Seems like it can be hard to find a good comedy these days. However, in the 1990s, great comedies seemed to be hitting theaters every week. The decade produced some of the funniest movies in Hollywood. It also birthed some of the genre’s most iconic stars, such as Jim Carrey, Adam Sandler, Chris Farley, and Mike Myers. Thirty years later and these performers are still regarded as comic legends.
Some ’90s comedies are full of laugh-out-loud moments and hilarious performances. Their legendary quotes have been woven into the fabric of society and, in some cases, have become a part of our everyday lives. Some of these lines can be found on T-shirts. Others can be whipped out during normal, everyday conversations. And a few have become so ingrained in pop culture that people don’t even realize they’re quoting a movie. Here are ten 90s comedies with memorable lines that fans love to quote over and over again.
10 The Sandlot (1993)
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There’s really only one line that puts The Sandlot on this list. But it’s one of the most famous and oft repeated quotes not just in comedies but in movie history. The Sandlot is a coming-of-age sports comedy about the new kid in town, Scotty Smalls (Tom Guiry), and the friendships he builds with some neighborhood kids through a shared love of baseball. In one scene, Smalls’s wise-cracking friend Ham Porter (Patrick Renna) asks if he’d like some s’mores. When Smalls implies that he’d never had one before, Ham hits him with the iconic, “You’re killing me, Smalls!” To this day, both adults and children cry out the line when they’re annoyed or exasperated. It’s featured on mugs, t-shirts, and memes. And fun fact: the line was completely improvised.
9 Clueless (1995)
It was impossible to walk through school in the 90s without hearing one of the iconic lines from Clueless. It’s a classic teen comedy, starring Alicia Silverstone as she navigates high school drama and her search for love. Clueless is the Mean Girls of the 1990s, and like Mean Girls, it produced lots of memorable quotes, like “Oh my God, I’m totally buggin'” and “You’re a virgin who can’t drive.” Has anyone ever shaped their fingers into a W while saying “Whatever!” to you? If so, you can thank Clueless for that. Its use of “Not even!” can also be debated as the precursor for the famous internet slang, “I can’t even!” But the film’s most quotable line by far — one that’s imprinted on the hearts of 90s girls everywhere — are these three little words: “Ugh, as if.”
8 American Pie (1999)
Upon its release in 1999, American Pie was the comedy sensation that everybody was talking about and quoting. It’s a high school teen comedy about a pact made by a group of friends, who vow to lose their virginity before college. The film is packed with funny moments, especially that one not-safe-for-work scene involving an apple pie. It’s also got some great one-liners, like “And this one time, at band camp…”, “God bless the internet!”, and “We’ll just tell your mother that we ate it all.”American Pie is most famous for coining the word MILF, a term used to describe none other than a young Jennifer Coolidge. That word became an instant hit with audiences and is now a part of America’s lexicon. Whether you realize it or not, you’re quoting American Pie whenever you use the term.
7 Happy Gilmore (1996)
During the 90s, Adam Sandler was a comedy king, and Happy Gilmore is known as one of his best efforts. It tells the story of Happy Gilmore (Sandler), a wannabe hockey player with a temper who turns to golf, so he can earn the money he needs to get back his grandma’s house. Sandler’s performance is explosive, filled with hilarious expletives and furious one-liners, like “You’re gonna die, clown!” or “The price is wrong, b*tch.” But it wasn’t just Sandler that had audiences keeling over in laughter. The deranged nursing home orderly, played by a then unknown Ben Stiller, would deliver outrageous lines to his elderly guests, like “You’re in my world now, Grandma!” or “You can trouble me for a warm glass of shut the hell up!” And then there’s Happy’s instructor Chubbs (Carl Weathers), who singsonged this great line that golf enthusiasts still take with them to the course: “It’s all in the hips, it’s all in the hips.”
6 Austin Powers (1997)
Mike Myers is another comedy king who’s churned out hit after hit. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery ranks as one of his best comedies. Here, Myers plays hippy secret agent Austin Powers, a spoof of James Bond with crooked teeth and a raging sex drive. Powers is full of quotable catchphrases, like “Yeah, baby!”, “Oh, behave!”, and “Shall we shag now, or shall we shag later?” But it’s Myers’s other performance, as the moronic villain Dr. Evil, that steals the show. Every scene with Dr. Evil is comedic gold and features some of the film’s most quotable lines: “Why must I be surrounded by frickin’ idiots!?”, “Throw me a frickin’ bone here!”, and “We hold the world ransom for…one million dollars!” Disagree with this entry? Well, there’s only response to that: “Riiiiiiiight.”
5 Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)
If Sandler and Myers are comedy kings, then that makes Jim Carrey a comedy god. No one produced more comedy classics in the 90s than Carrey. It was difficult trying to narrow down his most quotable movies, but with its many catchphrases, Ace Venture: Pet Detective has got to make the list. “Alllllllrighty then!” and “Loo-ser!” are two of Ace’s most memorable quotes. But the character also drops some hysterical one-liners throughout the movie, coupled with Carrey’s signature physical humor: “Do NOT go in there! Woo!”, “Yes, Satan? Oh I’m sorry, sir, you sounded like someone else.”, and “Hey, maybe I’ll give you a call sometime. Your number still 9-1-1?”
4 Wayne’s World (1992)
Wayne’s World is about two rock and roll fans, who are trying to make it big on their public access show. It was Mike Myers’s film debut and is the highest grossing movie based on an SNL comedy sketch. But its most notable accomplishments are its iconic quotes, like “Exsqueeze me?” and “We’re not worthy!” Wayne’s World is also credited for popularizing famous jokes that you probably hear or use all the time. Has anyone ever hit you with a, “That’s what she said”? Yeah, that’s from Wayne’s World. And the film’s quote “I’m having a good time…NOT!” made the “not” joke a part of pop culture and turned it into a classic comedy bit. Younger audiences like to credit this to Borat, but it was really Wayne’s World that did it first.
3 The Big Lebowski (1998)
The Coen brothers are known for creating cinematic masterpieces. But they’re also masters of comedy, and no film makes this more evident than their 1998 classic, The Big Lebowski. The film follows The Dude (Jeff Bridges), as he becomes entangled in an absurd case of mistaken identity. Bridges’s mellow performance as the bowling stoner created one of the most iconic characters in cinema. And the amount of quotable lines that have come out of this movie is impressive: “That rug really tied the room together”, “The Dude abides”, “This aggression will not stand, man”, and perhaps his best one: “Yeah, well, you know, that’s just, like, your opinion, man.” Supporting star John Goodman added to the film’s hilarity as the aggressive, Vietnam War vet, Walter. You can’t quote The Dude without also reciting Walter’s outrageous lines, like “Smokey, this is not Vietnam, this is bowling. There are rules”, “You want a toe? I can get you a toe.”, and of course, “Donny, you’re out of your element!”
2 Billy Madison (1995)
Billy Madison is the definitive comedy of Adam Sandler’s career. The movie follows Billy Madison (Sandler), as he enrolls in an accelerated version of school to win his father’s company. Madison is one of Sandler’s most ridiculous characters, and there were plenty of ridiculous lines to go along with it, such as “Stop looking at me swan!” There’s always a situation where you can whip out an iconic quote from the movie. Is someone taking too long in front of you at the grocery store? Hit ’em with the legendary, “T-t-t-today, Junior!” Did an athlete in a sports game botch a huge play? Go ahead and yell out, “You blew it!” at your TV. But perhaps its most famous quote comes from the decathlon’s judge near the end of the film, after Billy provides a nonsensical answer to the judge’s question: “I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.”
1 Dumb and Dumber (1994)
“Just when I think you couldn’t possibly be any dumber, you go and do something like this… and totally redeem yourself!” If you haven’t liked this list so far, then hopefully this entry redeems it. Dumb and Dumber isn’t just the most quotable comedy from the 90s. It’s one of the most quotable comedies period. The film unites the comic genius of Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels, as they play two dim-witted friends, Lloyd (Carrey) and Harry (Daniels) who are trying to return a lost briefcase to Lloyd’s crush. The movie is hysterical from start to finish and is full of golden one-liners that fans love to quote. “So you’re tellin’ me there’s a chance!”, “Samsonite…I was way off!”, and “You sold my dead bird to a blind kid?” — if you know Dumb and Dumber at all, then those lines probably just made you smile. And the next time you’re on a road trip, don’t forget to ask your friend, “Hey, you wanna hear the most annoying sound in the world? EEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHH!”
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