Overrated Movies

[Drtooth]

Actually I think a lot of these cartoon based movies are made live action because whoever is behind them thinks they'll make more money that way. The whole animation age ghetto thing is at play. Make it live action in order to appeal to a wider variety of people. I don't think it's a very good reason personally. If a film is good enough people will show up no matter what the medium. Look at Toy Story 3. There were more than just parents with their kids showing up to that.

The funny thing is that the live action movies, 8 times out of 10, tend to fail and fail big time. Speed Racer was a huge flop that didn't even make budget, Dudley Do-Right and Rocky and Bullwinkle collapsed quickly. Dragonball did laughably and deservedly poor... even when they get things right, the fan base doesn't care for them. George of the Jungle didn't do too well (though I quite like how they handled it.. and nothing filled me with more joy than seeing GOTJ toys at Disney). Last Airbender... another joke (I blame that on M. Night Shabbadoo being a terrible director).

However, Chipmunks, Smurfs, Yogi Bear... and I want to say the first Flintstones movie (second one, not so much) actually managed to find an audience, strangely enough. Chipmunks and Smurfs were both unexpected hits. I might just add Transformers to that as well, but EVERYONE hates those films, yet they go see them anyway.

But it's a high risk gamble that rarely pays off. What I hate is our culture about TV animation and film. I say this all the time, Japan makes theatrical sized versions of their TV anime and show them during various festivals and holidays. Sometimes they have several short films of various animes by the same production company. Not that they don't have live action remakes of those either... Yatterman had BOTH a live action remake and an animated film (based on the 2008 series) in the same year. I wish we could have more current TV cartoons on the big screen... I quite enjoyed the Powerpuff Girls movie, The Simpsons, and all that... I wish I saw Chipmunks Adventure and Heathcliff the movie theatrically.

 

[robodog]

I enjoyed the Transformers movies. They'll never be thought of as great films by any means. They're just two hours of pure stupid fun if you have some time to kill. I think part of the reason I was able to enjoy them was that the original series wasn't really a big part of my childhood so I had no real emotional investment in the franchise. I can see how someone who had a great deal of nostalgia for the original series would hate them though. They were sort of fun but they were pretty stupid and I'm certain longtime fans would have preferred something that didn't require you to turn off your brain.

Wasn't the Heathcliff movie basically an hour and a half clip show though? I might be wrong because I haven't seen it since the 80s but I seem to remember it was. I may be thinking of something else entirely though. I do remember seeing ads for the movie on TV but I don't think it played in my area. A lot of those type movies never showed up in my town though I do remember the local theatre getting The Littles movie for some reason.

 

[CensoredAlso]

They were sort of fun but they were pretty stupid and I'm certain longtime fans would have preferred something that didn't require you to turn off your brain.

Yeah I'm just thankful they managed to make that animated Transformers movie in the '80s. Way more interesting than these recent ones, lol.

 

[Drtooth]

Wasn't the Heathcliff movie basically an hour and a half clip show though?

Yes it was. And I bet if they rereleased it in theaters it would make more money than if they made that new live action one rumored to be in production.

Now if they had a completely CGI Catillac Cats movie, I'd be all over that.

 

[robodog]

Of course it would. A lot of people would flock to it for the nostalgia factor alone.

 

[Drtooth]

I have to ask, why the heck was it that they thought they'd make more money releasing a live action Dragonball movie when they could have made a LOT more if they nationally showed the actual Dragon Ball anime movies theatrically (there's 13 of DBZ alone). They showed two together at special event screenings near Funimation's headquarters (like, 2 theaters near Texas)... I was DEEPLY disappointed in that. And it was advertised widely in comic book magazines.

 

[BobThePizzaBoy]

I officially declare this thread bumped. I thought of these movies months ago as overrated movies I couldn't stand, and wouldn't you know it? All three were up for Best Pictures this past year at the Oscars. And one other from this past summer that set me off.

The Tree of Life - I don't even know what to say about this movie. NOTHING HAPPENS! All I got out of it was some kid died I guess and Sean Penn's in a gaze about it, then we get some dinosaurs and shots of space and then we see said dead kid's childhood, I really have no idea. This movie was pathetic, and if I could actually remember anything from it I'd declare it one of the very worst movies I've ever seen.

The Help - This is the big one. This is for me what Moulin Rouge! is for the Nostalgia Critic, the movie that gets tons of acclaim but does absolutely nothing for me. My problem with this movie is that it focuses less on the actual issue and instead tries to make us feel bad for the black maids without actually showing them to have it that bad (at least for a black maid in 1960s Mississippi). I don't remember a single noteworthy aspect about Viola Davis' character but Octavia Spencer's character was too sassy to be at all sympathetic. The white characters are cardboard and, like Tree of Life, almost NOTHING HAPPENS in this movie. They sit around and talk about how bad racism is but no one does a thing about it, the director doesn't show us a single thing about how bad racism and segregation is/was, and this goes on for 2 and a half hours! I don't get what made people think this movie was so amazing and emotional, because this movie left me feeling nothing.

War Horse - The first Steven Spielberg movie I've ever seen that I genuinely hated. The horse in this movie is not at all entertaining to watch and the human characters, while they are at least more interesting than the characters in The Help are introduced and then exiled out of the story so quickly you hardly get a chance to know them all for a horse and as I've learned unless they are animated and learning about friendship, horses just aren't interesting on film, at least in the fashion Spielberg is going for. I dread the release of Lincoln and hope it isn't the overly sentimental mess this movie was.

Beasts of the Southern Wild - I almost walked out. I have better things to do with my time than watch a little girl do stupid stuff in bayou that gets her dad mad.

 

[Drtooth]

War Horse - The first Steven Spielberg movie I've ever seen that I genuinely hated. The horse in this movie is not at all entertaining to watch and the human characters, while they are at least more interesting than the characters in The Help are introduced and then exiled out of the story so quickly you hardly get a chance to know them all for a horse and as I've learned unless they are animated and learning about friendship, horses just aren't interesting on film, at least in the fashion Spielberg is going for. I dread the release of Lincoln and hope it isn't the overly sentimental mess this movie was.

Did you see the Mad parody, My Little Warhorse?

 

[Animal'sBunny]

Twilight (no, I've never seen the movies, but I've read the books and I nearly died of boredom), Avatar, Transformers and Wall-e. Also, I haven't actually seen Titanic yet, but once I have I'm coming back here and putting it on this list.

 

[Animal'sBunny]

Oh, how could I forget Toy Story, Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3??? I've never liked them (don't ask me why)