Wait what?? You're saying that movies from the . well you said 90's and I think you mean '90s - anyway, what??
Wow, you are just a true moron.

Scorsese said he wanted to have the feel of a Hitchcock film from the late fifties and Freddie Francis was one of the few cinematographers who knew how to achieve that look. He was also considered one of the greatest scope cinematographers and was renowned for his Black and White photography.

I was shocked that this was made in the 90s

You probably think that because Bobby D's character dresses like its the 1970s throughout the whole movie.

"Dated" means the movie would always look like the time it was released. Featuring things that obviously show when it took place (certain style cell phones, most technology, Pokemon Go, etc.)
I think all of the scenes with Cady were supposed to look like the era when he was locked up; 14 years before. His style of dress is mid-70's. His car, his odd mannerisms. While the Bowdens looked distinctly late-80's or very early-90's.

I disagree with your view on this but it is crazy how Goodfellas just never feels dated. I feel like that's why he uses Bob Richardson and Michael Balhaus as needed per type of film he's making. For stuff like The Departed and Goodfellas, he still uses his Personal Style of Cuts/Camerawork etc so Balhaus is usually the guy for those. When he gets colorful, like Casino and Shutter Island, Richardson is his(And pretty much anyone else's) choice. QT, Stone and Scorsese love the guy.

Freddie Francis had an amazing career! Absolutely fearless. From Feature Films to TV and even low budget Cult Cinema, awesome stuff.

You're correct. Scorsese wanted a late 50's early 60's color look hence he employed the Legendary Freddie Francis to photograph it.

Scorcese was obviously going for a period in this, though the film doesn't work that well for me.
Goodfellas is amazing - it never seems to date. It could have been made yesterday.

I agree, it feels really dated. I would say late 70's- early 80's. I was shocked Scorcese directed this. Most of his films are polished and newer looking. I am assuming it had to be intentional. Goodfellas which was made the year before looked less gritty and more like you would expect.

Hitchcock feel to the whole movie. Soundtrack included. May explain the whole look and feel. Or just explain how it looked and felt to me.

Wow, thanks for that comment. The only thing I liked about this movie was the music and it wasn't even original, lol.

The Zooms, Camera Angles and Music were all 50's-60's but with an Late 80's to Early 90's feel If that makes sense lol. It uses tricks of the trade but definitely pulled them up to date when the film was made. Scorsese did the same with 'Shutter Island' and again, it was phenomenal IMO. Very sharp stuff, showed people that Scorsese is a much BROADER filmmaker than he gets credit for.

Except for the musicwhich was copied directly from the original 1962 versionI thought this movie had a distinctly late-'80's/early-'90's feel to it.

An era when most movies actually started to look/sound/feel a lot better
I bet many aficionados of 70's films would disagree with that statement.
While I certainly agree that the direction and style of
Cape Fear
doesn't scream 90's, in my mind it still looks "fresher" than many other movies from the early 90's. But yes, considering this is a remake of a 60's classic, I'm sure someone like Scorsese wanted his version to have this old-school feel to it (all the homages to Hitchcock will confirm this).
Hey there, Johnny Boy, I hope you fry!

I noticed the same. Something about the color and music gave it a 70s look. The way it was edited too.