# Whats the most overrated movie ever? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 20, 2001, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-overrated-movie-ever/55144 "2001-02-20T00:41:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![K-Web\_Catalyst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f6c823/32.png) [@K-Web\_Catalyst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K-Web_Catalyst)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2001, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-overrated-movie-ever/55144/61 "2001-02-22T02:33:45Z")
How about the Matrix? Won’t be popular for saying this, but for all the hype it was just a waste of my time. The most overrated movie is of course Debbie Does Dallas for obvious reasons. ---
**Author:** ![imthjckaz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/imthjckaz/32/3223_2.png) [@imthjckaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/imthjckaz)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2001, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-overrated-movie-ever/55144/62 "2001-02-22T02:51:53Z")
**Blair Witch Project** , probably the most un-scary scary movie I’ve seen. I would add **Star Wars** and **Titanic** to my list, but I’ve never seen 'em and probably never will. ---
**Author:** ![Qwertyasdfg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ecc23a/32.png) [@Qwertyasdfg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwertyasdfg)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2001, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-overrated-movie-ever/55144/63 "2001-02-22T04:36:10Z")
Im sure if you have said u didn’t like the movie, what you’ve heard is “You’ve got to see it a few times before you get it.” I’m gonna have to say that, for me at least, it was true. The first time I saw it I was dissapointed. After watching it a 2nd and 3rd time I caught more of what was going on and liked it more. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2001, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-overrated-movie-ever/55144/64 "2001-02-22T07:21:28Z")
_The Usual Suspects_. Okay, it had a great cast and decent dialogue. But, I’m sorry, a gimmick ending does not turn a quickie genre flick into a Great Work of Art. _Gladiator_. Okay, I loved it. But I don’t think it is Great Art, either. The computer graphics are worth a Special Effects Oscar. Possibly the costumes and set design. But I don’t believe you should give a nomination for Best Original Screenplay to a script that is basically a remake of [The Fall of the Roman Empire](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0058085), with a few elements of [Spartacus](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0054331) thrown in for good measure. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Cynical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ee59a6/32.png) [@Mr.Cynical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Cynical)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2001, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-overrated-movie-ever/55144/65 "2001-02-22T07:31:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RickJay \* > \*\*I’m not sure you can say a movie is “underrated” that won two Academy Awards, got rave reviews, and has been wildly popular on video for five years. > \*\* I should clarify, good point. When the movie came out, I was overseas, kind of doing this war stuff. I had never heard of it when I got back and rented it off a back shelf 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2001, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-overrated-movie-ever/55144/66 "2001-02-22T07:57:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mercutio \* > \*\*And on a final note… > What the hell is Ebert’s problem? He keeps bitching that he does not like Gladiator because of the “shoddy graphics”. Oh kiss my ass you ball of flaming shit. “Boo Hoo, I can’t make out the faces of the people in the top row and I do not like the colors they have in the early morning, through the mud! Waa Waa!” \*\* I have to agree. I can’t figure out what the big deal about the graphics is either. The looked fine to me. I thought the movie was okay, but I can’t believe it was nominated for any Oscars. It wasn’t _that_ good. ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2001, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-overrated-movie-ever/55144/67 "2001-02-22T14:50:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by PatrickM \* > \*\*For my 2 cents “Silence of the Lambs” was the most critically praised flick that I thought sucked big red rocks. I hated it because it was built around the moronic premise that the FBI sends rookie female agents into the field **ALONE** to face crazy serial killers. \*\* Um, I suppose you could come away with that conclusion if you watched the movie with your fingers in your ears and your eyes closed, but there was no such premise. The FBI (well, Crawford, anyway) sent Starling into a state institution to interview Lecter on her own, but the FBI did **not** send her out alone to “face crazy serial killers.” She was **suspended** by the FBI director after offering the fake deal to Lecter. She went to Memphis to interview him **on her own** , then went to Belvedere, Ohio **on her own** to interview locals after she realized that Buffalo Bill must have known her first victim. Only when she realizes what Bill’s motive is does she call Crawford, who is en route to intercept Jame Gumb in Illinois, where the FBI thinks he is. Crawford tells her to keep interviewing people so they can link Gumb with the first victim and get him on murder charges rather than simply kidnapping (since they assume Katherine Martin is still alive). They have no way of knowing that when she knocks on Mrs. Lippmann’s door, Gumb is going to answer. Sheesh. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2001, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-overrated-movie-ever/55144/68 "2001-02-22T15:15:30Z")
IMHO, the most overrated movie is “Dances With Wolves”. What a load of hooey that movies was! It was a boring, way too artsy, simpleminded movie with virtually no plot and hammy acting. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7feea3/32.png) [@PatrickM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickM)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2001, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-overrated-movie-ever/55144/69 "2001-02-22T16:25:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pldennison \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by PatrickM \* > > \*\*For my 2 cents “Silence of the Lambs” was the most critically praised flick that I thought sucked big red rocks. I hated it because it was built around the moronic premise that the FBI sends rookie female agents into the field **ALONE** to face crazy serial killers. \*\* > > Um, I suppose you could come away with that conclusion if you watched the movie with your fingers in your ears and your eyes closed, but there was no such premise. > > The FBI (well, Crawford, anyway) sent Starling into a state institution to interview Lecter on her own, but the FBI did **not** send her out alone to “face crazy serial killers.” … > > Sheesh. > \*\* PLD, let me rephrase for you. The FBI does not send rookie agents to interview serial killers on their own even if the interview subject is already in jail. The FBI does not send rookie agents to the bathroom alone, let alone out on investigations or interviews. As I said before, the movie proceeds from a completely flawed premise. ---
**Author:** ![Saitou](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@Saitou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saitou)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2001, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-overrated-movie-ever/55144/70 "2001-02-23T01:18:24Z")
Another vote for Usual Suspects here, Boring and from start to finish, average acting, mediocre dialogues, a pointless plot and a suprise ending that isn’t much of a suprise… A gimmicky end does not a good film make. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2001, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-overrated-movie-ever/55144/71 "2001-02-23T04:26:42Z")
Dead Poets Society. Anything with a shark. I forget the rest. Maybe Titanic, but that’s a sappy genre anyway. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2001, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-overrated-movie-ever/55144/72 "2001-02-23T06:08:51Z")
I’m probably going to get slammed for this, but having just sat through it, I’ve got to say…Citizen Kane. I mean, this is almost unanimously considered the best movie ever made, but why? I mean, sure it’s a psychological portrait of a man through the eyes of those who knew him…but was the identity of “Rosebud” really such a suspenseful plot? I didn’t think so. I got bored of all the trips down memory lane halfway through, sat through the rest hoping to find out why it’s so beloved, and came away with very little. ---
**Author:** ![Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df788c/32.png) [@Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ben)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2001, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-overrated-movie-ever/55144/73 "2001-02-23T06:10:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by riserius1 \* > \*\*I gotta go with E.T. on this one. I remember how everybody and their brother said how great it was, it’s the wizard of oz for this generation, the whole thing. Then I took my then-eight-year-old sister to it. What I saw was a movie that was definitely NOT for kids. There was rude language, adults being treated like buffoons, the title character dies,Then they do electro-shock on him. This was a scary freakin movie. To this day I have only seen it the one time. \*\* Actually, I was thinking about ET the other day. It was _enormously_ overhyped in its day, and, like you say, it was though of as being the next wizard of oz. Funny, but it seems to me that no one really watches it anymore. Compare it to other movies made around the same time- “Wrath of Khan,” “Blade Runner,” even “The Goonies” and “Gremlins” seem to have aged better than “ET”. -Ben ---
**Author:** ![TiffTZell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TiffTZell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TiffTZell)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2001, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-overrated-movie-ever/55144/74 "2001-02-23T20:26:50Z")
the perfect storm- OMG that movie was the biggest thing to hit this small maine community since lobster rolls- I could not even watch the whole thing i was so bored- I was labled as insenstive to the tragedy yikes Man on the moon- yet again big hype here- i was bored to tears And my personal fave TITANIC that movie was sooo overated. There were so many bloopers in that movie it drove me nuts- My friends were all crying- I offered my then boyfriend to give him 2 hours of head just to take me home. ---
**Author:** ![hazel-rah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hazel-rah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hazel-rah)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2001, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-overrated-movie-ever/55144/75 "2001-02-23T21:11:55Z")
**Pulp Fiction**. Start with plenty of casual violence to carry the movie, and instead of a screenplay, just tell the actors “I want you to try as hard as you possibly can to outcool each other as if you were in the cafeteria during 7th grade” and then surf the PC-backlash trend all the way to film infamy. I was bored out of my mind, and instead of going to see a real movie next time, everybody wants to go see this again? Although I liked Urge Overkill’s cover of “Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon.” And you have to admire Uma Thurman’s ability to participate in the “look how big my dick is” competition without actually having a penis. -fh, who is excited about the DVD release of “Big Trouble In Little China.” ---
**Author:** ![occ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8c91f0/32.png) [@occ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/occ)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2001, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-overrated-movie-ever/55144/76 "2001-02-23T21:35:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by PatrickM \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by pldennison \* > > \*\* > > > > > [@](#): > > > > > > \*Originally posted by PatrickM \* > > > \*\*For my 2 cents “Silence of the Lambs” was the most critically praised flick that I thought sucked big red rocks. I hated it because it was built around the moronic premise that the FBI sends rookie female agents into the field **ALONE** to face crazy serial killers. \*\* > > > > Um, I suppose you could come away with that conclusion if you watched the movie with your fingers in your ears and your eyes closed, but there was no such premise. > > > > The FBI (well, Crawford, anyway) sent Starling into a state institution to interview Lecter on her own, but the FBI did **not** send her out alone to “face crazy serial killers.” … > > > > Sheesh. > > \*\* > > PLD, let me rephrase for you. The FBI does not send rookie agents to interview serial killers on their own even if the interview subject is already in jail. The FBI does not send rookie agents to the bathroom alone, let alone out on investigations or interviews. As I said before, the movie proceeds from a completely flawed premise. > \*\* They explained this, also. They had, for years, sent experienced agents in to interview Dr. Lecter, and he had always seen right through them and their methodology. Crawford thought that by sending in a trainee, a greenhorn, if you will, that Lecter might respond to her. They also touched on the fact that they thought she might sexually interest him, also leading him to giving up some information. The hidden agenda, which Clarice guessed, was to attempt to pry information about Buffalo Bill from Lecter. ---
**Author:** ![Kate\_W](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/cc9497/32.png) [@Kate\_W](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kate_W)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2001, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-overrated-movie-ever/55144/77 "2001-02-23T21:44:29Z")
Forrest Gump (he’s a much more interesting character in the books) Erin Brockovich. Would have been far better as a Lifetime “Victim of the Week” TV movie, and suddenly it’s up for an Oscar, and its inane star wins a Golden Globe and is up for the Best Actress Oscar? ---
**Author:** ![occ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8c91f0/32.png) [@occ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/occ)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2001, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-overrated-movie-ever/55144/78 "2001-02-23T22:14:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Smeghead \* > \*\*BIIIIG second here on The Matrix. I saw it before the hype really got started and left thinking, “Hmmm. That was mildly entertaining. Pretty cheesy in parts, but I wasn’t bored out of my skull.” I was stunned to learn that my roommate, who had gone with me, was totally confused by what had just happened. > > Oh, and in crappy movies that make a lot of money category, gotta add “Godzilla”. \*\* Heh. I think Godzilla actually flopped, due to word-of-mouth. It was, incidentally, one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![Stimpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/779978/32.png) [@Stimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stimpy)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2001, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-overrated-movie-ever/55144/79 "2001-02-24T11:31:41Z")
American Beauty and Fight Club. Two films that began with such promise and delivered little. Two films that feel like two movies squashed together. Sensationalist anarchistic bollocks. I’ve seen better episodes of The Simpsons, but then that’s a stupid thing for me to write! And Three Kings. Utter tripe. Anything with Clooney really. Not blaming him though… Most over-rated director has to go to Steven Soderbergh for Out of Sight and Erin Brocwhatever and The Limey and all the way back to sex, lies and videotape. Traffic? Not seen it, and not bloody likely to. Pants! (trust I’ve upset enough people by no) ---
**Author:** ![Iguana\_Boy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@Iguana\_Boy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iguana_Boy)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2001, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-overrated-movie-ever/55144/80 "2001-02-24T18:49:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jsc1953 \* > \*\*If you wanna have fun, go to rec.arts.movies.past-films and post the questions “worst movie to win a best picture Oscar?” (it’s been done on several occasions, and always generates about a terabyte of bandwidth). > > The winners (but they always have staunch defenders) are always: Forrest Gump and Braveheart. \*\* Braveheart?! They dare to insult Braveheart?! My Scottish blood boils in my veins and… well, ok, maybe. Add me to the growing list for The Blair Witch Project. If any film truly qualifies for being over-hyped, then that must be it. It sucked big time to a band playing. My brother and some of his friends actually fell for the “yhis is a true story - this is actual video footage” line, until I patiently explained how the movie industry works to him. I liked American Beauty and I managed to see it in a preview before all the hype started, so I didn’t have my hopes built up. I love Gladiator, and I am not surprised that it has been nominated for all those Oscars. It is an epic, and is the first big picture for a while that is set in the Roman Empire - or course it was going to get nominated. Hey - you don’t think a film actually has to be any good to be nominated for and win an Oscar, do you? 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-overrated-movie-ever/55144.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-overrated-movie-ever/55144.md?page=5)