# Movies You Once Liked That You Now Think Are Awful **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 5, 2014, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-once-liked-that-you-now-think-are-awful/682936 "2014-03-05T16:55:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![sweeteviljesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@sweeteviljesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweeteviljesus)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2014, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-once-liked-that-you-now-think-are-awful/682936/82 "2014-03-07T21:24:36Z")
Beastmaster. Thought it was awesome when I was 12. Saw part of it again the other night on YouTube and, man, was it ever awful. The head bad guy from the Jun Horde still has awesome looking headgear though. I haven’t watched Red Dawn in years. I am afraid to. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2014, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-once-liked-that-you-now-think-are-awful/682936/83 "2014-03-07T22:04:31Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > **Destroy All Monsters** The Godzilla movie? I knew back then that it was a way big missed opportunity, having all the era monsters there, plus some of the more obscure ones (Manda!) they just didn’t have enough all out brawling. Godzilla movies in general are a bit dated. Not the “foam rubber suit” part, but the plots that the humans are doing kinda wear thin ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-once-liked-that-you-now-think-are-awful/682936/84 "2014-03-08T02:12:54Z")
Pretty much all of John Hughes’ resume. At one time I thought films like _Sixteen Candles_ and _Breakfast Club_ ( that came out when I was still in High School ) were awesome, but I haven’t been able to watch them on cable for many years without wincing repeatedly. _Ferris Bueller’s Day Off_ is the still the most tolerable of the lot, but even that has declining charm. And John Candy’s charisma might just be enough to drag _Uncle Buck_ halfway to the finish line - maybe. But by and large they have just aged very poorly ( or I have 😃 ). ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Hartwick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@Dave\_Hartwick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Hartwick)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-once-liked-that-you-now-think-are-awful/682936/85 "2014-03-08T02:59:20Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Princi **pal**. Your school’s **principal** is your **pal**. > > A **principle** is “a fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behavior or for a chain of reasoning.” Do people like to do this to The Second Stone in particular? My picks are Allen’s _Take the Money and Run_ and the original _Star Wars_ trilogy. _Take the Money and Run_ was hilarious when I first saw it-- I might’ve still been a teen at the time. When I watched it recently I was under the influence of that nostalgia and the impression that Allen’s “earlier, funnier movies” were gold. Not really, in this case. The direction was bad, the acting was bad, and the script was amateurish. I remember enjoying _The Empire Strikes Back_ as late as about 1988. Then there was a long period when I didn’t happen to watch any of them. When I tried watching again the effects weren’t as good as I remembered and the story was much worse. Also, my tendencies toward science fiction snobbery worsened. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-once-liked-that-you-now-think-are-awful/682936/86 "2014-03-08T21:53:22Z")
_The Neverending Story_. Loved it as a kid, used to watch it repeatedly. I picked up the DVD out of a sale bin somewhere a few years ago. When I tried to watch it I couldn’t believe how bad it was or that I wasn’t creeped out by it as a kid. I still love the song though. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-once-liked-that-you-now-think-are-awful/682936/87 "2014-03-08T22:14:56Z")
> [@VunderBob](#): > > The most notable of many for me was _The Dark Crystal_. > [@Sitnam](#): > > **Time Bandits** - first saw this at the optimal viewing age and liked it, now it’s just piss poor. I didn’t like either of these movies when I was a kid, and still don’t, but they’re along the same lines of one I’ve soured on: **Legend**. I first saw Legend when I was nine or ten, and I thought it was great. I tried to watch it again a few years ago, and wow, I couldn’t even get half way through it. Same thing with **The Last Unicorn**. ---
**Author:** ![LC\_Strawhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@LC\_Strawhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LC_Strawhouse)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2014, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-once-liked-that-you-now-think-are-awful/682936/88 "2014-03-09T23:06:02Z")
All those late-80s through early-90s action movies. Every time a new one came out, it was agreed that THIS one had the best action scenes EVER and we’d be quoting its catchphrases over and over. One day it was **Tango & Cash** , the next day **Total Recall** , the next day **Hard to Kill** , etc, etc. What a big pile of nothing they all look like now - I’d rather watch Oprah than sit through any of those again. ---
**Author:** ![Melchior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Melchior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melchior)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-once-liked-that-you-now-think-are-awful/682936/89 "2014-03-10T14:28:36Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > I have no excuse, because I was in my 20’s when I saw it the first time, but I liked _Tommy_ in 1975. I watched it again sometime in the 90’s. What a self indulgent piece of crap. Well what do you expect from Ken Russell? ---
**Author:** ![Stealth\_Bragg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4bbf92/32.png) [@Stealth\_Bragg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stealth_Bragg)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-once-liked-that-you-now-think-are-awful/682936/90 "2014-03-10T15:51:33Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > I didn’t like either of these movies when I was a kid, and still don’t, but they’re along the same lines of one I’ve soured on: **Legend**. I first saw Legend when I was nine or ten, and I thought it was great. I tried to watch it again a few years ago, and wow, I couldn’t even get half way through it. Same thing with **The Last Unicorn**. I like Legend, well the shorter US version anyway. But mainly because it has a great soundtrack by Tangerine Dream. ---
**Author:** ![Melchior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Melchior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melchior)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-once-liked-that-you-now-think-are-awful/682936/91 "2014-03-10T16:38:13Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > I just saw **Weird Science** for the first time in probably 20 years if not longer. It was on cable and me and my wife were like, “Hey let’s watch this,its a good move.” No it isn’t, it is horrible. It isn’t even good in a nostalgia, “Wow what a bad 80s movie.” kind of way, it just stunk to high heaven. What was I thinking? > > What movies that you used to like do you now think are absolutely awful? I don’t mean they aren’t as good as you remember, but are actually bad, bad movies. I can’t think of any now, I think they are \*all \*awful. ---
**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2014, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-once-liked-that-you-now-think-are-awful/682936/92 "2014-03-10T16:48:39Z")
My choices: _ **The Black Bird** _ - A “comedy” take on The Maltese Falcon. Whne I was a kid this remed to be hilarious. Looked at it recently and I thought it was silly and more than a little racist. _ **American Pop** _ - Another Ralph Bakshi “classic” that seemed a LOT better when I was a LOT younger. In agreement on John Hughes’ oeuvre: An endless string of films which didn’t age well. _ **Sixteen Candles** _ is so racist ( Long Duk Dong anyone?) that it is cringeworthy now. And Duckie should punched Molly Ringwald in _ **Pretty in Pink** _ and found a girl who appreciated him. _ **Carrie** _ - What a group of psychotic a-holes at that high school. Not that scary and really slow. Thought it was great when I was younger. Tried to watch it last week and simply couldn’t get through it. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-once-liked-that-you-now-think-are-awful/682936/93 "2014-03-11T12:21:18Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > I wonder how many of them still do. I’m as big a fan of Parsons and his work as I ever was, but even I have to say that soundtrack was badly matched to the movie. Yeah, I love Alan Parsons Project music, but not for **LadyHawke**. It just doesn’t work. I wonder if anyone would ever try to re-record the soundtrack to the movie to make it more appropriate for the time period. > [@elfkin477](#): > > I didn’t like either of these movies when I was a kid, and still don’t, but they’re along the same lines of one I’ve soured on: **Legend**. I first saw Legend when I was nine or ten, and I thought it was great. I tried to watch it again a few years ago, and wow, I couldn’t even get half way through it. Same thing with **The Last Unicorn**. I never thought \*\*Legend \*\*was all that good, although I loves me some Tim Curry. However, **The Last Unicorn** is still one of my favorites. Peter Beagle has been doing a [screening tour](http://lastunicorntour.com/) with the movie for about a year now, and I’m really hoping it comes close enough to home that I can go see it. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-once-liked-that-you-now-think-are-awful/682936/94 "2014-03-15T01:14:12Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > I didn’t like either of these movies when I was a kid, and still don’t, but they’re along the same lines of one I’ve soured on: **Legend**. I first saw Legend when I was nine or ten, and I thought it was great. I tried to watch it again a few years ago, and wow, I couldn’t even get half way through it. Same thing with **The Last Unicorn**. Oh, I kinda like Legend! When The Girl chews out the horned devil, and the devil (in spite of his costume and makeup) looks absolutely wounded! crushed! by her rejection :p. Just one more ludicrous scene in a whole movie of ludicrous. Now, if they would only make a live version of The Last Unicorn, I could die happy. Everyone (well, a lot of fans) raves about that stupid cartoon version made eons ago, I just don’t think it’s good enough. ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-once-liked-that-you-now-think-are-awful/682936/95 "2014-03-15T05:55:28Z")
Caligula I liked it when I saw it once on Showtime in the early 80s. ---
**Author:** ![maikai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/53a042/32.png) [@maikai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maikai)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-once-liked-that-you-now-think-are-awful/682936/96 "2014-03-16T04:43:05Z")
**Weekend at Bernie’s.** I was nine years old when it came out and it was the funniest thing I’ve ever scene. I rented it a few years ago and I didn’t laugh at all. Not even once. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2014, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-once-liked-that-you-now-think-are-awful/682936/97 "2014-03-16T04:55:04Z")
Twister. My wife loves it, one of my kids thinks it was the best movie ever…I’ve seen it 50 times, on the 51st time I think _This is **CRAP!** _ ---
**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:** [March 19, 2014, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-once-liked-that-you-now-think-are-awful/682936/98 "2014-03-19T13:30:40Z")
_Labyrinth_. I was obsessed with it as a kid. A friend bought me a copy on DVD a few years ago, and it bored the fuck out of me. Except David Bowie’s crotch bulge, which terrified me. It looked like he’d stuffed a cantaloupe down his spandex pants. _Willow_ was another childhood fave, and that held up _slightly_ better (though it turns out the Brownies weren’t funny at all.) ---
**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:** [March 19, 2014, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-once-liked-that-you-now-think-are-awful/682936/99 "2014-03-19T14:35:08Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > What always bothered me was the whole eyeroll disbelief thing aimed towards teh Randy Quaid character every time he mentions being abducted by aliens _even after_ the giant space ships are hovering over the major cities. [and especially when they are asking for experienced pilots at the end] Dudes, if there are aliens hovering over Washington and LA, and you tell me that you were abducted by aliens 15 years back, I am probably going to believe you. But, was he REALLY abducted? The alien scoutship was from Roswell, wasn’t it? I wonder if there was any alien contact between then and the time of the movie, because the aliens would have found the ship and reclaimed it (or at least knew we had discovered it). I think Quaid’s character really was nuts, and had never been abducted. ---
**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:** [March 19, 2014, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-once-liked-that-you-now-think-are-awful/682936/100 "2014-03-19T14:38:26Z")
Plus the genocidal biosphere-destroying aliens probably wouldn’t have bothered putting him back after they were finished probing him. They’d just kill him or toss him out of an airlock or something - after all, they were going to exterminate the rest of us later on anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-once-liked-that-you-now-think-are-awful/682936/101 "2014-03-19T15:25:48Z")
> [@nevadaexile](#): > > In agreement on John Hughes’ oeuvre: An endless string of films which didn’t age well. _ **Sixteen Candles** _ is so racist ( Long Duk Dong anyone?) that it is cringeworthy now. And Duckie should punched Molly Ringwald in _ **Pretty in Pink** _ and found a girl who appreciated him. **Uncle Buck** holds up well, though, IMO. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-once-liked-that-you-now-think-are-awful/682936.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-you-once-liked-that-you-now-think-are-awful/682936.md?page=6)