The 10 Most Underrated Movies of All Time

There are movies out there that deserve the praise they get. For example, The Shawshank Redemption (1994) is listed on the Internet Movie Database as the number one movie on the Top 250 list. It’s also my all-time favorite movie, so that puts a smile on my face.

Some movies are so bad they don’t deserve to ever see the light of day again. For the sake of this article, though… My least favorite movie is The Human Centipede (First Sequence) [2009]. Just typing out those words made me shudder. Watching that… “film” was a truly unenjoyable experience. I still can’t fathom how anyone can find it entertaining. It may not have fallen into the IMDb’s Bottom 100 list, but I think it should have.

Then some movies don’t deserve any awards but also don’t deserve to be bashed. Maybe it’s because I grew up around the time most of these were made and I was easily amused then. On the other hand, I loved Batman and Robin (1997) when I was a kid, but I can’t stand to watch it now.

Without further ado, here are ten movies I feel are very underrated, and deserve recognition and reconsideration (sorted in chronological order):

Ghostbusters II (1989)

This sequel was panned for being a copy of the first movie. I didn’t find that to be true, though. In the sequel, the Ghostbusters find themselves out-of-business and having to fight for their right to catch ghosts again, – that’s certainly not a clone of the original plot.

I believe this addition to the series was more for an adult demographic (perhaps the teenagers who loved the original so much) and contained more heart-pounding scenes. When I was a kid, I couldn’t even watch the scene where the bathtub came to life and tried to attack Dana (Sigourney Weaver) and her baby boy. Vigo was also a more menacing villain in this movie and proved to be more of an effective antagonist than in the first movie.

Of course, this film still contained a giant terrorizing the streets of New York – in this case, the Statue of Liberty. But isn’t that the hallmark of a Ghostbusters movie? While it can’t measure up to its predecessor, Ghostbusters II is still a worthy follow-up.

Loose Cannons (1990)

This movie has been thrashed by critics and viewers alike, even getting slapped with a rare 0% score from Rotten Tomatoes. I think that was too harsh. Sure, it is not a great movie, but I thought it was enjoyable.

The pairing of Gene Hackman and Dan Aykroyd is perfect. They both steal the show with their performances and play off each other so well. Hackman and Aykroyd play a cop and a detective, respectively, who investigate murders committed by some German bad guys. What Hackman’s character eventually learns is that Aykroyd’s character has Multiple Personality Disorder, which prompts him to transition into numerous television personalities.

The premise produces a comedy that has produced a lot of laughs. And you can’t go wrong with Dom DeLuise tagging along for the ride!

Nothing But Trouble (1991)

Before you read any further, I am aware that this is the third Dan Aykroyd film on this list. I promise I’m not writing this post to sing his praises…okay, not entirely. The guy deserves a lot more credit. Nothing But Trouble made me laugh over and over again as a kid, and it still tickled my funny bone when I last saw it a few years ago.

Chevy Chase plays a financial consultant who finds himself in a backwoods town in Pennsylvania. He, along with Demi Moore and a couple of friends get pulled over and taken to the local courthouse, which appears to be a haunted house in the middle of a junkyard. The justice of the peace (Aykroyd) is a 100-year old man with a weird sense of humor. The urbanites find themselves confined in the courthouse trying to find their way out, only to encounter booby traps and the judge’s strange family.

To me, this is a spoof of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), except the family isn’t menacing at all. I still laugh at the humor and enjoy the ensemble of Chase, Aykroyd, and John Candy. You won’t be disappointed by anything with these three lovable goofs.

Wagons East! (1994)

Speaking of John Candy, this was his last film. Sadly, he died while making it, and many consider this film to be a terrible way to end his career. I think that’s an overly harsh judgment – the movie has many great comedic moments, lasting throughout the film. I truly believe it should be re-evaluated. Seriously, come on, 0%?!

Candy plays a washed-up wagon master in the 1860s who is looking for another adventure. Eventually, a group of burnt-out Western citizens looking to head back East to Missouri hire him. Numerous mix-ups occur, such as mistakenly wandering through Indian territory. However, the settlers are surprised to find that the Indians are eager to guide them along their way, in hopes of getting their land back.

While this may not be up to par with Candy’s previous films, like Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (1987) and Uncle Buck (1989), this film is still one of Candy’s best comedies. He will always be sorely missed, but I feel he left the world on a high note with this comedy.

Gone Fishin’ (1997)

Joe Pesci and Danny Glover take a break from the Lethal Weapon franchise to star in this goofy comedy that is comical in a cute way. I especially loved Pesci’s performance in this one, because he wasn’t playing a mobster, a burglar, or someone who swears like a sailor.

Pesci and Glover play a couple of buddies who drive down to Florida for a fishing trip. All they want is just to relax, fish, and drink a few beers. Nothing wrong with that, right? But if that was all that happened, this would be a boring movie. The pair eventually encounters a fugitive, who steals their car, including all their bait and beer. They will stop at nothing to get it back and help a couple of ladies (Rosanna Arquette and Lynn Whitfield) who are after the same criminal.

This movie has a lot of tongue-in-cheek humor and may not have a lot of laughable moments, but it wasn’t that bad at all. Rotten Tomatoes slapped it with a score of 4%. I mean, come on! It deserves so much more positivity. It had its clever moments, some funny ones, and a premise that’s good enough to watch multiple times. I think it did what it was intended to do.

The Odd Couple II (1998)

I consider Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau’s last film together to be one of their best. The sequel, which took place 30 years after the original, did not sit well with a lot of critics and many fans of the original didn’t go see it in the theater. It flopped commercially and critically, which was a shame. I think the theaters would have echoed with laughter had they had a decent turnout.

The plot may not have been original enough to draw a huge audience. It’s another “road trip” movie with several pitfalls along the way. However, the dialogue makes it a worthy and hilarious piece of cinema. Example…

[after being sprayed by a crop-dusting plane]

Felix: “What the hell was that?”

Oscar: “They purposely did that. They hate New Yorkers.”

Felix: “Who’s going to pick us up now? We look like a couple of Pillsbury Doughboys.”

Oscar: “Well we’d better get out of the sun before we start to rise.”

Funny, right?! The movie is filled with that kind of humorous banter between the main characters. It is definitely worth watching.

Godzilla (1998)

This one is more of a guilty pleasure than a “good” movie. It is entertaining and very humorous, so I don’t think there is anything worth panning here. I remember my stepdad telling me he hated this movie because it was so unlike the original Godzilla movies produced in Japan, which he loved. This led me to believe the fan base was not there for that very reason.

I loved the sequences with the giant lizard wreaking havoc all around New York City (gee…you’d think that was a recurring theme in movies or something). They were fun and tense at the same time. I liked how they made the creature more of a streamlined version as opposed to a lizard that would take hours to turn. This added a better level of suspense. The film was also quite humorous.

Overall, this movie is not a masterpiece, but it is still enjoyable. It almost didn’t make the cut, but I think it’s worth watching, even if you only watch it once.

Almost Heroes (1998)

Chris Farley was another comic who left the world much too soon. He had a bright future – he was even supposed to be the voice of Shrek, which Mike Myers, Farley’s fellow SNL castmate, did well in his stead. Farley had only a few comedies under his belt, like Tommy Boy (1995) and Black Sheep (1996), and this one was his last starring role. It was a dud at the box office – what a shame.

This had an interesting premise: Bartholomew Hunt (Farley) and Leslie Edwards (Matthew Perry) are a couple of explorers trying to beat Lewis and Clark to the Pacific Northwest. Had it been historically accurate, that would’ve been fun to hear about in history class growing up. Being a work of complete fiction, though, this farce still provided a lot of laughs. Chris Farley still acts like Chris Farley, only this time in the early 1800s, and it still worked for me. Maybe I’m just biased because I was a Chris Farley fan growing up.

The movie includes decent comedic moments from Eugene Levy, who plays a Frenchman who tags along for the expedition. Christopher Guest directed this picture, which was a good departure from his mockumentaries, such as Waiting for Guffman (1996) and Best in Show (2000). Whether you grew up watching Farley on SNL or just looking for a funny movie to watch, this may be worth the price of a rental.

Superman Returns (2006)

I was never a comic book fan, and maybe I don’t have a case with this one, but Superman Returns was perceived so negatively, and I still don’t understand why. I already knew Brandon Routh couldn’t compare to Christopher Reeve, but let’s face it, who can? Routh’s performance was still satisfying, and Kevin Spacey played a great Lex Luthor. The result was a worthy comic book movie that generated a lot of thrills, heart, and substance, so what was the big problem?

Was it Superman copying the same spiel about airline travel from when he met Lois Lane in the original film? [SPOILER ALERT] Was it Lois Lane’s son turning out to be the spawn of Superman when so many die-hard Superman enthusiasts stood by the theory that he can’t procreate with a human? [END SPOILER ALERT] Or maybe it was made too soon after Reeve’s passing? I can’t quite put my finger on it.

I may get a lot of people shaking their heads at me on this one, but I enjoyed Superman Returns much more than Man of Steel (2013).  While I still liked the latter, the former made up for Superman III (1983) and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987), and even avoided references to those movies (at least that’s what I got out of it).

The Ridiculous 6 (2015)

Adam Sandler’s career has taken somewhat of a nosedive lately. It seems like he’s just grasping at straws with his latest movies, which don’t compare to his earliest ones (Billy Madison (1995) and Happy Gilmore (1996) being prime examples). I think that, if he can’t deliver his previous level of comedic gold, he should go for making more films like Punch-Drunk Love (2002) and Reign Over Me (2007), both of which contained great performances from Sandler.

I was skeptical about The Ridiculous 6, but I had nothing else to do at the time. Better yet, it was a Netflix movie, so I wouldn’t be too peeved about going out of my way (and wasting money) to rent it. Instead, I nearly laughed myself to tears the whole movie. I was pleasantly surprised, especially when I found out this was another 0% movie.

Sandler plays an outlaw who discovers he has five half-brothers and they all decide to find their father. Along the way, they find so many laughable, offbeat characters, including General Custer (David Spade), Wyatt Earp (Blake Shelton), and Abner Doubleday (John Turturro), the man who supposedly invented the game of baseball. The cameos also make the movie worthwhile, and they are very well placed throughout the movie

Happy watching!