Why would you say something so controversial, yet so brave, Reddit?
It isn’t necessary that movies that make it big on the screen might be all that. While some movies may have garnered mass acclaim they don’t fare well on the Reddit scale. Right from Titanic to Frozen, some of the highest-grossing movies do not get the Reddit seal of approval.
All fans have their laundry list of movies that they find overrated, as controversial as the opinion might be, but if there’s one place that houses the strongest opinions it has to be Reddit. So we scoured the pages of r/AskReddit for the most overrated movies. Did the movies make it big on the screen? Sure, but were they overrated? Some Redditors agree.
Image via Disney
Avatar, which was released in 2009 was perhaps one of the most technologically advanced movies of its time and showed the world what great 3D movie design could do. James Cameron set the stage for many more 3D movies to come. With a whopping budget of $237 million, you wouldn’t expect anything less than a masterpiece.
The movie is a looker and most scenes look unreal in IMAX, but the storyline just doesn’t cut it for Reddit. Great visuals aside, the plot doesn’t live up to the same standards. Reddit user DramaticChoice4 described the plot as cliché and other Redditors agreed when they said that the plotline was "whelming" at best.
Every 2004 romance enthusiast's bible was The Notebook. Everyone at some point wanted to take a page out of Ryan Gosling’s book of charm and relive the iconic scene in the rain. But as widely talked about as it was, Reddit agrees that it might have been a tad overrated.
Reddit user lovebugblues mentioned that there was no chemistry or romance between the two. Some might call it love, but Redditors called it a toxic and overbearing relationship between the protagonists that was doomed to fail.
Much like Avatar, Gravity was another film that was touted for its excellent visuals, and when you have a budget of $100 million, you tend to go all out on the special effects. Gravity made it big in the theaters made over $700 million at the box office and won 7 Oscars.
Redditors think otherwise, while they agree that it was a visual treat, the plot didn’t do much for them. The plot was not very immersive, and plot points were subpar at best with a few loopholes here and there. Some Reddit users even went so far as to point out some of the scientific inaccuracies in the film and how some events fail to honor the basic laws of physics. Talk about gravity-defying.
If a movie is produced by Martin Scorsese and has a star-studded cast featuring Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci you would expect that they would have the action sequences and the CGI down pat. But The Irishman did not live up to the Redditor’s scale and was deemed as a largely overrated movie.
Even though the movie used a rather complicated three-rig camera system for the Deaging effects to come through, they didn’t stick the landing with that one as Reddit user luca_the_heretic called it 'young face on stooping body.' Reddit users also pointed out a specific scene from the movie which was the tipping point for most viewers, where Robert De Niro is seen beating up a man. Only it looks fairly staged, and it is evident that Robert De Niro wasn’t kicking the man at all. The scene in question:
Released in 2017 and Michael Gracey’s directorial debut, The Greatest Showman was a highly-rated musical for its excellent performances, production and visuals. The film is a biographical drama based on the life of P.T. Barnum, an entertainer and creator of the Barnum & Bailey Circus.
Even though the film received critical acclaim, Redditors were quick to point out the oversimplification of conflict resolution in the movie, some even called the songs simple. While Reddit users appreciated the music and the performances they also believed that Barnum’s portrayal was unrealistic, and the movie glorified him to a certain extent when he was a terrible person. Reddit user Smiffaay very succinctly described it as "meh."
The highest-grossing film of 2013, Frozen was all the rage that year and set a strong precedent for upcoming animated Disney films. The film was everywhere and was heavily commercialized, and the soundtrack had become a winter staple.
But Redditors couldn't seem to…let it go. While it may have been the highest-grossing film, Reddit user RockednRolled mentions that the film doesn’t hold a candle to the original Disney movies. Even though the film is targeted at children, some users called the plot nonsensical and forced so much so that it did not warrant a sequel.
Released in 2004 and directed by Paul Haggis, Crash was a personal passion piece based on a true incident in Haggis’ life when he was carjacked in Los Angeles. The movie was a commercial success and earned over $98 million with a $6.5 million budget.
Redditors, however, weren't too happy with the high ratings and commercial success of the movie. They found the moral pandering to be rather excessive and the portrayal of racism to be a little simplistic. User W_Herzog_Starship puts it across as "a screenplay from a high schooler." Others felt the plotlines were forced and that the movie didn’t deserve the Oscar for Best Picture at the 78th Academy Awards. The movie found itself at the center of controversy after the Oscars when it beat out Brokeback Mountain.
Another 90s rom-com classic, starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere, Pretty Woman was one of the highest-grossing films in 1990. While the movie was initially intended to be a dark plot about classes and sex work, it was redefined as a cheesy rom-com where the sex worker with a heart of gold falls in love with the rich businessman.
In the true Reddit spirit, user jenel2583 sarcastically commented about the unlikely plot of the film and how pieces conveniently fell into place. Others believed that it was nothing more than a Cinderella Story and that the only reason the movie was so highly rated was because of Julia Roberts.
Another box office hit by James Cameron, Titanic became the epitome of romance and tragedy when it came out in 1997. The commercial success of the movie was on such a large scale that it was the first film to reach the billion-dollar mark before Avatar, another James Cameron hit, overtook it in 2010. A 3D version of the Titanic was also released in 2012 to mark the centennial of the ship sinking, which added a few extra bucks to the film’s value.
But that doesn’t stop the people of Reddit, who deemed it a highly overrated film. Some called the story sappy and cheesy, and others complained about the long run time. In true James Cameron fashion, the visuals were phenomenal and kept the audience captivated, but Redditors felt the plot was thin. And if the memes are anything to go by, viewers do think there was enough space for jack on the floorboard.
Grease was one of the most iconic rom-com musicals of the 70s, and it even became the highest-grossing musical at the time. The summer romance between Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta was a love story for the ages with a soundtrack to remember.
But despite the high ratings and commercial success, Reddit users argue that it remains one of the more overrated films to this day. Redditors agree that the movie did not age well. Some of them felt the songs were cheesy and many pointed out that the characters who are supposedly teens were played by 30-year-olds, which does hold since Olivia Newton-John was 30 years old when she played Sandy Olsson and Stockard Channing was 33 when she played Betty Rizzo.
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