As has been suggested, a lot of movies released around 2000-2004/5 still had something of a "90s feel" to them. Things that I feel define this era are the gold "bling" color scheme, the sheer stupidity of many (though not all) of them ;D, the "stealth" feel, and the cheesy CGI.

When you see these pictures, do any of them make you instinctively think "This is a 90s movie"? Or is it all 00s?
https://img.4plebs.org/boards/tv/image/1443/48/1443486194697.png

I can still feel the 90s energy 2000 to 2002.

I can still feel the 90s energy 2000 to 2002.


The '90s were all about leaving the early '90s (more specifically, 1990) in the dust and getting to the very start of the new millenium (the early 00s, 1999-2002). Back in 1991, most people thought of 1999 as 'the future' and it seemed more like a utopia to us then than it did when we were actually living in 1998.

https://img.4plebs.org/boards/tv/image/1443/48/1443486194697.png


Earliest childhood memories of going to the movies! :D :D :D 2001-2004 were the bomb years for movies, especially 2002 & 2003 for me!

The '90s were all about leaving the early '90s (more specifically, 1990) in the dust and getting to the very start of the new millenium (the early 00s, 1999-2002). Back in 1991, most people thought of 1999 as 'the future' and it seemed more like a utopia to us then than it did when we were actually living in 1998.


In a way it was a calm era, 1995 to 2000 was. The dot com years were so calm it was almost boring in some aspects. It was as if we were ending the millennium with a bang, a big and positive way. And then the dot com bubble popped in March of 2000.

I actually strongly disagree that movies from the early 2000s had a prominent 90s vibe to them. The technological and geopolitical developments of the millennial period in general left more than a mark on the cinema. Where 90s films were either giddily wacky or stylishly edgy, the 2000s were the time when they were either crudely casual or broodingly introspective.

The two movies that most influenced the shift between the two decades were Toy Story and The Matrix, though plenty of other movies played a part as well. Toy Story first popularized computer-generated animation in the midst of the Disney Renaissance; by 2001, with the success of Shrek and failure of Atlantis: The Lost Empire, the transition from 90s animated films to 21st century movies was official. Later 2D animated movies like The Powerpuff Girls Movie, Treasure Planet, and Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas all performed poorly compared to their predecessors from the 90s. As for The Matrix, it was easily one of the most revolutionary films of its time and certainly the most influential to 21st century blockbusters, deftly blending action, philosophy, and special effects into one package. These elements became cornerstone to the franchise films and superhero flicks that dominated the early 2000s and beyond but which weren't as successful in the 90s. I don't think anybody would confuse the LOTR trilogy, Sam Raimi Spider-Man films, or Harry Potter films for 90s blockbusters.

In other areas, too, the early 2000s were quite different from the 90s in general. Popular comedy stars in the 90s like Jim Carrey, Robin Williams, and Mike Myers were quickly giving way to a newer generation of comedians like Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, and Will Ferrell. Zoolander was an especially significant film in the establishment of 2000s comedies, but the transition had been underway before that, as well.

All this said, I will say that of the several movies from the first half of the 2000s you listed, one film that sticks out in particular as being extremely 90s is Dude, Where's My Car?.  It starts all the way back with the poster. Firstly, the movie title not only uses a tacky font and color scheme, it's inside a cartoon speech bubble, asking a question with the word 'dude,' followed by a first world problem.  Then there's the overall appearance of the main character, played by Ashton Kutcher - long hair, baggy clothing, 90s all the way! Even the layout of the poster screams 90s head to toe, employing a fish-eye perspective, minor characters seemingly cut-and-pasted over a cartoonish abstract pattern, and the main character staring into the camera with a deadpan expression. The movie itself is no less 90s, either, loaded with typical stoner film gags that harken back to Pauly Shore and David Spade. Much of the film is also loaded with cheesy, supernatural, shock humor, a trend that began in the 80s and extended into the 90s; parts of the film that aren't like this are just typical trashy, so-bad-it's-good stoner humor. Things such as the "and then" drive-thru lady, bubble wrap wearing  alien-hunting cult, "gender-challenged male" stripper later dressed like Jackie Kennedy, "extremely hot chicks" who are actual aliens who morph into a giant attractive woman, or the "dude you got a tattoo! sweet!" scene all seem completely out of line with 2000s comedies like Zoolander and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. When I looked up Dude, Where's My Car?, I couldn't believe that it was originally released at the end of the year 2000, on the same day as The Emperor's New Groove (the first truly early 2000s animated film, imo), even. It's especially weird to state that Dude? Where's My Car is technically from the same decade as Avatar and The Hangover, since it feels eons more dated than those two movies, which still feel quite recent today. Pretty much the only things about it that feel connected to the 2000s are the Good Charlotte song featured on the soundtrack (before their mainstream breakthrough), as well as the main character being played by somebody whose film career has been primarily confined to the 21st century, though he was already famous before the movie came out.

I can still feel the 90s energy 2000 to 2002.


The majority of '80s fans think of '78 to '81 as the tail end of the '70s.
Some '70s fans enjoy listening to music that was on the charts from '80 to '83.
Children of the '80s tend to think of '90 to '93 as the last years of the '80s.
'00s kids claim that '00 to '02 was no different from all of the other years of the Clinton '90s.

What do you make of this?

As has been suggested, a lot of movies released around 2000-2004/5 still had something of a "90s feel" to them. Things that I feel define this era are the gold "bling" color scheme, the sheer stupidity of many (though not all) of them ;D, the "stealth" feel, and the cheesy CGI.

When you see these pictures, do any of them make you instinctively think "This is a 90s movie"? Or is it all 00s?
https://img.4plebs.org/boards/tv/image/1443/48/1443486194697.png


I definitely remember a lot of those films.

The majority of '80s fans think of '78 to '81 as the tail end of the '70s.
Some '70s fans enjoy listening to music that was on the charts from '80 to '83.
Children of the '80s tend to think of '90 to '93 as the last years of the '80s.
'00s kids claim that '00 to '02 was no different from all of the other years of the Clinton '90s.

What do you make of this?


2000 to 2002 definitely felt different. But I could still see residuals of the 90s, that's all. By 2003/2004, the 00s was in full force, in my view.

2000 to 2002 definitely felt different. But I could still see residuals of the 90s, that's all. By 2003/2004, the 00s was in full force, in my view.


Late 2003 or 2004 the 2000's were in full force, but early & mid 2003 still had the same feel as 2000-2002 IMO, at least when it comes to the pop culture at the time.

As has been suggested, a lot of movies released around 2000-2004/5 still had something of a "90s feel" to them. Things that I feel define this era are the gold "bling" color scheme, the sheer stupidity of many (though not all) of them ;D, the "stealth" feel, and the cheesy CGI.

When you see these pictures, do any of them make you instinctively think "This is a 90s movie"? Or is it all 00s?
https://img.4plebs.org/boards/tv/image/1443/48/1443486194697.png


Most of those films are very '00s to me, with the exception of Meet the Parents/Fockers, which has a very '90s feel to it.  I would also put Hey Arnold and Digimon in the '90s category.  Pokemon is hard to place.  It was everywhere in 1999 and 2000 but started to fade in 2001.  To me, its explicitly a Y2K era fad and doesn't really belong to either decade.