# Guilty Pleasures: Movies you like but are/were widely panned as a bad movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [December 11, 2021, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884 "2021-12-11T13:10:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884/181 "2021-12-15T12:06:37Z")
> [@smithsb](#): > > Drive Angry - A Nicolas Cage income movie. 48% RT 37% Audience. > > All you need to know - Rated R for strong brutal violence throughout, grisly images, some graphic sexual content, nudity and pervasive language. > > A romp from Hell. > > Also thought the 2nd lead was Christopher Walken, but it’s William Fichtner. Very similar. Fichtner really raises the quality of the film on his own. Cage just chews the scenery in the way only he can, the plot is mindless violent dreck, and the female lead is basically just there to be rescued. But it does kind of revel in its cheesiness. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884/182 "2021-12-15T12:20:46Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > Can’t believe that nobody has mentioned “The Postman” yet. I think the big problem with _The Postman_ is that it wasn’t as good as the book, which annoyed the book fans, and it was just another post-apocalypse film for everyone else, and at that time, people had gotten burned out on that. On its own merits, though, it’s pretty good. Maybe not _The Road Warrior_ good, but better than _Waterworld_ good. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884/183 "2021-12-15T14:45:40Z")
My suggestion for this thread is _[The Prophecy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prophecy)_, with Christopher Walken, Eric Stoltz, Viggo Mortensen, etc. Rotten Tomatoes has it at 43%. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884/184 "2021-12-15T15:22:27Z")
43% ?!? I’ve always liked this film, especially the dialogue. Many quotable moments. I had no idea that it was panned. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884/185 "2021-12-15T16:22:48Z")
I think it’s called Love you to Death with Tracy Ullman ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884/186 "2021-12-15T18:12:22Z")
> [@Skunkdog](#): > > The latter film had Ryan Reynolds, Jeff Bridges, Mary Louise Parker, and Kevin Bacon in the cast. The special effects were pretty terrible, but the story was fun (though Jeff Bridges phoned in a weak-tea copy of his Rooster Cogburn character from _True Grit_ ) I own RIPD, I find it great as a popcorn flick [mindless entertainment, no deep inner meaning, can easily play in the background] I agree about the weak Rooster Cogburn copy, but overall entertaining. I sort of put it in the same category as RED and RED2. > [@bmoak1](#): > > My usual go-to entry here is Ken Russel’s Lair of the White Worm. Love the film, like the worm song. Very different from the original Bran Stoker book =) > [@Horatius](#): > > I think the big problem with _The Postman_ is that it wasn’t as good as the book, which annoyed the book fans, and it was just another post-apocalypse film for everyone else, and at that time, people had gotten burned out on that. On its own merits, though, it’s pretty good. Maybe not _The Road Warrior_ good, but better than _Waterworld_ good. Agreed. I di d like the book better, but overall a decent watch if I don’t have anything better to do. Waterworld could have been so much better - I would like a little backstory to stuff like that - go into why the world is all water, how people are surviving … mrAru and I once debated how one would have to change one’s diet to be able to live on what one could grow on a series of agricultural barges, how one would get potable water and water to add to digested poop/urine/food scraps to fertilize/water the plants needed to eat, how much and what kind of fishing is available. I actually referred to some of the Dope threads on food and nutrition [and we opted to go with potatoes - 1 acre can sustain a family of 4 as the main carb, it just gets sort of boring and one has to be judicious with the added foods for complete nutrition, vitamin completion and other micronutrients gets tricky] and I pointed out that radishes have a 20-25 day lifecycle so they are a decent source of microgreens/adult greens and bulbs for raw or cooked eating. Other veggies have differing lifecycles, so balancing out planting/harvesting and migrating to keep in the optimum temperature/insolation ranges would also need to be taken into account. Also sourcing seedstock =) ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884/187 "2021-12-15T20:38:24Z")
I believe cinema as an art form reached its apotheosis in 1985 with “Commando.” You have Arnold Schwarzenegger in peak physical form delivering killer one-liners. You have him dispatching the bad guys in creative ways (like using circular saw blades as throwing stars or impaling them with steam pipes). You have a villain with a secret island lair and played by a scenery chewing character actor, Dan Hedaya (aka Nick Tortelli). And you have a henchman who looks like Freddy Mercury and romps around in chainmail. Oh, and also tons of shit blowing up real good. What’s not to love about this movie? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884/188 "2021-12-15T21:55:06Z")
^ You forgot Rae Dawn “These guys eat too much red meat!” Chong and Duran Duran Power Station. ---
**Author:** ![Skunkdog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c2a13f/32.png) [@Skunkdog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skunkdog)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884/189 "2021-12-15T22:34:19Z")
_Robocop 3_ gets no love, but I adore this film. Rip Torn, CCH Pounder, Stephen Root, and Jill Hennessy are in the cast. Robocop gets a jetpack. There is not one, but TWO, robot samurais. Are you not entertained? ---
**Author:** ![Yodalicious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yodalicious/32/8195_2.png) [@Yodalicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yodalicious)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884/190 "2021-12-15T22:36:05Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > My other film of note in the category is The Shadow (1994). It suffers from being really tonally uneven, 90% of the time it is almost too self-aware of being a cheesy movie, but I still love the visuals and enjoy the soundtrack. I probably watch it at least twice a year still. The Shadow is the first movie that came to mind. I’m a big fan. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884/191 "2021-12-15T22:39:42Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > I believe cinema as an art form reached its apotheosis in 1985 with “Commando.” I also love Commando, but it’s pretty well rated on Rotten Tomatoes (69%). ---
**Author:** ![Skunkdog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c2a13f/32.png) [@Skunkdog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skunkdog)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884/192 "2021-12-15T22:48:01Z")
Yes! It’s called"I Love You to Death" (1990) with a terrific cast (Tracy Ullman, Kevin Kline, William Hurt, River Phoenix, Joan Plowright and Keanu Reeves). Owned it on VHS and almost wore it out. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884/193 "2021-12-15T23:28:01Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > My suggestion for this thread is _[The Prophecy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prophecy)_ , with Christopher Walken, Eric Stoltz, Viggo Mortensen, etc. Rotten Tomatoes has it at 43%. I also love the Prophecy (enough to have the DVD) and really enjoy the soundtrack, which sadly cannot be found for sale. My only excuse for the low ratings is that the existence (and unabashed crappiness) of its many, many sequels have by the wiles of karma, retroactively removed many positive ratings of the original. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2021, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884/194 "2021-12-15T23:33:13Z")
The Wikipedia article mentioned that it’s a “cult film” so perhaps it received crappy reviews on release but people’s impressions of it improved over time? I think that may be true of some other movies listed here. ---
**Author:** ![TimfromNapa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@TimfromNapa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimfromNapa)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884/195 "2021-12-17T20:16:28Z")
I enjoyed Rocketman and not just because ofJennifer Connelly. Also loved Kung Pao! Enter the Fist. That one is a total scream, start to finish. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884/196 "2021-12-17T20:21:14Z")
> [@TimfromNapa](#): > > I enjoyed Rocketman and not just because ofJennifer Connelly. The Rocketeer? Which really is a terrific movie. Generally positive reviews but didn’t resonate with audiences. Rocketman is a very, very different movie ---
**Author:** ![TimfromNapa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@TimfromNapa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimfromNapa)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884/197 "2021-12-17T20:40:44Z")
Ooops, I meant The Rocketeer. I’ll have to look up Rocketman. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884/198 "2021-12-17T20:45:13Z")
I preferred the version of “Prophesy” that had Talia Shire vs. a mutant bear. ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884/199 "2021-12-17T22:24:52Z")
I am not a huge fan of fart jokes, but Rocketman (1997) had one of the best fart jokes ever made in cinema. My wife and I use, “I, I, I, I ran into Gary” every time we are late for something. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884/200 "2021-12-17T22:29:04Z")
I read that as mutant beer [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884.md?page=11)