Top 20 most overrated movies

Why is it overrated ?
I found this one was so bad ! I remember when it came out in France. It was a huge success and everybody went to see this movie. Everybody except me. My gut was telling me it was big pile of horsesh*t. So I didn't go. For months, I had to hear all the comments about this movie ("This is great !" "You have to see it !",...) . After 6 months, a friend convinced me and I finally saw it on video (no DVD back then...). Again, I was completely stoned out of mind which didn't help (Jee...I was really smoking a lot back in those days...). . After 10 minutes, there was the first real dialog and it sounded so bad , I thought it was fake and I thought someone was comploting against me... Real panic and a complete tragedy ! Anyway it was really really bad... and they made 3 sequels !!!

Note : I have seen it again yesterday for the second time, 12 years later, this time completely sober and it was......TERRIBLE !!!! Again... A few jokes but for the rest completely worthless, even the action scenes...

what I would rather watch : The Fast and The Furious (2001) (which is not good at all either) or anything else with Marion Cotillard

Why is it overrated ?
When it came out, it was very popular but I didn't want to see it at all but after 2 weeks, a friend convinced me and we saw it at the movie theater. I was completely stoned and the movie theater was packed and everybody was laughing. Except me... I had this strange feeling that they were all against me or something... Anyway, I remember half way through the movie, there was this joke that you have seen like 100 hundreds time in the trailer and it was really this stupid joke. I could count in my head, in 5 seconds, everybody will laugh like crazy... 1...2...3...4...5 !! BOUM !!! and it was like a big wave of laughs coming over me.... and I was thinking "Am I the only one who thinks it stinks ?" It was just terrible...

what I would rather watch : Four weddings and a funeral (2004) (Rowan Atkinson has a small part in it !)

Why is it overrated ?
Back in the 90's, John Woo was really hot and considered as an icon by many directors such as Quentin Tarantino. "The Killer" is supposed to be his "masterpiece"... I thought it was just bad. Lot of shootings, lot of slow motion... The top was one of the last scenes : It involved the 2 main characters. If I recall correctly the woman was blind from the start and the man became blind during one those countless shootings. Anyway, they are crawling to each other very slowly, in a typical John Woo slow motion. It looked just ridiculous and the worse is that at the end.... they missed each other !!! they crawled next to each other !! It supposed to be very touching and have a lot of symbolism but I was just stroke by how pathetic it looked.

what I would rather watch : Infernal Affairs (2002)

Why is it overrated ?
In France, it is a huge cult classic. It is in the "1001 movies you must see before you die". It starts pretty well, a little bit like Spinal Tap but instead of hard rockers, you have a serial killer and it has a pitch black humor. But after a while, the jokes get worse and worse with 2 top moments, one when the main character goes to a restaurant to eat mussels and eventually throws everything up (this scenes last like 20 minutes...) and one of the final scene when the guy rapes a woman... Just terrible...

what I would rather watch : Delicatessen (1991)

Why is it overrated ?
I know ... I know... It is a real classic. I was expecting something really really scary but it wasn't scary at all. I found it was actually funny. My guess is that 40 years ago, when it came out, people were quite shocked and possibly scared but nowadays, there are some really more disturbing movies. Seriously, when the girl is screaming, swearing, puking, playing with the crucifix, did you think it was really scary ? I did not.

what I would rather watch : Ringu (1998) Beware !! I mean the Japanese version. Now, this is a scay movie

Why is it overrated ?
I don't think it is a really bad movie and it is quite entertaining but this guy is so stupid and irritating !!! I know he is supposed to be touching but it didn't work with me. And the message it gives... "it doesn't matter if you're stupid or defective, as long as you can play table tennis, you will be fine". So bad... I know many people sees this film as a fairytale and I have been told I shouldn't take it so seriously and I dig that but it just doesn't work for me.

what I would rather watch : The Shawshank Redemption (1994) If you remember, Forrest Gump won the oscar and The Shawshank Redemption lost...

Why is it overrated ?
I was not a big fan of Kill Bill 1 (it almost made this list...) but it was fun and liked it even if it wasn't a masterpiece but the second one... It was not really fun and even quite boring...

what I would rather watch : Resevoir Dogs (1992). My favorite Tarantino movie

Why is it overrated ?
Again, a French classic and I was expecting something really really good. It was actually not bad at all. I like the directing (Luc Besson can definitely direct a movie) and the good acting (Natalie Portman's first part) but the story, the dialog... (the writing is notoriously not the best aspect of Mister Besson). Many people don't know it but the director's cut has actually some pedofile love scenes between Jean Reno and Natalie Portman... Beurk... It makes it even worse.

what I would rather watch : Nikita (1990)

Why is it overrated ?
I know... I know... How could I put this movie in this list ! Such a milestone in motion picture history !!! Let me explain... I saw it when it came out back then thinking it would be a fun SF movie. But it started much better. The visuals were great with some great actions scenes and the theme was great "our world is not real, we live in an illusion". My God ! They are going to get to the big question "what is the meaning of life ?" at least "What is real and what is not?". I was completely hooked and waiting what will happen next. But that was the first 15 minutes... Then, came this black dude with the famous blue and red pills. And then, I got my answer. We don't live for real, actually, our brains are sucked out by machines... Come on ! Give me a break ! I still think it is visually great and indeed a milestone in this area but the story is not great at all. At least, for my taste.

what I would rather watch : Inception (2010). Now, that's what I'm talking a about ! Great visuals with a great existentalist plot !!!

Why is it overrated ?
A big classic from the 80's... Once again, not bad at all and quite entertaining and Dustin Hoffman gives a great perfomance but it gives the idea that to a have handicaped relatives is like a wall in the park... And it is so irritating that everytime Hollywood makes a picture about an autist,it has to be some kind of genius... Of course, some autists are really gifted but just as much as non-autist people (my stepson is autist, he is a great guy and I love him but he is just a regular block, no great special powers and it doesn't make him less wonderful and interesting).

what I would rather watch : what's eating Gilbert Grape (1998) DiCaprio's best role and he was only 19 years old...

Why is it overrated ?
It is quite OK and entertaining but I don't think the story is just that great. It's just a well made epic but it just didn't blow me away whatsoever. Plus, the fact that it is completely inaccurate historically didn't help much.

what I would rather watch : Apocalyto (2006)

Why is it overrated ?
I remember when it came out. Everybody was talking about it. Everytime you would talk about movies someone will say "Have you seen The Sixth Sense? It was just great. I was just blown away by the twist ending !". Honestly, I didn't get the twist before the end but I was not blown away at all either. I thought it was just underwhelming. I found it was a cheap way to give some extra "deep" meaning. an OK movie but not great at all.

what I would rather watch : Unbreakable (2000)

Why is it overrated ?
Another big classic from the 80's... I like Robin Williams. He can be quite funny but he is so irritating in this melodramatic movies... But he is not even the worst in this movie... I just hate its message. The best example is when they pick up their book and started to destroy them. Come on ! Is it so brilliant to destroy a 30 euro book ?!? In some countries, they don't even have books for their education. I found it just revolting. And it is just one example of the dubious philosophy provided by this movie.

what I would rather watch : Insomnia (2002)

Why is it overrated ?
Again, a huge classic. Again, an entertaing movie, Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe rock but I found that the story was not really compelling.

what I would rather watch : Spartacus (1960)

Why is it overrated ?
When it came out, the critics were super enthousiast and it was a huge commercial success. And indeed, there are some great action scenes and Daniel Craig is a very very good James Bond. But I wasn't convinced by the story at all. Who's actually the bad guy ?!?!

what I would rather watch : The Bourne identity (2002). great action scenes and a captivating story. it is only what I ask...

Why is it overrated ?
What ? Such a classic again ?!? Unfortunately... The opening scene is one of the best (the best?) intro ever. This is what war is about. A big slaughter party. But then, it was just the beginning... The rest of the movie has nothing to do with this great intro. They send a whole platoon to save 1 guy... Do you really believe Obama or (even better) W. Bush would do such a thing ? I don't. And even if they did, it doesn't make the story more interesting to me. It just doesn't match with the greatest depiction of the D-Day.

what I would rather watch : The Thin red line (1998)

Why is it overrated ?
Again, a huge classic. And indeed, the movie has some qualities. Edward Norton and Edward Furlong are just great. But the story doesn't work so much for me. I didn't buy that idea that a neo-nazi black hater guy would suddenly completely switch of ideoloy while in prison. And there is some very poor symbolism for example with the Black against the White people basketball game or with the end. And eventually, the two main protagonists who started as nazi are actully pretty nice guys and, conveniently, at the end, they reject their previous beliefs. Almost a lame happy ending... If you check this movie on the internet, you will see that the production was actually a real mess and the director completely rejected the movie. Most of the time, not a really good sign...

what I would rather watch : The Believer (2001)

Why is it overrated ?
There is good chance I'm going to be lynched for this movie... I know ! This movie is regarded as one of the best ever made but remember , this is my personal choice and if you love it, it is fine. I saw it actually twice in the movie theater. The first time, I was completely blown away. I thought it was great. But the second time, I could step back and pay more attention to the small details. Eventually, I found the story quite shallow. The visuals, the acting and the mood is just great. But, according to me, it is just nicely done but at the end, not very deep.

what I would rather watch : Zodiac (2007)

Why is it overrated ?
Again, a so-called Tarantino classic... I actually liked it but it was not great at all, in my opinion. Tarantino dwells much too long on some parts and some characters (like Brad Pitt or Diane Kruger) are barelly developped. A nice film but not great at all.

what I would rather watch : Cross of iron (1977)

Why is it overrated ?
What a huge disappointment ! It took me like 3 or 4 years to watch this movie and it was really high on my "to-watch" movie list. It was supposed to be great and I was expecting so much !! At the end, it is a nice movie with some very nice visuals but the story was not compelling at all and I think Natalie Portman is a very good actrice but I didn't really believe in the connection she had with V. It could have been thoughtful (in the graphic novel, V's goal is Anarchy, in the movie, he is fighting for freedom... Boring ! Imagine if they had kept the Anarchy idea...) but it isn't.

what I would rather watch : Closer (2004) a very deep and thoughtful movie with Natalie Portman. Ok, ok not so many action and explosions at all but to each one is own poison, allright....