# What's the most underappreciated movie you've seen? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 6, 2001, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-underappreciated-movie-youve-seen/61024 "2001-04-06T04:09:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2001, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-underappreciated-movie-youve-seen/61024/21 "2001-04-06T16:31:48Z")
I loved “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.” Tim Roth and Gary Oldman in a Tom Stoppard work. For those who aren’t familiar with it, see this link: [http://us.imdb.com/Title?0100519](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0100519) One of my favorite movies of all time. And the play’s even better. By the way, I _ **LOVED** _ “Shakes the Clown,” too! ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2001, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-underappreciated-movie-youve-seen/61024/22 "2001-04-06T16:49:53Z")
The one I always bring up in this sort of thread is **The Year My Voice Broke** , a gem of a movie about coming of age in rural Australia. Its sequel **Flirting** is a winner, too (and features a young Nicole Kidman). I’ll second **Leon (a/k/a The Professional)** as well as the French action film **Nikita (a/k/a La Femme Nikita)** (the French film which introduced us to Jean Reno in the role of an assassin). ---
**Author:** ![MikeG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikeg/32/4329_2.png) [@MikeG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeG)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2001, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-underappreciated-movie-youve-seen/61024/23 "2001-04-06T17:02:11Z")
Two movies I liked but have not seen much: The Power of One : Morgan Freeman is amazing. the Public Eye : Joe Pesci’s greatest work ever. Period. ---
**Author:** ![MrVisible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@MrVisible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrVisible)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2001, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-underappreciated-movie-youve-seen/61024/24 "2001-04-06T19:32:35Z")
I agree with most of what’s been posted, especially **Creator** and **Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead**. And, I’d like to go on to add… **Joe Vs. The Volcano** A Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan vehicle that flopped. Screenplay by John Patrick Shanley. A funny little fairy tale, with a superb performance by Abe Vigoda. **The Spanish Prisoner** Brilliant plot. Good dramatic turn from Steve Martin. **Muppets From Space** I laughed so hard, I hurt myself. Best collection of gags since Top Secret. ---
**Author:** ![Tyklfe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3e96dc/32.png) [@Tyklfe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tyklfe)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2001, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-underappreciated-movie-youve-seen/61024/25 "2001-04-06T21:17:07Z")
**Silent\_Rob** kicks a\*\*!! But he also su&\*s because he beat me to it. I love _ **Six String Samurai** _!!! ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2001, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-underappreciated-movie-youve-seen/61024/26 "2001-04-06T22:08:50Z")
Thank you all for the info…I’m always on the lookout for the overlooked films out there–and God knows, there are plenty of them. I’m seeing films posted I’ve never even heard of. And a few that I have… mrvisible: You nailed it–The Spanish Prisoner is marvelous, and Steve Martin was terrific in it. CallMeacham: I saw Creator years ago and still remember how moving it was at the end. Good choice. Gatsby: I have a copy of Things to Do In Denver When You’re Dead and have watched it many times. Excellent. Dr. Rieux: Yes, I’m a Boorman fan too. I didn’t realize, till I read your post, that anyone else had seen The Emerald Forest besides me. Such an underrated and powerful film. ---
**Author:** ![Kamandi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5daacb/32.png) [@Kamandi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamandi)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2001, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-underappreciated-movie-youve-seen/61024/27 "2001-04-06T22:14:15Z")
**Star 80**. This movie simultaneously made and destroyed Eric Roberts’ career. His portrayal of Paul Snyder is so creepy, you’ll need to wash after seeing it. **Glengarry Glen Ross**. Superb, riveting performances all around. A small french Candian film called (in english) **Black Robe**. About Jesuit missionaries in Canada in the 1600’s (not sure of the century, actually, but it was back there). Heart-breakingly beautiful scenery interspersed with frighteningly graphic violence. **Naked Lunch**. David Cronenburg adapted William Burrough’s drug-addled visions beautifully. They are two sick puppies. Great performances from some very underappreciated actors: Peter Weller and Judy Davis. ---
**Author:** ![silent\_rob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@silent\_rob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silent_rob)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2001, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-underappreciated-movie-youve-seen/61024/28 "2001-04-06T22:54:36Z")
**Number Six** , you sir, rock! _Leon_ is a great, great movie (though I prefer the European version), as are _Searching for Bobby Fisher_ (which would have been on my list if I had remembered), and _Blind Fury_ (I own this movie and nobody has seen it). **riley dieffenbach** ; _Citizen X_ is indeed a very cool flick. I rented it and was not disappointed. **RealityChuck** , awsome! Nobody I know has heard of _Noises Off_, and were baffled when I bought it (and I bought _Rozencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead_ at the same time, **Superdude** ). It’s a really great piece with great performances (a wonderful cast). If you get a chance, check out the play version of it (it’s amazing to see it performed live). **KneadToKnow** , I thought _The Conversation_ (a very cool flick) was pretty popular when it came out. Two other movies to add: _The Blood of Heroes_ (an action classic) and _Shine_ (same kind of thing with _SFBF_, where people don’t want to see it but then love it if they do). ---
**Author:** ![heembo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f6c823/32.png) [@heembo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heembo)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2001, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-underappreciated-movie-youve-seen/61024/29 "2001-04-06T22:57:18Z")
Shower, Serial Mom, Outside Providence, The Vanishing, Eating Raoul, Mass Appeal, City of Lost Children, the Big Lebowski, Parents, The Paper, Arlington Road, Farinelli, the “three colors” films (Red, Blue, White), A Clockwork Orange. There are more, but my working memory is only providing me with a partial list at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![Hodge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Hodge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hodge)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2001, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-underappreciated-movie-youve-seen/61024/30 "2001-04-07T01:31:53Z")
There’re plenty of great movies in this thread. **The Conversation, The Duellists, La Femme Nikita, Glengarry Glenross, The Spanish Prisoner, Naked Lunch, etc.,** are all excellent. More comments: **viva** , you stole my first choice. I think **Ed Wood** is fantastic! Normally, Tim Burton’s characters are secondary to the production design, but there was real depth of character in this movie. Definitely Burton’s best. Sorry **RealityChuck** , but _everything_ Verhoeven does is supposed to be funny. Whether or not he succeeds is a matter of debate. I went to **Showgirls** for the sleaze, but I stayed for the comedy. As for **Starship Troopers** , I think his reach exceeded his grasp but his intent was clearly satirical. I like to think of **Black Robe** , as the **Anti-Dances With Wolves**. Whereas **DwW** romanticized the “noble savage”, **BR** is more bleak and realistic. It makes the point that “civilized” European culture isn’t that far removed from the savagery of aboriginal society. Life is suffering, but love makes it bearable. In a similar vein, I’d like to recommend **Clearcut**. It’s a Canadian movie about a sawmill operator, the activist lawyer who’s suing him, and the badass Native American (who may or may not be Coyote) who’s kidnapped both of them to teach them a lesson. For the most part it is a fairly even-handed treatment of controversial environmental issues. Also, I’ve never been able to figure out what the critics have against **The Frighteners**. I think it’s a great horror-comedy that I describe as **Ghostbusters** with an edge. Michael J. Fox’s best movie. Hodge ---
**Author:** ![Tyklfe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3e96dc/32.png) [@Tyklfe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tyklfe)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2001, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-underappreciated-movie-youve-seen/61024/31 "2001-04-07T02:02:07Z")
My $.02 If you love music than you **MUST** see _ **Brassed Off** _. It has some of the best movie music I’ve heard since _ **Hunt for Red October** _. ---
**Author:** ![Grok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/96bed5/32.png) [@Grok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grok)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2001, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-underappreciated-movie-youve-seen/61024/32 "2001-04-07T02:17:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by riley dieffenbach \* > \*\* > 3. Starship Troopers - Yes I know I’ll get flamed for this but let me explain. Sure it made a lot of money, but the subtext of this movie went completely unnoticed. Try watching it thinking of the “heroes” as a fascist army and the bugs as the persecuted minority. Manipulates the viewer into cheering for the fascists. \*\* Oh, geez - I thought we’d covered this… Look up the thread from a month or two ago. Read the book if you want to see what the story is really about. Ironically enough however, I had actually intended to make the same point about “Natural Born Killers”. We’ll see if this one goes over better: I felt everyone who decried NBK’s as senseless violence missed the point completely. It was supposed to be a mirror of ourselves, and therefore was indeed full of senseless violence. I felt this was quite obviously done intentionally. In fact, I couldn’t see how one could miss it, especially when there were shots of OJ Simpson edited in to one of the montage sequences. ---
**Author:** ![Nacho4Sara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Nacho4Sara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nacho4Sara)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2001, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-underappreciated-movie-youve-seen/61024/33 "2001-04-07T02:21:43Z")
> [@](#): > > Stealing Beauty ~ simple, lyrical, and great to just watch. I love this movie. Absolutely incredible. The soundtrack is great too - Billie Holliday, Nina Simone, Stevie Wonder, the Cocteau Twins and Portishead. Spectacular. Also, **Big Night** with Stanley Tucci was great. Two genuine Italian restauranteers are competing with the big fake plastic Italian place restaurant down the street. They plan a huge dinner with an opera singer and all these famous guests, but of course plans go awry. Very sweet and sad. **Shall We Dance?** is the best sort of love story - very _Casablaca_-esque. The two main characters don’t end up together, don’t even make love, but it’s so great to see their chemistry. **The Pillow Book** with Ewan McGregor was incredible. Ewan takes it all off, for that sort of audience, but it’s also classily erotic and sensual. I haven’t seen it in a year, but some of the scenes have remained with me - especially Ewan’s character painting Chinese calligraphy on his lover’s naked back. ---
**Author:** ![Baraqiyal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@Baraqiyal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baraqiyal)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2001, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-underappreciated-movie-youve-seen/61024/34 "2001-04-07T02:23:56Z")
**Requiem For a Dream** - It left me felling hollowed out, despondent, abused, and utterly numb, but kind of in a good way. Also, **Memento** - A fascinating crime drama, told backwards. ---
**Author:** ![Hodge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Hodge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hodge)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2001, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-underappreciated-movie-youve-seen/61024/35 "2001-04-07T03:16:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Grok \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by riley dieffenbach \* > > \*\* > > 3. Starship Troopers - Yes I know I’ll get flamed for this but let me explain. Sure it made a lot of money, but the subtext of this movie went completely unnoticed. Try watching it thinking of the “heroes” as a fascist army and the bugs as the persecuted minority. Manipulates the viewer into cheering for the fascists. \*\* > > Oh, geez - I thought we’d covered this… Look up the thread from a month or two ago. Read the book if you want to see what the story is really about.\*\* Sure, like anyone named **Grok** is going to be objective about Heinlein. 😉 Hodge ---
**Author:** ![Gazoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ce73a5/32.png) [@Gazoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazoo)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2001, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-underappreciated-movie-youve-seen/61024/36 "2001-04-07T03:30:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dr. Rieux \* > \*\*Exorcist II: The Heretic > \*\* I really hope you’re kidding. Now, I would like to name **Exorcist III** as a movie that few have seen and is worth watching. **Searching For Bobby Fischer** as menioned above is a movie that _everyone_ should see. ---
**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:** [April 7, 2001, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-underappreciated-movie-youve-seen/61024/37 "2001-04-07T04:03:16Z")
**Black Robe**. My all-time favorite “Native American” movie. **Heathers**. Very funny. Here are a few more (older) duds that I actually liked: **They Call Me Bruce**. Well _I_ thought it was funny! **Being There**. Peter Sellers at his best. **Rock and Roll High School**. The Ramones at their best! On a related note, has anyone seen **Escanaba in da Moonlight** , staring Jeff Daniels? I haven’t seen it, but I heard it was hilarious. It’s about deer hunting in Michigan’s U.P. I figure it’s gotta be good… ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2001, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-underappreciated-movie-youve-seen/61024/38 "2001-04-07T04:24:50Z")
Hold on a second about “Natural Born Killers”. I know, Stone thought he was parodying violence in society/media. But instead he created exactly what he was commenting on…a sadistic and vicious piece of trash that patted itself on the back about how much it was against violence and sadism. Natural Born Killers was awful, and especially awful was how Stone revels in the violence while pretending to deplore it. ---
**Author:** ![shell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/46a35a/32.png) [@shell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shell)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2001, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-underappreciated-movie-youve-seen/61024/39 "2001-04-07T04:58:23Z")
Drugstore Cowboy A Patch of Blue Ironweed Reefer Madness Enemy Mine Prizzi’s Honor The Dark Crystal The Secret Policeman’s Other Ball The Madness of King George Many, many more… ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2001, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-underappreciated-movie-youve-seen/61024/40 "2001-04-07T05:11:00Z")
That’s not the worst, **Lemur** - Stone also tried to manipulate his audience into sympathizing with his two “heros”, and failed completely. He failed because he forgot that people make their own moral judgements, and don’t accept everything spooned to them by some self-important “auteur”. Besides, as satire, it was as sharp and subtle as a Louisville Slugger, only less likely to leave an impression. Anyway… **The Thirteenth Warrior** - much better than it should have been, with interesting characters, great action and perhaps the most impressive death scene ever filmed. **No Escape** (AKA **Escape from Absalom** - a Mad Max sort of film starring Ray Liotta which… well, I don’t know why, but it’s a _great_ movie. Really. It has an actual sense of humor, a well-thought out plot, and characters which are far more than just cardboard cut-outs. Besides, how many post-apocalyptic style movies are there which include a scene in which the beseiged warriors/criminals hold a New Years bash, wear stupid hparty hats and dance drunkenly to Dusty Springfield? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-underappreciated-movie-youve-seen/61024.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-underappreciated-movie-youve-seen/61024.md?page=3)