Walking It Back? (Page 1 of 2)

Blade Runner comes to mind. I found it horribly boring on the first viewing (granted, I was a kid at the time). The second viewing (during the college years) improved my opinion. I had to grow even older and gain a better understanding of cinema to truly appreciate it.

Prometheus could've worked much better if it were written as a Blade Runner sequel (and devoid of all this awful science, of course). The "I want more life, father" thing that binds the movies would serve as the central theme.

There are some great movies I didn't like when I was little, because I didn't understand them or they bored me. I almost walked out of FOTR in 5th grade.

There are also movies I was too dumb not to love...

But I think it's easier to come around on a movie than it is to hate a movie you once loved. Nostalgia is a powerful thing. I still like Head of State. Just not quite as much as I used to.

Avatar should be looked at like a really awesome genre twisted cover of that one song you really loved in college. There's a sense of familiarity to it, but it's infused with this whole other vibe that has it's own thing going on, and they blend really well and give it a new life.

I still love Avatar, my opinion has never changed on that.

Probably the closest I can think of in recent memory would be MiB2, as I recounted in the last movie you watched thread. I never really had any super strong feelings about it, it was just kinda not very good and generally worth forgetting as a whole. But on my latest rewatch, there was a lot of baby I'd thrown out in the bathwater (Can I just say, how horrifying a saying that is?). There was a lot of really good moments that got overshadowed by how meh some of the other components were. On rewatch I walked away having, for the most part, really enjoyed it.

Last edited by BigDamnArtist (2014-05-08 03:21:18)

I think it's hard for me to upgrade my opinion of a bad movie simply because I'm not likely to give it a second viewing. More likely is a movie becoming less in my eye as I become more familiar with it.

Biggest ones I can think of:

Inception is one of the best 1st time viewing experiences I've ever had, but it definitely dropped a notch for me on subsequent viewings when I was really able to pick apart the logic and structure.

Star Wars original trilogy have definitely dropped down a lot for me as I've grown up (especially Jedi, which is largely terrible to be honest), while the Star Trek original 6 films have grown a lot in my estimation.

Others have mentioned Blade Runner, and I strongly think that's a movie that demands multiple viewings. I remember seeing some of it on cable as a kid and thinking it was terrible, and now it's easily in my top 10-20 favorites. The older you get, the more the underlying themes resonate, and every time I notice some new details in the atmosphere and world-building.

I also for the longest time thought Aliens was better than Alien, and I think I've finally come to the point where I've flipped on the two and enjoy the ominous dread and atmosphere more than the all-out-action of Cameron's film.

Last edited by bullet3 (2014-05-08 07:14:50)

First time I saw Dredd was with some friends, and I thought it was terrible simply because the mood was "Judge Dredd was terrible, so Dredd must be terrible". We chose to laugh at everything simply because of our expectations.

Then I saw it again while listening to the WAYDM commentary, and I completely walked back on that. It's not my favorite movie in the world, but it has its strengths.

I still think Karl Urban wasn't the best choice, though. He looks a bit ridiculous with this big-ass helmet.

Last edited by Saniss (2014-05-08 09:46:03)

My second viewing of Blade Runner definitely improved it in my eyes—the story made more sense (though there are still holes), and seeing it on a bigger screen allowed me to appreciate even more just how flawlessly gorgeous the effects are. Still not one of my favorite movies, but one I'll definitely revisit just for looks alone.

Vertigo is one that I saw as an eleven year old and didn't very much care for; I saw it after I'd watched and loved Rear Window and The Birds, and it was rather a letdown for me. Six years later, I listened to the WAYDM commentary and was intrigued enough that I decided to see it again, keeping in mind Eddie's experience of not being able to appreciate the film until you've had your first love shattered. It's still not my favorite Hitchcock film—the pacing is an issue, as discussed in the WAYDM—but I was far more able to appreciate it now that I'm a mature viewer. The cinematography is gorgeous, the score is utterly fantastic (I was surprised Teague, music aficionado that he is, didn't bring it up in the episode), and Stewart's performance is deeply unsettling. I'm very glad I decided to revisit it as an adult and develop a greater appreciation for it.

Last edited by Abbie (2014-05-11 22:31:28)

I don't usually re-watch films I didn't like or thought were 'meh' but it has happened a few times. Here are two examples-

Star Trek Into Darkness didn't make me want to claw my own eyes out on second viewing, so there's that. The Tintin movie was just 'ok' the first time I saw it but I thought it was bloody good fun the second time and have watched it a third and still enjoyed the heck out of it.

Last edited by Jimmy B (2014-05-08 18:48:40)

I've walked back on The Dark Knight consistently. When I first joined the forum here I actually hadn't seen very many movies and as such listed it as in my top ten films. On every subsequent viewing, its flaws stand out more and more to me: as discussed in the WAYDM, it most definitely drags after the hospital scene, Harvey's arc is far too abrupt, and some of the stuff like the magic bullet reconstructor is just dumb. It would've been a much better film, I think, if Nolan had been free to direct a similar script as a straight crime film rather than a Batman film. Watching The Prestige was the final nail in the proverbial coffin—it let me see what Nolan can do when he's really free to do whatever he wants, and it's a markedly better film than either Inception or the Batman films. Do I still really enjoy watching TDK? Of course—Ledger alone is worth it. But I no longer count it as one of my favorite films, or as Nolan's best.

Fucking nailed it.

Just like Kubrick and Lynch, Nolan has a very specific style. I think it works pretty well for the movies he made so far, but not all movies should be like that.

I've walked back on the Kill Bill films and Cloud Atlas, and in both cases it was because of an online movie reviewer. I didn't walk them back very far, but I'm significantly less annoyed with them than I was initially.