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Ok people. I think many of you are confused by the topic. This thread is for underrated films. Let me clarify what underrated means in this context. Underrated means the film is pretty damn good, but gets a bad rap from the public, and was not accepted well by critics. This has nothing to do with how popular the film was, or how known, at all. Listing stuff like Frailty and Stir of Echoes just doesn't fit the category, at all. Frailty currently has a 76% fresh rating on RT. Clearly, it was well accepted by the critics, and, the people that did bother to see it were pleasantly surprised by the film, too. Most of the big name critics gave it positive marks, and the film is pretty well respected around the boards. NOT underrated, at all. Stir of Echoes is another film that has good marks on RT, mostly positive reviews anywhere you look, and was well received by the public when it came out. At least where I lived, people loved it, saw it multiple times, chatted about it online, etc etc. NOT underrated.
If people are confusing lack of popularity or buzz for being underrated, snap out of it! Separate issue, all together...
Also, the guy listing Unbreakable... Wake up! That move is widely heralded all over the globe, is on several MoFo's top 10 films of all time, and is clearly a stellar technical achievement, even if the material isn't your bag. It had a bit of backlash when it first hit theaters, because people were coming off The Sixth Sense and wanted more of the same, so they felt let down by the different turn Unbreakable took. After that nonsense settled down, and people watched it for what it was, many changed their minds became quite fond of the film. Sorry, that film isn't underrated either.
You want some underrated films?
Dead Man (Jarmusch, 1999) - Great surreal film. People hate it for some reason.
Demolition Man (Brambilla, 1993) - Uber silly in all the right ways. Great parody... Oh, does this film make you cringe with it's over-the-top one-liners and ridiculous premise? It's SUPPOSED to.
Mars Attacks (Burton, 1996) - This thing got killed when it was released, but, like Demolition man, I don't think people picked up on the satire until it was too late...
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“Film can't just be a long line of bliss. There's something we all like about the human struggle.” ― David Lynch