HEAVEN’S GATE and MANDINGO are more than just underrated. They are, to borrow from critic Robin Wood, “abused masterpieces”. In fact, these 2 films (now favourites of mine) were brought to my attention by Wood. He writes about (and “vindicates”) Heaven’s Gate in his book “Hollywood from Vietnam to Reagan…and Beyond” and Mandingo in “Sexual Politics and Narrative Film: Hollywood and Beyond”.
Overrated:
Stephen Spielberg
“Alien”
“Jaws”
“Friday the 13th” (although I still love it)
“Juno”
Underrated:
“Welcome to the Jungle” (2007)
“Turistas”
“The Funhouse”
Ok I’ll add Benjamin Button to the underrated list. I still feel as it isn’t as appreciated as well as it should. There Will Be Blood is in the overrated category. No film that started off so great fell apart as it did this one. The ending is a complete slap in the face of what was otherwise a great film.
Underrated-
Speed Racer
V for Vendetta
Sunshine (by Danny Boyle)
Blindness
Overrated-
Twilight (shoot me now)
Twilight is overrated? I think it’s nothing. It’s a movie loved only by highschool girls who find the idea of a handsome and cute vampire very sexy.
One of the most overrated films I’ve ever seen I think is Once Upon a Time in America by Sergio Leone.
Mr. King
Jerome – You must be the first person I’ve run into who shares my feeling towards the Brown Bunny. While I don’t consider it great, I certainly find it underrated and misunderstood. The ending kicked me right in the gut, but it also related in a way to a personal experience I was having at that time..