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12 Amazing Films The Critics Hated

Photo credit: Universm Film

Photo credit: Universm Film

Not every classic movie gets the response it should when it’s first released. You know what I mean-everyone seems to love it, but for some reason the critics just don’t share that opinion and it winds up getting ignored in awards season. Sometimes, it’s a retroactive thing- it takes a few years (or decades) for the movie to properly sink in and get the critical reaction that it deserves. But what movies got completely panned by critics- only to find their place in the halls of fame later? We’ve compiled a list of awesome films the critics panned-you’ll be surprised by number nine!

1. Metropolis

Fritz Lang’s dystopian classic isn’t the easiest film to love- it’s silent, surreal, and features a plot that requires serious concentration to understand-but that doesn’t mean that it’s anything less than a masterpiece. Critics at the time described it as “extravagantly theatric”-now, you won’t find a must-see list of classic movies that doesn’t at least nod to this brilliant bit of cinematic theatre. A fascinatingly beautiful, meticulously put-together drama that works on every level.

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  • http://rodneywelch.blogspot.com/ RodneyWelch

    This list is completely wrong. “The critics” did NOT hate these movies. All the writer did was select 12 well-known movies, found a bad review or two somewhere, and pretended it was majority opinion. The exception is “Ace Ventura,” which has only been described as amazing exactly once, and that was by whoever wrote this silly, silly article.

    • Brad King

      This is mostly correct. Unforgiven, for one, actually was critically acclaimed– I know that for a fact. In fact, it deduted in 1998 on AFI’s top-100 movies list at #98, and it’s generally considered one of the best westerns ever. In fact, it IS the best western ever in my opinion.

      • http://www.examiner.com/outdoor-recreation-in-newark/brian-sniatkowski briansnat

        “Unforgiven” is the third best western ever, behind “Stagecoach” and “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance”, in my opinion of course. “The Searchers” and “High Noon” would round out my top 5.

        • mcgin029

          The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is very, very good. I’ve always been distracted by the middle-aged Stewart and Wayne playing people who are supposed to be in their 20s. But that is balanced out by the quality of the acting.

          • http://www.examiner.com/outdoor-recreation-in-newark/brian-sniatkowski briansnat

            The age of the actors never bothered me. What did was the hole in the story. How Tom Donaphin, the “Toughest man south of the picket wire” somehow became a totally unknown entity within a generation. In the real world people would have been telling stories about him well into their dotage. I know the point was that the town grew up and the significance that his rough ways were a thing of the past, but you’d think that despite that, old timers would be talking about him years later. The idea that the local newspaper would have no clue as to who he was despite his former significance in the town’s history, was pretty absurd. That said, great, great movie.

          • http://Handsome.com kG

            Wayne and Stewart were not middle aged but were in their thirties at the time. I think we are just used to men acting like teenagers now,back then men looked like men not boys!

        • dicksicario

          Nope greatest western ever filmed was Sergio Leone’s
          ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST
          Only movie Fonda ever was in where he was the Villian
          Greatest , and longest , gunfight ever filmed
          ” ya brought two horses to many ” Bronson’s finest film.

          Course you do have to stick with it for the first two hours to figure out what is going on.

          • http://www.examiner.com/outdoor-recreation-in-newark/brian-sniatkowski briansnat

            Once Upon a Time… is certainly a great western. Definitely in my top 10

      • joeymegatron

        “Magnificent Seven”? Not a western, or did you forget about it? Not to mention, “My Darling Clementine”? “The Good, the Bad, the Ugly”? ” I wouldn’t make Unforgiven even Eastwood’s best; “High Plains Drifter” is much better, IMO.

        • http://www.examiner.com/outdoor-recreation-in-newark/brian-sniatkowski briansnat

          All are great, and I would add The Outlaw Josey Wales to that list.

        • The_RS_Gadfly

          I wouldn’t count The Magnificent Seven as a western. It’s too obviously an homage to Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai. If you have a serious masochistic bent watch The Seven Samurai, The Magnificent Seven, and Battle Beyond the Stars back to back. It’s the same story presented three different ways.

        • insi10

          The Magnificent 7 is magnificent, but isn’t a western. It’s a

          Japanese samurai pic with different costumes.

          • rayb_baby

            That and A Fistful of Dollars.

      • pisher

        It’s a decent movie, but it’s not even one of Clint Eastwood’s ten best westerns.

      • insi10

        Belongs behind Once Upon A Time In The West, but as you point out, it was acclaimed. 95% positive critics.

    • pisher

      I just came across this–man, somebody did not do their research. I mean, Casablanca won the Academy Award for Best Picture! Yeah, there’s a neglected masterpiece for ya.

      Ace Ventura was badly reviewed, and RIGHTLY reviewed. It’s a crap movie, that is only remembered for having set Jim Carrey on the road towards making much better films (along with a few that are even worse).

      Just because you can find a few bad reviews of a classic film doesn’t mean the film got bad reviews as a whole. All movies get some bad reviews. I mean, Pauline Kael panned Star Wars, so why isn’t that on the list? :)

  • Brad King

    Untamed Heart is an very good film, yet not critically acclaimed. Christian Slater and Marisa Tomei both put in excellent performances, and film a current of genuine emotion and sentimentality (that was not sappy in any way) flows through the film, yet the critics somehow missed it.

  • Bill Bush

    in “All About Eve” this moron calls Bette Davis…..Bette Midler, this shows how totally clueless they are, they know absolutely nothing about movies and just pretend that they do.

    • Jeffrey Martini

      I thought it was maybe translated from The Chinese. How stupid can you be. They also referred to Speed Racer as Speed Rader. In Giant bold letters.

      • rayb_baby

        I gave them a pass on the Speed Radar because it was corrected in the text, although that does show lack of their editorial integrity. But the Bette Midler ………. YEEESH, that is inexcusable.

    • insi10

      Yeah. She doesn’t even have Bette Davis eyes.

  • http://www.examiner.com/outdoor-recreation-in-newark/brian-sniatkowski briansnat

    I recall some of these movies receiving considerable critical acclaim at the time of their release. “Unforgiven”, “Apocalypse Now”, “Annie Hall” and “Godfather Part 2″ come immediately to mind. I wasn’t around for some of the older ones so I can’t say for sure how they were generally received. Because a few critics didn’t like them doesn’t mean all the critics didn’t like them. I challenge the author to find a single movie, no matter how widely acclaimed, that didn’t have some negative reviews at the time it was released.

    BTW, Bette Midler was 5 years old when “All About Eve” was released. It was Bette Davis, who is hardly underrated.

    • insi10

      ” I challenge the author to find a single movie, no matter how widely
      acclaimed, that didn’t have some negative reviews at the time it was
      released.”

      Rotten Tomatoes actually does list a few movies with 100% critical approval. But that only reinforces your point.

  • Michael Russell

    Many of these movies were Oscar Winners at the time — Hollywood loved The Graduate, nominated for Best Picture, Bonnie and Clyde won two Oscars, Clint Eastwood was hailed for The Unforgiven — and it won 4 Oscars! Why in the world would you publish this? This is total misinformation.

  • igfarben

    All About Eve with the underrated Bette Middler? Who knew?

  • JamesM

    This is as stupid as “name five movies without an “E” in their title, and all of the other junk that gets posted as revelatory. Kick me for reading it. Badly researched, wrongly skewed and a plain waste of time.

  • Mazcalsone

    MEMO TO SELF: Never, ever click on a link to such garbage as this. Bette Midler was five years old when All About Eve was released. Brainless and clueless site. ‘We won’t be fooled again…’

  • Jim Miller

    This is the stupidest, most poorly written and researched piece I’ve ever read on motion pictures. Where did this moron do his research? Unforgiven won four Oscars, for Christ sake, Bonnie and Clyde won two, and both were nominated for Best Picture.

    • mrasnders2

      I agree, Also When was Bette Midler ever in “All about Eve”? Was that not Bette Davis?!!!!

  • Bradondo

    Every time I give this awful site a chance to redeem itself it just digs itself deeper and deeper into a cesspit rank with badly researched, poorly written offal. I often wonder if the various columnists have actually seen the films they’re writing about. Every article I’ve read has been packed with misinformation, the quality of the writing is uniformly awful and there appears to be no editorial process in place whatsoever. I’ve seen multiple entries where the article is discussing one film but heads the page with a photo from an unrelated film, plots and details are often erroneously displayed without any regard for fact-checking (an entry on Blade Runner once described future LA as “virtually abandoned” for example, ignoring the throngs of people jostling each other on the streets and sidewalks in nearly every outdoor scene), actors’ names are misspelled or, even worse, credited for films in which they didn’t appear, and demonstrably fringe and contrarian opinions are presented regarding well-known works as if they are the commonly accepted majority view. Moviseum demonstrates everything that can go wrong with web-based content publishing, and its an affront to true film fans everywhere. This will be the last click they tally from me :/

    • Frank Washington

      The site got you to click, though. It’s job is done.

  • Brian Weston Blamires

    HEY!!! It’s Speed Racer NOT Speed Rader!!!!!!!!!!

  • VOICEOFREASON

    Generally Imake a point to go see the movies the critics don’t like . Seldom if ever have I been sorry i didn’t listen to a critic :P

  • Pixie5

    Not only is this a poorly written article, but apparently no one has even monitored the comments in order to make even the smallest corrections on the “facts” presented. Bette Midler??? Actually the whole thing needs to be trashed. Don’t you people want people to like your website? Hello??? Anyone home???

  • Guest

    The best” Western” ever made / why “The Seven Samurai “of course .Honorable mention-”The Ox Bow Incident” & “A Fistfull of Dollars”.

  • missieb2000

    Speed Racer was stupid, is still stupid, will remain stupid.

    • Frank Washington

      I haven’t seen it, but I doubt it was as stupid as this article calling the movie “Speed Rader”!

  • Golum

    WOW…Bette Midler…She was probably a 5 year old at the time but I’m sure she’ll appreciate that you subbed her for her namesake!!!

  • pfon71361

    I’m with everyone else here. This article doesn’t make any sense.

  • Zac Millions

    Call it heresy, but I actually find the Godfather series petty, indulgent and over hyped. The acting is superb though. Apocalypse Now is visually stunning but the butchery of Heart of Darkness hurts. Any of the Sergio Leon series trumps Unforgiven without a doubt.

    • Jeffrey Martini

      Disagree. Unforgiven had a depth and texture that none of the Leone films had. It was much thinner on bloodshed. If I am picking a second place Eastwood western it’s Josey Wales.

      • dicksicario

        Leone’s depth and texture were definately in his classic
        ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST
        It was panned big time, has made more in Video Sales than it ever did in theaters.

  • disqustang

    “Speed Rader”? Even Racer was boring. Bette Midler in All About Eve? Was this article originally written in Tagalog?

  • Paul Doig

    Ever one is pointing out the Bette Milder blunder, but how about the picture of All About Eve, and they used a TNT colorized still! One of the best movies ever in black and white, and winner of 13 academy awards, and they show a painted over art still? here are 10 classics that were panned
    1) Female Troubles- John Waters
    2) Night Mother- Anne Bancroft and Sissy Spacek
    3) Hard Candy
    4) Nightmare on Elm Street
    5) Little Big Man -Dustin Hoffman
    6) Cry In The Dark- Streep
    7) Sid and Nancy
    8) Breakfast Club
    9) Stand By Me
    10) Do The Right Thing _ Spike Lee
    and one more
    -Too Kill A Mocking Bird

    • Jeffrey Martini

      I don’t recall the critical response to Do The Right Thing, but it was nominated for best picture. I remember because Billy Crystal, noting that Spike Lee wasn’t nominated for Director, quipped when announcing the BP nominees: “Do The Right Thing – the picture that evidently directed itself.”

  • Matt S

    I must be crazy. Unforgiven was nominated for multiple Oscar Awards the year it was released and won Best Picture and Best Director. How can a universally panned and “overshadowed” movie accomplish this?

    Even Rotten Tomatoes shows a 95% critic approval percentage.

    What’s with this writer?

  • Dan Cochran

    I liked the first two Atlas Shrugged movies, but the big city-based critics predictably panned both of them. To each his own…

  • warrenzoell

    You forgot 2001 a space odyssey. It was panned upon its release by critics.

    • dicksicario

      Hal didn’t think so

  • Oliver

    Your writer must be very young, or just made stuff up. There are scores of films that meet the criteria you describe in the article (and title), but none of these qualify.

    I was an active movie goer when most of these films came out, and for starters, Unforgiven (winner of 4 Oscars including best picture & director) and Annie Hall (winner of best picture, director, screenplay and actress) and Godfather Part 2 (winner of 6 Oscars, including best picture, director, screenplay and actor) were never panned by mainstream critics, let alone “hated”. In fact, most were hailed as masterpieces DURING their theatrical runs. It’s true that Wizard of Oz and Casablanca weren’t hailed as classics during their initial release, but they weren’t panned or hated either. One has to keep in mind that both were released during Hollywood’s “Golden Age”, when major films were released every week, and even the biggest movie stars worked year round as part of the studio system. For example, Wizard was released within the same period as The Adventures of Robin Hood and Gone With the Wind, so it had some competition. I also noticed the bad “reviews” you occasionally use as evidence have no attribution; don’t know if they were written by reputable, working film critics, or if they’re even real. And calling Ace Ventura and Speed Racer classics…makes me believe that they are the only films you’ve ever seen. A worthless and actively false (if not fake) article. These are all lies, folks. Your suggestions in the comments are far more accurate.

  • mcgin029

    Unforgiven has a 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. This is a dumb article.

  • Schexy

    I have never commented on an internet article but this is the dumbest piece of uninformed laziness I have ever read. I am stupider for having read it. Half of these films that everyone “hated” won multiple oscars, no one regards Speedracer as a classic, and Bette Davis was not underrated. In fact, pretty much everyone but whoever wrote this garbage knows her name is not Midler.

    • insi10

      You don’t seem anywhere near stupid, so you must have started out shaming Einstein. Stupid is the writer of the commentary. Or Dumb and Dumberer.

  • RedWiggler

    Movies, like music are subjective. Metropolis was unique but doesn’t impress me. Unforgiven has one of the all time great endings but the rest is slow. Bonnie & Clyde has it’s moments but eh. Casablanca is great. The Graduate is not my type of movie. Ace V is alright. The Wizard of Oz is great. A Hall, I’m not a Woody Allen fan. Godfather II is very good most of the time. Speed Racer, no I don’t like it. All About Eve, again not my type. Apocalypse Now is very good. Just my opinion, others will disagree.

  • dicksicario

    The greatest Western ever made….. Sergio Leone’s ” Once Upon a Time in the West ”
    Was also panned. the gunfight scene toward the end of the film is the greatest ever
    filmed and takes as much time to play out as most movies !

  • Spencer Keimon

    I think writer should switch to fiction.

  • Bob Rosswaag

    Good God – Bette MIDLER?! Just to be a picky grammarian, “it’s” is used incorrectly throughout this piece. “Its” is already possessive: it doesn’t take an apostrophe. Several of the so-called unpopular films (like “Unforgiven” and All About Eve”) won Best Picture Oscars – how critically “unpopular” could they have been? Who writes this stuff?

  • Michael R. Wilson

    Who in the world wrote this idiotic article? Very obvious that they know next to nothing about the history of cinema. And if you’re going to cherry-pick bad reviews that some of these may have received, it would be appropriate to give credit to authors so that the sources of these inane comments would be known. I hope the writer of this article wasn’t paid for this B.S?

  • rainman199

    The author is an idiot and has no business writing about movies. His grasp of history and movies is appallingly lacking. If this were submitted as a paper in a film history class he would receive an “F”. Okay maybe a “D” with the emphasis that is placed on the idea that effort is more important than competence in today’s college environment.

  • M Carroll

    When “Star Wars” first came out, most critics dismissed it as frivolous and boring. But after a tremendous box office response, those same critics called it one of the best science fiction movies ever.

  • Evolve or Extinction

    Metropolis = stupid humans destroy the robotics that would free them from dangerous and labor intensive work.
    Sure, now we are concerned that robotics will eliminate ALL human jobs,
    3D printers can eliminate almost all basic manufacturing, and
    no one wants to see the rise of the machines as they slaughter humans by the billions – drone warfare is just a start. Soon whole armies will be nothing but tens of thousands of robots swarming over cities slaughtering each and every living man woman and child.
    Win world wars in days, no need to fight ISIL if 800,000 microbots the size of a football can simply swarm over entire countries and kill every human they see – or only kill every human holding an AK47… software is adaptive.
    Metropolis was a stupid movie, instead of constant fighting and division,
    sitting down and discussing the best uses for Robotics would have
    made a happy ending for everyone.

  • http://Handsome.com kG

    I am old enough to remember Unforgiven when it came out and not a single critic panned the movie. The movie was hailed as a masterpiece that it was. I was in high school and even I realized then that I was watching an amazing film by a man who had defined the genere. And he redefined it with Unforgiven!

  • http://Handsome.com kG

    Bonnie and Clyde was panned by the establishment critics of the big papers but it grew in stature as it became more and more successful. Either Pauline Keale or Stanely Kaufman first called it a masterpiece but the other critics hated it for its excessive viold cd.

  • Ishmael

    Save for a few scenes, “Apocalypse Now” still sucks. The director’s cut is even worse.

  • Anonymous By Force

    Obviously a troll article designed for clicks.

  • Mickey Logan

    What idiocy. Unforgiven was a huge hit the moment it came out.

  • 333sturm

    Horrible article. As others have pointed out, these movies all got generally good reviews. The author finds a negative review and tries to argue that the film was poorly received.

  • ChargerGrant

    You can always find ONE critic that hates a movie, even a classic. How do I get the last 3 minutes of my life back?

  • Pookiefreak

    UNFORGIVEN not popular
    with the critics? It was the critics that led it to Oscar glory:

    Boston Society of Film
    Critics Awards 1992

    Won
    BSFC Award
    Best Picture
    Best Supporting Actor-Gene
    Hackman
    Best Cinematography-Jack
    N. Green

    Chicago Film Critics
    Association Awards 1993
    Nominated
    CFCA Award
    Best Supporting Actor-Gene
    Hackman
    Best Actor-Clint Eastwood
    Best Picture-Clint
    Eastwood
    Best Director-Clint
    Eastwood
    Best Screenplay-David Webb
    Peoples

    Kansas City Film Critics
    Circle Awards 1992
    Won
    KCFCC Award
    Best Film
    Tied with The Player
    (1992).
    Best Supporting Actor-Gene
    Hackman
    Best Director-Clint
    Eastwood

    London Critics Circle Film
    Awards 1993
    Won
    ALFS Award
    Film of the Year

    Los Angeles Film Critics
    Association Awards 1992
    Won
    LAFCA Award
    Best Picture
    Best Actor-Clint Eastwood
    Best Supporting Actor-Gene
    Hackman
    Best Director-Clint
    Eastwood
    Best Screenplay-David Webb
    Peoples
    2nd place
    LAFCA Award
    Best Cinematography-Jack
    N. Green

    National Society of Film
    Critics Awards, USA 1993
    Won
    NSFC Award
    Best Film
    Best Supporting Actor-Gene
    Hackman
    Best Director-Clint
    Eastwood
    Best Screenplay-David Webb
    Peoples
    2nd place
    NSFC Award
    Best Actor-Clint Eastwood
    3rd place
    NSFC Award
    Best Cinematography-Jack
    N. Green

    New York Film Critics
    Circle Awards 1992
    Won
    NYFCC Award
    Best Supporting Actor-Gene
    Hackman
    2nd place
    NYFCC Award
    Best Film
    Best Director-Clint
    Eastwood
    3rd place
    NYFCC Award
    Best Screenplay-David Webb
    Peoples

    And, ANNIE HALL not being a hit with critics as well? It was quite the
    opposite:

    National Board of Review,
    USA 1977
    Won
    NBR Award
    Best Supporting
    Actress-Diane Keaton
    One of Year’s Top Ten Films

    National Society of Film
    Critics Awards, USA 1977
    Won
    NSFC Award
    Best Film
    Best Actress-Diane Keaton
    Best Screenplay-Woody
    Allen and Marshall Brickman
    3rd place
    NSFC Award
    Best Director- Woody Allen

    New York Film Critics
    Circle Awards 1977
    Won
    NYFCC Award
    Best Film
    Best Director-Woody Allen
    Best Actress-Diane Keaton

    Best Screenplay-Woody
    Allen and Marshall Brickman

    Los Angeles Film Critics
    Association Awards 1977
    Won
    LAFCA Award
    Best Screenplay-Woody
    Allen and Marshall and Brickman

    Kansas City Film Critics
    Circle Awards 1977
    Won
    KCFCC Award
    Best Film
    Best Actress-Diane Keaton
    Best Director- Woody Allen

    In 1977, the LA Film Critics Association was only in its second year. Up to
    that point, the main Critic Award Organizations were the National Board of
    Review, the New York Film Critics Circle, and the National Society of Film Critics.

    Perhaps the next time you run an article like this, you should take the time to do a bit more homework on the films you list and how critics, by the end of a film’s release year, ultimately assessed them.

  • steve981cr

    Please do some research before writing. Casablanca won best picture of the year. Hardly what I would call being panned by critics. And the the author’s opening comment “Alright, so this dramatic tale of love lost isn’t to everyone’s taste,…” who could possibly not like Casablanca? And if there is someone then I’d like to know what they do like as I’m sure it would be amusing.

  • insi10

    This article is basically a lie. An utter lie. Look them up on RT. 90% of the critics surveyed LOVED Bonnie and Clyde. 8.2 out of 10 average. Unforgiven scored with “only” 95% of critics.

  • insi10

    Casablanca: “Critics Consensus:
    An undisputed masterpiece and perhaps Hollywood’s quintessential statement on love and romance, ” 97% of critics loved it.

    Who is this idiot writer?

  • insi10

    The critics’ consensus is that this is the most ignorant article ever written about movies. It’s the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes of commentaries. If it were a movie, it would be “The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover,” with the volume turned up even more when that “singer” screeches.

  • Askelon

    So,,,Writer is obviously not old enough to have personal knowledge of most of these movies at release. As a result, Writer is having to depend upon research, a talent upon which the Writer fails in numerous ways. ” Bette Midler-Bette Davis,,,well, one’s old ,one’s dead, and both were before my time. How am I suppose to keep them straight ? Speed >Rader< and Ace Ventura are of course classics of my generation. How could anyone argue with that ! Everybody in my 3rd grade class loved them. And just because some of these old movies garnered multiple Oscar nominations and wins during their year of release doesn't negate MY theory that they were panned at that time."…I always feel dirty when I have to dip thoughts out of a dipsh#ts mind. Comments by Oliver below said it much better than I just did.

  • StevenBall

    The critics are often wrong but fortunately the people ultimate decide which movie stands the test of time.

  • worrierking

    “Speed Racer”, “Ace Ventura”, ? Haven’t seen them, but don’t think they should be on any list with “Casablanca” or “Apocalypse Now”. I could be wrong

  • weirdpeter

    Another example of how making one itsy bitsy error in your article gets you sent to the woodshed. The dogs were waiting to pounce and you opened the door to the kennel,

  • granny

    Bette Midler ? Who wrote this? Is proof reading against your religion or something? I am embarrassed for this writer and think you should try photography instead.

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