re: The 90's: The Last Great Decade?

While highly unscientific, the imdb top 250 gives us a pretty good glimpse at the general respect for each decade, understanding that it skews modern. The 1980s only have 3 films in the top 50, and its highest ranked film is #12 (Empire Strikes Back). By contrast, the 1990s has four movies in the top 10 alone, and 16 in the top 50.

But not only that, the 1990s marked a change in how films were made. Pulp Fiction's success really opened the door for indie distribution, and that's before we get into films like El Mariachi and Clerks, made for barely any money and finding themselves in wide distribution. The second studio system broke down in the 1990s.