In response to TAMATER’s most Overrated movies forum (check it out 
), which movies do you think of very underrated…
(2002) Sweet Sixteen (watch it if you haven’t, recommended)
Zulu Dawn
Speed
Frankenstein/Bride of Frankenstein
Rebel Without a Cause (by this generation)
My Favourite Brunette
Dr No
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Especially on Pixar Planet Forums.)
Haha, thanks.
James and the Giant Peach
Shark Tale (I’m the only one who likes it)
Pokemon: The First Movie (the sequels were bad, but I really like this)
Spiderman (got lots of bad reviews, but I like it!)
Rocky (people disrespect it because of its sequels)
Shrek (yeah, I but this on my list of overrated movies for ranking higher in Best Movies list than Toy Story, but is bashed a lot because it’s Dreamworks and has a bzillion sequels)
Cars & A Bug’s Life
Antz and A Bug’s Life are the first two that come to mind. Ironic since one was meant to copy the other, but I really do think they’re both underrated in their own ways.
And all the films in the Scary Movie series. I adore them, it’s the sort of out there, crazy humour that I like, but a lot of people insist on not liking them even when they haven’t watched them just because they’re a bit silly. But that’s the whole point!
I’m actually related to the producers of Scary Movie (my grandfather’s cousin’s sons). Cool, eh?
You’re my new best friend, Pixarinho.
Yeah, underrated, uh…
Dances with Wolves (haven’t seen the second half, but boy did I love the first half)
Treasure Planet
Atlantis: The Lost Empire
Mulan
License to Kill (IMO the best James Bond film of all-time, but widely criticized and hated among many fans)
Cars (especially among Pixar fans)
A Bug’s Life
Watership Down
Grave of the Fireflies (but it’s the kind of film that you won’t want to watch again)
Shark Tale (I liked it as a parody of gangster and rags-to-riches films)
Ronin (nobody has heard of this, but it has several of the best car chases in history)
I know Ronin, thedriveintheatre, though mainly because it’s one of my dad’s favourite films. You’re right though, the car chases are epic.
Haha… high fiiive, lizardgirl! annoying Borat voice
Speaking of Mr De Niro, everyone should check out Michael Mann’s Heat. It’s a classic, but most of this generation hasn’t heard of it. It is simply the best crime thriller I have ever seen in my entire life. One Cop. One Robber. They both fight each other (along with their own teams). Probably to the death. Simple as that.
Mr Mann’s Miami Vice film in 2006 was also critically-panned, but I loved it. Two of the coolest actors on the planet, with one of the hottest actresses in the middle. It’s beautiful, it’s brutal, it’s intense. Some people don’t have the patience to sit it out, but that’s Mann for you.
Also check out the blacks-ploitation film Shaft (the Richard Roundtree one, I can’t vouch for the Samuel L Jackson remake). The baddest mother and coolest detective ever. “Right on!” 
I agree with Heat man!, i didn’t include it because i would of though most people these days would of seen it (or heard of it). I’d say that ‘The Dam Busters’ is underrated, and also the live action Scooby Doo movie is underrated (the one in 2002), people call it trash and i think for what it is it’s a good family movie, and t me it’s sooooo fun, one of the few movies I could put on at any time.
EDITT: Also Stagecoach (1939) w/ John Wayne, it’s a sick, sick, sick movie , and i don’t think alot of people have even heard of it let alone seen it.
Oh and to thedriveintheatre, isn’t Speed just the sickest ting you’ve ever seen Defines ‘fun’
Oh god, the bank robbery and shootout scene is the best in all of cinematic history. Few try to imitate it, none can beat it. Mostly because it feels so real (the actors underwent weapons-training, and the sound editors used actual production sounds with no music). Oh, and I also like the shot of the billboard of Malaysian Airlines in it! 
Heat Shootout - Behind the Scenes Featurette
Heck, yeah! It defines ‘action movie’, period. Never have I seen such a fast-paced film; there is character and plot development, but it all happens in real-time as we follow them through the streets of L.A. (unlike other action movies, where the hero does a car chase, goes home and sleeps, then does a shootout, then tries to woo his female partner on a dinner date, etc.) And Sandra, she’s so pretty as the reluctant driver!
“It’s like driving a really big Pinto.” 
Gives new meaning to the term “Action-Packed”.
A couple more underrated films:
Fox and the Hound
Serenity
Pan’s Labyrinth
Hellboy 1 and 2
The Losers
Chicken Run
With you right there on Hellboy, thedriveintheatre! They’re both such good movies, a little strange admittedly, but that doesn’t make them bad.
I’m not sure if I would call The Big Lebowski underrated as such, but in a way I think it is. It has its fans who adore the movie to pieces, but it seems like most people don’t know of it and they’re missing out on something amazing.
Ron Pearlman is Hellboy! Seriously, it’s a pity that it had such a tight budget (apparently Del Toro wanted the second movie to have more locations, but had to scale down because of financial constraints). You can see every penny went to making it as beautiful and awesome as possible, unlike some movies coughTransformerscoughSex and the Citycough who wiss it all away.
I suppose you’ve seen The Big Lebowski/Monsters Inc mash-up, lizardgirl? 
I’ve seen the Coen brothers ‘No Country for Old Men’ and ‘Burn After Reading’, but I have no idea what ‘The Dude’ is about. Can you tell me the gist of it without any spoilers?
Love Mike Wazowski screaming “Where’s the f@^%ing money, $#*!heaaaaddd…!!!”
I actually think that most of the Coen Bros movies are pretty underrated. I’m not sure if I’d count The Big Lebowski though, since it does have quite a substantial cult following. I would call it fairly “misunderstood” however, since a lot of people only seem to like it for the cruder humour, and overlook some of its deeper motifs, such as its pastiches on Raymond Chandler. It often gets labelled as just a “silly comedy”, but it’s really a lot cleverer than that.
The truly underrated ones, to me, are gems like The Hudsucker Proxy and Blood Simple, which never really got the recognition they deserved, or critical darlings like Barton Fink, which didn’t quite catch on with the public. Three really great films there, if you ask me, just itching for cult followings.
thedriveintheatre- Believe it or not, that mash-up actually led me to The Big Lebowski in the first place! I knew half of the lines of the film before I’d even seen it! 
And the gist of it? WELL, the Dude is laid-back, living a pretty easy life until he returns home to his apartment one day to find a couple of guys have broken in and are peeing on his rug. (The peeing on the rug thing is very, very important, by the way. ) See, what’s happened is that these guys have got Jeff Lebowski (the Dude) mixed up with the big Lebowski (this rich, disabled guy whose young wife owes a lot of money to different people). The Dude goes to the big Lebowski in order to get compensation for the rug and it sort of goes on from there.
It’s a very strange film. I do love it though, not only because it’s the most quotable film EVER, but because, as mogwai said, there are many hidden and recurring themes and it’s all very cleverly done. Plus it’s hilarious too.
I really want to go and watch it now.
“You mean…coitus?” ROFL. And I love that bit in the mash-up when you see Waternoose plainly standing there on his legs, and he’s like, “I don’t blame anyone for the loss of my legs!” It’s incredible how the characters of the two films match up perfectly.
John Goodman is particularly good in The Big Lebowski. But then, he’s great in any Coen Bros film (and he’s in quite a few of them, as are Steve Buscemi and John Turturro).
BTW, lizardgirl, I’m sure you’re aware of the “pattern” concerning Steve Buscemi’s fate in most of the Coen Bros films he appears in?
Of course, mogwai. I love the little links that they make between the films, and that’s why I especially love Randall’s line, ‘…I’ll personally put you through the shredder!’ Gets me every time. Plus whenever Walter in The Big Lebowski says, ‘shut up, Donny!’ (in a slightly ruder fashion) I always think of Steve’s character in Fargo. Love it, love it, love it!
Okay, I’m slightly obsessed.
mogwai: Does he get a sticky end in every Coen Bros film? I haven’t watched enough, so I wouldn’t know…
Speaking of Mr Buscemi, I meant to post this in the ‘Movies- both New and Old’ thread, but I think I’ll just write it here for you fans of Mr B.
There’s a war period epic that should be out now called ‘John Rabe’ which will no doubt fly under the radar (it is pretty indy). It looks interesting, like Schindler’s List but set in Nanking, China. Mr B gets to ask someone to shoot him… but he looks so bad-*ss saying it. 
Ooh, thanks for the link, thedriveintheatre! I’d heard about the movie but hadn’t seen any trailers yet. It looks good! Obviously very sad, emotional, but gripping.
Not every CB film he appears in. He survives in my two personal favourites, The Hudsucker Proxy and Barton Fink (though he doesn’t have a lot of screen time in either of those). There is, however, slightly more to it than just receiving “a sticky end”…I recommend you watch Miller’s Crossing, Fargo and The Big Lebowski in that order and see if you can figure it out.
I really love Steve Buscemi’s bit-part in The Hudsucker Proxy, partly because it’s great seeing him and Tim Robbins (two of my all-time favourite actors) on screen together, however briefly.
I actually wrote an essay on the Coen Bros as one of my final pieces for my English degree, a couple of years ago. It was mainly focussed upon Fargo and The Big Lebowski, and how the Coen Bros manage to deconstruct and rearrange a lot of the conventions of the film noir genre whilst still paying tribute to it. Sadly, that essay was stored on my old computer, so I no longer have access to it.
That’s a shame, mogwai, I would’ve loved to have been able to read it. Barton Fink is one of my favourite Coen brothers films too, despite the small part that Steve Buscemi has to play in it. Their films have such depths that I admit I have only partially explored, but it sounds like you’ve really found out and thought about this a lot.
This has gone a little off topic now, but relating back to the topic- Coen brothers’ films are underrated!