The Criterion Collection is a neat company with over 1000+ notable films. In addition, on every 15th of the month, they add a handful of newly restored titles to the collection, complete with custom cover art and exclusive supplements.
While visiting their little corner of the internet, I encountered the question, “What are your most controversial film opinions?” And the answers were shocking. So here is twenty-five controversial movie opinions to drop your jaw.
1. M. Night Shyamalan Is One of the Best
Someone stated, “M. Night Shyamalan is one of the best directors and a personal favorite.” That is a controversial movie opinion due to the decline of greatness. Another noted that he was terrific, but his quality degraded. No one will argue for The Last Airbender film misstep in 2010.
2. The Star Wars Sequel Trilogy Is Fun
One user exclaimed, “Sure, the Star Wars sequel movies suffered by having zero overall planning. But they are still entertaining movies. And Rey is NO Mary Sue!”
3. Blade Runner (1982) Is One of the Most Boring Movies Ever
“Blade Runner is probably the most boring movie I’ve ever seen,” one shared. “I’ve tried it twice. I love Roy Batty and the visuals. Everything else is very uninteresting to me, and I can’t believe people think that’s Harrison Ford’s best performance.
4. Carrie (1976) Is Incredibly Overrated
“Carrie is incredibly overrated. It doesn’t work as a horror movie or accomplish anything for me. The blood scene was excellent, but everything else did nothing for me. Especially the ending. Please tell me if I’m taking it too far at face value.,” suggested one.
5. The Deer Hunter Is Long and Too Slow
“While I can acknowledge the incredible acting (Christopher Walken and Robert De Niro especially), The Deer Hunter didn’t do much for me,” one confessed. “I get the purpose of the wedding scene, but did it have to take an hour out of the runtime for three seconds of actual plot development? Maybe it’s just not for me.”
“I wasn’t wowed by the rest of the movie, except for the Russian roulette scenes. The one in Vietnam is incredible. And then, after that, it’s still slow, and not a lot happens to progress the story.”
6. Raging Bull Is Not Martin Scorsese’s Best
“Raging Bull is extremely mid and not even close to top-tier Martin Scorsese,” one replied. A second agreed, “Raging Bull isn’t even close to being a masterpiece or Scorsese’s best.”
7. The Shawshank Redemption Is Hyper-Overrated
“The Shawshank Redemption is an OK movie and undoubtedly the most beloved movie. However, it’s far from being a great movie. It’s hyper-overrated at #1 on IMDb,” someone claimed brazenly.
8. Ernst Lubitsch Is Overrated
“I find Ernst Lubitsch to be overrated,” shared one. “I think his films are decent and enjoyable, but they don’t stand out to me, and I don’t understand why they’re singled out from other films of that era. I recently rewatched The Shop Around the Corner to see if I can grow to appreciate Lubitsch more, but I don’t connect with his films. I also find the snappy dialogue irritating.”
9. Batman: The Animated Series Movies Are Better Than Christopher Nolan’s Trilogy
“The Batman: The Animated Series movies Subzero and Mask of the Phantasm are better than all of the Christopher Nolan Batman films,” stated another.
10. Francis Ford Coppola Got Lucky
“Francis Ford Coppola is an overrated director who got lucky a couple of times with dynamite scripts (Apocalypse Now and The Godfather). But, unfortunately, most of his other work is subpar,” one user professed.
11. The Phantom Menace Is the Best Star Wars Prequel
One brave fan admitted, “The Phantom Menace is the best Star Wars prequel, and it is fantastic. But, unfortunately, Star Wars fans are too harsh on The Phantom Menace, and the hate for Jar Jar is over-the-top too!”
12. Stanley Kubrick’s the Shining Isn’t That Great
“Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining isn’t that great. And not just compared to the book, either, but as a standalone story,” confessed one. “Agreed,” said another. “It fails to show a cabin fever descent into madness because Nicholson plays Jack like a psycho the entire time.”
13. Pan’s Labyrinth Is a Snoozefest
“Pan’s Labyrinth is a complete snoozefest. The fantasy elements have maybe ten minutes of screentime, far, far less than several very samey scenes of the General yelling and torturing people. As a result, I found it to be a miserable experience,” a user confessed.
14. Casablanca Is Far From the Best Michael Curtiz Movie
“Casablanca is far from the best Michael Curtiz movie out there. For example, King Creole, Young Man With a Horn, Flaming Road, Angels with Dirty Faces, The Mystery of the Wax Museum, and Mildred Pierce are considerably better.”
15. Superhero Movies Separate From a Huge Universe Are the Best
One person shared, “I don’t care for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They’re some of the most generic films and do poorly with diversity. I also don’t care if DC succeeds with a universe. I prefer superhero movies separate from some huge universe—for example, The Batman and The Dark Knight Trilogy by Christopher Nolan.”
16. Everything Everywhere All at Once Is Overrated With a Toxic Fanbase
“At the moment? Everything Everywhere All At Once is a pleasing little diversion. But ridiculously overrated, 45 minutes too long, not half as clever as it thinks it is, not even remotely worthy of awards season conversation, and has somehow cultivated a TOXIC fan base,” insinuated one.
17. Titanic Is One of the Best Films of All Time
“Titanic is one of the best films of all time,” one suggested. “I want to second this one because that movie had everything working against it production-wise and ended up being a modern epic. And I love it,” added another.
18. David Lynch Has Never Found a Way to Surpass Eraserhead
“In some ways, David Lynch (Dune) has never found a way to surpass Eraserhead, his feature-length debut. There is something so otherworldly about it that he, or anyone else, has never quite replicated,” admitted another.
19. Mads Mikkelson Is the Better Hannibal Lector
“Mads Mikkelson is the better Hannibal Lector and the better actor between him and Sir Anthony Hopkins. Both are all-time talents, but Mikkelson is just a once-in-a-lifetime guy on the level of Lancaster or Newman,” one person replied.
20. The Godfather Insists Upon Itself
“The Godfather insists upon itself,” one stated. Another agreed, “It’s highly overrated, and people go along with the hype for good, but not the greatest script of all time.”
21. The Power of the Dog Was Awful
“The Power of the Dog was awful, and Jane Campion is a storytelling hack with a good eye for visuals,” claimed one. “I agree about The Power of the Dog. It’s an insufferable and horribly written movie. And I usually love the slow-burn style it was going for,” another added.
22. Hot Fuzz Is the Only Superior Film in the Cornetto Trilogy
“Hot Fuzz is the only movie in the Cornetto Trilogy with superior value. The other two are just okay (Shaun of the Dead, and only when directly following Spaced for the running gags are mediocre (World’s End was a horrible way to end the trilogy),” replied one.
“Thank you. Shaun of the Dead is solid but not great, and I’m so tired of hearing it’s incredible. Hot Fuzz blows it out of the water by virtue of the script alone,” another elaborated.
23. The Godfather Part III Is Better Than Apocalypse Now
One person confessed, “I liked The Godfather Part III much more than Apocalypse Now.” That is a hot take and may be the most controversial movie opinion on this list.
24. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Is Unwatchable
“The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly is unwatchable. So is Once Upon A Time in The West. Underappreciated Westerns include Stagecoach, starring John Wayne, and The Gunfighter starring Gregory Peck. Two Mules For Sister Sara, starring Clint Eastwood and Shirley McClaine, and River Of No Return with Marilyn Monroe.”
25. The Breakfast Club Is a Terrible Movie
Finally, someone stated, “John Hughes movies are overrated at best and problematic at worst. The Breakfast Club is a terrible movie.” Another added, “I freaking hate The Breakfast Club. People tell me, ‘You must not have experienced it as a teenager when it would resonate with you,’ and I’m like, I watched it in a high school film class. It s**ks to me.”
Source: Reddit.
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