Critically Panned Movies That You Love

[statsman1982]

One of my favorite movies is Toys with Robin Williams, LL Cool J, and Joan Cusack. It also happens to be rated below average on IMDB, and has been almost universally panned by critics. This is one of the few instances that I can conjure up where I completely don't understand where the critics are coming from. I think it's a charming and unique movie that has some gorgeous cinematography and an interesting, almost allegorical, plot. The soundtrack perfectly fits the mood of the movie, and I absolutely love the closing sequence.

What are some of your favorite "terrible" movies?

[Argent Towers]

The Postman.

[statsman1982]

Originally Posted by Argent Towers

The Postman.

I have to agree with you there. I don't really understand what was supposed to be bad about it. It's not (IMHO) one of the best post-apocalyptic movies around, but certainly far from the worst.

[Superhal]

As an action/martial arts fan, I can pretty much count on one hand the movies I like that were critical successes, and 4 of them were made by Bruce Lee.

Lol, one of my favorites, Bloodsport, has a 35% at rottentomatoes.

[cerberus]

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/circle_of_iron/

[Argent Towers]

Originally Posted by statsman1982

I have to agree with you there. I don't really understand what was supposed to be bad about it. It's not (IMHO) one of the best post-apocalyptic movies around, but certainly far from the worst.

The romantic scenes and the soundtrack (including an acoustic cover by the community band of "Come and Get Your Love" which the entire town sings along to, including the "comeandgetyourlove comeandgetyourlove comeandgetyourlove now" part) were too much for a lot of people.

[Banquet Bear]

...obligatory Hudson Hawk post.

[statsman1982]

Originally Posted by Banquet Bear

...obligatory Hudson Hawk post.

I loved that one too!

I'm convinced that Dopers have much better taste than the critics...

[Koxinga]

The Island of Dr. Moreau, with Marlin Brando and Val Kilmer. Saw it in the theater three times, back when I was young and bored.

[fusoya]

I never understood why Armageddon gets crapped on so badly. Its a damn action movie - it does exactly what its SUPOSSED to do, and does it well, IMO.

[EvilTOJ]

I loved Howard The Duck when it first came out on video. Of course, that was 1986 and I was 10. I don't know what I'd think of it now though. Then again I was obsessed had a crush on Lea Thompson ever since BTTF.


OK I still do. Oh Lea why won't you return my calls?

[tumbleddown]

Joe Versus the Volcano

[FriarTed]

Did the critics even touch POOTIE TANG?

[aruvqan]

Originally Posted by statsman1982

I loved that one too!

I'm convinced that Dopers have much better taste than the critics...

and add me and mrAru ... it is a favorite popcorn flick when we are bored.

[aruvqan]

Originally Posted by tumbleddown

Joe Versus the Volcano

I have always wanted his luggage....

[even sven]

An old classic, Showgirls. I saw a brilliant piece of dark biting Sirkian satire about the star-is-born genre and the American dream. Critics saw something else entirely.

[RikWriter]

Originally Posted by tumbleddown

Joe Versus the Volcano

I came in here to post that.

[GuanoLad]

North.

[Gyrate]

I love Toys right up to the third act, where it goes a bit astray. I'd still watch it again though. Likewise, love Hudson Hawk whenever Andie MacWoodenDowel is not onscreen.

I really, really liked Super Mario Brothers. Completely, stupendously over-the-top fun.

[tim314]

Originally Posted by Superhal

Lol, one of my favorites, Bloodsport, has a 35% at rottentomatoes.

Bloodsport is a classic! I think sometimes reviewers ought to make more of an effort to judge the movie within the context of its genre. Nobody goes to Bloodsport expecting it to be Citizen Kane.

[RealityChuck]

Ishtar. The poster movie for bad films; it's actually a fairly entertaining comedy. I've seen far worse get raves. In any case, there seems to be a rediscovery of the film over the past few years and you'll find plenty of defenders.

Woody Allen's, A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy, which people seem to think is a comedy. When you realize it isn't -- it's a drama about the futility of relationships -- it's pretty damn good.

[Bryan Ekers]

I never understood the hate for Death to Smoochy, myself. It's hilarious.

[Hi Medlo]

I liked The Postman too, although not as much as the book.

[Zsofia]

I loved Toys as a teenager - I'll have to see it again. LL Cool J was awesome in it.

[Max Torque]

Cutthroat Island. Pirates, man! Swords! Cannons! Treasure! Wenches! Monkey! What's not to love?

[Freudian Slit]

Hannibal. I thought it was gorgeous to look at and creepy and fun in all the right doses. I never got why people hated it so.

[HelloKitty]

My SO loves critically panned movies. Among his favorites are:

Waterworld
The Postman
Cutthroat Island

As for me, I pretty much love any and all Bruce Willis movies, which means there's several critically panned ones on the list, such as:

The Jackal
Color of Night
The Last Boyscout
Striking Distance
Hudson Hawk (naturally!!)

[kenobi 65]

Van Helsing. Yeah, it's cheesy, but it's fun cheese. And Kate Beckinsale is hot.

[Indyellen]

Volcano. I know the science sucks, I know the odds of something like that happening is infinitesimal, but come on! Tommy Lee Jones - Lava - LA Burning...what's wrong with that?

[Dewey Finn]

Originally Posted by tumbleddown

Joe Versus the Volcano

I liked it too, although I don't think it was panned. Roger Ebert gave it 3.5 stars and it's at 59% on Rotten Tomatoes.

[gigi]

Originally Posted by Gyrate

Andie MacWoodenDowel

Ha! I can't believe I didn't think of this!



I love Heart Condition.

[joebuck20]

Bulletproof, one of Adam Sandler's great, underappreciated gems. I can fully understand why the critics hated it - it's juvenile, it's raunchy, it's un-PC in the extreme and it's so obvious that Sandler and Damon Wayans are really in love with each other here.
But, what can I say? All that appeals to my inner-12-year-old.
Also Moonraker. I thought it had some of the coolest gadgets and one-liners of the series. Yes, the Stars Wars stuff at the end was a bit much, but if it wasn't for that I'm convinced that this would rank, alongside The Spy Who Loved Me, as the best of the Roger Moore films.

[Mahaloth]

Originally Posted by kenobi 65

Van Helsing. Yeah, it's cheesy, but it's fun cheese. And Kate Beckinsale is hot.

Glad to see I'm not the only one. I really like Van Helsing, despite it's crazy plot coincidences and so forth.

I love the music in that movie as well. I wish there had been a sequel.


My wife and I really like Daredevil, though the director's cut is a lot worse. I think Daredevil is a great superhero movie. No idea why people hate it so.

[BomTek]

I loved The Whole Nine Yards, and I think it got something like 9% on RottenTomatoes. Of course you can see the plot "twists" coming, and of course Kevin Pollack's accent is silly, but it just seemed like the people making it had so much fun with it, and I'm attracted to movies like that. The sequel didn't appeal to me at all, though.

ETA: Don't know what I was thinking... it actually got 45%! I'll still avoid the sequel, I think. Also, I second Daredevil.

[melodyharmonius]

Empire Records and Road House. Anyone who really knows me will know when I'm quoting from these.

I also loved What Dreams May Come although Robin Williams downplayed that movie like it was so panned.

[teela brown]

I'll always watch Little Nicky and Tank Girl if they're on. Yeah, they're kind of stupid and silly, but I love them anyway.

[Rib Eye]

Xanadu

[TreacherousCretin]

Two by Joel & Ethan:

- Intolerable Cruelty

- The Ladykillers

I think they're hilarious.

[statsman1982]

Originally Posted by teela brown

I'll always watch Little Nicky and Tank Girl if they're on. Yeah, they're kind of stupid and silly, but I love them anyway.

Tank Girl is great. Lori Petty really was perfect for that role. And good looking too!

[statsman1982]

Originally Posted by HelloKitty

My SO loves critically panned movies. Among his favorites are:

Waterworld
The Postman
Cutthroat Island

As for me, I pretty much love any and all Bruce Willis movies, which means there's several critically panned ones on the list, such as:

The Jackal
Color of Night
The Last Boyscout
Striking Distance
Hudson Hawk (naturally!!)

The Jackal had me right from the title sequence. The song by Massive Attack (don't know the title) seemed to fit the mood of the movie.

If I recall, most critics really hated Richard Gere's Irish accent.

[D_Odds]

Originally Posted by Banquet Bear

...obligatory Hudson Hawk post.

I'm never early enough to these threads.

[statsman1982]

Here's one more that I just thought of: Last Action Hero. The concept of being able to enter the universe of one's favorite movie series has always fascinated me. And the second half (roughly) where the movie characters enter the "real" world and discover that the movie tropes they've gotten used to don't apply is also very cool. I don't think I'll ever be able to understand what's so bad about this one.

[pepperlandgirl]

Originally Posted by TreacherousCretin

Two by Joel & Ethan:

- Intolerable Cruelty

- The Ladykillers

I think they're hilarious.

Seconded on both counts.

I also second Showgirls, Death to Smoochy, and Road House. I first saw Showgirls a few months ago, expecting a bad movie like MST3k bad, or The Room bad. What I got instead was a clearly well made film that was actually pretty funny.

[HPL]

Originally Posted by fusoya

I never understood why Armageddon gets crapped on so badly. Its a damn action movie - it does exactly what its SUPOSSED to do, and does it well, IMO.

I hated it the first time I saw it, then I started thinking of it as a comedy and I loved it.

[HPL]

Originally Posted by joebuck20

Also Moonraker. I thought it had some of the coolest gadgets and one-liners of the series. Yes, the Stars Wars stuff at the end was a bit much, but if it wasn't for that I'm convinced that this would rank, alongside The Spy Who Loved Me, as the best of the Roger Moore films.

Seconded. Sure, they're completely over the top, but it's a really entertaining nonetheless.

[Patch]

Originally Posted by BomTek

I loved The Whole Nine Yards, and I think it got something like 9% on RottenTomatoes. Of course you can see the plot "twists" coming, and of course Kevin Pollack's accent is silly, but it just seemed like the people making it had so much fun with it, and I'm attracted to movies like that. The sequel didn't appeal to me at all, though.

ETA: Don't know what I was thinking... it actually got 45%! I'll still avoid the sequel, I think. Also, I second Daredevil.

I didn't know it had done that badly. My dentist loved that film.

[kenobi 65]

Originally Posted by Mahaloth

I love the music in that movie (Van Helsing) as well. I wish there had been a sequel.

Love the music, too. I often use it as background music for our D&D group.

Based on the ending, it sure seems like Sommers was setting up for a sequel, but the poor box-office showing undoubtedly killed that. Too bad...I agree, VH and Carl made a fun team.

[typoink]

Originally Posted by Bryan Ekers

I never understood the hate for Death to Smoochy, myself. It's hilarious.

Agreed! I love this movie. Perfect story of how good intentions can be corrupted.

I can understand the panning, though -- it's sort of a nonspecific parody (Ed Norton is basically playing Steve from "Blues Clues" AS Barny the Dinosaur...which is weird), and Catherine Keener, Robin Williams, and Steven Wright are all masters are rubbing people the wrong way.

[melodyharmonius]

Originally Posted by statsman1982

Tank Girl is great. Lori Petty really was perfect for that role. And good looking too!

She's also very funny and cool in real life.

I went to her Dragon*Con panel one year, and she walked in with 4 bottles of red wine (she had finally located the only walkable liquor store to the Con and didn't have time to go back to her room first.)

She drank the first one, didn't care for it, and offered it to someone in the crowd. Did the same with the second. And even though she was drinking - it was really just sipping that one glass - said she tried to drink one glass a day for her health.

That aside - I like Tank Girl better after hearing her share about her experiences as an actresses and now a writer/director/producer.

[Elendil's Heir]

Originally Posted by joebuck20

...
Also Moonraker. I thought it had some of the coolest gadgets and one-liners of the series. Yes, the Stars Wars stuff at the end was a bit much, but if it wasn't for that I'm convinced that this would rank, alongside The Spy Who Loved Me, as the best of the Roger Moore films.

I agree completely. Moonraker also has the hands-down coolest boat chase of the entire Bond series. I loved it when his speedboat was laying mines and blowing up the pursuing bad guys.

I really enjoyed The Hidden, a late-Eighties movie about an alien badguy hiding himself here on Earth; it got very mixed reviews.

I recently saw Amelia, the Earhart biopic starring Hillary Swank. I thought it was fine, but the reviews were pretty bad.