Movies You Thought Would Suck, But Didn't... (1 Viewer)

[Steve_Ch]

Sixth Sense
Saw it before all the reviews came out and thought it was going to be another silly/stupid "scary" film, but it was fantastic.
This thread begs for a thread of "Movies you think would suck but even sucked worse than you expected" .

 

[Brian_J]

Shrek...first viewing thought it was just ok, after multiple repeat viewings I think its an all time classic.

Fight Club...'nuff said.

Matrix...ditto, I expected a typical hacker movie, whoa, was I wrong.

Muriel's Wedding...wife dragged me kicking and screaming into this one. Gotta love the Abba scene.

Shawshank Redemption...Now #1 on my all-time list.

Brian

 

[Brett_B]

The one the comes to my mind is I Am Sam.
After reading all of the negative commments throughout this forum and other review sites, I was expecting the worst. It turned out to be one of my favorites over the past year.
People can bash it all they want, but when broken down to its simplist form, it is still a movie.

 

[Ross E]

Amadeus - This one really surprised me when I saw it as a teenager. I must have been about the only person I knew my age that HAD to own this movie. I still have the VHS copy.
The Brady Bunch Movie - The best satire film I have ever seen, with end-to-end sexual inuendo. I remember rolling my eyes at the very thought of this movie. The fact that it was produced by Sherwood Schwartz, who created and produced the TV series just makes it all the more hilarious.
Galaxy Quest
The Fifth Element
Harry Potter

 

[Scott_MacD]

Titanic - had all the hallmarks of a piss poor movie, but ended up being somewhat superb. If you feel like bashing it, then bite me.
Lord of the Rings : Fellowship of the Ring (turned out to be my favourite of 2001)
The Fast and the Furious - Set pieces were superb, the cast charismatic, trailer and advertising screamed AVOID!
Evil Dead 2
Boogie Nights
Jaws 2 - How could any movie live up to a masterpiece.
Face/Off
Alien
Muriel's Wedding, indeed!

 

[Jason Borchers]

The Thirteenth Floor
This movie has one of the worst trailers ever, with Roland Emmerich's name prominently mentioned. I had absolutely no interest in it, but ended up seeing it with a friend.
I'm glad I did. It's an excellent film, and I was very happy to find the DVD for $10 at Target.

 

[Angel Pagan]

Pleasantville
Go
Raiders Of The Lost Ark - for some reason, didn't think this would be good when it came out in 81. Oh well...

 

[Ryan Satriani]

Fight Club and A.I.

 

[Jeff_Standley]

I thought that three kings was going to suck so I didnt go see it in the theater. and I rented it when it came out on DVD and loved it, then went and bought it the next day. I was not a walberg, or clooney fan at the time. but now I like them.

 

[John Thomas]

I've gotta address this:

Ryan Satriani: Are you related to Joe? I noticed him in your sig then your name...just curious.

 

[Eric T]

I'd like to add Zero Effect to the list.

 

[Justin Doring]

Beautiful Girls. I thought it was going to be a lame, male-bashing chick flick with the moronic Rosie O'Donnell. It is now one of my favorite comedies.
Zero Effect. In the early days of DVD, I picked this one off the video store shelf because virtually everything else was checked out. This little-known, offbeat gem is a masterpiece, especially for a Sherlock Holmes buff like myself.
Stir of Echoes. I thought this was going to be a lame, rushed, low-budget production capitalizing on The Sixth Sense's fame. In reality, however, it was made at the same time, and is far superior to The Sixth Sense in my opinion.
Zoolander. This looked potentially terrible, but I think it's one of the most intelligent comedies in recent years. In the vein of Austin Powers.

 

[Bruce Hedtke]

Only one comes to mind: Osmosis Jones. Looked like just another knock-off animation flick but wasn't. Quite funny and you can't help but think that there really is little communities at work in your body.
Bruce

 

[Lou Sytsma]

Moulin Rouge - I am not a movie musicals fan.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Two movies that had incredibly bad marketing. . .

Leap of Faith--ads made it look like mindless, stupid slapstick. I saw it on an airplane, and even on a 5" pan & scan screen it was one of the most intelligently written romantic comedies of recent years.

GunShy--ads made it look like a mindless, stupid Sandra Bullock vehicle. It turned out that she was only in it for about 15 minutes, but she exec produced it IIRC. A really original unusual, twisted black comedy. I decided to see it when I read in an article that the director (and star Oliver Platt) complained to Disney when he saw the ad campaign, to which the response was "shut up, kid".

Leap of Faith has since gotten some respect, but GunShy is sorta forgotten. Too bad, it deserves at least cult status.

 

[Brian Kaz]

GunShy
Forgot about that one. I was definitely expecting BLAH, but Oliver Platt as Fulvio... Some great Mob spoofing in that one.
Also, "Small Time Crooks" from Woody Allen. TONS of great one liners:
"What would you say if I told you 'you married a genius'?"
"I'd say 'You married a bigamist'."

 

[Dave_P.]

Scooby-Doo

 

[MikeAlletto]

Jurassic Park - dinosaurs? Oh god, its gonna be another lame dino movie. Oh how wrong I was.

 

[John Bryant]

The Fast and the Furious
Pitch Black
The Matrix
Fight Club
8 Days a Week
Erin Brokovich
Shrek
Rushmore

 

[Christian Behrens]

Weekend at Bernie's - I was soooo reluctant to see this one. Dragging a dead body around for more than a couple of minutes with no-one noticing? Come on!
But I was wrong, it worked!
-Christian