23 great movies that got rotten reviews when they came out

Before there was the almighty review section of every online shopping site, we looked to movie critics to fill us in on whether a film was worthy of our dollars, eyeballs, and time. A trip to the movie theatre isn’t exactly an inexpensive activity, so the opinions of these cinephiles has been historically a pretty important factor in terms of whether or not we buy those tickets. However, these film buffs don’t always get it right. In fact, some features that were badly panned by critics ended up becoming what we now consider the best movies of all time.

This surprising list includes some of the most iconic dramas, comedies, romantic movies, and horror films – many of which went on to become blockbusters and award winners. It just goes to show you that sometimes it’s best to trust your gut and take a chance on a big-screen story that looks interesting, regardless of what the so-called experts have to say.

Released: 1995

Director: Amy Heckerling

Critics didn’t love Clueless as much as audiences? As if! The reviews were most certainly mixed on this 1995 comedy, based on Jane Austen’s Emma and starring Alicia Silverstone as Cher, a Beverly Hills teen navigating her social circle and the halls of her wealthy high school. Time magazine critic Richard Corliss had this to say about the film upon its release: “Paying to see Clueless is not really mandatory. You can learn most of the jokes by surfing the TV and newspaper reviews and get a hint of Silverstone’s blithe lustre by watching MTV’s relentless promotions. Taking this Cliffs Notes route, moreover, saves you from sitting through several slow stretches of plot sludge.” Way harsh! Personally, we think Cher and her crew offer a timeless classic that touches on all of the nuances of teenagedom, even if it’s in a glossy, California setting.

Released: 1942

Director: Michael Curtiz

An American expat (Humphrey Bogart) running a nightclub in Casablanca, Morocco, must decide whether to help his former lover (Ingrid Bergman) and her husband escape the country during the early days of World War II. Today, when we think of Casablanca we think of romance, intrigue, and the glamorous bygone era of old Hollywood. But at the time, the New Statesman’s critique of the beloved classic said the love story was “horribly wooden” and filled with “clichés everywhere that lower the tension.” To the fans of the film who are offended by such a shoddy review, or to those who are about to discover it for the first time, we say, “Here’s looking at you, kid.” After all, the flick is filled with some of the most memorable movie quotes of all time.

Can you guess the movies that made these quotes famous?

Released: 2009

Director: Pierre Morel

Just when he thought he could take it easy, a retired CIA agent (Liam Neeson) finds himself right back in the action and putting himself in danger when he must save his kidnapped daughter. Fans ate up every minute of one of the best action movies of all time, spawning sequels; however, critics were less than thrilled. Roger Ebert only gave the movie two and a half stars, saying it was “preposterous,” although he admitted no one expects these kinds of popcorn thrillers to be plausible. Entertainment Weekly called it a “propulsively outlandish B movie.” Not exactly the words that would inspire someone to plop down the cash for a movie ticket. But moviegoers did, and it turned Neeson into a bona fide action star. For the record, he went on to play the character of Bryan Mills another two times.

Released: 1939

Director: Victor Fleming

A tornado sweeps Dorothy and her dog, Toto, away from Kansas to the magical land of Oz, where she meets new friends and foes in her quest to get home. The Wizard of Oz is one of those classic family movies your kids will love – and that you’ll be excited to watch together for the first time. Today, the flick seems like something spectacular, and the nostalgia involved warms the heart. But Otis Ferguson, film critic for The New Republic, hated the film at the time of its release, writing, “It has dwarfs, music, technicolor, freak characters, and Judy Garland. It can’t be expected to have a sense of humour as well – and as for the light touch of fantasy, it weighs like a pound of fruitcake soaking wet.” But the joke was on him, as the film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture.

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Released: 1974

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

Starring Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro, this movie sequel continues the violent saga of the Corleone family crime syndicate. The original film, which came out two years earlier, won three Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actor for star Marlon Brando. However, the folks behind some of the most widely read film reviews didn’t have a lot of love for the sequel. Take this tidbit from New York Times columnist Vincent Canby: “It’s a Frankenstein’s monster stitched together from leftover parts. It talks. It moves in fits and starts but it has no mind of its own…. Looking very expensive but spiritually desperate, Part II has the air of a very long, very elaborate revue sketch.” Still, The Godfather Part II won an impressive six Oscars, including Best Picture.

Released: 1988

Director: Garry Marshall

Sure, you have to be prepared to watch Beaches with several boxes of tissues by your side, but the film is an absolutely touching tribute to the ups and downs of friendship and life. It’s an odd-couple sort of relationship, with two very different women (Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey) sharing a friendship from childhood: one from an upper-crust upbringing, and the other with a more down-and-out lifestyle as an aspiring entertainer. But a reviewer for the Los Angeles Times liked the book better, saying, “The movie is missing what the book had reams of: heart, connective tissue, sense, sensibilities, a good ear, and a bad mouth.” While that might be true, Beaches is one of those sad movies that brought audiences together because they loved the story so darn much. And let’s not forget the film’s power ballad ‘The Wind Beneath My Wings,’ belted out by the one and only Divine Miss M.

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Released: 1997

Director: James Cameron

A society girl (Kate Winslet) falls in love with a struggling artist (Leonardo DiCaprio) on the ill-fated ocean liner. That’s about as succinct a plot summary as one can possibly get, but it doesn’t hurt the film’s popularity that we’re still fascinated by the Titanic more than 100 years after the famous ship’s sinking. James Cameron’s sweeping film drew so many people to theatres, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who had not actually gone to see it more than once – and that says a lot about a movie that’s more than three hours long. Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times, however, wasn’t buying what Cameron was selling. ‘What does $200 million buy? The 3-hour-and-14-minute Titanic unhesitatingly answers: not enough,’ he wrote in a review headlined, ‘The Titanic Sinks Again.’ Do you know what we say to that? “I’ll never let go, Jack. I’ll never let go.”

Read on to find out what life was like aboard the Titanic.

Released: 1977

Director: George Lucas

The first-released film in George Lucas’ epic series of films about Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, Princess Leia, Han Solo, and Yoda in a galaxy far, far away, the first of the Star Wars movies paved the way for blockbusters with tons of merchandise and created a fandom like no other. To this day, the film, which has the subtitle A New Hope, is as important in pop culture as it was back in 1977. At the time, though, critics didn’t have the nicest things to say about the sci-fi feature. Pauline Kael of the New Yorker wrote, ‘It’s an assemblage of spare parts – it has no emotional grip… an epic without a dream.’ Legions of fans beg to differ.

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Released: 1994

Director: Robert Zemeckis

A kind-hearted boy from Alabama (Tom Hanks) falls in love with his best friend, Jenny (Robin Wright), and witnesses important events of the 20th century. Forrest Gump gave us some of the most memorable scenes and movie lines in film history, including the infamous “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” Today, there’s even a Bubba Gump Shrimp Company restaurant chain, whose name is derived from the business Forrest and his bestie cooked up. But although it was loved by fans, it wasn’t necessarily loved by critics. Entertainment Weekly‘s Mark Harris had this to say about it: “It is…glib, shallow, and monotonous, a movie that spends so much time sanctifying its hero that, despite his ‘innocence,’ he ends up seeming about as vulnerable as Superman.”