Worst reviewed films that are actually good

jdscrubs · 13-01-2009 3:29pm #1

Shortlands Tales. Came out last year to terrible terrible reviews. Made by the guy who made Donnie Darko. Was curious to see it to see if the reviews were right and I found it enjoyable even though if someone asked me to explain it to them, I couldnt.

Pat Mustard · 13-01-2009 3:31pm

Is that Southland Tales?? I hated that film, found it painfully boring.

chalad07 · 13-01-2009 3:33pm

The Liam Neeson movie, Taken, got 0 out of 5 on Empire i think. Granted it wasnt great but i thought it deserved at least a 2. What were the expecting - it was a no-brainer action movie, did exactly what it said on the tin.

Vic Vinegar · 13-01-2009 3:34pm

jdscrubs wrote: »

Shortlands Tales. Came out last year to terrible terrible reviews. Made by the guy who made Donnie Darko. Was curious to see it to see if the reviews were right and I found it enjoyable even though if someone asked me to explain it to them, I couldnt.

You mean Southland Tales i presume? :pac:

That film was really messy imo! wouldn't watch it again.

Ghost Rider wasn't too bad i suppose, apart from Eva Mendes' terrible acting and several high grade moments of cheese (well, lots actually) I still found myself entertained nonetheless!

jdscrubs · 13-01-2009 3:34pm

Ya its southland tales. Didnt mean to put an s at the end of Southland. Has Sean William Scott & The Rock. I found it entertaining in a baffling sort of way as I had not a clue what was going on. When I was watching it, half the audience left before the film was halfway over

Vegeta · 13-01-2009 3:35pm

Water World

jdscrubs · 13-01-2009 3:43pm

Never saw Taken but a friend of mine said it was good. Have heard from 2 people that The Spirit is meant to be terrible. Last Action Hero I liked.

S.M.B. · 13-01-2009 3:45pm

Shoooortlaaand Streeeeet!

Fuzzy_Dunlop · 13-01-2009 3:45pm

The Cable Guy!

Such a brilliant movie, right up there with Jim Carreys other classics imo. So many memorable, and hilarious, scenes.

humanji · 13-01-2009 3:53pm

Vegeta wrote: »

Water World

+1 to that. I thought it was a great bit of fun.

I also really liked Southland Tales. I read all the comics and background info I could get on it first, so I had a kind of inkling what was going on. I still didn't fully understand what was going on, but I enjoyed watching it. But I can easily understand why so many people hated it.

ziedth · 13-01-2009 4:51pm

There is actually a load and empire are the worst suspects but some of the ones I feel got reviewed very badly.

Taken (I thought it was very good TBH, It was what it set out to be)

Rounders (A 4 star film for me that was murdered when it came out)

Equilibrium ( One of my Fav's in the action Genre)

Underworld (Same feeling really is Taken)

spadder · 13-01-2009 4:56pm

Jackie brown- got crap reviews but a great movie

Nacho Libre- great comedy, got bad reveiws

Blues brothers- need I say more

humanji · 13-01-2009 4:59pm

spadder wrote: »

Jackie brown- got crap reviews but a great movie

Nacho Libre- great comedy, got bad reveiws

Blues brothers- need I say more

Was Blues Brothers ever given a bad review? If it was then we need to hunt down whoever was responsible!

Frisbee · 13-01-2009 5:24pm

ziedth wrote: »

Equilibrium ( One of my Fav's in the action Genre)

Underworld (Same feeling really is Taken)

Really enjoyed both of these myself

DeVore · 13-01-2009 5:30pm

Fight Club... got terrible reviews at first and its a classic imho.

Liked Underworld and Equilibrium too!

DeV.

Lirange · 13-01-2009 5:38pm

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes
Return of the Killer Tomatoes
Killer Tomatoes Eat France
(Killer Tomatoes Strike Back was the only bad one of the anthology).
Critters 2 & 3

bnt · 13-01-2009 6:26pm

Looking at the Metacritic All-Time Low Scores list for inspiration... Slackers is rated 12/100, yet I'm sure I remember it getting some positive attention. Weird.

If there's one film where I deviate sharply from the critics, it's Hudson Hawk. It's universally panned (20/100 on Metacritic), yet while I wasn't bowled over, I didn't think it was half bad. I think the critics were reacting to the expectation, and the huge budget, and not the film itself.

Bubs101 · 13-01-2009 6:49pm

Wild Wild West

chalad07 · 13-01-2009 8:47pm

ziedth wrote: »

There is actually a load and empire are the worst suspects but some of the ones I feel got reviewed very badly.

Empire are pretty bad. I lost all faith in them when they gave Superman Returns 5/5. I've never seen such a load of ****e.

Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit is another great movie that didnt get the critical plaudits it deserved.

Slutmonkey57b · 13-01-2009 8:57pm

spadder wrote: »

Jackie brown- got great reviews but a sh!t, horrible, tedious piece of crap movie

Fixed that for ya.

shane86 · 13-01-2009 9:02pm

Little Man is so funny your ribs hurt, Naked Gun utter nonsense type stuff. Litreally cried laughing at some parts.

The critics mauled it :eek:

indough · 13-01-2009 9:09pm

jdscrubs wrote: »

Shortlands Tales. Came out last year to terrible terrible reviews. Made by the guy who made Donnie Darko. Was curious to see it to see if the reviews were right and I found it enjoyable even though if someone asked me to explain it to them, I couldnt.

ah yeah southland tales, i found it fairly crap in regards to entertainment value to be honest, its no surprise it was almost unintelligible seeing as its an adaptation of unintelligible source (book of revelations)

i saw it as a really expensive soapbox for kellys political views

abelard · 13-01-2009 9:09pm

I've often heard it said that Shawshank was panned by critics and flopped when released first.

Just looked up Metacritic though and it was rated at 80, which, for a movie, is excellent.

So.....er.....yeah

MisterAnarchy · 13-01-2009 9:10pm

chalad07 wrote: »

The Liam Neeson movie, Taken, got 0 out of 5 on Empire i think.

Empire is a pretentious rag.
'Taken' is a fine action film,as the Ronseal man says it does exactly what it says on the tin

Cool Mo D · 13-01-2009 9:11pm

I think both Nacho Libre and Hancock, are decent, if not amazing films. Certaintly a cut above the average, and they got a bit more abuse than was warrented.

Blisterman · 13-01-2009 9:14pm

I have a soft spot for Freddy got Fingered. It's the one time where you can genuinely use the phrase, so bad it's good.
They went out of their way to make it as stupid, crude and offensive as possible, til it gets to the point, where it becomes hillarious.

jdscrubs · 13-01-2009 9:23pm

I see there is a lot of bad comments about Empire Magazine. While I do not think it is warranted, I do think over the last few years (been getting it since 1995) that they have moved away from being solely about Movies to including tv&games which I do not like. Also it used to come out at the start of each month so it was able to review nearly all the films for the month. Now it comes out in the end of the month reviewing films for the next month meaning it doesnt review a lot of films for the next month which is annoying.

nlgbbbblth · 13-01-2009 9:29pm

Two from Michael Winner

Dirty Weekend
Went to it in the Savoy in 1993. Not many people there. Great.

Parting Shots
Chris Rea as the man with six weeks to live. Bought an ex-rental VHS copy for £2 and have watched it five times.

Also
Showgirls
Saw it in Belfast. One of the most erotic films ever.

DirkVoodoo · 13-01-2009 9:44pm

Yup, thats right, Shawshank got smacked with all sorts of pans when it was released. Awesome movie too.

Personally I think it is better to be hated by critics at the time then later revered as a classic, the true sign of a classic piece of art. Not like most of the rubbish that gets released these days. Watched transformers again recently, while i was awed by the effects in the cinema, they have not aged well in this short time and I would have to rate that movie amoing my all time "crappest movies".

krudler · 13-01-2009 9:57pm

Blade Runner

panned on release, now a classic

kaimera · 13-01-2009 10:16pm

transporter 1-3.

johnny_ultimate · 13-01-2009 11:03pm

The Fountain - really divides people, and the reviews were split too (that rag Empire actually ran a four / five star review on release, followed by a one star on DVD - giving both sides a chance to have their say). I admit the story is very simple, but as a visual poem of sorts it is impressive. Considering it is a severely compromised version of Aronofsky's original vision (which was going to a multi-million dollar epic with Brad Pitt I think) it is a very personal tale told over time and space. Extraordinary visuals / effects and beautiful imagery, with a very sad but involving love story. Deserved better than the bitter reviews and lack of cinema release. Just saw the Wrestler tonight, and great as it is, I still prefer Aronofsky when he just creates an audio/visual spectacle.

Partially agree about Taken and Southland Tales. The former does what it sets out to do perfectly, and while it is disposable crap, it is surprisingly entertaining disposable crap. Looked at it that way, and not expecting anything else, it works fine. Southland Tales is a messy and occassionally awful film, but yes there are good ideas and moments and has a fair amount of ambition going for it. Half a good film at least

jdscrubs · 13-01-2009 11:57pm

Transporter, saw the 1st and 2nd one. Very enjoyable action films where you can sit back and enjoy without having to think. Havent seen the 3rd one as I saw the other 2 on dvd so might wait till it comes out on Dvd. Would agree with ya about Southland Tales.

syklops · 14-01-2009 12:26am

Well, "Whatever Happened to Harold Smith" was considered such a dire movie that it was not converted to DVD. Yet tripe like East is East and Dune(Loved the games and books but the Movie is/was sh1te) are converted to DVD. This is based I assume on reviews.

If memory serves me Deep Impact and Armageddon came out around the same time, and the critics who were ER fans loved Deep Impact, and everyone else hated both the movies. While DI is grand, I thought Armageddon, the first time I saw it was awsome. While both are enjoyable movies, DI is a 'Sunday evening, dont really care'-kind of money. Where as Armageddon is more a friday night, pizza and beer sort of movie.

On the flip side, according to the critics superbad was going to be the best thing since slice pan, but tbh it sucked, and so I am waiting for the free download of sex-drive as they seem to be just as enamoured with that.

Valmont · 14-01-2009 2:25am

I'm going with Deathproof. I completely avoided it based on what I read here and I usually trust this forum but it was given as a gift to me for christmas and I've watched it three times since!

Feelgood · 14-01-2009 2:42am

Fletch Lives for me...

Absolute classic though everyone laughs at me when I say that.

5.5 on IMDB, should be at least a 7.

Altar_Ego_Boy · 14-01-2009 2:56am

commando

Altar_Ego_Boy · 14-01-2009 2:57am

Feelgood wrote: »

Fletch Lives for me...

Absolute classic though everyone laughs at me when I say that.

5.5 on IMDB, should be at least a 7.

kid, youre allllllllright

Altar_Ego_Boy · 14-01-2009 3:02am

Valmont wrote: »

I'm going with Deathproof. I completely avoided it based on what I read here and I usually trust this forum but it was given as a gift to me for christmas and I've watched it three times since!

i agree with you there valmont but it wasnt so much i liked it despite the reviews... more like i ended up liking it after i hated it the first time i watched it

The same regarding kill bill 2

I have a feeling some day critics will look at this middle tarantino period as a golden era

Galvasean · 14-01-2009 3:06am

playa3 wrote: »

The Cable Guy!

Such a brilliant movie, right up there with Jim Carreys other classics imo. So many memorable, and hilarious, scenes.

Agreed. Watched it recently and I have no idea why it was so universally panned at the time of release.

ziedth wrote: »

Equilibrium ( One of my Fav's in the action Genre)

I really enjoyedthis one. A lot of critics labelled it a cheap Matrix cash in withut giving it a fair chance. IMO it rivals the matrix as a movie and exceeds it in some ways.

Das Kitty · 14-01-2009 8:04am

Howard the Duck

nlgbbbblth wrote: »

Showgirls
Saw it in Belfast. One of the most erotic films ever.

Please tell me you're joking.

speedboatchase · 14-01-2009 9:05am

Clearly Cable Guy (I think it was an Asian gang or something, I seen a guy, he looked pretty Asian. And they were speaking another language.....I'm pretty sure he was ......AAAAAASIAN!"

Also Beverly Hills Chihuahua. WAIT give me a chance! It clearly knows exactly what kind of movie it is and you go to it its because you like talking dogs so in that respect its the business

ziedth · 14-01-2009 11:35am

Galvasean wrote: »

I really enjoyedthis one. A lot of critics labelled it a cheap Matrix cash in withut giving it a fair chance. IMO it rivals the matrix as a movie and exceeds it in some ways.

IMO I think its a much better film, Had it had the same budget as the Matrix I always thought The Matrix would be called the cash in.

I Always said Bale would have made a better Neo too, Even before he starred in everything.

Vamoose Killers · 14-01-2009 12:08pm

Freddy Got Fingered.

The Don · 14-01-2009 2:36pm

DeVore wrote: »

Fight Club... got terrible reviews at first and its a classic imho.

Liked Underworld and Equilibrium too!

DeV.

Fight Club is a masterpiece. Shawshank is another masterpiece of a film. I also agree that Taken, Underworld and The Cable Guy are good.

Was V for Vendetta slated when it came out? Its a really good film but not for everyone.

LeoGilly · 14-01-2009 4:06pm

Wasn't Shawshank released straight to video. But then re-released in the cinema after it did so well on video?

delly · 14-01-2009 4:11pm

Battlefield Earth, no wait..........

Seriously tho', i know the first Garfield movie got crappy reviews, but having watched it about 20 times in the last month its actually not bad.

The Don · 14-01-2009 4:13pm

LeoGilly wrote: »

Wasn't Shawshank released straight to video. But then re-released in the cinema after it did so well on video?

I'm pretty sure that it got a cinema release first. I read somewhere that the reason it didn't do too well in the states is because a lot of people didn't understand the title. Not sure if thats true or not.

bnt · 14-01-2009 8:33pm

Two more poorly-received oddities, also from the 90s:

One Fine Day, with Michelle Pfeiffer and George Clooney. It's a rom-com that avoids most rom-com pitfalls: it has a plot, the situation is reasonably realistic, the characters (even the kids) aren't too cute or annoying, and there's even a little suspense. Great date movie. :pac:

A Simple Twist Of Fate: Steve Martin's update of a classic novel, Silas Marner by George Eliot, also starring Gabriel Byrne. I liked the book, and I liked the film, each in their own way.

Alkers · 14-01-2009 8:42pm

"Rise of the Footsoldier" - Yet to see a good review of this but I thought it was great, very violent and probably wouldn't appeal to women but was very entertaining.

shenanigans1982 · 14-01-2009 10:06pm

The recent Star Wars animated Clone Wars movie got slated in every review I read but I watched it the other night and actually enjoyed it.

Also think the 6th day was a movie with some good ideas that got bad reviews probably because of its star more than the actual movie.

Worst reviewed films that are actually good

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