Imagine being a critic calling a movie “one of the worst films ever” only for that same movie to become critically acclaimed and then call it a masterpiece years later
@@Otokichi786 And The Thirteenth Warrior. I didn't watch that movie for years because Ebert panned it. I think he was woke ahead of his time, in that anything that seemed a celebration of masculinity was something he had an instant aversion to.
Let's not forget that the theatrical release of Blade Runner was a completely different film than the director's cut, which was released years later. It is the director's cut that is a cult classic. It's actually hard to find the theatrical release these days.
Indeed, that studio-mandated voiceover - which Harrison Ford deliberately did as badly as possible because he rightly hated it - was a real detriment to the whole thing. Once it was released _sans_ voiceover, as originally intended, everyone was like, oh, this is actually a really good movie! And then he had to go back and fiddle with it some more and ... about that the less said, the better.
Blade Runner is the best over all sci fi film. The complete set has the narrative version. It is the best one. The point of the movie was humans were becoming like androids and and androids were being humans.
There are critics, that coped with their depression by joining an underground fighting club to become a somekind of a brainwashed red pill cult member, and then moved on to terrorism?
I’m glad you included Children of Men. I think it’s one of the best if not the best post apocalyptic film. I saw it twice in the theaters. And thank goodness it wasn’t a zombie movie.
Changed my views on birthing. Before I saw it, I thought the world should quit breeding for ten years. But then I saw what it would do to most people. Now I just wish they'd slow down.
@@tricivenola8164well to be fair, choosing not to breed and finding out people just can't breed anymore would have vastly different social implications
The same for me. I had rented it a few years later, watched it, watched it again in the morning, and one more time in the afternoon. I have watched it once every couple of years ever since then. One of my favourite movies of all time.
The critics who hated _Fight Club_ didn't get it in the exact same way as a certain kind of guy who _loves_ it, for all the wrong reasons. (Hint: Tyler Durden is _not_ the hero/aspirational figure and you're not supposed to follow his "philosophy") Likewise with _Starship Troopers_
Fight Club is about deprogramming yourself...it's starting/final countdown literally leads not to the blowing of the edifices, but the protagonist brain (>old conformist personality)
I avoided Blade Runner 2049 when it was released because I assumed it would be just another case of sequelitis. Apparently, I wasn't alone in that thought, as it was somewhat of a commercial failure. However, as time has passed, its perspective on AI relationships has started to seem quite prescient. In a way, it has become a true sequel.
2049 is truly a great movie. One I can watch again and again. Strong women, incredible set design, great performances, all around top 10 in the neighborhood of 2001 a Space Odessey in this dog's opinion.
I remember how annoying it was as a kid when the 3 Amigos came out and all the adults who did not get the proto-Simpsons humor were trying to convince us kids it was not a masterpiece.
@@garyphisher7375 because a comedy cannot be a masterpiece? 3 Amigos is hilariously written, beautifully filmed, and has performances that shaped a generation. It is more akin to the Godfather than an eighties comedy.
I think that the failure of The Shawshank Redemption was primarily due to the obscurity of the two main actors; at that time, neither Morgan Freeman nor Tim Robbins had much success in cinema. So you understand, the role of Red could have been given to such legends as Harrison Ford, Paul Newman, Gene Hackman and Robert Duvall. Well, of course, the name Frank Darabont also didn’t really mean anything to the audience; he had only one TV movie, which no one really saw. However, the box office failure pales in comparison to the cult status that The Shawshank Redemption received.
I dunno. Morgan Freeman was on a big hot streak coming into 1993. He had received Oscar nominations for Street Smart and Driving Ms. Daisy in the prior handful of years, and was in major cultural hits Lean on Me and Glory in that time as well. Tim Robbins broke out BIG in Bull Durham in 1988 and won major awards for his role in The Player just before Shawshank. Jacob's Ladder was a big movie as well. The selling-power of the actors wasn't the issue. It was definitely the title/subject-matter combo. It's such a dark subject matter for so much of the film, even though its final 20 minutes is one of the most joyful, emotional, and satisfying things you will ever see.
Hehe.. reason why I saw the film cause all the other films were full. Me and my gf were absolutely floored after the film and told indecisive ppl (mostly couples) in the lobby to watch Shawshank. Had no clue who Freeman was and this was the film that made me watch the other films he was in. Robbins although I did like The Player.. wasn't the reason why I watched it cause I didn't even recognize him in the poster.. so it was only due to availability. Also the picture of the character standing in the rain didn't say block buster.. I knew nothing of the film cept the the people that watched it with us were also ppl the same predicament. We were there for Pulp or Gump.. ended up with Shank. Only one film made me tear up (ST2:TWoK) and I was a kid/teen back then.. this is first film to make me tear up as an adult(mid 20's).
I am surprised about Blade Runner, Fight Club, and The Shawshank Redemption. I thought these movies did well. They were very popular with most people I knew.
IMO, "Blade Runner" had awesome production design, but the plot was kinda boring. They should have kept the sets intact and made another, BETTER movie.
Fight Club is absolutely a modern retelling of a story by Edgar Allen Poe called "William Wilson". For some inexplicable reason NOBODY has ever discussed the absolute truth, nor made the connection. There is no legal reason to avoid admitting this, as all of Poe's tales are in the public domain. If you are a fan of Fight Club, please read this story and you'll understand the origins of F.C.'s major themes. Then post your responses & let me know what revelations you've gained. Thank-you
You left out Night of the Hunter directed by Charles Laughton. It was a big flop but has attained cult status. The French who really know cinema think it's the second greatest film after Citizen Kane. It broke its director's heart and sadly he never directed another film. He was, however, one of the best actors who ever lived.
Yeah, the only reason I left Night of the Hunter out is because I spoke about the film in the video just before this one. But you're right: the negative reception to it made it so Laughton never directed a again, a true shame considering how excellent the movie is (also perhaps the coolest name for a movie ever besides Blade Runner).
Mike Judge's films get no respect. Not even from people making lists of such films. I can barely go three days without hearing someone making a reference to either Idiocracy or Office Space. I mean seriously, what other movie could compel an office supply company to expand their product line to include a particularly colored stapler? Ask anyone "what ***are*** electrolytes?" and they're likely to come back at you quoting half the movie.
I remember seeing the trailers of "Fight Club" and thinking "Hollywood beau Brad Pitt is trying to star in a Van Damme movie? Nope, not for me, for multiple reasons" Man, was I deceived.
Solid suggestions, especially Dredd and Valerian. I included Dredd in a recent one, so I didn't recap it in here but it definitely would've fit. It's unfortunate Valerian didn't do well - I actually enjoyed it in theaters.
@@Syntopikon Ah, yes you did Dredd, I'm seeing so many TH-cam videos I don't recall where I've seen what. About Valerian, I too do like it, but the production was always going to be too expensive to be profitable I think. Also Dehane was a bit too cocky in the role perhaps so that was legitimate critisism. As for Idiocracy, 20cent only distributed it to 5 theaters or so, with no marketing.
Fight Club is about deprogramming yourself, not about fascism, neither masculinity...and just symbolically about violence. It's way more interesting than the source novel
Palianuk is my favorite writer, but he is a satirist who takes his character on a long crazy road of discovery, where the extremely unlikely circumstances replace the magic we aspire to believe in. And we are forced to view our reality in a completely different way. His books are difficult to translate into films for that reason.
If they were released now, I think James Cameron's "Aliens" would still succeed, and (despite it's technical brilliance) Carpenter's "The Thing" would still flop. One is exciting, with likeable characters and a satisfying ending, while the other (though occasionally exciting) is pretty grim with characters who aren't as quotable, and an ending that is something of a bummer. "The Thing" probably works better in a living room than it ever would in a theatre full of 18 years old's- dragging their girlfriends along with them- in search of a summer thrill ride.
I think that's a wise assessment. Aliens is, for lack of a better word, more of a movie-ish movie than The Thing. More action, a clearly delineated adversary, and, as you say, more exciting. Both are great movies for their own reasons, but Aliens is just more Hollywood, in a way.
Speed Racer flopped harder than any of these films and if you look online it has gone through a huge surge in change of attitude toward it.. Now many call it their favorite film.
It's always interesting to see how people come around to movies over long periods of time. It's always always heartening to see, as it is in this case.
I haven't conducted any research, but I imagine one reason Fight Club flopped when it was released was because of the marketing. I had seen the previews, and I didn't want to watch a movie that was about a bunch of guys beating each other up. But a year or so later, a friend who knew me well brought me his copy of the DVD and said, "You want to watch this. It isn't just about fighting." I took a chance and watched it. It quickly became one of my favorite movies because of what it says about capitalism and about the pointlessness of reacting to women's increased power as a macho "alpha" dude. If the previews had dealt with something other than guys beating each other to a bloody pulp, more of us would have gone to see it.
Ehh with Blade Runner, you can influence film and sci-fi for decades and still be a mediocre movie. Saying it had bad timing because a bunch of better movies came out at the same time is kinda says it all.
I love watching old movies. TCM shows forgotten movies of the 70's and 80's sometimes. They're usually pretty good, but for some reason they are regularly run on TV.
Someone needs to explain how Fight Club had a $65 million dollar budget. That movies budget should have been $30 mil on the high end. That must be what studios call "enhanced accounting technique"
The Thing is one of my alltime favorites! Fight Club is great too. While I don’t personally agree with all of these picks, it is an interesting, good list👍🏻
Being an older guy I remember when Blade Runner was released and the reaction to it at that time. * This is important. At the time the mass audience wanted optimistic happy endings with science fiction and fantasy. The “good” films included; ET, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Close Encounters. - Blade Runner; the dark reality of capitalist domination grinding people down, with their police hunting sentient slaves, was too much for most viewers at the time to handle even with Harrison Ford. I loved the film. - The Thing; the negativity to the film was more than the horror involving the monster. It was also a message about humanity. That under extreme pressure humans will viciously turn on each other. I thought The Thing was brilliant. - A PS. Nolan understood the problem of the mass audience not wanting too much of a negative view of humanity. That’s why in The Dark Knight Nolan made it clear that the people of Gotham were good. Even the killers on the ferry were good. This made the film more kid friendly which = more box office. - Another PS. The Empire Strikes Back; was obviously not a flop but when released, the film had a lot of negative reviews and negative comments from audience members as well as by George Lucas. The movie was dark and the bad guys were winning at that point. I thought Empire Strikes Back was excellent.
Children of Men has great camera work, and a very compelling story. I do remember talking it up to friends and family and them being disinterested. It's marketing was bad, and also the director was unknown. My circle just didn't want to give it a shot.
Yeah, it took a couple of releases to get its box office numbers up there but without the TV syndication + home video releases, I don't think it would've been as beloved as it is today. I remember a time where you couldn't turn on the TV without Shawshank playing on TNT.
@@stellviahohenheim I agree! I think the scene with the opera record was one of the most insipid things ever committed to film. Darabont should have been banned from making films forever for that!
Can't believe you left out the Wizard of Oz. Its box office flop led to its being a cheap option for tv broadcast, which in turn led to its establishment as a classic.
I saw Blade Runner two nights in a row when it first came out in my small home town, opening night and the second night showing. Hardly anyone else was in the theatre. What a bunch of fools!
@@gregorycarver9256 I like the theatrical release with the narration way more than the later-released director’s cut. Especially because Harrison Ford’s has an uninterested tone of voice, which is because he reluctantly made the voiceover per the studio’s demand to avoid getting sued for breach of contract despite agreeing with Ridley Scott’s objection to it. IMO, it adds a tone of resignation by the protagonist to the story, which contributes to the notion that he was caught up in something he despised but was powerless to fight against.
To be fair, there are films I didn’t get the first time, like eternal sunshine of the spotless mind or memento, which I love now and appreciate there brilliance.
At long last it's time to talk about Fight Club. I didn't see it when it came out, but everyone, and I mean everyone, talked about it. I'm surprised that it tanked financially. When I did finally see it on DVD, I wished I'd seen it when it came out. I had been noticing the systematic demonization of testosterone in my culture (I'm female from LA) and in film. Just watched it again and each time it gets better. And now, of course, the idiots are making a "girls' version." Thanks for your insightful video. And thanks for your take on Blade Runner. That movie was so good that we just stayed in the theater and saw it again. We told everybody about it, but it was over a year later, in art school, that I realized it had become a cult. Gibson said shortly after it came out that he took a break from writing Neuromancer to go to the movies. But he had to leave after 20 minutes. "There on the screen was everything I had been writing about. I was afraid it would affect my own vision, so I left."
For those not familiar with Citizen Kane, it is a movie about a wealthy newspaper magnate who dies. His last words are "Rosebud". The movie is all about this journalist trying to find out what that means. Here's the problem. In the scene where Mr. Kane dies, he's alone. There is no one else there. So how does anyone know what his last words were? Biggest plot hole in movie history.
I loved ALL of these instantly, the first time I watched them ... except I thought the ending of Blade Runner made no sense at all. Imagine my surprise when I found out that Ridley Scott agreed with me!
the village is a film that i would’ve put on here. everyone hated it when it came out but it’s quietly improved as the years went by and people love it now
Every movie in this list except _Citizen Kane_ is an adaptation, and all but one is credited as such - but no love for _Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?_
The studio took the movie away from the director and butchered it to cut it down to a runtime that was at the maximum tolerable length for theatre-released movies at the time. The director’s cut, in contrast, is well worth the slog.
Blade Runner isn't even the best sci fi movie of 1980 and is not good now. It sucked all day, everyday and the "love" for it is mostly faux nostaligia. Nothing about it is "cutting edge" and the plot has more holes in it than a new Disney release.
There’s eight sequences I can think of off the top of my head that are some of the finest oners in history for CoM. That last shot one in the combat zone w/the baby is FIRE.
Absolutely! Kurosawa was not appreciated in Japan. One of the greatest geniuses of cinema. I had a husband who refused to watch anything but top=quality films. His favorite was Kurosawa. Wish there were more pple like him. Maybe we'd have less trash.
One of the issues with The Thing was its R rating in the USA and 18 rating here in the UK. In those days, once you hit 18 you were going to the movies more as a date night. Most people who saw The Thing saw it underage on home video or pirated. I was around 13 at the time and saw it with a big group of high school friends at someone's house whose parents were away. Reviews also made a massive difference at the time. Fight Club got slated and that's why I didn't go. I eventually saw it on a plane - despite the plane crash opening and loved it.
I'm sick to death of people talking up fight club 😒. Just let it go. A crazy guy goes against the system...blah blah blah....if that happened in real life he's a mass murder and you people shun it. Such hypocrites
"John Carter" may be a film that the next generation may rediscover, especially if it is re-released with its original title, "John Carter of Mars". General consensus is that Disney purposefully sabotaged the marketing of "John Carter", even by giving the film its bland title, because corporate was about to acquire the "Star Wars" franchise and decided it didn't want a competing action-adventure-SciFi franchise.
Sad to think these films floped not because they were bad but because of the year and time they released, to think if the thing and blade runner released before ET
This shows why I watch films the critics hate not what they love, because, the films they love are usually awful nonsensical trash, those they hate usually are awesome.
I took a girl to see Blade Runner on a firat date when it was released. After the first 20 minutes I was so drawn in that I almost forgot she was there. A great evening but not my best date ever! 😂
Bladerunner 2049 was not a good movie. It nailed the atmosphere, but you won't find one person who could tell you what the story was without googling it.
Yeah my thoughts on that one too. It was one of those movies like Alex Garland's Annihilation which I watched absolutely hammered with mates and I figured I didn't understand it because I was wasted. Then I watched it again when sober and it was like "yeah, it was just as crap as I remembered it"
It was about the perils of forging an independent destiny, as well as the soul-crushing disappointment of finding out that your destiny is no big deal. And don't google anything to find out what it's about unless you only want the corporate version.
A lot of these critics will pan a film because it’s not what they wanted it to be. Today if a superhero movie isn’t loaded with slapstick comedy, with the exception of Batman, they will bash the film. They wanted a campy bad comedy with a non threatening villain not an epic sci-fi, superhero adventure with great acting music, villains, hero, directing, visuals and plot execution.
The Academy Awards very, very rarely award the best films anything they usually only award rubbish. No-one I know watch their award winning movies 98% of the time.
Right off the start I disagree on Battleship. I think it is very entertaining, and sometimes that's all you want from a movie. There are times we look for deep content and extraordinary acting, etc and then there are times you just want to have a good time thats all. Is similar to Smokey and the Bandit, it is just fun.
Just like early critical hits on Classical composers e.g. Beethoven (such a paucity of inspiration!), Chopin (horrendous harmony!; ear-splitting dissonance!); Brahms (all beer and beard!)😅😅
Editing and marketing also play big parts in how well a film is received in theaters. The theatrical cut is sometimes a muted or incoherent mess due to studio interference and would not become known as a masterpiece no matter how much time passes.
If you care about hat critics have to say, you also care what people in comments has to say. Both are equally valuable. The difference is that for some reason, people care about made up 'titles'.
I tried to watch Citizen Kane again and again and tried to like it. I can’t. It is boring, plot too non subtle, too much overacting, and not pleasant watching. Very overrated in my opinion.
Blade Runner flopped because it was a bridge too far; a Naziesque anti-hero who the script creates sympathy for at the end, the brutal killing of women that because they were “synths” the audience was supposed to over look. It was a moral assault to the ‘82 audience.
![[LIVE] : ONE ลุมพินี 79 | คู่เอก "ก้องชัย vs อาเมียร์"](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/WfPSA1A0NHc/mqdefault.jpg)
Imagine being a critic calling a movie “one of the worst films ever” only for that same movie to become critically acclaimed and then call it a masterpiece years later
Well, if he/she after all these years still doesn't like it at least he/she was honest.
@@KapiteinKrentebol Which reminds me of Roger Ebert's review of "Tora! Tora! Tora!" (1970).
@@Otokichi786 And The Thirteenth Warrior. I didn't watch that movie for years because Ebert panned it. I think he was woke ahead of his time, in that anything that seemed a celebration of masculinity was something he had an instant aversion to.
@@Otokichi786 _Tora! Tora! Tora!_ is not considered a masterpiece.
@@Otokichi786 I almost always found that if Ebert panned a movie, I could count on liking it.
Let's not forget that the theatrical release of Blade Runner was a completely different film than the director's cut, which was released years later. It is the director's cut that is a cult classic. It's actually hard to find the theatrical release these days.
You’d need to find the collectors edition shaped like a briefcase
It's not expectation or anything it's studio interference
Indeed, that studio-mandated voiceover - which Harrison Ford deliberately did as badly as possible because he rightly hated it - was a real detriment to the whole thing. Once it was released _sans_ voiceover, as originally intended, everyone was like, oh, this is actually a really good movie!
And then he had to go back and fiddle with it some more and ... about that the less said, the better.
Final cut, not the director's cut.
Blade Runner is the best over all sci fi film. The complete set has the narrative version. It is the best one. The point of the movie was humans were becoming like androids and and androids were being humans.
The movie critics didn't like Fight Club because it ridicules guys like them.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGG......RIGHT!..ON!!....BRUTHARRRRR!!!!!.....YEEEEEEAAHHHH!!!😫😖😡🤕💀
@@brettrobinson2901 A simple like would have been enough.
@@leesimmons5453 😇
There are critics, that coped with their depression by joining an underground fighting club to become a somekind of a brainwashed red pill cult member, and then moved on to terrorism?
@@leesimmons5453how about a simple “correct”?
Children of men is genuinely one of the best dystopian movies ever made
It's way overrated. In my opinion, it's......pish
I loved it, grim as it was.
It's got some of the best long takes
@@Ytinasniiable yes, that's true.
"It's a Wonderful Life" flopped in 1946.
One of my favourite movies.
I’m glad you included Children of Men. I think it’s one of the best if not the best post apocalyptic film. I saw it twice in the theaters. And thank goodness it wasn’t a zombie movie.
It's one of those movies I wish comes back to theaters so I can watch it there. I only ever saw it on TV.
Changed my views on birthing. Before I saw it, I thought the world should quit breeding for ten years. But then I saw what it would do to most people. Now I just wish they'd slow down.
@@tricivenola8164well to be fair, choosing not to breed and finding out people just can't breed anymore would have vastly different social implications
I love how over-dramatic critics were back then “death no longer has any meaning” and “qualifies only as instant junk” is gold
Critics are just sellouts
From what I saw of these excerpts I think The Thing is junk. Why it's here I don't know.
@@stellviahohenheim Not all.
time and time again the Oscars get it wrong too 😢 only time tells (Shawshank Redemption lost Best Picture to Forrest Gump, as did Pulp Fiction)
I saw The Thing in 1982 and loved it so much I had to see it again the next day. I knew immediately it was a masterpiece. Critics are just stupid.
The same for me. I had rented it a few years later, watched it, watched it again in the morning, and one more time in the afternoon.
I have watched it once every couple of years ever since then.
One of my favourite movies of all time.
A Masterpiece of Sci Fi Horror. The best of it's kind
The critics who hated _Fight Club_ didn't get it in the exact same way as a certain kind of guy who _loves_ it, for all the wrong reasons. (Hint: Tyler Durden is _not_ the hero/aspirational figure and you're not supposed to follow his "philosophy")
Likewise with _Starship Troopers_
Fight Club is about deprogramming yourself...it's starting/final countdown literally leads not to the blowing of the edifices, but the protagonist brain (>old conformist personality)
I avoided Blade Runner 2049 when it was released because I assumed it would be just another case of sequelitis. Apparently, I wasn't alone in that thought, as it was somewhat of a commercial failure. However, as time has passed, its perspective on AI relationships has started to seem quite prescient. In a way, it has become a true sequel.
Somewhat of a commercial failure? The studio lost $80 million.
2049 is truly a great movie. One I can watch again and again. Strong women, incredible set design, great performances, all around top 10 in the neighborhood of 2001 a Space Odessey in this dog's opinion.
I watched half an hour of it when it was on TV. It was so slow and boring. Should I give it another chance?
@@lordprotector3367 I say yes, in a dark room and a good sound system.. the movie builds to a pretty good end..
The Thing is one of my favorite movies EVER- saw it in the theatre and it scared the CRAP out of me... a great remake of another GREAT film...
Lucky. I keep a lookout for it returning to theaters. It's one of those movies I need to see on the big screen.
I remember how annoying it was as a kid when the 3 Amigos came out and all the adults who did not get the proto-Simpsons humor were trying to convince us kids it was not a masterpiece.
You're setting the bar for masterpieces, extremely low.
@@garyphisher7375 because a comedy cannot be a masterpiece? 3 Amigos is hilariously written, beautifully filmed, and has performances that shaped a generation. It is more akin to the Godfather than an eighties comedy.
@@bltvd Wow - that is a serious double-down! Performances that shaped a generation. More akin to The Godfather.
I'll need to take five.
I think that the failure of The Shawshank Redemption was primarily due to the obscurity of the two main actors; at that time, neither Morgan Freeman nor Tim Robbins had much success in cinema. So you understand, the role of Red could have been given to such legends as Harrison Ford, Paul Newman, Gene Hackman and Robert Duvall. Well, of course, the name Frank Darabont also didn’t really mean anything to the audience; he had only one TV movie, which no one really saw. However, the box office failure pales in comparison to the cult status that The Shawshank Redemption received.
I dunno. Morgan Freeman was on a big hot streak coming into 1993. He had received Oscar nominations for Street Smart and Driving Ms. Daisy in the prior handful of years, and was in major cultural hits Lean on Me and Glory in that time as well. Tim Robbins broke out BIG in Bull Durham in 1988 and won major awards for his role in The Player just before Shawshank. Jacob's Ladder was a big movie as well. The selling-power of the actors wasn't the issue. It was definitely the title/subject-matter combo. It's such a dark subject matter for so much of the film, even though its final 20 minutes is one of the most joyful, emotional, and satisfying things you will ever see.
Hehe.. reason why I saw the film cause all the other films were full. Me and my gf were absolutely floored after the film and told indecisive ppl (mostly couples) in the lobby to watch Shawshank. Had no clue who Freeman was and this was the film that made me watch the other films he was in. Robbins although I did like The Player.. wasn't the reason why I watched it cause I didn't even recognize him in the poster.. so it was only due to availability. Also the picture of the character standing in the rain didn't say block buster.. I knew nothing of the film cept the the people that watched it with us were also ppl the same predicament. We were there for Pulp or Gump.. ended up with Shank. Only one film made me tear up (ST2:TWoK) and I was a kid/teen back then.. this is first film to make me tear up as an adult(mid 20's).
Freeman was famous before Shawshank, that film just gave him opportunity to land famous roles.
I personally did not care for Citizen Kane.
Yes, it's a work of sculpture, rather than literature, and there's no feel to it at all.
I think that GATTACA needs to be on that list.
Yup. Gattaca would also fit here.
its all about the soundtrack and a good well written narration. Love Alan Arkin.
Sad fact…. I know fight club word for word, and my wife absolutely hates me for it. 😂
Blade Runner was way ahead of its time
I am surprised about Blade Runner, Fight Club, and The Shawshank Redemption. I thought these movies did well. They were very popular with most people I knew.
IMO, "Blade Runner" had awesome production design, but the plot was kinda boring. They should have kept the sets intact and made another, BETTER movie.
I'm not sure it would be regarded as a flop but a film that has grown in stature immensely since is The Big Lebowski
I have seen several videos that refer to The Shawshank Redemption as a novel thank you for getting it right.
Fight Club is absolutely a modern retelling of a story by Edgar Allen Poe called "William Wilson". For some inexplicable reason NOBODY has ever discussed the absolute truth, nor made the connection. There is no legal reason to avoid admitting this, as all of Poe's tales are in the public domain. If you are a fan of Fight Club, please read this story and you'll understand the origins of F.C.'s major themes. Then post your responses & let me know what revelations you've gained. Thank-you
You left out Night of the Hunter directed by Charles Laughton. It was a big flop but has attained cult status. The French who really know cinema think it's the second greatest film after Citizen Kane. It broke its director's heart and sadly he never directed another film. He was, however, one of the best actors who ever lived.
Yeah, the only reason I left Night of the Hunter out is because I spoke about the film in the video just before this one. But you're right: the negative reception to it made it so Laughton never directed a again, a true shame considering how excellent the movie is (also perhaps the coolest name for a movie ever besides Blade Runner).
Mike Judge's films get no respect. Not even from people making lists of such films. I can barely go three days without hearing someone making a reference to either Idiocracy or Office Space. I mean seriously, what other movie could compel an office supply company to expand their product line to include a particularly colored stapler? Ask anyone "what ***are*** electrolytes?" and they're likely to come back at you quoting half the movie.
I remember seeing the trailers of "Fight Club" and thinking "Hollywood beau Brad Pitt is trying to star in a Van Damme movie? Nope, not for me, for multiple reasons"
Man, was I deceived.
Children of Men was a pile of shit. The only reason "artsy" movie fans consider it anything worth watching is all the super long single shot scenes.
Fight Club was a flop??? I didn't know that
Nice, here are a few others to consider, Dredd, Idiocracy, Shoot 'Em Up, Valerian and the city of a thousand planets, Super Troopers, Event Horizon.
Solid suggestions, especially Dredd and Valerian. I included Dredd in a recent one, so I didn't recap it in here but it definitely would've fit. It's unfortunate Valerian didn't do well - I actually enjoyed it in theaters.
@@Syntopikon Ah, yes you did Dredd, I'm seeing so many TH-cam videos I don't recall where I've seen what. About Valerian, I too do like it, but the production was always going to be too expensive to be profitable I think. Also Dehane was a bit too cocky in the role perhaps so that was legitimate critisism. As for Idiocracy, 20cent only distributed it to 5 theaters or so, with no marketing.
@@SyntopikonBaseketball
valerian is garbage
@@TheNimdude Them be fighting words.
Fantasia was a failure upon release.
Now, it is a well loved must-see classic.
The reviews for Fight Club would make more sense if they actually knew what fascism is.
Fight Club is about deprogramming yourself, not about fascism, neither masculinity...and just symbolically about violence.
It's way more interesting than the source novel
@@pepeluisito2842 I was actually saying that the reviewer doesn't know what fascism is.
Palianuk is my favorite writer, but he is a satirist who takes his character on a long crazy road of discovery, where the extremely unlikely circumstances replace the magic we aspire to believe in. And we are forced to view our reality in a completely different way. His books are difficult to translate into films for that reason.
if you review just the script i could kind of see their point, but the performances and overall quality of production really elevates the whole movie
If they were released now, I think James Cameron's "Aliens" would still succeed, and (despite it's technical brilliance) Carpenter's "The Thing" would still flop. One is exciting, with likeable characters and a satisfying ending, while the other (though occasionally exciting) is pretty grim with characters who aren't as quotable, and an ending that is something of a bummer. "The Thing" probably works better in a living room than it ever would in a theatre full of 18 years old's- dragging their girlfriends along with them- in search of a summer thrill ride.
I think that's a wise assessment. Aliens is, for lack of a better word, more of a movie-ish movie than The Thing. More action, a clearly delineated adversary, and, as you say, more exciting. Both are great movies for their own reasons, but Aliens is just more Hollywood, in a way.
Speed Racer flopped harder than any of these films and if you look online it has gone through a huge surge in change of attitude toward it.. Now many call it their favorite film.
It's always interesting to see how people come around to movies over long periods of time. It's always always heartening to see, as it is in this case.
I didn't like it. The cartoon is much better.
I like that movie.. Wild process.. Christine Ricci and Susan Sarandon ooh la la.. Go speed racer go!
I haven't conducted any research, but I imagine one reason Fight Club flopped when it was released was because of the marketing. I had seen the previews, and I didn't want to watch a movie that was about a bunch of guys beating each other up. But a year or so later, a friend who knew me well brought me his copy of the DVD and said, "You want to watch this. It isn't just about fighting." I took a chance and watched it. It quickly became one of my favorite movies because of what it says about capitalism and about the pointlessness of reacting to women's increased power as a macho "alpha" dude. If the previews had dealt with something other than guys beating each other to a bloody pulp, more of us would have gone to see it.
Ehh with Blade Runner, you can influence film and sci-fi for decades and still be a mediocre movie. Saying it had bad timing because a bunch of better movies came out at the same time is kinda says it all.
Blade Runner losing out to all that bollocks is tragic. A top 10 film
Uggg blade runner is so over blown. People go on and on about it till I want to walk into a chopper blade.
It depends what people go to the cinema for. In the age of Marvel, all these films would flop
I love watching old movies. TCM shows forgotten movies of the 70's and 80's sometimes. They're usually pretty good, but for some reason they are regularly run on TV.
TCM is great. Between it & Criterion Channel, there's a near endless supply of excellent movies to watch.
Someone needs to explain how Fight Club had a $65 million dollar budget. That movies budget should have been $30 mil on the high end. That must be what studios call "enhanced accounting technique"
The Thing is one of my alltime favorites! Fight Club is great too. While I don’t personally agree with all of these picks, it is an interesting, good list👍🏻
Being an older guy I remember when Blade Runner was released and the reaction to it at that time.
* This is important. At the time the mass audience wanted optimistic happy endings with science fiction and fantasy. The “good” films included; ET, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Close Encounters.
- Blade Runner; the dark reality of capitalist domination grinding people down, with their police hunting sentient slaves, was too much for most viewers at the time to handle even with Harrison Ford. I loved the film.
- The Thing; the negativity to the film was more than the horror involving the monster. It was also a message about humanity. That under extreme pressure humans will viciously turn on each other. I thought The Thing was brilliant.
- A PS. Nolan understood the problem of the mass audience not wanting too much of a negative view of humanity. That’s why in The Dark Knight Nolan made it clear that the people of Gotham were good. Even the killers on the ferry were good. This made the film more kid friendly which = more box office.
- Another PS. The Empire Strikes Back; was obviously not a flop but when released, the film had a lot of negative reviews and negative comments from audience members as well as by George Lucas. The movie was dark and the bad guys were winning at that point. I thought Empire Strikes Back was excellent.
Children of Men has great camera work, and a very compelling story. I do remember talking it up to friends and family and them being disinterested. It's marketing was bad, and also the director was unknown. My circle just didn't want to give it a shot.
Shawshank could have had a more attractive title. It gives no idea of what the film is about.
King of comedy
Oh yeh...and another Scorsese, After Hours (1985) which is just a brilliant film, but under-performed, if not flopped.
Yes. My very critical husband loved it.
Didn't realize Shawshank was a flop. I always thought it was wildly overrated, so that isn't a surprise to me.
Yeah, it took a couple of releases to get its box office numbers up there but without the TV syndication + home video releases, I don't think it would've been as beloved as it is today. I remember a time where you couldn't turn on the TV without Shawshank playing on TNT.
Yeah Shawshank redemption is the worst movie ever made
@@stellviahohenheim have you ever seen dragon ball evolution? watch it, then look me in the eyes and tell me it’s not the worst movie ever made
@@stellviahohenheim I agree! I think the scene with the opera record was one of the most insipid things ever committed to film. Darabont should have been banned from making films forever for that!
"It's a Wonderful Life" flopped at the box office. It's been a Christmas season favorite ever since.
Can't believe you left out the Wizard of Oz. Its box office flop led to its being a cheap option for tv broadcast, which in turn led to its establishment as a classic.
These films you mentioned and featured are in my TOP TEN FOR SURE!
But I still *LOATH* 'Citizen Kane' and for many, many decades.
The Shawshank Redemption. Bad things can happen in Maine
I saw Blade Runner two nights in a row when it first came out in my small home town, opening night and the second night showing. Hardly anyone else was in the theatre. What a bunch of fools!
Now that is enviable. It's finally showing at a local theater on September 30th this year and I can't wait to see it on the big screen.
Me too! loved every minute even though it included Harry's narration.. in this dog's opinion.. Light years ahead of it's time..
@@gregorycarver9256 I like the theatrical release with the narration way more than the later-released director’s cut. Especially because Harrison Ford’s has an uninterested tone of voice, which is because he reluctantly made the voiceover per the studio’s demand to avoid getting sued for breach of contract despite agreeing with Ridley Scott’s objection to it. IMO, it adds a tone of resignation by the protagonist to the story, which contributes to the notion that he was caught up in something he despised but was powerless to fight against.
To be fair, there are films I didn’t get the first time, like eternal sunshine of the spotless mind or memento, which I love now and appreciate there brilliance.
At long last it's time to talk about Fight Club. I didn't see it when it came out, but everyone, and I mean everyone, talked about it. I'm surprised that it tanked financially. When I did finally see it on DVD, I wished I'd seen it when it came out. I had been noticing the systematic demonization of testosterone in my culture (I'm female from LA) and in film. Just watched it again and each time it gets better. And now, of course, the idiots are making a "girls' version." Thanks for your insightful video. And thanks for your take on Blade Runner. That movie was so good that we just stayed in the theater and saw it again. We told everybody about it, but it was over a year later, in art school, that I realized it had become a cult. Gibson said shortly after it came out that he took a break from writing Neuromancer to go to the movies. But he had to leave after 20 minutes. "There on the screen was everything I had been writing about. I was afraid it would affect my own vision, so I left."
For those not familiar with Citizen Kane, it is a movie about a wealthy newspaper magnate who dies. His last words are "Rosebud". The movie is all about this journalist trying to find out what that means. Here's the problem. In the scene where Mr. Kane dies, he's alone. There is no one else there. So how does anyone know what his last words were? Biggest plot hole in movie history.
I loved ALL of these instantly, the first time I watched them ... except I thought the ending of Blade Runner made no sense at all. Imagine my surprise when I found out that Ridley Scott agreed with me!
Children of men is one of those movies that I liked better than the book. Scary as hell too
you go back the CITIZEN KANE, but how about THE GENERAL? SEVEN SAMURAI was also a flop on its initial US release having been grievously cut short
The General, Buster Keaton. A masterpiece of comedy for sure.
the village is a film that i would’ve put on here. everyone hated it when it came out but it’s quietly improved as the years went by and people love it now
The Village wasn't really a flop though. It still made over 250 million on an estimated 60 million budget,
@@Mike-pd6fm oh damn i didn’t know that. that’s impressive
I never understood the dislike for the village.
@@troyarrington5492 it’s an incredible movie imo
I loved Babylon
Why are you talking about Fight Club? Not allowed.
The first two rules were always the least obeyed.
Every movie in this list except _Citizen Kane_ is an adaptation, and all but one is credited as such - but no love for _Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?_
Children of Men is another yawn fest with no actual plot or acting. The fact that "film critics" liked it is another indictment.
Heavens gate (1980) is a great example, one of my all time favorites
The studio took the movie away from the director and butchered it to cut it down to a runtime that was at the maximum tolerable length for theatre-released movies at the time. The director’s cut, in contrast, is well worth the slog.
Sadly, it was a vile, speciesist piece of shit, that rightly destroyed Cimino's career.
Blade Runner isn't even the best sci fi movie of 1980 and is not good now. It sucked all day, everyday and the "love" for it is mostly faux nostaligia. Nothing about it is "cutting edge" and the plot has more holes in it than a new Disney release.
After Earth was NOT a good movie.
There’s eight sequences I can think of off the top of my head that are some of the finest oners in history for CoM. That last shot one in the combat zone w/the baby is FIRE.
Great video. Speaking of "Seven Samurai" you should do a video on the GOAT: Akira Kurosawa.
Absolutely! Kurosawa was not appreciated in Japan. One of the greatest geniuses of cinema. I had a husband who refused to watch anything but top=quality films. His favorite was Kurosawa. Wish there were more pple like him. Maybe we'd have less trash.
It always starts with Babylon lol
The Babylon featurette where they show the old school movie making is just too good to pass on lol
In Children of Men, the Michael Caine scene where he gets mad while doing Tai Chi is the funniest scene in a non comedy ever
One of the issues with The Thing was its R rating in the USA and 18 rating here in the UK. In those days, once you hit 18 you were going to the movies more as a date night. Most people who saw The Thing saw it underage on home video or pirated. I was around 13 at the time and saw it with a big group of high school friends at someone's house whose parents were away.
Reviews also made a massive difference at the time. Fight Club got slated and that's why I didn't go. I eventually saw it on a plane - despite the plane crash opening and loved it.
I'm sick to death of people talking up fight club 😒. Just let it go. A crazy guy goes against the system...blah blah blah....if that happened in real life he's a mass murder and you people shun it. Such hypocrites
Sick to death ? Who stop you
One person dies in the movie.🙄
He is shot by police and his name is Robert Paulson. 🤷♂️
Fight Club. Modern mental illness underlined
More great films which flopped:
Dark City
The Rocketeer
Scot Pilgrim
Yup. In general, I feel bad for Alex Proyas because the guy makes some great films.
Much of John Carpenters filmography
"John Carter" may be a film that the next generation may rediscover, especially if it is re-released with its original title, "John Carter of Mars". General consensus is that Disney purposefully sabotaged the marketing of "John Carter", even by giving the film its bland title, because corporate was about to acquire the "Star Wars" franchise and decided it didn't want a competing action-adventure-SciFi franchise.
Released the SAME DAY: The Thing & Blade Runner.
Sad to think these films floped not because they were bad but because of the year and time they released, to think if the thing and blade runner released before ET
I didn't like ET.
This shows why I watch films the critics hate not what they love, because, the films they love are usually awful nonsensical trash, those they hate usually are awesome.
The Thing. A horror classic. No where to run to. More scary than Alien!
I took a girl to see Blade Runner on a firat date when it was released. After the first 20 minutes I was so drawn in that I almost forgot she was there. A great evening but not my best date ever! 😂
It's absolutely mad how a critic can ruin a great film but a cult film by so many people 😢
Wise statement
Bladerunner 2049 was not a good movie. It nailed the atmosphere, but you won't find one person who could tell you what the story was without googling it.
Well, that's your opinion, man.
Yeah my thoughts on that one too. It was one of those movies like Alex Garland's Annihilation which I watched absolutely hammered with mates and I figured I didn't understand it because I was wasted. Then I watched it again when sober and it was like "yeah, it was just as crap as I remembered it"
It was about the perils of forging an independent destiny, as well as the soul-crushing disappointment of finding out that your destiny is no big deal. And don't google anything to find out what it's about unless you only want the corporate version.
A lot of these critics will pan a film because it’s not what they wanted it to be. Today if a superhero movie isn’t loaded with slapstick comedy, with the exception of Batman, they will bash the film. They wanted a campy bad comedy with a non threatening villain not an epic sci-fi, superhero adventure with great acting music, villains, hero, directing, visuals and plot execution.
Blade Runner needed to dispense with the wooden voiceover. It was a '90s film that was butchered for the '80s.
You forgot to include Dragon Slayer.
The Academy Awards very, very rarely award the best films anything they usually only award rubbish. No-one I know watch their award winning movies 98% of the time.
Right off the start I disagree on Battleship. I think it is very entertaining, and sometimes that's all you want from a movie. There are times we look for deep content and extraordinary acting, etc and then there are times you just want to have a good time thats all. Is similar to Smokey and the Bandit, it is just fun.
Just like early critical hits on Classical composers e.g. Beethoven (such a paucity of inspiration!), Chopin (horrendous harmony!; ear-splitting dissonance!); Brahms (all beer and beard!)😅😅
Editing and marketing also play big parts in how well a film is received in theaters. The theatrical cut is sometimes a muted or incoherent mess due to studio interference and would not become known as a masterpiece no matter how much time passes.
Apparently you didn't get the memo...first rule of "FIGHT CLUB"... DON'T BLOODY FREAKIN' TALK 'BOUT FIGHT CLUBBBB!!!!......😠..........t'anks...😚
Maybe we can say the same thing about Dredd (2012), Valerian and Suckerpunch in the future
If you care about hat critics have to say, you also care what people in comments has to say. Both are equally valuable. The difference is that for some reason, people care about made up 'titles'.
I tried to watch Citizen Kane again and again and tried to like it. I can’t. It is boring, plot too non subtle, too much overacting, and not pleasant watching. Very overrated in my opinion.
Fight Club didn’t exactly flop. EW gave it a C- and is now considered great.
Two comedies that fit the theme is office space and Idiocracy
Off the top of my head, I could also name _Heaven's Gate, Sorcerer, The 13th Warrior_ and _John Carter._
Blade Runner flopped because it was a bridge too far; a Naziesque anti-hero who the script creates sympathy for at the end, the brutal killing of women that because they were “synths” the audience was supposed to over look. It was a moral assault to the ‘82 audience.
Babylon is brilliant.
21:23 That's the same bank in DTLA that gets robbed in Heat (1995). What film is that?
'Shawshank Redemption' is a copy of 'Escape from Alcatraz'…
Hey it’s wrong but saying a film has not a single redeeming quality and might have to find its audience in hell is a cold line