Most Overrated Films

I agree with the off-putting Will Smith factor - don't rate any of his films although I Robot is just about watchable.

2001 is a bit of a Marmite movie - you either love it or loathe it. Many people find it overlong and tedious and both are fair comments in the light of subsequent sci-fi movies, which are often very fast-moving (although Alien is quite slow to really get going.)

The thing with 2001 is that it's quite a pioneering film and neeRAB to be viewed from the perspective of 1968 when sci-fi movies were mostly small budget affairs and no-one really took the genre too seriously. Sci-fi was the preserve of drive-in movies with eye-catching exclamation-marked titles like "Mars Attacks!" or "Invasion of the Giant Spiders!"

2001 changed everything: an ambitious film with a large budget, elevating the genre to an art form - especially given the complex narrative, the groundbreaking use of special effects etc. and the use of a classical music score (many films before then featured original scores and didn't make extensive use of existing classical music.)

It is, however, very slow and there is very little dialogue; it is essentially a visual experience more than anything else and these days the visuals, good as they were back then, are dated to some extent.

However, like Citizen Kane, it is the use of the tools of cinema which elevates this film above many others, another example of the cinema as an art form and this is why I feel it deserves its high stature and esteem.
 
It's not a "man thing". I ain't no man and I liked and got Pulp Fiction. I love Samuel L. Jackson's character, with the whole Ezekiel bible quote thing before he "shoots people down"! And don't even start me on "Royale with cheese".

I've watched the film several times. It's not in my top 10, but it's in my top 50.
 
quote:And don't even start me on "Royale with cheese".

I actually like Pulp Fiction, but that bit of dialogue is the biggest load of old poo...
 
That's what taints the film for me. It's a good story, well directed, but all those crappy lines Big Sam Jackson comes out with are just embarrassing and not remotely cool.
 
Well I love Pulp Fiction, but putting that aside, I think the problem with the dialogue is that it's so well known now - when the film came out it was different. Things like the Royal with Cheese bit get overhyped (it was even on the soundtrack RAB) and it was far from the best dialogue of the film. So even though I love this film, I get a bit 'meh' when that bit (and some of the diner scenes with Mia and Vincent) come on. Still love the bit where Vince and Jules execute the guys at the beginning though - 'My - that is a tasty burger!' :D :cool:
 
se7en, take brad pitt out and gwyneth paltrow and the film would be much improved!! I couldn't understand a word what they were saying, plus the lighting was dreadful

kevin spacey and morgan freeman were outstanding however:)
 
I liked Paltrow and Pitt in that film, and I could understand Pitt in Se7en better than I could understand him in Snatch, that's for sure.

I think the lighting was supposed to be that way. It was a mix of horror and film-noir, so it matched my expectations really.
 
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