# 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:** 8
**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 13, 2021, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884/141 "2021-12-13T13:30:00Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > I can’t remember if it was in this movie, or in _Beowulf and Grendel_ , the Gerard Butler/Stellan Skarsgaard film, that the Geats watch a fiery dragon descend from a mountain toward Heorot in a river of flame; but when it arrives, they see it’s actually a band of men with torches. Another clever effect. Yeah, that was the 13th Warrior as well. “The Fire Worm”. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2021, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884/142 "2021-12-13T13:31:32Z")
Neighbors ‘81 Belushi and Aykroyd switched roles shortly before shooting commenced. Playing against type (Belushi = quiet and timid; Aykroyd = loud and obnoxious) made the movie funny for me. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2021, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884/143 "2021-12-13T14:20:08Z")
**Captain Ron** , Kurt Russell and Martin Short. I thought it was a howl, others not so much. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2021, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884/144 "2021-12-13T15:09:44Z")
I’m not sure a rotten tomatoes of 26/59 is bad enough to make this list, but I count Suicide Squad (the first one, with Will Smith) as another great character movie that a lot of people had a hard time getting. In this case though, half the reason people don’t like it was that there were just too many characters for them to keep track of. Amazingly each of the many characters got a different personality and character story (including “stays just an asshole” Boomerang) that was, in all cases, reasonably well told, but there were still a lot of people and stories to keep track of. Lose the threads - hate the movie. Of course the _other_ half of why people didn’t like it was that it had the worst version of Joker yet seen on the silver screen, and possibly _any_ screen. Which certainly didn’t help, but it wasn’t enough to sink the movie for me. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2021, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884/145 "2021-12-13T16:29:04Z")
> [@Bonum\_Legatum](#): > > “UHF” with Al Yankovic - didn’t do well during the initial release. I understand the studio planned to use Al Yankovic in a series of films but dropped the idea due to the poor boxoffice of UHF. The saddest words of tongue or pen… Weirdly, I went to a showing of _UHF_ where Yankovic was one of the people on stage talking about the movie. It was at the Lincoln Theatre in Washington, D.C. on October 30, 2016. Besides Yankovic, Tig Notaro, Seaton Smith, Dave Hill, and Emo Philips (who was actually also in the film, unlike Notaro, Smith, and Hill). They did a strange sort of commentary on the movie. They sat in chairs at the front of the stage. Behind them the movie showed on a screen, and all of it was shown. However, the sound for the movie was turned off most of the time. Those five people talked almost all through the film and that was all you heard most of the time. A couple of times they decided to turn the sound of the movie up and listened to it, as did the audience, and then they turned the sound back down again. So I’ve seen _UHF_, although I haven’t listened to most of it. ---
**Author:** ![SurrenderDorothy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/surrenderdorothy/32/1221_2.png) [@SurrenderDorothy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SurrenderDorothy)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2021, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884/146 "2021-12-13T16:32:38Z")
_Coneheads_ was one of my favorites as a kid. I was too young to have any idea that it had ever been an SNL thing. I thought it was hilarious and watched it over and over again. It may not qualify for this thread because I haven’t watched it in years because I’m afraid if I watch it with a more adult perspective, I’ll see all the flaws. I’d rather maintain that little bit of ignorance and continue loving it. ---
**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 13, 2021, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884/147 "2021-12-13T16:35:16Z")
The Subway product placement was really obvious in that movie and kind of annoying. ---
**Author:** ![4d3fect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/4d3fect/32/9728_2.png) [@4d3fect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/4d3fect)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2021, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884/148 "2021-12-13T18:34:24Z")
Probably already covered, but here’s a short list: Vertical Limit Mission Impossible Rocketman(1997) Balls of Fury Chef LaLaLand Men At Work Excalibur Dirty Rotten Scoundrels Point Break Fun With Dick and Jane ((James carrey v.) Big Trouble in Little China Kung Pow! Enter the Fist ---
**Author:** ![4d3fect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/4d3fect/32/9728_2.png) [@4d3fect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/4d3fect)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2021, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884/149 "2021-12-13T18:37:30Z")
“Brain cloud” ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2021, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884/150 "2021-12-13T19:27:17Z")
I am not a DC fan. Most of their movies suck, in my not so exalted opinion. But both Suicide Squad and Wonder Woman had absolutely kick-ass female leads. Sure, Suicide Squad was supposed to be an ensemble lead by Will Smith, but Harley stole this movie and made it her own. ---
**Author:** ![CardboardBoxx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardboardboxx/32/7079_2.png) [@CardboardBoxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CardboardBoxx)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2021, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884/151 "2021-12-13T19:29:46Z")
> [@4d3fect](#): > > LaLaLand You mean the film that “won” the Best Picture Oscar? (It didn’t actually win, but when announced as the winner it wouldn’t have been a surprise to anybody except those who prepared the tickets.) ---
**Author:** ![4d3fect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/4d3fect/32/9728_2.png) [@4d3fect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/4d3fect)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2021, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884/152 "2021-12-13T19:30:56Z")
Is there more than one? -but yeah, that one. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2021, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884/153 "2021-12-13T19:31:13Z")
> [@4d3fect](#): > > LaLaLand I’m going to presume you don’t mean _La La Land_, which was very well rated by every group. That leaves two things called _LaLaLand_. One is a 2014 television miniseries. The other was a 2013 one-season television show. Which are you talking about? Come on, people, when you mention some movie or television show, check on IMDb to see if it’s necessary to be more specific than just giving the title. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2021, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884/154 "2021-12-13T19:31:56Z")
This reminds me of the movie “[1941](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1941_(film))” (if only because Belushi and Aykroyd were in it). I also liked that movie despite it getting bad reviews. It had some great moments. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2021, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884/155 "2021-12-13T19:33:24Z")
> [@4d3fect](#): > > Excalibur If you mean the 1981 movie, it was very well rated by every group. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e47774/32.png) [@epbrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2021, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884/156 "2021-12-13T19:38:13Z")
I remember Chain Reaction for an interview in a Chicago paper (it was being shot there) where the journalist asked Reeves if he could thought he could believably play a PhD candidate in nuclear physics. He was pretty clearly offended. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2021, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884/157 "2021-12-13T19:43:58Z")
I agree with a lot of the ones mentioned, but it’s not clear to me that they’re widely panned, or at least aren’t considered bad today: **Van Helsing** **Big Trouble in Little China** **Last American Hero** **The 13th Warrior** I agree about **Tomorrowland** , although I agree that it drags in places. This is a _Brad Bird_ film, people – The guy who made _The Iron Giant_ and _The Incredibles_. The scenes taking place when our two heroes, at different periods, “visit” Tomorrowland are priceless, as is the recreation of the 1964=5 World’s Fair “It’s a Small World” experience. I own a DVD of this, just so I can watch it. I’ll add **King Kong** (2005) – Peter Jackson’s film is a masterpiece, for which I am, for once, the ideal target audience. I loved **The 13th Warrior** , which is based on probably my favorite Michael Crichton book, _Eaters of the Dead_. It’s a wonderfully bizarre take on _Beowulf_. Why Omar Sharif complained about this as the movie that drove him from film I cannot understand – he’s been in movies that were much, much worse. This one featured an Arab as the hero, for cryin’ out loud, and was respectful of the character and his culture. I agree that it’s a much underrated movie. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2021, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884/158 "2021-12-13T20:00:33Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I agree with a lot of the ones mentioned, but it’s not clear to me that they’re widely panned, or at least aren’t considered bad today I don’t know why you clicked on my post to make this statement, since I don’t mention any of those movies in any post. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2021, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884/159 "2021-12-13T20:19:36Z")
Another one for me: [_Bunraku_.](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bunraku) A 49% Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes is pretty bad for a movie like this, and the 17% Tomatometer is really bad. But I _really_ enjoyed it. I even have it on DVD - I think it’s the last movie I bought on DVD, because it was so hard to find on streaming, and I really wanted to re-watch it. It’s _highly_ stylized, and I can see why it could come across as pretentious and nonsensical (especially the no-guns element of the premise), but I thought the style and presentation were really original and compelling, and the performances (except for Demi Moore) were exactly what they needed to be for a movie like this. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2021, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884/160 "2021-12-13T20:28:04Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Speaking of Kurt Russell I’ll add _Big Trouble in Little China_ . Waaay underrated movie. Son of a bitch must pay. Edit ti add: Wait a sec. BTILC has a 74% rating at Rotten Tomatoes, 82% with audiences. I don’t remember it being “widely panned” (as OP specifies). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guilty-pleasures-movies-you-like-but-are-were-widely-panned-as-a-bad-movie/955884.md?page=9)