Inspired by this thread.
What movie do you love (or at least, really like) that conventional wisdom/the critical consensus/mass opinion has deemed less than worthy? My go-to movie for this is (and, sadly, probably always will be) Stuart Saves His Family. It did jack shit at the box office, and on home video/DVD, and was largely derided by critics. But it’s a sweet, and yes, great little movie that does have fans of note.
Anyway, what’s yours?
Star Trek: TMP. Yes, I know the version shown in cinemas was overly long and badly paced, but I agree in general with David Gerrold’s appraisal of the movie as being far better than most people are willing to credit it. I’ve also read the novelization, which puts things in a somewhat different perspective.
Sadly, I have yet to see director Robert Wise’s cut of the film, which I hear is much better than the one I saw back in '79. Since I’m gonna turn 60 in January, I’m putting it on my bucket list right now.
Signs…Starship Troopers…
Last Action Hero. No one seemed to be ready for Arnie to parody himself - at least, his action hero self.
Signs. It’s a great movie once you realize that it’s not a science fiction movie, it’s a fairy tale.
I agree. It works better for Christians than non-Christians, but it’s still wonderful. In particular, the dinner scene and the basement siege are both brilliant.
The Elephant Man.
Too many critics seemed bummed that it wasn’t a motion picture adaptation of the Bernard Pomerance play of the same name. The two have nothing to do with each other, aside from being based on the same material.
Tank Girl. Tank Girl was just plain fun.
Aren’t there two Elephant Movies–one based on the stage play, the other night. I’m almost certain I’ve seen both on YouTube.
Yep. Those aren’t aliens, they’re boogie-men. Now the movie makes sense.
I wouldn’t be surprised if a filmed version of the play is around, but I’ve never heard of one being released theatrically.
It’s like the copy of the musical Pippin I have. It’s a filmed or taped version of a performance of the play, but it was never released theatrically.
And a filmed performance is miles away from a film adapted from a play. The films of Fiddler on the Roof or Cabaret or Chicago are conceived of and executed as movies, very different things from the stage plays that inspired them. AFAIK, nobody’s done that with Pomerance’s play. The David Lynch film shares nothing with Pomerance’s play but the background material.
Hudson Hawk
The problem was that it was a comedy, and people were expecting an action movie. Taken for what it was, rather than what people wanted it to be, it was a fun film.
Fantastic Four.
George Lucas changed the face of action movies by perfecting the art of cutting a movie shorter and shorter and shorter, until it’s one unending jam-packed thrill ride of action sequences, explosions, and stupid alien tricks. The characters in FF were given a chance to interact and develop through the course of the movie, and there were entire minutes at a time when nobody even caught fire.
I loved that movie.
I would add another SNL film, The Ladies Man.
No…and hell no. Both are quite rightly derided.
Regarding Signs:
Tomorrow. Dawn. The Gobi Desert. Come armed.
Yes, even though many examples are going to be a YMMV situation, there are some such as these two, that are justly derided.
OTOH, I support the inclusion of Stuart Saves His Family. I saw it (and bought a copy!) before I learned it wasn’t “good”. While it is a lightweight film made from a SNL character, I’m still not sure what is supposed to be bad about it.
Waterworld.
Jersey Girl.
Maybe we’ll end up in a endless digression, and arguing over mattes of taste, but what about Waterworld makes in “unjustly derided”? I think it is also quite justly derided, but I’m willing to let you or someone make their case for it.
Maybe people should make arguments in this thread as to why they think a film is unjustly derided. Just listing it is going to end up with people going back and forth “your movie sucks!” “No, YOUR movie sucks!”
