# Movies where ten years adds (or subtracts) at least one \* in ratings **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 24, 2007, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-ten-years-adds-or-subtracts-at-least-one-in-ratings/405338 "2007-05-24T12:59:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2007, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-ten-years-adds-or-subtracts-at-least-one-in-ratings/405338/1 "2007-05-24T12:59:27Z")
Assume that you have always rated movies with the \*\*\*\* system, including 1/2 stars, and that you have seen the same movie at least twice and that the last time you saw it was at least 10 years after you saw it the first time. Provide as thorough a list as you can of the movies that either gained or lost at least one \*'s worth in your own rating system after a minimum of ten years. The motivation for this thread is that I have observed IMDB’s user ratings for movies (as well as Netflix’s) heavily favoring new movies. All but the total schlock will get at least 7/10 (which I translate into 2 1/2 to 3 out of 4) if they’re within a year old, but will drop in rating as time goes on. The reverse is true for older movies in that they tend to creep up a star or two over the decades. There have been any number of threads already where the issue is pretty much the same as this one, but I don’t remember one that came at it from this angle. In any case, it’s something to do. It’s okay to use IMDB’s list of Top 250 or Bottom 100 as a refresher if you can’t remember specific movies, but try to avoid using the ratings there if you didn’t see the movie at least twice and with at least ten years passing between your most recent viewing and the one before that. I’ll list some of mine after a few posts have come in, but I don’t want to salt the mine. ---
**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:** [May 24, 2007, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-ten-years-adds-or-subtracts-at-least-one-in-ratings/405338/2 "2007-05-24T13:04:51Z")
Forget about “salting the mine” – it would help if you gave some examples. I’m still not sure what you’re talking about. For me, the passage of time doesn’t subtract stars. Most newer films don’t come up anywhere near the level of the older films I still love. ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2007, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-ten-years-adds-or-subtracts-at-least-one-in-ratings/405338/3 "2007-05-24T13:24:43Z")
Well, the soundtrack of Ladyhawke really pulls a good half star from the rating. It might have been popular back in the '80s, though. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2007, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-ten-years-adds-or-subtracts-at-least-one-in-ratings/405338/4 "2007-05-24T13:30:33Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] Forget about “salting the mine” – it would help if you gave some examples. I’m still not sure what you’re talking about. For me, the passage of time doesn’t subtract stars. Most newer films don’t come up anywhere near the level of the older films I still love. [/QUOTE] Okay. One example of each. Just to demonstrate what the OP was trying for. Gained a star: _The Outlaw Josey Wales_ – when I saw this first I would have rated it maybe a 2 1/2 to 3, but after seeing some of Clint’s other efforts and noticing his depth, when I saw it again later (I’m guessing at least ten years here for the sake of the example) it showed even more expertise in the way it was put together. Lost a star: _The Getaway_ (the McQueen version) – I would have given this at least a 3 when it came out. Vintage Peckinpah, stellar McQueen. But it fades over time, not because the remake (Baldwin-Basinger) had anything new to say but just because the whole Peckinpah thing has been overdone by others by now. The effects made up a lot of what I loved about it, but they don’t age well. In response to your observation about > [@](#): > > “For me, the passage of time doesn’t subtract stars. Most newer films don’t come up anywhere near the level of the older films I still love.” I can agree in spirit, but I suggest that back when the ones you hold dear today were new that maybe they weren’t quite as highly rated for you then as they are now – which is basically what you said. On the flip side, though, some that you thought were great back then may have soured some by now. Just guessing. Just for giggles, did you rate _Citizen Kane_ above a 2 when you saw it first? (Assuming you ever did?) ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2007, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-ten-years-adds-or-subtracts-at-least-one-in-ratings/405338/5 "2007-05-24T16:16:50Z")
[No Holds Barred](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097987/) was the best picture I had ever seen, easily 5 stars… ten years later when I saw it again at the age of 19…Ehhhh, didn’t hold up so much. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2007, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-ten-years-adds-or-subtracts-at-least-one-in-ratings/405338/6 "2007-05-24T16:22:44Z")
_Pulp Fiction_ loses about 2 stars, from \*\*\*\* down to \*\*. In the 90’s, this movies was shocking, edgy, and influential. These days, it’s boring, banal, and would be unlikely to impress anyone who doesn’t remember it from when it first came out. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2007, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-ten-years-adds-or-subtracts-at-least-one-in-ratings/405338/7 "2007-05-24T16:29:32Z")
Many of the star reductions in this thread may come down to (1) age at first viewing; and/or (2) special effects. For example, I loved the sci-fi movies Flash Gordon (1980) and The Black Hole (1979) when they first came out, but I was only 10 years old! I’m sure they wouldn’t hold up if I saw them again today. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2007, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-ten-years-adds-or-subtracts-at-least-one-in-ratings/405338/8 "2007-05-24T16:31:38Z")
I went through today’s version of the IMDB Top 250 list and couldn’t spot all that many where my opinion changed over time. Most of those that I have seen I rated pretty highly on first viewing and later on about the same. I surely wouldn’t move as much as a star on any but these: **North by Northwest** – down – In its day (late 50’s) it was among the best Hitchcocks going (my all time favorite was and is **Vertigo** ) and Cary Grant was big, too. Nowadays it’s just too cheesy in its effects to suit me and the plot is rinky-dink, too. **The Great Escape** – down – The “big star” appeal is gone. In its release year it made bigger statements than _Stalag 17_ (which I now rate as a better movie) and being in color with the great McQueen motorcycle scenes made it a big deal. Now it just seems dated and nowhere near as tough a movie. **The Exorcist** – up – Maybe it’s because I read the book first and was scared shitless by it, and maybe the lack of faithful following to the book was a downer at the time, or maybe just the casting or something made me come away with a ho-hum 2-3 star feeling. I saw it again within the past year and having forgotten the problems with not following the book I now move that one up to at least a 3-star and maybe close to a 4. Now I can see how much the horror genre hasn’t really improved on the basic ideas in that movie. Bloodier, yes. Scarier, no. ---
**Author:** ![Potato\_Pancakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Potato\_Pancakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Potato_Pancakes)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2007, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-ten-years-adds-or-subtracts-at-least-one-in-ratings/405338/9 "2007-05-24T17:50:30Z")
[QUOTE=Zeldar] **North by Northwest** – down – In its day (late 50’s) it was among the best Hitchcocks going (my all time favorite was and is **Vertigo** ) and Cary Grant was big, too. Nowadays it’s just too cheesy in its effects to suit me and the plot is rinky-dink, too. [/QUOTE] Yes, as far as the plot goes - North by Northwest can’t hold up to many other modern suspense/thrillers. I can’t offer a perspective of seeing it back when it first came out or anything as I just saw it recently and my parents were still little kids back then. I did enjoy it very much, but still had the same impression after seeing it as I did with Rear Window - that was a great movie, but is that it? Is that what all the fuss was about? I am able to appreciate these movies for their cultural significance and the influence they had on so many movies to come, but if you take away those aspects you merely have nothing but a solid movie with nothing special. On a side note, I was considerably bummed out to discover that The Goonies was not as great a movie as I remember it being when I was a kid. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2007, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-ten-years-adds-or-subtracts-at-least-one-in-ratings/405338/10 "2007-05-24T18:08:40Z")
When I was a teen I went to the theater to see **Billy Jack**. I was greatly entertained. Not too long ago, I tried to watch it on tape. It was an unwatchably bad movie. My tastes have changed, but the times have too. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Hildo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@Johnny\_Hildo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Hildo)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2007, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-ten-years-adds-or-subtracts-at-least-one-in-ratings/405338/11 "2007-05-24T18:32:47Z")
People seem to be liking _The Blair Witch Project_ less and less as time goes by. When it was playing in theaters I seem to remember it having a user rating of 7.5 or so on the IMDB. These days it’s at a 6.0. You see a lot less people calling it the scariest movie ever made and a lot more people saying, “Wow, that was a giant pile of nothing.” ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2007, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-ten-years-adds-or-subtracts-at-least-one-in-ratings/405338/12 "2007-05-24T18:38:10Z")
[QUOTE=Potato Pancakes] On a side note, I was considerably bummed out to discover that The Goonies was not as great a movie as I remember it being when I was a kid. [/QUOTE] That lost three stars for me. **Red Dawn** lost a star, and that was pretty much a zero from day one. **Once Upon a Time in America** has gained a star. (The correct editing helped with that.) ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2007, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-ten-years-adds-or-subtracts-at-least-one-in-ratings/405338/13 "2007-05-24T18:46:40Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] **Once Upon a Time in America** has gained a star. (The correct editing helped with that.) [/QUOTE] One noteworthy aspect of that movie is that Tuesday Weld was no longer the gal she had been in the 50’s and 60’s and Jennifer Connelly was yet to become the gal she would be in the 80’s and 90’s. ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2007, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-ten-years-adds-or-subtracts-at-least-one-in-ratings/405338/14 "2007-05-24T20:10:26Z")
In Junior High and High School (late 1970s/early 1980s) **The Rocky Horror Picture Show** was one of the best movies ever made. I watched it on video in the 1990s, and realized it really isn’t that good of a movie. I still love the soundtrack, and the event surrounding the film is fun, but the movie itself is kind of weak. **American Graffiti** hasn’t aged well at all. I’d drop it down to a 2 or 2 1/2. Someday I’ll revisit my junior high years to see how well **Saturday Night Fever** and **Grease** have aged. I suspect not very well. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2007, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-ten-years-adds-or-subtracts-at-least-one-in-ratings/405338/15 "2007-05-24T20:20:58Z")
[QUOTE=ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness] Someday I’ll revisit my junior high years to see how well **Saturday Night Fever** … [has] aged. I suspect not very well. [/QUOTE] Saw it a year or two ago, and was surprised – it’s a completely different movie now, but it’s still pretty good. Extremely evocative of a place and time. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2007, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-ten-years-adds-or-subtracts-at-least-one-in-ratings/405338/16 "2007-05-25T00:05:54Z")
Fifteen years ago or so, I would’ve subtracted an automatic two stars from any movie made before Spielberg. Especially the ones “lacking color.” Since then I’ve given myself such a full-immersion education in the [reverb]“Century of Cinema,”[/reverb] that when faced with watching two movies I know nothing about, I’ll choose the black and white one every time. And any movie made in the 1930s automatically gets TiVoed, no matter how many stars the cable guide deigns to give it. Other than that, I hated _Showgirls_–like everyone else–when I saw it the first time in 1995. Since then, after noticing the themes that arise again and again in Verhoeven’s movies, and realizing that those same themes existed, only in hilariously subversive garb, in _Showgirls_–and after learning that critics I respected saw something of value in the movie, I revisited it and found it a brilliant sledgehammer of nasty satire. So, I’d say it’s gained about four stars. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2007, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-ten-years-adds-or-subtracts-at-least-one-in-ratings/405338/17 "2007-05-25T00:53:09Z")
Not even 3 years old and I’d say Fahrenheit 911 has lost at least one star. It was truly unique at the time during the super hyped 2004 election as well as a “liberal event movie” similar to the Christian Right’s “Passion of the Christ.” Now, it seems a bit overblown. However, at that time, very few reporters dared to question anything about the Bush administration. How times have changed! ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2007, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-ten-years-adds-or-subtracts-at-least-one-in-ratings/405338/18 "2007-05-25T01:09:49Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] **Red Dawn** lost a star, and that was pretty much a zero from day one. [/QUOTE] Aw dude, \*Red Dawn \* went from a horrible experience, when I first saw it, to one of the greatest camp classics of all time, when I saw it again a couple year ago. It’s better than _Plan 9 from Outer Space_ or _The Valley of Gwangi_ or _Reefer Madness_! ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2007, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-ten-years-adds-or-subtracts-at-least-one-in-ratings/405338/19 "2007-05-25T01:57:41Z")
2 recent movies I watched gained stars, **Crimson Tide** and **One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest**. Crimson Tide was just another of the many submarine movies released in the 90’s and when I did see it, it was the second movie at a drive in and I dozed off and on throughout it. A few weeks ago a clip was used as part of some required ethics training at work so I decided to rent it. From an ethics standpoint I found the movie to be very good but found the ending a bit of a disappointment. I saw OFOTCN back when it was originally released, I picked up a VHS copy at a garage sale for a $1. I forgot what a cold place a mental institution can be. It also brought back some memories of the time I worked at a mental hospital for a very short time about 25 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![zenith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zenith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zenith)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2007, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-ten-years-adds-or-subtracts-at-least-one-in-ratings/405338/20 "2007-05-25T05:03:09Z")
Travolta’s Trinity of Schlock,_Saturday Night Fever_ , _Urban Cowboy_, and _Staying Alive_, are treasure troves of unintentional humor.I tried at first to see each as a serious film and none worked for me. Now they rank right up ther with the works of Ed Wood as films so bad they’re good. In addition,Debra Winger’s routine on the mechanical bull in _Cowboy_ will never has and never will rank lower than 4 stars for me. I’ve never warmed to _Battlefield Earth_ Battlefield Earth. The trailers promised an epic cheese fest ala the Trinity , but for me the movie is, was, and always will be a stinker. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-ten-years-adds-or-subtracts-at-least-one-in-ratings/405338.md?page=2)