# Mediocre films that stay with you **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 26, 2026, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mediocre-films-that-stay-with-you/1032577 "2026-08-26T15:56:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mediocre-films-that-stay-with-you/1032577/1 "2026-08-26T15:56:43Z")
I was thinking of the film [Vivarium](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivarium_(film))recently…I realized that film comes to mind a lot, and I’m not sure why. It’s got a pretty average IMDB and rotten tomatoes score, and I’d hesitate to recommend someone to watch it. But there’s something about the set up, the visual elements, and the creepy child, that somehow stuck in my mind. It feels sometimes like there’s a 2D spectrum of good/bad against memorable/forgettable. Examples of movies that had that effect on you? And yes, you’re free to say vivarium was completely forgettable, this is going to be very subjective I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mediocre-films-that-stay-with-you/1032577/2 "2026-08-26T16:01:45Z")
_The Final Countdown._ Definitely not great cinema, but I totally bought into the revenge fantasy aspect of it. Take that, Imperial Japan! “Splash the Zeros.” What a great moment. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mediocre-films-that-stay-with-you/1032577/3 "2026-08-26T16:14:49Z")
I’m kind of attached to the movie _A Stranger Among Us,_ where Melanie Griffith (I’m **not** a fan of hers) goes under cover in the Hasidic community in Brooklyn to catch a murderer. There’s just something about it that appeals to me. I’ve watched it multiple times. There is no accounting for taste. 🤷🏽‍♀️ ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mediocre-films-that-stay-with-you/1032577/4 "2026-08-26T16:32:42Z")
I have a strong nostalgic attachment to _The Last Unicorn,_ which is not really a good film but it’s so weirdly haunting and complex I can’t help feeling some kind of way. _“And where were you twenty years ago? Ten years ago? Where were you when I was new? When I was one of those innocent young maidens you always come to? How dare you! How dare you come to me now, when I am this!”_ -Molly Grue ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mediocre-films-that-stay-with-you/1032577/5 "2026-08-26T16:39:03Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > _The Final Countdown._ Definitely not great cinema, but I totally bought into the revenge fantasy aspect of it. Take that, Imperial Japan! > > “Splash the Zeros.” What a great moment. Beat me to it (on the first reply, too!). I saw this film at the base theater at Naval Air Station Alameda when it came out. The whole audience erupted in cheers at that line. I would suggest _Highlander_ (the original film from 1986). It’s high art compared to the infamously awful sequel, but is still “cheesy, bombastic, and absurd” in its own right, as one critic put it. But people love it, including me. Another one I’d suggest is _Army of Darkness_. It played on a regular rotation on my submarine. Cheesy, ridiculous, and over the top, but a lot of fun. “Alright you primitive screwheads, listen up! You see this? This… is my BOOMSTICK!” ---
**Author:** ![Thumper668](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thumper668/32/20803_2.png) [@Thumper668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thumper668)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mediocre-films-that-stay-with-you/1032577/6 "2026-08-26T16:54:11Z")
_Troy_. It’s not particularly good or laughably bad, but if it’s on TV I can’t _not_ watch it. I also have it in my digital collection to put on when I’m in a Sunday afternoon napping mood. It’s perfect for that because I’ve seen it so many times and it’s good and long. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mediocre-films-that-stay-with-you/1032577/7 "2026-08-26T16:57:03Z")
_Xanadu_ got terrible reviews, and is pretty much universally acknowledged to be not a very good movie. I loved it, and I’m not embarrassed to admit it. Cheese and all. Plus, it had great music. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mediocre-films-that-stay-with-you/1032577/8 "2026-08-26T16:58:05Z")
I think the Queen music elevates **Highlander** (plus cool if not realistic sword fights) - the same can be said about **Flash Gordon** – well that and Brian Blessed [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/BvoUhTC_irs/maxresdefault.jpg "Flash Gordon 1980 Brian Blessed DIVE!!!") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvoUhTC_irs) Brian ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mediocre-films-that-stay-with-you/1032577/9 "2026-08-26T16:58:52Z")
_Brainstorm_, the movie Natalie Wood was making when she died. It freaked me out. ---
**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:** [August 26, 2026, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mediocre-films-that-stay-with-you/1032577/10 "2026-08-26T16:59:55Z")
I cant forget Frankenhooker. But Thats My Boy with Adam Sandler was a trip! Starhops. Anger Management also with Sandler. ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mediocre-films-that-stay-with-you/1032577/11 "2026-08-26T17:00:00Z")
Put me down for _A Stranger Among Us_ as well. For my original contribution to this thread, I’d put _Stuart Saves His Family_ up for consideration. It’s not a good movie, by any means, not a laugh-a-minute series of gags, but surprisingly warmhearted, both a sendup of and a tribute to twelve-step programs. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mediocre-films-that-stay-with-you/1032577/12 "2026-08-26T17:04:58Z")
_The Pleasure of His Company_. Fred Astaire neither sings nor dances, but it is my favorite of his movies. (Well, technically, he does dance once. But it is not a Musical Number. It is simply two characters waltzing, and the camera focuses on their dialog, not their dance.) _Curse of the Fly_. Third in the Al Hedison/Vincent Price series, it does not have any of the actors from the first two movies. It was shot on a shoestring budget, and it shows, but I still remember it more vividly than I remember either of the first two. Another vote for _Xanadu_, _Highlander_, and _Flash Gordon_. I am not a fan of Adam Sandler at all, but _Little Nicky_ amuses me. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mediocre-films-that-stay-with-you/1032577/13 "2026-08-26T17:14:48Z")
I’m not sure it is mediocre, but it was a made for TV film that was so low budget the bad guys don’t speak any lines on camera (because you’d have to pay them more). I am referring to the David Janssen film Birds of Prey. Not the DC universe film, but a movie about a traffic helicopter pilot who witnesses a robbery, and decided he needs to intervene. It has some of the best helicopter flying (and it’s all real) but it’s also about aging and “growing up”. And the ending still gets me. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mediocre-films-that-stay-with-you/1032577/14 "2026-08-26T17:18:21Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > _Xanadu_ got terrible reviews, and is pretty much universally acknowledged to be not a very good movie. > > I loved it, and I’m not embarrassed to admit it. Cheese and all. Plus, it had great music. Olivia Newton-John singing Magic almost rescues that film. > [@N9IWP](#): > > the same can be said about **Flash Gordon** – well that and Brian Blessed Great fun film. I like “Last Man Standing” , a remake of a remake, but it stars Bruce Willis and Christopher Walken. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mediocre-films-that-stay-with-you/1032577/15 "2026-08-26T17:18:50Z")
Stay with us like emotionally or we just liked them? This came up in another thread but _Maximum Overdrive._ And not just because of the awesome AC/DC soundtrack. Also mentioned in another thread - the sci fi film _Screamers_, which suddenly seems prophetic given the rise of small cheap drones in warfare. I’d say the ending of Terminator 3. Up until that point the film was a largely forgettable cash-grab action sequel. ---
**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:** [August 26, 2026, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mediocre-films-that-stay-with-you/1032577/16 "2026-08-26T17:26:18Z")
A plus one for me on _The Last Unicorn_ from me as well (I have the DVD of course). That’s a wonderful moment you quote, but I’m always haunted by the end - an immortal having a heart is a tragedy in a world of mortals. Such things also made me fear and abhor Mommy Fortuna’s sequence in the film. What a toxic arrogance, pride, and vanity to step forward ever day and torment an immortal… For similar reasons, the scene with the skeleton, his dreams, desperation and anger lingered in my mind for years long before I got the DVD as well. The thread on Tim Curry passing also means I want to mention the flawed film _The Shadow_. I love it, in spite of it’s many flaws (the clash between honestly dark, pulp action, and over-comedic tones especially), but it’s got beautiful images (Shere Khan standing up from the tiled floor as his elaborate costuming slides across it always sticks with me), and the ending song “Original Sin” is so good I bought the soundtrack nearly for that alone! ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mediocre-films-that-stay-with-you/1032577/17 "2026-08-26T17:46:57Z")
I was sure _The Shadow_ was going to suck, compared to my mental images of the old radio show (I have such vivid memories of lying on my grandma’s floor listening to Orson Welles on her big old tube radio). But I loved it, and it’s stuck with me. Especially certain scenes like Lamont Cranston being able to “see” the bad guy’s lair (it’s a vacant lot to everyone else, but he concentrates and discovers that there’s a 10-story Devilishly Deco skyscraper behind the chain-link fence). I’m sure that part of its being imprinted on me is that that was a movie that my kids wanted to rent over and over. (_The Rocketeer_ is another. After 100 viewings I could probably play the whole movie in my head… and thoroughly enjoy it!) ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mediocre-films-that-stay-with-you/1032577/18 "2026-08-26T17:47:52Z")
Love Xanadu! As a teenager, I was obsessed with [Girls Just Want to Have Fun (1985) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089208/) Helen Hunt and Sarah Jessica Parker as teenage girls who just want to win a chance to dance on TV. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mediocre-films-that-stay-with-you/1032577/19 "2026-08-26T17:51:39Z")
See, I’d say _The Shadow_ is a pretty good film that got lost and underappreciated. Compared to the similar pulpy _The Phantom_, which is mediocre (but not bad) film that doesn’t stay with me. And _The Rocketeer_ is awesome! ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mediocre-films-that-stay-with-you/1032577/20 "2026-08-26T17:59:40Z")
> **[Lords of Chaos (film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lords_of_Chaos_(film))** > > Lords of Chaos is a 2018 biographical horror film directed and co-written by Jonas Åkerlund. Adapted from the 1998 book of the same name, the film is a fictionalized account of the early 1990s Norwegian black metal scene told from the perspective of musician Øystein "Euronymous" Aarseth who co-founded the influential group Mayhem. The film stars Rory Culkin as Euronymous, Emory Cohen as Varg Vikernes, Jack Kilmer as Per “Dead” Ohlin, and Sky Ferreira as Ann-Marit. The film premiered at the Sund... This film couldn’t decide whether it wanted to be a biopic of sorts or a horror movie and it was also somewhat loose with the facts and timeline. But some of the performances were compelling and it was an interesting window into a niche subculture that seems pretty unbelievable from the outside. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mediocre-films-that-stay-with-you/1032577.md?page=2)