"That was the year that was..."
Pondering what Hollywood brought us at the movies in 1998

by Dan Wooding of ASSIST Communications &
by Dr. Ted Baehr of Movieguide

Dr. Baehr says:

• 1998 was the year that God parted the Red Sea again - in THE PRINCE OF EGYPT.
• 1998 was the year that some great Western stars rode off into the sunset to meet their beloved Savior - Bob "Tex" Allen, Roy Rogers and Gene Autry.
• 1998 was the year that God starred in THE PRINCE OF EGYPT, LES MISERABLES, SIMON BIRCH, MADELINE, and WIDE AWAKE, and then solved the plot problem in THE TRUMAN SHOW.
• 1998 was the year of great theology in movies.
• 1998 was the year that movies came in pairs: two rocks in space, two World War II battles and two sets of bugs.
• 1998 was the year of the baby kaboom.
• 1998 was the year of PaxTV.
• 1998 was the year of another excellent LES MISERABLES.
• 1998 was the year of a great green monster lost in a great big city.
• 1998 was the year that Mary charmed America with foul deceit.
• 1998 was the year that proved that LETHAL WEAPONs are still lethal at the box office.
• 1998 was the year Adam Sandler joined the big boys' salary bracket through little boy humor.
• 1998 was the year Tom Hanks simultaneously made people cry and laugh in SAVING PRIVATE RYAN and YOU'VE GOT MAIL.
• 1998 was the year the little screen jumped to the big screen again with THE X-FILES, RUGRATS and LOST IN SPACE.
• 1998 was the year Hollywood tried to makeover the master of mystery and suspense, Alfred Hitchcock, with A PERFECT MURDER and PSYCHO.
• 1998 was the year BELOVED wasn't beloved.
• 1998 was the year many people chose not to MEET JOE BLACK, the HOLY MAN or any other New Age guru for that matter.
• 1998 was the year of one too many CHUCKY movies.
• 1998 was the year National Socialists took another fall in SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, APT PUPIL and AMERICAN HISTORY X, although they may have survived elsewhere.
• 1998 was the year that showed those guys at SOUTH PARK don't know how to make good movies.
• 1998 was the year of real romance in EVER AFTER, real heroes in THE MASK OF ZORRO and real discretion in THE HORSE WHISPERER.
• 1998 was the year that DreamWorks successfully challenged Disney animation.
• 1998 was the year that a great Queen was portrayed as a weak woman in ELIZABETH, and Shakespeare became Rosenkrantz in love.
• 1998 was the year that revisionist history got color in PLEASANTVILLE.
• 1998 was the year of the pedophile reaching the big screen in HAPPINESS & LOLITA.
• 1998 was the year Hollywood rebuked divorce in DEEP IMPACT and THE PARENT TRAP.
• 1998 was the year LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL.