# Movies that were a lot better than you expected (SPOILERS LIKELY) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 11, 2011, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-a-lot-better-than-you-expected-spoilers-likely/602559 "2011-11-11T02:27:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![FlyByNight512](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/82dd89/32.png) [@FlyByNight512](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyByNight512)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2011, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-a-lot-better-than-you-expected-spoilers-likely/602559/81 "2011-11-25T07:46:47Z")
I’ve never been a huge fan of Tarantino. I can see why people think he’s fantastic, but I found his stuff to be trying too hard to be deep and gratuitously bloody in a way I didn’t enjoy. But I watched **Inglorious Basterds** anyway and had way, way more fun than I expected. I couldn’t exactly tell you why his other movies didn’t work for me and this one did, but there it is. ---
**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:** [November 25, 2011, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-a-lot-better-than-you-expected-spoilers-likely/602559/82 "2011-11-25T10:17:32Z")
> [@OntarioGal](#): > > For christmas last year my nephew gave me a boxed set of Mel Brooks movies. I’m a huge fan and have seen most of them, but two were new to me: To Be Or Not To Be, and The Twelve Chairs. > > I watched TBONTB first. WOW! No slapstick, no silly sexual innuendo, just an incredibly well written, seriously funny movie. Great plot, great acting, great entertainment. I liked \*To Be or Not To Be \*but were you aware that it was a remake of a 1942 film starring Jack Benny and Carole Lombard? It’s worth seeking it out for comparison. ---
**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:** [November 25, 2011, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-a-lot-better-than-you-expected-spoilers-likely/602559/83 "2011-11-25T13:20:09Z")
> [@OntarioGal](#): > > (oooo - my first post!) > > For christmas last year my nephew gave me a boxed set of Mel Brooks movies. I’m a huge fan and have seen most of them, but two were new to me: To Be Or Not To Be, and The Twelve Chairs. > > I watched TBONTB first. WOW! No slapstick, no silly sexual innuendo, just an incredibly well written, seriously funny movie. Great plot, great acting, great entertainment. > > Then I watched The 12 Chairs. O.M.G. I was completely blown away. The “quo vadis” scene (yes - Latin! In a Mel Brooks movie!) knocked my socks off. Brilliant dialog, impeccably executed. And a very young and luscious Frank Langella to boot. > > If you are a Mel Brooks fan - SEE THESE MOVIES! > > If you are not a Mel Brooks fan - SEE THESE MOVIES! These didn’t take me by surprise ( I saw To Be or Not to Be when it first came out, and – sacrilege, I know – I prefer Brooks’ version to the Lubitsch original. I saw \*The Twelve Chairs[/] a few years after it came out, and loved it. But I wholeheartedly endorse the last two lines above. What’s amazing is that these films rarely get played on TV, or promoted. I get _Robin Hood – Men in Tights_ on cable all the time, but I’ve never seen The Twelve Chairs broadcast at all. ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-a-lot-better-than-you-expected-spoilers-likely/602559/84 "2011-11-27T04:31:16Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > I watched the new **Get Smart** movie last night. I’d expected a dorky, painfully humorless attempt at cashing in on an old franchise. What I got was a surprisingly funny and decent-hearted comedy action movie with some fantastic cameos. And awesome soundtrack! ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-a-lot-better-than-you-expected-spoilers-likely/602559/85 "2011-11-27T22:44:00Z")
From the commercials, I expected X-Men First Class to be a steaming pile. Instead I actually quite enjoyed it. I thought Not Another Teen Movie would be really bad, instead it turned into a guilty pleasure favorite of mine. Loads better than many of the other tons of parody dreck from the same timeframe. ---
**Author:** ![OntarioGal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/919ad9/32.png) [@OntarioGal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OntarioGal)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-a-lot-better-than-you-expected-spoilers-likely/602559/86 "2011-11-28T19:40:17Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > I liked \*To Be or Not To Be \*but were you aware that it was a remake of a 1942 film starring Jack Benny and Carole Lombard? It’s worth seeking it out for comparison. I was not aware, but it would be interesting to see. Thx. ---
**Author:** ![Toxgoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Toxgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxgoddess)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-a-lot-better-than-you-expected-spoilers-likely/602559/87 "2011-12-01T03:45:19Z")
Agree with _Time After Time, Tremors, Enchanted_. I am kind of embarrassed to admit this but…_American Pie_ (the original). I expected it to be stupid, raunchy, offensive and funny in a lowest-common-demoninator way. It was…but not all of it. The storyline about the couple sadly breaking up and going their separate ways was surprisingly sensitive and affecting. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-a-lot-better-than-you-expected-spoilers-likely/602559/88 "2011-12-01T06:03:55Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Many complained about the grunts hack-kneed dialog, but I don’t think soldiers wax poetic too much in battle. [Hackneyed.](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hackneyed) ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-a-lot-better-than-you-expected-spoilers-likely/602559/89 "2011-12-01T15:01:26Z")
The Robert Downey version of _Sherlock Holmes_. From the previews I expected a half-ass modernization of Holmes with Downey putting on an English accent, give him some witty one-liners, add some modern f/x, and you got a throwaway summer flick. But between the immersive musical score and Guy Richie’s styling it became something really cool and edgy. I’m very much looking forward to the sequel. ---
**Author:** ![Pixel\_Dent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Pixel\_Dent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixel_Dent)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-a-lot-better-than-you-expected-spoilers-likely/602559/90 "2011-12-01T15:47:49Z")
Rango Expected yet another animated movie that my kids watched while I napped in the theatre. What I got was a funny parody of Chinatown mixed with spaghetti westerns. ---
**Author:** ![bertdw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b4bc9f/32.png) [@bertdw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bertdw)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-a-lot-better-than-you-expected-spoilers-likely/602559/91 "2011-12-01T19:23:21Z")
Apocalypto Wasn’t sure what to expect. Was surprised to to see a great movie with a lot of suspense, action and also a very visually beautiful movie. Great movie! ---
**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:** [December 1, 2011, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-a-lot-better-than-you-expected-spoilers-likely/602559/92 "2011-12-01T20:07:06Z")
**Kick-Ass.** Expected another fun super hero movie. Received the face-rocking of my life. The last time I had that much fun with gratuitous violence was **Kill Bill**. Oh, and while we’re at it, **Kill Bill.** I expected a standard action film. I did not expect a masterpiece. ---
**Author:** ![satoridt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@satoridt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/satoridt)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-a-lot-better-than-you-expected-spoilers-likely/602559/93 "2011-12-01T20:19:22Z")
I did not read this thread because I dont want to get spoilered, but SPEED RACER! I love this movie. I thought it would be garbage and it took a little while to grip me, but it is now one of my favorite movies. ---
**Author:** ![satoridt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@satoridt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/satoridt)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2011, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-a-lot-better-than-you-expected-spoilers-likely/602559/94 "2011-12-01T20:31:15Z")
> [@satoridt](#): > > I did not read this thread because I dont want to get spoilered, but **SPEED RACER**! > > I love this movie. I thought it would be garbage and it took a little while to grip me, but it is now one of my favorite movies. Wanted to add that I felt the same way about \*\*Kick-Ass \*\*and **Scott Pilgrim Versus the World**. While all three are very different movies, I kind of group them together in my head as just plain balls to the wall fun, original movies. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-a-lot-better-than-you-expected-spoilers-likely/602559/95 "2011-12-04T07:28:30Z")
I had my choice to see one of two movies in the theater during the same weekend about thirteen years ago. Both of them came out around the same time and were playing at the local movie theater. The choice I had was between **Batman and Robin** or (the first) **Austin Powers**. I chose **Batman and Robin** because **Austin Power** s looked absolutely retarded. It looked like no movie that I’d ever want to see. I saw it not long after that weekend. I really enjoyed it and have watched it and all of the sequels many times. **Batman and Robin** , however, sucked. ---
**Author:** ![PrettyVacant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/49beb7/32.png) [@PrettyVacant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PrettyVacant)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-a-lot-better-than-you-expected-spoilers-likely/602559/96 "2011-12-04T07:32:21Z")
24 Hour Party People. Surprisingly decent! ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-a-lot-better-than-you-expected-spoilers-likely/602559/97 "2011-12-04T15:08:14Z")
**Iron Man** and **Thor** My thought on seeing that these characters were getting movies was : “Well Marvel Comics is scraping the bottom of the barrel now.” These were decidedly second-tier comic heroes, but with each of the movies I was surprised by just how entertaining they were. With _Iron Man_, I think it was casting. Robert Downey, Jr. knows how to squeeze every bit of fun out of a role. With _Thor_ it came down to direction. Kenneth Branagh knows how to tell a story. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-a-lot-better-than-you-expected-spoilers-likely/602559/98 "2011-12-04T16:17:17Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > As I’ve said before, **The Terminator** really took me by surprise. I expected it to be people running around LA in cheap makeup shooting each other up. What I saw was an incredibly literate, witty, and informed piece of science fiction. I still think that, overall, Cameron has never topped this. I loved T2, Aliens, and was blown away by the visuals of Avatar, but nothing beats the cold, gritty, sarcastic wit and hard-edged storytelling of the original Terminator. Yep. Harlan Ellison tells quite a story, doesn’t he? > [@](#): > > I expected **Robocop** to be a really stupid, hackneyed bit of popular SF. again, Ed Neumeier’s script was a piece of well-informed science fiction dark comedy, referencing C,M, Kornbluth’s _The Marching Morons_ and skewering SDI, modern “newsbreak” culture, and other icons while telling a coherent, touching, yet far-out story. The sequels couldn’t come close to this. This, too. I figured it would be hammed up and it wasn’t. And I love his line: > [@](#): > > Dead or alive, you’re coming with me. ---
**Author:** ![ballardfam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8797f3/32.png) [@ballardfam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ballardfam)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-a-lot-better-than-you-expected-spoilers-likely/602559/99 "2011-12-04T18:24:52Z")
Hot Tub Time Machine - maybe wasn’t a lot better than I expected but I _enjoyed_ it a lot more than I expected. So un-PC, some of it really offensive in concept but brilliant in execution (eg. 9 year old ‘wife’ getting verbally reamed for cheating on her husband 20 years in the future). The Fast & the Furious (original) - I’m not into cars at all but there was a well done, even if formulic, emotional story. Galaxy Quest - wasn’t even on my radar when it came out in theaters but one of the most consistently funny movies that plugged into the culture of a whole lot of people. ---
**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 4, 2011, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-a-lot-better-than-you-expected-spoilers-likely/602559/100 "2011-12-04T22:30:40Z")
> [@](#): > > Yep. Harlan Ellison tells quite a story, doesn’t he? Much as I love Harlan Ellison, he didn’t write _The Terminator_. Cameron took some ideas from Ellison’s two _Outer Limits_ episodes _Soldier_ and _Demon with a Glass Hand_, but that’s a helluva long way from saying that Cameron stole the whole thing from Ellison. Ellison didn’t write the script, or the story, or set up the characters, or plot the thing. He gets zero credit for the movie. It’s not as if the idea of time travelers altering the past hadn’t been used before, or humaniform killer robots (as has been pointed out, that whole “flashback to the future” segment owes more to Philip K. Dick’s “Second Variety:” than to Ellison’s Outer Limit Scripts). Ellison has been ripped off and misused by the industry, and reading his rants about this is a great treat, but I think he didn’t deserve more than an acknowledgement for _Terminator_ – which is what he got. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-a-lot-better-than-you-expected-spoilers-likely/602559.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-a-lot-better-than-you-expected-spoilers-likely/602559.md?page=6)