Eleven Most Overrated Films

Posted on November 7, 2005 in Film

You could probably include just about anything Clint Eastwood has ever written or directed, almost anything John Wayne has starred in, anything that Charlton Heston has touched but I shall confine my list to eleven. These films are not necessarily ~bad~: it is just my opinion that they subjected to more acclaim than many other, more deserving motion pictures. Note that not all of them feature Republicans. I have placed them on this list for other reasons. So here we go:

1. Ben Hur (Oh God save me from cloying Jesus-freaking)
2. Gone with the Wind (Yes, let’s celebrate all that was evil and exploitative about the Old South while putting down the hardworking African slaves and small white farmers)
3. The Searchers (Red River did a better job of the young man versus older man theme and I think that was mostly due to Montgomery Clift)
4. Unforgiven (homage to a mass murderer)
5. The Matrix (Fun, but hardly deserving of being ranked as one of “the greatest films ever made”. A spaceship in a sewer is asking me to suspend too much disbelief.)
6. Easy Rider (Great soundtrack, zero plot aside from a couple of pushers carrying a shipment across the southwest)
7. Se7en (Seven different ways to be one sick fuck — makes you wonder who is worse — the serial killer or the screenwriter of serial killer movies?)
8. Braveheart (If you’re going to make a history movie, then base it on historical fact. Mel Gibson loves to play fast and loose with the truth in this one.)
9. Terminator 2: Judgement Day (Oh God. AHnold just wanted to make the Terminator into a nice guy. There were lots of implausible plot twists, like a fist full of hypodermics within reach of a mental patient? Give me a break!)
10. This is Spinal Tap (Maybe I didn’t get it because I’m not a rock fan, but this one gave me a headache and a half. See. Rob Reiner’s a liberal and I don’t like his films.)
11. The Sting (All the cute screen titles and the fancy costuming did nothing to impress me with this movie about a huge con game.)

Aside from Se7en appearing in the number 7 spot, there’s no order to these films. It would be interesting to hear what other people thought were the ten most overrated films. You can use the IMDB Top 250 list as a start, but don’t feel bound to that. Just call it like you see it.