(Credits: Far Out / 20th Century Fox / Universal Pictures / Columbia Pictures / Film Poster)
Fri 20 March 2026 17:15, UK
Movies have changed a lot since the 1990s.
Even though the 20th century’s final decade really doesn’t seem like all that long ago, 1996 was 30 years ago, and since then, comedies have generally become a lot more sophisticated, while the standards for good filmmaking and special effects have come a long way.
The ‘90s saw the indie boom, with many low-budget films finding unprecedented success, like Quentin Tarantino’s stylish and violent Reservoir Dogs, while the New Queer Cinema movement gained traction, and more female filmmakers than ever were rising to prominence. There were many great Hollywood blockbusters emerging at this time, but there was certainly an increase in slightly offbeat movies that would quickly become stone-cold classics.
Yet, there were definitely a lot of movies that emerged in the ‘90s that just wouldn’t get made today, whether that be because they were too crass and used a certain type of humour nowadays considered pretty lowbrow, or because they used real animals as their leading stars. Times have changed.
So, from the orangutan movie Dunston Checks In to Eddie Murphy’s fat suit comedy The Nutty Professor, here are five movies that were made 30 years ago, but certainly wouldn’t get the green light today.
Five movies from 1996 that wouldn’t get the greenlight now: ADD AS A PREFERRED SOURCE ON GOOGLE 