top 10 overrated "classics"
Classic feelings that are overrated? Happiness?
Citizen Kane
The Seven Samurai
Lawrence Of Arabia
2001: A Space Odyssey
Psycho
La Dolce Vita
Those are the first that came into my head. None of them are bad, but they are not the truly best represenations of great movie making as the BFI and other “institutes” would like you to believe. All the directors have made better movies than the ones i listed.
^Says you.
I wonder how much contrarianism informs lists like these. Asserting one’s individuality by rejecting consensus opinions.
Psycho?, 2001? I disagree sir. Platoon is a piece of shit. Potemkin is like pulling teeth…
Potekmin isn’t that dry. Even if you’re not a fan of silents, I’m sure you at least liked Part 3 and Part 4 of the movie.
Potemkin is like pulling teeth? Wow.
What came to mind:
- Pickpocket
- The Searchers
- Rosemary’s Baby
- Chinatown
- Psycho
- Casablanca
- Midnight Cowboy
- Unforgiven
- E.T.
- Bicycle Thieves
These threads are mainly interesting to see what awful taste people have. Blows my mind.
“at least they haven’t brought up citizen kane….yet”
Yes they did Ruby, check out Edna’s list ;P
…and Brad, c’mon, Out of Africa and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid some of the “greatest movies ever made”….give me a break :P Certain choices pretty much hit the nail in the head, like these two films.
Just to clarify, I don’t dislike any of the movies I listed. I just don’t see them as masterpieces, personally. And actually, I’d add “Butch Cassidy” to my list, too ;)
@Dimitris
Rgrimes was the only one to include actual mediocrities on his list (about half). Everyone else is pretty much listing only stone cold classics and Aaron hit the nail on the head.
^ Point taken I guess, I was just trying to see whether you were a Robert Redford-hardcore fan or something ;)
Dude, have you SEEN The Electric Horseman? Who wouldn’t be?
I can’t say I enjoyed Potemkin either. I tried to appreciate it for its historical value, but as entertainment it was a real bore.
I went to 11! My list isn’t all ‘classics’, but it is all films that many people seem to hold in higher regard than I do, whether those people be cinephiles, the Academy, film critics, whoever. These aren’t films I’m indifferent to; these are films I actively dislike for whatever reason:
Jules and Jim
The Mother and the Whore (flame away!)
The Magnificent Ambersons (flame some more!)
Chariots of Fire
The Matrix
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Dodsworth
Duck Soup
Tabu
Bride of Frankenstein
Duel in the Sun
Brian DiPalma— Scarface & The Untouchables
The Dollars Trilogy
The Searchers
The Godfather
Apocalypse Now
Citizen Kane
Casablanca
Dr Strangelove
Passion of Joan of Arc <—worst movie ever
The Big Lebowski
Mulholland Dr. <—worst movie ever
Blade Runner <—worst movie ever
Fargo
Make up your mind, Soldier!
(See it’s funny ’cause your name is SODR and that sort of reads like “Soldier” and Make up your mind, Soldier! is a cliche and you choose three movies as the worst movie ever, so it works).
—DiB
If you said:
Breathless’
The Quiet Man
Hawks and Godard films.
Psycho
The Searchers
Unforgiven
Bicycle Thieves
Duck Soup
…you are wrong.
That is all.
Flip seems to be going against the grain of this thread by actually including some bad films (Benjamin Button and Duel in the Sun.)
SODR2 – You may want to reconsider this whole movie watching thing, cause you’re doing it wrong.
How can Breathless be overrrated? It has been a huge influence on modern film (and so has Citizen Kane btw). I don’t see how The Magnificent Ambersons can be overrrated either. TMA has some of the greatest directing, camera work, long takes and acting ever in an american movie (it’s my favorite Welles). If I should mention an overrated movie, I would personally list Casablanca. It’s not bad, but it’s really nothing more than fine entertainment.
PS: I agree with Ransom Stoddard
Thank god someone said Psycho
Psycho
Birds (With two on the list, Hitchcock IS overrated to an extent IMO)
Breathless
Casablanca
2001:
127 hours (yea its not a classic, but anyone who says its a good movie is wrong… just because you can make a movie with one character doesn’t mean you should)
Big lebowski (not really funny? and kinda depressing (not in a good way))
Birth of a nation
Gone with the wind
Silence of the Lambs
It’s been a while since I saw some of these, but they all come quickly to mind:
8 1/2
Jules and Jim
M*A*S*H
Die Hard
The Empire strikes Back
Hiroshima mon amour
The Tin Drum
Big
Paris, Texas
The Searchers
BIG?!?!? I think this thread just jumped the shark. Next thing you know they’ll be telling me Forest Gump is overrated!
KingofPain would you be so kind to tell us why the f*ck you think 8 1/2 is overrated? Just wondering that’s all…
….
I find Fellini’s movies to be dull and obnoxious. Aside from a few exceptions (like Nights of Cabiria, Juliet of the Spirits). 8 1/2 is really tedious, and I find it hard to believe that as many people genuinely like it that claim to.
Matt Parks
“How about Overrated Movies That You Feel Are Classics?”
How about “classics about which your feelings are overrated”?