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.

10
Training Day 2001
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.




9
Reservoir Dogs 1992
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.


8
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home 1986
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!



7
The Others 2001
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.



6
Scarface 1983
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.



5
Shakespeare in Love 1998
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.


4
Chicago 2002
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.


3
Titanic 1997
Another very long, absolute clichéd 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 cliché 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.



2
Clerks 1994
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.



1
Apocalypse Now 1979
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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