Yeah, Im not sure there has ever been such a thing as a good Steven Seagal movie.

To Scouse:

Hah- no it won't- Cinerama theatres no longer exist. The last one in existance- Omaha's Indian Hills was torn down several years ago to make way for- yes- a parking lot, despite efforts from the Omaha City Council and a group that included the likes of Ray Bradbury and Leonard Maltin to have the building declared a historical landmark.

It was in a very real sense the end of an era. The end of the time when going to the cinema was an EVENT- something you planned for, you got dressed up for, and you looked forward to because you knew you were going to an elegant location for a special occurance.

The moronic bean-counters who control the movie going experience today have no concept of providing a meaningful, special event for customers. It's simply how many ten dollar bills can they stuff into each little compartment of the multiplex in the maximum number of times per day. The actual movie is just an afterthought. This is why so many movies are pure crap. The movie industry cares little about the quality- and neither does the audience.

Haha- I agree with you, MissM. Except for maybe a couple Stallone & Arnie movies- I think Arnie actually does a decent job with comedy- like Twins or True Lies. Stallone did a credible job on Copland, and you can't deny Rocky was his magnum opus.

Peple get mad at me when they ask me- "don't you ever want to just turn off your brain and have a good time with some mindless action?" and I answer no. I have a brain, and I enjoy using it. Even when I'm watching guys with huge muscles run, punch, shoot, bleed, destroy vehicles and blow things up I want some component to engage my intelligence- not insult it.

Could not agree more. There are precious few films made that actually need to be seen on a big screen where the experience is enhanced by it, not that the screens are too big now.

There is only one independant single large screen cinema left in Liverpool, the Woolton Picture House http://www.wooltonpicturehouse.co.uk/ which really struggled to stay open until a group of cinema lovers got involved. It was here where I made a point to see Lord of the Rings films purely on the basis that they needed the biggest screen possible.

Probably the modern day equivalent to Cinerama theatres would the IMAX which has a screen about five storeys high.

Unless you are talking about something different that I am not aware of...
http://www.cinerama.com/TemplateHome.aspx?contentId=1

Seattle most definitely has a Cinerama. It *was* closed, but Paul Allen bought it and paid for it to be refurbished. It's an amazing theater. A little less so now that all these new theaters have the IMAX thing, but the screen is still an absolute behemoth....and I usually choose to see the big movies there when I can.

As for the topic of this thread:
I think it's interesting that so many of you don't consider *when these movies came out* and measure them against their contemporaries at the time. Sure, by todays standards some of them might be "overrated", but a lot of the classics are deemed as such because of what they did at the time. I'll use Star Wars as an example, because it's easy....Sci-fi was completely DEAD at that point in history. Obviously Lucas openly admits to borrowing concepts and styles from even older movies and radio serials, but the fact is it made a *huge* impact when it came out. Stuff like that, Excorist, 2001 etc may be "boring" or "cheesy" or any other adjective you want to use compared to a lot of modern day filmmaking, but they aren't overrated, imo. They deserve the "classic" status as far as I am concerned. Every bit of it.

Maybe a proper term would be something such as "popular movies that you hate".

For me, I will definitely agree with the Cannibal Holocaust mention. That movie just plain sucks. It serves it's purpose in horror history, but it's just not a good flick.

You're right- I was unaware that theatre was open.


I put Star Wars on my list and I meant it-based on any scale. I saw Star Wars the week it was released and I hated it. As I mentioned in another post in this thread- even when I'm watching escapist entertainment I want my mind engaged. Star Wars was such a muddled mess, full of plot holes and IMO set sci-fi cinema back 30 years. I want intelligent sci-fi dammit!

I couldn't disagree with you more about the state of science fiction films in the 70s. Some of the science fiction films that came out in the 70s which I consider far, far better movies than Star Wars:

Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind
THX 1138
A Boy and His Dog
The Andromeda Strain
A Clockwork Orange
Fantastic Planet
The Man Who Fell to Earth
Silent Running
Sluaghterhouse Five
Soylent Green


"Completely DEAD?" Well, if by completely dead you mean "experiencing a rennaisance by producing science fiction films of a higher quality and greater depth of storyline and width of subject and theme than ever before" you may be right.

Love those but I've got a soft spot for the trashier ones. Black Christmas and Halloween are almost Italian in style not quite Giallo but pretty close.
You should check out Bay of Blood if you haven't already sounds like you'd dig it.

Out For Justice is brilliant.

It might no be Citizen Kane but OUT FOR JUSTICE is an amazingly entertaining film. William Forsythe stills the show. Plus Seagal gets to fight Dan Inosanto..

The first time i saw this was the opening week in the cinema with a 6 pack of cheap cider.

You don't have to "turn off your brain" to appreciate action flicks, it's simply a different level of enjoyment. Adrenaline pumping films depicting impossible stunts performed among explosions and gunfire are great and serve their purpose well. Sure, you can over analyze them, but when you get right down to it they provide a similar thrill to watching fireworks. Loud noises and choreographed explosions can appeal to people with or without brains.

Anyway, my "number one" over rated film (the one that causes people to gawk at me with amazement when I tell them I don't like it) is American Beauty.

I would...but god damn do I love my avatar...


And yes, Christian Bale is definitely overrated not just as Batman, but as an actor. He was good in American Psycho, but when I look at him I just feel...cold. There's nothing to like about him...

Napoleon Dynamite

yeah urge...I gave it another chance.

a couple of smiles maybe...but that's about it.

I'll hold my hands up and admit that my dismissal of Seagal films is based upon seeing maybe three films, Ive since avoided them like the plague. Out For Justice I dont recognize so I make this pledge to see it should it be shown on one of the numerous cable channels.

I liked all of those movies a lot (except for A Boy and his Dog, which I have never seen), but I might have used the wrong words. By "completely dead", I guess I mean the kind of sci-fi that Star Wars is...i.e. Space/Fantasy opera. Not necessarily "all science fiction", so my mistake for that.

I, obviously, disagree but I am also a fan of Star Wars. I wasn't even alive when the first movie came out, but I was 4 when Return of the Jedi came out and it was a completely magical experience. Did I "use my brain", of course not...I was fucking 4 years old, hahaha. It was exactly the magical space universe I needed it to be and I've been a fan ever since. Obviously, everyone's tastes are different, but Star wars *for better or worse* has a style to it like no other series of movies and that style and universe deserves what it's earned....in my opinion of course.

But that's Star Wars for ya, right? Lots of people hate it...this is no new argument. :D

The only point I was trying to make was that *most* of the time a "classic" is a classic for a reason. It could be it was doing something different at the time it came out, it could be because it was actually a stellar experience, it could be any number of things, but most of the time they earned being called a classic. I don't mean all classic movies are GOOD, I just mean they deserve it. For example, Casablanca is a classic, but I would never in a million years enjoy that movie. It's just not for me. But I agree it deserves to be called a classic and it's not "overrated", I am sure.

His first 5 films were enjoyable trash - OUT FOR JUSTICE stands out a mile - its megaviolent and has such hilarious dialogue. MARKED FOR DEATH is another fave of mine too - alot of ppl like UNDER SEIGE too (me not so much) - pretty much everything after that is shite. A good guide is if he kicks someone in the film then its crap :-)

One thing that can be said for him is that he made a pretty much useless martial art (Akido) and make it loo very effective on film..

I'm not much of a Seagal fan at all but I LOVE Marked for Death for some inexplicable reason. :p I do also like Out for Justice and Under Siege.


Oh and two other movies that so many other people seem to like that I don't care for....
High Tension
Saw

I find both of the endings more funny than anything. High Tension had me until the end (though I had kind of guessed where they were heading with it). For me, it was more disappointing then just about any movie I have seen. Saw I found boring or just kind of silly throughout (Cary Elwes was annoying as hell).

Bah- if you can't enjoy Casablanca you deserve Star Wars!







That was a joke. :o

Hahaha. ;)

Susperia. I've seen it a few times, and really tried to enjoy it, but I can't. Totally overrated.

Suspiria is a work of art. One of the most visually stunning horror films ever produced. Along with Eyes Without a Face. Every frame is poetic.

For me, Halloween is the most over-rated horror film. The only John Carpenter film that I saw merit in, was The Thing. I think as a director himself, he is over-rated. Hate me, I know threats will be flooding in. ;-p

The Dark Knight. Ugh, can we stop talking about that MOVIE already? A copy-and-paste of classic crime dramas, acted out by a raspy-voiced man in a bat suit. Whoop-dee-doo.

Jaws.

Loathed every minute of it. I'm not usually a nature-loving son of a bitch, but the entire time I kept saying; Wow, this film shows everything that is wrong with humanity (and everything that is wrong with film, considering it redefined film-making upon release... for the worse. Popcorn and dynamite. Yuck.)

And really... an exploding shark? Ugh. Makes me sick.

Obviously merely my opinion...but I could see someone seeing it as overrated if they just went into it watching it as a slasher flick.

Ya gotta allow yourself to get a little bit "artsy" with that one to truly enjoy it...you gotta look beyond the veil and pay attention to the camera work, the colors of the lighting, the style, everything.

Also...do not watch in a group with a bunch of friends. People talking and rolling their eyes will ruin it for sure.

Just my 2 cents.

Hard to Kill is another good Seagal flick

Yeh it was all downhill after Under Siege. Once he stopped really fucking people up breaking bones n' shit his films just become pretty dull at were just like 99% of action flicks. The "megaviolence" you spoke of is what really made me a fan of his films.

The Glimmer Man wasn't to bad and was probably the last decent flick he did.

I still watch his films and get a kick outta them but usually because of the unintentional laughs they bring.

What exactly propels a flick into the "overrated" radar actually?

I mean, High Tension has a really cock-eyed and ridiculous climax (or anti-climax, whichever you prefer), but still people rate it pretty highly as a "more than decent" horror flick of recent times.

Do you take the overall movie into this purview, or just aspects of it - like
A) a very sore anti-climactic ending,
B) story and plotline,
C) cheese factor,
D) repeat viewing value...?

Is there a line which you have drawn somewhere for your decision?

(Still cannot see how some of you didnt dig Jaws at all...)

I understand Argento's style of filming, and what he was trying to do. I saw what he was trying to do with the lighting and such, but a horror movie is meant to be scary. It wasn't. As a piece of art, it was pretentious and just didn't cut it.

Slasher flicks are fun, but believe me, I do have some taste. Suspiria fails and is extremely overrated.

hahaha well said!

https://www.ezydvd.com.au/g/i/p/230880.jpg

Curtis is about 100 times more of a bad ass than Ahnold anyway.

Curious Neverending - Did you see Danny Boyle's film "Sunshine" with Cillian Murphy that came out a couple of years ago? If so, what did you think of it as a Sci-Fi flick?

I have not seen it.

I don't think Scream is half as smart or authentic as critics thought it was. There is much better metahorror than scream. Craven shouldn't have been treated like he was reinventing the wheel by using metafiction. Metafiction's been around since Cervantes.

That's too bad, it's fucking brilliantly done. I highly recommend it, if you enjoy a damned good Science Fiction film.

One from recent memory would be Hatchet, which I though was pretty fucking awful.

Totally agree. That film just didn't cut it after all the hype around it.

Most popular movies are overrated. Think of the number of movies which blew you away when you watched them as a kid, and when you re-watched them years later as a grown-up they disappointed or didn't leave much of an impression. The movies which really hold up to repeated viewings are the ones who escape the "overrated" radars.

I find most movies in general that have come out in the past few years over rated, to the point where I barely go to the cinema anymore. The Dark Knight was good until all of the fan girls started running around dressed up as the joker and no one could stop talking about the damn movie. At that point whenever someone asks if I want to watch it I run away screaming. I loved Diary of the Dead but everyone else I know that actually saw it hated it.

I hated, HATED the Lord of the Rings movies. They were boring. And long. Which made them even more boring.

I'm in the same boat with you on that one. I loved it but most people seem to hate it and pick holes in it... kinda like Mother Of Tears.

I loved both Hatchet and Diary of the Dead, but agree, no one else seemed to enjoy either of them :^/

I quite enjoyed Hatchet, didnt try to be anything other than tongue-in-cheek and over the top. Was never really aware of hype surrounding it though because its perfectly watchable but nothing special.

And it starred Kane Hodder, which added to the campiness of the flick.

Great thread, I just read every post.

Neverending - I think I agree with everything you said, you really hit the nail on the head with all your comments, especially about 2001. I however have enjoyed 2001 on the small screen, but I think that's because I really enjoy science fiction, that and horror is all that I read.

I no longer like Star Wars. I think it's overrated crap. I think Lucas sucks donkey balls and is responsible for destroying film. He was the first to do action figures, posters, burger king cups, all that useless movie tie in crap. all to make money, the movie is an afterthought. When I was a kid, I was a fanboy like millions of others, but eventually, the Lord of the Rings movies came out. If you don't like those movies, then they just aren't you're thing. If they're slow to you, you probably have never read the books. For me I read the books, then the movies came out and I was engrossed. However, I'm kind of an oddball because I also read the Silmarillion and loved it - most people, even those who loved the main 3 LOTR books had to plod through the Silmarillion.

I don't know how Steven Segal movies can be considered over-rated because they all sucked and were never good. Don't get me wrong, if Under Siege is on I have to watch it, but it is crap.

Someone also said Halloween was overratted. I actually agree. I know, sacrilige, and it is not a bad movie, and yes I understand how and why it is a classic, but to me it is overrated.

I love Suspiria. That one I can't ever see how it could be overrated.

Scream - yes, overrated, and annoying.

EDIT: Two things I forgot: I will still watch Star Wars, can't help it. The Friday the 13th series is also overrated I would agree. Good 1st movie, but not great, the rest of the series, well I managed to see them all, but 'meh.'

I've learned to love Steven Seagal movies. You just have to except the movies for what they are, and then have fun with them. The next time you invite a couple of buddies over throw in any Seagal movie, and everytime Steve breaks an arm, snaps a neck, or permanatley takes another character out in a high speed kung fu spectacle you have to yell out "Man down!" and everyone has to drink. It's awesome, believe me.

My wife thinks almost every movie I like is overrated, I started to type a list here but it was going to get long- real long. She also points out, it's hard to say which movies are overrated, we are part of a small group in our town who love our kind of films, there's not alot of 'rating' going on here. I have to drive 45 minutes to see most horror movies in theater so there's not alot of talk about scary movies here.

If a movie is not over hyped to some degree, then it's not advertising hard enough.

That "mooing" sound you hear is coming from the many sacred cows that have been kicked and slapped in this thread.