateur vocal group called The Five Heartbeats. After an initially rocky start, the group improves, turns pro, and rises to become a top flight music sensation. Along the way, however, the guys learn many hard lessons about the reality of the music industry.
The Commitments
Jimmy Rabbitte, just a thick-ya out of school, gets a brilliant idea: to put a soul band together in Barrytown, his slum home in north Dublin. First he needs musicians and singers: things slowly start to click when he finds three fine-voiced females virtually in his back yard, a lead singer (Deco) at a wedding, and, responding to his ad, an aging trumpet player, Joey "The Lips" Fagan.
Cats Don't Dance
An ambitious singing and dancing cat in 1939 Hollywood overcomes several obstacles to fulfill his dream of becoming a movie star.
Lisbon Story
Wim Wenders' homage to Lisbon and films. A sound engineer obtains a mysterious postcard from a friend who at the moment is filming a film in Lisbon. He sets out across Europe to find him and help him.
SLC Punk
Two former geeks become 1980s punks, then party and go to concerts while deciding what to do with their lives.
The Doors
The story of the famous and influential 1960s rock band and its lead singer and composer, Jim Morrison.
Immortal Beloved
A chronicle of the life of infamous classical composer Ludwig van Beethoven and his painful struggle with hearing loss. Following Beethoven's death in 1827, his assistant, Schindler, searches for an elusive woman referred to in the composer's love letters as "immortal beloved." As Schindler solves the mystery, a series of flashbacks reveal Beethoven's transformation from passionate young man to troubled musical genius.
All the Mornings of the World
Following the death of his wife, a renowned musician ostracises himself from the outer world and dedicates his life to music. However, his life changes when a young man approaches him to learn music.
What to know before choosing
The musical is the hardest genre to recommend to someone who does not watch them: it asks you to accept its convention at the first song, or nothing works at all. The catalog is narrow and votes are few, which forces the floor down for this page to exist. That is not a flaw in the selection — it is the real state of a genre that produces little and concentrates its audience.
The 1990s are the most replayed decade in streaming, and the one in which American auteur cinema had the most money. Its films carry a confidence in the screenplay rarely found afterwards. Beware the digital effects of the first half of the decade, though: they have aged worse than anything in the history of the medium.
Frequently asked questions
How were these 24 films chosen?
They come from the TMDB catalog, filtered on audience rating and on a minimum number of votes — without that second filter, a film rated 9 out of 10 by eleven people would outrank a classic. No place is for sale: no platform, distributor or studio can enter this list other than by being well rated.
Which film in this list is rated highest?
Michael Jackson: Live in Bucharest - The Dangerous Tour (1992), with 8,7 out of 10 from 148 audience votes.
Where can I watch these films?
Taro eira shows, film by film, which platforms carry it in the US and at what price — subscription, rental or purchase. The per-platform lists are further down this page.
How often does this list change?
It is recomputed every day. Ratings move slowly, catalogs move fast: availability is what mostly pushes titles in and out.
Do I need an account?
No. Taro eira is free, asks for no account and no subscription, and the two-or-three-question flow works without installing anything.
See also
- Musical
- Musical from the 2020s
- Musical from the 2010s
- Musical from the 2000s
- Musical from the 1980s
- Musical from the 1970s
- Musical before 1970
- Action from the 1990s
- Adventure from the 1990s
- Animation from the 1990s
- Comedy from the 1990s
- Crime from the 1990s
- Documentary from the 1990s
- Drama from the 1990s
- Family from the 1990s
- Fantasy from the 1990s
- Biopic from the 1990s
- Horror from the 1990s
- Romance from the 1990s
- Sci-fi from the 1990s
- Thriller from the 1990s
- War from the 1990s
- Western from the 1990s
How this list is built
Films come from the TMDB catalog, filtered on audience rating and vote count, then cross-checked against real availability in the country. No paid placement, no partnerships. How we choose the films.
Film data and posters: TMDB. This app uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.