Top Grossing Movies of 1997

To make this list a movie had to be made in 1997.  Obviously many movies made in 1996 earned box office dollars in 1997.  On the other side many movies made in 1997 made money in 1998 and later.   This page will looks at over 250 movies made in 1997.  The movies are listed in two massive tables that lets you rank the movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information.

Photo source – https://bloody-disgusting.com/

Our Top 50….Statistically Speaking…..Movies of 1997

Matt Damon and Robin Williams in 1997’s Good Will Hunting

1997 Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table

The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.

  • Sort 1997 Movies by movie titles and movie trailers
  • Sort 1997 Movies by the stars or in some cases the director of the movie.
  • Sort 1997 Movies by domestic adjusted box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
  • Sort 1997 Movies how they were received by critics and audiences.  60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
  • Sort by how many Oscar® nominations each 1997 Movies received and how many Oscar® wins each 1997 Movies received.
  • Sort 1997 Movies by Ultimate Movie Ranking Score (UMR).  Our UMR score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
 
Photo source – http://lifeatthemovies.com

Top earners in 1997 for Adjusted USA Box Office:

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21 thoughts on “Top Grossing Movies of 1997

  1. I saw 56. including 15 of top17. 10s and favorites: wag the dog, contact,fifth element, good will hunting, as good as it gets, men in black. 10s not favorite: la confidential, Amistad, titanic. 9s and favorites: conspiracy theory, gross point blank, the jackal, my best friends wedding. 9s not favorites: the apostle, addicted to love, the game, absolute power,starship troopers. hidden gems all 8s: life less ordinary, paradise road, devils advocate, midnight in the garden of good and evil, Donnie brasco, in and out.

    1. Hey bob cox. Thanks for checking out our 1997 movie page. Lots of great movies on the list…and I see you have mentioned many of them. I think of the 1990s…1997 and 1999 might have been the best movie years. I have seen every single one of your 8s and above. Not a single movie do I not agree on it’s quality. Glad to see you list A Life Less Ordinary….a favorite of mine….sadly…there are not many people joining us in that club…lol. This comment….has my brain a workin’…..after I am done with the last 10 yearly reviews….probably going to do a page that answers the question…which year had the most “great movies”….I would bet 1939 is the answer…..but that could be a fun page to do. As always….good stuff. Don’t work too hard.

      1. great idea. just pick a cutoff. 80 UMR works well but misses a few poorly reviewed huge boxoffice hits(especially Costner and will smith and bruce’s Armageddon ) I add umr and your review. if total over 160 it is in if it has at least one Oscar nomination (keeps comic book and anime to a minimum LOL) . with that formula it gave me perfect results for best actor list. I think james stewart number one with 23. most importantly it kept opinion out only UMR statistics

        1. Hey bob cox….thanks for all of these suggestions. I will keep them in mind as I work through these last 10 pages. Comic book movies to a minimum? Certainly you joke….do you not realize every single movie these days has to be based on a comic book or graphic novel?….lol. I might be working on that page this weekend…especially if the weather is as bad as it is being predicted to be. Good feedback.

  2. Let’s see… I’ve seen 74 out of 267 movies on the chart. Looking at my files I have 77 movies from 1997 in my movie collection.

    My favorites include –

    Air Force One
    Alien Resurrection
    Anaconda
    Anastasia
    As Good as it Gets
    Austin Powers -International Man of Mystery
    Batman & Robin
    Boogie Nights
    Breakdown
    Con-Air
    Contact
    Cop Land
    Devil’s Advocate ,The
    Donnie Brasco
    Edge ,The
    Event Horizon
    Face Off
    Fifth Element ,The
    Gattaca
    Grosse Pointe Blank
    Hercules (Disney)
    Jackal ,The
    Jackie Brown
    Jurassic Park II The Lost World
    LA Confidential
    Men in Black
    Mimic
    Relic ,The
    Spawn
    Starship Troopers
    Titanic
    Tomorrow Never Dies
    zz-Japan Anime – Princess Mononoke

    My most watched movies from 1997? Probably – Tomorrow Never Dies, Starship Troopers and The Fifth Element.

    Top rated films I haven’t seen include The Apostle, Affliction and The Sweet Hereafter.

    Titanic was unbeatable back then, I remember following Variety’s box office charts week after week and Titanic wouldn’t budge from the top, a true phenomenon.

    Another epic movie page Bruce, well done and Vote Up!

      1. I was sick most of the weekend…..so I fell behind in comments. Going to take awhile to catch up…but I will do so….sorry for the delay in the return comment.

    1. Hey Steve….thank for the comment on our 1997 yearly page. I think I have seen every single one of your favorites…though not 100% sure I saw The Relic. The old memory fails me every once in awhile. The Fifth Element is the 1997 movie that I watch the most. That is a fun movie that always shows me something new…no matter how many times I have seen it. Of the top rated ones you missed…Affliction and The Sweet Hereafter are both good but depressing as hell movies. Glad one of my favorites (James Coburn) won the Oscar for Affliction…but give me Flint every time over this family drama. I have not seen The Apostle either. I also remember the box office wave Titanic made….my wife at the time was a huge Titanic fan….I think she saw it in theaters at least a dozen times. Good feedback as always.

  3. 1997, my best film was The Devil’s Advocate. I went to San Francisco that year and saw The Peacemaker (Dreamworks first picture) , The Edge, The Assignment and a sneak preview of Kiss the Girls there. I saw Vegas Vacation on a milestone birthday of mine.

    These are the films by your list I saw in cinemas, 1-8,10-12,14-21,23-31,33,36,38-47,52-59,67,68,70,71,75,76,78,84,85,91,92,94,95,103-106,108,109,116,117,127,134,136,144,145,147,151-153,159,168,170,174,184-190,193,194,196,198,201,203,206,208,212,213,215-217,220,222-227,230,232 (there is no 231 listed), 234,240,243,246,247,249,254,256,157,259,261,262,266,267,270,271

    The following 81 1997 films I have seen at least 1 year after their release. Key is film, studio, date seen, and source whether it be DVD, tape or TV channel.

    4 LITTLE GIRLS (DOC.) 1997 HBO DOCUMENTARY 2/4 2016 HBO
    AIRBOSS 1997 ARNELL/BEDFORD 7/4 2014 DVD
    ANNA KARENINA 1997 WB 9/30 1998 HBO2
    BAD BABY 1997 SOWAR ENT 11/14 2013 EFAM
    BENT 1997 GOLDWYN 8/4 2001 SUND
    BEST MEN 1997 ORION 4/5 2010 ACTN
    BIG TWIST 1997 RIGHTEUS/STERLING 5/31 2013 DRA
    BOXER, THE (U.K.) 1997 UNI DANIEL DAY LEWIS 1/23 2008 MAX
    BRING ME THE HEAD OF MAXIE DAVIS (U.K.) 1997 TRINITY HOME ENT. 8/14 2007 DVD
    CHANGING HABITS 1997 INITIAL 1/24 1998 STZ
    CHASING AMY 1997 MIRAMAX 12/5 2004 ENC
    CITY OF INDUSTRY 1997 ORION 6/26 2013 ENC
    COLOR OF A BRISK AND LEAPING DAY 1997 ARTISTIC LICENSE 11/22 2008 IFC
    COMMANDMENTS 1997 GRAMERCY 8/25 1999 HBOP
    CONCEIVING AVA 1997 FOX LORBER 5/26 2003 DVD
    CRASH DIVE 1997 NEW CITY REL. 8/30 2010 DVD
    CYBER VENGEANCE 1997 AMSELL ENT. 12/10 2015 DVD
    DEADLY INSTINCTS (U.K.) 1997 ARDUSTRY HOME ENT. 2/4 2014 DVD
    DECONSTRUCTING HARRY 1997 FINE LINE 4/21 2009 IFC
    DIFFERENT STROKES: THE STORY OF JACK AND JILL AND JILL 1997 NEW CITY 3/23 1999 MMAX
    DISAPPEARANCE OF GARCIA LORCA 1997 TRIUMPH 12/18 2010 MYST
    EDUCATION OF LITTLE TREE (CAN.) 1997 PAR 4/14 2018 STZ
    EIGHTEENTH ANGEL 1997 RYSHER 2/12 2005 ACTN
    ELF WHO DIDN’T BELIEVE 1997 ASTRA CINEMA 11/18 2016 STZ
    END OF VIOLENCE 1997 MGM 8/21 2003 SUND
    EROTIC NOUNDARIES 1997 MIKKEN 7/23 1999 MMAX
    EVEREST (DOC.) 1997 11/30 2002 TAPE
    FOR ROSEANNA 1997 FL 7/16 1998 STZ
    FULL MONTY (U.K.) 1997 FOX SEARCHLIGHT 10/25 2004 MMAX
    HERCULES (AUSTRALIA) 1997 BURBANK ANIMATION 6/7 2013 DVD
    HISTORY OF AIR COMBAT: FIGHT FOR THE SKY (DOC.) 1997 MANDALAY GOME VIDEO 1/27 2016 DVD
    HOLLYWOOD SAFARI 1997 PM ENT. 2/13 2013 EFAM
    ICE STORM 1997 FOX SEARCHLIGHT 7/26 1999 HBOP
    IN THE COMPANY OF MEN 1997 SONY PICTURES CLASSICS 10/24 2000 TAPE
    INCOGNITO 1997 WB 12/4 2004 MAX
    INVADER, THE 1997 LIVE 8/12 2010 DVD
    KICKED IN THE HEAD 1997 OCTOBER 8/11 2010 LOVE
    KUNDUN 1997 TOUCHSTONE/BV 7/15 2002 TRUE
    LAST DAYS OF FRANKIE THE FLY 1997 NU IMAGE 8/11 1998 HBO
    LEPRECHAUN 4: IN SPACE 1997 TRIMARK 3/17 2011 SYFY
    LITTLE BIGFOOT 2: THE JOURNEY HOME 1997 PM ENT. 12/4 2011 DVD
    LIVING IN PERIL 1997 6/9 2014 DVD
    LOVE JONES 1997 NEW LINE 6/11 2005 LOVE
    MASTERMINDS 1997 COL 4/22 2004 MMAX
    MEN 1997 ARDUSTRY HOME ENT. 5/9 2014 DVD
    MEN CRY BULLETS 1997 PHAEDRA 12/30 2000 TAPE
    MEN WITH GUNS (CAN.) 1997 NORSTAR ENT. 8/21 2014 DVD
    NO WAY BACK 1997 2/20 2003 ENC
    ONLY THRILL 1997 LEGACY REL 3/8 2005 LOVE
    OPERATION DELTA FORCE 1997 NU IMAGE 11/15 2006 MAX
    PARADISE ROAD 1997 FOX SEARCHLIGHT 9/24 2001 MAX
    PARASITE, THE 1997 DML/GLOBAL ENT. 11/9 2011 DVD
    PHOTOGRAPHING FAIRIES 1997 POLYGRAM VIDEO 3/27 2006 SUND
    PICTURE PERFECT 1997 FOX 5/23 2012 MAX
    PLATO’S RUN 1997 NU IMAGE 1/11 2012 HBO
    PLUMP FICTION 1997 RHINO 4/18 2001 TAPE
    POISON IVY: THE NEW SEDUCTION 1997 NL/CINETEL 1/1 2006 MAX
    PRESSURE POINT 1997 ARTIST VIEWS ENT. 3/20 2013 DVD
    PRICE ABOVE RUBIES 1997 MIRAMAX 4/27 2006 MAX
    PRINCE VALIANT (IRE-U.K-GER) 1997 FOX VIDEO 8/6 2012 HBO
    PROPOSITION, THE 1997 SAC 1/15 1998 STZ
    REBIRTH OF MOTHRA PART 2 (JAP.) 1997 TRI 5/5 2007 ACTN
    ROBINSON CRUSOE 1997 MIRAMAX 2/21 2013 DVD
    SERPENT’S KISS (U.K.) 1997 NEW CITY 4/30 2016 DVD
    SONG OF HIAWATHA 1997 HALLMARK HOME ENT/ 7/8 2015 WEST
    SPACE TRAVELERS 1997 GOLDOREST 1/10 1999 HBO
    STEEL SHARKS 1997 ROYAL OAKS ENT. 4/14 2012 ACTN
    SUICIDE KINGS 1997 ARTISAN 2/28 2008 IFC
    SWEET HEREAFTER (CAN.) 1997 FL 5/19 2011 DRA
    TELLING LIES IN AMERICA 1997 BANNER 9/17 2001 IFC
    THOUSAND ACRES 1997 TOUCHSTONE / BV 6/8 2004 LOVE
    TILL THERE WAS YOU 1997 PAR 11/9 1998 HBOP
    TROJAN EDDIE (U.K. – IRE.) 1997 CASTLE HILL 8/21 2011 IFC
    TRUE LOVE (H.K.) 1997 KAM YEUNG 3/22 2012 DVD
    TWILIGHT OF THE NYMPH 1997 ATLANTIC ALLIANCE 5/1 2003 SUND
    TWO GIRLS AND A GUY 1997 FOX SEARCHLIGHT 4/8 2012 MAX
    VAMPIRE JOURNALS 1997 FULL MOON 6/24 2013 DVD
    VAN, THE (IRISH) 1997 FOX SEARCHLIGHT 11/18 1998 HBOP
    WALKING THUNDER 1997 KOAN/RATED GEE! 11/27 2012 DVD
    WILDE 1997 SONY PICTURES CLASSICS 12/21 2003 TRUE
    WINTER GUEST (U.K.) 1997 FL 7/17 2001 IFC

  4. I have seen 13 [ie 65%] of the Top 20 highest box office grossers in the above tables and many others besides Here in no particular order are my own Top 15 personal favourites among all of the movies listed. Titanic was spectacular but too long for my taste. Cogerson and IMDB have an identical 78% rating for it

    LA Confidential – making a star of Hollywood’s future top bad boy!
    Breakdown
    Absolute Power
    5th Element – HE is always highly entertaining!
    Alien Resurrection – Cogerson Rating [CR] 62%
    The Rainmaker-CR 78%
    Murder at 1600- CR 58%
    Conspiracy Theory-Made before Mad Max became Mad Mel!
    Scream 2
    Batman and Robin– another BRUCE that I admire! CR 26% – Ouch!
    Good Will Hunting
    Kiss the Girls-My very favourite of the year because of Morg. CR 49%
    Air Force One
    As Good as it Gets-CR 73%
    Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil-CR 60% **

    **That final one is very nostalgic as on my later 2007 trip to the US I visited Savannah where it was set.

    This is another comprehensive review a fair amount of which I shall have pleasure in filtering into my own databases. “Voted Up!”

    1. Hey Bob….thanks for checking out this latest yearly review. **That final one is very nostalgic as on my later 2007 trip to the US I visited Savannah where it was set. We have this in common. We toured that house on our honeymoon (August 2005). We took the entire family to Hilton Head, South Carolina and got married on the beach. A couple of days we went on our own without kids, parents and friends. One day we went to Savannah and did the tour as well. So we have seen the very same things…not too bad considering we leave on opposite side of a big ocean…lol.

      Of your favorites….I have seen them all. I did not like Midnight in the Garden of Good Evil….I found it disappointing, especially since I am a huge Cusack and Eastwood fan. Batman and Robin was a brutal watch…almost killed the Batman franchise. The Fifth Element is a household favorite….I liked having the top picture together. Love the scene with the blue singer.
      I am right there with you on Titanic. Though it does look awesome in 3D. People might not like Jimmy C…..but the man knows how to make a movie look good in 3D.

      As always your feedback is always welcomed and appreciated.

  5. I have seen 14 movies from 1997.

    The HIGHEST rated movie I have seen is Good Will Hunting.

    The Highest rated movie I have NOT seen is Titanic. I avoided that movie on purpose. I love the film A Night to Remember.

    The LOWEST movie I have seen is Out to Sea.

    Top 10 1997 Movies I Have Seen:

    Good Will Hunting
    L.A. Confidential
    As Good As It Gets
    Life is Beautiful

    Favourite 1997 Movies:

    The Full Monty
    L.A. Confidential
    Tomorrow Never Dies
    Good Will Hunting
    As Good As It Gets
    Mrs. Brown

    Other 1997 Movie I Have Seen:

    Life is Beautiful
    Wag the Dog
    In & Out
    Boogie Nights
    Austin Powers
    Dante’s Peak
    Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
    Out to Sea

    1. Hey Flora….well that stinks….I did a comment in response to your comment and now it is gone. Hmmmm….let me see if I can remember most of it. 14 is not too bad…especially for a year so close to our current year. I have seen 47 of the Top 50. 75 of the Top 100. Overall I have seen 128 of the movies…so I have not seen many of the movies 101 to the end (lots of movies on this one).

      Titanic….so you have not seen Titanic. It is a good movie….but I never bought the love story…which is a huge part of the movie. It looks amazing. You have seen 4 of the 5 Best Picture nominees…only missing out on Titanic. Good Will Hunting is one of WoC’s favorite movies. The only one of your favorites I have not seen would be Mrs. Brown. Life is Beautiful was awesome….but not one I want to re-visit…but one day I will check that one out again. Good to see a James Bond movie on your favorites list. Good feedback as always.

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