There’s no top 10 movie list that can cause more angry responses than a top ten “overrated” list. The problem is that every movie fan has their own personal list of most overrated movies. This doesn’t mean all these movies are terrible – in fact many of them will be personal favorites of other movie fans. That being said, even good or fun movies can be badly overrated. This is a list of the ten most overrated movies in modern times. This list contains a competition – further details at the bottom of the list.
After a dozen amazing movies, this was the one that Denzel Washington finally won an Oscar for. Really? Aside from the fact that this rehashed plot is nothing close to original, it feels like this movie received the attention it did because Denzel played a bad guy and that was out of character. This had the same effect that Wayne Brady as a psycho did for the Chapelle’s Show: it might be wildly popular because it’s out of character, but that doesn’t mean the movie was that good. In fact, it was very average, at best.
This isn’t a bad movie. In fact, it’s pretty good and definitely entertaining, but for all the hype that this film received it definitely qualifies as overrated. This movie is on the IMDB Top 250 list, but the dialogue isn’t overly impressive (and only a precursor to “Pulp Fiction,” which is much better), and a lot of this film is based on “tricks” like the non-chronological order and flashbacks, which are used as style choices to hide plot deficiencies. This is a good movie, but it’s hardly a best 200 ever.
Whales. Whales can connect with unknown aliens who are absolutely unstoppable, and are the only species who can save Earth, forcing time travel to 1980′s America. A very campy movie with a plot that questionable doesn’t even begin to describe. Let this one die quietly, bring back KHAN!
It seems like everyone loves this film, but once again this movie is overrated. It’s slow, and takes a long time to play out with intermittent scares. A fairly smart movie (but not overwhelmingly brilliant as many claim) with a legitimately decent twist, but the balance just isn’t right. A little too long and boring, with a twist ending that while decent, was actually not hard to figure out very early on in the film. The ending sequence is impressive, but like many other overrated films this is a decent movie that took too long and lost track of its balance.
A lot of Al Pacino movies are overrated, and it’s not hard to argue that Pacino is consistently one of the most overrated actors in Hollywood. Look he’s screaming and cussing. I’d say again, but when did Pacino stop long enough to start up “again?” While this was a breakthrough film in the sense of violence, one has to wonder how this movie got its status. The F-word is used endlessly (so much for intelligent dialogue), the violence is way over the top, and there really are much better written drug, Mafia, or violent movies. This film might be legendary, but it’s hard to argue that this movie would still hold up if it was a brand new release.
Not even going into the incredible stretching and disregard for historical truth this film reveled in, keep in mind that this was the movie that kicked the butt of “Saving Private Ryan,” “Dark City,” “American History X,” and “The Big Lebowski,” all around the awards shows, but admit it – 9 out of 10 of you had completely forgotten that this movie had ever even existed until it just appeared on this list. Ten years later and this film’s competitors will be remembered for years or even decades to come, while this movie made it’s chick flick splash and then promptly disappeared once the next one came out.
Okay, even with admitting that 2002 was a down year for films; is that really an excuse for “Chicago” to win best picture? This was an entertaining picture, but “Best Picture?” Really? “The Pianist,” “Igby Goes Down,” “Gangs of New York,” and “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers,” were all excellent movies, and it’s hard to accept that “Chicago” was the best of the crop here. This film was fun if you like a musical, but it’s hardly a best picture.
Another very long, absolute clichĂ©d romantic chick flick, except girlfriends went so nuts over this one that it shattered records for money brought in over an insane 9 month theatre running. This movie is the biggest moneymaker of all time? Really? “Titanic” was a long and boring soap opera without good acting, flat cardboard characters, and the all time clichĂ© of a tragic love story between two star-crossed lovers. This is one of the most overrated films of all time, and you could even make a case for this one as number one, except that there are enough people who agree with this assessment to bring it down the overrated list.
There were sections of this film that were hilarious, but there were twice as many that weren’t funny at all. Even worse, as any late night store clerk can attest, these types of jobs provide tons of funny and ridiculous stories that could have been used in this movie, but were barely even touched, instead opting for a lot of cussing and explicit sex jokes. Other parts, like Jay cussing everyone up, just aren’t that funny. This was an impressive independent film, but nothing that should have achieved the near epic status it enjoys.
Anyone who isn’t blown away by star power will see this for what it is: a sad boring film that doesn’t do “Heart of Darkness” any justice. This was terribly acted, stilted, and somehow managed to be ludicrously over dramatic without any drama. Yet this movie is widely considered one of the 100 best of all time and is lauded for its star power. “Apocalypse Now” is terribly overrated, and is on the top of this list as an example of a terrible movie that is lauded for its status over the film itself.
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Contributor: Shane Dayton
PACINO’S ONE OF THE MOST OVERRATED ACTORS???
Well, maybe, just meybe, you should watch Scent of a Woman or even The Godfather Part II to see the incredible nonsense you have just said. He is a master in the art of acting and I can strongly say AL PACINO IS ONE OF THE GREATEST ACTORS IN THE HISTORY OF FILMMAKING.
As for Scarface, it is ONE of my favorite pictures but I got to tive it to you, it is a little overrated
Scarface?!?!?!?!
***** this guy, scarface rocks!
Nope, he's right, it's a bad movie with bad acting. I watched it recently because I'd never seen it and everyone said I had to watch it, it was great!. I almost couldn't sit thought the whole movie it was so bad. Sorry, very, very over rated movie.
Your comment says more about how over-rated your intellect is.
“Overrated” does not have a dash in it. If you’re going to make a crack about somebody’s intellect, please do so with skill.
what’s wrong with his comment ?
pathetic insult
I guess my definiion of "overrated" is way different from yours, because I disagree with almost this entire list.
It's a clever way to get hundreds of comments, though.
agreed.
Scarface and Clerks are NOT overrated. One movie that is though: The Godfather.
Clerks? You say Clerks is better than The Godfather? One of the all-time greatest films ever, and you prefer a stupid comedy with little to no intelligent plot?
Clerks is literally the worst movie ever made…mabey its because i think hockey is the worst sport in the world..or black and white movies should go the way of the dinosaur or mabey its just that i have more intelligence than Christopherborne. I would say its most likely the latter. LOL
????
The Godfather is not overrated???it is the best mafia movies of all time.
Chicago is definatly overrated though,it is the most boring film i have ever watched in my entire life(besides twilight of course~)
The Godfather is not overrated!!!
Scarface and Clerks aren’t but The Godfather IS??? Give me a break.
I have to agree that The Godfather is overrated. It’s a good film but I don’t think it should be rated 2nd on IMBd. I can name a few other films that are better than it, such as LOTR
Try every lord of the rings film for the DEFINITION of overrated. I bet less than 5% of the people who went to see it had even read the book and that an even lower percentage of people even knew the book existed.
Brainwashing anyone?
I love the movies more than the books. Especially #1. I think I read somewhere the the books are the second best selling books of all time so I think you're probably off on that 5%.
I've watched the movies and read the books (well, 2 and a half of the books). I preferred the movies. I'm an avid fantasy sci-fi reader. The books are slow, poorly paced, and feel like the writer is a creative packrat throwing everything he's ever dreamed up over his long life at the reader, with too little regard for story. There's just too much, too detailed information there. Left to Tolkien, the story gets lost in its own world…but the producers of the film did a brilliant job polishing the dirt off the diamonds. It's still a good book though, the way a good encyclopaedia of European folklore is. The fact that you can enjoy the movies without reading the books is one of the reasons the movies are great. What does reading the books have to do with the quality of the movie anyway?
I loved the books. I think, you need to consider the era in which these books where written. People wouldn’t like JRRT’s writings for the same reason they wouldn’t like Thomas Hardy’s – slow and highly descriptive. In that sense, many classics can be added to the pool of slow-paced overly descriptive overrated books. As language changes, so does our taste in literature. Some people really like classics, whilst most people don’t (or pretend to like them).
I think movies start becoming overrated when their fame continues to accumulate one decade after another, until it becomes a “have to watch it!” (or the more annoying, “Oh my god! You HAVEN’T watched it?”). Cult movies have that quality. For example, I liked Donnie Darko, but thought it was highly overrated for all the gushing reviews I got from my friends.
I doubt the percentages are that low. And how could you have a lower percentage of people knowing the book existed than read it. So people read the book but didn't know it existed?
LOL
LOL! I wish you were dead.
You believe a lower number of people knew the book existed than people who had actually read the book? That doesn’t even make sense.
One Pacino that isn’t overrated. SERPICO!!!
I disagree with Clerks but other than that pretty good list.
For the record guys – and to show that I am not biased when I publish submissions – 5 of the films on this list are favorites of mine!
I love half of these.
Al Pacino might no be the most versatile actor one can find, but the guy has great importance in the cinema… as a fan of Godfather you are, Jfrater, how could you say that? hahaha
JFrater did not write this list.
Couldn’t agree more with Reservoir Dogs. Way overrated.
Al Pacino has an amazing presence on screen, not to mention charisma. I wouldn’t say HE is overrated. Some of ‘his’ movies might be though.
Agreed with Apocalypse Now too actually.
Jamie, in my less than triumphant return to listverse, I must say, I love your ways to get hundreds of comments
And I love a lot of these, but I must admit, they really do belong in their overrated status. Reservoir Dogs is a personal favourite of mine, but it isn’t in the same league as Tarantino’s other movies (I feel) and Training Day has a great portrayal of Denzel Washington (and proves he can actually act in more than one role) it lacked a lot of important details, and yet is still a personal favourite of mine.
Sometimes movies can capture our hearts while leaving out hugely important things, but you have to admit, for a movie to be critically acclaimed world-wide, it has to be doing something right, despite the fact Titanic could’ve been told in 9 seconds: Man and woman meet, ***** insues, boak sinks, fat woman gets yelled at, death, end.
I completely agree with Clerks. Completely and whole heartedly. I thought it was boring.
Clerks rules.
carpe! Hey – welcome back! Hope you had a great holiday!
Matheusvalente: I didn’t write the list! I love Scarface and REALLY love the Godfather.
OMG… film school made me watch Apocalypse Now and I kept wondering, is this it? I haven’t read the book, to be honest… but I was thinking the whole time to myself, “How can this a great movie?”
I did like the opening sequence, though.
You liked the beginning because it had lots of explosions, right? Peanut brain.
You are rude. Calling somebody “Peanut Brain” is totally adolescent.
By the way, there is no book of “Apocalypse Now”. It’s main theme is drawn from the book “Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad. And what the ***** are you doing at film school? Remind me to never watch one of your movies.
Saint Splattergat made a inoffensive comment, and you responded with a personal attack. For all you know, he could have been talking about the “Heart of Darkness.
Seriously, you should stop commenting.
Please kill yourself. You’re a c*nt.
Thank you.
“Titanic could’ve been told in 9 seconds”
Well, that’s not the main point in cinema… some filmes could have been told in 3 seconds and they’re fantastic. Titanic is overrated for the imensous popularity it got by the time of its release(mostly due to the enormous production and marketing) but nowadays, look at how Titanic is the most used exemple of “Bad filme”. Very common to see someone: “Man, you suck, you’re not fit for Ingmar Bergman, go see Titanic”.
Well, I am fit for Bergman and still consider Titanic a great filme and major breakthrough in many cinematographic areas(visual effects are brilliant).
10. Never seen it
9. Agreed, it was alright, but it didn’t blow me away
8. NSI
7. Ace twist, couple scary moments, but I hate Nicole Kidman. I DON’T CARE THAT YOU’RE AN OZZIE
6. NSI, and I never want to. Looks so masculine and posturing. Interest in the film has been kept alive by rappers appearing on Cribs
5. NSI. Thank God, I hate Shakespeare
4. NSI. Renee Zellweger. Vomit
3. Bloody chick flicks
2. C2 was better
1. So boring, I turned it off
Good list imo. I agree with pretty much every choice.
Clerks was made for $600 dollers, why is it above titanic on this list? Also where is independance day please?
Totally! Randy Quaid should have been hanged for that performance.
I saw Titanic three times. First with friends, to see the special effects of the sinking. 2nd was because mom needed someone to go with her. 3rd was with a buddy who’s girlfriend ordered him to see it while she was out of town, so they could talk about it when she came home (You had to know her). The best I could say is “it was o-kay.”
Once was enough for each of these films for me.
Overrated indeed!
I had a grammar mistake. whose not “who’s”
Apocalypse Now was good. godfather should be on the top.
Yeah Godfather is terribly overrated. Good film, but not as good as people say it is. It like… How can I say this? Well it “tries” too hard.
Brave, Shane, very brave. Well-written list, I really enjoyed it. You pretty much had me agreeing with you at each description whether I like the movie or not. Good job.
blundellisgod – “Clerks” was not made for $600. It was made for $27575.
To quote Wikipedia (which I hate to do);
“The film is in black-and-white and roughly edited due to a very modest budget of US$27,575. To acquire the funds for the film, Smith sold a large proportion of his extensive comic book collection in 1993, maxed out eight to ten credit cards with $2000 limits, dipped into a portion of funds set aside for his college education and spent insurance money awarded for a car he and Jason Mewes lost in a flood. The film was shot in 21 straight days (with two “pick-up” days).”
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clerks]
The film was also shot in the convience store where Smith worked, and was only availiable for shooting at nights while the store was closed, which explains why the shutters are closed the entire movie.
Sorry… Kevin Smith fan.
I agree with most of the choices on this list though, but you’re right it’s going to stir up a bit of controversy. Some people get pretty aggressive over their movie favourites (as I do with music
).
Big Lebowski
Spaceballs
Star Wars
For the record, I did not submit this list, but if you looked at the “contributed by” line, you already know that. I think it was brave of Jamie to publish another movie popularity list so soon after mine. It does raise the question (again) of immediate popularity v lasting popularity v critical acclaim.
Also for the record, I love Shakespeare in Love, liked The Others and Chicago and tolerated Clerks. I loathe Pulp Fiction. That would be no 1 on my list.
I guess Randall will show up soon. Then it will be on for young and old.
sarahenity: I think that blundellisgod was being ironic.
Welcome back carpe. Where did you go? Maybe you said, and I wasn’t paying attention.
I completely agree with you on the whole list (especially Clerks!), except for Star Trek IV. Where’s your sense of fun, man!
You know, movies don’t have to be good for people to love them and there is really no shame in that! Not every movie has to make you think to be entertaining. Its just like music- sometimes you just like the song because it reminds you of something, or it’s catchy, or you like to dance to it. It doesn’t necessarily have to be deep! I personally love the Star Trek movie because I love all the characters and I think it’s funny. I don’t really care how “good” it is!
Only 23 comments on the list so far and it seems the only controversy is what DIDN’T make the list!
Okay I know it is your opinion but Scarface and Apocalypse Now, overrated? I disagree, but good effort on the list even if there are far more deserving movies that could’ve been included, such as Jurrasic Park, Independence Day and The Da Vinci code.
Scarface might be a typical gangster movie but imagine if somebody else played Tony Montana. Scarface is a classic because Al Pacino was so damn good. Godfather overrated? For me it is the best movie ever made, nuff said..
*I think Casablanca is a very overrated movie.
I think The Godfather is the best movie made in my lifetime but Casablanca is the best movie made of all time.
I love quite a few of these movies, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t overrated. I had to agree with almost all of the explanations, and I could not possibly agree more with that stupid Titanic film. The actual ship sank faster than that movie took to explain it! I do disagree with Al Pacino being overrated, however. Some of his films — yes. The actor himself — no. To me he has too much presence and charisma to be considered overrated, but again, that’s just my opinion.
Good job, Shane! Can’t wait to read the controversy this will undoubtedly stir up!
astraya – lol. i probably should have picked up on that. i’m just gunna go ahead and blame my lack of sleep and current medications for that one.
I agree that Scarface is grossly overrated, but not that Al Pacino is. He made the movie into a reasonably entertaining gangster flick, without him it never would have got the attention it has now.
Apocalypse Now overrated? Heart of Darkness must be one hell of a book, because I love Apocalypse Now, but I’ve never read the book. I can imagine it ruins a lot of the experience of the movie
One movie I think is missing here: The Shawshank Redemption. It’s a great movie, but it has been on number 2 in the IMDB top 250 for ages and I don’t think it deserves to be the second best movie in history…
Yea, its a pritty fair list if you ask me. Its this kind of destructive hype thats made my friends and I wary of any film coverage, cos you also get the underrated films like Boondock Saints and Sean of the Dead.
Clerks isnt exactly rated as such an epic movie because of its content, Which i actually find hilarious, But more for the effort that Kevin Smith put in to actually film the movie.
Hmmm. I guess I’m kinda lucky I haven’t seen any of those movies, or any over-rated seeming movies.
Good job on the list!
28. Peri: That’s because there are so damn many! Look at the IMDB top 250 and almost everyone can pick about 100 movies that don’t belong there. The funny part is that almost everyone picks different movies
Two Films that I will just never understand the high regard for:
Singing in the Rain
Akira
With all the hype on these movies, I thought they would be better. I fully expected Singing in the Rain to be on this list.
I would add:
6th Sense: It has the same problem as the Others. When you first watch it, it is sppoky and tricks you in the end. However, upon repeated viewing it is just slow and boring.
Star Wars: Yes I mean the first one. A New Hope. There’s no denying that its a fun movie with groundbreaking FX, but ultimately it’s kids’ stuff. The only Star Wars movie that I think deserves it’s acclaim is Empire.
I think all Kevin Smith movies are over rated.
I actually think Reservoir Dogs deserves it’s status as an all-time great, as does Pulp Fiction. But every Tarrantino movie since needs to be on this list. He just keeps making worse and worse parodies of himself each time.
Hmmm.. Very arguable list, and i disagree with each and every choice of the author, except for “Chicago”. One of the worst lists on this site.. I vote for it to be deleted.
You vote for this list to be deleted simply because you disagree with the author? Don’t you have an actual legitimate reason for wanting this list deleted? If not, please withhold from making such inflammatory comments.
I agree with number four….LOTR should have won ‘best film’ all three years, 01′,02′,03′.
I’ve seen about half of these movies and pretty much agree with the assessments. I look forward to the comments to come.
I totally agree with Scarface. I actually bought it before ever seeing it because it was only 3 bucks at Blockbuster. It was horrible! The acting was the worst I’ve seen! I do disagree with Chicago. I thought the acting was awesome. Plus, when you can do the movie better than the broadway show, you have done something right!
Oh, and to Garrett:
Spaceballs?!?!?! Overrated?!?!?! I’m not generally a repeat movie watcher (except for the kiddie movies constantly playing at my house) but I can watch Spaceballs over and over and never get tired of it. I won’t even argue The Big Lebowski (although I could) or Star Wars (you didn’t specify which one), but Spaceballs? Did we see the same movie? Maybe you got the ***** version ……
I liked Empire strikes back, but I have never understood the acclaim for it, consistently rating higher than ANH. The two stories (Han and co in the asteroid field, and Luke meeting Yoda) unfold at two different speeds. And then there’s the uncompleted ending.
Re ANH: after Luke escapes from the Death Star, he makes the jump to hyperspace and arrives at Yavin. How does the Death Star follow him there? Come to think of it, was it built orbiting Alderaan, or how did it get there?
It's a spaceship…it moved.
Also, Empire had to have an incomplete end. All three of the originals act like one big movie. To get the greatest experience, you have to watch them as one, not as three.
And of course there's too different speeds. It wouldn't make sense to have the Han arc and the Luke arc match. Luke is slowly (but relatively quickly) becoming a Jedi. Han is a blaster-happy fly boy.
Oh god. As an avid reader and first time poster I’ve gotta say this: Why the hell do I care what films you think are overrated?? It’s all down to opinion and I’m not interested in yours. What next? a list of your favourite cheeses or your daily hygene routine? stick to lists that contain facts, far more interesting than what you think about a bunch of movies.
On the whole though, great site.
Most of this site is devoted to people’s opinions, to what people consider to be the best and the worst. If you don’t like hearing people’s opinions, it’s generally a could idea to avoid top ten lists.
10. Walk the Line
9. Star Wars
8. Half-Baked
7. Kill Bill Vol. 1
6. Kids
5. Natural Born Killers
4. Scarface
3. The Godfather Trilogy
2. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
1. TITANIC
44. Cheeshygirl: I actually agree that Spaceballs is not that good… but then again; it isn’t meant to be good, it’s meant to be funny, and I’ve never met anyone who thinks it’s *good* though funny as hell.
Thank you for “Apocalypse Now.” I’ve thought I was the lone voice in the wilderness on this one. I remember walking out of a theater some thirty years ago, listening to the two friends I’d seen it with talk, wondering if they’d just seen the same movie I’d had to sit through.
I agree with most of your list, especially Shakespeare in Love, Titanic, Chicago and Apocalypse Now – Finally someone else besides me thinks that film is overrated.
I also agree that the first Star Wars is often held as the best but it pales in comparison to the true masterpiece which was The Empire Strikes Back.
Where are you getting your intel? Empire is nearly always held in higher regard.
I hated Titanic. It was so overrated.
GREAT LIST!!! Finally someone has the guts to call Scarface overrated!!
Allthough i’d order the list like this:
#1: Scarface
#2: 300
#3: Titanic
#4: Fight Club
#5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10: I don’t know…
Wait…scratch that…I’d put the Godfather Trilogy at #1 and move everything else down a notch. I’d add include star wars but people pretty much all agree that it’s gone consistently downhill.
Also I’ve never seen pulp fiction but I’m sure I’d think it’s overrated from the clips I’ve seen.
I like how after each movie is slated for being bad, the option to buy it is given! ‘This movie is boring and slow…’ Great sales pitch!! haha
54: If you’ve never seen pulp fiction you can’t call it overrated.
i like more than a couple of the movies here, but definately they are overrated. you could even make a top 20 most overrated films only with what the oscars have awarded in the last decades.
I agree with some of the picks. “Reservoir Dogs” isn’t just overrated, it’s unwatchable. Same goes for “Clerks”, in fact I’ve never been able to sit through that whole movie. I like Kevin Smith as a personality, he’s great when does talk shows or commentaries on DVDs, but I’ve never cared for him as a film maker.
And I’ve never understood the love affair for Stark Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
KneeDeep: Welcome. This site’s got it already – http://listverse.com/food/10-great-cheeses-you-should-try/