Films you EXPECTED to be horrible...but weren't!

["Skeet" McD]

OK, Fedord Spaniard: I know a good idea when I see one....see you, and raise you!

Let's go the reverse route: movies you couldn't bring yourself to see, because you were afraid they'd be awful: but that turned out, when you finally did see them, to be....great!

I'll go first:
1984. Loved the book...read it first in grammar school, about 1966, and thought "Good God: I'll be...21! when it actually IS 1984!" And then...it WAS 1984, I was 21, and...they made the film. I couldn't believe it could do it justice. I was wrong: I got sucked into it; one night around 1990 I was channel surfing late at night and came into a film somewhere in the middle. The imagery stopped me dead, and as I watched I realized: IT'S 1984!! And it was BETTER than the film in my head; I never would have thought of setting the thing in a 1940s dystopia...those autogyros with the thought police STILL get to me. Great film.

Cold Comfort Farm. Loved the book...read it after seeing the BBC TV version in the late 70s (which was very good). A lot of the humor of the book is based on its running joke of mimicking a certain genre of late 19C novel...which, of course, doesn't come over well onscreen: the point is a book having a joke on books. But, when the film came out in the 90s...I thought it was a very good job indeed: maybe not quite on a par with the BBC version...but the fact that its budget was probably 12,000 times bigger made up for the shorter length...

The Lord of the Rings. Loved the book(s) (you sense a pattern here....) Let's face it: how could ANY film, or films, really do justice to the book...and the hideous Kraptacular Toddlers-on-Mescaline Ralph Bakshi 1970s animabortion of The Hobbit still makes me cringe. But...giving due allowance for the changes that really needed to be made to film it, and which I think were good changes...I find it hard to imagine ANYONE doing it better. The weak link, I think, is the middle film: unsurprising, I suppose: the first film has an obvious story arc that gets everything going...and the final film has a blockbuster ending that ties it all up. The middle one....well, it's the middle one, that gets everybody from HERE to THERE. But one for the ages!

There: that's a start....

"Skeet"

 

[Paisley]

Dumb and Dumber. The movie explored, broadly and deeply, the condition of being stupid.

Swing Kids. Dance movies almost always stink; this one didn't.

Yankee Doodle Dandy. I detest most musicals, but I like Cagney.

 

[LordBest]

Indy 4.
After hearing about the whole crystal skull thing I expected it to be appalling, pleasantly surprised to find that it was just like a 50s pulp comic book, most apt given the inspiration for the original movies.

 

[Lady Day]

Catwoman
Daredevil (directors cut)
Yes Man
Hitman (directors cut)

Im not saying these movies were great, but they were better than I thought they were gonna be.

LD

 

[Diamondback]

The Great Raid--I expected a screwup mauling of this POW-rescue epic, but my only quibble was about the aircraft used in a key role's absence (which it helps to consider none are flying anymore, but if it were me I woulda used the bird they used as a filming stand-in and CGI-ed the correct P-61 in). Dale Dye, I thougtht, did a good job as General Walter Krueger--of course, it helped that the cast had been eating dirt on his command for a while in pre-shooting "Boot Camp"...

----------------
Now playing: Jerry Goldsmith - Frontal Lobotomy
via FoxyTunes

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Animal House and Risky Business. What seemed like bad ideas for movies turned out to define my male peers in their 'teens. Diner and Porky's were right behind.

.

 

["Skeet" McD]

Animal House and Risky Business. What seemed like bad ideas for movies turned out to define my male peers in their 'teens. Diner and Porky's were right behind.

.

Ummhmmm....and (while I can't say anything about them from a peer perspective, being well on my way to fogeydom)...two other films that seemed like....VERY BAD IDEAS....and turned out to be really good, both in entertainment value and (for someone with my value set) a morally uplifting sense were Knocked Up and The 40-Year-Old Virgin.

 

[Fedord Spaniard]

[QUOTE="Skeet" McD]OK, Fedord Spaniard: I know a good idea when I see one....see you, and raise you!

Let's go the reverse route: movies you couldn't bring yourself to see, because you were afraid they'd be awful: but that turned out, when you finally did see them, to be....great!

I'll go first:
1984. Loved the book...read it first in grammar school, about 1966, and thought "Good God: I'll be...21! when it actually IS 1984!" And then...it WAS 1984, I was 21, and...they made the film. I couldn't believe it could do it justice. I was wrong: I got sucked into it; one night around 1990 I was channel surfing late at night and came into a film somewhere in the middle. The imagery stopped me dead, and as I watched I realized: IT'S 1984!! And it was BETTER than the film in my head; I never would have thought of setting the thing in a 1940s dystopia...those autogyros with the thought police STILL get to me. Great film.

Cold Comfort Farm. Loved the book...read it after seeing the BBC TV version in the late 70s (which was very good). A lot of the humor of the book is based on its running joke of mimicking a certain genre of late 19C novel...which, of course, doesn't come over well onscreen: the point is a book having a joke on books. But, when the film came out in the 90s...I thought it was a very good job indeed: maybe not quite on a par with the BBC version...but the fact that its budget was probably 12,000 times bigger made up for the shorter length...

The Lord of the Rings. Loved the book(s) (you sense a pattern here....) Let's face it: how could ANY film, or films, really do justice to the book...and the hideous Kraptacular Toddlers-on-Mescaline Ralph Bakshi 1970s animabortion of The Hobbit still makes me cringe. But...giving due allowance for the changes that really needed to be made to film it, and which I think were good changes...I find it hard to imagine ANYONE doing it better. The weak link, I think, is the middle film: unsurprising, I suppose: the first film has an obvious story arc that gets everything going...and the final film has a blockbuster ending that ties it all up. The middle one....well, it's the middle one, that gets everybody from HERE to THERE. But one for the ages!

There: that's a start....

"Skeet"[/QUOTE]

lol this is cool Skeet, we should make polar opposites to threads. I was actual'y thinking of telling you this. here aresome of my movies:

American Psycho, the Warriors, Goodfellas, Clerks, Secretary, Sid & Nancy, Scarface (1983), Platoon, and Boogie Nights. I never bothered to watch these cause i thought i wouldnt like them. But then i stumbled upon them and actually liked them after watching.

 

[Jerekson]

I agree with LD on Yes Man - after seeing the trailer I dismissed it as being a pathetic remake of Liar, Liar with an older, tired-out Carrey. Man, was I wrong - best laughs I've had in a theater since Dumb and Dumber. The story was surprisingly good too, which was nice.

How about Flyboys - there's a movie I was positive was going to stink; a sure-fire "Pearl Harbor". But my, oh my...what a cinematic treat that was! Every last aspect of it, top notch! And pleasingly accurate for historians, as well!

 

[JJWord]

House Bunny. My wife wanted to see it, I expected it to be a complete snore. It was a touch slow to start, but turns funny and overall enjoyable. I don't regret renting it at all.

 

[HadleyH]

[QUOTE="Skeet" McD]

Let's go the reverse route: movies you couldn't bring yourself to see, because you were afraid they'd be awful: but that turned out, when you finally did see them, to be....great!
[/QUOTE]


No, Skeet mcd

no...

my inner voice has never failed me, if i was afraid the film was going to be awful .... it was always worst than awful


always...[huh]

 

[CopperNY]

"10 Things I Hate About You"

"Clueless"

easy to write off as teen fluff at first glance. but both are good modern updates of classic stories.

"Wanted"

went in expecting -zero-, but was surprised at what i got.

"Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love"

sounds like late night Cinemax fare, but is one of the most beautifully filmed movies i've ever seen. Mira Nair is an incredible director (usually).

 

[celtic]

Wall-E

Ratatoullie

Polar Express

Not a big Tim Allen fan, but I was surprised that I actually liked The Santa Clause and Galaxy Quest

True Romance was pretty unkown when I first saw it....WOW!

 

[Fedord Spaniard]

Wall-E

Ratatoullie

Polar Express

Not a big Tim Allen fan, but I was surprised that I actually liked The Santa Clause and Galaxy Quest

True Romance was pretty unkown when I first saw it....WOW!

I was the same way as you about True Romance. And then i saw it, instant classic. Heres a few flashbacks: The Drexl Spivey (Gary Oldman) shoot out with Clarence Worley (Christian Slater). The Vincenzo Coccotti (Chistopher Walken) and Clifford Worley (Dennis Hopper) parent/teacher sit downlol lollol what a classic scene. The Virgil (James Gandolfini) and Alabama Whitman (Patricia Arquette) "Vale Tudo" scenelol lol . And lets not forget that mexican stand off at the end ooooooooo, what a blood bath.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover. Blew me away. Didn't expect that.


.

 

[Carlisle Blues]

No, Skeet mcd

no...

my inner voice has never failed me, if i was afraid the film was going to be awful .... it was always worst than awful


always...[huh]

This is too scary.....I couldn't agree more.

 

[donCarlos]

I didn´t expect much from "Das Boot", because these movies are usually. Then I saw an uncut version (4,5 hours) and I loved it. Maybe for the general public, but not for an u-boot fan.

 

[LizzieMaine]

"The Devil With Hitler," a B-grade comedy from 1942, in which the Devil is about to be fired as ruler of Hell because Hitler is clearly more evil than he is, so Satan goes to earth, gets a job as Hitler's valet, and tries to trick der Fuhrer into doing one good deed, thus proving that he isn't that evil after all.

And the amazing thing is, it *isn't* the most tasteless movie ever made, especially if you watch it at 2 in the morning.

 

[irb]

Indy 4.
After hearing about the whole crystal skull thing I expected it to be appalling, pleasantly surprised to find that it was just like a 50s pulp comic book, most apt given the inspiration for the original movies.

We appear to be in a minority, but both my girlfriend and I rather enjoyed it, despite initial skepticism. Having recently re-watched Temple of Doom, I can enthusiastically say that Indy 4 belongs in this thread and Doom in Fedord Spaniard's....

 

[just_me]

We appear to be in a minority, but both my girlfriend and I rather enjoyed it, despite initial skepticism. Having recently re-watched Temple of Doom, I can enthusiastically say that Indy 4 belongs in this thread and Doom in Fedord Spaniard's....

I agree. I liked Indy 4 and was incredibly disappointed with Temple of Doom.