Controversial movie opinions

[john]

I like Troy but Brad Pitt can't act (I'll give him the benefit of doubt and add "in that role"). They actually didn't do too bad a job with that, but you can't play Achilles without delivering at least some lines with hard macho conviction. And while he can do it ok with an undercurrent of sarcasm (like in Fight Club), he just can't do it straightfaced. It's like Pitt trying to play Hamlet, he just can't do grim angst.

The rest of it was all right. I thought the war room scenes with Bana were good.

[kuenjato]

Wow. From a technical standpoint a lot of these movies are quite frankly awful. Troy, Transformers, King Arthur, The Phantom Meance etc are all films with great ideas/stem from great sources and all essentially had the soul sucked out of them by braindead executive decisions.

As for shitty movies? hmm, I like Shakes the Clown.

[CelticBrennus]

Predator 2 was better the Predator 1

Conan the Barbarian was the best Arnold movie ever made, as well as the best fantasy style move, including LotR.

Freddy vs Jason is an amazing move

John Wayne movies tend to flat out suck

I didnt think Troy was inherently a bad movie, but I hated it with a passion because they changed elements they didnt need too. The damn story is thousands of years old. YOU WILL NOT MAKE IT BETTER BY CHANGING THINGS.

[Padraig]

I also enjoyed The Postman, for that matter.

I never did understand why it got so much criticism (but then I never read the book and I went in with very low expectations).

[Nas!]

I like Shakes the Clown.

Isn't that the Citizen Kane of alcoholic clown movies?

I agree with naz--Spielberg is not good. Actually, some of his movies are especially bad. Hook is probably his best movie.

[Stratonice]

I loathe Braveheart.

I didn't think that was a particularly controversial opinion... Most people I know (including me) feel the same way.

[Shryke]

- I love Troy. And hate anyone who dislikes it because "it's different from The Illiad. There's no Gods or anything." Fuck you people. Fuck you straight to hell, that's the point of the movie.

- Loved the Matrix Trilogy. The whole thing. Thought the ending was a bit weak (mostly due to being a bit too vague), but overall was great. The second 2 films asked far more interesting questions then the first one, which was basically only "deep" if you were high.

- LOTR goes down hill movie by movie. And straying from the books was good, because the books are boring. Fuck Tom Bombadil. Fuck that son of a bitch in the ass, if you think he should've been in the movie, kill yourself.

- 2001: A Space Odyssey is boring as shit. Seriously, like 20 minutes of "a funny coloured eye, a funny coloured beach, more funny coloured shit, etc.". Without acid or shrooms, this movie blows.

- The Original Star Wars trilogy is no better then the prequels. Seriously, get over your nostalgia. Prequels have better fights/effects/set pieces/etc., but are brought down by the presence of gungans and Jar Jar Binks. Not to mention Hayden Christianson couldn't act worth shit in those movies. I'd say it's a wash as to which ones better, but the OT looks dated.

[Stratonice]

I've found the opposite. Everyone blew their load over Braveheart, for no good reason.

Interesting... But then they're showing it on TV every once in a while so clearly someone thinks it's good.

[Bronn Stone]

If you are amazed by Breakfast at Tiffany's, you must have a fully-functioning Mickey Rooney filter. He spoils what would otherwise be a very enjoyable film.

But it is no Roman Holiday. Not even close.

[BranTheBuilder]

Ok I'll admit to having a massive soft spot for really bad Splatter Horror movies.

and dated Kung Fu films from Hong Kong.

[Marcelo Rebelo Firqoralas]

I just saw 28 Weeks Later the other night. That movie was complete garbage. Plotholes that you could fall into from a mile away.

QFT. When they started chopping up the zombies with the helicopter I just had to turn it off. It had been mind-numbingly stupid up until then, but that was just too much.

[Stratonice]

Ok I'll admit to having a massive soft spot for really bad Splatter Horror movies.

Oh yes, me too!

[EHK for Darwin]

I feel like my head is gonna explode reading this shit. I mean there's personal taste than there's batshit insanity. I could spend the next 6 hours commenting (aka, ripping to fucking shreds) most of these films...but I must stop myself. Enhance my calm. It will pass. Breath deeply......

......

.....

WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU PEOPLES THINKING!!!

I'm calm.

[DanteGabriel]

Heh, I feel like EHK, with less head pressure, maybe.

I just have to say though... I loathe the Matrix trilogy. I flipped off the screen with both hands when credits started rolling on the third. I liked the first okay when it came out, but I didn't think it was worth all the fuss that people were making over it. I mean, come on, it was a well-worn plot/premise on top of Hong Kong cinema and fund it with an American-sized budget. The second I was pretty sure sucked, but I reserved judgment until the third to see how their "interesting questions" would be answered. And it turned out those fucking Wachowskis had no answers. All their posturing turned out to be expensive, flimsy covers for clumsy, ham-fisted Messiah imagery and a trite, hacky, crap ending. Oh, and giant mecha combat. There was giant mecha combat. The third movie made me so angry I won't even watch the first one any more. And then my loathing for the Wachowskis continued when I saw them take the same graceless approach to V for Vendetta.

In conclusion, to fuckery with the Wachowskis.

[Ser Greguh]

Bah, when it comes to slamming sacred cows, I'm seeing a lot of light-middleweight stuff here. Going for the jugular:

Fight Club is vastly overrated. It's well-crafted and well-acted, but at its soul is a petulant, childish attack on a pathetic strawman of contemporary America. It fails as art because its message is schizophrenic (not just in the literal sense), and it fails as entertainment because so much time and energy is spent propping it up as art. And it doesn't help that I saw the "big twist" coming from the second Norton first sees a subliminal glimpse of Pitt.

Gladiator is mediocre at best. Apart from Crowe's performance, there's nothing particularly notable about it. The Joaquin Phoenix character makes for one of the most lazily-crafted villains in recent history, depicted so unsympathetically that they might as well have written in a baby for him to eat. Its opening fight scene is poor in comparison to those of better movies, it is overly long, and drifts far too far into the realm of the sort of movie that undercuts its own message; for a movie that devotes so much time and energy to depicting the wrongs of violence used for the purpose of entertaining a mob, it relies a great deal on that which it is preaching against.

300 is tripe. Not because of historical inaccuracies, not because of the (quite reasonable) offense that Iranians have taken to it, but because it was just bloody boring. Macho porn with a homoerotic vibe so strong that the producers obviously felt they needed to throw gratuitous tits in, presumably for the plausible deniability factor. A two hour long action scene is kind of like a two hour long sex scene: fun at first, but after a while it starts to look like work, and after a long while you're just waiting for it to be over so the characters can get up and have coffee together. And for fuck's sake, is it too much to ask for a movie to at least try to give at least one character an arc? I know we're not exactly talking high art here, but for gods' sake, at least give us something.

As for movies that I think get unfairly bashed, or ignored:

I'll throw my hat in in defense of the Star Wars prequels. There are flaws, yes, but there are also flaws in the original trilogy, and Jar Jar is seriously no more annoying than Threepio. It's fashionable to bash the flaws in the prequels but unfashionable to bash the same flaws in the OT. It's weird. In descending order of quality, the Star Wars movies go: V, III, IV, I, II, VI.

The Core is a comedic gold mine, and people who criticize the movie for its poor science generally don't know wtf they're talking about (that's not to say the science is particularly great, just to say that most people's complaints are the wrong ones). Its pseudoscience is actually much, much more rooted in reality than, say, that of Armageddon. And its story is stronger, with a great deal of humor (that I'm sure was not nearly as unintentional as most people think).

[EHK for Darwin]

Fight Club is vastly overrated.

I think this just might be the first thing we've ever agreed on.

[SwordoftheMorning]

ok, here I go.....

I'd say anyone who states the movies made before 1980 are sub-par simply has no idea what a good movie is.

I think The Long Riders and Tombstone are 2 of the best westerns ever made. The Best western ever made was of course, The Magnificent Seven.

I think John Wayne made so many movies, that its easy to pick out a bunch and say they suck, cause they do. but he made some great ones too. The Cowboys, True Grit, Big Jake, Fort Apache are the ones that pop to mind.

I never got on the Blade Runner bandwagon either. Ditto for Citizen Kane

I enjoyed Braveheart , The Patriot did suck tho.

I detested all the LOTR movies along with the Matrix crapology

I loved Armageddon and will gladly fistfight anyone that disagrees with me on that point.

I thought Troy and Kingdom of Heaven were passable wastings of time

I detest ALL the comic book movies. Spidey, Fantastic Four, XMen, Daredevil all utter shite, but the original Batman (Michael Keaton) was great.

I think The Departed is the most undeserving movie to ever win an Oscar and horrible.

I hated Ran ( the movie, not our fearless leader LOL) and most of the other Kurosawa epics. The Seven Samurai was ok tho.

I have never ever ever been able to stay awake thru a Fellini movie

I think Aliens is hands down the best sci-fi movie ever made.

More later.

[Ser Greguh]

I think this just might be the first thing we've ever agreed on.

Ironic, because it's the sort of opinion which, without fail, raises a shitstorm no matter where it is introduced.

[SwordoftheMorning]

Your opinion is wrong. I sat through 40 minutes of that movie and nothing happened. At all. And then I realized that it was going to go on for two more hours.

40 minutes and nothing happened ? Are we talking about the same movie ?

I can recall from memory all the "action" scenes" from this one and there is no 40 minute span when "nothing" happens. From the initial raid on the village, to the introduction of Yul Brynners "Chris" ( the ride to the cemetary), to the recruitment of the Seven, man...... either you were distracted or your definition of "happening" is vastly different from the rest of us.

The only good thing about that movie was Liv Tyler. Sword, I know youre an old-head at movies, but look: you're telling me that a Ben Affleck flick is better than Ran? You're drawin'.

Well, your statement is wrong on its face because Armageddon ISNT a Ben Affleck flick, its a BRUCE WILLIS flick and as Spike TV was telling us last month, Bruce Willis saves the world. Thats what he does and he is good at it.

[EHK for Darwin]

Controversial opinions.

I think Departed rates up there with other Scorsese classics. I've newly come to this conclusion since I've rewatched it alot lately and have been engrossed every time. I love the performances. I've watched a good half of the film just paying attention to individual characters. Even Nicholson at times appears less hammy than my initial reaction. I don't think Damon is quite as overshadowed as originally thought. Wahlberg is still awesome, but I've cooled on my absolute love of his role. Got a little silly in the end. Alec Baldwin deserved to share that damned Oscar. Hell, even the love interest was competently played throughout and gave credibility to a number of scenes (convenient love triangle anyone?) that normally would have induced a 'Are you fricken kidding me?' reaction. This is an awesome film. Thoroughly entertaining from start to finish...even with the rather absurd ending. Ok...Jack is still hammy and over the top. And ALOT of this comparison is likely due to the fact that I've seen every other major Scorsese film hundreds of times and have gotten sick of them a bit. I mean Goodfellas plays almost as much The Shawshank Redemption on television. Casino too.

Braveheart is the most effective, powerful, and rousing historical epic made in my lifetime. It all but reinvented the modern day battle scene and every hist. epic since has been a lame copy in that department. It has 'THE SPEECH' that all later 'hist epic' film-speeches are compared to. And most subsequent ones have really sucked. Both on writing and delivery. Who the fuck didn't want to charge and slaughter some Englishmen after 'SONS OF SCOTLAND!'? Even side characters with no background were interesting, at times amusing, and enjoyable.

Clarification: The old trilogy had problems, but remained thoroughly enjoyable action-adventures. The prequels were worthless steaming piles of disease ridden shit. I can cringe through the bad moments of the OT. With the prequels, that cringe never leaves my face. Hamil wasn't near as bad of an actor (though he was still bad) as Hayden. Lukes dialog not near as dumb Anakin's. The OT at least had some performances that came to life on screen, some dialog that worked. The prequels had me wanting to scour off my penis with a cheese grater. It is not nostalgia. It is not romanticized fond memories. The prequels just blew.

King Arthur had the longest, most drawn out, anti-climatic, lifeless, boring, and dumb action scenes I've ever seen in a major epic. Alexander had redeeming value. This didn't.

The Prestige works better on an aesthetic level because almost everything done within (short of the Tesla stuff) works in the real world. The Illusionist slapped together some silly, visibly impossible CGI and kept asking the question 'Is it real'. If they'd actually gone through the effort of making that question a reasonable one (aka, design real tricks, not overglorified super-cartoons) it would have been infinitely more interesting. On a basic film level The Prestige is still superior, with better performances and a more interesting dynamic. (obsessive rivals sabotaging eachother and destroying their lives in the process vs. Childhood boyfriend setting up an evil Prince...I'll watch the former)

I'll get some original takes rather than mere responses in a bit.