In light of the debate that the "Requiem For a Dream" thread started (and the fact that I'm always in search of more crap to put on my Netflix list) I want to know what people around here consider the most overrated and underrated films. You could also call it Over/Under-hyped, I guess. Which films people drool over make you want to gag, and which underappreciated gem do you wish more people knew about?
My picks:
Overrated- Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon-I've always taken heat for saying it, but I just didn't see what all the damn hooplah was about. I wasn't a fan of all the wire work in the fight scenes (I'm more of a Jackie Chan fan). And they took what could have been a pretty good, straight forward plot and let it get bogged down and pretensious, and threw in a stupid ending to boot.
Underrated- The Impostors-Starring all-time underrated actors Stanley Tucci and Oliver Platt, this movie is ing hilarious.
Don't think I'm quite awake enough to start putting together my own list, but good call on The Imposters. Perhaps it's a bit of an acquired taste, and it doesn't quite capture the timing of the 1930's screwball comedies that it's trying to emulate, but it is absolutely hilarious.
i agree with crouching tiger, it's not even close to wu peng (sp?)'s best work. i prefer tai chi 2 myelf. it is by no means a bad movie though. hero and fearless were also way better. i'll have to think more about my answers for overrated/underrated. but i will say guy ritchie is highly overrated, as is qt.
I'm not too sure about overrated movies, but I got a couple underrated...
1. Light it Up. Great movie, good story line. I really liked it and it really got ya towards the end.
2. Enemy at the Gates. One of my favorite war movies ever. Excellent story, good love story, good violence and intense action.
I'm always suprised that there aren't more movies about the Battle of Stalingrad. It might be hard to make a film where people would cheer on the Russians, but it was one of the most brutal battles in the entire war and the Russian victory there was a major turning point in WWII. I loved that movie except for the ney accent they gave Ron Perlman. I guess they felt like since all the other Russians were English actors they had to throw that in, but come on, the guy's from New York.
Napoleon Dynamite is extremely overrated.
it may be overrated, but i'd be hard pressed to name another movie that so perfectly captured what it felt like to be a dork in school and get picked on. plus it is extremely funny.
Underrated: A.I., Punch Drunk Love, Eyes Wide Shut, The Cable Guy, Dawn of the Dead (Original), The Beach
Overrated: When Harry Met Sally, American Beauty, Some Like It Hot, American History X, Fargo, Crash, The Breakfast Club
For the most part we have completely opposite opinions on most of those. American History X and Fargo are overrated? How? A ton of people haven't even seen those movies, they're not overhyped by any stretch. American History X is underrated if anything.
I completely agree about A.I. ... one of my all time favorite spielberg flicks. Superb acting. Jude Law is really good in it too. Extremely underrated imo. Really never had any desire to watch it at all then caught it on HBO a while back and really liked it.
American History X was a great movie and the only one I disagree with on your overrated list.
Underrated movies: Royal Tenenbaums, Best in Show, Waiting for Guffman, Clay Pigeons, Return to Paradise, Nobody's Fool, Trading Places, Open Range, American Wedding, The Big Lewbowski ( I know a lot of people like it, but it is seriously one of the funniest movies ever)
Overrated: Spiderman 1 & 2, The Ring, or just about any Horror Movie for that matter
Underrated: Ghost World
I can't think of anything else right now.
Overrated -- Braveheart; Gladiator, Lord of the Rings, American Beauty, Shaving Ryan's Privates, Ladder 49; too many to name
Underrated -- Armegeddon, Unforgiven (Even though it won Best Picture), Eight Men Out, True Romance, Donnie Darko, Requiem for a Dream, The Sandlot, Beavis and Butthead Do America
Punch Drunk Love was very good.
braveheart? ah, c'mon dude. one of the best movies ever man. to each their own i guess but wow. the movie is a in classic. gladiator was very good too. and to name the sandlot as underrated? that should be a crime. (i agree in regards to donnie darko though)Overrated -- Braveheart; Gladiator, Lord of the Rings, American Beauty, Shaving Ryan's Privates, Ladder 49; too many to name
Underrated -- Armegeddon, Unforgiven (Even though it won Best Picture), Eight Men Out, True Romance, Donnie Darko, Requiem for a Dream, The Sandlot, Beavis and Butthead Do America
Last edited by atxrocker; 06-29-2006 at 09:07 PM.
Underrated: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Garden State, Enemy at the Gates, Cable Guy (Don't get why everyone hates on this movie)
Overrated: anic, Gladiator, Unbreakable, The DaVinci Code ... there's a lot more, but I'm experiencing the after work brain fart.
And to say LotR is overrated - how? why?
Overrated: Gladiator, Armageddon, Pearl Harbor, anic, American Beauty (still enjoyed it), Brokeback Mountain
Underrated: Deep Impact, Midsummer Night's Dream, Love Actually
I totally agree with you on Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. That movie was freakin' fantastic.
Garden State, though? That movie received a lot of hype.
royal tenenbaums was awesome, don't know if it was underrated. life aquatic was a bit meh, but i enjoyed it. certainly the lesser of the wes anderson movies.
garden state was great until the horrible ending.
Lord of the Rings is just an overblown, overscored special effects Hollywood Blockbuster extravaganza. So dissapointing it was my precioussssss.
It is one of the funniest movies ever, IMO. It is in my personal top 5 or 10 funniest movies of all-time. It is one of those that you can watch 100 times, and still find new things to laugh at, it actually gets funnier the more you watch it. Gene Hackman was absolutely brilliant in that movie.
Really? I must have missed itI could never find it in a theatre to go see, ended up just waiting to buy it.
just curious, how would you rank the wes anderson movies? i'd probably go like this:
tenenbaums
rushmore
bottle rocket
life aquatic
very close between rushmore and bottle rocket.
Yes Garden State is overrated to me. People always talked about the soundtrack and the movie how great they were and then I watched it and didn't understand what the hype was all about.
And the Matrix movies were overhyped as well. First one was good I think but the rest just sucked.
I thought Primal Fear was a very good movie.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
