OVERRATED/UNDERRATED- Movies
A new edition of overrated/underrated. I am sure to get lots of feedback whether posititive or negative. A few ground rules- Merit is not brought into questions. It is purely on overrated and underrated not whether one movie is better than the other. Example: Citizen Kane is by all means a better longer last movie than Big Trouble In Little China but I think Citizen Kane is Overrated for what it is, and I think Big Trouble In Little China is underrated for what it is. So with that said lets just jump right into it.
OVERRATED- Little Miss Sunshine
First of all this is a good movie. I enjoyed it, I thought it was clever and funny and an all around enjoyable movie. But it was completely over hyped. I didn’t see it till it came out on video. From the time it was released in theaters to the time it came out on video, everyone and their hamster were praising how amazing the movie was. I was kicking myself for not seeing the movie in theaters. I finally watched it and wow, big let down. I recognized the good points of the movie and why people enjoyed it, but it was so horribly over hyped.
RUNNER UP- Citizen Kane
I know its a classic and it is considered by some to be the greatest film of all time. I will give credit for it being ahead of its time in technology and was a huge influence on future films. But the movie itself was just boring. It was slow, it was tiresome, and the big revealing of Rosebud was just a let down. Again I know how important this film was to the industry. As Dave just pointed out, the story was very effective at the time, but in the present, the story has not held up and I find the movie to be overrated.
UNDERRATED- Big Trouble In Little China
By all means this has “B” movie written all over it. But its pure fun. The movie is funny, exciting, great for quoting, and just goofy all around. It has a huge cult following and is well deserving of so. Like I stated before, is this movie better than Citizen Kane, no. But is Citizen Kane overrated and this movie underrated, yes. This is the one movie in the in world that at any given time of any given day I can put it in and watch it.
RUNNER UP- The Science of Sleep
The science of sleep if a wonderfully visual movie with a unique story behind it. Small dissapointments in a disjointed story and abrupt ending are overshadowed by the unique visuals and whimsical elements created by Michel Gondry. This movie is unknown by many. It is definitely worth watching for some laughs, and its beautiful visuals.
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I can understand how someone who enjoys watching Big Trouble In Little China would not be able to sit through Citizen Kane, but to call it “Overrated” is nearly blasphemous. And no, it wasn’t the technology that made the movie ahead of it’s time; they used the same cameras and film that everyone else had (Mitchell BNC 35 MM). That is, in 1941 Orson Welles got RKO to give him a nominal amount of money to make a film no one thought would be a sell; were it to be “technologically advanced” it would have been shot in technicolor like The Wizard of Oz two years before it.
What made the money such a phenomenal success both artistically and financially was the TECHNIQUE. Prior to Citizen Kane, the biggest names in the production of a given film were just that: the producers – generated the story, they hired the crew, they paid for production, and that’s why prior to Rebecca in 1940 no director had ever received final credit during the opening titles (the final credit previous to Hitchcock’s Rebecca had always been given to the producers, as they were more important at the time than the directors). So with Kane, never before had a major release seen it’s entire handling by one man, Orson Welles, in the capacities of executive producer, director, and lead actor; even Alfred Hitchcock couldn’t get David O. Selznick to give him producing credits.
With that freedom of artistry he created the landmark American film, using shots, focuses, character developments, and plot devices in a way no audience had ever before seen. It is rife with one of the richest character developments (from pauper to manic prince) SEEN ONLY THROUGH THE EYES AND EARS OF WITNESSES TO HIS LIFE, yet the audience can still fully envelop themselves with Welles’ emotions and being.
And that’s why, having seen a man grow so powerfully corrupt that he alienated his friends and family, we gasp to learn that even was capable of knowing the frailty of his existence: the only true thing he ever loved that loved him back was his childhood sled.
Overrated? Must be because people these days have a hard time watching black and white movies. That’s not the film’s fault. It’s ours.
But if you like Big Trouble, here’s a few more for your taste:
Fandango (1985)
Maximum Overdrive (1986)
Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
Re-animator (1986)
Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965)
Hercules (1983) <- Lou Ferrigno throws a bear into outer space. Yeah. That happened.