Most UNDERRATED Movie

[UdoKier]

I nominate:



Heaven and Earth (1993)

Oliver Stone's most overlooked and most beautiful film.

The depiction of pre-war Vietnam with Kitaro's score is enough to bring tears to your eyes.

The story is pretty good, too.

[nytemare]

1. "Amelie"

It is French, and anything that is French is automatically underrated. The art direction and story line in this movie are just awesome.

[libbygurl]

4. Funny, but "Amelie" had so much publicity and hype, and in my view

is actually immensely overrated. I was disappointed on finally seeing it.

[nytemare]

7. I suppose I didn't hear the hype

I had never heard of it, saw the box, and thought it seemed interesting.

I could be a sucker for this type of movie though, Meet Joe Black, Joy Luck Club, It's a Wonderful Life are some of my favorites.

Also, Silence of the Lambs, but that is another category all together...LOL.

[tjdee]

14. Thought I was the only DUer who liked Meet Joe Black!

I really, really liked it, from start to finish.

[nytemare]

16. I did too!

I like those life affirming movies that bring hope out of despair.

Call it a quirk of mine.

[mitchum]

20. I heard my downstair neighbor repeatedly screaming "Die! Die!"

I honestly thought that she was being attacked. When I went down to check on her, I discovered that she was infuriated with the movie and just wanted it to be over. Needless to say, she didn't care for "Meet Joe Black" :)

I've never seen it.

[Tweed]

71. Sorry you missed the beatuy in it

Perhaps you will like "A Very Long Engagement"

[hollywood926]

2. Waiting to Exhale...

OK, I am watching this on Bravo on my last night of having cable and I really love it. I've seen it before and I always forget how much I like it. Maybe it's because I am 1/32nd African-American. :-)

I just love the atmosphere of the film.

[Champ]

21. Love that movie too

Maybe because it took place in Arizona, it was a good movie. I own it and watch it every now and then.

[Gardeaux08]

25. I'm watching it, too!

I like the movie but the book was just wonderful.

[mitchum]

3. "The Idolmaker"...

Ray Sharkey, Rest In Peace

also:
"Payday" starring Rip Torn

[tuvor]

5. Bad Taste

Peter Jackson's first.

[nashville_brook]

6. Tombstone or

Vernon, FL

[Surikat]

11. The Celebration (Festen)

Danish film... dealt with child abuse and suicide... very powerful.

Donny Darko... exquisite...

Man on Fire... all about coping with PTSD... Denzel Washington at his best.

The Power of One...

A World Apart...

[xpunkisneatx]

19. Donnie Darko

That movie was fucked up. I had to watch it like 10 times to understand it, and the rabbit thingy still scares me!

[ghostsofgiants]

51. Amazing film.

Definitely an underrated classic. The directors cut is more of a clearcut sci-fi movie than a mindfuck like the original version, but still really good.

[nashville_brook]

61. donnie darko for sure! n/t

[jobycom]

8. Mulan

Watch it and see.

[autorank]

9. "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" -- Dir. Russ Meyer

[warrens]

13. A Rolls, a Rolls, a ROLLLLLLLS!

It's better than BENTLEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!

Great LA orgasm line.

[autorank]

17. Welcome to DU! You are a scholar and a cad.

[flygal]

37. I am ashamed to admit - I actually liked the first one.

so campy, loved the music, Susan Hayward was nuts!

[AngryAmish]

10. Near Dark

really cool vampire movie.

[Chovexani]

18. With Lance Hendriksen!

That movie kicked ass.

[warrens]

12. Drugstore Cowboy

Just a great film that disappeared instantly. I assumed Matt Dillon was just another pretty boy til I saw this. One of my top 5 movies. And it has Bill Burroughs in it, being awesome.

[Bad Words]

38. Agreed

Drugstore Cowboy is one of my favorites.

[autorank]

39. Change my vote: agree. A rough ride but very powerful.

[luckypunch]

15. Billy Elliott

[ghostsofgiants]

49. Definitely.

I wasn't expecting to like it at all, but my friends recommended it to me and I checked it out...I was not disappointed.

[Dukkha]

22. A.I.

An absolute Masterpiece

did mediocre at the box office now a big cult hit.

[WindRavenX]

23. ditto on that

I have no idea why so many people hated it- maybe because it spoke too much truth? :shrug:

[DeaconBlues]

27. Maybe because instead of ending the movie where it should have ended

(with the kid trapped forever under the water), Spielberg had to do his typical Spielbergian crap and tack on a sappy, horrible happy ending.

I can just picture a boardroom of morons sitting around thinking, "now, how do we appeal to the kiddies." Besides that, the picture was full of holes (a clone that survives only for one day. Huh?)

[norml]

33. The aliens finding him was great. The clone that was only good for a day...

not so much.

[bloodyjack]

36. Probably it was because Spielberg

was so brazenly trying to tug at the audience's heartstrings.

Also it was about an hour too long, iirc.

[DontBlameMe]

50. Absolutely agree.

I thought it was a tremendous film.

I loved the way it brought out the idea of "what is human". My wife and I were riveted to our seats when it ended, while everyone else quickly filed out like it was just some other movie. Very powerful, I thought.

I agree about the Speilberg thing (below), though, and thought it would have much better if Kubrik had finished it. Speilberg, however, did a passable job of atmosphere at the end. I'm thinking of the alien craft skimming over the ice to find David's body. Very 2001 or Shining with the music.

[clover]

24. "It's Pat" i'm a big fan of It (nt)

[sub.theory]

26. Baraka

Baraka by Ron Fricke is the most beautiful and moving film I've ever seen. Seems that hardly anyone has seen it, however. Alot of people I've shown it too have really liked it as well. If you haven't seen, check it out. It's probably unlike anything you've seen before.

Edit: We don't need no stinkin' grammar.

[ND_Democrat]

28. The Boondock Saints

I know it's gotten a kind of college cult following, but it's still underrated. Also in that same category are The Big Lebowski and Office Space.

[corporatemedia]

29. SHOWGIRLS - I can watch it over and over!

[imenja]

30. Snatch

One of my favorites.

[norml]

31. A I

A much under rated if not barely noticed movie. On edit... Wow! I hadn't even noticed that someone else posted A.I. first. This movie will be known as a classic.

[bluedeminredstate]

32. Cry Freedom

Denzel Washington and Kevin Kline.
Most places don't even have it for rent, but it's very moving and such a shocking depiction of the South African government. Very eye opening to say the least.

[Tweed]

72. I'll agree with that

[corporatemedia]

34. Barbarella - especially the part with John Kerry doing Jane Fonda

[WildEyedLiberal]

35. Say wha?

Sorry, I haven't seen Barbarella, so I don't get it.

[corporatemedia]

44. barbarella starred jane as an interplanetary sex kitten -

and we all know that commie kerry was doing her

[WildEyedLiberal]

80. LOL... okay

[Cyndee_Lou_Who]

40. True Romance... I love this one.

Great cast, fun for everyone - action, adventure, drama, comedy, mushy stuff.

[nashville_brook]

63. my fave tarentino! n/t

[RivetJoint]

41. Animal House

How did that movie NOT win an Academy Award for best picture???

[Crankie Avalon]

42. "The King of Comedy"

I love that movie. One of DeNiro's best performances, Sandra Berhardt and Jerry Lewis were both terrific, nice cameo by Tony Randall, and a backdrop of a New York that doesn't really exist anymore but that I still remember fondly from my childhood and teen years.

[NoSunWithoutShadow]

55. That was a Great movie. n/t

[Strawman]

66. One of my favorites.

That is a really underrated movie. Everyone in that movie is excellent. Rupert Pupkin. Every time I saw the Michael Essany show I thought of that movie. What ever happened to Michael Essany?

[magdalena]

43. Hedwig and the Angry Inch

Of course it's based off the musical, but the movie is just as brilliant. I'm always amazed at how few people have seen this film.

[vi5]

45. Say Anything!

This movie should have been Cameron Crowe's magnum opus and John Cusak and Ione Skye's starmaking turns rather than that idiotic Jerry McGuire movie with Tom Hanks and Rene Zellwegger.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

46. Titanic

I wish someone liked that masterpiece

[ghostsofgiants]

48. This time, Chavez does NOT speak the truth.

It was awful. You might like it, but seriously, it was too damn long and too damn boring.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

52. ChavezSpeakstheSarcasm

no doubt it blew!

[Left Is Write]

83. Oh, crap. Then just ignore my response below.

I done took you seriously. ;)

[Left Is Write]

82. How could that be underrated?

It made a gazillion dollars and won a gazillion Oscars. That's not quite "underrated."

[rbnyc]

47. Jason X!

Half-naked teenagers getting macheteed in space and a David Cronenberg cameo! What's not to love?

[American Tragedy]

53. Starship Troopers

Yes, I admit it. I thought it was hilarious. Paul Verhoeven had said that he was inspired by the Nazi films of his youth, so I saw it as a parody of the totalitarian propaganda I studied in my Third Reich class, including the cheesy dialogue and soap-opera performances. "Kill them! Kill them all!"

I may be one of the only people on earth who actually liked this movie, but I don't care. I have always been secure in my demented choices of entertainment.

[nashville_brook]

62. i totally agree

this movie was brilliant!

[American Tragedy]

70. Thank you!

Good to hear that somebody else got it.

The movie gives you guns and big bugs, and the advertisement campaign didn't promise much more than that. Even if you're not into the political overtones, what more could you ask for than that?

[nashville_brook]

75. loved the art direction too

the way they portrayed the propaganda aspect was worth seeing the movie alone!

[Dogmudgeon]

79. You're in good company, Civilian

I thought it was the BEST military S-F movie ever made.

The series Space: Above and Beyond, although not satirical, had a similar premise, and that, too, gets my "best" award for best military S-F series.

Starship Troopers is a masterpiece. In 30 years, it will be assigned material for cinema and social science courses.

--bkl

[procrastinator]

54. Capricorn One

[Jessica]

56. Waiting for Guffman.

[FreedomFry]

76. Yes! An absolute gem of a movie, always worth rewatching. n/t

[FreedomFry]

77. "The Quick and the Dead"

Very entertaining, beautifully directed by Sam Raimi ("A Simple Plan," "The Gift"), with a fabulous cast: Gene Hackman, Sharon Stone, Russell Crowe, Leonardo Di Caprio, a cameo by Gary Sinise ... Sort of a send-up of the spaghetti western, and great fun.

Has anyone else seen this movie? It's on cable occasionally. Worth the watch.

[mac56]

57. "My Favorite Year"

One of Peter O'Toole's best performances. Actually, just about everything about that movie is perfect.

[underpants]

58. Joe vs. the Volcano

Seriously. That is one funny movie.

"Have you thought much about luggage sir?"
"It is the central preoccupation of my life"
"May you live to be a THOUSAND years old sir"
-I can do that voice dead on.

Abe Vigoda as the Island chief is hilarious as is the worship of Sunkist.

[UdoKier]

60. I don't know if I LIKED that one.

I kinda like Hanks and Ryan back then, but have grown to dislike them since. Her cloying, cutesy performances and his one-note, "everyman" persona do little for me. And I found the film somewhat depressing, even for a black comedy.

But it sure as hell was memorable, and the visual aspect of the film was fantastic.

[Orsino]

59. Ghost Dog, Mystery Men, Dark City...

...are good 'uns.

[Richardo]

65. I agree on 'Dark City'

:thumbsup:

Mystery Men did not do much for me (even tho I am a Janeane Garofalo :loveya: freak) and I never saw Ghost Dog.

[nashville_brook]

64. OFFICE SPACE!

i can't believe no one's mentioned it yet!

[Tweed]

73. Probably because it has a huge cult following....

[Ron Green]

67. "Lone Star" by John Sayles....

It thoughtfully treats several important themes (racism, nationalism, fatherhood) and hangs together better than most of Sayles' other films. The cinematic flashbacks are cleverly done, and the quirky twist at the end is a nice touch.

[tishaLA]

74. That's UNDERrated?

Everyone pretends to love that thing. I personally think it has everything wrong with it most Sayles' films do: hyper-didacticism, acting designed to draw attention to the script and utterly lacking in naturalism, and an ending telegraphed miles in advance.

Nonetheless, my colleagues teach this to students all the time and expect them to write interesting things about it.

[Modem Butterfly]

68. The Virgin Suicides

Just an incredible movie. Even my partner, who isn't big on sad movies, was transfixed. It's absolutely hypnotic. Extremely evocative, too- my partner is the same age the younger girl would have been and he says it's absolutely spot-on for the era.

[VOX]

69. "The Hired Hand"

Directed by Peter Fonda, with an outstanding and poignant performance by Warren Oates, one of the most underrated (and underused) actors, ever. Spectacular New Mexico locales, and dreamy cinematography by Vilmos Zsigmund.

One of the simplest -- and best -- Weterns ever made.

[AlFrankenFan]

78. "Stuart Saves His Family" or "Falling from Grace" n/t

[Longgrain]

81. Doctor Zhivago....

Doctor Zhivago, filmed by David Lean...

I've met very few people who have even seen this movie...

Most who have seen it, have loved it...

Lomggrain

[strangemedicine]

84. I nominate Warren Beattie's "Reds"

Great story about John Reed and the American Socialist party.Inspiring! Wonderful cast ... beautifully filmed, and as a bonus, there are actual interviews with folks that knew John Reed ... including Henry Miller. Love this movie!

[LiviaOlivia]

85. Two Jeff Bridges films

American Heart and Cutter's Way. Both sublime. Both on DVD.

[MotownLew]

86. Captain Ron. Spinal Tap. Caddyshack. The Trinity. nt