TV Shows or Movies that bombed and/or Critics hated you enjoyed?

[Stormcall]

I grew up a fan of 80's action and horror movies, not exactly genres known for tons of critical appeal.

[Raelbo]

I have to agree with those saying that SGU got a raw deal. I thought it was a great show, and failed purely because of Syfy. I mean if it were up to Syfy, The Expanse would also be in the cancelled box....

I can't say that I agree on D&D. I felt it was a bunch of wasted potential and just generally a disservice to the fantasy genre. It was a film that I really wanted to see doing well, but aside from a few in jokes, some cool special effects (for the time) and a great Jeremy Irons, it just left me feeling disappointed.


A movie that I thought was really underrated was Lost Souls, with Winona Ryder. Really, one of the better "end of days" (in the biblical sense) films out there, with a plot that actually made sense. I think a big part of the reason it failed was that the vast majority of the audience missed the subtle twist, and as such the whole climax felt very weak. I remember at the time reading a lot of comments to the tune of "the ending just made no sense". To me that would be a big hint that maybe I missed something. Evidently not for most people.

Also, since this is a WoW fansite, someone has to mention the Warcraft movie. IMO massively underrated and unfairly panned by the critics. No, it wasn't LotR, but it was a lot better than a lot of people gave it credit for. Aside from being visually beautiful - really, Jones can give himself a pat on the back for captured the essence of Azeroth, and the Orcs, I thought it was well acted and had a decent story. It's biggest failing was the pacing, particularly in the beginning, which I hear was due to having to keep the film under 2 hours.

I also think that the WoW fanbase (and fantasy fans in general) in the US really let the side down. This film did well in most markets except for the US where, for some reason, fans just decided to snub it. If it had done well, then the studios would have likely started taking the genre a lot more seriously, but instead it just reinforced their perception to stay away.

[Gallahadd]

I used to like Xena and Hercules shows. I'm a Greek mythology nerd and those series had a special appeal for me.

Those shows were amazing, Xena moreso than Hercules. Used to freakin LOVE them back in day. Might have to rewatch soon.

As for my picks, I have two:

Sucker Punch. Panned by critics, panned by the audience 22/47% on RT, but I really enjoyed it. When you stop thinking of it as a movie, and realise it's a musical, it starts to make far more sense.

Tomorrowland: not quite panned, but far from love. 50/50% on RT. I think the reason this film failed to connect with people, is it never should have been a movie. They tried to do too much in too short a time. I think if they'd made a 10 episode 40min tv show it would have been far better received

[Dwarfhamster]

In no way shape or form am I trying to bait, offend, or troll you, but: were those shows actually panned by critics? I remember them being wildly popular from start. Maybe I was just in the right region for that being the case: them being popular. If they were panned, add me to the list of people that loved those shows regardless of what anyone else had to say about them.

I think people generally viewed them as cheesy and bad. But it was a long time ago--I don't remember.

[Lanrefni]

Death to Smoochy,I am the only person I know who actually thought it was hilarious,and from the Rotten Tomatoes reviews the critics really didn't like it.

[Shadowferal]

Purely for the aesthetic value...really...

[Lex Icon]

i hardly ever agree with critics(the ones that are supposed to be professional).

if i'm looking at a movie that's not some pretentious wankery i'm not going to be miffed that it's not that. but somehow they all seem to be like that.

[mizeri]

I really liked Stargate: Universe. I was really interested in seeing where that ship would end up taking them and all the things that they'd learn along the way. Robert Carlyle was a joy to watch and I really wanted to see more. Sadly not enough viewers felt the same way and it only got 2 seasons.

by far my favorite SG show, the other shows were kinda silly and campy compared to SGU

[StillMcfuu]

BF:Earth - I think it's how ridiculous it is, or Travolta's overacting and the mysterious choice of Aliens having Scottish accents... But I love watching this movie.


Waterworld - People tell me this movie was supposed to be bad... but I just don't see it. I think its pretty good, acting, story, characters, sets, it's all there.

[Shibito]

BF:Earth - I think it's how ridiculous it is, or Travolta's overacting and the mysterious choice of Aliens having Scottish accents... But I love watching this movie.


Waterworld - People tell me this movie was supposed to be bad... but I just don't see it. I think its pretty good, acting, story, characters, sets, it's all there.

Isnt Waterworld considered one of the greatest movies of all times?

[jackofwind]

Waterworld - People tell me this movie was supposed to be bad... but I just don't see it. I think its pretty good, acting, story, characters, sets, it's all there.

Nobody with half a braincell pans Waterworld.

[draynay]

Ultraviolet is definitely one of the worst movies I have ever seen, it was excruciating, grueling, agonizing, unending... all I remember now is suffering and an annoying kid. Was a real let down since I had liked Equilibrium so much.

Gonna be hard thinking of critical failure movies that I liked, mostly because I don't remember which ones critics liked or not, but there are a few that come to mind.

Three Amigos! is one that I love but critics were very mixed on.
Hook was a childhood favorite but critics hated it
Equilibrium I guess they didn't like that one either, but its the actually watchable Kurt Wimmer movie

There are plenty of cult classics that I love, critics favored them but audiences didn't find them until later.
For example, I never would have known, before the internet, how many people loved Big Trouble in Little China as much as I do.

[Bodakane]

Death to Smoochy,I am the only person I know who actually thought it was hilarious,and from the Rotten Tomatoes reviews the critics really didn't like it.

There's 2 now.

One of my all time favorite comedies and by far the most underrated in history.

[draynay]

There's 2 now.

One of my all time favorite comedies and by far the most underrated in history.

Oh, I forgot that one, I liked it, but it isn't a favorite. Its always hit-or-miss with dark comedies, some of them have been well reviewed and I hated, others the critics have savaged, but I enjoyed, like Death to Smoochy. That genre can be highly subjective.

[StillMcfuu]

Nobody with half a braincell pans Waterworld.

Waterworld was heavily panned when it came out. Had multiple Razzy and fake Razzy nominations.

It's aged phenomenally well though. Mainly because of the sets and action sequences and no use of CGI (until the end).

The Postman is another film that has done a bit better as it got older, no where near WW level though.

[jackofwind]

Waterworld was heavily panned when it came out. Had multiple Razzy and fake Razzy nominations.

It's aged phenomenally well though. Mainly because of the sets and action sequences and no use of CGI (until the end).

Exactly, so no one with half a braincell pans Waterworld. Those who panned it are obviously morons.

[Bodakane]

Oh, I forgot that one, I liked it, but it isn't a favorite. Its always hit-or-miss with dark comedies, some of them have been well reviewed and I hated, others the critics have savaged, but I enjoyed, like Death to Smoochy. That genre can be highly subjective.

There was a 5 year period (or so) where 4 of my favorite comedies premiered and all were panned when they came out:

Big Lebowski
Cable Guy
Death to Smoochy
Mystery Men

[Val the Moofia Boss]

SGU biggest weakness was it took two seasons to develop every single character on the cast. Barley anything interesting happened until the finale of s2. I enjoyed it, but I can see why and agree with its cancellation

For me,I can't put my finger on an example right now. But my general rule of thumb is not to even bother opening critic reviews. They've gone fucking awful the last few years for shitting on movies which aren't half bad.

I think the problem with SGU is that it was branded as the next Stargate show, in a franchise in which fans were expecting another fun, lighthearted romp through the stars like SG-1 and Atlantis.

SGU wasn't that. It was a brooding, nihilistic story about everybody being cramped on board a horror spaceship. Everybody hates each other. Hardly anyone in the cast is unlikable. We hardly get to explore new worlds, only seeing glimpses of aliens from afar and never getting to interact with their culture.

Imagine if the Star Trek TNG reboot wasn't TOS 2.0, but a horror story in space.

That's what happened with SGU. It was marketed as the next Stargate show and actual Stargate fans rejected it. Towards the end of season 2, the show began to find its own audience (people are more into horror stories and thrillers), but MGM didn't want to go through the long process of building up a new fanbase.

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by far my favorite SG show, the other shows were kinda silly and campy compared to SGU

The audience who likes SG-1 and Atlantis are completely different from the fans who like SGU. SG-1 and Atlantis have almost nothing in common with SGU, other than the titular Stargate.

Honestly, SGU would've probably done better if it had been branded as an original IP from the get go. Just change the look and name of the Stargate to avoid IP issues and there you go, a new sci-fi horror thriller IP. Ofcourse, MGM only green lit SGU because they wanted the large SG-1 and Atlantis audience for quick, easy money. Once MGM blew them away and realized that they'd have to build up a new fanbase from scratch over the next several years, they gave up.

[Goldielocks]

No fucking way was this movie as bad as everyone said it was, from the acting

You can have your opinion and all but I really have to wonder how you could stand Sophie Turner's extremely wooden acting. In the end, only McAvoy and Fassbender were any good. Everyone else was just there or Sophie Turner tier.

[Thelxi]

Eli (2019) comes to mind.

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/eli_2019