# Films you shouldn't like ...but do.



## GrownUp (Feb 23, 2006)

So I was reading the 'avoid these films' thread. And it made me think about the vague social embarassment I have when I think of some films I've enjoyed. Not just films like 'Resident Evil', which I could happily watch again. 

I mean films I think are ace.

I'm going to stand up and state it aloud. I loved 'Elektra'. I was cheering in the cinema. I bought the DVD and showed it to my dad.


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## dwndrgn (Feb 23, 2006)

I can't think of any movies that give me any hesitations in saying I like them.  I don't care if others like them or not.  However, there are many films I love that I know aren't 'critically acclaimed' whatever that means anymore.  An example of one of these is Top Secret.  I love this movie.  I think it is smart and dumb at the same time, it makes me laugh, think _and_ I get to look at Val Kilmer at the same time.  Where could you go wrong?

Of course, then there are the movies that other people think are fantastic that I think suck cockroach feet...like Wedding Crashers.  I'm a big Owen Wilson fan but this was definitely not one of his best efforts.  I had to stop watching because it was annoying me.

Of course, I don't see too many movies these days so I don't have a lot of examples.


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## GrownUp (Feb 23, 2006)

dwndrgn said:
			
		

> I can't think of any movies that give me any hesitations in saying I like them. I don't care if others like them or not.


Oh, God Bless your confidence. I wish I could be that strong. I've been yelled down too often in my celebration of "Elektra".

My dad did like it, though. And he admits it too, when my mum isn't there sniggering at us. She's a culture snob.



			
				dwndrgn said:
			
		

> Of course, then there are the movies that other people think are fantastic that I think suck cockroach feet...


Yep, for me such films are "Good Will Hunting" and "Donnie Darko". Monstrously Pants. 

I bought the Donnie Darko DVD in a Woolworths bargain bin, and having discovered the worst was planning to sell it second hand on Amazon, but then a newspaper here started giving copies away, and now I'll never be rid of it.


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## Winters_Sorrow (Feb 23, 2006)

Ah, lucky I caught this thread before I did one of my own ("Films so Bad, they're Good", since you didn't ask!  )

For me, I loved "The Last Starfighter", "Flight of the Navigator" & "Starchaser: The Legend of Orin"

But then I am an eighties boy


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## dwndrgn (Feb 23, 2006)

The Beastmaster is commonly held to be crap.  I love it though (and it doesn't have anything to do with a specific character's loincloth only wardrobe... )


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## GrownUp (Feb 23, 2006)

dwndrgn said:
			
		

> The Beastmaster is commonly held to be crap. I love it though (and it doesn't have anything to do with a specific character's loincloth only wardrobe... )


 
Er..



			
				dwndrgn said:
			
		

> ... Top Secret. I love this movie. I think it is smart and dumb at the same time, it makes me laugh, think _and_ I get to look at Val Kilmer at the same time...


 
There's a theme here. 

Something to do with looking at chaps, isn't it?


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## Thadlerian (Feb 23, 2006)

J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings by Ralph Bakshi... an instant favourite


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## GrownUp (Feb 23, 2006)

Is that the animated, unfinished one?


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## hermi-nomi (Feb 23, 2006)

The Flight of the NAvigator   HAven't seen that for years. I can't really think of any examples of my own except perhaps ... Galaxy Quest and Williow ~ DragonHeart even ~ but I love them all


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## kyektulu (Feb 23, 2006)

*Hmmm I dont know if I feel embarressed about liking films others percieve to be below par but some of the films I like that others dont are:

The Goonies
Dungeons and Dragons 
Kill Bill 1 & 2
Dogma (one of my fave films ever)
Bill and Ted films
Hell boy
The thing
the never ending story



*


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## GrownUp (Feb 23, 2006)

The Neverending Story had occured to me too. Do you know on imdb.com it is listed as Die Unendliche Geschichte? I never even knew it was German.


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## littlemissattitude (Feb 23, 2006)

_Zoolander_.  Silly film, and I love it.  So much that I watched it twice in one day once.  Part of it is the Owen Wilson thing.  Like dwndrgn, I really like him.  He even makes _Armageddon_ watchable.  But even beyond that, the movie makes me laugh so much.

_The Princess Diaries_.  This is a teenager movie, pure and simple.  I'm too old for that kind of thing.  But it's just so sweet, and I can identify with the part where Mia talks about how her ambition in life was to just be invisible, and how she was so good at it.

_Road House_.  The plot is so worn out that it should dissolve like a wet paper towel.  All it is, is an excuse to stage fight scenes and show Patrick Swayze with his shirt off.  Which, I will admit, is not really a bad thing.  But I do like this movie a lot.

I'm sure there are others, but these are the ones I can think of right now.


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## cornelius (Feb 23, 2006)

kyektulu said:
			
		

> *Kill Bill 1 & 2*
> *Dogma (one of my fave films ever)*
> *Hell boy*


 
what's wrong with these?


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## Quokka (Feb 23, 2006)

Ohh so many movies... but one for me stands out above the rest, _Hercules Returns._

In the early 90's some aussie comedians did some shows where you would go to a cinema, watch a really bad movie _but _the 3 comedians would do all the comentary/dialoge live (aka mystery science theatre). I'm pretty sure they were called Double Take at the time.

Anyway they had a brief bit of success and a movie was made. There's a very very very thin plot about a guy leaving the multinational company to reopen an old theatre and deciding to open with the last movie that played. As it turns out this is a 70's Italian muscleman movie about hurcules, thanks to the evil villian it arrives with no sound and the rest of the movie is the three comedians doing the voice over to the movie.

Make no mistake this is a very silly film but to me atleast absolutley hilarious  . 

some good movies Kyektulu, although never ending story would make my head hurt, I got a good laugh out of Mallrats as well. i know its maybe not disliked but i could watch the princess bride a million times and still laugh... some other mentions...

Tremors
The Labyrinth
Ma and Pa Kettle movies
The whole nine yards
The secret life of walter mitty


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## nixie (Feb 23, 2006)

I quite  liked Battlefield Earth


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## Winters_Sorrow (Feb 23, 2006)

Quokka said:
			
		

> Ohh so many movies... but one for me stands out above the rest, _Hercules Returns._


 
Ha! A classic!
I didn't know anyone else had ever seen this movie!


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## dwndrgn (Feb 23, 2006)

The Gods Must Be Crazy - absolutely one of the two funniest movies ever.  Along with Clockwise the only two movies that made me laugh hard enough to fall off the couch.  Though, I laughed hard enough in the theater watching A Fish Called Wanda that my friends wanted to disassociate with me...)


(and yes, Grown Up, if I get a chance to ogle a good looking man, I'll do it  , but there has to be something else to get me there.  In Beastmaster, it is the magic and the beasts, including the terribly hand painted Bengal tiger made to look like a black tiger.  In Top Secret it is the outrageous comedy and the surprisingly good songs.)


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## McMurphy (Feb 23, 2006)

*Wait.  I like Flight of the Navigator, too.*



			
				hermi-nomi said:
			
		

> The Flight of the NAvigator   HAven't seen that for years. I can't really think of any examples of my own except perhaps ... Galaxy Quest and Williow ~ DragonHeart even ~ but I love them all


Oh, no!  I didn't know that I wasn't supposed to admit my affection for Willow.  I loved that movie.  I also liked Galaxy Quest. I remember buying the theater ticket simply because I was in the mood for the experience of diving my hand into a greasy bag of overpriced popcorn, and that movie was the only one out at the time that I hadn't already seen. I was pleasantly surprised. 

The film that I liked, probably because I remember watching it so many times as a kid, was Howard the Duck.  I wish Lucas would get over his embarrassment and let the thing wade in the DVD release market.


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## sanityassassin (Feb 23, 2006)

I like Galaxy Quest too especially Alan Rickmans character


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## pixelated_dreams (Feb 24, 2006)

am i allowed to say Pretty Woman ? 




alright alright i know, i'm sorry.. bless that prostitute though!!!


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## Marky Lazer (Feb 24, 2006)

Hmm... can't think of any movie that fits this thread, but I like to watch Gillmore Girls.


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## roddglenn (Feb 24, 2006)

Flippin eck!  I love most of the films that have been mentioned on this thread!!!  

Dungeons & Dragons - was disappointed it wasn't as good as I hoped, but I still liked it
Battlefield Earth - got more stick over Scientology than for it being a bad film in my opinion
The Thing - Brilliant
Dogma - Brilliant
Kill Bill 1 & 2 - Brilliant
Hell Boy - good
Road House - yeah, quite liked too despite it having Swayze in it
The Goonies - fab!  I was a kid when that came out
Willow - coolness
Bill & Ted - most excellent dude
Beastmaster - oooo when Tanya Roberts walks out of the water...damn!
Who Dares Wins - Lewis Collins continuing to be professional
Volcano - almost a tear in my eye when the transport chief jumps into the lava to save the driver!
Rabid - Marilyn Chambers...say no more!
Dreamcatcher - not a patch on the book, but I still actually really like it...so shoot me!

Am I sad?  Ok, don't answer that!


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## GrownUp (Feb 25, 2006)

roddglenn said:
			
		

> Am I sad? Ok, don't answer that!


 
Yep, you are sad! But sad in a cool and stylish way.  

No-one unstylish could like "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure".


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## jackokent (Feb 25, 2006)

Dwyndrgn, I can't believe there is another "The Gods must be crazy" fan  I've not met anyone who's seen it until now.  I agree it is one of the funniest films ever made.

Another favorite of mine is Eric the Viking.  Don't know if that's cool or not.  

Has anyone seen a french films called The Visitors?  Brilliant !


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## weaveworld (Feb 25, 2006)

*The nightmare before christmas and finding nemo.
*
*Yes, I am a natural blue! *


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## steve12553 (Feb 25, 2006)

kyektulu said:
			
		

> *Kill Bill 1 & 2*
> *Bill and Ted films*
> *The thing*
> *the never ending story*


Anything by Tarentino (if I'm in the mood) Remember he wants you to laugh with him, he's not laughing at you.
Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure had a wonderful Science Fiction concept buried in the middle (I've just got to remember to go back in time when I get out of this to cause a distraction so I can get out of this). The original Thing had a scary cold war paranoid style and my kids were at the right age when yhe Neverending story came out. We must have seen the tape 50 times. Wonderful choices.


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## littlemissattitude (Feb 25, 2006)

steve12553 said:
			
		

> Anything by Tarentino...



I guess that _From Dusk Till Dawn_ fits in this category for me.  It's godawfully bizarre, but I'm very fond of it.


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## dwndrgn (Feb 26, 2006)

jackokent said:
			
		

> Dwyndrgn, I can't believe there is another "The Gods must be crazy" fan I've not met anyone who's seen it until now. I agree it is one of the funniest films ever made.


Absolutely, seriously funny stuff.  Of course it is mostly physical and situational humor since the actual dialogue is probably two paragraphs in total...



			
				jackokent said:
			
		

> Another favorite of mine is Eric the Viking.  Don't know if that's cool or not.
> 
> Has anyone seen a french films called The Visitors? Brilliant !


I liked Erik the Viking too!  I've never seen The Visitors, what's it about?


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## Winters_Sorrow (Feb 26, 2006)

dwndrgn said:
			
		

> I liked Erik the Viking too! I've never seen The Visitors, what's it about?


 
If it's the one I'm thinking of it's a French film (Les Visiteurs) about a French Knight (Jean Reno) & his Squire who get transported from the 11th Century to modern days.


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## jackokent (Feb 26, 2006)

Thanks Winter Sorrow, that's the film, Les Visiteurs.  Thought is was really silly but excellent fun.

There again, I loved Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger.  I remember being awed by the startling quality of the special effects.


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## Thunderchild (Feb 26, 2006)

I always had asoft spot for '10 things i hate about you' - it isn't the sort of movie I'd put down in a wats your favourite movie thread but i always seem to watch it


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## roddglenn (Feb 26, 2006)

GrownUp said:
			
		

> Yep, you are sad! But sad in a cool and stylish way.
> 
> No-one unstylish could like "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure".


 
I don't mind being sad as long as it's in a cool and stylish way!  

From Dusk Till Dawn is a fab film - well kinda two fab films.  One half is a fairly normal gangster flick then it switches in a heartbeat to full on vampire horror.  Brilliant.

Love Nightmare Before Christmas too.  I'm a big Tim Burton fan.


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## GrownUp (Feb 26, 2006)

I don't know if I remember "From Dusk Till Dawn" as a film so much as an experience. I saw it years ago when I was at college and the entire audience were clapping, laughing and cheering periodically throughout film. It was like theatre.

I may be wrong, but there may have been a standing ovation at the end. It was ridiculous. Great, but ridiculous.


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## steve12553 (Feb 26, 2006)

littlemissattitude said:
			
		

> I guess that _From Dusk Till Dawn_ fits in this category for me. It's godawfully bizarre, but I'm very fond of it.


 
From Dusk til Dawn wasn't technically his film but Robert Rodrigez is definitely his protege and most of his film satisfy in the same bizzare-one-minute thoughtful-the-next type way. See once upon a Time in Mexico for another good example.


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## cornelius (Feb 26, 2006)

I was kinda shocked ar first , I was watching the film on a BBC or another british staion, and I had no idea what i was watching. then the vampires came in... at first I was   and  but then I was  and finally


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## weaveworld (Feb 26, 2006)

*I liked 'From Dusk Till Dawn' too,like so many other people, I just didn't expect the vampires which were kinda cool!  *


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## GrownUp (Mar 2, 2006)

They should work vampires into other genres too. Or just genre-twists should be more popular. Just think how much better "Sense and Sensibilty" would be if *aliens* invaded half way through!

I wouldn't have remotely minded my mum making me watch it twice then.


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## Paige Turner (Mar 23, 2006)

Thadlerian said:
			
		

> J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings by Ralph Bakshi... an instant favourite



Not to dump on your selection or anything, but, MMMMWALPH * retch retch *

After seeing Bakshi's "interpretation" of LOTR, I had to run right out to buy eye floss. Then, I sat down in the driveway with a bottle of vodka and ate handfuls of gravel until the sun came up. Ralph Bakshi is (oh, right, no profanity…) is not a good fimmaker.

*The Ralph Bakshi Direction Guide*
Don't animate… Rotoscope!
Hmm, Sam still looks too normal. Make him 50 pounds heavier and take out half his teeth! Make one eye droopy, like a stroke vicitm. There ya go.
Everybody needs more hair! Big, luxurious Dolly Parton hair! Pile it on!
We're out of money? Oh, umm… here, I have all this stock black-and-white footage of Nazi rallies. Posterize it and run it!


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## Paige Turner (Mar 23, 2006)

Oh, for me, it's _They Live_ with Roddy Piper.

"I came here to chew some bubble gum, and kick some ass… and I'm all out of bubble gum"


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## littlemissattitude (Mar 23, 2006)

I've got a new one...A couple of weekends ago, there was nothing else to do so I sat down and watched _Charlie's Angels Full Throttle_.  I was fully prepared to hate it, and I probably should have, but it was actually kind of fun.  I guess part of it was the fact that part of it was filmed at Griffith Park Observatory, which was one of my regular hang-outs when I was growing up.  But I also enjoyed all the pop-culture references, and there were plenty of them.

And whoever mentioned _10 Things I Hate About You_ - loved it.


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## tiny99 (Mar 25, 2006)

i thought Pitch Black was decent enough but every one else I ask seems to think it's quite poor........I know it's no Blade Runner but.......it isn't that bad.....or is it???


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## steve12553 (Mar 26, 2006)

tiny99 said:
			
		

> i thought Pitch Black was decent enough but every one else I ask seems to think it's quite poor........I know it's no Blade Runner but.......it isn't that bad.....or is it???


 
You're right _Pitch Black_ was pretty good but it was no _Blade Runner_. The concept was comparable to _Night Fall_ which was a much better book but a much weaker movie.


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## tiny99 (Mar 26, 2006)

GrownUp said:
			
		

> They should work vampires into other genres too. Or just genre-twists should be more popular. Just think how much better "Sense and Sensibilty" would be if *aliens* invaded half way through!
> 
> I wouldn't have remotely minded my mum making me watch it twice then.


that's an absolute corker of an idea.....I love it...."Pride and Prejudice and Predator" would work for me.


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## polymorphikos (Mar 26, 2006)

_Pitch Black_ was a tight little thriller and I really liked it.

I really wish there were some way that I could have erased the knowledge that there were vampires in _From Dusk Till Dawn_ from my mind prior to watching it.

A movie that I shouldn't like but do is _Adam and Eve vs the Cavemen_. It is a terrible, stupid film, but the concept is so rediculous and the execution so straight yet inept that I can't help but love it. At one point Adam has to wrestle stock-footage of the pteradactyl from _One Million B.C._


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## mikeo (Mar 26, 2006)

I'm glad to see we all have unfortunate taste in movies! 

It never occurred to me that I should be embarrased to like the Bill and Ted movies until my German flatmate watched a few minutes of Excellent Adventure with me. Bloody Germans! I still love those movies.

Hmm - I also like the Conan movies and Highlander, and those aren't exactly high cinema...

Not sure why anyone would be embarrased about liking the gods must be crazy though - the first one was a classic, and quite successful, from what I vaguely remember hearing.. Haven't seen that for ages.


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## jackokent (Mar 26, 2006)

mikeo said:
			
		

> I'm glad to see we all have unfortunate taste in movies!
> 
> Not sure why anyone would be embarrased about liking the gods must be crazy though - the first one was a classic, and quite successful, from what I vaguely remember hearing.. Haven't seen that for ages.


 
Glad you said that, maybe my taste isn't so bad after all.  After posting the original thread I went and ordered it from Amazon just to see if it was as good as I rembered.  Have planned an evenning in tonight to watch it.

I too liked Hilander despite the amazing "scotich" accent.  The sequal though were truelly awful.  

I have to confess to liking The Goonies, Oh dear.


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## hermi-nomi (Mar 26, 2006)

Highlander ... that reminds me of  a film ~ and so I admit that I actually quite like Red Sonja ...


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## Thadlerian (Mar 31, 2006)

Paige Turner said:
			
		

> Don't animate… Rotoscope!
> ...
> Oh, umm… here, I have all this stock black-and-white footage of Nazi rallies. Posterize it and run it!


I prefer to call that creativity. Taking whatever you have, putting it together with a decent outcome. Especially the "Flight to the Ford" sequence. Very introspective, the situation is felt rather than seen.


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## Curt Chiarelli (Mar 31, 2006)

My entry in the "So Bad it's Good" sweepstakes is _The Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai in the Eigth Dimension. _

The cast is truly great, especially John Lithgow (in his first movie role) as the evil Dr. Emilio Lizardo. The production values are, however, another case altogether and although the screenplay has some memorable one-liners, good luck trying to make heads or tails of the plot.

Sitting next to it on the shelf I have _Citizen Kane, The Third Man, Chinatown _and_ Lawrence of Arabia _amongst another 125 more of its ilk.This one is the rogue mutant in my movie collection and always garners the uncomprehending stare or the predictable comment, "You've got classy taste. What the hell are you doing with this piece of sh*t?"


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## steve12553 (Apr 1, 2006)

Curt Chiarelli said:
			
		

> My entry in the "So Bad it's Good" sweepstakes is _The Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai in the Eigth Dimension. _
> 
> The cast is truly great, especially John Lithgow (in his first movie role) as the evil Dr. Emilio Lizardo. The production values are, however, another case altogether and although the screenplay has some memorable one-liners, good luck trying to make heads or tails of the plot.


 
I enjoyed that one and was patiently waiting for the sequel. No such luck.


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## weaveworld (Apr 1, 2006)

I like 'Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure'


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## steve12553 (Apr 1, 2006)

weaveworld said:
			
		

> I like 'Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure'


 
Bill and Ted surprised me by having a very original Science Fiction concept it. (Remind me to go back in time and create a diversion for myself so I can escape now). Fairly silly otherwise but worth watching for the time travel ideas.


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## roddglenn (Apr 3, 2006)

I liked Buckaroo Banzai and Bill & Ted too.  Even like the Bill & Ted Bogus Journey sequel.  

I really quite like the Canonball Run, much to the distress of some of my friends.  The sequel was okish too.  Also, the little known Lewis Collins film Who Dares Wins.


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## wolfgirl (Apr 4, 2006)

nixie said:
			
		

> I quite  liked Battlefield Earth


You know, I really liked that movie too--and I kept seeing so many negative things about it. 
I agree totally with Galaxy Quest, Willow, Dragonheart, Hellboy and Dogma (although this was termed a "comedy", and I didn't quite see that).
I would have to add "Starship Troopers" to this list.


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## Paige Turner (Apr 4, 2006)

Thadlerian said:
			
		

> I prefer to call that creativity. Taking whatever you have, putting it together with a decent outcome. Especially the "Flight to the Ford" sequence. Very introspective, the situation is felt rather than seen.



Yuck-a-doo. I seriously take issue with the word "decent." Ralph Bakshi is like Ed Wood without the flair and ambition. 

He is to animation what Winston Chruchill was to… well, animation.

Oh, jeez! Here come those bakshicramps again…


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## steve12553 (Apr 4, 2006)

wolfgirl said:
			
		

> You know, I really liked that movie too--and I kept seeing so many negative things about it.
> I agree totally with Galaxy Quest, Willow, Dragonheart, Hellboy and Dogma (although this was termed a "comedy", and I didn't quite see that).
> I would have to add "Starship Troopers" to this list.


 

I completely agree with  _Galaxy Quest_ (Never give up, Never surrender) because I  am an old Star Trek Fan. I also am of the school who believes the RH Heinlein would have loved _Starship Troopers_. It had enough of the spirit and a sense of humor.


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