10 movie “Masterpieces” critics hated at first

Some movies are so unexpected and revolutionary that it takes a while for critics to understand the vision, and they are torn apart when they are released. Many of the best movies ever made began with mixed reviews, since their unconventional styles defied classification and confused people. The very qualities that made such films interesting and unique also meant that the critics did not know how to approach them.

Francis Ford Coppola S Megalopolis Recently stirred controversy by referring to some of the negative early reactions in a trailer. The quotes for Coppola’s old movies have been proven to be fake, but the point the trailer is trying to make is true. Many brilliant movies that are now considered masterpieces were unappreciated upon release. Coppola has seen it happen with his own movies, and so have other movie legends, such as Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick and Ridley Scott.

10

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Kubrick’s revolutionary sci-fi baffled some critics

Stanley Kubrick’s sci-fi masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey Changed the genre for good. However, by creating something so unusual and experimental, Kubrick alienated many critics. Reviews were extremely polarized, with some immediately recognizing the movie as a leap forward for sci-fi, while others derided it as boring or incomprehensible. Famous film critic Pauline Kael called it “Monumentally unimaginative.”

Even the negative reviews of 2001: A Space Odyssey Can’t deny the technical mastery and the revolutionary special effects this movie has. In the years since its release, the film’s reputation has grown. Now that people can see the impact it has had on the sci-fi genre, the negative reviews seem short-sighted. 2001: A Space Odyssey is much slower than most sci-fi epics, but that’s entirely intentional.

9

The Shining (1980)

The horror classic received two Razzie nominations

2001: A Space Odyssey isn’t the only one of Stanley Kubrick’s movies that was ahead of its time. Some critics also struggled to get on board with his psychological horror classic The Shining. Famously, Stephen King dislikes the adaptation of his novel, but he is not the only one. A review in Variety accused Kubrick and Jack Nicholson of “destroying[ing] All that was so terrifying about Stephen King’s bestseller.”

The Shining was nominated for two Golden Raspberry Awards, the parody awards given to the worst movies of each year. Kubrick and Shelley Duvall were nominated for worst director and worst actress, although neither of them “won”. over the years, The Shining is reevaluated as an iconic horror movieProving again that it’s foolish to bet against Stanley Kubrick.

8

fight club (1999)

A confused marketing campaign didn’t help David Fincher’s cult classic

Action Club Struggled at the box office, partly due to a misjudged marketing campaign that tried to sell it as an action movie. David Fincher’s movie has often defied classification. It’s both a psychological thriller and a dark corporate satire, but many critics didn’t know what to make of it. A reviewer for the Boston Globe described Action Club like “explosive stupid” Another promising start.

The critical opinion was strongly polarized fight club, And the film’s content has also been the subject of some heated ethical debates. Some have described Fincher as immoral for displaying such an inflammatory anti-authority philosophy, along with scenes of total domestic terrorism and macho violence. Action Club Surviving its negative initial reaction, it became a cult hit after it was released on home video.

7

It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

Frank Capra’s Christmas classic flew under the radar

It’s a wonderful life is now recognized as one of the best Christmas movies ever made, and it still gets watched by millions of people when the holiday season rolls around each year. However, initial reaction to Frank Capra’s contemporary adaptation of A Christmas Carol was quite dumbfounded. It’s a wonderful life Failed to break even at the box officeAnd it was forgotten for several years.

critics at the time given It’s a wonderful life Mixed reviews. Bosley Crowther wrote for the New York Times that the film’s artifice stood in the way of its emotional impact, and he argued that the film’s main problem was “The sentimentality of it – its illusory concept of life.” Once upon a time It’s a wonderful life In the 1970s, it reached a new audience through television and home media sales.

6

Vertigo (1958)

Alfred Hitchcock’s intriguing mystery is accused of being nonsense

Modern retrospectives of Alfred Hitchcock’s movies often count Vertigo As one of the director’s best efforts, if not the best. Contemporary reviews are much less kind to vertigo, As the mystery is accused of too many plot holes and straying too far from reality. A New York Post review suggested that Hitchcock “Thinks he can get away with killing in the logic and realism departments.”

Later reviews have been more aware of the fact that some of Vertigos logical leaps are meant to reflect Scotty’s troubled state of mind, and his struggles to overcome the reality in front of him. The movie is now considered one of the finest mystery thrillers ever made. The mystery itself is twisty and absorbing, however Vertigo‘s real strength is the way that it explores Scotty’s character.

5

The Big Lebowski (1998)

The Big Lebowski defied expectations and confounded critics

The Big Lebowski is a bona fide cult classic: highly quotable, unusually structured, and not to everyone’s taste. Many critics agreed The Big Lebowski Negative reviews when it was first released, still proved that it was not designed to appeal to everyone. A particularly harsh review of The Guardian described it as “A bunch of ideas shoveled into a bag and allowed to spill out at random.”

The supposed randomness of The Big Lebowski is a big part of what makes this movie so special. It’s a shaggy dog ​​story that’s massively like a crime thriller. The plot has a case of mistaken identity, some intimidating thugs and a fatality, but the main character is not too interested in any of this. The Big Lebowski A locksmith falls into the middle of an Elmore Leonard story and looks like he’s banging his head against the sides. More recent reviews have praised The Big Lebowski As one of the best Coen Brothers movies.

4

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1967)

American critics looked down on spaghetti westerns at first

In the 1960s, American critics turned their noses up at spaghetti westerns, and many believed that European filmmakers should not work in such a prominent American genre. Sergio Leone The good, the bad and the ugly Is now recognized as one of the best spaghetti westerns ever made, but this did not save it from some brutal reviews in the American press. Critics were determined to destroy the whole idea of ​​spaghetti westerns, not just this one movie.

Charles Champlin said in the Los Angeles Times that the movie should be titled “The Bad, The Boring and The Interminable,” And many other movie reviewers shared his opinion. Now that the debate over the legitimacy of the spaghetti western genre has died down, critics have reevaluated The good, the bad and the ugly As a masterpiece, it often appears in lists of the best movies ever made.

3

alien (1979)

Foreigner’s mixed reviews did not reflect his mastery of sci-fi and horror

when Alien Was first released in 1979, only a few creators could see and understand Ridley Scott’s vision. While the movie was praised for its tense atmosphere and HR Giger’s terrifying creature designs, many reviewers found the story lacking. A review in the magazine Time Out described Alien As an “empty bag of tricks whose production values ​​and expensive trickery cannot disguise imaginative poverty.”

Although it didn’t get the best reviews, Alien Has impressive box office numbers. Like many horror movies, the audience was much more appreciative Alien As critics were. It took a few years for reviewers to catch up to the public consensus, and Alien Finally getting the respect that it deserved. Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley has become a sci-fi icon, and the Alien A franchise was born.

2

Bonnie & Clyde (1967)

Some critics were unprepared for the seismic change that Bonnie and Clyde represented

Bonnie and Clyde was very controversial when it was first released, with detractors suggesting that the movie glorified criminality and violence. Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were already prominent figures in America’s cultural mythology, but their violent crime spree had never been depicted in such great detail before. A New York Times review was scathing Bonnie and Clyde Like “a cheap piece of bald-faced slapstick comedy.”

Bonnie and Clyde is now seen as a landmark in the history of American cinemaAnd one of the pioneering films of the New Hollywood era. Although it was a game-changer in many ways, there was no shortage of critics who panned the movie. Even if a reviewer accepted the graphic depictions of violence, they might have found problems with the crude characters at the heart of the story, which is unlike the old Hollywood standard.

1

Scarface (1983)

Scarface was shockingly violent at the time

Bonnie and Clyde Shocked some reviewers with its depictions of graphic violence, however Sharpface was even more gory and difficult to watch for some. Many critics saw Sharpface‘s violence as cheap and unnecessary, especially those who felt that the story was not as meaty as the action scenes. David Ansen wrote in Newsweek that Sharpface was “Big, shallow, decadent entertainment.”

Sharpface also sparked controversy for her portrayal of Cuban immigrants as violent criminals. More recently, critics and audiences have reappraised Sharpface Like a bold, unflinching crime drama about the short-term benefits and long-term negatives of crime. Like all the best crime movies, it’s more than a morality play about individual criminals, as it sets its sights on the system that encourages such greed and violence.