Can dull films improve with repeat viewings?

MakeEmLaugh

I recently saw a film I'd had high hopes for, but unfortunately I found it extremely hard to follow and - sad to say - I was bored before the end.

That said, I felt it might benefit from a second viewing, which may make the plot a little more comprehensible and allow me to just soak in the film.

I'm of the opinion that films aren't like other art forms such as music. With music, reacquainting yourself is a necessity in order to appreciate it. There aren't any great albums which didn't sound better the second or third time you heard them than the first.

With films, however, I think it's important that they work the first time you see them. You shouldn't have to re-watch something to appreciate it. Or do others disagree with me?

It made me wonder, are there any films you've seen which you found genuinely dull the first time, but which improved on repeat viewings?

zarquon

For me Napoleon Dynamite is the stand out choice. Absolutely hated it the first time i saw it and after several more viewings it's now one of my favourite movies

FloatingVoter

Sometimes a film catches you at the wrong time. I watched Grand Budapest Hotel when it came out. Knocked it off after 10 minutes through sheer boredom. I watched it again in December and loved the socks off it. Same me, same movie, different moods.

e_e

Saw Once Upon a Time in Anatolia at JDIFF a few years back and fought off sleep for a good 2 hours of the runtime. Didn't invest in the characters at all so the crucial decision a character makes at the end meant absolutely nothing to me. Had it on my DVR last year though and put it on at around midnight, ended up watching the whole thing utterly mesmerized. The film went from putting me to sleep to literally keeping me awake mesmerized by the film making. A real reminder that if you see an extremely slow, artful and ambiguous film and get bored it could be just your frame of mind at the time. It's now in my top 5 films of the decade so far.

Expectations are a big part of it too as I was awaiting a thriller when I went to see Anatolia. Blade Runner was another film where I went in expecting action and was disappointed the first time through only to go back and be blown away by it.

johnny_ultimate

Of course they can. Your environment and your own mood can play a massive part in your response to a film. Always worth giving something a second chance, not to mention your own tastes may have altered or shifted in the interim. I saw the Assassination of Jesse James when it first came out, and it left me cold, bored even. Watched it again last year and I had the complete opposite response. I'm sure there are plenty of other films I watched when I was younger that I'd respond to differently now.

Adamantium

Gladiator bored the arse of me as a kid, watched it again as an 18 year old and it blew me away. Same thing with Braveheart.

And they're not dull films by any stretch of the imagination at least as we normally define it. Dull because, the settings never interested me; now I can't get enough of enough of historical fiction and history in general.

I had the same experience with Blade Runner, that was a crushing bore for me, but then a few years later I watched the entirety of BSG which became one of my favourite pieces of media ever and soon ended up watching Blade Runner again and it knocked me off my feet. Edward James Olmos and many of the BSG crew have said that Blade Runner is

the sequel to BSG in his mind in terms of themes and story

Apocalypse Now became amazing after the 2nd go as well

.ak

For me it was Anchor Man. I actually left the cinema first time I saw it, just didn't find it funny at all. I think it's because it was a vastly different sort of comedy we'd been used to - instead of subtle and cringey gags it was just outright slapstick and I didn't like that. But for some reason I watched it again one night and it was incredibly the difference I found once I watched it with an open mind. The rest if history, I probably re-watched it 20 times and it got better with each viewing.

TheDoc

Blade runner probably the main one that stands out. It took subsequent viewings before I "got" why people made such a big deal about it. Although that came down mostly I think to the various cuts and versions.

Kingdom of Heaven is another immediate reaction. While I enjoyed it first time round, I knew how and why it would get slated. I watched it years later, the directors cut, and loved it, and believe it's grown in credibility once that new version came about.