# Over-rated Movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 3, 2012, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-rated-movies/633573 "2012-09-03T20:05:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-rated-movies/633573/61 "2012-09-04T16:01:41Z")
> [@Seanette](#): > > I didn’t like “Avatar” either (my husband did). Granted, the visuals ARE quite impressive, but that doesn’t come anywhere near making up for cardboard-cutout “characters” or a cliche-storm plot slamming the viewer in the face with the “humans are evil vermin” anvil. Had to share this: I attended the recent Rifftrax screening of **Manos: The Hands of Fate**. Before the movie started, they had a series of slides, like the slide they normally show before movies to give the crowd something to look at before the feature begins, but they were created by the Rifftrax crew, basically making fun of movies and actors and the slides themselves. My favorite one was a “MOVIE MISTAKES” card that said simply, “Sam Worthington”. ---
**Author:** ![Greekfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@Greekfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greekfreak)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-rated-movies/633573/62 "2012-09-04T16:14:03Z")
Of late, I’ve been far more impressed with foreign movies. There are whole countries of filmmakers with more to say and actors who blow truly famous stars out of the water in terms of chops. “The Prophet”, “The Guard”, “36”, and “Gegen Die Wand” were outstanding. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-rated-movies/633573/63 "2012-09-04T16:26:02Z")
Does anybody still think **American Beauty** or **Crash** deserved the Best Picture Oscar? ---
**Author:** ![Greekfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@Greekfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greekfreak)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-rated-movies/633573/64 "2012-09-04T16:57:16Z")
> [@sciurophobic](#): > > Does anybody still think **American Beauty** or **Crash** deserved the Best Picture Oscar? AB’s only real competition that year was The Insider, an equally brilliant film, but not nearly as subversive. I think it was fantastic. Still is. Crash had even lesser competition, although I still think Munich was criminally underrated. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-rated-movies/633573/65 "2012-09-04T17:38:00Z")
Well, the year that Crash won the Best Picture award, Brokeback Mountain was also nominated (and had the most nominations overall) and was favored to win. So I wouldn’t say that “Crash had even lesser competition.” ---
**Author:** ![Bohomite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@Bohomite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bohomite)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-rated-movies/633573/66 "2012-09-04T17:56:20Z")
I really can’t say as _American Beauty_ is pretty much my favorite film. A film that was hideously overrated to me was _Bridesmades_. Nowhere near as funny as _Hangover_. ---
**Author:** ![tomcar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tomcar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomcar)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-rated-movies/633573/67 "2012-09-04T18:17:01Z")
> [@Greekfreak](#): > > AB’s only real competition that year was The Insider, an equally brilliant film, but not nearly as subversive. I think it was fantastic. Still is. Crash had even lesser competition, although I still think Munich was criminally underrated. The Insider was so much better than AB. The Insider is the king of underrated movies. ---
**Author:** ![Greekfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@Greekfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greekfreak)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-rated-movies/633573/68 "2012-09-04T18:19:44Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Well, the year that Crash won the Best Picture award, Brokeback Mountain was also nominated (and had the most nominations overall) and was favored to win. So I wouldn’t say that “Crash had even lesser competition.” In my mind, yeah. Lesser. “Brokeback Mountain” is one of those films where the acting might get praised but the film itself is less than the sum of its parts. Michael Douglas was better than “Wall Street” and won the Oscar accordingly. “Chariots Of Fire” is a converse example of a film that was uniformly excellent but had no standout performers. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-rated-movies/633573/69 "2012-09-04T18:26:57Z")
> [@sciurophobic](#): > > Does anybody still think **American Beauty** or **Crash** deserved the Best Picture Oscar? I am often underwhelmed by Best Picture winners, and those are two great examples. AB in particular — I was so bored that I would have walked out of the theater if my wife hadn’t been there with me. But after it was over, she said I should have asked her, because she felt the same way. That surprised me, because my tastes are considerably more lowbrow than hers. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-rated-movies/633573/70 "2012-09-04T19:33:58Z")
Pulp Fiction; I found it…well, a revolting mess of unlikeable people doing despicable things. I didn’t even like any of the one liners. I suppose it has some sort of ‘film snob’ merit for doing stylistic cinema things, but I still hated it. Like, really HATED it. It’s probably on my top five movies I enjoyed the least. (Which is in no way correlated to the much more entertaining “Top five worst movies” list.) ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-rated-movies/633573/71 "2012-09-04T19:47:58Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > There’s no such thing as an “over-rated” movie. They’re just movies other people liked more than you did. :rolleyes: Lord save us from people who _HAVE_ to have “In my opinion” tacked on to every sentence, even if it’s painfully obvious that the sentence has “In my opinion” unstated in it. Sheesh ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-rated-movies/633573/72 "2012-09-04T19:57:47Z")
I don’t get the fan fuss about Buckaroo Baonzi. It’s an ok film, but…not I don’t get the love for it. ---
**Author:** ![phxjcc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phxjcc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phxjcc)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-rated-movies/633573/73 "2012-09-05T01:36:37Z")
Crash A.pair.of.lips Now Some Like It Hot Avatar Best unkown by many but excellent and arguably timeless and applicable today The Best Years of Our Lives ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-rated-movies/633573/74 "2012-09-05T02:04:13Z")
> [@Greekfreak](#): > > By the way, Shawshank Redemption deserves all the recognition it gets and then some. I don’t see why. Like others here, I thought it was a decent movie, even a good movie, but far short of great. Repeated viewings did nothing to change my opinion. Others I don’t think are so hot are _Star War_ (mostly boring), _The LOTR tirlogy_ (not “bad”, either, but plot-wise, I’ve never seen what was so special about it, though I did enjoy the books more as a kid), and _The Hangover_ (I think I laughed once during the entire movie). ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-rated-movies/633573/75 "2012-09-05T02:10:22Z")
> [@Suil\_Dubh](#): > > Over- and under-rating movies is entirely subjective, YMMV, usual disclaimers apply, BUT calling Alien a “stupid, stupid film” speaks volumes more about you than the movie itself 😛 Are we both talking about the Sigourney Weaver flick? Dumb movie. Dumb plot. The characters acted like idiots at every turn, except Weaver who only acted like an idiot when she was the last surviving human. The layout of the ship was stupid, but served to force the characters to be at risk by walking down an unguarded hallway when the monster was loose. The motivations of the human bad guys made no sense, and the aliens didn’t have motivation - it wuz just eeeeee-VUL. :rolleyes: And the walls in the bridge were obviously egg cartons with Christmas lights. Dumb and cheap. Yes, Alien belongs in this thread. Probably the rest of the series as well, although Aliens did have some moments of awesome, and some quotable lines. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-rated-movies/633573/76 "2012-09-05T02:12:46Z")
> [@phxjcc](#): > > Best unkown by many but excellent and arguably timeless and applicable today The Best Years of Our Lives I am Typo Knig and I endorse this message! **phxjcc** please start a thread on Under-rated movies, leading with The Best Years of Our Lives. ---
**Author:** ![SecretaryofEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@SecretaryofEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecretaryofEvil)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-rated-movies/633573/77 "2012-09-05T04:16:12Z")
I only enjoyed Avatar because I was rooting for the humans the whole time. General Picket calmly sipping coffee as he destroys the Keebler Elf home of the Space Smurf Indians was one of the greatest scenes in movie history. I don’t understand why he was the villain. He drove them out with gas, it was humane! The Na’vi are selfish and xenophobic. Speaking of Avatar, Dances with Wolves was an incredibly overrated movie. Basically, if the film’s plot follows the Dances with Wolves formula it’s almost certainly going to suck. Examples include: The Last Samurai Ferngully Pocahontas Bizarrely enough an exception to this might be Dune. Dune probably gets away with it because it’s not terribly preachy, among other reasons. On the other hand, I think the Dune sequels are a bit overrated, but now we’re in books here, so that’s a different thread. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-rated-movies/633573/78 "2012-09-05T04:32:17Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > No kidding. I’m embarrassed for the Dope when these things pop up again, and again and again. Not I. There are some topics that are so universal, that I’ll read another one, or even reread all of a zombie thread: over-rated films, plot holes, bad movie science in movies… Free advice for dealing with over-hyped movies: Check out what’s coming out ahead of time, and when something looks interesting, QUICK! rush out and see it before that one friend of yours says "it’s THE MOST Ay-_MAY-zing movie…I mean, film!"_ Mine? Most of the comedies my friends say I just have to see, NOW: _“Duuuude, you’ve gotta watch **The Hangover** five times in a row with us!” “While we tell you all of Zach Gallifinwhatziz’s lines just before he does.” “Followed by **Pineapple Express** and **Mallrats**!”_ Comedy’s subjective, duuuude. (Maybe I should make them watch _Harvey_…) ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-rated-movies/633573/79 "2012-09-05T04:55:11Z")
> [@Seanette](#): > > I didn’t even finish “Citizen Kane”. Incredibly slow and draggy, IMO. I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating… If you have not seen _Citizen Kane_ in a movie theater, you have not seen _Citizen Kane_. The film was created for the environment of a movie theater, not a TV screen, and definitely not to be broken up with commercials. Please, if you ever have a chance to see a film print in a theater, you owe it to yourself to see it. I’m confident your opinion will change. My wife had tried to watch it on TV before and had failed. But sitting next to me at Chicago’s _Music Box_ theater, watching a 35mm print, we had substantially the same experience as the original audience of the film, and very likely the same experience as most of the film critics who praise the film. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-rated-movies/633573/80 "2012-09-05T05:29:28Z")
Vastly overrated: _Gone With The Wind_ _Avatar_ _Dances with Wolves_ _Alien_ _E. T._ _Lost In Translation_ Good movies, yet over-rated: _Citizen Kane_ - belongs on all-time great list … but #1 ?? _Sunset Blvd_ - good but #12 all-time rating is crazier than C.K.'s _Psycho_ _The Graduate_ _2001: A Space Odyssey_ - looks ridiculous now, but special 40+ years ago Tastes differ dramatically, as some Dopers panned the following **Excellent movies** : _Fargo_ - one of my very favorite movies _Crash_ - one of my very favorite movies _The Sixth Sense_ _Pulp Fiction_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-rated-movies/633573.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/over-rated-movies/633573.md?page=5)