Overrated movies

Yojimbo · 11-18-2002, 11:04 PM

This is not about the MPAA ratings. I'm talking about "overrated" as far as quality of movie.

The following are all excellent movies and should be viewed at least once...but I don't think they should be on any "Best movie" lists...I've noticed that movies with unexpected twists usually get better accolades than they deserve, even if the twists are really good.

Fight Club -- Good direction, great job by Norton and Pitt, and quirky twist. On the other hand, the message is confusing, since the show-stealer is obviously Tyler Durden and his revolutionary antics, yet the movie's conclusion doesn't support his views. I think people put too much meaning into whatever this movie's message is.

American History X - Sure, it has some extremely disturbing images and scenes that grab you by the throat...but, uhhh...what's the point? If it's supposed to be some sort of dialogue on racial relations, it completely fails, since we're never given much insight into what makes the main character such a devious racist, or what turns him into a saint. The movie inadverdently poses many questions against racial equality than it never answers.

The Matrix -- groundbreaking direction. Other than that, the philosophy is sketchy and isn't as original as people seem to make it out to be. Nor is it that deep. At the core of it all is a disappointingly simple kung-fu movie.

Memento -- other than the interesting storytelling method, nothing really stands out about this movie to make it a top 10 movie (as voted on www.imdb.com). It definitely loses a lot of its luster after the second viewing.

Gladiator -- Dark. Boring. Predictable. Whereas Braveheart was exciting, had interesting (if mostly mythical) politics and supporting characters, and a believable love story...Gladiator just seems to be a Rocky sequel set in the Roman era. Great action scenes, though.

***Art*** · 11-18-2002, 11:36 PM

Ohh, Goodness, you better be able to defend yourself (physically) after declaring, here at CGR of all places, that Fight Club was overrated!!

My list:

Titanic: Absolutely gorgeous recreation of the ship. Sometimes attrocious acting, and a weak plot.

Monster's Ball: Boooooring....

The Patriot: I love it, but it really has a cookie cutter plot.

The Mummy: Decent special affects, loads of bad acting. I still can't believe I paid $7 to see it... but it was all worth it when the guy sitting next to me said loudly, in a mocking voice, "O'Connell!" Hehhe... fun stuff.

Zooropa · 11-19-2002, 12:38 AM

I won't attack the choice of Fight Club. It's your opinion, but you're also missing out. I agree with you on Memento. My list:

Fargo
Memento
Raging Bull (Taxi Driver is a much better Scorsese/DeNiro film)
Minority Report

**Sean** · 11-19-2002, 11:30 AM

The Matrix - I love it but that doesn't mean its as deep and great as some people claim

Fargo - I like the Coen brothers other films much more

Training Day - I thought this movie was ridicious and completely unbelievable. I was completely baffled at how people took it seriously. How could Denzel with for this performance? He has a career fulll of Oscar worthy preformances and wins for this one.

Gladiator - Once again, I love it , but its nothing new.

American History X - I don't remember why I rented this, but I honestly thought it was like a made-for-tv after watching it. It didn't feel like a movie that should have had Ed Norton and the T2 kid.

Ocean's 11 - A cool, entertaining movie, but not much more.

Dr. Doom · 11-19-2002, 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by AtlasShrugs
Training Day - I thought this movie was ridicious and completely unbelievable. I was completely baffled at how people took it seriously. How could Denzel with for this performance? He has a career fulll of Oscar worthy preformances and wins for this one.

what was so unbelievable about Training Day? other than the fighting at the end? I agree that Denzel Washington should ahve won for many other prefomances, but i think he deserved this one as well.

Quote:

Originally posted by AtlasShrugs
American History X - I don't remember why I rented this, but I honestly thought it was like a made-for-tv after watching it. It didn't feel like a movie that should have had Ed Norton and the T2 kid.

?
you must not have beenw atching the same movie i was. i can see what Goodness is talking about, but "made-for-tv-movie"? i don't see that at all.

**Sean** · 11-19-2002, 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Euchre0
what was so unbelievable about Training Day? other than the fighting at the end? I agree that Denzel Washington should ahve won for many other prefomances, but i think he deserved this one as well.

A crooked cop takes a clean cop out on his "training day." On the very first of is "trainings days," they go and murder someone and steal his money. That strikes me as a bit completely unbelievable. There were a lot of little things throught the movie, but that was the big one. His performance just seemed over-the-top. I wasn't watching him convienced that this was a possible real human being.

Quote:

[b[
you must not have beenw atching the same movie i was. i can see what Goodness is talking about, but "made-for-tv-movie"? i don't see that at all. [/B]

Well, it wasn't so much the quality of the acting or the story that was a problem. It was the look. Its been a while since I've seen it, but I remember it switching between b & w and color at parts. It just felt like what I would see on a made for TV movie. Then just the overall apperance of the rest of the movie didn't feel like a movie. Its hard to explain. I'd have to show you. Plus I agree with all the stuff Goodness said.

***Art*** · 11-19-2002, 03:04 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by AtlasShrugs
Training Day - I thought this movie was ridicious and completely unbelievable. I was completely baffled at how people took it seriously. How could Denzel with for this performance? He has a career fulll of Oscar worthy preformances and wins for this one.

Yeah, I agree completely. This was not the movie to win an oscar on...

IAmCrossEyed · 11-19-2002, 03:37 PM

I am going to.....

1. Agree with goodness on Fight Club

2. Disagree with goodness on the Matrix

3. And add one of my own with Pearl Harbor. By the end of that movie, I was about ready to take that girl out, and I am not even a violent person. If we could've taken the stupid stupid stupid love story out of the movie, it would've been really amazing.

***Art*** · 11-19-2002, 04:03 PM

Pearl Harbor couldn't really be considered overrated, IMO, because nobody liked it. The only people hyping it were the movie studios.

Zooropa · 11-19-2002, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Art
Pearl Harbor couldn't really be considered overrated, IMO, because nobody liked it. The only people hyping it were the movie studios.

Right. I didn't think anyone except the most casual movie fans held it in high esteem. A terrible movie by a terrible director.

Mark · 11-19-2002, 10:30 PM

ya pearl harbor was great...for about 40 minutes, but the rest stunk up terriblely, and thus the movie was an overall bust.

Adam · 11-20-2002, 12:05 AM

Monsters Inc.- Perhaps funny and cute as a child's movie, but not really all that funny in general. Just a gimmick in my eyes.

LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring- I love the movie, but I really don't see how it is as groundbreaking as everyone says it is.

I am sure there are more, however I can't of any at the moment.

Quote:

The Matrix -- groundbreaking direction. Other than that, the philosophy is sketchy and isn't as original as people seem to make it out to be. Nor is it that deep. At the core of it all is a disappointingly simple kung-fu movie.

What do you mean "the philosophy is sketchy?" I don't understand what you mean by that. Its not original in the sense that the philosophy is original. The philosophy in the film is quite ancient, but it was brilliantly portrayed. What other film has deeper or similiar philosophical overtones (notice I said philosophical, not psychological).

***Art*** · 11-20-2002, 02:04 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by MarkO
ya pearl harbor was great...for about 40 minutes, but the rest stunk up terriblely, and thus the movie was an overall bust.

This thread got me thinking, and earlier, I gave my DVD of Pearl Harbor to my Mom. I bought it cheap (used), and have only watched it once since

Only the third time my DVD collection has actually shrunk. The first was when I traded my first two movies, Coming to America and The Wedding Singer for Any Given Sunday

. After that, I sold Young Guns on Half.com once. Always depressing to lose a movie... but when you never watch it...

rockin4theking · 11-20-2002, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Goodness
Oh oh oh, speaking of 2002 Best Picture Nominees...I thought "LOTR: Fellowship of the Ring" was overrated.......

.......My biggest complaint was how the mines of Moira was portrayed. I remember the mines being such a hopeless and endless place that it depressed me to read about it and it took me awhile to get through. In the movie, it just seems like any other stroll through an average dungeon (although the scenes with the Balrog are impressive).

Good movie, but it felt dumbed down, even more than most book to movie conversions.

Oh but I disagree.

1) Mines of Moria
- In the book, the mines take up less than 50 pages, two chapters, and is shorter than most people remember. In LotR time, it took them 3 days (I think) to make it through the mines.

2) I don't think that it was dumbed down much at all. There is just so much stuff in the books that the movie would have been 6 hours long to avoid "dumbing" it down.

Given the movie length that they had to work with, I think they did a good job, especially if you watch very many of the "making of" specials. The put a lot of time and effort into making it NOT dumbed down.

Okay I'll stop now.

Adam · 11-20-2002, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Maybe not so much sketchy as it is shallow. I especially don't think it is as Christian in mindset as some people make it out to be.

You are right, it is not a very complex philosophical plot. Had it been any deeper, the citizens of this country might have had a brain lock.

And I agree, it isn't Christian.