# What were the biggest critical reappraisals? (All media) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 12, 2019, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-biggest-critical-reappraisals-all-media/843324 "2019-11-12T12:16:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-biggest-critical-reappraisals-all-media/843324/1 "2019-11-12T12:16:11Z")
I’m not talking about box office here: Plenty of films do poorly in their initial release and then do well afterwards for purely boring reasons like studio politics preventing a proper marketing campaign, and plenty of films have a good opening weekend and then do precisely nothing afterwards because they made a big splash and were so bad nobody wanted to see them twice. I’m talking about films where the consensus of reviewers (usually called “critics”) has shifted dramatically. One example is John Carpenter’s _The Thing_, which was hated by reviewers when it was first released and is now one of canonical horror/science-fiction genre merges. I can’t think of any film going the other way, from loved by reviewers to being panned now. Moving away from film, the novel _Moby-Dick_ got mixed reviews, and now it’s universally seen as one of the greatest English-language novels. ---
**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:** [November 12, 2019, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-biggest-critical-reappraisals-all-media/843324/2 "2019-11-12T12:33:05Z")
When I was in college, it was just kin of assumed that Jerzy Kozinski would wind up in the Pantheon of Important Writers and that Jim Thompson would not, and pretty much the opposite happened. Authors don’t find their place in the literary canon during their lifetime, usually; when my father went to high school in the 30s, Mark Twain and Charles Dickens were not yet considered serious literature. When I was in high school, JRR Tolkein was kind of a niche oddity. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-biggest-critical-reappraisals-all-media/843324/3 "2019-11-12T12:37:23Z")
_Rolling Stone_ **hated** Black Sabbath [early on.](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/black-sabbath-188300/) [URL=“[https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/paranoid-107132/](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/paranoid-107132/)”] > [@Lester Bangs](#): > > Over across the tracks in the industrial side of Cream country lie unskilled laborers like Black Sabbath, which was hyped as a rockin’ ritual celebration of the Satanic mass or some such claptrap, something like England’s answer to Coven. Well, they’re not that bad, but that’s about all the credit you can give them. The whole album is a shuck — despite the murky songtitles and some inane lyrics that sound like Vanilla Fudge paying doggerel tribute to Aleister Crowley, the album has nothing to do with spiritualism, the occult, or anything much except stiff recitations of Cream clichés that sound like the musicians learned them out of a book, grinding on and on with dogged persistence. Vocals are sparse, most of the album being filled with plodding bass lines over which the lead guitar dribbles wooden Claptonisms from the master’s tiredest Cream days. They even have discordant jams with bass and guitar reeling like velocitized speedfreaks all over each other’s musical perimeters yet never quite finding synch — just like Cream! But worse. ---
**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:** [November 12, 2019, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-biggest-critical-reappraisals-all-media/843324/4 "2019-11-12T12:38:04Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > I can’t think of any film going the other way, from loved by reviewers to being panned now. I get the impression that the Holocaust comedy “Life is Beautiful” has lost some of its lustre over the years. ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-biggest-critical-reappraisals-all-media/843324/5 "2019-11-12T13:11:06Z")
The Blues Brothers wasn’t well liked by critics, and flopped too. Found its place on video rental release. ---
**Author:** ![BlueOhio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/439d5e/32.png) [@BlueOhio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueOhio)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-biggest-critical-reappraisals-all-media/843324/6 "2019-11-12T13:15:04Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > _Rolling Stone_ **hated** Black Sabbath [early on.](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/black-sabbath-188300/) [URL=“[Paranoid](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/paranoid-107132/)”] I’m a Sabbath fan but I don’t really disagree with this take. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-biggest-critical-reappraisals-all-media/843324/7 "2019-11-12T13:19:25Z")
I imagine _The Birth of a Nation_ is viewed in a very different light by many modern critics… ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-biggest-critical-reappraisals-all-media/843324/8 "2019-11-12T13:19:55Z")
Johann Sebastian Bach was primarily known as a talented organist during his life but was heavily overshadowed as a composer by his talented sons. Bach’s music for the last half of his life was seen as stodgy, old-fashioned and dull and he struggled to get it played anywhere (or anywhere he wasn’t personally in charge of the music). He was “rediscovered” in the 19th century and the rest is history. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-biggest-critical-reappraisals-all-media/843324/9 "2019-11-12T13:20:28Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > _Rolling Stone_ **hated** Black Sabbath [early on.](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/black-sabbath-188300/) [URL=“[Paranoid](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/paranoid-107132/)”] Jesus. How many times can you cram the name Cream into a review of an entirely different band? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-biggest-critical-reappraisals-all-media/843324/10 "2019-11-12T13:28:25Z")
The 1967 film _Bonnie and Clyde_ was dragged over it’s supposed glorification of violence and so on. But a few [reviewers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonnie_and_Clyde_(film)#Reception) loved it and started touting it. In particular Pauline Kael wrote an essay praising it. Turned both the film’s assessment and her career around. Got two Oscars and a bunch of nominations. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-biggest-critical-reappraisals-all-media/843324/11 "2019-11-12T13:38:45Z")
> [@Smid](#): > > The Blues Brothers wasn’t well liked by critics, and flopped too. Found its place on video rental release. The same is true of Clue. How about the Gettysburg Address? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ecks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bcef8e/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ecks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ecks)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-biggest-critical-reappraisals-all-media/843324/12 "2019-11-12T13:39:21Z")
As I recall, Moby Dick wasn’t successful and Melville’s more conventional south seas novels were quite popular. Time has reversed that. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-biggest-critical-reappraisals-all-media/843324/13 "2019-11-12T13:56:27Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > I imagine _The Birth of a Nation_ is viewed in a very different light by many modern critics… I almost included that one, but from reading the Wikipedia page its reception wasn’t exactly universally rapturous. It was a box office success, but not a huge critical darling. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-biggest-critical-reappraisals-all-media/843324/14 "2019-11-12T13:59:44Z")
_Ishtar_ was badly panned when it came out (with a few notable exceptions) and got the reputation of being a terrible movie. Nowadays, most critics think it’s pretty good overall. _Duck Soup_ by the Marx Brothers was a major flop, but now is considered one of their best. _Crash_ was loved by critics when it first came out, but after it won the Oscar, its reputation fell precipitously (I disagree, especially since most people who sneer at it don’t understand its point). ---
**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:** [November 12, 2019, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-biggest-critical-reappraisals-all-media/843324/15 "2019-11-12T14:05:27Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > I can’t think of any film going the other way, from loved by reviewers to being panned now. Well, **Manhattan** ’s free ride is over, though not because of the film’s actual merits. Quite a few critical darlings from circa 1979 have either gotten downgraded ( **Heaven’s Gate, The Deer Hunter,** I think there was just a feeling of Michael Cimino fatigue) or unaccountably dropped off the radar ( **Reds** and \*\*Breaking Away \*\*were freakin’ _huge_ when they were in the theaters!). And not to keep picking on poor Jerzy Kozinski, but **Being There** kind of started the trend of movies you see once, profess to their awe to anybody who will listen, and then never think about them again. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-biggest-critical-reappraisals-all-media/843324/16 "2019-11-12T14:07:00Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > I get the impression that the Holocaust comedy “Life is Beautiful” has lost some of its lustre over the years. “American Beauty” got raked very quickly. ---
**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:** [November 12, 2019, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-biggest-critical-reappraisals-all-media/843324/17 "2019-11-12T14:07:18Z")
Also, all those John Hughes films are kind of suspect now. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-biggest-critical-reappraisals-all-media/843324/18 "2019-11-12T14:09:54Z")
Groundhog Day was initially received as a good movie - but its reputation has grown immensely since then [Groundhog Day (film) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groundhog_Day_(film)#Critical_reception) ---
**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:** [November 12, 2019, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-biggest-critical-reappraisals-all-media/843324/19 "2019-11-12T14:17:34Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > Groundhog Day was initially received as a good movie - but its reputation has grown immensely since then [Groundhog Day (film) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groundhog_Day_(film)#Critical_reception) I always wondered why **Multiplicity** never got the same love as **Groundhog Day** ; it had a lot of the same elements going for it. I think this was made around the time Bill Murray stopped taking Harold Ramis’s phone calls, so they had to “settle” for Michael Keaton. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-biggest-critical-reappraisals-all-media/843324/20 "2019-11-12T14:24:53Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > Quite a few critical darlings from circa 1979 have either gotten downgraded ( **Heaven’s Gate, The Deer Hunter,** I think there was just a feeling of Michael Cimino fatigue) I was never aware of _Heaven’s Gate_ being a “critical darling.” Quite the contrary, it was almost universally hated by critics, and it lost so much money that it’s often been pointed to as the film that ended the practice of hot young directors being given lavish budgets and almost no studio oversight. It also seriously damaged Kris Kristofferson’s reputation as an actor. There has been something of a reassessment of _Heaven’s Gate_ more recently, and a feeling has emerged that many of those early reviews were a sort of critical pile-on against Cimino, based more on his personality and on the film’s troubled production than on its actual merits. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-the-biggest-critical-reappraisals-all-media/843324.md?page=2)