Underrated movies

[Balt]

Joe Versus the Volcano

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGLKnAvzlg4 - Great scene

 

[KeithTalent]

Ok I have added most of these except for T3 and Constantine because I find those hard to classify as underrated considering how much money they raked in ($433 and $235 million worldwide respectively). The IMDB rankings are slightly lower than some more popular movies, but still...

The Machinist will most likely get re-classified once I get around to altering the hierarchy a bit, which will hopefully be this weekend.

Thanks for all of the suggestions and if you have any more, keep them coming! I'm always looking for movies to watch.

KT

 

[lokiju]

Big Fish
Eternal Sunshine for the Spotless Mind

Both are kind of quirky movies but great stories IMO.

Seems most can't get past the quirkiness though.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: lokiju
Big Fish
Eternal Sunshine for the Spotless Mind

Both are kind of quirky movies but great stories IMO.

Seems most can't get past the quirkiness though.

I quite enjoyed Big Fish, I thought the story was very nice and relatively esoteric which differentiated it from most of the movies out there, but also hurt its box office. It recieved quite a bit of acclaim though, so I'm not sure I could classify it as underrated.

Eternal Sunshine is a freaking brilliant movie; I was absolutely blown away when I saw it. Added.

KT

 

[KeithTalent]

I added The Jacket with Adrien Brody and Keira Knightley. I thought this movie was very well done and the acting was great, but it made very little noise when it came out from what I remember.

KT

 

[Aikouka]

Originally posted by: Jeff7
It was reported to have had a budget of $15 - $20 million, depending on the source. Hoodwinked 2 should have a budget twice that.
Shrek had a budget of $60 million.

Total gross: $109.5 million

It's profitable, so they might as well go for a second one.

I didn't think Hoodwinked had poor animation.... Hoodwinked had a poor story. Another $40 million probably won't fix that.

Originally posted by: Superrock
Employee of the Month- I liked this movie and I think it's enjoyable if you want to see the caricatures of the people who work in retail.

Yeah, I thought this was kind of an amusing movie, but damn Jess has some huge ears :Q!

Originally posted by: Superrock
Battle Royale- This movie doesn't make a lot of sense but it's enjoyable just to see the players in action.

I really don't think this movie is underrated, just not well known in America.

Originally posted by: pyonir
Thank You For Smoking

Great movie... when it was recommended to me, I thought it'd be some sort of factual thing on smoking or whatever. Turns out it's a comedy!

Originally posted by: KeithTalent
Hmm, good to know. I was worried about this one because I enjoyed the first movie so much.

I love a good zombie movie!!

KT

You may not like this one as much. The first was a survival movie where the second is an action movie. The second also had an annoying Blair Witch-esque scene and some "why the hell did you do that?" situations. I still liked it though. I :heart: the theme Leaving London.

Originally posted by: jdini76
Demolition Man

I think that movie made more of a political point than most political dramas.

An awesome movie... and I still don't know how to use the seashells!

Originally posted by: KeithTalent
I just watched Clerks 2 again last night and we laughed our asses off, so I've decided to add it to this list.

Was this movie underrated?

Yeah after reading the entire thread, this thread should be renamed to, "Movies You Should See!" since half the movies aren't underrated.

Although I've thought some of the National Lampoon movies were underrated and kind of thrown in with the tons of garbage NL movies. I thought National Lampoon's Black Ball was a decent flick and I believe a direct to video release. The latter American Pie movies were also direct to video but I'm not sure that they're underrated....

 

[Icepick]

Can someone please explain to me why Battlefield Earth is on this list? Maybe I just don't get the movie but, I remember it being pretty awful at the time.

Edit: This is not a thread crap. Just looking for enlightenment.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: Aikouka

Originally posted by: KeithTalent
I just watched Clerks 2 again last night and we laughed our asses off, so I've decided to add it to this list.

Was this movie underrated?

Yeah after reading the entire thread, this thread should be renamed to, "Movies You Should See!" since half the movies aren't underrated.

I thought it was underrated because everyone I know said it was crap, but I found it to be very entertaining.

It all depends on your definition of underrated. Look at Battle Royale for example; it may be popular in other countries, but in North America it is relatively unknown and, therefore underrated in my opinion. As I said a little earlier, I will be breaking things out a little more to try and differentiate between the truly underrated movies and the movies people just need to see because they may not have heard of them, though techinically they are not underrated.

KT

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: Icepick
Can someone please explain to me why Battlefield Earth is on this list? Maybe I just don't get the movie but, I remember it being pretty awful at the time.

Edit: This is not a thread crap. Just looking for enlightenment.

This is what Sandorski wrote:

One movie that wasn't mentioned, probably because it is Hated by all, is Battlefield Earth. Ya, it was over hyped and the marketing gave a completely wrong impression of the movie(that of being huge battles and whatnot), by itself it is a decent movie. I haven't read the book either, so maybe the movie has nothing to do with the story in the book and if it's not, then I can understand why people hate the movie. I just think that one needs to forget all the stuff leading up to the movie and view it for what it is rather than what one expects it to be.

I thought it was a good explanation, so I added it. I have not seen it myself though.

KT

 

[Aikouka]

Originally posted by: KeithTalent
I thought it was underrated because everyone I know said it was crap, but I found it to be very entertaining.

The people you spoke to were either LOTR fans or disliked the differences between Clerks 1 (which I didn't find funny oddly enough) and Clerks 2 (which I did find funny).

Originally posted by: KeithTalent
Look at Battle Royale for example; it may be popular in other countries, but in North America it is relatively unknown and, therefore underrated in my opinion.

I think the movie would be quite popular if it became "Quentin Tarantino presents The Battle Royale" as you know the foreign films become popular if their style (such as the Wu Shu movies) is the "in thing." Also, I think BR would have a harder time because it is violence among kids and that's a big "no no" in today's post Columbine/VT/whatever society. I.e. ... we're too scared to promote it. Damn pussies.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: Aikouka

Originally posted by: KeithTalent
I thought it was underrated because everyone I know said it was crap, but I found it to be very entertaining.

The people you spoke to were either LOTR fans or disliked the differences between Clerks 1 (which I didn't find funny oddly enough) and Clerks 2 (which I did find funny).

Originally posted by: KeithTalent
Look at Battle Royale for example; it may be popular in other countries, but in North America it is relatively unknown and, therefore underrated in my opinion.

I think the movie would be quite popular if it became "Quentin Tarantino presents The Battle Royale" as you know the foreign films become popular if their style (such as the Wu Shu movies) is the "in thing." Also, I think BR would have a harder time because it is violence among kids and that's a big "no no" in today's post Columbine/VT/whatever society. I.e. ... we're too scared to promote it. Damn pussies.

I loved the original Clerks a lot, but I also liked the second one, but I think I am an anomaly, because you are right, most people I've talked to liked one or the other, not both.

I agree with you on BR, but that does not change the fact that what you stated never happened, so it is still underrated. I actually would be quite interested to see someone remake it, though I'm sure they would totally botch it as is typically the case.

KT

 

[Icepick]

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: Icepick
Can someone please explain to me why Battlefield Earth is on this list? Maybe I just don't get the movie but, I remember it being pretty awful at the time.

Edit: This is not a thread crap. Just looking for enlightenment.

This is what Sandorski wrote:

One movie that wasn't mentioned, probably because it is Hated by all, is Battlefield Earth. Ya, it was over hyped and the marketing gave a completely wrong impression of the movie(that of being huge battles and whatnot), by itself it is a decent movie. I haven't read the book either, so maybe the movie has nothing to do with the story in the book and if it's not, then I can understand why people hate the movie. I just think that one needs to forget all the stuff leading up to the movie and view it for what it is rather than what one expects it to be.

I thought it was a good explanation, so I added it. I have not seen it myself though.

KT

Thanks Keith!

 

[KeithTalent]

Added The Fisher King. Another great Gilliam effort, with solid performances from both Jeff Bridges (as always) and Robin Williams, along with many others. A lot of people overlook this film, but I think it is very engaging and worth a viewing or two (I enjoyed it even more the second time I saw it).

KT

 

[interchange]

I was JUST going to say Gattaca

 

[K1052]

Man on Fire

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: K1052
Man on Fire

Nice, I actually quite ejoyed that movie. It was an unexpected surprise. Added.

KT

 

[mugs]

I wouldn't call it underrated per se, but it's a lesser known film -
Rabbit-Proof Fence http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0252444/

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: mugs
I wouldn't call it underrated per se, but it's a lesser known film -
Rabbit-Proof Fence http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0252444/

Good movie, very thought-provoking (I actually hate that word, but sometimes it's useful)

KT

 

[Arkaign]

Ooo. Hong Kong over the top greatness that is 'Hard Boiled'.

Cop tells police chief "You full of crap! There's the john! Go and use it!"

ROFLCOPTER!

And the roughly 5000 people that get shot or blown to bits.

and the little origami cranes that the one hitman agent makes for his victims.

 

[BRObedoza]

Lady Snowblood

http://imdb.com/title/tt0158714/

probably the best movie i've seen in a while. Kill Bill did a really good job paying homage to this movie.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: Arkaign
Ooo. Hong Kong over the top greatness that is 'Hard Boiled'.

Cop tells police chief "You full of crap! There's the john! Go and use it!"

ROFLCOPTER!

And the roughly 5000 people that get shot or blown to bits.

and the little origami cranes that the one hitman agent makes for his victims.

Great movie. Added.

Originally posted by: sleepmachine
Lady Snowblood

http://imdb.com/title/tt0158714/

probably the best movie i've seen in a while. Kill Bill did a really good job paying homage to this movie.

I'll have to see this. I was not aware of it, but it sounds great! Added and thanks.

KT

 

[anxi80]

i know its been mentioned a few times already but i wanted to say that i truly believe that gattaca does not get the respect it deserves. amazing cinematography, great score, an interesting story and is getting a special edition release in march. yet it did poorly at the box office and has flown under the radar for far too long.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: anxi80
i know its been mentioned a few times already but i wanted to say that i truly believe that gattaca does not get the respect it deserves. amazing cinematography, great score, an interesting story and is getting a special edition release in march. yet it did poorly at the box office and has flown under the radar for far too long.

I completely agree. I had heard nothing about this movie when we decided to rent it one night (mainly because I dig Uma) and we were quite blown away by it; totally unexpected.

KT

 

[Juno]

no love for antitrust or requiem for a dream?

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: Juno
no love for antitrust or requiem for a dream?

I was listening to the Requiem soundtrack just yesterday; great movie and great music.

I thought Antitrust was just ok, but I've never been a big Ryan Phillippe fan, his acting always seems a little forced or stunted.

I'll add both though.

I am also adding Mute Witness which I found to be a great suspense/thriller flick a la Hitchcock, though of course, not to his caliber of filmmaking.

KT