I figured since we had an underrated movie post we could have the opposite, and they also did the Top 5 overrated movies on the Cinecast podcast two episodes ago. Their top overrated movies were Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Mel Brooks movies in general (Young Frankenstein, Spaceballs, etc.)

I don't have a top 5 list, I just wanted to say that I feel that a hugely overrated movie was Napoleon Dynamite.

I did enjoy this film, and when it was funny it was hysterical, but there was just too much in the movie that made it drag out. I feel I just missed something on that movie that made everyone love it so much and become this hugely popular movie that it is.

RAY was horrible and just really mixed up.

House of FLying Daggers was just old and boring. The CGI in it really saddened me. When a kung-fu/sword film resorts to such things its going against the whole purpose of martial arts. I know nothing of such but still, it was lame but got great reviews. I saw nothing good about it, cinematography wasnt even as good as some say.

Eraserhead. dont get me wrong, I really like this film, but I feel its hugely overrated. All across the internet people say its the weirdest most f'ed up film, I enjoyed it and thought it was extremely creative, but the weirdest film as they say? It was strange but I was somewhat let down. It is nice to look at Lynch's following works and see improvement though.

I know I'm gonna get a lot of heat for this, but I think The Godfather and Taxi Driver definetley register on the "overrated scale" from my point of view. Maybe it's because I wasn't alive to witness the cultural significance of these films, I don't know, but I just don't know why everyone is so bats**t crazy about them. They're pretty good films, don't get me wrong, but...that's just how I feel.

I agree on House of Flying Daggers. Hero was superb, Daggers sucked.

I'll add Bladerunner (it's just bad) Mission Impossible and Raising Arizona.

raising arizona?

i think american beauty was a little overrated it was good, but a lot of good movies came out in 1999.

i also have to say signs. i remember when it came out people were peeing theyre pants and officially call m night a genious. it wasnt that good.

I have to concur with Daggers especially because of the CGI. I felt like Hero was one of the first films to use CGI effectively artistically speaking, and it looked damn good too. Daggers I could tell what was fake and what wasn't. I do have to say that Daggers is better than most action movies put out today because it had something they all lacked, story.

I happen to love the Godfather, even though I have no connection with the era, but I think that it is a movie that kind of loses its merit when it is hugely overpraised by so many people as it is, but again what sets it apart from other movies of its kind is the story.

I can see where people come from when they call movies like Raising Arizona and Napoleon Dynamite overrated, and maybe they are, but the reason these movies are so loved and admired is that most of their audiences are able to look beyond the eye-to-celluloid barrier and fall in love with the inventive storytelling, wacky characters and cinematic quirks (countered with deadpan delivery, of course) that are conveyed to the screen. But many cannot, and it's definetley understandable. However, we are still lucky to have movies and filmmakers like these nonetheless.

very true dan

Million Dollar Baby and Mystic River, both by Clint Eastwood. Now, I put alot of hating on these two films in the past, mainly cause they're so overrated. They're no Spiderman or anything, and I don't think Eastwood is necessarily a bad director (I liked APW), but they just go hot to cold on the emotional scale, and I've always felt that their are some lame attempts to gain sympathy and stir up emotions with the audience, which isn't a bad thing in itself, when done without such obvious effort.
I also find it kind of weird that so many good movies are labelled boring or long, while LOTR is the worst example of this and makes billions and is hailed by the same people who hate these other "boring" films.

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I'll add Bladerunner (it's just bad)

Huh...? Blade Runner is one of the best SF films ever made, and probably the only true cyberpunk film which was a critical success. Ridley Scott has generally declined since Blade Runner, but saying "it's just bad" is truly bizarre.

I agree that Clint Eastwood's directorial efforts are generally mediocre. I didn't understand the huge praise heaped on Mystic River or MDB - Mystic River had a script which was terribly resolved and the direction was pedestrian at best. MDB had a 'twist' which was obvious from miles away, as well as an annoyingly manipulative style.

Most American movies from the past 15 or 20 years are overrated to a degree.

I know I'm going to get the smack down on this one....but I thought Sin City wasn't what it would be. It disappointed me a bit.
And a recent movie...40 year old virgin. It was funny in some parts, but I didn't think it was as funny as they made it out to be.

LOTR is overrated times nine, I've only needed to see one installment (FOTR) to comprehend. It was anti-climatic, the characters struck no personal connection because it isn't a personal movie about people, it was over drawn, and seemingly and was not in my definition of cinematic experience.

Gangs of New York, while I enjoy Scorsese's films this left me sans anything. I felt no compassion for the characters, I just wanted it to end.

Ring, wasn't scary, it was just stupid, along with all of the Japanese-horror translations, The Grudge (OMG a crazyified version of Michael Jackson is turning people into goth water people.)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mr. Blonde,

Yes, Million Dollar Baby, Sin City and LOTR are also fairly overrated...forgot to mention those...

I can't believe people have listed Raising Arizona, American Beauty, LOTR and BLADERUNNER!!!!!! Bladerunner is a sci-fi masterpiece, the director's cut is the one to see. I see Hero, and HOFD on here. Haven't seen those, don't desire to. My advice is see the rest of Zhang Zimou's(spelling???) movies he's a great director, the rest of his films are nothing like that flying action crap. And
some people just can't get in that imaginative, childlike frame of mind that you need for LOTR.

Movies being overrated is something that you can talk about forever. But there's not too much point. I would like to say however that NAPOLEAN DYNAMITE was a flaming hunk of MTV bulls**t. I can't put into words how much I dislike that film. And people love it. The taste of the masses is beyond me.

"Our culture is going down...on itself"

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titanium said:
I'll add Bladerunner (it's just bad)

O MY GOD.

Don't tell me you mean the director's cut?

I remember being quite affected by Mystic River, but it may be time to try to look at it again, because it certainly had its pretentions. The performances likely carried it over the flaws, though others would probably argue against that as well. However, Million Dollar Baby did nothing for me. Morgan Freeman is becoming a savior-for-hire of mediocre films.
Sin City is at times visually gorgeous, but the heart of that film is black and moldy. To call that film art is to call bird droppings fertilizer. It further cements my belief that the art of film started a steep decline since Quentin Tarantino came around.
As for my own contribution to the list, I feel that Lost in Translation is 2 hours of vacuous, self-important blather. How can so many people confuse emptiness with subtlety?
That's my big fat opinion anyway...

Yes, I mean the director's cut. I'd been really meaning to see Bladerunner for ages, and when I finally did I was so disappointed. It was literally putting me to sleep... or some kind of trance or something. No story development; weak uninteresting, underdeveloped characters; slow pace... ugh.

I liked Million Dollar Baby, Mistic River and Lord of the Rings.
i thought Lost in Translation was pretty over rated.

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As for my own contribution to the list, I feel that Lost in Translation is 2 hours of vacuous, self-important blather. How can so many people confuse emptiness with subtlety?

While I thought it was the best film of 2003, I have to agree with you (I was actually going to mention it myself, but got into LOTR insetead). Judging on the bell curve isn't a good way to decide good movies. The only thing I liked about it was that the actors were able to just kind of do whatever within the environment, but it didn't really seem to be about anything, just more intellectually ideas and themes. It's liek someone set out to make a film about loneliness, as a theme, and then worked the plot and characters around that theme, rather than coming up with good characters and figuring out the meaning as it's appropriate to them.

Yes HDK, very well put.