Badmovies.org Forum

Was there a movie you watched as a kid or maybe as an adult that you loved but ended up not liking the more you watched?   Or maybe you watched it after a lapse of time and said, "I remember that being much better".  

Now keep in mind, I still pretty enjoy most films I found entertaining as a kid. But for me recently, I found out The Goonies has lost it's appeal on me.  I used to watch the film religiously as a kid and adored it.    However, after watching it on AMC (its 25 years old now) the other day, I just couldn't get into it.  That and I found the plot to be kind of boring and the characters mostly annoying.  I guess the film just had more precedence for me when I was a kid.  

So what are some that you've had similar experiences with?

As a kid I loved the Ernest movies -- don't judge me!  :bluesad:

The Wicker Man (original) freaked me out the first time around, the second time it all just seemed very silly. 

Another one for me is Rocky. 

Say it isn't so! (I still love that movie, and I have watched it many times since I was a kid.)

I try not to go back to the things I loved as a kid. It's a road fraught with disappointment and despair.

One movie I was surprised at was The Last Starfighter. It really wasn't very good at all. For a movie called The Last Starfighter, it is a shame that there is only one real starfight in the movie, and it was at the very end.

I've also found that the parody of himself that Tim Burton has lapsed into has retroactively ruined most of my enjoyment of his previous films.

Oh man, The Goonies and Rocky?  I still really like those films.  I still enjoy Ernest films, too, but I can see how those films might lose their charm.   :teddyr:

I used to love Pete's Dragon when I was a child, and I'd watch it regularly.  I tried watching it a few years ago and it annoyed the heck out of me and I couldn't finish it.  It's one of those film's that's great for kids, but that's it.  I'll probably buy a copy for my children when (or if) I have 'em.

Rocky - man, if I hear that guy yell "Adriaaaan!" one more time my head's gonna explode.  I really enjoyed it when I first saw it, but couldn't imagine watching the whole thing again now.  Summer Lovers is another one.  When I was a teenager it was a great, fun and sexy movie.  Tried watching it a while ago and it was just really bad.  The theme song by Chicago couldn't save it.  An Officer And A Gentleman is another one.  Enjoyed it at the time, but last time I watched it I just found it depressing.  And Top Gun.  Just too cheesy even for a "gimme triple cheese" guy like me to take.

I saw this at a Saturday matinee at my local movie theater when I was about 6 years old.  I bought the DVD a few years ago and all the magic is gone.  But the LAUGHS are still intact . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RxLBjf0t1k

I can truly say that I still like the movies that I saw as a child ~ especially Sidney Lumet's Murder On The Orient Express and the first film I remember seeing on TV, Eugenio Martin's Horror Express.

Strange: they both have trains in them.....  :teddyr:

I'm sure there are some, but I can't think of any at the moment. However, I can think of dozens of examples when it comes to music or bands I used to like. I think I'll start a new Off Topic thread.

Dangerous Minds. (Over stauration of school filicks killed this for me.)

Mortal Kombat. (I used to watch this all the time when I got back from school.)

I've had so many experiences with movies I liked when I was younger, but was dissappinted with later on, that it's not even funny. I guess the best example would be Don't Go In The Woods. Loved it when I was younger but when I rewatched it years later I wondered what drugs I was on for liking it. Pieces was like that for me too. I remember seeing Ghostbusters when I was a kid in the theatre, but it turned out to be a bore as I got older. I'm sure there's quite a few more, but I really can't think of 'em right now.

I can't think of any titles, but there are plenty of movies I loved as a kid and into my teens that did not seem as cool or well made on viewing much later. The strange thing is, what they lose in magic, for me, is usually made up in nostalgia and an ironic enjoyment of seeing just how cheesy they really are. I think any movie that has ever stood up to repeat viewings still does for me, although not always for the same reasons.

As a 9-year old I loved Flash Gordon in the theaters.  Now, as a 38-year old, it's positively stupid.

 :bluesad: [Sings sadly and disappointed to himself: "FLASH AAAAHHH!!"]

Now I feel better!  :teddyr:

 When I was a kid I used to eat up all the old Peplum and Martial Art movies that used to run on the UHF channels back then. They seemed wild and exotic and exciting. Nowadays they are fun to pick on and have their nostalgia value but they don't transport me briefly to another world like they did more than 30 years ago.

  Obviously they can't because I've grown up. A guy in a papier mache' lizard mask isn't going to blow my mind these days. That's fine, I figure this is all naturally symptomatic of growing up. I guess it's like how sports like baseball lose their allure for some once you grow up and realize that the pros aren't playing for the same reasons you did as a kid and that it's now more of a business than anything else. Rotten reality! :hatred:

Actually, I've got the perfect film for this.

FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF. Like any good child of the '80s, I loved this film. I can't watch it anymore. It really just annoys the hell out of me.

I don't have any good reasons for it. I used to like it, now I don't.

Unfortunately, most of the classic '80s movies fall into this category for me. The formula is just too dated. Comedies like Stripes, Real Genius and Animal House, while they still offer some laughs, just aren't as fun now. Of those mentioned, The Goonies, Top Gun, and The Last Starfighter all are almost too cheesy to watch. I showed The Goonies to my daughter, thinking it would still be as much fun now as it was then, and, well, it wasn't, and she wasn't very impressed. I still enjoyed Flash (AAAAaaaa!) Gordon despite the horrible effects and royal Limburger script.

I was surprised that Commando didn't hold up as well as I thought it would. I remembered it as being much more coherent than it actually is. And Bennett is still the gayest villain I've ever seen in an action movie.

And not to bring up bad memories for Andrew (and others), but I remember at least being fascinated by The Dark Backward when I first saw it. Now, it's pretty boring and disgusting. And bad.

Singin in the rain, used to love it, now i just don't like it.

I really didn't want to be the first to say this (ok, maybe a little) but...

Star Wars.

I'm an 80s kid too. I watched TESB and ROTJ so many times I still can't look at a plastic baseball bat without thinking 'lightsaber.' The thing is...the Luke v Vader deuls look a bit childish.

interesting thread idea.....

I'll jump on the Ernest bandwagon. Loved those's as a kid even went to see one at the theatre for my 10th Birthday party.

Others hmmm

more recent.
 
Ocean's Elevan - Had me for one viewing.
The Usual Suspects - Has Lost its steam.
Gladiator - Sort of acts like a rollercoaster ride. Up and down, up and down.
Terminator 2 - More of a Love/Hate relationship. Right now, I love it.
Resevior Dogs - Still like it mind you, just not nearly as much.
Run Lola Run - Feels gimmicky now.
Face/off - I remember when I thought this was the bomb. Not so much now.

from my youth.

Big - it's aight.
Pee Wee - Can't beileve I liked this movie.
Wizard - I might still like it, okay.
Explorers - Very enjoyable first half.
Ladyhawke - watched this recently, it was excruciating. tons of potential and I love Donner.
Superman III (1983) & Superman IV: The Quest for Peace - Double wammy. Part III has it's moments to be honest.

The Abrams/Zucker parody films are only funny the first one or two times.

Willow
Ladyhawke
Enemymine
Short Circuit
Batteries Not Included

I just find these films quite dull now and the characters really annoying and that is after not seeing them for at least 15 years or so. I did get the odd fuzzy feeling of nostalgia, but it wasn't as strong as when I re-watched Flight Of The Navigator or The Goonies (which I cried at the end of!). It pains me to list 80s films in particular but I grew up with those ones and watched them the most. I guess that's why I have this phobia of watching films I like too many times in-case I get sick of them.

Willow and Enemy Mine, I still very much like. Short Circuit on the other hand would be another one for me. I recent tried to watch this and it failed to capture me. I think I got about 20 minutes into it and preceeded to turn it off, good call.

Watching a really good movie over and over is like looking at a fine painting, the object doesn't change, but perhaps you discover new things about it each time you look. Perhaps the viewer changes. 
THE HAUNTING (1963) is a film that I still think is the best Ghost story movie ever made.  If this film doesn't work for you at least once - the first time you view it - you are jaded and need to exercise your innate ability for empathy. 

That being said, as I've pointed out at least twice, I've seen this classic so many times that it's threadbare in parts: RICHARD JOHNSON's pedestrian performance (yet another straight-arrow bore)... and some of the lines he delivers... like when his character's wife disappears into Hill House and he talks about "ripping the place apart" and later says something like "then we'll have the police here and really have trouble!!"    :lookingup:  Uhmm, oh forget it. 

Blues Brothers (1981)- I used to love it as a kid, but nowadays, it comes off as the only thing it really offers is the car chases and music. It's slow, self-indulgent, and not very funny. It's not a bad movie, it's just been blown out of proportion by the nostalgia fetishists (as usual). I have similar feelings on Princess Bride, a perfectly okay comedy mistakenly hailed as anything more.
I wish I could enjoy it as much as I used to. Who knows, maybe it'll grow back on me. -shrugs-