# Movies whose reputation \*wrongly\* decayed over time **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 1, 2015, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-whose-reputation-wrongly-decayed-over-time/733120 "2015-10-01T08:40:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-whose-reputation-wrongly-decayed-over-time/733120/81 "2015-10-01T21:03:22Z")
Well, the actual story of the Titanic is an interesting one, punctuated by enormous tragedy. If nothing else, it’s great movie fodder… you KNOW that as soon as some damn fool says the thing is unsinkable… The James Cameron movie, however, is notable for having a completely fictional love story at its centerpiece, as opposed to most of the actual historical interesting stuff. Then again, it’s not like it matters, since he only made the thing to pay for his then-hobby of extreme deep sea diving… ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-whose-reputation-wrongly-decayed-over-time/733120/82 "2015-10-01T21:25:32Z")
When Titanic came out, I remember an almost immediate hate-dom alongside the acclaim, often along gender lines. Things haven’t really changed. I don’t think Spider-Man 3 is bad so much as Spider-Man 2 is overrated as hell. The plot holes and science headsmackers take me out of it. These movies also suffer from the non-MCU comic book movie problem of **too many villains** and reusing the same villain. Now I heard some talk (maybe not current) that the [del]reboot[/del] re-reboot is talking about using Green Goblin _again_! FTR: Spider-Man 3 is a respectable 63% at RT. I don’t know if Gump was \*wrongly \*decayed, but I didn’t notice that people actively disliked it until maybe 2 years ago. I think for films that people know but haven’t seen like _Waterworld_, people conflate the fact that the movie was commercially unsuccessful with _objectively_ terrible. 42% at RT (keep in mind that it predates the website), which is not “fresh” but doesn’t make it the worst. movie. ever. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-whose-reputation-wrongly-decayed-over-time/733120/83 "2015-10-01T21:29:52Z")
I think what sank _Waterworld_ was bad word of mouth before it ever came out. I was hearing that _Waterworld_ was going to bomb like Pearl Harbor MONTHS before it came out. It didn’t, but it didn’t justify its budget, either. How much money do you need to spend to film an ocean? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-whose-reputation-wrongly-decayed-over-time/733120/84 "2015-10-01T21:31:00Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I’m equally baffled as to the criticism that “Forrest Gump shows you what life is like.” You haven’t even really explained what you mean… is it supposed to be a realistic depiction of the typical life of a Baby Boomer with a learning disability? Well, quite obviously not; the movie is deliberately fantastical and unrealistic in terms of the life of the protagonist. So what do you mean that “it shows you what life is like”? No, I grant that Forrest himself is magic, with the writer doing whatever is necessary so as to be able to work him into all sorts of scenarios. But the scenarios and situations are set up to allow the storyteller to cast a light on various aspects of life and say, “Look, here’s the ‘real world’[sup]TM[/sup]. Ooh look, AIDS! AIDS EVERYONE! Kid’s got problems? Moms sleep with teachers! MOMS SLEEP WITH TEACHERS, EVERYONE! Vietnam makes you handicapped. HANDICAPPED PEOPLE, EVERYONE! OMG, BETCHA DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT THAT!? She was molested by her dad. DAD’S MOLEST THEIR DAUGHTERS, EVERYONE! Chinese people like Ping Pong. PING PONG, HAHA, SO FUNNY!” So it’s like, a) C’mon dude, these are not mysterious things that were just introduced into the world (and no, mom’s don’t sleep with teachers to get their kids into school), b) It is not deep to show that bad things exist, that good things also exist, and that some things are silly, again, we are aware of this, and c) It’s cheap to try and quickly roll over the dark bits, throw in some crazy antics and silliness, so that you can still do a light and happy puff piece on the meaning of life. Again, you’re not being deep. You’re just being wimpy AND still not revealing anything new to the world. We all watch the daily news. We are aware of the sorts of things that happen in the real world. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-whose-reputation-wrongly-decayed-over-time/733120/85 "2015-10-01T21:38:32Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Titan AE was fantastic, but it never really had a reputation, did it? It went from “worth watching” to “not worth watching” pretty quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-whose-reputation-wrongly-decayed-over-time/733120/86 "2015-10-01T21:41:51Z")
If I had any complaint about _Titan_ A.E., it’s that it was a tad too Disney. Seems to me your serious science fiction fans have enough flak about their guilty pleasures that they don’t want Disney in their science fiction extravaganza. I suspect that’s also what sank\* Treasure Planet.\* ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-whose-reputation-wrongly-decayed-over-time/733120/87 "2015-10-01T21:46:33Z")
> [@Master\_Wang-Ka](#): > > I think what sank _Waterworld_ was bad word of mouth before it ever came out. I was hearing that _Waterworld_ was going to bomb like Pearl Harbor MONTHS before it came out. > > It didn’t, but it didn’t justify its budget, either. How much money do you need to spend to film an ocean? [Depends on how many cigars you can light with the money](http://www.cracked.com/article_18484_the-5-most-pointless-ways-big-budget-movies-blew-millions.html). ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-whose-reputation-wrongly-decayed-over-time/733120/88 "2015-10-01T21:57:12Z")
_ **HOOPER** Don’t make me bust a cap in your ass, yo! Jedi’s the most insulting installment, because Vader’s beautiful, black visage is sullied when he pulls off his mask to reveal a feeble, crusty white man! They’re trying to tell us that deep inside, we all want to be white! **BANKY** Well isn’t that true?_ \*Jedi \*deserves every bit of its hate. It’s half a good movie. So the OP is flawed from the get-go. 😉 As for _Titanic_, the love story is the stupidest part of it. Makes zero sense at any point in the movie. ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-whose-reputation-wrongly-decayed-over-time/733120/89 "2015-10-01T22:01:15Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > I think for films that people know but haven’t seen like _Waterworld_, people conflate the fact that the movie was commercially unsuccessful with _objectively_ terrible. 42% at RT (keep in mind that it predates the website), which is not “fresh” but doesn’t make it the worst. movie. ever. Related to that, I will nominate _Dances with Wolves_. It was incredibly well received when it came out, won the Oscar for Best Picture, and was considered both a critical and audience favorite. When Kevin Costner followed it up with films like _Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves_, _Waterworld_, and _The Postman_, Costner’s reputation took a hit and people started to reassess the greatness of Dances. It is like the _Rocky_ effect–subsequent poorer quality movies cast a shadow over an earlier great film. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-whose-reputation-wrongly-decayed-over-time/733120/90 "2015-10-01T22:04:58Z")
Like how everyone thought _Police Academy_ was a great film, but by the time _Police Academy 6_ came out its reputation was in tatters. Or possibly not quite like that. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-whose-reputation-wrongly-decayed-over-time/733120/91 "2015-10-01T22:08:44Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > _ **HOOPER** > Don’t make me bust a cap in your ass, > yo! Jedi’s the most insulting > installment, because Vader’s > beautiful, black visage is > sullied when he pulls off his mask to > reveal a feeble, crusty white man! > They’re trying to tell us that deep > inside, we all want to be white! > **BANKY** > Well isn’t that true?_ What’s a Nubian? ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-whose-reputation-wrongly-decayed-over-time/733120/92 "2015-10-01T22:24:53Z")
> [@JKilez](#): > > Related to that, I will nominate _Dances with Wolves_. It was incredibly well received when it came out, won the Oscar for Best Picture, and was considered both a critical and audience favorite. When Kevin Costner followed it up with films like _Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves_, _Waterworld_, and _The Postman_, Costner’s reputation took a hit and people started to reassess the greatness of Dances. It is like the _Rocky_ effect–subsequent poorer quality movies cast a shadow over an earlier great film. I wasn’t all that crazy about DWW, but I think you may have a point. Weirdly enough, I also think DWW took a bit of a hit when _Avatar_ came out, considering they had vurra similar plotlines in which bumbling white guys come charging to the rescue of incompetent natives… and someone noticed this and pointed it out. ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-whose-reputation-wrongly-decayed-over-time/733120/93 "2015-10-01T22:31:38Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > **_Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi_ (1983)** > > I was 12 when this came out, and it was a BFD, needless to say. Everyone I knew was happy with it–there was _zero_ sense of disappointment as with the prequels. > > Over time, it’s gotten a bit of a rep as the worst of the original trilogy and… Ewoks! Ewoks suck, so this movie kinda sucks, right? > [@Finagle](#): > > You may be remembering through a haze of nostalgia. Even at the time, the third Star Wars movie was a bit disappointing. The Ewoks were overly cute and seemed like a blatant merchandising ploy. But from a story telling perspective, the Vader turning his back on the dark side and getting a smiling ghostly redemption seemed bogus. Vader was a monster who tortured and killed people and participated in the blowing up of planets. But he and his kid hug so all is forgiven? Even at the time, this seemed lame and contrived. Not to mention the Luke and Leia being brother and sister. And the retread plot – oh, look, it’s another Death Star. It wasn’t just the Ewoks, the contrivances, and the retread plot that made it lame though, it was also the vanilla-fying of the protagonists. In the previous movies everybody had their own quirks, their own strengths and flaws, their own agendas that they were following. In Episode VI, they all became “The Super Best Friends of the Galaxy”. They were all skilled at the same things, they all were shooting for same goal, they all had each others back–because that is what super best friends do! They became bland and interchangeable. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-whose-reputation-wrongly-decayed-over-time/733120/94 "2015-10-01T22:33:52Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Like how everyone thought _Police Academy_ was a great film[/SIZE] …wait, _what?_ ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-whose-reputation-wrongly-decayed-over-time/733120/95 "2015-10-01T22:41:11Z")
> [@Master\_Wang-Ka](#): > > …wait, _what?_ I think he is referring to the 12-year-old **Really Not All That Bright**. So, what he told you was true… from a certain point of view. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-whose-reputation-wrongly-decayed-over-time/733120/96 "2015-10-01T22:51:40Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > What’s a Nubian? Shut the fuck up! ---
**Author:** ![Sr\_Siete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@Sr\_Siete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sr_Siete)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2015, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-whose-reputation-wrongly-decayed-over-time/733120/97 "2015-10-01T23:22:26Z")
**Saw**. The first one. Yes, I know what you are thinking. “Torture porn”. “Everything that’s wrong with modern horror”. “Dumb”. But you are actually thinking about the sequels. The original Saw movie is an intense, thoughtful thriller with minimal bloodshed and perfectly directed and edited to steadily grow more and more suspenseful. Hate on the sequels as much as you want, I do too, but the first one is practically Hitchcockian. Sure, the ending is a bit contrived, but I didn’t say it was perfect. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-whose-reputation-wrongly-decayed-over-time/733120/98 "2015-10-02T00:59:12Z")
> [@Master\_Wang-Ka](#): > > Everyone I know, even your non-SF people, who saw the movie liked the ewoks well enough. I loved the first Star Wars, hated the ewoks at first sight. ---
**Author:** ![HowSoonIsThen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@HowSoonIsThen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HowSoonIsThen)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-whose-reputation-wrongly-decayed-over-time/733120/99 "2015-10-02T02:13:49Z")
> [@Sr\_Siete](#): > > **Saw**. The first one. > > Yes, I know what you are thinking. “Torture porn”. “Everything that’s wrong with modern horror”. “Dumb”. But you are actually thinking about the sequels. The original Saw movie is an intense, thoughtful thriller with minimal bloodshed and perfectly directed and edited to steadily grow more and more suspenseful. Hate on the sequels as much as you want, I do too, but the first one is practically Hitchcockian. Sure, the ending is a bit contrived, but I didn’t say it was perfect. Yeah, I loved the first Saw movie when I saw it. It was pretty well received from memory. But, as you say, the sequels… I gave up with them about half way through the third. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2015, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-whose-reputation-wrongly-decayed-over-time/733120/100 "2015-10-02T11:36:44Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > **_Spider-Man 3_ (2007)** > > Everyone seemed to love this when it came out. I saw it in the theater–there was again no sense of disappointment I perceived. People seemed eager for Raimi’s Part 4 as well. But then the popularity of this movie seemed to fall off a cliff. Seriously? Most people I know thought it was the worst of the three. Wait a minute, Marko killed Uncle Ben? They put in a plot point predicated on the idea that the audience didn’t see the first Spider-Man movie so they could build up tension between Pete and Sandman. Then we have some mysterious butler who we’ve never seen before that suddenly decides to tell Harry that Spider-Man wasn’t responsible for his father’s death. It was just all around terrible writing and I recognized it at the time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-whose-reputation-wrongly-decayed-over-time/733120.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-whose-reputation-wrongly-decayed-over-time/733120.md?page=6)