Overhated movies

[DevilBusterAlice]

didn't people hate Fallen(1997, Denzel Washington)? i thought it was really good.

 

[RetroLaw]

didn't people hate Fallen(1997, Denzel Washington)? i thought it was really good.

What is really good is your avatar

 

[ATenderLad]

didn't people hate Fallen(1997, Denzel Washington)? i thought it was really good.

If memory serves, they just didn't watch it. My local theater, I think it was gone within a few weeks.

Honestly, it's not bad, although the effect for uh, "soul vision" wears out it's welcome quick, can't stand it.

 

[Ikagura]

Honestly I don't really take care about what other thinks for a movie but I could talk about Waterworld from 1995.

Sure, it wasn't the best despite being basically a "reverse Mad Max" but I enjoyed the journey to find "Dryland" and the Smokers as the antagonist force of the story (especially when their chief is played by Dennis Hopper).

I dunno if it counts but Screaming Metal is also quite cool despite what the Nostalgia Critic has said about it.

Flash Gordon -1980

I've decided to finally watch it last year and honestly I just love the surreal looking pulp sci-fi. I enjoyed the adventure and it's sad that it didn't meet its audience... Maybe it was either too late or too soon for pulp to come back as a genre on the big screen.

I don't have any specific example right now, but I never understood adults hating on children's movies. They are supposed to appeal to their target audience, who cares if they aren't redefining cinema? I enjoyed the Super Mario Bros Movie as a kid. I loved Disney's Atlantis. The Rescuers: Down Under? Still a gem in my book.

I'd somewhat argue that being for kids does not mean it cannot get criticised nor trying to be qualitative even if it's for a younger audience.

A good film doesn't need to redefine cinema obviously.

Super Mario Bros the Movie is a guilty pleasure of mine but because it's a cyberpunk take on the Mario formula but objectively it's a poor representation of the Super Mario Bros franchise. They could've dropped the IP and it would've been a decent family-friendly Blade Runner kind of story.

On the opposite end I find that the more modern Super Mario Bros animated movie played it too safe and was mostly interesting to me for having Donkey Kong Country and Mario Kart references (among many NES and other Nintendo IP being hidden all over the background). Still a shame that they didn't stay longer in Brooklin/the "real world" because they could've expanded their world more than the Mushroom Kingdom we already all know very well.

I think the '86 OVA managed to go out of its comfort zone while still keeping the essence of the original game.

 

[DevilBusterAlice]

What is really good is your avatar

LMFAO, thanks. Shounen Captain Link is cute, and i've always liked the series.

Honestly I don't really take care about what other thinks for a movie but I could talk about Waterworld from 1995.

Sure, it wasn't the best despite being basically a "reverse Mad Max" but I enjoyed the journey to find "Dryland" and the Smokers as the antagonist force of the story (especially when their chief is played by Dennis Hopper).

I dunno if it counts but Screaming Metal is also quite cool despite what the Nostalgia Critic has said about it.


I've decided to finally watch it last year and honestly I just love the surreal looking pulp sci-fi. I enjoyed the adventure and it's sad that it didn't meet its audience... Maybe it was either too late or too soon for pulp to come back as a genre on the big screen.


I'd somewhat argue that being for kids does not mean it cannot get criticised nor trying to be qualitative even if it's for a younger audience.

A good film doesn't need to redefine cinema obviously.

Super Mario Bros the Movie is a guilty pleasure of mine but because it's a cyberpunk take on the Mario formula but objectively it's a poor representation of the Super Mario Bros franchise. They could've dropped the IP and it would've been a decent family-friendly Blade Runner kind of story.

On the opposite end I find that the more modern Super Mario Bros animated movie played it too safe and was mostly interesting to me for having Donkey Kong Country and Mario Kart references (among many NES and other Nintendo IP being hidden all over the background). Still a shame that they didn't stay longer in Brooklin/the "real world" because they could've expanded their world more than the Mushroom Kingdom we already all know very well.

I think the '86 OVA managed to go out of its comfort zone while still keeping the essence of the original game.

oh man, Waterworld... great movie. no idea why people hate it!

 

[ATenderLad]

@Ikaruga You know, Dennis Hopper is the villain of Waterworld *and* Super Mario Brothers, maybe he's the special sauce that makes the movie for you. He is for me, at least, especially in Speed.

 

[Marmax80]

Dune 84 is great film. I will die on this hill

 

[dropsmegamega]

Dune 84 is great film. I will die on this hill

It has its problems, but at the end of the day I'd rather watch it than the uninspired 2 part remake

 

[Yousef]

I believe this was already vaguely mentioned in another post so I’ll make a larger post about it. The Mario movie starring Bob Hoskins, John Leguizamo and Dennis Hopper is a comedic masterpiece

 

[Ikagura]

@Ikaruga You know, Dennis Hopper is the villain of Waterworld *and* Super Mario Brothers, maybe he's the special sauce that makes the movie for you. He is for me, at least, especially in Speed.

Absolutely, sometimes the entire movie is being carried by the actor going all out for his antagonist role (like Raul Julia as Bison even though I consider the Mortal Kombat movie to be better as a fighting game adaption).

Speaking of Speed, I forgot if it was poorly received but I actually enjoyed it (as stupid as its plot is when you think about it). Maybe it's me but I've always loved vehicular-based scenes in action movies (such as in Mad Max and Terminator). Keanu Reeves with Sandra Bullock was quite a good duo as well (I liked her in Demolition Man already) so it was probably why I still appreciated it.

oh man, Waterworld... great movie. no idea why people hate it!

Maybe people got tired of the post apocalyptic genre in the mid 90's? I cannot tell honestly.

Dune 84 is great film. I will die on this hill.

Somehow I enjoyed it despite expecting nothing. I'm not a massive fan of Lynch but I do enjoy the more "mystique" vibe of it compared to Villeneuve's "clean" style.

I loved the almost 3 hours long "Alternative Edition Redux" because they added many scenes explaining better the world and story. I think that the only big flaw was the amount of inner monologues which kinda breaks the pace but it was because it stayed close to the way the book told the story (which does not work as well on a screen imo).

As for Villeneuve's I still liked Part I but Part II felt too rushed to the point I believe it should've been a proper trilogy like LotR or Star Wars. Three main acts for each of the "books" inside the original Dune would've been the perfect way of narrating.

 

[Gorse]

Raul Julia

He's one of those actors that makes every movie better! Including the second live-action Addams Family movie, which is otherwise hated exactly the right amount.

 

[Ikagura]

He's one of those actors that makes every movie better! Including the second live-action Addams Family movie, which is otherwise hated exactly the right amount.

I liked some of the jokes but yeah, I prefer the first one as well (in the same way I prefer the first Burton Batman movie).

Also my bad, it's Raúl Juliá but because I'm not used to Spanish letters with accent.

I think SF II's cast was too big for its own good, that Van Damme stole the spotlight when Ryu and Ken are the "main characters" of the SF franchise (a buddy martial art action movie is just much better imo than that generic military action one) and even some questionable choices like turning Charlie Nash into Bianca and that Honda is Hawaiian for some reasons (not that a non-Japanese cannot be a sumotori but it's just strange).

Sure, realistically they couldn't have done a lot with CGIs for the fireballs or even Dhalsim having extended arms but it clearly shows they didn't care about the actual games.

You'd rather see actual martial art movies with an actual tournament like Bloodsport (that ironically also had Van Damme as the main role).

Back to the main subject it will sound controversial but Avatar went from loved to hated in a span of a decade for some reasons. Maybe either because the hype about 3D and facial mocap died out or because the world of Avatar is not that great compared to other Sci-Fi franchises but I still do like the aesthetic of Pandora.

Maybe it's because the story is really generic (the indigenous alien species fighting against the invaders with the help of one of their members to repeal them) and the sequel didn't add that much to the lore than what we've seen in the first.

I feel that it was meant to be a much bigger franchise (like Star Wars) but ended up not being one...

 

[Parasite_Steve]

Oh there's many I could think of, most of them having been named already. I think all the older video game adaptations like mario bros., double dragon and street fighter are nowhere near as bad as people are saying. They are really damn weird and cheesy but it's not like the games they adapted were Shakespeare. The creative freedoms the filmmakers took makes these movies much more interesting to watch than any straight adaptations would have been.
I also don't think the Star Wars prequels are that bad. I wouldn't go so far to call any of them a misunderstood masterpiece, they are deeply flawed, but they all have enough redeeming qualities that I appreciate them existing and can watch them occassionally. I feel similarly about Episode 8 which I thought was alright, but when you look at the reactions to it at the time of release, there seemed to be either extreme hate or extreme adoration and nothing inbetween.
By contrast I do think Batman & Robin is pretty damn bad, but again there's still a lot of creativity in there that I appreciate. If it were a little shorter it'd be a damn good candidate for a bad movie night.
Coincidentally I really enjoyed Aeon Flux. It's some good 2000s cheese that works well with its peers like Ultraviolet, Dead or Alive (the video game movie not the Yakuza film), Ghosts of Mars and to a degree the first Resident Evil film.

 

[Yousef]

Oh there's many I could think of, most of them having been named already. I think all the older video game adaptations like mario bros., double dragon and street fighter are nowhere near as bad as people are saying. They are really damn weird and cheesy but it's not like the games they adapted were Shakespeare. The creative freedoms the filmmakers took makes these movies much more interesting to watch than any straight adaptations would have been.
I also don't think the Star Wars prequels are that bad. I wouldn't go so far to call any of them a misunderstood masterpiece, they are deeply flawed, but they all have enough redeeming qualities that I appreciate them existing and can watch them occassionally. I feel similarly about Episode 8 which I thought was alright, but when you look at the reactions to it at the time of release, there seemed to be either extreme hate or extreme adoration and nothing inbetween.
By contrast I do think Batman & Robin is pretty damn bad, but again there's still a lot of creativity in there that I appreciate. If it were a little shorter it'd be a damn good candidate for a bad movie night.
Coincidentally I really enjoyed Aeon Flux. It's some good 2000s cheese that works well with its peers like Ultraviolet, Dead or Alive (the video game movie not the Yakuza film), Ghosts of Mars and to a degree the first Resident Evil film.

Oh nice, SF passed my mind completely. Definitely another I’d vote for being a bit underrated.
I’ve yet to see double dragon, sounds like a wilf movie. I saw the cartoon as a kid.

Revenge of the Sith is my favorite anything Star Wars.

The Yakuza movie is something I’ve yet to see. I should get that done.

Surprisingly, RE movies are my candidate for movies that are too boring to be worth defending, but that’s just my two fils.

 

[ATenderLad]

He's one of those actors that makes every movie better! Including the second live-action Addams Family movie, which is otherwise hated exactly the right amount.

This is some wild slander of Anjelica Huston, Christina Ricci, and holy shit Joan Cusack!

"Would you die for me?"
"Of course!"
"Promise?" *murders husband*

You'd rather see actual martial art movies with an actual tournament like Bloodsport (that ironically also had Van Damme as the main role).

Back to the main subject it will sound controversial but Avatar went from loved to hated in a span of a decade for some reasons. Maybe either because the hype about 3D and facial mocap died out or because the world of Avatar is not that great compared to other Sci-Fi franchises but I still do like the aesthetic of Pandora.

Maybe it's because the story is really generic (the indigenous alien species fighting against the invaders with the help of one of their members to repeal them) and the sequel didn't add that much to the lore than what we've seen in the first.

Not too many video game adaptations have memorable action choreography, especially the fighting game movies. Best exception is probably the original Mortal Kombat, and that's a low bar indeed. God bless the opening theme song though, better workout music I've never heard.

I feel similarly about Episode 8 which I thought was alright, but when you look at the reactions to it at the time of release, there seemed to be either extreme hate or extreme adoration and nothing inbetween.

Oh yeah, the cottage industry culture war, with endless videos and podcasts telling rubes the next thing being ruined by diversity, made talking about that movie impossible.

I considered saying when this thread started, the correct answer is whatever the latest culture war target is. I don't think most movies, even bad movies, are actually hated, I mean who cares that much if a movie isn't good?

 

[Gorse]

This is some wild slander of Anjelica Huston, Christina Ricci, and holy shit Joan Cusack!

All great in the first movie (well, Joan Cusack wasn't in that one, but her best performance in the second was making Uncle Fester have a massive squirt in his dusty, crinkled old underpants), but, aside from the opening scene in the hospital (which was hilarious), I'm afraid they didn't impress in the sequel. The scene at the end with the Native American performance genuinely made me question if someone had slipped something into my drink – it was no Mamushka, that's for sure!

 

[ATenderLad]

All great in the first movie (well, Joan Cusack wasn't in that one, but her best performance in the second was making Uncle Fester have a massive squirt in his dusty, crinkled old underpants), but, aside from the opening scene in the hospital (which was hilarious), I'm afraid they didn't impress in the sequel. The scene at the end with the Native American performance genuinely made me question if someone had slipped something into my drink – it was no Mamushka, that's for sure!

Oooof I wildly prefer the Tango in the second movie, I've always aspired to be a Gomez to someone's Morticia since I watched that as a kid.

 

[Ikagura]

Not too many video game adaptations have memorable action choreography, especially the fighting game movies. Best exception is probably the original Mortal Kombat, and that's a low bar indeed. God bless the opening theme song though, better workout music I've never heard.

I think adapting is hard when games are about the person being active than passive.

And people being out of touch with the source material.

 

[ATenderLad]

I think adapting is hard when games are about the person being active than passive.

And people being out of touch with the source material.

For sure, movies can't replace the interaction element. (Although Megalopolis apparently had a sequence at film festivals where Adam Driver would answer an audience question, sounds wild.)

It's funny, being out of touch or uninterested in the games has sort of given way to the opposite sometimes. The last Resident Evil live action movie was slavishly devoted to the source material, and infinitely worse than the mediocre Paul W. Anderson movies as a result. Another example was Borderlands trying desperately to recreate an aesthetic without thinking up an actual movie with stakes to go with it, I had such a hard time finishing that one.

 

[Ikagura]

For sure, movies can't replace the interaction element. (Although Megalopolis apparently had a sequence at film festivals where Adam Driver would answer an audience question, sounds wild.)

It's funny, being out of touch or uninterested in the games has sort of given way to the opposite sometimes. The last Resident Evil live action movie was slavishly devoted to the source material, and infinitely worse than the mediocre Paul W. Anderson movies as a result. Another example was Borderlands trying desperately to recreate an aesthetic without thinking up an actual movie with stakes to go with it, I had such a hard time finishing that one.

I think that the Gyakuten Saiban (aka Ace Attorney aka Phoenix Wright) movie worked simply because it was a dialogue and narrative heavy game (and still didn't show every stories)View attachment aceattorney2012_1_8.webp

It isn't without flaws but the costumes are well made and humour is still being present.

As for Resident Evil I think mixing both the first, second (and a bit of the third) game was absolutely not the best idea, they literally mish mashed stuff together in the blender thinking it would work.

RE4 should've been taken as the template (since there aren't too many characters and the story is basically like Escape from L.A. by John Carpenter).

Or even making a movie closer to a horror one with a closed manor filled with zombies and an ambience like Night of the Living Dead (since Romero influenced RE quite a lot).

Ultimately I'd recommend Sweet Home, a Japanese horror move from' 89 that served as the basis of RE since its video game adaption was already a horror RPG and the former was meant to be a 3D remake of it.

 

[Gorse]

I think adapting is hard when games are about the person being active than passive.

The way to do this – I think as has been shown quite well by the recent Mario, Sonic, and Pikachu movies – is to depict or reference the mechanics being interacted with by the characters in interesting ways. You don't "play" the movies, sure, but everyone knows what if feels like to fall off a cliff in Mario or get knocked around by a robot in Sonic, and it's entertaining to see how people who aren't us react to those situations – especially when they're the "real" game characters themselves!

 

[Ikagura]

The way to do this – I think as has been shown quite well by the recent Mario, Sonic, and Pikachu movies – is to depict or reference the mechanics being interacted with by the characters in interesting ways. You don't "play" the movies, sure, but everyone knows what if feels like to fall off a cliff in Mario or get knocked around by a robot in Sonic, and it's entertaining to see how people who aren't us react to those situations – especially when they're the "real" game characters themselves!

I'd say that the Detective Pikachu movie "cheated" as it is not a proper mainline Pokémon adaption but a spin-off that was already narratively focused to get on screens.

Not that I disliked it, actually I enjoyed the story, the investigation and how it was basically a film noir set in the Pokémon universe.

On the other hand I think a movie about a trainer doing battle in gyms around the region while battling an evil organisation could've worked (this is why even the Pokémon anime wasn't fully focused on that either).

I still wish Mystery Dungeon got a proper animated movie (no live action please).

PS: I also dislike how LA movies also insist on realism (looking at you the Smurfs and the upcoming Minecraft movie) and making them basically isekais (they cannot be set in their own game world, there's the real one each time for some reasons like how Sonic ended up in our world or how Mario went from Brookling to the Mushroom kingdom). Detective Pikachu is a rare exception but even then he travelled from his home village to a big city.

I'm worried about the Zelda one to be honest.


PPS: We should stop derailing the thread, not that I mind it but I want to avoid moderation.

 

[ATenderLad]

I think that the Gyakuten Saiban (aka Ace Attorney aka Phoenix Wright) movie worked simply because it was a dialogue and narrative heavy game (and still didn't show every stories)View attachment 3239

It isn't without flaws but the costumes are well made and humour is still being present.

As for Resident Evil I think mixing both the first, second (and a bit of the third) game was absolutely not the best idea, they literally mish mashed stuff together in the blender thinking it would work.

RE4 should've been taken as the template (since there aren't too many characters and the story is basically like Escape from L.A. by John Carpenter).

Or even making a movie closer to a horror one with a closed manor filled with zombies and an ambience like Night of the Living Dead (since Romero influenced RE quite a lot).

Ultimately I'd recommend Sweet Home, a Japanese horror move from' 89 that served as the basis of RE since its video game adaption was already a horror RPG and the former was meant to be a 3D remake of it. View attachment 3241

Well I'd never heard of a Phoenix Wright movie, I'll have to track that down.

I think Resident Evil needs a really novel approach, the games borrow very heavily from movies already, and the translation from movie-game-back to movie is like twice warmed porridge. (Although I love the Escape from L.A. comparison, Carpenter movies were such a gift to video games)

 

[Yousef]

Well I'd never heard of a Phoenix Wright movie, I'll have to track that down.

I think Resident Evil needs a really novel approach, the games borrow very heavily from movies already, and the translation from movie-game-back to movie is like twice warmed porridge. (Although I love the Escape from L.A. comparison, Carpenter movies were such a gift to video games)

It’s a good watch. The Phoenix Wright movie I mean. The stage plays are also quite good.

 

[Gorse]

BUT THE ACTUAL TV ANIME SERIES IS TERRIBLE. Trust me, I watched the whole thing and want those 24 episodes of my life back. Nice OP/ED themes, though.