What films do you think are underrated? (1 Viewer)

[Colin Jacobson]

In terms of Pixar movies, Cars did pretty well at the box office and it made a huge amount of money in merchandising (I think more than a billion dollars now) but when people discuss Pixar movies, it's frequently cited as one of their weakest efforts and I think it's one of their best.

Yup, that's why it's in the "underrated" category. It made a ton of money and kids loved it, but adults thought it wasn't very good.


I loved it in 2006 and still like it, though not as much...

 

[Walter Kittel]

Cars was entertaining; but (for whatever reason) I always had an issue with anthropomorphizing automobiles, which impacted my enjoyment of the film. (They didn't have hands so how could they do stuff?)


On the other hand I was fine, once I got over my initial squeamishness, with rats in a kitchen (Ratatouille remains one of my favorite Pixar features). No accounting for taste.


I would agree with the inclusion of John Sayles' magnificent Lone Star. Great choice. Critically it was well received but it isn't one of those films that seems to have garnered wide spread recognition.


- Walter.

 

[steve jaros]

Two that stand out from the last ten years:


Apocalypto: The best movie of 2006. Stunningly shot and acted, a tour de force. Sadly, was released when Gibson was at the peak of his anti-semitic craziness.


Mission Impossible 3: Very clever action flick, slickly shot and fun start to finish. Sadly, was released when Cruise was being pilloried for his Scientology wackiness.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Apocalypto might be the best movie of the last ten years, period.


IIRC, Cars merchandise has earned the Mouse several billion dollars. It hit the billion mark within a couple of years of the movie's release, and stores are still chock-full of it.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Another film that I think is vastly underrated and not really well known is Aram Avakian's End of the Road:

Featuring dynamite performances from Stacy Keach (who really did some great work in the 1970s and is maybe that decade's most underrated actor) and James Earl Jones with script assistance from Terry Southern and based on John Barth's novel, this is a film that is pretty unique and one you really need to experience. The DVD of this film is a winner and I think mainly got a release because Steven Soderbergh (a huge fan of this film and you can see it was an obvious influence on his work) pushed for one (and he provides another of his excellent commentary tracks on the disc) but I'd love to see this film make it to Blu-ray.


If you have never seen it please check this one out if you get a chance...it's a bit downbeat at times and it is definitely strange and may haunt you forever after you have seen it but if you are up for something different then dive right in to this one.


Really one I think Criterion should handle because this is a film that I think influenced many filmmakers but probably is virtually unknown to many people.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I really won't hide the fact that I feel that the 1970s was probably the best decade in the history of film. Somebody posted a topic about picking the 10 films of the 1970s that you would like to see on Blu-ray and really this is impossible for me because I think the list of excellent films from that decade is so deep and wide that 10 just won't cut it.


In the spirit of End of the Road, and a film that would make a great "crazy psychiatrist" double feature with Road, I would also like to recommend Moses Ginsberg's Coming Apart. A truly wacky ride with none other than Rip Torn playing the lunatic shrink and matching him in unleashed bravado Sally Kirkland in a performance that pretty much leaves you thinking that this was not acting it was a honest to goodness breakdown caught on film. Obviously these are odd films that may be too much for some folks but if like me, you like good acting and something not shown to test audiences to homogenize it into something so bland as to be utterly forgettable 5 minutes after you walk away from it...well...then these are pictures you need to see.


Rip Torn is another guy that was practicing some form of acting starting around 1969 with this film and into the 1970s that I think requires it's own title. In fact his performance in Coming Apart is so "real' you will think he never actually recovered from it if you watch him in the films he did after this.


Just watch Norman Mailer's Maidstone (1970) to see Torn give some sort of performance that goes beyond method into I guess what you might call "gonzo" acting where he appears to really try to bash Mailer in the head with a hammer which results in a brawl where Mailer actually bites off a piece of Rip's ear. Torn just keeps running with it the whole time though and seems to have really scared the living shit out of Mailer, quite a trick as Mailer was not a guy you would easily frighten. Now that's acting!


Kino did release a very nice DVD of the film that I think has gone out of print so maybe they could bring it back on a Blu-ray.

 

[Walter Kittel]

I really won't hide the fact that I feel that the 1970s was probably the best decade in the history of film.

Certainly my favorite decade.


- Walter.

 

[trajan]

1492----DOCTOR DOLITTLE----ROCK OF AGES

 

[Keith Cobby]

Clearly the films I like which haven't been released on blu-ray. Let me list a few:


High Society

Slightly Scarlet

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

The Narrow Margin


Just a few selections from my wish list for 2014, none of which have been released/announced as yet.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Lone Star is a great flick but I think a lot of people have forgotten it on purpose 'cause the ending is kinda icky.


People are naming too many movies here that are not super-popular but I wouldn't call them underrated. (I mean, Lone Star has a 93% rating on the Tomatometer.) I'm gonna throw Pluto Nash, an honest-to-goodness science fiction film (at 5%! ), out there.

I agree, in my opinion, far too many films being named are well thought of by critics and the general public alike. Too many 3.0 to 4.0 rated films are being named in this thread. Also, I don't think it's about what has not been released on Blu-ray. Isn't there enough such threads without polluting this one with your favorite requests?

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

OK, but what films do you think are underrated, Robert?

 

[Robert Crawford]

OK, but what films do you think are underrated, Robert?

Current or classic films?

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Either or both. I know like me you are a big fan of Westerns too. I think Anthony Mann's The Last Frontier is a vastly underrated Western that I hope Grover Crisp and his team get to at some point.

 

[Keith Cobby]

In Harm's Way is very underrated considering the talents involved. Even if my previous choices are not appreciated by everyone I cannot understand why this fine film hasn't been released. Or perhaps the reason is that it is currently controlled by Warners and they see declining interest in John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Henry Fonda, Dana Andrews etc etc.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Either or both. I know like me you are a big fan of Westerns too. I think Anthony Mann's The Last Frontier is a vastly underrated Western that I hope Grover Crisp and his team get to at some point.

the last frontier.jpg

My thoughts on some underrated films can be found in this thread including "The Last Frontier". Last night, I watched "The Slender Thread" starring Sidney Poitier and Anne Bancroft that didn't do well at the box office nor with film critics.

 

[Peter M Fitzgerald]

Here are some, in my opinion:


SON OF KONG (1933)

ZOO IN BUDAPEST (1933)

PROFESSOR BEWARE (1937)

AMONG THE LIVING (1941)

CARNIVAL OF SINNERS (1943)

THE GREAT MOMENT (1944)

MURDER HE SAYS (1945)

CANON CITY (1948)

FOUR FACES WEST (1948)

EVERYBODY DOES IT (1949)

LUST FOR GOLD (1949)

THE THREAT (1949)

CHAMPAGNE FOR CAESAR (1950)

HIGHLY DANGEROUS (1950)

STARS IN MY CROWN (1950)

CRY DANGER (1951)

LAUGHTER IN PARADISE (1951)

THE SCARF (1951)

BEWARE MY LOVELY (1952)

CARBINE WILLIAMS (1952)

INFERNO (1953)

99 RIVER STREET (1953)

WAR PAINT (1953)

HOUSE OF MYSTERY (1961)

THE SECRET PARTNER (1961)

A BOY TEN FEET TALL (1963, aka SAMMY GOING SOUTH)

THE LITTLE PRINCE AND THE EIGHT-HEADED DRAGON (1963)

MATANGO (1963, aka ATTACK OF THE MUSHROOM PEOPLE)

UNEARTHLY STRANGER (1963)

LORD JIM (1965)

SANDS OF THE KALAHARI (1965)

BATMAN:THE MOVIE (1966)

DANGER ROUTE (1967)

THE DOUBLE MAN (1967)

THE INCIDENT (1967)

THE BLISS OF MRS. BLOSSOM (1968)

GOYOKIN (1969)

I START COUNTING...(1969)

NEST OF VIPERS (1969, aka NIGHT OF THE SERPENT)

RING OF BRIGHT WATER (1969)

RIDER ON THE RAIN (1970)

MELODY (1971, aka S.W.A.L.K.)

THE OUTFIT (1973)

SKY RIDERS (1976)

THE SILENT PARTNER (1978)

ROAD GAMES (1981)

PEGGY SUE GOT MARRIED (1986)

THE FLY II (1989)

THE GODS MUST BE CRAZY II (1989)

CRY-BABY (1990)

FRANKENHOOKER (1990)

A SHOCK TO THE SYSTEM (1990)

CONEHEADS (1993)

THE TEMP (1993)

THE HUDSUCKER PROXY (1994)

NO ESCAPE (1994)

UNFORGETTABLE (1996)

COP LAND (1997)

SINCE YOU'VE BEEN GONE (1998)

DIAMOND MEN (2000)

DINNER RUSH (2000)

FRAILTY(2001)

INTACTO (2001)

SECONDHAND LIONS (2003)

CUTIE HONEY: THE MOVIE (2004)

MY NAME IS MODESTY (2004)

PERFUME: THE STORY OF A MURDERER (2006)

RUNNING SCARED (2006)

HONEYDRIPPER (2007)

YOU KILL ME (2007)

WE OWN THE NIGHT(2007)

 

[Mike Boone]

My pick as an underrated film is 1973's Papillon with Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman.


The film got mixed reviews upon its release, with many critics being quite negative about it.


IMHO, Papillon is far more memorable of a film than 1973's Best Picture Oscar winner, The Sting.

(I bet a lot of folks are like me and remember very few details of The Sting's plot, other than that it involved a crook being conned out of his money)


The Sting's director, George Roy Hill, had previously worked together with its stars, Paul Newman and Robert Redford, to make Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The earlier film was much better, as evidenced by the fact that Butch Cassidy frequently shows up on many lists of favorite films, (including American Film Institute lists) while The Sting is conspicuously absent from such lists.


IMO, not only is Papillon a much more memorable film than The Sting, but it should have been one of 1973's 5 nominees for the best picture Oscar, replacing either A Touch of Class or The Sting. Of course, then there can be a good argument about whether the expertly made adventure that is Papillon, was actually that year's best film. But definitely, I think Steve McQueen was robbed by not even, at least, being nominated for best actor for his performance in the title role.


And, BTW, IMO, a lot of The Sting's big box office in 1973-74 can be attributed to the fact that the Scott Joplin music used in the film, just seemed fresh, and had incredible appeal, with it being played constantly on the radio, for months. What great continuing advertising for The Sting, that radio airplay was.

 

[Robert Crawford]

My pick as an underrated film is 1973's Papillon with Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman.


The film got mixed reviews upon its release, with many critics being quite negative about it.


IMHO, Papillon is far more memorable of a film than 1973's Best Picture Oscar winner, The Sting.

(I bet a lot of folks are like me and remember very few details of The Sting's plot, other than that it involved a crook being conned out of his money)


The Sting's director, George Roy Hill, had previously worked together with its stars, Paul Newman and Robert Redford, to make Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The earlier film was much better, as evidenced by the fact that Butch Cassidy frequently shows up on many lists of favorite films, (including American Film Institute lists) while The Sting is conspicuously absent from such lists.


IMO, not only is Papillon a much more memorable film than The Sting, but it should have been one of 1973's 5 nominees for the best picture Oscar, replacing either A Touch of Class or The Sting. Of course, then there can be a good argument about whether the expertly made adventure that is Papillon, was actually that year's best film. But definitely, I think Steve McQueen was robbed by not even, at least, being nominated for best actor for his performance in the title role.


And, BTW, IMO, a lot of The Sting's big box office in 1973-74 can be attributed to the fact that the Scott Joplin music used in the film, just seemed fresh, and had incredible appeal, with it being played constantly on the radio, for months. What great continuing advertising for The Sting, that radio airplay was.

I respect your opinion and though I watched both films during their theatrical runs, I would still say "The Sting" was a superior and more memorable film. Also, I don't consider Papillon an underrated film as it made money for the studio. I do agree that McQueen gave one of his best performances.

 

[Lord Dalek]

Exorcist should have won in '73. I think we've established that by now.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Exorcist should have won in '73. I think we've established that by now.

Looking back, I can agree with that opinion. Without question the most memorable film from that year.