IMDB Overrated Movies List

[Nexus6]

I accidentally stumbled across this overrated movies list when browsing IMDB the other day and felt it worth posting here. It is a short but very entertaining read. http://www.imdb.com/list/nvf9yQVhEHM/

My comments on some of his:

Full Metal Jacket - I love this movie and I love Stanley Kubrick. That said, I do tend to agree that although the beginning and ending were amazing, much of the middle section was a rather chaotic pastiche of vignettes where some worked and some didn't. Also, I almost hate to admit that lead actor Mathew Modine seemed to pioneer the smug Hollywood liberal persona which was later perfected by people like George Clooney.

Ben Hur - I've always loved this movie. It was big and epic and often poignant and touching. Having said that, I agree completely that Chuck Heston, though imminently likeable, did tend to be a one-dimensional actor who played the same character in everything he did (like Tom Cruise). Also, I sort of begrudgingly agree that the film does at times seen to lumber along under the weight of its own bloat and self-importance.

Gone with the Wind - He nailed this one. "The movie is overlong and annoying, and started that whole production values make a good film nonsense." Also, I can't believe Hollywood would do a big-budget Civil War film and not do even one battle, and I thought the much ballyhooed burning of Atlanta sequence was a poor substitute.

The Exorcist - He nailed this one as well. "There is a big difference between being scary, and just being unpleasant." The Exorcist was definitely unpleasant to watch. 'nuff said.

The English Patient - Dull, overlong, and exceedingly pretentious. "This film was the epitome of a very strange Hollywood phenomenon; the movie whose subject matter is worthy in some way and therefore it will be acclaimed by the academy regardless of whether it's deserved or not." This one gets my vote as the worst choice for best picture ever. Another movie that displayed this phenomenon was Ghandi; not a bad movie by any means (and certainly better than English Patient), but far less cutting edge and adventurous than many, many other films that came out in 1982. The Academy deemed Ghandi a safe and politically correct choice for that year.

The Big Lebowski - I loved the Coen Bros' Fargo and so really wanted to like this one, but like the Exorcist I just found it exceedingly unpleasant, embarrassing even, to watch.

Spider Man - I agree completely with his assessment. The soap-opera screenplay and the horrible miscasting of Tobey Maguire in the lead killed this movie for me. I thought Nicholas Hammond way back in the day did a much better job playing Spidey.

Dances with Wolves - Again he is spot-on. Not a bad film, but not a great one either, and it seems of late to be having a resurgence of popularity that is probably not deserved. I also tend to agree that Costner was maybe a bit overrated as a director but underrated as an actor. Curious that.

Life of Brian - As the writer said, amusing at times, but no where near as consistently funny as the Python's legendary 'Holy Grail' movie.

Pulp Fiction - Probably the most controversial choice on his list, and he admits it. I totally agree that it's at times hugely entertaining with Tarantino's usual bevy of larger than life characters, a very witty script, great period music that is featured prominently in the film, and yes, I agree that Sam Jackson was indeed robbed come Oscar time. That said, I do heartily agree that the film's "underlying nastiness that masquerades as cool" is rather troubling. As someone else said of Tarantino, his movies have absolutely no redeeming qualities over and above the straight entertainment value.

 

[Dave68124]

Some I would agree, but there are some great movies on that list:

Full Metal Jacket
Ben Hur
Gone with the Wind
Dances with Wolves
Pulp Fiction

All of those movies would go on my Top 100 list.

 

[Nexus6]

I mostly agree Dave. Like I said, I thoroughly enjoyed Full Metal Jacket, Ben Hur, and Pulp Fiction, though I sort of almost begrudgingly agree that on hindsight those movies do have some flaws that some would consider serious. I especially think he was spot-on about the very troubling underlying vibe of mean-spiritedness in Pulp Fiction. I would also add that I finally got around to watching Gone with the Wind about 15 years ago and afterwards was scratching my head wondering what all the fuss was about???

BTW, he also mentioned Forrest Gump. I would say that I thought the movie was at times hilarious, and at other times maybe even a bit touching, and the old music soundtrack was great. However, on hindsight there does seem to be something a bit off about a film that seems to celebrate ignorance. I also didn't like how both Tom Hanks and Gary Sinese went on to become very pompous and pretentious actors who loved to ingratiate themselves with the US military establishment, though to be fair we do owe Mr. Hanks a big thank you for producing the wonderful 'Band of Brothers' and 'From the Earth to the Moon'.

 

[Dave68124]

I mostly agree Dave. Like I said, I thoroughly enjoyed Full Metal Jacket, Ben Hur, and Pulp Fiction, though I sort of almost begrudgingly agree that on hindsight those movies do have some flaws that some would consider serious. I especially think he was spot-on about the very troubling underlying vibe of mean-spiritedness in Pulp Fiction. I would also add that I finally got around to watching Gone with the Wind about 15 years ago and afterwards was scratching my head wondering what all the fuss was about???

BTW, he also mentioned Forrest Gump. I would say that I thought the movie was at times hilarious, and at other times maybe even a bit touching, and the old music soundtrack was great. However, on hindsight there does seem to be something a bit off about a film that seems to celebrate ignorance. I also didn't like how both Tom Hanks and Gary Sinese went on to become very pompous and pretentious actors who loved to ingratiate themselves with the US military establishment, though to be fair we do owe Mr. Hanks a big thank you for producing the wonderful 'Band of Brothers' and 'From the Earth to the Moon'.

I think you have to take Gone with the Wind in context of the times. 1939. Full-length (plus) feature. In color. Civil War was only 80 years removed at that time so plenty of folks around who had parents / grandparents during the times (like us and World War 2 today). Not that I would sit and watch Gone with the Wind over and over again, but definitely goes on my recommendation list if nobody has seen it before.

As for Forest Gump, one of my favorite movies of all time (completely agree on the Sound track - probably the best movie sound track ever made). Maybe its the intertwin of history into the story or the fact it was just "fresh" which you don't see a lot of "fresh" content coming out of Hollywood in the past 20 years. Probably say the same thing about Pulp Fiction, but more of how the story was told sort of way. However, I think there is an underlying meaning in both of the movies that people miss IMO. Like art, people see what they want to see and try to justify what they see with some underlying theme that could be complete bullsh*t. Yet at the end of the day, art (movies) are made for individuals to take out of it what they want.

As for Hanks and Sinese, I can see the point people have. However, I am glad they took up the cause. Maybe they did it for PR reasons or maybe they did it for personal reasons. Regardless, the cause isn't bad, so hard to knock them over giving their personal time to a good cause.

 

[Nexus6]

You make some good points Dave. I may indeed have to revisit Wind at some point and see if it improves at all. I do seem to recall though from my first viewing that neither Rhett nor Scarlett were particularly likable, which leads me to credit what the guy in his IMDB list wrote about the movie being annoying. Also, loved his point about Wind starting the whole "great production values automatically makes for a great movie nonsense."

I think you maybe give Gump and Pulp a bit too much credit for being deeper than they actually are. Stanley Kubrick they are not. Gump to me was sort of like a modern fairy tale where Forrest does well in life almost in spite of himself, though to be fair his big heart did help a lot, in addition to sending viewers a very good message. BTW, I did want to add that I never laughed so hard as during the Watergate scene.

Concerning Pulp, about the closest it came to being deep was maybe Sam Jackson's banter at the end, but in the end it was just that, idle banter in an attempt to disarm the two holding up the dinner. I still totally agree with the IMDB guy that for all it's entertainment value (which was admittedly considerable), Pulp was glorifying 'nastiness disguised as cool', which was definitely not cool. Again, Tarantino movies have no socially redeeming qualities over and above the straight entertainment value. "That's all there is to say about tha-at." lol

 

[ChrisM]

I have to say - I would put the Excorcist near the top of great horror films. I have the anniversary edition DVD and just watched it again recently - still supplies chills. I see your point on it going for the gross out a lot, Nexus - but something about the clash between the demonic entity and the frail priest still supplies a punch. Plus the victization and corruption of a child is always a scary theme to contemplate.

 

[JOKippe]

Full Metal Jacket : One of my least favorite of Kubrick's "good" films. His career had quite a bell-curve, beginning with the amateurish Fear & Desire and ending with the pointless Eyes Wide Shut. One problem I had with the film was that everything in it had pretty much already been done in other Viet Nam movies (even though other ones came out after this that I thought were better), and there wasn't enough of a pay-off at the end to make it a great film. It's the same problem I had with Paths of Glory, BTW.
Ben Hur : A fine film, but probably overrated since the chariot race was pretty much copied from the 1925 version.
Gone with the Wind : Fantastic film if one likes romance films. I don't, and seeing it once was enough for me.
The Exorcist : Unpleasant for sure, but most definitely scary as well. Modern audiences have become jaded by the graphic trash that followed, but that can't diminish everything that this superb film accomplished.
The English Patient : I haven't seen it and never will.
The Big Lebowski : I enjoying seeing a Coen Bros. film once, and never feel the need to see them again. If they aren't ripping off Tarantino, then they're stealing from David Lynch. I never understood the fuss about any of their movies. Mindless entertainment.
Spider Man : Why is this even on the list? Has anyone ever really said it should be discussed with other great films?
Dances with Wolves : It was okay for its time, but hasn't aged well. A lot of movies are like that.
Life of Brian : Honestly, I think it is the best Python film and probably the funniest as well. Instead of just a bunch of funny skits and jokes, there's a lot of deep satire going on here that was never matched, before or after.
Pulp Fiction : Despite the awfulness of Tarantino's last few films, this one remains an absolute gem. Again, I think that modern audiences have become jaded by the multitude of imitations that followed. "Underlying nastiness that masquerades as cool"?...it's called irony, IMDb dude, sorry you didn't get it.

 

[Vinnie]

As to Gone With The Wind, you have to recall that the movies success was based upon the book's popularity. If you haven't read it, I recommend you do. The book is much less the romance that the movie is.

 

[sarfs]

Full Metal Jacket has one of my favorite scenes.

Door gunner blasting away with his M60, "get some, get some"

He's asked if he's ever shot women or children, his reply is sometimes.

"How can you shoot women and children?"

"easy, you just don't lead them so much (chuckles). Ain't war hell?"


Another good scene is when Cowboy is trying to trade. " I have some ARVN rifles, never been shot and only dropped once."

 

[Dr Zaius]

Full Metal Jacket is way overrated. In fact, if it weren't for the guilty pleasure of watching the opening scenes with the drill instructor, no one would even remember this movie. The rest is sort of a hash of self-important, yet incoherent psychobabble. It doesn't really have a story or a point, other than it's anti-something. In that way, the movie does a good job of summing up the political climate and the people of that era very well. They don't know what they're against or why, but they against it, dammit!

Stanely Kubrick aspired to creating very deep, profound movies with thought-provoking themes and complex ideas. For the most part, nearly all his films failed to do that. Instead, most are just a bit weird and incomprehensible, which easily impressed people mistake for intellectual. Don't get me wrong, I like some of these films very much and admire Kubrick's obvious chutzpah, but they're not the be-all, end-all masterpieces that some would have you believe.

Gone With the Wind is always controversial. It tends to glorify the Confederacy on every level, and yet somehow Hollywood is okay with that. It's certainly entertaining on the whole, but sort of devolves into a plodding soap opera at the end. And one that doesn't seem to ever be going anywhere particularly nice.

Dances was Wolves is one of the most overrated movies ever. That this piece of bloated, politically correct, revisionist tripe was actually chosen over Goodfellas for Best Picture is one of the great injustices of all filmdom. Moralizing, feelgoodism at its worst. Not only is it overrated, it's actually a pretty so-so film. Better to watch it in the original Klingon -- Avatar. Another vastly overrated Hollywood bloatfest that certainly deserves a place on this list.

The Big Lebowski. I generally love these type of films, but despite trying to force myself to like this one, it's just a very strange effort that seems to plod along, and the only thing that somewhat redeems it is the over-the-top characters. But even that's not enough to salvage this one, which undeservedly enjoys a bit of a cult following. Personally, I'm convinced that something like 90 percent of the people who gush about this film have no more idea what it's about than the rest of us, and only list it as one of their favorites because they think it's edgy and cool, and therefore they're edgy and cool for having recognized its genius. And if you don't agree, then you just "don't get it" and don't get to know the secret password to the secret clubhouse.

The English Patient. Just stab me.

He's right about Pulp Fiction. It most definitely is a nasty film, and one with no redeeming value beyond pure entertainment. But in this particular case, it's enough. This movie isn't trying to make a political statement or tell some important story, it's sole reason for existence is to entertain, sort of like eating buttered popcorn. It serves no purpose other than we like it.

 

[Glennbo]

Agree with him about:

Chinatown - it was boring.

The Untouchables - too slow, and I hate Kevin Costner.

Dances with Wolves - absolute pits.

Raging Bull - so so.

The King's Speech - so so.

The Big Lebowski - terrible movie.

Gone with the Wind - never sat through it all.


Most of the others I thought were very good. Clockwork Orange is worse than Full Metal Jacket. The Exorcist, Pulp Fiction, and No Country for Old Men are classics!