1999 was probably one of the most fun and exciting years of my life! It’s been a quarter of a century since then, so I thought we could spend a few minutes looking back and reflecting as we acknowledge that milestone.
I think it can be hard to explain to folks who didn’t live through the millennium – or who are too young to remember it clearly – but the end of the ’90s really was a landmark event for many of us. 1999 was the final countdown to the biggest party of the century, and it also came along at an interesting point in history that really amplified many of those celebratory qualities. I’d like to take a look at all of that today, share some of my recollections of the year, and also look at a few films, games, and TV shows that debuted in or were running through 1999.
Let’s get one thing clear right off the bat, before the pedants jump in! Technically the year 2000 wasn’t the first year of either the 3rd millennium or the 21st Century – those honours fall to 2001. But for all intents and purposes, New Year’s Eve 1999 is when the switch happened for most of us: this was the moment the ’90s ended, the moment years began with a 2 instead of a 1, and the moment it felt like things had switched. At the time that seemed to annoy some nerds… but who cares, right? It’s party time!
1999 also coincided with a rare alignment of social, economic, political, and diplomatic positivity and stability – at least here in the UK. The end of “the Troubles” in Northern Ireland after decades, the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, a new and relatively popular government with a substantial governing majority, inflation at a low and stable level, the economy growing, British entertainment from books to bands taking the world by storm… the tail end of the ’90s was quite the time to be coming of age!
The end of the Cold War in particular led to one of history’s most infamously wrong assessments: Francis Fukuyama’s book The End of History and the Last Man. Fukuyama argued that the collapse of communism meant that liberal democracy had “won,” and that humanity had reached “the end of history.” As strange and silly as that argument may sound today, that was how many people felt at the time.
Technology was also in its ascendency – and the growth in computing power year on year seemed to be without end. A PC I bought in 1997 – for no small amount of money at the time – felt pretty out-of-date by 1999, struggling to run more up-to-date games and software that rapid advances in technology made possible. This was also the time of the switch from 2D to 3D graphics in games, and what I consider to be the real beginning of video games as a narrative art form that could rival film and television. Later in the year, to mark the anniversary of its release, we’ll take a look at one of the landmark games of this era that really encapsulated that feeling for me.
As dawn was breaking on New Year’s Day 1999, I remember being hit with a sense of “wow, this is really it!” It felt like there was about to be a 365-day-long buildup to the party of a lifetime – a party that would end when the year 2000 began! As Prince sang on his hit song 1999, which had been released seventeen years earlier: “2000 zero-zero, party’s over, oops, out of time!” Do you remember that song? It must’ve been played incessantly on the radio in 1999, and I’m sure it was the last song many folks heard at New Year’s Eve parties that year!
But before we reached the biggest party of the millennium, there was an entire year to get through! For me, this was a year of school, Saturday jobs, trips into town with friends, and being stuck at home with the family. I know that I’m looking back with rose-tinted glasses and over-romanticising some of those memories, because school in general wasn’t great for me, and my anxiety kept me on edge a lot of the time. But there were some highlights: I starred in a school play in the spring, then took a leading role in organising the end-of-term Christmas event for the first time. My elderly English teacher used to drag a bunch of us to church to perform a reading or two, but in ’99 I was given the task of organising it – choosing the music, the running order, and so on. It felt like a huge responsibility at the time – and I remember it being a lot of fun.
Photo Credit: James Cridland via Flickr; james.cridland.net, CC BY 2.0
In terms of media, I was doing pretty good in 1999! My parents had a VCR in the living room, and with a few blank tapes of my own, I was free to record and re-watch some of my favourite films and TV episodes. I was also able to rent videos – there was a local video rental place that had a selection of the latest films, and the local library service had also expanded into video for the first time. The library was actually a great place to find VHS tapes – it was cheaper than the rental shop at only £1 per video, and you got to keep them for an entire week! Toward the end of the ’90s, Star Trek even started popping up at the biggest library in the area.
I also had a PC, and although I was only running Windows 95, I was still able to play some pretty fun games. I would’ve certainly still been playing Age of Empires and The Rise of Rome expansion pack in 1999, and probably Actua Golf 2, as well. I got Midtown Madness in the summer, and I played that to death! Tearing up the streets of Chicago and getting chased by the police was so much fun.
But my PC was meant to be used for school and homework first and foremost – so my gaming platform of choice was a Nintendo 64. 1999 was the year of Donkey Kong 64, Fifa ’99, and Jet Force Gemini – as well as multiplayer offerings like the venerable Mario Kart 64 and Mario Party, which were great fun whenever I had people over and we could hang out together in the living room! Nintendo is one of the few companies these days to still regularly make couch co-op titles, with the focus of multiplayer games long ago having moved online. Again, this is the nostalgia talking: but I do miss the old days of playing games with a friend or two huddled around the TV!
1999 was the year that the Dreamcast launched in the UK – soon to be followed and overshadowed by the PlayStation 2. I wouldn’t get a Dreamcast until the following year, but it’s worth noting as this was also the year that Shenmue was released. To this day Shenmue is one of my favourite games of all-time, and it was the first game that I played that truly felt cinematic. The Dreamcast was a massive leap forward compared with my old Nintendo 64, which had already been an enormous jump from the old 2D world of the SNES just a few years earlier. The rate of technological change – which, as a teenager, I mostly experienced through the growing and evolving graphics of video games – was phenomenal during this era.
And I think that kind of encapsulates 1999 and the late ’90s in general: the rapid advancement of technology and the rapid uptake of technology. Prices continued to fall through the ’90s, making these things affordable. In 1990, my household didn’t have a computer, a games console, or a mobile phone. By 1999, we had two computers, two games consoles, and a mobile phone each for myself and my parents (my younger sister would get one a few years later).
That’s unprecedented, isn’t it? The level of change in technology and connectivity – I don’t think anything like it has happened before or since. It’s a trend that would continue into the 2000s and beyond – and depending where you are in the world it might’ve been a bit earlier or a bit later. But for me, at least, it feels like this period of great change is anchored around 1999 and the turn of the millennium.
Maybe that’s because it was my “coming-of-age” moment, and maybe everyone looks back on their late teens in a similar way. But I’m not so sure about that! If I compare 1999 with when my parents would’ve been in the same position in the early ’60s, I just don’t see the same kind of technological change. Societal changes, sure – the ’60s was the decade of the Beatles, the sexual revolution, and so on. But would they look back on, say, 1965 the same way as I look back on 1999? I doubt it.
This technological change came along at a time of optimism and hope. As the millennium approached, things really seemed to be looking up… and that’s a feeling which, looking back, I don’t think I’ve felt again in twenty-five years. Definitely not to the same degree. By the time we got to 9/11 and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, that sense of hope for a more peaceful future had faded. When the financial crash happened a few years later and austerity policies came in, it was entirely dead.
But let’s not end on such a depressing note, eh?
I’ve picked five films, five games, five TV shows, and five songs from 1999 that I think are worth your time, and I thought it could be fun to go through them together. The lists are not exhaustive (obviously) and are in no particular order. They’re just a few titles from this landmark year that I enjoyed – and kind of encapsulate the mood of the year for me.
Film #1:
Tarzan
Tarzan feels like an underappreciated gem from the Disney renaissance. A great soundtrack from Phil Collins contributed to making this Disneyfied take on the classic tale of the “wild man of the jungle” feel unique and special, and the film really packs an emotional punch. There are some adorable scenes between Tarzan and his adoptive family, as well as some great moments of humour, too. Tarzan can feel overlooked, sometimes – slipping into the cracks in between bigger releases that continue to see attention from Disney. But it’s a great film in its own right, and well worth a watch.
Film #2:
Deep Blue Sea
Genetically-engineered sharks? What could go wrong?! Everything, apparently, and this horror/disaster film shows us how. The premise is undeniably silly, but after sequels to Jaws had failed to recapture the fear factor of sharks, Deep Blue Sea demonstrated that there were still plenty of things to do with the ocean’s apex predators. Samuel L. Jackson is the standout performer, and the film is also an early project for producer Akiva Goldsman – known more recently for his work on the Star Trek franchise. A “guilty pleasure” type of film, perhaps… but it was a blast to watch at the cinema back in 1999!
Film #3:
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
The Phantom Menace isn’t my favourite Star Wars film, and that’s putting it mildly! But as someone who’d come to appreciate the Star Wars franchise in the ’90s, I was undeniably excited to watch it at the cinema for the first time. Getting tickets wasn’t easy, and the theatre was packed! The Phantom Menace may not have been my thing, but it successfully brought on board legions of new Star Wars fans and set the stage for the franchise’s continued expansion.
Film #4:
South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut
After the first season of South Park had proven to be a hit, creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker branched out and made a feature film. Bigger, Longer, and Uncut is typical South Park fare – it’s crude, rude, and tremendously funny. South Park still manages to stay fresh; recent episodes about the pandemic and the special Worldwide Privacy Tour have been great. But in many ways, the film still feels like the series’ high-water mark. Oh, and it had a great soundtrack!
Film #5:
The Matrix
The Matrix is excellent on so many levels! It’s a pioneering work of cinematography, with its innovative “bullet-time” being repeated – but never bettered – in many other works of media in the years since. Its sci-fi story of humans trapped in a pleasant but fake world dominated by machines rests atop a deep metaphor that I think many folks can find relatable. I certainly do. And who knows: maybe the machines were right. Maybe 1999 was the perfect time period for their digital world!
Song #1:
Sitting Down Here – Lene Marlin
This song’s gentle acoustic pop melody masks some pretty dark lyrics about following and spying on a love interest! But Sitting Down Here is pleasant to listen to, and I can remember buying the CD single after hearing it on the long-running music show Top of the Pops!
Song #2:
Ready to Run – The Dixie Chicks
Country music isn’t as popular here in the UK as it is in its native land, but I’ve always had a soft spot for the genre. The Dixie Chicks are one of the late ’90s/early ’00s most popular country acts, and I daresay many British people would have at least heard one or two of their songs. Their album Fly was released in ’99, and it was a great album. Ready to Run was the lead single from the album and it peaked at number two on the US country chart – as well as reaching a creditable 53rd place in the UK charts.
Song #3:
We’re Going To Ibiza! – Vengaboys
The Vengaboys, a Dutch electronic dance/club group, broke through to worldwide fame in 1999 thanks to their Party Album. By far the biggest hit was Boom Boom Boom Boom, but We’re Going To Ibiza! also topped the charts here in the UK. Sometimes it felt like you couldn’t turn on the radio without hearing the Vengaboys, but I didn’t mind! The up-tempo, happy songs were a ton of fun.
Song #4:
Livin’ La Vida Loca – Ricky Martin
Ricky Martin’s English-language debut topped the charts around the world, and in style! Livin’ La Vida Loca is just a hugely fun track, the kind that makes you want to get up and dance! I remember it being played at the Millennium Eve party I attended, and it was just a great song to let loose and dance to.
Song #5:
Bring It All Back – S Club 7
S Club 7’s first chart-topper, Bring It All Back kicked off the pop band’s career in mid-1999. It was also the theme song to their Miami 7 TV show, and it was a fun bubblegum pop song to dance to… even though it seemed incredibly cringeworthy in the friend groups I moved in in those days! Still, listening to S Club 7 in secret was possible – and a guilty pleasure at the time!
TV Show #1:
SpongeBob SquarePants
I had no idea that SpongeBob SquarePants was still running, but the Nickelodeon staple debuted in 1999 in the United States. I don’t think I encountered it until the first film in 2004, but I daresay I was dimly aware of it through its merchandise. As with the best of kids’ TV, SpongeBob has jokes and storylines that appeal to adults, too – which goes some way to explaining its ongoing popularity!
TV Show #2:
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Here in the UK, we were a season or two behind the USA when it came to Star Trek in the late ’90s – but I was thoroughly enjoying DS9′s Dominion War story arc. Captain Sisko is probably my favourite Star Trek captain, too, so there was a lot to love as DS9 continued its run, solidified its cast of secondary characters, and told some wonderful stories. Voyager was on the air, too, making it a great time to be a Trekkie!
TV Show #3:
Farscape
Cancelled before its time, Farscape was a brilliant work of sci-fi. Taking inspiration from Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, and more, this underappreciated television series was truly fantastic to watch. Some excellent puppets and prosthetics brought its world to life, and a truly engaging main character and main villain kept the series on track. The idea of an organic, living spaceship was also something new as human astronaut John Crichton found himself in a far-flung part of the galaxy.
TV Show #4:
Futurama
Another great sci-fi series – but with a completely different style and focus – Futurama was developed by Matt Groening of The Simpsons fame. As we were getting excited for the start of the 21st Century, Futurama shot forward in time by 1,000 years – with protagonist Fry emerging from his accidental cryogenic sleep in 2999! The show has plenty of humour and was inspired by some of my favourite sci-fi properties, and its first season in particular was a blast.
TV Show #5:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
In the UK, I think we were only up to Season 2 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer by 1999, but I was having a ton of fun with the show and its great cast of characters. A decidedly different take on the monster-of-the-week drama/horror format, Buffy brought vampires, werewolves, and other tropes of the horror genre to modern-day California, and the interplay between Buffy’s life as a regular high schooler and the secret world of vampire-hunting made for a really unique series.
Video Game #1:
Shenmue
We’ll talk more about Shenmue in December to mark its anniversary, but for now let me just say that this was a landmark game for me. At a time when I could’ve begun to drift away from gaming, Shenmue came along and showed me a glimpse of what video games of the future could be: cinematic, intense narrative experiences that could absolutely go toe-to-toe with films and TV programmes. Although it didn’t sell particularly well, Shenmue was a game light-years ahead of its time.
Video Game #2:
Midtown Madness
I have a longer piece about Midtown Madness that you can find by clicking or tapping here! But the tl;dr is this: the game was a ton of fun. It was the first racing game I played that let you roam around its open world, and getting into scrapes with the police and generally causing chaos on the streets of Chicago was a blast. There were cool vehicles to unlock, plenty of different modes to get stuck into, and a mountain of fun to be had… even if I was stuck trying to play it with a mouse and keyboard!
Video Game #3:
Donkey Kong 64
Unfairly maligned by some critics today, Donkey Kong 64 was one of my favourite N64 titles. Yes, there are a lot of things to collect – and collect-a-thons can be annoying, sometimes. But if you look past that, the game has a lot to offer with a variety of gameplay styles, mini-games, and character-specific objectives and levels that make for a wonderfully diverse title. DK’s first foray into the 3D world felt great in 1999.
Video Game #4:
Age of Empires and The Rise of Rome expansion pack
Released in 1997, Age of Empires was my first historical real-time strategy game. I’d played a bit of Command and Conquer prior to picking it up, but stepping back in time to control real-world civilisations was so much fun. There were some neat campaign missions, but where I had the most fun was playing deathmatches against a friend – once we’d figured out how to get a LAN up and running! To this day, teal-coloured Sumeria is my nemesis!
Video Game #5:
Star Trek: Hidden Evil
Hidden Evil is a pretty standard PC adventure game of its time… but as a Trekkie, getting any new story to sink my teeth into was great in 1999! Playing as a human raised by Vulcans was an interesting idea, and being able to use the Vulcan nerve pinch as an in-game attack felt innovative. Gameplay wasn’t anything to write home about, but the story was great – and the game brought in Patrick Stewart and Brent Spiner to voice their iconic characters. I still have my copy of the game on a shelf somewhere!
So that’s it.
Those are a few of the songs, films, games, and TV programmes that I enjoyed in and around 1999. All that was left to do was get ready for New Year’s Eve. During the day, 2000 Today rang in the millennium across the world, beginning in New Zealand and Australia and slowly working its way to the UK! That evening I attended a big party, celebrating the arrival of the year 2000 with friends, neighbours, and strangers – and a bit too much to drink! I even strutted my stuff on the dancefloor.
1999 was a great year – but also an interesting one, looking back. It was the end of an era in more ways than one, for the world but also for me personally. And it was a time where I felt hopeful and optimistic in a way that I just… don’t any more. Maybe that’s life events, ageing, and changing circumstances – or maybe 1999 really was a uniquely special point in time.
In any case, I hope this has been an interesting look back. Reminiscing and wallowing in these memories has been fun and occasionally bittersweet – but my recollections of 1999 are far more positive than negative as I look back on the year a quarter of a century later.
All properties discussed above are the copyright of their respective owner, publisher, distributor, etc. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.
Trekking with Dennis 