Films you thought would be bad but turned out to be good

[Rfan]

This thread idea was sparked by GreenSkull's worst film thread.

Have you ever hired/seen a film to fill in some time or because friends are going to see it etc, but you didn't think it would be much of a film before you saw it, but afterwards thought it was quite a decent film? Not great just decent. You know you go to the vid store and theres not much that appeals so you pick up the best of a bad bunch.

This is the flip-side of picking up what you think will be a good film but its a let-down, and we have all had too many of those experiences. Hopefully we can unearth some obscure gems we can all enjoy.

The one that comes to mind for me is Pitch Black. I picked it up one night just to fill in some time, and thought an SFX film would do nicely. I wasn't expecting it to be anything more than that. I was quite surprised to find it had a decent story and decent acting (yes even Vin Diesel), and the subtext of redemption is handled very well and left for the viewer to decide in the end, no moral preachiness. It has one huge story problem but its part of the set-up not the story that developes in the film (how do the creatures survive?). Overall a very decent film.

The sequel wasn't that good.

Cheers.

[eelcat]

Back in the early 80's me and my mate use to go to the movies at least once a week and for some reason this particular week we decided to go and see Shogun (as in James Clavell's Shogun). Surprisingly enough it was a very decent movie and enjoyed it so much that I took dad to see it a couple of days later.
Some time down the track...I don't know what time frame as I can't remember, Shogun the mini series was being shown on tv. As it turned out the movie I saw was an edited version of the mini series. I don't know why but I didn't watch the mini series.

[blondifan]

The night before last, I rented Saw 'V' from the video shop.
Having seen all so far, I felt strangely obligated to hire the latest in what is becoming a series. I was also in kind of a hurry.
If you're not a fan of the genre you wouldn't like it.
If you are, you need help. I was not greatly impressed by all the follow-ups, and probably didn't expect much from the latest. The vigilante 'Hero' died in the third? film after all.

While I certainly wouldn't buy a copy and I won't be downloading it, it was however IMHO better than the others, with the possible exception of the first. If your not expecting much, you may be surprised, but now that you've read this and may expect something half decent, you wont be.

Not sure words like 'good' or 'decent' should be used to describe what is basically a slasher film, and watch with trepidation if you've ever used a table saw.

[Wendigo]

Fight Club - the title put me off for ages but it is a brilliant film.

[dorcelfan]

"The assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford"....

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0443680/

When it came out I thought "here we go this'll be like Titannic - fuck all going on for 90% of the film and then the money shot..."

But when I watched it I was completely taken aback by it - the camera work is absoultely fantastic, sometimes you think you are looking at the old wild west photos in motion..Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck and Sam Rockwell are just awesome and the story holds you all the way through.

A truly brilliant piece of cinematic work in my very humble opinion and I think It'll end up a classic in years to come.

Regards

D

[scoundrel]

Now don't get me wrong: I'm not pretending this film is actually any good. It's total shit.

Thing is though, I find it such a guilty pleasure. On all objective levels, its two hours of unremitting bollocks but I still hugely enjoy it.

The acting is like those cardboard cutouts of celebrities advertising stuff.
The script and storyline are unspeakable.
As for the characters, I used to play Dungeons & Dragons with school friends when I was a teenager (anyone remember D&D?) and the game characters were much more rounded and convincing.

But if you leave your brain outside the room, the film starts to work. Tanya Roberts of course was always going to be a plus and after doing Moonraker this frankly is a big step up. The Beast Master's ferrets are the best actors in the piece and thoroughly good value. Rip Torn as the evil psycho child sacrificing priest revels in the sheer silliness of the whole thing. There are also some extra's who enthusiastically kill themselves all over the place, which also enhances my pleasure in the whole ridiculous thing. To cap it all, there's a theme tune which is surprisingly good: it was composed by Lee Holdridge and is much better than the film deserved.

Like I said, The Beast Master is an absolute shitfest, and I would be happy to watch it again right now.

NB I've just checked and it is A View To A Kill that Miss Roberts was in, even worse than Moonraker if that were possible. She's far better off having The Beast Master on her CV.

[Rfan]

Thanks Dorcelfan, I'll try that one.

Scoundrel thats a cracker of a post, LMAO.

But you may be surprised, you aren't alone, check this out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beastmaster_(film)

especially the section Reception.

Cheers.

[snorkie]

Some friends, including a lass I sort of fancied, dragged me kicking and screaming to this one:



A perfectly executed, out of round movie. Beginning with the Tour De France sequence, l have not laughed so hard, so often in a movie before or since. The lines: "Let's talk about your big butt," and especially, "I remember the Alamo" still get me everytime.

[kiwi]

Thanks for this one, Rfan.

Quadrophenia

I admit it, I was a mod when I was a teenager (f*ck the lot of you! I'm not ashamed of it... ... maybe I ought to be )


While this film is considered to be a classic, and I really do believe that it is, there are, however, some serious mistakes in it.

It was produced by The Who & yet there are such serious mistakes in it, which go beyond belief.

Allow me to mention a few.

It's supposed to be 1964, England.

When the protagonist of the film, Jimmy, is riding his scooter along the Goldhawk road in London, with Steph (the slut he fancies), they're doing about 30 mph. But he is holding-in the clutch!

Also you can see mark 3 & 4 Ford Cortinas passing him in the opposite direction, not to mention the odd Ford Capri.

It gets worse (But it really is a great film!)

At a party Jimmy & his other mod friend 'gate-crash', he sees the slut he fancies dancing with the local 'Face' - i.e. Top Mod. It's a smoochy number by some girl group on the Tamla-motown label. Obviously he pissed about this, so he changes the single, brutally scratching it in the process & puts on the single (45) of My Generation by The Who.

Remember I said it was supposed to be 1964? Well, My Generation (maybe the first punk anthem?) was released by The Who as a single (45) in 1965.

There tons of other mistakes involving continuity.

It probably got panned by the critics when it was released, I don't know. I was a mod and it was a great film to me. I must have seen it at least 100 times although I haven't seen it for at least 20 years now.

Towards the end of my mod phase as a young man, my friends and I would often watch it, either on VHS or in late night movie theaters & play a game called 'Spot the mistakes' If my memory serves me correctly, we reckoned there were about 65 obvious mistakes.

Still, I'd recommend it to anyone - It's a great film.


Kiwi

[jimmyjams]

BORAT, everyone in the film was duped, his partner,pam and the large black women were the only ones in on it, if you missed it go rent it you will cringe and laugh at the same time-"have some soup made from retard boys pubies"
and"I carry a jar of gypsy tears to protect me from the aids" are a couple quotes I found funny...give it a try