Overrated Films and TV

Prowl1984 · Post by **Prowl1984** » Sun Apr 24, 2011 6:39 pm

I regularly buy SFX magazine and I've recently discovered that Doctor Who is ludicrously overrated...well at least by that magazine. I mean it's OK and it's by no means bad, I just don't think it deserves the amount of praise it gets...or at least as much unashamed leg humping SFX seems to give it. So what would you say is the most overrated TV show or film?

In terms of filmage I'm going to have to go with "Taxi Driver". yeah it's a classic, it's well made and the acting's great yadda yadda yadda but I quickly found myself being pretty bored.

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Sun Apr 24, 2011 7:54 pm

Taxi Driver is superb, I pity anyone who doesn't have the faculties to appreciate it.

That Batman one with the idiot who killed himself in it, that was pretty average despite the avalance of acclaim because an idiot who killed himself was in it.

Deliverance, because once you've heard the jokes and seen the rip-offs of the only two half-decent scenes there isn't much left. I'm a big Boorman fan, and it's irritating that his better work gets ignored on the grounds it's not as quotable.

Torchwood. I'm not sure if it's particularly acclaimed, but it deserves to be on the same level as Green Green Grass in spin-off purgatory rather than paid attention to by anyone over the age of 11.

The original Thomas Crown Affair, because McQueen's spectacularly miscasted and rather than looking like a suave playboy instead looks like he wants to strip down a motorcycle and beat Faye Dunaway to death with the exhaust.

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Sun Apr 24, 2011 8:06 pm

Cliffjumper wrote: That Batman one with the idiot who killed himself in it, that was pretty average despite the avalance of acclaim because an idiot who killed himself was in it.

Blimey, you gave in and watched it in the end? I thought you had more will power than that. I'd say it's still a very good film but it would basically be impossible for it to be as good as the hype/Ledger reaction claims. His isn't even the best performance in it, Gary Oldman understatedly completely steals everything

Never been keen on From Russia With Love (though oddly I do enjoy the book), and think the 80's Bond film's mostly suffered from the assumption that it was the perfect film and they should be more like it.

Sunstreaker2 · Post by **Sunstreaker2** » Sun Apr 24, 2011 9:54 pm

I think Casino Royale is overrated, I thought it was boring, the villain was awful, and that Craig's Bond was hard to like.

Skyquake87 · Post by **Skyquake87** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 7:44 am

SFX wave the flag for a lot of stuff, not just Who and its quite telling that often you cannot tell the advertising features apart from the actual regular content. Its the same with spin - off comic heroes, which might as well be called Warren Ellis quarterly, the amount of appreciation they have for the man (er, whom also writes a column for SFX ). It's a shame really, because its generally a very lively and enthusiastic read, but quite a lot of the time I do feel like I'm being forced to enjoy something.

Having said that, Who seems to be coming in for some (unjustified) stick at the moment, so SFX's continued support is welcome in that regard.

I'd echo Cliffy's comments about Torchwood. 'Children Of Earth' did a lot to rescue the concept and the show, but it was such a messy and incoherrent show. The second series was better from than the first, but it could hardly have been worse. I think the biggest mistake is the shift from Cap'n Jack's jolly persona in Who to this tortured , broody character in TW. CBBC spin off Sarah Jane Adventures was a much more worthy addition to the Who-niverse (can't believe i just used that term.ugh.).

As for stuff I don't rate: Battlestar Galactica. A lot of moping in space. with robots. and duplicates. and...oh, whatever...just get on with it! Star Trek and all its myriad spin offs I don't particularly care for. TNG just irritated me for mostly being 45 minutes of tense negotiations week in week out, for seven years. It was like watching a space opera version of the Saville Inquiry.

Heroes gets a mention just for being a massive disappointment.

As for films. Hmm. The Exorcist and A Clockwork Orange didn't seem to me to be as amazing as they were made out to be, but I think thats just the cahe of being banned. Perhaps also because the content now seems so timid compared to say, the torture porn sick fest of the Saw films (which I also don't rate).

Spiderman 2. An underwhelming sequel that quite a lot of folk tell me is better than the first film. No its not. Its rubbish.

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 7:58 am

I must actually get round to watching season 3 of Torchwood, just because everyone seems to agree the improvement in quality is insanely huge. Before that I generally find it daft but fun. Though Cyberwoman is easily the worst thing put out under the Who banner full stop. Nothing wrong with a woman in a mental bikini fighting a dinosaur. Doing that whilst they're trying to get you to care about Ianto's very very serious backstory is just stupid.

On a similar line to Spider-Man 2, I think the first two X-Men films are overrated (whilst the third is probably not as well liked as it should be considering it's not really any worse than the first).

Auntie Slag · Post by **Auntie Slag** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 10:07 am

It seems to be heralded as the ultimate pin-up of action movies, but I thought Avatar was just a load of old guff. It looked lovely and the story wasn't the worst in the world... but for people who don't like sci-fi, they can easily point to Avatar as a one-stop excuse for all the reasons why they don't enjoy it.

In other words, I don't think it did anything to help sci-fi's cause.

Unlike the superior 'District 9'.

Thunderwave · Post by **Thunderwave** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 11:44 am

Auntie Slag wrote:It seems to be heralded as the ultimate pin-up of action movies, but I thought Space Pocahontas was just a load of old guff. It looked lovely and the story wasn't the worst in the world... but for people who don't like sci-fi, they can easily point to Space Pocahontas as a one-stop excuse for all the reasons why they don't enjoy it.

There. Fixed that for you.

TV shows that bother me as over-rated are few and far between these days.

The Battlestar Galatica reboot was heralded as a simply amazing and that the space combat scenes where revolutionary. I found little THAT groundbreaking in the series. I'm not saying it was bad, just that it wasn't as amazing and new as everyone said it was.

Heroes was awesome....for a season. It seemed that after the first season the writers lost their damned minds and it spiraled into Marvel territory while people kept saying how amazing it was. Sure, I bet it was awesome if you read superhero comics, but the charm of the show is that you didn't need to to get any enjoyment out of it.

Lost, for me was, well, lost. I found it to be a jumbled mess and I'm betting that the writers had no idea what was going to happen week to week themselves and where writing plots based off of fan forum posts.

coinilius · Post by **coinilius** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 12:40 pm

Dark Knight gets props IMO simply because it is at least better than Batman Begins, which was also overrated and incredibly terrible.

And Avatar is Space Fern Gulley :P

Auntie Slag · Post by **Auntie Slag** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 1:02 pm

coinilius wrote:... Batman Begins, which was also overrated and incredibly terrible.

Yay, thank you. Honestly, all the elements of Batman Begins should coalesce into a fantastic film, but it bores me senseless every time. I even resorted to watching it in half-hour bursts but that didn't help either.

This gave me no zest to try The Dark Knight. Feels like a passionless affair.

Selkadoom · Post by **Selkadoom** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 1:40 pm

Auntie Slag wrote:It seems to be heralded as the ultimate pin-up of action movies, but I thought Avatar was just a load of old guff. It looked lovely and the story wasn't the worst in the world... but for people who don't like sci-fi, they can easily point to Avatar as a one-stop excuse for all the reasons why they don't enjoy it.

In other words, I don't think it did anything to help sci-fi's cause. .

Thank You, someone else sees Cameron piece of crap for what it is

Paul053 · Post by **Paul053** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 3:05 pm

Yea, Avator. I enjoy How To Train Your Dragon even more.

Someone may not agree, but I totally don't like The Matrix trilogy.

Prowl1984 · Post by **Prowl1984** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 3:56 pm

Cliffjumper wrote:Taxi Driver is superb, I pity anyone who doesn't have the faculties to appreciate it.

I appreciate it and can see why other people love it I just think it doesn't quite live up to the hype. I think the main problem is that I had years of people bigging it up and telling me how awesome it is that when i eventually saw it it fell short of my expectations.

I agree with the "Avatar" opinions here. For about 5minutes after seeing it i thought it was amazing, largely due to the 3D element but once i actually thought about it i realised it was mediocre at best.

Neuronutter · Post by **Neuronutter** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 5:24 pm

I thought I'd add my voice to the chorus and chip in with my opinions.

Films mentioned that are as good as they are rated (i.e. not over or underrated). X-Men 2, Spider-man 2 and Dark Knight are all great movies, IMO. All 3 are better than their prequels, and their sequels (well, we'll have to see with TDKR). Actually, I love X2, and I was stunned by TDK the last time I saw it. District 9 was also fantastic.

Avatar is very overrated, IMO. I saw and enjoyed it in the cinema but I've no interest in seeing it against since. It was good for the spectacle but that's it. I thoroughly enjoyed BSG when I watched it the first time, but on rewatching I found it dull and badly paced. I skipped lost and Heroes S2, thankfully and I thought the exorcist was dull, especially as I'd heard it called the greatest movie ever made. Casino Royale I enjoyed in the cinema, not so much at home. And the sequel was abysmal.

I'm sure there are others I've thought overrated, nothing springing to mind right now.

Thunderwave · Post by **Thunderwave** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 6:49 pm

Paul053 wrote: Someone may not agree, but I totally don't like The Matrix trilogy.

I agree and disagree.

I liked the first one. It had a lot of spunky charm even with Neo being played by a cardboard golem.

The Matrix as a trilogy lost it for me when it started to spiral from sci-fi action into masturbatory existentialist drivel with some neat visual effects. When bad stoner philosophy starts to take over in a sci-fi "epic" you've got an issue. I've also got...issues with some of the tech they use in the film, like the "squiddies" not having a ranged weapon, or the power suits from the dock battle looking like something my 9 year old would cook up with Lego (when G.I. Joe has more sensible powersuits then you do, and you consider yourself serious, again you've got issues).

Hotdog Divebomb · Post by **Hotdog Divebomb** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 6:56 pm

Paul053 wrote:Someone may not agree, but I totally don't like The Matrix trilogy.

I disagree with the fact that you don't like it. I believe that you do like it.

Christ.

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 7:01 pm

Does anyone actually like the last two Matrix films? Even a little?

Neuronutter · Post by **Neuronutter** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 7:51 pm

inflatable dalek wrote:Does anyone actually like the last two Matrix films? Even a little?

Nope. Not even a little.

Wildrider · Post by **Wildrider** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 7:54 pm

'Shutter Island' was one of the worst films I have seen in most recent memory, pleasant cinematography aside, it was a dreadful 'mystery' with awful performances, plotting and delivery.

The fact it was so lauded by Scorsese sycophants and 'critics' the world over, only deepened my hate for a film with such an obvious and protracted dénouement even M.Night Shyamalan would have been embarrassed!

Also the current crop of 'comedy' films from the wank factory of Judd Apatow, Todd Philips and that walking testicle Seth Rogen leave me totally cold, shit like 'Superbad' and 'The Hangover', just awful.

All the great comedy is on US T.V. these days, except 'Four Lions' that was ace, but Chris morris tends to hit more than he misses.

Auntie Slag · Post by **Auntie Slag** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 8:04 pm

I do. Went off the original Matrix film a while ago when it became clear it was a whole load of old tosh, but over time I've come to like it and its sequels. So if its on TV, yeah I'll watch it and enjoy it.

I don't mind the cod-philosophy, because it's usually bookended by some ludicrous set-piece of violence and impossible moves. Also, the story makes more sense with repeated viewings and now I don't mind it at all.

Perhaps a year from now i'll hate it to death again, but for the moment I think its good fun

I agree with Wildrider about 'The Hangover'. Cannot see why that was lauded as the comedy of the year.

I bought & watched 'Spaced' for the first time last year and hated it. Now, after watching it for the third time I quite like it. My tiny brain is still insisting its shite, but its a comforting kind of shite.

The Matrix is miserableist shite dressed up in sharp finery.

Oh, i'll tell you what else I hate; any piece of shit British film with a quote on the cover that says "The best thing since Bridget Jones". The amount of rubbish flicks that have that plastered on the front like its the ****ing Nintendo seal of quality can go and ram their self-aggrandising cock-faced, no-brained scripts and vacuous cyphers right up their arses and die.