Kevin's Watch

The 10 "most overhyped movie flops of all time" according to this MSN article:

Hollywood's April Fools

What movies would be on your list?

Off the top of my head, I would add Superman Returns to the list. That film built up huge hype with its quarter-billion dollar price tag, yet delivered a very feeble product, IMO.

I agree with the inclusion of Peter Jackson's King Kong: it was overhyped and underwhelming, just like Superman Returns. I really wanted to like this version of Kong, all the way to the end. I could see that Jackson was striving for something great. But the film just left me cold.

Have not seen The Golden Compass, Bonfire of the Vanities, The Postman or Cleopatra. The only M. Night Shyamalan movie I've seen to date remains The Sixth Sense, which I thought was fairly good.

I also liked the Sixth Sense, though I've not bothered to watch any other of M.NightS.'s movies. I also confess to liking Cleopatra, though perhaps as much from a love of history's various retellings of the story, and my love of the costumes in the movie. I was also glad that they included Cesar having a "fit", since that was sometimes left out in other versions.

My top ten would be:

1. Titanic, 2. Death Becomes Her (worst effort by Hawn, Willis, and I've never liked Streep anyway) 3. I'll second the addition of Superman Returns - crap 4. Eyes Wide Shut - just an excuse to get Tom and Nicole naked on screen again. 5. Spanglish - Adam Sandler should stay away from serious roles. 6. Click, it wasn't terrible, but it wasn't what it was blown up to be 7. Once Upon a Time in Mexico, - predictable, therin lies my disappointment. 8. Starsky and Hutch - too ridiculous to even be amusing 9. The Wendell Baker Story 10. Cat Woman, I was really expecting more from Berry, though the addition of Sharon Stone was bound to muck things up a bit.

I entirely agree with MM's post. Although I like The Sixth Sense a lot, rather than "fairly good."

It's been a while since I saw the Kong thread. I didn't remember anyone else thinking it wasn't good.

Kong blew.

I dunno, I find most films overhyped.

I liked Kong...

I think its silly to tease Jackson for overuse of special effects in remaking a movie that's primarily famous for it's ground-breaking special effects. I think he did a great job with the material (and so did all of the actors). Any flaws lie in the inherent silliness pf the story.

Cail wrote:Kong blew.

Mmm. I'll second that.

The original had a charm largely because of its era which made me forget the absurdity of the concept. Jackson's was just, well, over-long and a bit tedious.

There are so many over-hyped movie I don't know where to start. Pretty much every major-studio film from the US these days suffers from hype.

Transformers.

Star Wars Episodes One to Six.

I agree that a lot of movies are overhyped. But people can still pick out those films they felt were the most overhyped that turned out to be stinkers.

Another one comes to mind: Tim Burton's Batman. The film was super-hyped, but I thought it was inept in almost every way. Even if it had not been hyped up, I still would have been disappointed, because I all I got to see for my money was the sort of clumsy filmmaking I would have expected from an amateur, not a top Hollywood director.

Another one: Michael Bay's Pearl Harbor. Now this film at least looked like it had been made by professionals. It had the potential to be a great war movie. It promised to tell the tale of a day that would live in infamy, but what I got was an Affleck-Beckinsale-Harnett love triangle that wasn't infamous, just pathetic. Did the film really need to be saddled by it?

Agree with Pearl Harbor and second Howard the Duck.

10,000 BC. Even I was excited for this.

I almost burned the theater down when I fully realized how crappy it is.

I thought the trailers for 10,000 looked pretty crappy.

What? Howard the Duck rocked man.

And I loved Death Becomes Her FoulWife. But then, I've always liked Streep.

--A

Pearl Harbor was a travesty, and all King Kong movies suck IMO. I agree that most movies are over-hyped, but I think that's just the nature of the beast in today's world.

Avatar wrote:What? Howard the Duck rocked man.

And I loved Death Becomes Her FoulWife. But then, I've always liked Streep.

--A

I liked Howard the Duck, and while I didn't hate Death Becomes Her, I don't care much for Meryl either.

Almost forgot...

The Lost World (Jurassic Park II)

And about 10k...

The obvious contempt for any kind of historical accuracy in the trailers scared me away. I know it could have been a stylistic choice in a good movie... but usually movies that have contempt for the intelligence of a viewer in one way will do it to you in others. Also, I tend to feel that moves with the advertising budget 10k obviously had are compensating. (Prom Night seems the same way... the trailers for that POS are making me nausious)

Spider-Man 3

--A

Wow.
There are a few films that were hyped probably because the film makers new perfectly well that the product blew and were hoping to make a few bucks before people found out exactly how worthless the movie was.
CATWOMAN is a beautiful example. Wrong headed from concept to completion is fair to say.
King Kong. Yeah I can see that. My wife had an itch to watch Kong again over the weekend. I appreciate what Jackson did with the film and on many levels I enjoy it but there are a few bruises on the apple that make it kind of unappetizing.
MM's comments about Pearl Harbor are justified. I felt the same way. One other aspect most of you wouldn't notice or care about is a scene where a Japanese plane strafes a row of obviously contemporary destroyers. After all the work put into special effects and historical accuracy what the hell was that?

Cail wrote:Kong blew.

I dunno, I find most films overhyped.

How did everyone miss Battlefield: Earth?

The Dreaming wrote:I liked Kong...

I think its silly to tease Jackson for overuse of special effects in remaking a movie that's primarily famous for it's ground-breaking special effects. I think he did a great job with the material (and so did all of the actors). Any flaws lie in the inherent silliness pf the story.

On the one side, the special effects were fun to watch. On the other side, they were kind of over the top ridiculous for me. I mean, really, what are the chances two giant T-Rexes (Oh, sorry, they're V-Rexes, aren't they?) are going to fight a humongous ape just for the chance of eating some bite-sized human. I mean, I'm not going to risk my life for a potato chip, no matter how delectable it looks.