# IMDb Top 250 movies you hate **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 25, 2008, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imdb-top-250-movies-you-hate/457741 "2008-07-25T15:40:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imdb-top-250-movies-you-hate/457741/1 "2008-07-25T15:40:51Z")
[#1, yeah, I could post the same topic on their board, but I hate the board format they use and the generally low level of discourse over there. #2 I am just using their list as a starting point, a listing of the best of the best-I could have easily used that of some other site.] [IMDb Top 250](http://www.imdb.com/chart/top) My choices: The two **Kill Bill** movies. I guess I am not the target audience for these (I rarely watch kung fu movies), but the characters are thin, the plot is contrived, the heroine unsympathetic (yes I am well aware of her motivations), and the villian unconvincing. Didn’t move me at all, and the mook slaughter at the end of the first film I found laughable (perhaps that was the intent). There have been much better and more nuanced revenge movies than this one. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imdb-top-250-movies-you-hate/457741/2 "2008-07-25T15:44:57Z")
_Cidade de Deus_ a.k.a. _City of God_. It was worse than bad, it was a cinematic Dementor. I hated that movie so much, I can’t even imagine enjoying the company of someone who liked it. Edit: Imagine my surprise to go back and re-read what I said about it at the time: > [@](#): > > Being based on a true story, having lots of non-actors, making some very imaginative choices in cinematography, and so forth, this film really throws a lot of stuff at you, and it is impressive in its ability to keep a great many plates spinning in the air (although to tell the truth, if the narrator had said “but it’s not time to tell So-and-so’s story yet” just one more time, I would have screamed). > > Unfortunately, the next day when you look back on the experience, you realize that all you really got was a couple of hours worth of just another gangland storyline with a little too much Guy-Ritchie-influenced camera work and more than a few this-will-get-them-talking shock cinema moments. > > 6 out of 10. Worth seeing, probably not worth recommending. My opinion of this film has aged like wine … into vinegar. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imdb-top-250-movies-you-hate/457741/3 "2008-07-25T15:55:05Z")
Of those that I’ve seen (which is at least 200 of them), Stalker is the only film I ever walked out on. Singin’ in the Rain is dreadful. There’s quite a few mehs in there, but overall, it’s a surprisingly good list ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imdb-top-250-movies-you-hate/457741/4 "2008-07-25T15:55:41Z")
Although I would argue against several of the superhero films that litter the top 250 (OTOH, _The Incredibles_ is richly deserving), I don’t find one I really personally dislike until #53 (_Forrest Gump_), and no others until all the way down at #172 (_Gone With the Wind_). Even there, I can at least credit them as technical achievements, I just find them shallow and banal. ---
**Author:** ![A\_qui\_profite\_le\_crime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@A\_qui\_profite\_le\_crime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_qui_profite_le_crime)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imdb-top-250-movies-you-hate/457741/5 "2008-07-25T17:00:01Z")
Donnie Darko. This movie just didn’t do anything for me. I was bored throughout. I read afterward that you need multiple viewings or whatnot in order to fully appreciate it. No thanks. I hated it the first time, I’m not going to waste 2 more hours in order to hate it a bit less. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imdb-top-250-movies-you-hate/457741/6 "2008-07-25T17:29:50Z")
The 10 Worst Movies in the Top 250: #39 - _Léon_ #53 - _Forrest Gump_ #68 - _Terminator 2: Judgment Day_ #83 - _Life is Beautiful_ #101 - _Braveheart_ #109 - _Return of the Jedi_ #121 - _The Green Mile_ #127 - _Kill Bill Vol. I_ #230 - _American Gangster_ #244 - _Arsenic and Old Lace_ Though Dishonorable Mentions go to Scorsese, Kubrick and Hitchcock for almost making the cut (with _Casino, Full Metal Jacket_ and _Dial M for Murder_, respectively). ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imdb-top-250-movies-you-hate/457741/7 "2008-07-25T17:45:35Z")
**American Beauty** - I was 18 when it came out and it was probably the best movie I had seen up to that point in my life. Re-watched it again a couple years later and it was _meh_. Rewatched it a couple years after that and it stunk up the room with its ham-handedness. **Finding Nemo** - Just not a good movie at all and good candidate for most overrated movie in history. Once and for all killed my trust of people who say, “it’s good for kids AND adults!” about movies. **The Incredibles** - Better than Finding Nemo. Actually not a bad movie at all if it existed in a vacuum. So overrated, though, it deserves honorable mention. **Crash** - Every bit as ham-handed as American Beauty but I was old enough to realize it the first time around. Truly a bad movie and the worst Best Picture winner I know of by far. Tons and tons of misplaced, overrated, and mediocre films on that list, but I was surprised that only 4 garnered a mention as films I “hate” (and really only 3.) ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Call_Me_Shirley)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imdb-top-250-movies-you-hate/457741/8 "2008-07-25T19:00:36Z")
Movies that don’t belong: Green Mile- stupid from start to finish Harvey- it was like a Three’s Company episode without the sexual overtones Die Hard- no way it should make this list Singin’ in the Rain- unwatchable Movies in the wrong place Dark Knight- are they kidding? Princess Bride- should be much higher Raiders- a good movie, but not top 20 material. Top 200, maybe. Gone with the Wind- I know it has to be on the list because it’s groundbreaking blah blah blah… actually I think the fact that it was so groundbreaking says more about other movies of the time than it says about GWTW. One of the worst movies I have ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imdb-top-250-movies-you-hate/457741/9 "2008-07-25T19:13:04Z")
Forrest Gump and any references to it should be destroyed, even nuked from orbit. On the flip side, I’m happy to see The English Patient didn’t make the cut. I know it’s sacrilege, but Psycho and Casablanca both look corny to me. However, I’m happy to defer to the styles of the times they were created in. ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imdb-top-250-movies-you-hate/457741/10 "2008-07-25T19:45:21Z")
I didn’t hate \*\*Fight Club \*\* but I can’t see it anywhere near the top 250. I did pretty much hate **Seven**. (Maybe it’s a Fincher thing?) **American Beauty**? Terrible film. \*\*The Departed \*\* comes in at 44. The original ( **Infernal Affairs** ) was so much better so it should at least be in the top 44, right?. Does not compute. I like most of the Miyazaki I’ve seen, but \*\*Princess Mononoke \*\* was one of his weaker efforts. Love Eastwood, but \*\*Million Dollar Baby \*\* was not a great film. I could name 10 other Eastwood films better than this with one hand tied behind my back. I never saw **V for Vendetta** , but I never got the impression that this was a “good” movie and yet it is in the top 250 of all time? There does seem to be quite a few comic book movies in the list. Most of the others I’ve seen I don’t have a big issue with, although my ranking might differ by a 100 or so in either direction. ---
**Author:** ![Windwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@Windwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windwalker)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imdb-top-250-movies-you-hate/457741/11 "2008-07-25T19:49:38Z")
[QUOTE=KneadToKnow] _Cidade de Deus_ a.k.a. _City of God_. It was worse than bad, it was a cinematic Dementor. I hated that movie so much, I can’t even imagine enjoying the company of someone who liked it. [/QUOTE] This just makes me sad. I don’t think I’ve heard anyone really disparage the film until now. About Miyazaki movies, I find Princess Mononoke to be his crowning achievement (heads and shoulders above everything else he’s done), so I agree with the IMDB placement. As for the OP, I’ll throw out #115: The Wizard of Oz I guess I just don’t like this type of movie, but I just found most of it incredibly annoying. It’s important for the history of cinema, sure, but it’s unwatchable now. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imdb-top-250-movies-you-hate/457741/12 "2008-07-25T20:22:36Z")
I thought this thread was about IMDb Top 250 movies we _hate_, but if we’re going to get into too high and should be higher . . . I agree The Dark Knight at #1 is a joke. Good movie but it is not great cinema. I realize it will fall as the weeks pass but the fact that it was able to make it there at all is a strike against the list. I would actually defend Die Hard being on the list because the modern action genre should be represented (even though I’m personally not much of a fan), and what better film to represent it? Stand By Me should be higher Citizen Kane should be higher Ed Wood should be higher The mind boggles at the junk between these movies and the Dark friggin’ Knight at number 1. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imdb-top-250-movies-you-hate/457741/13 "2008-07-25T20:32:46Z")
Of the ones I’ve seen, I didn’t get to one that made me roll my eyes until _The Graduate_, which I have always found eye-rollingly overrated. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imdb-top-250-movies-you-hate/457741/14 "2008-07-25T20:37:11Z")
Would anyone care to explain the vitriol for _Forrest Gump_? I can see the argument for it not being on some “greatest movies of all time” list, but to actually HATE it? Really? I found it touching in it’s simplistic portrayal of examples of the human experience. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imdb-top-250-movies-you-hate/457741/15 "2008-07-25T20:42:17Z")
1. **The Matrix**. You gotta be kidding me. The good visuals didn’t make up for the ridiculous, half-baked junior high philosophy. Higher than **Taxi Driver** and **Lawrence of Arabia**? Absolutely absurd. 2. **M**. Maybe it was me, but I just don’t get the fascination with this one. There wasn’t much characterization to draw me in, and far too much melodrama. 3. **Gladiator** , meh. Again, good visuals, but the script drove me nuts. I kept hearing the same phrase over and over from different characters. “Rome is a republic.” “Rome is the mob.” “Rome is the light.” Yes, thank you, you’ve driven the point that the movie is about Rome well into the ground, now please move on. 4. **Heat**. I expect I’ll get some flak over this one. I was not a fan. Frankly, the movie bored me. I realized after the first seventeen hours or so that I didn’t know any character’s names yet. And it wasn’t my fault; as best I could recall, the movie hadn’t mentioned 'em. Well, if the movie didn’t care enough to tell me who they were, I didn’t care about anyone or anything that happened, because I wasn’t given a reason to. I actually said at one point, “Where are we, and why should I care?” in the theater. It was a dollar theater, and I still felt cheated. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imdb-top-250-movies-you-hate/457741/16 "2008-07-25T21:01:40Z")
Wait, you thought Heat was boring and you liked _Taxi Driver?!_ I know a guy who watched that movie in 1983, he’s _still_ in a coma. ---
**Author:** ![Key\_Lime\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/48db29/32.png) [@Key\_Lime\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Key_Lime_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imdb-top-250-movies-you-hate/457741/17 "2008-07-25T22:33:07Z")
I’ll just phrase it as my opinion, not a grand pronouncement: I hated **Magnolia**. (at least the first two hours - that was all I could stand) ---
**Author:** ![Rack-a-Bones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rack-a-Bones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rack-a-Bones)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imdb-top-250-movies-you-hate/457741/18 "2008-07-25T22:54:48Z")
This is just the top 250 most liked by IMDB users who bothered to login and rate a movie. The people reading IMDB are probably predominantly younger people and though I have no evidence, industry types trying to get their names or movies placed there. I’m sure the list from [RottenTomato.com](http://RottenTomato.com) would be much different. A movie I can’t believe is not on the list: Titanic So to play along: Goodfellas? WALL-E? Bourne Ultimatum? and many more Good movies for their time and genre but top 250? And to add movies I don’t understand how they were so popular: Crumb Muholland Dr Vanilla Sky Eyes Wide Shut ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imdb-top-250-movies-you-hate/457741/19 "2008-07-25T23:09:29Z")
_Titanic_ was weird in that everybody saw it, but apart from the fanatics who went to see it every night for weeks on end, very few people admitted to actually liking it. For the record I didn’t think it was horrible (nor did I think it was great), but its popularity led to some intense backlash. Lots of people claim to _hate hate HATE_ that movie. I suspect the are the types who hate anything popular or successful. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imdb-top-250-movies-you-hate/457741/20 "2008-07-25T23:26:55Z")
[QUOTE=ArchiveGuy] The 10 Worst Movies in the Top 250: #39 - _Léon_ #53 - _Forrest Gump_ #68 - _Terminator 2: Judgment Day_ #83 - _Life is Beautiful_ #101 - _Braveheart_ #109 - _Return of the Jedi_ #121 - _The Green Mile_ #127 - _Kill Bill Vol. I_ #230 - _American Gangster_ #244 - _Arsenic and Old Lace_ Though Dishonorable Mentions go to Scorsese, Kubrick and Hitchcock for almost making the cut (with _Casino, Full Metal Jacket_ and _Dial M for Murder_, respectively). [/QUOTE] My list would have been damn near identical, except I’d substitute Vol. 2 for Vol. 1 of _Kill Bill_. And switched out _Crash_ with _American Gangster_. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imdb-top-250-movies-you-hate/457741.md?page=2)