I saw Shawshank on VHS when it first came out, knew absolutely nothing about it, and loved every second of it. It's popularity and subsequent backlash can't change what I thought of it the first time I saw it, and I think many people felt that way at that time.
@Bedsaddick - how come wth Shutter Island? I loved the final line, it made the movie for me.
Not a problem, just don't rate them as top ten films of all time as they are often voted. And I love game of thrones.
Widely considered a masterpiece by old hippies and fantasy genre freaks : - ) It is nonsense. Even the lion, the witch and wardrobe and harry potter make more sense.
And they are very derivative of Norse myths and legends as Tolkien was a professor of medieval studies or something.
What doesn't make sense about a group of short, hairy footed people who live in beautiful countryside and eat and drink all day everyday?
Aah, I see you've had the honour of meeting Mrs cafcfan then?
I saw Shawshank on VHS when it first came out, knew absolutely nothing about it, and loved every second of it. It's popularity and subsequent backlash can't change what I thought of it the first time I saw it, and I think many people felt that way at that time.
@Bedsaddick - how come wth Shutter Island? I loved the final line, it made the movie for me.
I suppose the main gripe I have with it is that it doesn't feel like a Martin Scorsese film. I love Scorsese but this felt like someone else has directed it.
Pulp Fiction. Tarantino at his pointless, self-indulgent worst. None of it matters or means anything, it's like a sketch show
...so you went into a film called "pulp fiction" and expected anything different?
It's like coming out of "snakes on a plane" and complaining it had too many scenes on a plane where there were snakes.
I got exactly what I expected; some nonsense mess. This thread is about overrated films, and Pulp Fiction is king of that; it's number 1 on Reddit's top 250 films, number 7 on imdb's top 250 etc and people describe it as one of the best films of all time. It's not even good pulp fiction.
Well said...I saw it at the cinema and by half way through half the audience had walked out...Me and the Mrs stayed as we were paying a babysitter, otherwise we would have done. When I asked the usherettes about it when we left she said that the same had been happening since it opened its screening.
Agree with you, Chips. Its the only film I can remember that I walked out of. I couldn't understand half the dialogue anyway, and realised I didn't want to.
Crikey be careful its the first time we have agreed on anything
Second time actually Chips, you were kind enough to rate my rant about the FAPL and the money, the other week.
I'll chuck in a gratuitous "Roland Out" so you can like this too :-)
Another vote for the Tolkein stuff - films and books. I can take magic and fantasy stuff, I'm a big Michael Moorcock fan for example, but LoTR is so juvenile. You've got your goodies in handsome, noble or cute varieties. And you've got your baddies - you can tell they are bad because they are very ugly and have no characteristic other than being really, really bad. Where is the nuance? Where is the dramatic tension? Where, come to that, is the plot? Why are highly intelligent people apparently satisfied with this? Grrr.
Another vote for the Tolkein stuff - films and books. I can take magic and fantasy stuff, I'm a big Michael Moorcock fan for example, but LoTR is so juvenile. You've got your goodies in handsome, noble or cute varieties. And you've got your baddies - you can tell they are bad because they are very ugly and have no characteristic other than being really, really bad. Where is the nuance? Where is the dramatic tension? Where, come to that, is the plot? Why are highly intelligent people apparently satisfied with this? Grrr.
Spot on.
And it not just that some people like them and others don't that makes them over rated but that they are voted in the top ten films of ALL TIME.
Frozen. My daughter convinced me that it was a life changingly profound film. I thought it was childish, one dimensional, pseudo feminist rubbish. After many hours of discussion and more than a few tears my 4 year old saw the error of her ways.
Frozen. My daughter convinced me that it was a life changingly profound film. I thought it was childish, one dimensional, pseudo feminist rubbish. After many hours of discussion and more than a few tears my 4 year old saw the error of her ways.
Frozen. My daughter convinced me that it was a life changingly profound film. I thought it was childish, one dimensional, pseudo feminist rubbish. After many hours of discussion and more than a few tears my 4 year old saw the error of her ways.
Another vote for the Tolkein stuff - films and books. I can take magic and fantasy stuff, I'm a big Michael Moorcock fan for example, but LoTR is so juvenile. You've got your goodies in handsome, noble or cute varieties. And you've got your baddies - you can tell they are bad because they are very ugly and have no characteristic other than being really, really bad. Where is the nuance? Where is the dramatic tension? Where, come to that, is the plot? Why are highly intelligent people apparently satisfied with this? Grrr.
Spot on.
And it not just that some people like them and others don't that makes them over rated but that they are voted in the top ten films of ALL TIME.
Spot on? @24 Red criticised the plot. And the fact that the baddies are bad. That's an issue of the Tolkien books FFS. Not the films. Now, if someone encountered the films without being a fan of the book, then I can understand a reaction like 24Red's . But it's not the films' fault.
I made sure to watch all three LoTR in the cinema, and I thought that visually they were the most staggering films I had ever seen. Some of the battle scenes were simply awesome.
That said, I have not bothered with The Hobbit, as they are clearly cynical money grabbers. The Hobbit book is a slim volume, far smaller than any one of the three LoTR trilogies. Making multiple films out of that is taking the piss.
Another vote for the Tolkein stuff - films and books. I can take magic and fantasy stuff, I'm a big Michael Moorcock fan for example, but LoTR is so juvenile. You've got your goodies in handsome, noble or cute varieties. And you've got your baddies - you can tell they are bad because they are very ugly and have no characteristic other than being really, really bad. Where is the nuance? Where is the dramatic tension? Where, come to that, is the plot? Why are highly intelligent people apparently satisfied with this? Grrr.
Lord of the rings was written under the shadow of the Second World War, where there clearly was a good an evil, possibly for the first and last time in history. In that context, it's easy to see why it's so black and white. There's also people that switch sides, sometimes multiple times, smegol and Saruman are two. The Gandalf the white portrayal is a bit darker in the books, he's said to be basically a reincarnation of Saruman but Gandalf... if that makes sense. But it is a valid criticism of the books, which GRR Martin has said is the reason why in the song of ice and fire books there's no one that's clearly good and clearly evil.
The battle of pellinor fields is one of the best written battles in epic fantasy and is an absolute page turner.
It's also worth noting, especially the hobbit, are children's/young adults books.
Another vote for the Tolkein stuff - films and books. I can take magic and fantasy stuff, I'm a big Michael Moorcock fan for example, but LoTR is so juvenile. You've got your goodies in handsome, noble or cute varieties. And you've got your baddies - you can tell they are bad because they are very ugly and have no characteristic other than being really, really bad. Where is the nuance? Where is the dramatic tension? Where, come to that, is the plot? Why are highly intelligent people apparently satisfied with this? Grrr.
Spot on.
And it not just that some people like them and others don't that makes them over rated but that they are voted in the top ten films of ALL TIME.
Spot on? @24 Red criticised the plot. And the fact that the baddies are bad. That's an issue of the Tolkien books FFS. Not the films. Now, if someone encountered the films without being a fan of the book, then I can understand a reaction like 24Red's . But it's not the films' fault.
I made sure to watch all three LoTR in the cinema, and I thought that visually they were the most staggering films I had ever seen. Some of the battle scenes were simply awesome.
That said, I have not bothered with The Hobbit, as they are clearly cynical money grabbers. The Hobbit book is a slim volume, far smaller than any one of the three LoTR trilogies. Making multiple films out of that is taking the piss.
Except they are films of the books so share them same flaws.
Comments
Clock work orange
My favourite film ever.
@Bedsaddick - how come wth Shutter Island? I loved the final line, it made the movie for me.
HAL does my nut in, call me a philistine.
I'd rather watch Barry Lyndon twice back to back, followed by the Starwars prequals (@extended versions)
Overrated doesn't mean 'popular or classic films that I personally don't like'.
I'll chuck in a gratuitous "Roland Out" so you can like this too :-)
And it not just that some people like them and others don't that makes them over rated but that they are voted in the top ten films of ALL TIME.
I despise what Cameron did with his Titanic story.
Not sure Anchorman deserves to be on this list. It's a marmite film which splits an audience. Does anyone think it's a classic?
Pulp Fiction is a brilliant film.
I made sure to watch all three LoTR in the cinema, and I thought that visually they were the most staggering films I had ever seen. Some of the battle scenes were simply awesome.
That said, I have not bothered with The Hobbit, as they are clearly cynical money grabbers. The Hobbit book is a slim volume, far smaller than any one of the three LoTR trilogies. Making multiple films out of that is taking the piss.
The battle of pellinor fields is one of the best written battles in epic fantasy and is an absolute page turner.
It's also worth noting, especially the hobbit, are children's/young adults books.