Underrated Movies

[byron lomax]

Jacob's Ladder. It got a very mixed reaction when released, but most of the popular film critics dismissed it, and it completely bombed at the box office. It has great, forboding atmosphere, a fantastic central performance by Tim Robbins, some unforgettable scenes (the party, ice-water bath, the hospital), and a fantastic score. One of my favourite horror films, if it can be classed as such.

A cult has grown around the film over the years, though I still think it's underrated. I find it kinda fascinating that it was directed by Adrian Lyne.

 

[BillJ]

Drowning Mona

 

[doubleohfive]

Terminator Salvation

That movie was atrocious.

GODZILLA (1998)

This wasn't any better.





On topic: Underrated movie? John Carter, easily.

 

[auntiehill]

In Bruges. Brutally funny, witty, charming, violent. It never gets old for me.

84 Charring Cross Road. A very low-key drama about a friendship that takes place, via the mail, in the early '50s, with Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins.

The Station Agent. If you're a fan of Game of Thrones, and/or Peter Dinklage, and you haven't seen this, you're doing yourself a disservice.

The Red Violin. Can an object, created by a man, be "perfect?" The story of how this violin affects people through the years is just fascinating, to me, anyway.

Big Night. Two brothers struggle to keep their restaurant open. With great performances by Stanley Tucci and Tony Shaloub.

Max. The highly provocative film about the art dealer who gave the young artist, Adolf Hitler, his first break in the art world. Stars John Cusack as Max and Noah Taylor as the seethingly creepy Adolf.

The Mighty. A sweet film about two very unlikely childhood friends and their fascination with the knights of the round table. Good for both adults and children.

I'm Not Scared. I don't know how this did elsewhere, but here in the States, it went virtually unnoticed. It's the story of a boy who comes across a younger boy, who has been kidnapped and is being held in a deep pit. Instead of reporting it, he keeps the secret to himself. It's beautifully filmed, with an almost "other-worldly" feel.

 

[Captain Craig]

Terminator Salvation

That movie was atrocious.

Atrocious, really? I get opinions vary but that is the type of overreaction that doesn't register for me. Hasn't since the hate parade begin when Arnold wasn't going to be in it was announced.

Atrocious: Horrifyingly wicked; extremely bad or unpleasant
Atrocious is Battlefield Earth
Atrocious is Pluto Nash
Atrocious is Ghosts of Mars
Atrocious is anything by Uwe Boll.

I get some may not have liked or preferred it but let's keep perspective.

I can agree that John Carter is also underrated.

 

[WarsTrek1993]

The Punisher (Tom Jane version)- Gritty, imperfect superhero armed to the teeth, with nothing to lose. I like it. It's good to know not every superhero lives in a sugar-coated fantasy land.

Armageddon- Despite all of the scientific inaccuracies, it is a very fun movie to watch. "No nukes, no nukes!"

SpaceCamp- Could be that I'm just a huge Lea Thompson fan, or the fact that it's enjoyable to watch a bunch of young "astronauts" in space for the first time.

Fanboys- I love this one! I get a good laugh out of the gentlemen going through all this trouble to see The Phantom Menace and doing all sorts of antics.
"No one calls Han Solo a bitch!"

I'd also like to second Craig's listing of Terminator: Salvation.

 

[doubleohfive]

Terminator Salvation

That movie was atrocious.

Atrocious, really? I get opinions vary but that is the type of overreaction that doesn't register for me. Hasn't since the hate parade begin when Arnold wasn't going to be in it was announced.

Atrocious: Horrifyingly wicked; extremely bad or unpleasant
Atrocious is Battlefield Earth
Atrocious is Pluto Nash
Atrocious is Ghosts of Mars
Atrocious is anything by Uwe Boll.

I get some may not have liked or preferred it but let's keep perspective.

Fuck perspective, and fuck the tired "I'm gonna pwn you with Dictionary.com" routine - it's old hat.

Terminator Salvation was an bad movie. I'm not declaring it as fact, I'm stating my opinion in reaction to your opinion.

I can agree that John Carter is also underrated.

That's because it was.

 

[DigificWriter]

Good thread.

Super Mario Brothers
This probably counts more as a 'guilty pleasure', but I'm mentioning it anyway. It might have virtually nothing in common with the games besides character and place names, but its a fun Sci-Fi action film with some fun performances from Hoskins, Hopper, and John L.

Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow
As with SMB, this probably counts more as a guilty pleasure, but I love this movie. It reminds me in many ways of both The Rocketeer and Joss Whedon's TV series Firefly, and the animation and voice cast are superb.

The Star Wars prequels
All three SW prequels qualify here, although TPM and AotC ate more underrated than RotS.The prequels might be different tonally than the OT, but they are still recognizably SW and are just as enjoyable as ANH, TESB, and RotJ.

 

[Angel4576]

SpaceCamp- Could be that I'm just a huge Lea Thompson fan, or the fact that it's enjoyable to watch a bunch of young "astronauts" in space for the first time

Man that movie would have been ten times better without this little twat....

.....and the robot sucked too!

Seriously, Lea Thompson.....

 

[Enterprise is Great]

I wanted to do a shout out for Last Action Hero. While not a great movie it's still a good one and nowhere near as bad as it's reputation.

 

[Kirkman1987]

I wanted to do a shout out for Last Action Hero. While not a great movie it's still a good one and nowhere near as bad as it's reputation.

I love Last Action Hero.

 

[Lonemagpie]

I wanted to do a shout out for Last Action Hero. While not a great movie it's still a good one and nowhere near as bad as it's reputation.

I love Last Action Hero.

Fantastic movie - one of my favourites. Charles Dance is fucking brilliant in it as well.

 

[Starkers]

Yeah I've never got why The Last Action Hero bombed so badly.

Agree that the Lundgren Punisher is a bit of a gem, gotta love the rhyming tramp. "I'm a thesbian dear boy" "You're a what!?"

I actually quite liked the Thomas Jane one as well, lifted a lot from the Ennis comics.

 

[Lonemagpie]

Yeah I've never got why The Last Action Hero bombed so badly.

Oh, that's an easy one to answer - the marketing sucked, and confused the potential audiences. The few who knew it was going to be a spoof expected something like The Naked Gun, and were disappointed; the folks who loved meta comedy thought it'd be an inferior knockoff of Purple Rose Of Cairo (and in fact that's how Barry Norman described it), while most of the audience expected a straight Arnie actioner and were turned right off by the meta-comedy.

Agree that the Lundgren Punisher is a bit of a gem, gotta love the rhyming tramp. "I'm a thesbian dear boy" "You're a what!?"

I actually quite liked the Thomas Jane one as well, lifted a lot from the Ennis comics.

Yeah, I liked that one too, maybe cos Welcome Back Frank is my favourite of the comics. Haven't seen War Zone yet...

 

[Trek Survivor]

"Clue", I love that little movie.

 

[Guy Gardener]

In the first 20 minutes of Warzone there's about 40 really graphic kills by the Punisher before frank has his first line.

Murderporn.

 

[Starkers]

Yeah I've never got why The Last Action Hero bombed so badly.

Oh, that's an easy one to answer - the marketing sucked, and confused the potential audiences. The few who knew it was going to be a spoof expected something like The Naked Gun, and were disappointed; the folks who loved meta comedy thought it'd be an inferior knockoff of Purple Rose Of Cairo (and in fact that's how Barry Norman described it), while most of the audience expected a straight Arnie actioner and were turned right off by the meta-comedy.

Agree that the Lundgren Punisher is a bit of a gem, gotta love the rhyming tramp. "I'm a thesbian dear boy" "You're a what!?"

I actually quite liked the Thomas Jane one as well, lifted a lot from the Ennis comics.

Yeah, I liked that one too, maybe cos Welcome Back Frank is my favourite of the comics. Haven't seen War Zone yet...

Me either, though what Guy says chimes with what people who have seen it have told me!

 

[Captain Craig]

In the first 20 minutes of Warzone there's about 40 really graphic kills by the Punisher before frank has his first line.

Murderporn.

True. Punisher WarZone is one of those so bad it's good type films. It for sure is the most comic-esque of the films overall.
I know Jane's uses some Ennis material but as a whole Warzone feels very 90's esque at times for the character.

 

[Lonemagpie]

In the first 20 minutes of Warzone there's about 40 really graphic kills by the Punisher before frank has his first line.

Must get round to seeing that!

 

[Disruptor]

I thought Fletch Lives was decent. Not amongst the "worst comdey sequels" of all time, as some claim. I mean, it's not like Fletch was the greatest film ever. And Chevy Chase made films that were far, far worse (Cops and Robbersons).

Hudson Hawk. It's odd because Willis rose to fame being a smartass on Moonlighting. He was seemingly cast against type for Die Hard. Then he was stereotyped as an action hero, so when he returned to smartass adventure it was greated with excessive scorn.