'90s Movies That Feel Like A Fever Dream But Are Actually Real

The '90s have plenty of things to recommend it has a decade, from Michael Jordan's basketball brilliance, the casual comfort of cargo pants, and the rise of the nu metalist band, Limp Bizkit. It also helps that a number of '90s movies have stood the test of time, maintaining their popularity among generations of viewers to this day. But while "Jurassic Park" and "Titanic" receive adoration for their cinematic excellence, the decade also unleashed a selection of films that seem unbelievable in hindsight. 

Sure, there are '90s movies that didn't age well, but the films about to be discussed are something more akin to the aftereffects of eating a toasted cheese sandwich after midnight. From Whoopi Goldberg going to court because she didn't want to team up with a clothes-wearing dinosaur to fight crime to Shaq starring as a genie in a movie that most people probably believe featured comedian Sinbad, there's no end to their extremely '90s shenanigans. And an honorable — or dishonorable, as the case may be — mention goes to Hulk Hogan's entire filmography throughout the decade, including the Hulkamaniac-fueled disasterpieces known as "Suburban Commando," "Santa with Muscles," and "3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain." 

What a time to be alive! Here are some of the wildest movies produced by the '90s that you may not believe are even real.

People forget how big of a star Whoopi Goldberg was in the '90s. She secured a Academy Award for her role in "Ghost," then laughed all the way to the bank in the "Sister Act" film series. So why in the world did she star in 1995's "Theodore Rex," a direct-to-video buddy cop dinosaur comedy? According to /Film's oral history of "Theodore Rex," Goldberg verbally agreed to do the movie before trying to back out. The matter went to court before the parties reached an agreement for Goldberg to return to the film — albeit begrudgingly.

In the same vein as the fever dream known as 1993's "Super Mario Bros." movie, "Theodore Rex" takes place in a futuristic setting where humans and dinosaurs coexist and no one bats an eyelid. In this tale, Goldberg's police character Katie Coltrane receives a new partner in the form of the Axel Foley-esque Tyrannosaurus rex named Theodore Rex, played by George Newbern. Together, this dino-mite pair needs to solve the mystery of who is murdering dinosaurs and why.

"Theodore Rex" ended up as a critically and fan-reviled movie that held brain cells hostage for 92 minutes — but it's more fun than it gets credit for, even though Goldberg continues to regret starring alongside a talking T-Rex in this undeniably bizarre production.

Shaquille O'Neal dominated the basketball courts throughout the '90s, but his venture into Hollywood was anything but a slam dunk. Before he became a walking meme in 1997's "Steel," he granted wishes as the genie Kazaam in the 1996 movie of the same name. The film sees the genie reside in a boombox (it is the '90s, after all) before he's unleashed by teenager Max Connor (Francis Capra). Unlike rapper Skee-Lo's pleas in his 1995 single "I Wish," Max doesn't beg to be a little bit taller or to be a baller. Instead, he tries to bring his family back together, but Kazaam decides to make the unexpected decision to become a rapper instead.

"Kazaam" isn't remembered as Shaq's finest hour, receiving an acid-laced tongue lashing from both critics and audiences. For his part, Shaq has no regrets, telling GQ in 2012, "I was a medium-level juvenile delinquent from Newark who always dreamed about doing a movie. Someone said, 'Hey, here's $7 million, come in and do this genie movie.' What am I going to say, no? So I did it."

Funny enough, the biggest impact of "Kazaam" is how it became a part of the huge movie Mandela Effects that'll have you questioning everything. For the record — no, Sinbad doesn't star in this movie.

Ronny Yu deserves a lot of credit for directing "Bride of Chucky" and "Freddy vs. Jason." Before the filmmaker elevated the horror genre, though, he brought the fantasy-oriented martial arts movie "Warriors of Virtue" to life in 1997.

The film sees teenager Ryan Jeffers (Mario Yedidia) cross from his world to the magical planet known as Tao, where he meets a group of fighting kangaroo creatures known as the Warriors of Virtue. Together with his new pals and Master Chung (Chao-Li Chi), Ryan needs to put a stop to the evil Komodo's (Angus Macfadyen) plans as the sorcerer sets his sights on both Tao and Earth.

If "Warriors of Virtue" sounds like "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" by the way of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" and "Star Wars," that's because it is. To call the film ambitious would be putting it mildly. There's no idea too small or too big for Yu to execute, as the director goes full throttle in one of the most surreal '90s movies. The esteemed Roger Ebert didn't give it a glowing review, or even a thumbs-up; however, he credited the picture for looking spectacular and daring to go big. Surprisingly, the film received a sequel in 2002 titled "Warriors of Virtue: The Return to Tao."

While largely forgotten by general audiences, the role of Nick Lang in "The Hard Way" proves to be one of Michael J. Fox's best on-screen performances. Forget about "Back to the Future" and "Family Ties" for a minute, because Fox shows off his true comedic prowess in this 1991 buddy cop comedy.

In the film, Fox portrays a self-absorbed, mulleted movie star who wants to secure a part in an upcoming cop drama. Nick decides the best way to prepare is to go method and join the New York Police Department (better that than sending rats to co-stars like Jared Leto, right?). Nick partners up with the gruff John Moss (James Woods) as they learn to get past their differences to stop the serial killer known as the Party Crasher.

"The Hard Way" pulled in a respectable $65.6 million haul at the global box office, which is nothing to sniff at by early '90s standards. It also received mostly approval from reviewers, holding a 75% critical approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, as critics agreed the pairing of Fox and Woods was comedy gold.

The early '90s brought success to Macaulay Culkin, as he captured the hearts of audiences with films such as "Home Alone," "My Girl," and "The Good Son." In 1994, Culkin embraced his most imaginative role yet as Richard Tyler in "The Pagemaster."

The hybrid live-action-animated film sees the young and risk-averse Richard escape a storm by finding sanctuary in a library. After a fall, he awakens — only to be pulled into an animated world where he faces challenges from classic tales such as "Moby Dick" and "Treasure Island." The likes of Christopher Lloyd, Patrick Stewart, Whoopi Goldberg, and Leonard Nimoy also star in the movie.

Despite the fantastical elements and the timeless animation style, "The Pagemaster" remains one of Culkin's most obscure and least popular films. It also didn't help that the majority of critics blasted the ambitious motion picture. As SFGate wrote, "'The Pagemaster' is so hokey that if you think about it much, it will either evaporate or get you riled over its portrayal of the library as a scary place."

Something infiltrated the water in the '90s, as everyone and their grandmother developed a fascination — scratch that, an obsession — with dinosaurs. Of course, "Jurassic Park" showed us how these creatures and humans could never coexist because they would eat us alive, but the animated film "We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story" looks at it through a more whimsical what-if lens — well, for the most part.

In this tale, the super-intelligent Captain Neweyes (Walter Cronkite) traverses space and time to find dinosaurs, because he believes children should get to experience these majestic creatures up close and personal. He collects four dino buddies — Rex (John Goodman), Woog (René Le Vant), Elsa (Felicity Kendal), and Dweeb (Charles Fleischer) — and gives them a special cereal to make them less likely to chew on the bones and flesh of human beings. Then the captain transports them back to the modern era, but expectedly, people freak out when they realize there are dinosaurs in the street. Shenanigans ensue and the story takes a few turns down dark alleys, including the appearance of a terrifying horror circus.

"We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story" establishes itself as a polarizing film for those who remember it. Unquestionably, it provides chilling moments with frightening visuals and mature plot points, but its originality never comes into question.

Remember the "Saturday Night Live" sketch about cone-headed aliens living on Earth? Well, the idea evolved from there, becoming the full-length feature film "Coneheads" in 1993, starring Dan Aykroyd and Jane Curtin as said aliens.

In what's largely a fish-out-of-water premise, the aliens are sent to Earth as part of a planned invasion of the planet. However, plans change, so they adapt to life in the 'burbs, indulging and learning more about Earth's weird ways. No Earthling says a word about their cone-shaped heads, though — presumably because some people have really big foreheads and odd-shaped heads, so who's to judge? In addition, comedians such as David Spade, Phil Hartman, Adam Sandler, Sinbad, Chris Farley, and Drew Carey all make appearances here.

Critics couldn't agree if "Coneheads" was comedy genius or a sketch stretched to its limits. TV Guide's reviewer argued the latter, writing, "Whether on Earth or in space, the jokes are either flat or hopelessly crude (the running gag of the Coneheads confusing condoms with chewing gum), and in an attempt to give the film some cachet with the current 'Saturday Night Live' audience, a whole bunch of early-'90s 'SNL' players are dragged in for cameos."

When people discuss the best Disney movies of all time, don't expect to see the name of "Blank Check" mentioned. It has an outrageous premise that makes anyone who works in the financial crime prevention industry a little edgy about the message it sends. The 1994 comedy follows the story of a kid named Preston Waters (Brian Bonsall) who comes into possession of a blank check after an encounter with a convict. Using his computer to fill out the check — yes, this is forgery and a federal offense — Preston cashes out a million dollars and lives it up, until consequences come knocking.

Considering how conscious Disney tends to be about kid movies, it's mind-blowing how someone thought this would be a good idea to release — especially since Preston commits a crime to get his hands on the cash and a grown-up actor Karen Duffy kisses the underage Bonsall in a passionate scene. The New York Times wrote that "Blank Check" sends the wrong message to children, adding, "Despite a make-nice ending, impressionable little viewers are bound to come away convinced that money makes the world go round. In some corners of the globe, this film may also be enough to foment revolution."

The original "Jurassic Park" franchise released a trilogy of dinosaur movies, but "Prehysteria!" did it first — with a fraction of the budget and time. The first film came out in 1993, introducing the audience to tiny characters described on the poster as "the world's oldest party animals." The story sees a dodgy museum curator (Stephen Lee) get his hands on five prehistoric eggs. Through a switch-up, the Taylor family comes into possession of the eggs that hatch to become baby dinosaurs. Expectedly, the bad guy wants his micro-dinos back, but the Taylors aren't about to give them up without a fight.

Taking one look at "Prehysteria!," there's no disputing that directors Charles and Albert Band did a lot with a tiny budget. And the film became Moonbeam Entertainment's top-selling direct-to-video title at the time, with two quickfire sequels in 1994 and 1995.

Those familiar with Charles Band know all about how he founded the independent production company Full Moon Entertainment, which is responsible for film series such as "Puppet Master," "Trancers," and "Evil Bong." Apparently Band possesses something of a Midas touch, turning coal into gold, and he did the same here with the "Prehysteria!" series.

Who could ever forget the days of cable and satellite television? In 1992's "Stay Tuned," Roy Knable (John Ritter) scores the absolute steal of the century after a salesman (Jeffrey Jones) shows up on his doorstep and offers him a deal for 666 channels that he won't be able to watch anywhere else. If the number doesn't give away the plot, nothing will. Roy and his wife, Helen (Pam Dawber), get sucked into Hellevision, where they need to survive a number of challenges or else the horned one himself will come to claim their souls. Insert maniacal, evil laugh for dramatic effect.

Director Peter Hyams — of "Timecop" and "End of Days" fame — helmed "Stay Tuned." However, there were murmurs that Tim Burton was approached at one point in the development cycle. While the film isn't the second coming of "The Running Man" in addressing the parasocial relationship that viewers have with television shows, it delivers the occasional moment of satirical comedy. Plus, Ritter never falters as the television-obsessed Roy who needs to work double time to win back the affections of his neglected wife after he spent too much time in front of the tube and not enough romancing her.

The only film about dentists that should be acceptable is the 1996 horror "The Dentist," because there's no way any rational person associates good memories with someone fiddling with their teeth. Disney attempted to change perceptions in 1997 with the made-for-TV film "Toothless," directed by Melanie Mayron and starring the late Kirstie Alley.

Alley starred as dentist Katherine Lewis who dies and finds herself in the state of Limbo. In order to move on, she needs to fulfill the role of the Tooth Fairy for a period of time. But then she accidentally reveals herself to a young boy named Bobby Jameson (Ross Malinger) and they strike up a unexpected friendship.

"Toothless" didn't exactly light the world on fire when it debuted, but it epitomizes the typical low-budget live-action Disney movie of the era. On Rotten Tomatoes' Popcornmeter, the audience reception toward is right down the middle, with some fans thinking it has its heart in the right place, while others don't think it has held up one bit since the '90s.

Nothing screams '90s movies more than combining two unrelated concepts into a feature film. Before "Cyborg Cop" stomped its way into Blockbusters around the country, there was "Samurai Cop." The 1991 action extravaganza sees a samurai police officer Joe Marshall (Mathew Karedas, who is credited as Matt Hannon here) transfer into the Los Angeles Police Department to help them sort out a gang problem with his unique set of martial arts skills. And ... yeah, that's pretty much the entire plot, because everything else is merely an excuse to jump to the next badly choreographed fight scene.

"Samurai Cop" is the kind of film that would end on everyone's worst-of lists at the time, but it's cheesier than a four-cheese pizza — and who doesn't love that? More importantly, after 24 years in the wilderness, Joe returned to hack and slash his way through bad guys in 2015's "Samurai Cop 2: Deadly Vengeance."

Can't get enough of this era and its insatiably bizarre movies? Be sure to read the obscure '90s sci-fi gems you need to watch next.