Five that are Seriously Overrated...

[K.D. Lightner]

Movies that disappointed me:

Gone With the Wind: -- I thought the story was one huge soap opera. Loved Hattie McDaniel in it, however, and glad she won the Oscar. And some of the sweep and grandeur was good.

The Matrix: -- While leaving the theatre, I thought of a quote fromTallulah Bankhead (said when she met the Algonquin Circle): "there's less to this than meets the eye."

The Third Man: I thought it was a great film, but that music gave me a headache.

Billy Liar: -- a British film in the mid 60's was such a tedious drag to me that I was just about out of my seat to head for the door, when a magical looking woman appeared onscreen in a 12-minute cameo. It was Julie Christie in her first film role, I believe.

I liked the first Lord of the Rings well enough, but, by the time the third rolled around, I was dead tired of Frodo's angst and wanted Viggo Mortensen to wash his hair.

Jaws: -- Not really a disappointment, but, sick puppy that I am, I rooted for the shark.

Agnes of God: -- I saw the stage play with Geraldine Page and Elizabeth Ashley. I hated that they changed the ending in the movie; it destroyed the author's whole contention.

Hollywood did that with The Glass Menagerie, too. I am not the only one who was disappointed with the later, so was Tennessee Williams.

That's more than five, better stop. There are other films out there, but can't recall at the moment.

karol

 

[jamespowers]

Lust for Gold & Secrets of the Incas.

These two films have elements that probably inspired Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Secret of the Incas with Charlton Heston (1954)? It is not really rated at all. It disappeared into obscurity. It was a decent movie as far as I can remember and the basis for Indy? http://www.regular-guy.com/Incas.html
Look a little familiar? Of course he was! :cool2:

Regards to all,

J

 

[MudInYerEye]

Whether or not the hype for for Orson Welles is deserved, The Third Man is not his production nor as hyped as it should be! This film is directed by Carol Reed based on a Graham Greene tale. The superbly crafted drama is rarely mentioned in the "best of" lists by the general population. It is usually the film buffs who talk of it.

I'm crazy about THE THIRD MAN. It has one of the greatest endings of all time. What baffles me is the relative obscurity of ODD MAN OUT in America, Carol Reed's "other" great film. It's certainly the equal of THE THIRD MAN. Perhaps it's all British/Irish cast hindered it's success over here. The fairly complex narrative might have not helped either.

 

[Lena_Horne]

THE APARTMENT

I just died a little inside...

I too consider Casablanca overrated and unfortunately have never been able to sit through the entire thing. I just can't get into it. But the Apartment, my god, I just watched that for the umpteenth time last night and it never gets old with me. It's a Wonderful Life is getting pretty old too now that I think of it.

EDIT: I have to agree and add La Dolce Vita to the list. Great movie yes, but is it me or do they place way too much emphasis on Anita Ekberg's character. Oh my, she was terrible. I hated her.

L_H

 

[Feraud]

I'm crazy about THE THIRD MAN. It has one of the greatest endings of all time. What baffles me is the relative obscurity of ODD MAN OUT in America, Carol Reed's "other" great film. It's certainly the equal of THE THIRD MAN. Perhaps it's all British/Irish cast hindered it's success over here. The fairly complex narrative might have not helped either.

Hey! I thought The Fallen Idol is his "other" great film? :eusa_doh:
Have not seen Odd Man Out but will look for it..

Back to the Third Man. After all the talk about Harry Lime in the film, Orson Welles introduction is my all time favorite!

 

[Senator Jack]

Feraud, I just saw The Fallen Idol last week at the Film Forum. What a great picture. I'm still awaiting the release of Our Man in Havana, which I haven't seen since I was a kid.

I have to agree, Lena. I've always had The Apartment in my top ten. It's a movie for romantics without being syrupy or mawkish.

Regards,

Senator Jack

 

[jake_fink]

Our Man In Havana was a total flop and put an end to the partnership of Carol Reed and Graham Greene. It's a shame, because it's much better than it was ever given credit for, and Alec Guinness, who was blamed for the whole thing tanking, is really very very good.

Ah well. There's no accounting for taste. Just looka that list above. :fing28:

Billy Liar was one of my favourite films growing up, and some of the other choices just make me want to weep. Now I know how those poor beleaguered Star Wars fans feel, the whole wookie loving legion of them.

 

[Sefton]

EDIT: I have to agree and add La Dolce Vita to the list. Great movie yes, but is it me or do they place way too much emphasis on Anita Ekberg's character. Oh my, she was terrible. I hated her.

L_H

Actually I think it was mainly her body that they were placing the emphasis on...

 

[MudInYerEye]

Again, like a lot of the films I find overrated, I actually like THE APARTMENT. However, it has a achieved a critically untouchable status I don't think it merits. It's second tier Billy Wilder who, at the peak of his powers, was obviously able to make a better film than most even while sleep-walking.
It just doesn't hold up when compared to his earlier works.

 

[Lena_Horne]

I guess I'm a little different in that my view of The Apartment hasn't been tainted in that way. The only thing I ever read was a viewer's negative review. No professional critics opinions. So I had the option of growing to love it as I do all by myself without any influence. Which is what I prefer, when people gush (short of classic literature) I tend to shy away.

L_H

 

[airfrogusmc]

Harry ya thought Sexy Beast was overrated? I wouldn't say it was a great film but well worth a watch just for Kingsley.

 

[K.D. Lightner]

Changes

Jake -- I have often wondered if I should revisit Billy Liar. I was a college student when I saw it and had expected to like it because of the reviews. Now, with 40-plus years of living since that time, I very well may find I have a different take on it.

That happened to me years ago with another good movie: the musical Gigi. When I saw it, I was underwhelmed and did not like it. I now know I also did not understand it. I saw it again a few years ago and loved it.

When I was a teenager, I saw the musical South Pacific. Only thing I didn't like about it was that I couldn't discern what young, cute Nelly Forbush saw in that old geezer. Years later, I saw the film again, and could not figure out why that handsome, ethical Frenchman would be attracted to a racist little twit.

karol

 

[Novella]

This film is directed by Carol Reed based on a Graham Greene tale.

I read the Graham Greene story before I watched the movie and I think that's part of the reason I disliked it so much. I really liked Greene's story and the movie just didn't meet my expectations in any way. Yeah, it's not talked about by big wig critics to the mass public, but I feel it's overrated in film circles.

And I do definitely agree that I need to watch more Orson Welles productions. My opinion of him now is based only off of a few movies he acted in and The Lady from Shanghai which I thought was boring.

 

[ITG]

Star Wars (ep. 4) and Gump? No way. Those were great movies.

Now time to think on my top 5 overrated movies....hmmm...

1. Star Wars: Phantom Menace (ep.1)
2. Sideways
3. Flight of the Phoenix (old version-haven't seen the new one)
4. Lawrence of Arabia (amazing the lengths they went to to film it but parts just drag on.
5. The Matrix

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Overrated Movies ...

unfortunately abound. Too many to list. But recently. Well, ones i've seen recently:

Passion of Christ. Nicely filmed, and acted okay. 2 hours of a man being whipped and tortured ain't my idea of fun. Let's say you'd never heard anything about Jesus before; what would you know about his message having left the moviehouse? Not much. I do't think revelling in Jesus' pain is the way to promote the man. It was as if Gibson enjoys and worships the pain rather than the man himself. Pasolini covered the topic in a much better way, in my opinion.

Romeo and Juliet (the di Caprio one). Garbage. Badly acted. A crude destruction of a fine play in effort to drag it kicking and screaming into a shoot-em-up format.

The Ring (the Japanese one). I just don't see the fascination. It was scary, and the Japanese myth is cool. But way overrated.

Braveheart won 5 (five?) oscars? Good Lord!

bk

 

[Twitch]

Any movie with that fruitcake Hugh Grant in it!

 

[Feraud]

This film is directed by Carol Reed based on a Graham Greene tale.

I read the Graham Greene story before I watched the movie and I think that's part of the reason I disliked it so much. I really liked Greene's story and the movie just didn't meet my expectations in any way. Yeah, it's not talked about by big wig critics to the mass public, but I feel it's overrated in film circles.

I totally understand that opinion. Nothing worse than seeing a film version of a book you like. Films rarely do a book justice. Sometimes it is better to judge the film on it's own merits.

Any movie with that fruitcake Hugh Grant in it!

:eusa_clap :eusa_clap How do these actors keep working?!

I also want to add any Adam Sandler film is seriously overrated when it comes to comedy. I love the slapstick style but this guy aint funny!! How does an investor put up money for an Adam Sandler film? Do the financial guys have a formula that calculates how many people will pay to laugh at anything?? As for his "serious" film..Punch Drunk Love is terrible! I would almost want to see a Little Nicky II before watching PDL again!

Rant over.. :eusa_booh :eusa_doh:

 

[Baron Kurtz]

The Third Man ...

I love - obviously.

I also love the book. It was always designed to be a film. The book was adapted from the film script. Greene was an advisor on the film - involved all the way through production. This is one reason why it's so interesting. The film shows what Greene thought was correct when he was writing the script. It's interesting to see how the characters are different between the film and book - Kurtz's toupee being an obvious example.

bk

 

[Dixon's Dame]

In no particular order, movies I was told I had to see that disappointed me:

1. Bridge over the River Kwai (and I'm a huge WWII movie and William Holden fan and this movie bores me to tears. Blow up the bridge already!)
2. The Matrix
3. A Beautiful Mind
4. Spartacus
5. Touch of Evil

 

[Jack Scorpion]

Lord of the Rings - worst best picture I've ever seen.

Unforgiven - and I normally love Eastwood westerns.

Sin City - along with most comic book movies these days.

I hated the movie Kiss Me Deadly.

The Third Man, The Big Sleep, Touch of Evil and Maltese Falcon are all in my opinion good but should not be on top of as many lists as they are.

Chinatown and Casablanca in my opinion are worth every bit of hype.