Overrated movies & what to see instead
 

You see a lot of threads about overrated movies, so I thought I'd make a more constructive one. Here's how it goes:
You name any overrated movie, then name another one that gives you what the first one promised you.
Here are my (biased and rantish, but true nonetheless) picks:

Fury road is overrated, see Legenda o Kolovrate/Furious instead.
I get that some people praise fury road for the action and not the feminist aspect, but you'll find that Legenda o Kolovrate is just as exciting, and it has the benefit of not having a spinelessly conformist, insultingly presnted, and factually wrong message (and two hollywood-pretty leads in a sea of putrid mutants).

Princess mononoke is overrated, see Ničija Zemlja/No Man's Land instead.
I know I spit on mononoke a lot, but I really should stress that what people have told me with full confidence is an engaging masterpiece with a profound anti-war message (and definitely not just a pretentious cartoon for 13-year-olds) really has nothing on Ničija Zemlja, a real anti-war statement and a real masterpiece. There are countless grievances I have with the former, all of which are complemented by the latter, but the main characters says it all. Nino is a deeply flawed human being fully capable of being scared and confused by the absurd situation he's in. A****aka is a textbook mary sue.

Anchorman is overrated, see ZG80 instead.
Unlike the previous two overrated movies, I don't really hate Anchorman, it just doesn't hold up after a second viewing. It has some funny moments, like that ''toilet store'' line, but the rest of it comes across as what you'd see in modern Spongebob. ZG80 is the same brand of quotable comedy, but without the mentioned problem, and remeniscent of the trips we all had with our friends.

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godfather is overrated, see Code Name: K.O.Z. instead

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double post alert:

why would you compare a anime film to a live action film?

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Fixed.

jesus, why do I know that movie?

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This is an awful lot like the format that Armond White uses for his end-of-year "Better Than" lists.

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Princess Mononoke is overrated, my ass.

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Contrarian alert

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Roma (2018) is overrated, see Béla Tarr's The Man from London instead!

Se7en is overrated, see Zodiac instead.

super hero movies are over watched and rated...see a real super hero movie, watch The Verdict. A story of redemption and no cgi.

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fight club is overrated, see anything else instead

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Idiocracy is overrated, see Sorry to Bother You instead.

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You are overrated, see me instead.

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Forget Savings private ryan, see the thin red line...I like spr though :)

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) by Stanley Kubrick is overrated, see Solaris (1971) by Andrei Tarkovsky.
Solaris (1971) by Andrei Tarkovsky is overrated see Moon Landing (1969) by Stanley Kubrick.

Aside from the fact that they were released around the same time, and both are science fiction, I don't see much else in common here. Watch them both! ;)

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It's as if the people posting in this thread know the concept's flawed and are having fun with their answers more than anything else. At the very least, that's how I'm using it.

Speaking of which, Donnie Darko is overrated, watch Repo Man instead.

I don't see much in common either, believe me, they are apples and pears. 2001: A Space Odyssey doesn't tell me anything, Solaris tell me everything, and I don't say Kubrick was worse, It means it doesn't personally tell me anything, that's what art does, you look at a painting and you fell a connection with the author or you don't.

They say they are similar, Solaris was supposed to be the Soviet answer to a "space race", that's how they sold it, saying they both explored mankind’s uncertain role in the universe and the consequences of separation from his natural habitat. They were both filmed in the same aspect ratio for what that matters, but if you go deep into the meaning of both movies they are very distinct when it comes to the space and the human role in it, Solaris is more pessimistic and individualistic in my opinion.

Fury Road is overrated but I'd say see Mad Max or Mad Max 2 instead :).

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The generational gap is real.

:laugh:

It would appear so. These young'uns don't know they're born.

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Pulp Fiction is overrated; watch Natural Born Killers instead. :)

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It Follows (2014)

Teeth (2007)

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May l say something?
Just because you don't appreciate something more than others, doesn't mean it is overrated.
For example, l didn't like Pulp Fiction at all, but l don't say it is overrated because critics and other people love it and l respect it. It just wasn't my cup of tea.
I just find the question... unappropriate.

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But then again, instead of Pulp Fiction, l would like to watch Kill Bill. I'm more keen on action/adventure films rather than gangster.

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Yeah, the problems with the "overrated" discourse are well-noted.

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Call Me By Your Name is overrated and the story it tells is illegal and the main character is with an underaged teenager, see anything else instead.

it is actually legal in italy

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Good topic.. Even if its a good movie, you might think to yourself, "If you like that, you'd love this"

I read someone on here say "If you liked "Taxi Driver", you'd love "Joe" and while I still prefer "Taxi Driver", I could see the influence, with "Joe" being made 6 years earlier, and also having Peter Boyle in both.

You've got to allow for a bit of critical faculty though :) – I don't think anyone here is waving the overrated banner without analysing why.

I didn't like Kill Bill as much as Pulp Fiction but I don't think the former is overrated – it's still good but I didn't enjoy it as much. Maybe the pieces fit together better in Pulp Fiction.

Fury Road, on the other hand, I do think is overrated. That's because I think it's 80% visual spectacle but there wasn't much else to grab me. Plus, I much preferred the original films and how they went about showing that world.

While I agree it's overrated the scenario is perfectly legal. And even if it wasn't shouldn't you post every single film depicting crimes as central plot elements to this thread then?

Oh, I didn't know that.

I am sorry, I just thought it was bad because the character is bad because the character is underage and is a bit more like softcore gay porn than a love story.

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lol wut?

That last part was a joke, I just thought it was boring and not my cup of tea

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I too agree that Taxi Driver is one of the most overrated movies ever. It's not a bad movie by any means, it's good, I just don't think it's one of the very best movies ever made, like it's often made out to be. I wouldn't know what to watch instead though. Maybe 8mm (1999), or is that too different from Taxi Driver?

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Regarding possible alternatives to Taxi Driver, I would arguably suggest other films that were scripted by Paul Schrader. The main one I'd suggest would be Bringing Out the Dead, which is also about an insomniac whose job involves driving around the streets of New York at night - however, the fact that he's a paramedic who is desperately trying to save people's lives no matter how flawed they may be makes it an interesting counterpoint to the misanthropy of Taxi Driver. Otherwise, you could try Schrader's more obvious variations on Taxi Driver like Hardcore or Rolling Thunder, which both contain similar elements (the former is about rescuing a young girl from depraved scumbags, the latter is about a troubled Vietnam veteran returning to his violent ways) but are distinct enough in their approaches (the latter is a borderline action movie).

I really feel like an idiot seeing my old posts resurface. I still stand by the No Man's Land part, but a better alternative for the other two would be Hardcore Henry and Team America, respectively

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If you're into animation, the perfect alternative to fury road is Motorcity

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I feel like you'd have to make new arguments for why those are better alternatives because I remember Hardcore Henry being some extremely vapid and gimmicky nonsense that was barely worth watching once. On that note...Hardcore Henry is overrated, watch Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning instead.

I would also contend that Team America and Anchorman are on roughly equal footing in terms of quality.

Team America is a good alternative because its intended style of humour is exactly the same (loud, verbal, blunt), but Anchorman wound up obnoxious and randumb. It was like modern Spongebob. Brick yelling ''Loud noises!'' is family guy-tier comedy. Team America feels more cohesive in both plot and dialogue. Its jokes are timed better, and don't break the pace of the movie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gch2QYtWOpk
Replace Family Guy with Anchorman and you get my point

Both Henry and fury road are shallow nonsense. You're not here for the story, but for the spectacle. They're both equally good in that regard, as is Kolovrat, but Henry is the only one that isn't drenched in propaganda. Eastern or western propaganda is propaganda all the same, and propaganda movies are never good. That's also the reason I didn't bring up Hero (2002).

''Overrated'' and ''not my cup of tea'' are two completely different things. If a movie's not for you, how can you tell if it's good or bad?
I call movies overrated, disappointing or outright bad if they failed to hit a spot they were recommended to me for. I wouldn't watch the wizard of oz when in a mood for a dark and depressing movie, but I would watch Pan's Labyrinth, provided it didn't already disappoint me so much.

Oh okay, I saw Hardcore too, and it's good, but I think Taxi Driver is better, and Hardcore had a weak ending I thought but still good up until then. Haven't seen Bringing out the Dead or Rolling Thunder, but will check them out. Thanks!

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Midsommar is overrated, see The Wicker Man instead.

I used to love Team America but for me it hasn't aged too well because of its shallow both-sidesing of American interventionism and the War on Terror (which could also fit your definition of "Western propaganda" since it does ultimately come down on the side of interventionism as represented by Team America). The random humour in Anchorman isn't that random anyway - "Loud noises" isn't just said in a vacuum, it punctuates the sexist overreacting by the other anchormen and Brick just says it because he doesn't grasp why everyone's yelling but he joins in anyway, which underscores just how silly they're being when faced with a woman who they see as a threat to their own authority. Makes about as much sense as "I like you, you have balls, I like balls."

That's a loose definition of propaganda that could cover just about any film that has themes or messages. Films are artworks that are made by people with viewpoints - even something as shallow as Hardcore Henry is still shallow in a very particular way that reflects its creators' views, however deliberately. Remember that it ends with the reveal that



Maybe I'm not here for the story, but that doesn't negate the fact that the film is telling a story and that this of all possible stories is the story that they decided to tell. What do the filmmakers want me to feel when they end the movie like this? Am I supposed to cheer at such retribution? Why? Not to mention how tacked-on it feels when the character in question has barely been featured in the film anyway and isn't even the main villain. The best action movies don't just work because they provide good action, but also because they give you a reason to care about the characters at the heart of the action (even the "shallow" ones). Fury Road works because it gives lean but efficient characterisation to its cast that feeds into its narrative and action, while Hardcore Henry fails because most of its characters are such non-entities (the exception being the annoying comic relief sidekick) that it's near-impossible to care what happens to them. What makes Fury Road propaganda anyway? The fact that it dares to suggest that women are people too? That's an extremely poor reason to lump it in with the likes of Triumph of the Will.

If he yelled "Yeah, what he said!" or "AAAAAAAA!", that'd make sense, but there's no context in which "loud noises" doesn't come across as random. If you want another example, take that fight with the other reporters (the one before the "that escalated quickly" line). Cut it out of the movie and you lose nothing.

The difference between a "movie with a message" and "a propaganda movie" is that the former acknowledges that morality isn't black and white.
One is "Y has a point but X is still preferable".
The other is "X good Y bad".
Take the South Park episode "Cartoon Wars". It supports people making controversial content, but it acknowledges that it can have consequences. If it was propaganda, it'd just be about Kyle fighting an evil censor or something.

And as for that feminist thing, fury road isn't saying "women are people", it's saying "women are superior". All the "good" men in that film are 100% submissive. If there was a scene in which Max saves the others due to his strength, courage, competitive drive or anything else that comes with higher testosterone, it'd be fine. Then its message would be "patriarchy has a point but feminism is still preferable". But fury road views men just like its villain views women: as disposable, interchangable servants.
Besides, nobody'd disputing that women are people. Maybe wizardchan dwellers, but normal people simply acknowledge our biological differences. That doesn't make women inferior or unworthy of respect.
Finally, it doesn't matter if you agree with it or not, you can't deny that feminism is being pushed by those in power. There's nothing "daring" or "edgy" about it anymore, at least in the west. I'm a catholic, but if Poland put out a cheesy catholic propaganda movie, I wouldn't say it's "stunning and brave" because the west hates it.

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I wouldn't say all the good men are submissive in Fury Road. Max escapes captivity first chance he gets and he takes all the women hostage at first. Not exactly a submissive man, is it?

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I could argue the necessity of the anchorman brawl on the basis of how it's the absurdity of this extremely petty anchorman rivalry writ large, plus it has not one but two payoffs in how the Tim Robbins anchor is the one who throws Veronica into the bear pit and also how Wes Mantooth, Ron's much-hated arch-rival, is ultimately willing to demonstrate his respect for him after Ron is willing to risk his life for Veronica in the bear pit. Not like I won't contest other comedies of this nature, but I do reckon Anchorman does a surprisingly good job of justifying its more random humour (and I say this as someone who used to dislike it).

As for Fury Road, it's like ironpony says, Max is still comparatively strong and independent but not enough to truly save himself - the whole point is that he has to co-operate with Furiosa (and vice versa) in order to truly make his escape work (and even then he still goes above and beyond to help retake the Citadel). You also have a character like Nux who is set up to be a disposable servant of Immortan Joe (and glad about it) but he ultimately learns that he is more than that and rejects the ideology that makes him disposable. The fact that it's the villain who treats men as disposable should underline that the film finds such an idea disagreeable (and the film doesn't have to concede anything to the patriarchy anyway).

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Yes, either the original or the remake will do. For entirely different reasons, of course.

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Yes it does. If it wants to treat it like a real problem, and not like some nebulous boogeyman, it needs to approach it realistically. It needs to acknowledge how it got here, why people choose to stick with it, and then oppose it.
If you want an example of such a movie, watch "Heart of a Dog" (1981)

And regarding Max and Nux, neither is portrayed as "good" until they start to submit. That's their entire character arc: one goes from a drifter to a white knight, and the other goes from a son who' desperate for approval to a simp who's desperate for approval. Keep in mind that every wizardchan dweller was a white knight at some point in his life.

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It got here because Immortan Joe (who is implied to have been a soldier if his collection of badges is any indication so that already invokes a patriarchal institution like the military) is able to occupy the only available water supply in the middle of a desert and can therefore set himself up as a living god whose every need and want must be met by his subjects. People choose to stick with it either out of survival (like Furiosa working her way up through the ranks just to be able to escape) or because they are honestly devoted to Joe against their own best interests because they don't know any better (like the War Boys sacrificing themselves for his battles). People ultimately oppose it because they realise that this supposedly godlike warlord really is just a broken-down old man who treats everyone else like they're beneath him and that his reign of terror needs to end. Obviously, a Mad Max movie isn't exactly going to be 100% realistic, but I don't think it has to be in order to get its point across (and a character like Nux actively working to redeem himself adds more nuance than just automatically treating every man on Joe's side as a lost cause). As for Max himself, he's just following the standard Mad Max arc where he starts the movie alone, gets roped into some wasteland conflict between a ruthless warlord and a band of underdogs, and ultimately sides with the underdogs (reluctantly/selfishly at first, then ultimately choosing to be their hero) and, once the underdogs have won, he is once again left alone to have another adventure. Road Warrior in particular makes a good point of addressing out how Max's lone wolf tendencies make him almost as uncivilised as any raider and how it's important to actually have more of a reason to stay alive than just survival.

Another overrated movie for me is A Clockwork Orange, but not sure what to see instead. City of God, or is that too different?

I'd recommend the movie If....(1968)

The question comes down to why exactly you consider a particular film overrated and why you would pick another film as an alternative (like what is the common ground between A Clockwork Orange and City of God, that they're both about violent delinquents? That's a reach that doesn't really get at how both films have different goals and approaches).

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"Paranormal Activity"(2007) is overrated see "Poltergeist" (1982 or even 2015) instead.

Agreed.

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It's less about the story and more about the mood, really. I'd rather sort City of God with Spirited Away (relaxing) than Clockwork Orange (shocking).

If you want a good Clockwork Orange supplement, try Seven and a Half (2006). It's a little cheesy but the shock value is strong, and the story makes great use of it

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Your favourite movie is overrated. Watch Cafe Noir instead.

Haha. Yes! 👍

Even in terms of mood, I'd still say City of God is much more comparable to A Clockwork Orange than it is to Spirited Away (and of all the words I would use to describe City of God, "relaxing" would definitely not be one of them).

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Whoever titled that video got it wrong, it's not "come again", it's "cum again".

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Are you two serious?

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Are you asking me if I'm serious when I say the Brazilian street-gang movie has more in common with the English street-gang movie than it does with the Japanese kids' fantasy movie with no street gangs?

It's like if I'd said "I'd rather sort Whiplash with My Neighbour Totoro (relaxing) than Fight Club (shocking)".

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Basically this...

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Boondock Saints is overrated

Hard Boiled a much better film

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See The Babysitter (2017) instead of Better Watch Out (2017).

Nice to see some love for Sorry to Bother You...not a perfect film, but deserves more attention than it gets around here.

Your wording of this post implies your personal distaste for the film rather than the film actually being overrated.

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Personal distaste is the whole reason anything gets called overrated.

I quite liked anything.

The only thing they have in common is the elevator pitch. One is about the crimes the gangs commit and how society deals with them, while the other is more about the people in the gangs. They're paced, shot, acted and written differently. Maybe spirited away was a bad choice for comparison (Life is a Miracle would've been better, but nobody's ever heard of that), but still, City of God is nothing like Clockwork Orange.


Also, good job looking at my top 10 and using that in your example.

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Isn't that the point of the thread, though? To take films that share a fundamental similarity but are executed in such distinctly different ways that you could make a good case for one being better than the other? That's why I singled out Whiplash and Fight Club - because at their most basic both films are about a disaffected young man falling under the spell of a violently principled leader, but there's still enough different about the two of them that you could argue how one makes better use of the premise than the other.

Fundamental similarity, yes, but in the intended effect, not in the story concept. It's basically "movie that tries and fails to do X vs movie that does X". You can't compare Clockwork Orange to City of God, but you do have a point with Fight Club and Whiplash. They do have a similar air of angst to them

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I'll suggest the Bourne movies over 007 movies, except for perhaps 1 or 2 early classics.

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Which type of movies count as more overrated, the blockbuster crowd pleasers, or the ones that are not as well known but have a critical following? For example, Top Gun, Dirty Dancing and Die Hard I think are overrated, but they are well known... Where as The Deer Hunter, Once Upon a Time in America, and Brazil, I also think are overrated, and they are critically acclaimed and liked in that sense, but most people I know, haven't heard of them compared to other three. So what type of movie counts as more overrated therefore?

I couldn't even get through all of Fury Road...turned it off after about 25 minutes.

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If anything Anchorman is underrated.

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Instead of one of those movies where a kid switches bodies with an adult (usually their parent)...
Watch one of those other movies where a kid switches bodies with an adult! ;)

How about instead of The Godfather, watch Once Upon A Time In America?

i remember there was a movie about that it was early 2000s movie :thinking:

To be fair, Vice Versa was actually a good one.

Basically anything where you didn't like it as much as other people did, audiences and critics alike.

Taxi Driver backlash. Never thought I'd see it.

Well...



:shifty:

I thought you liked Taxi Driver.

I do... just not as much as a "10 out of 10" film.



:o

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"Goodfellas" is overrated.. Check out "Mikey and Nicky" instead.

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Kung Fury is overrated, watch Who Killed Captain Alex instead.

Forrest Gump is a little overrated. Watch Slumdog Millionaire instead.

Goodfellas is also a little overrated and watch City Of God instead.

The Usual Suspects overrated, see No Way Out instead.

Blade Runner overrated, see Planet of the Apes instead

Life > Coming to America

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Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer is overrated, watch Urusei Yatsura: Only You instead.

Night of the Creeps (1986) is way overrated, watch Slither (2006) instead.

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Titanic overrated see A Night to remember instead

Probably the most appropriate suggestion for this thread.
(I've been saying the same myself for years!) ;)

thanks watching this tonight i love idiocracy so lets see ;)