# Underrated Movie Recommendation Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 4, 2013, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-movie-recommendation-thread/646056 "2013-01-04T14:24:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chargerrich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chargerrich/32/5399_2.png) [@chargerrich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chargerrich)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-movie-recommendation-thread/646056/1 "2013-01-04T14:24:40Z")
So many great movies get missed by the masses because they do not have enough commercial success. Others achieve cult status but still might be under the radar of the majority of casual movie watchers. This thread is designed to make recommendations of “under the radar” movies that you would recommend to friends (we are all friends here right? 😉 ) Please list one movie and why you like it/what makes it different or appealing. Feel free to post multiple times but please only one movie per post. I will start us off: [Dark City](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_City_%281998_film%29) - This great movie stars Rufus Sewell, Kiefer Sutherland, John Hurt and Jennifer Connolly and is also the film debut of the lovely [Melissa George](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0313534/). Dark City combines a unique film noir style with science fiction. The story is unique and the acting is above average. Definitely on my underrated list. ---
**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:** [January 4, 2013, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-movie-recommendation-thread/646056/2 "2013-01-04T14:32:44Z")
I suspect you’ll find that, on this Board, a lot of the movies aren’t underrated or obscure, and are probably well-known. It’s hard for me to think of Dark City as obscure or underrated, for instance – it was a big-budget release, and people here mention it all the time. Recognizing that my own choice might be thought of as well-known, too, I’ll suggest **The Hidden**. It didn’t get a lot of buzz when released, which is unfortunate as it’s a slickly-made film starring Kyle Mclaughlin as the same kind of weird FBI agent he would shortly play in the series _Twin Peaks_. You could argue that this explains how he got that way. A great piece of science fiction with few effects, but a well-told story and lots of cute character touches. It feels as if it was inspired by Hal Clement’s novel _Needle_ (which isn’t acknowledged), but done as a _noir_ detective film. Highly recommended. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-movie-recommendation-thread/646056/3 "2013-01-04T16:12:36Z")
> [@chargerrich](#): > > [Dark City](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_City_%281998_film%29) - This great movie stars Rufus Sewell, Kiefer Sutherland, John Hurt and Jennifer Connolly and is also the film debut of the lovely [Melissa George](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0313534/). Dark City combines a unique film noir style with science fiction. The story is unique and the acting is above average. Definitely on my underrated list. SHUT IT DOWN! SHUT IT DOWN FOREVER!!! Such a good flick. I’ll have to come back to this thread this evening. I was a very active Netflixer a few years ago, and quite willing to look at their recommendations. Led to many an obscure film in my Q. ---
**Author:** ![chargerrich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chargerrich/32/5399_2.png) [@chargerrich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chargerrich)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-movie-recommendation-thread/646056/4 "2013-01-04T16:30:46Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I suspect you’ll find that, on this Board, a lot of the movies aren’t underrated or obscure, and are probably well-known. It’s hard for me to think of Dark City as obscure or underrated, for instance – it was a big-budget release, and people here mention it all the time. I read it was a 27 million dollar film… guess we have to define what equates to “Big Budget”. It also just barely broke even so I while I will concede that the “awesomeness” that is the SD boards might not find Dark City neither underrated or obscure, I would posit that to most (including most I have talked to) are unaware of the film. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ruby\_Slippers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/94ad74/32.png) [@Ruby\_Slippers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby_Slippers)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-movie-recommendation-thread/646056/5 "2013-01-04T17:04:56Z")
> [@chargerrich](#): > > I read it was a 27 million dollar film… guess we have to define what equates to “Big Budget”. It also just barely broke even so I while I will concede that the “awesomeness” that is the SD boards might not find Dark City neither underrated or obscure, I would posit that to most (including most I have talked to) are unaware of the film. 😃 I’m a sci-fi fan going way way back. (I think I actually saw Forbidden Planet in its original release to movie theaters.) But I never heard of Dark City before. It sounds good, and I’ll be checking Netflix to see if I can get it there. My own suggestion, which may also be well known around here, is [The Man from Earth](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0756683/). It’s not for the action/adventure fans but I found it to be thought-provoking. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-movie-recommendation-thread/646056/6 "2013-01-04T17:11:55Z")
_Paul_ Or anything by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Maybe not too obscure, but their films are pure genius and you need to see them, even if for a second time. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-movie-recommendation-thread/646056/7 "2013-01-04T17:18:55Z")
This is my usual recommendation on this type of threads: _Fear of a black hat_, it’s _This is Spinal Tap_ for 90’s gangsta rap, and yes it does live up to that comparison. ---
**Author:** ![chargerrich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chargerrich/32/5399_2.png) [@chargerrich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chargerrich)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-movie-recommendation-thread/646056/8 "2013-01-04T17:35:30Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > This is my usual recommendation on this type of threads: _Fear of a black hat_, it’s _This is Spinal Tap_ for 90’s gangsta rap, and yes it does live up to that comparison. My curiosity is piqued! ---
**Author:** ![Moonchild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@Moonchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonchild)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-movie-recommendation-thread/646056/9 "2013-01-04T17:37:20Z")
[Out of Sight](http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1083436-1083436-out_of_sight/), directed by Steven Soderbergh. Just a smart, fun crime drama and a rare great romantic comedy. Deserved a Best Picture nomination over Amistad, IMHO. Great Chemistry between Clooney and Jennifer Lopez. And some great stunt casting. And playing on Netflix right now! And for _that guy_ who will chime in to say that underrated movies are nothing more than one’s personal opinion, I counter that an underrated movie is one that few give a lot of credit to and then when they see it or think about it further say, “Yeah, that’s a damn good movie.” ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-movie-recommendation-thread/646056/10 "2013-01-04T17:56:16Z")
> [@Ruby\_Slippers](#): > > My own suggestion, which may also be well known around here, is [The Man from Earth](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0756683/). It’s not for the action/adventure fans but I found it to be thought-provoking. I’ll second this. I saw this one earlier [del]this[/del] last year. A big bunch of nothing happens but it’s a good thinky movie. I might not have liked it if the topic was different but it’s one of my favorite topics for sci/fi and fantasy. About immortals or really long-lived people. Another good one is Super 8. > **[Super 8 (2011) ⭐ 7.0 | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1650062/)** > > 1h 52m | PG-13 From IMDB: > [@](#): > > In the summer of 1979, a group of friends in a small Ohio town witness a catastrophic train crash while making a super 8 movie and soon suspect that it was not an accident. It’s a great action movie. The person I saw it with said it was basically Goonies with a lot more action. I didn’t really get the Goonies feel but it does focus mostly on this group of kids and it follows them through the movie. The train wreck in the beginning hooked me on it. It felt like the first episode of Lost and the plane crash. It was really cool. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-movie-recommendation-thread/646056/11 "2013-01-04T17:56:27Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > This is my usual recommendation on this type of threads: _Fear of a black hat_, it’s _This is Spinal Tap_ for 90’s gangsta rap, and yes it does live up to that comparison. **Fear of a Black Hat** was AWESOME! ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-movie-recommendation-thread/646056/12 "2013-01-04T18:00:11Z")
I will suggest **The Zero Effect** > **[Zero Effect (1998) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120906/)** > > Zero Effect: Directed by Jake Kasdan. With Bill Pullman, Ben Stiller, Ryan O'Neal, Kim Dickens. The world's greatest detective Daryl Zero aided by his associate Steve Arlo investigates a complex and mysterious case of blackmail and missing keys for... Bill Pullman plays a private detective that is brilliant and slick…when working on a case. He is a basket case in his private life. Jerry Stiller is great as his long suffering and frustrated assistant ---
**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:** [January 4, 2013, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-movie-recommendation-thread/646056/13 "2013-01-04T18:12:55Z")
**The Right Stuff** Not exactly obscure, I suppose; but a lot more people have heard of it than have seen it. It shows the original NASA astronauts with an interesting mix of satire and heroism. The country was in a panic to beat the Soviets in the space race, and Life magazine gave them seven noble, square-jawed heroes to take on the task. But strip away the silly PR trappings and they were smart guys doing something that really could kill them, and from a culture of skill and bravery that no one outside it really understood. ---
**Author:** ![chinchalinchin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@chinchalinchin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chinchalinchin)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-movie-recommendation-thread/646056/14 "2013-01-04T18:39:25Z")
**Primer**!!! It’s the best time travel movie out there and it looks like the creators literally shot the movie in their basement. I’d be surprised if the movie cost over twenty thousand dollars. It’s incredibly low budget, but the amount of thought that went into the screenplay is amazing. You need friggin’ flow charts and journals just to decode what _really_ happened. Which may or may not be a turn off for some viewers, but myself, I love those kind of movies where you can watch them ten or eleven times and still have it be fresh. ---
**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:** [January 4, 2013, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-movie-recommendation-thread/646056/15 "2013-01-04T18:41:49Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > I will suggest **The Zero Effect** > > [Zero Effect (1998) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120906/) > > Bill Pullman plays a private detective that is brilliant and slick…when working on a case. He is a basket case in his private life. Jerry Stiller is great as his long suffering and frustrated assistant I was coming in to add this, so I will add _Runaway Train_ with Jon Voigt and Eric Roberts. Voigt is ridiculously good in this movie. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-movie-recommendation-thread/646056/16 "2013-01-04T18:53:47Z")
[Miss Nobody](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1129427/). A 2010 black comedy starring Leslie Bibb. Absolutely _ **hilarious** _. Very well done. Yet no one knows about it. Bought the DVD, and have probably watched it a dozen times. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-movie-recommendation-thread/646056/17 "2013-01-04T18:55:11Z")
I’ll vote for **Quick Change** with Bill Murray, Geena Davis and Randy Quaid. > [@](#): > > He says to Ms. Cochran here: “Baby! Up your butt with a coconut!” I think he was prepared to do it! Except I saw no coconut. He, uh, he had no coconut to my knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-movie-recommendation-thread/646056/18 "2013-01-04T18:58:38Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > I was coming in to add this, so I will add _Runaway Train_ with Jon Voigt and Eric Roberts. Voigt is ridiculously good in this movie. Roberts was awesome as well. Speaking of which, _The Pope of Greenwich Village_ was also killer excellent. It didn’t do much business, because the plot as explained to potential movie-goers sounded pretty stupid. I couldn’t explain the more interesting plot without giving away massive spoilers. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2013, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-movie-recommendation-thread/646056/19 "2013-01-04T18:59:47Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > I’ll vote for **Quick Change** with Bill Murray, Geena Davis and Randy Quaid. Buftoni! Buftoni! Honk honk. Brilliant movie. ---
**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:** [January 4, 2013, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-movie-recommendation-thread/646056/20 "2013-01-04T19:00:44Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > I was coming in to add this, so I will add _Runaway Train_ with Jon Voigt and Eric Roberts. Voigt is ridiculously good in this movie. Agreed. I love it. It’s based on a screenplay by Akira Kurasawa (_The Seven Samurai, Rashomon, Ran_) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/underrated-movie-recommendation-thread/646056.md?page=2)