MovieChat Forums > General Discussion > Overrated old movies

Overrated old movies


While I usually love and enjoy old movies, sometimes I just can't understand some high scores in iMDB.

Some examples:

The Lady Vanishes (1938), from Hitchcock. It's basically a propaganda movie. Pseudo-nazis bad, English good. The propaganda is so blatant at times that it can even feel embarrassing. Of course, propaganda movies can still be masterpieces, but this one feels bland. I don't see here the usual Hitchcock genius. And however, it's a 7.8. Compare with classics like Marnie (7.2), Suspicion (7.4), The Man Who Knew Too Much (7.5), The Birds (7.7)... are we nuts??

The Lady Eve (1941), another 7.8. The plot makes no sense at all. Well, it's a screwball comedy, and screwball comedies are not supposed to make (much) sense, are they? But then you have the main character that feels bland and boring, and the dialogue that's never sharp. It's not a bad movie, but honestly I don't see how it could deserve such a score.

Lady on a Train (1945). This is a 6.8. And I'm sorry, but I don't see how this even gets a pass. It tries to mix noir with comedy, and it doesn't work with none of them. The second half of the movie is completely absurd, and I don't mean absurd in a funny way. Deanna Durbin was delightful, though, but that doesn't save the movie.

Thoughts? Similar cases?

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Does it have to have Lady in the title?

Lady and the Tramp?

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Not necessarily, though I noticed it. It's a funny coincidence.

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Sorry, just my silly sense of humour.

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Not at all! You were right. I was thinking about making some silly joke about it too, though at the end I dismissed it (or better said, nothing funny came to my mind 😄).

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Most of Hitchcock's movies, to be honest. There's only a few I truly like.

Also Casablanca, Gone with the Wind, The Sound of Music, 12 Angry Men.

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Those are masterpieces.

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All terribly overrated 'masterpieces'.

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Well, I could agree with that. Casablanca or Gone with the Wind are amazing movies, for example, but they're far from being the top movies in history (as sometimes they have been considered).

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2001: A Space Odyssey

So slow running and boring I would rather watch paint dry than see that movie again.

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Vertigo (1958)

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Patton
Raging Bull
Once Upon a Time in America
The Godfather part 2
Hoosiers
Citizen Kane
The Deer Hunter
Midnight Cowboy
All the Presidents Men
The Great Escape
The Magnificent Seven
Serpico
Reds

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YOUR LIST JUST MAKES ME SAD FOR YOU😪

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Millers Crossing
The Shining
Brazil
Animal House

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I WAS WITH YOU TILL ANIMAL HOUSE...

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What if i told you Porky's was better then Animal House?

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I WOULD BELIVE YOU...BUT,I WOULD KNOW BETTER...😎

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Disagree about The Lady Vanishes. Its one of Hitchcock´s best. Its in another class to The Birds which is like a B grade horror film with a silly plot and if it were made by anyone other than Hitchcock it wouldn´t get half the respect it gets. My pick for most overrated movie is Citizen Kane.

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I agree with Citizen Kane - never understood the appeal and the only reason I finished watching it was to find out what Rosebud was.

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So did I, at which I 🙄ed.

For me, Vertigo. I'll never understand why so many people rave about it. I agree The Birds was like a B grade horror film with a silly plot. It was entertaining, but hardly a great film.

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"The Wizard of Oz" - Just boring, and what's up with the supposedly "good" witch being such a bitch?

"The 7th Seal" - Just inconprehensible.

"Lawrence of Arabia" - Just boring.

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