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The father films that defined the father thriller genre of the 90s

Crimson Tide (1995)

Honestly, there are not many things Crimson Tide to do with the genre that is not discussed elsewhere in the article. It's a Tony Scott film, it's set on a submarine, it stars a seasoned actor and a rising star, and it's about both racial differences and people who are really good at their jobs.

However, Crimson Tide is not only a fairly successful example of these concepts, but simply an exceptional film. It is perhaps the most wistful “there's nothing like this anymore” film on this list. You could find modern actors with the age gaps and talent of Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington here, but what combination of these modern actors would have the star power needed to make a film of this magnitude based solely on the appeal of seeing them on screen together? It's a must-see, as it contains so many of the most endearing elements of the once-popular subgenre.

heat (1995)

Although heat Although the film regularly appears on many modern “best of” lists, its reception in 1995 was comparatively muted. The film was successful and well received, but it took several years for it to become the almost unchallenged cultural classic it is today. However, fathers had long since heat on this podium. Driven by the desire to see the heroes of the generations, Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, in a real cinematic showdown, fathers and fathers in heart flocked to heat not only in the cinema, but also from the comfort of your own home, when heat became a legend of cable TV reruns. At some point during those constant reruns, the film became something special.

The Rock (1996)

Although I briefly wondered whether including three Sean Connery films would be too much, I fortunately quickly came to my senses to talk about director Michael Bay’s best film, The stone. Interestingly, one of the things that makes this film stand out from other Bay movies is also one of the things that makes it such a compelling '90s dad thriller: the subplot involving former commandos demanding just compensation.

Yes, Connery is a Hall of Fame star of dad thrillers, and yes, he's once again helping to turn another young actor into an action hero. However, the idea of ​​making this film's villains ex-soldiers (led by a real dad thriller veteran like Ed Harris) and the kind of people who occasionally make reasonable arguments about the mistreatment of veterans is one of those concepts you'd expect to see in one of the more nuanced thrillers of the era…not a Michael Bay film. Such was the influence of the dad thriller at this point.

Twister (1996)

Just as the father thriller is arguably a variant of the paranoia thriller of the 1970s, the 1990s saw the return of the kind of disaster epics that were so popular in the 1970s. Many of these films appealed to fans of father thrillers. While Armageddon is thematically the most father-oriented film, I have to give a little nod to Twisters.

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