Journalism is sometimes called the first draft of history. Though few think of it this way, it’s also true of film journalism and film criticism. Critics don’t have the benefit of hindsight when they’re writing their reviews of the latest releases in theaters. Sometimes they don’t even have the benefit of a night to sleep on their thoughts before writing them down. Most movie reviews collected on Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic are snap judgments. They’re often extremely informed and well-argued snap judgments, but that’s what they are.
As such, historians, cinephiles, and later generations of critics often arrive at a very different conclusion about movies than their predecessors. That‘s the subject of today’s list on ScreenCrush, as we take a look at 25 classic titles that got a chilly reception from critics when they first debuted in multiplexes. Generally, that means a mixed consensus, but in a few cases these movies were out-and-out hated back in the day, only to find their reputations pulling a full 180 degrees years later.
“Classic” is a subjective term, of course, but most of these movies fit any cinematic definition of that word. The only restriction I imposed on my choices was any movie had to be at least 20 years old to qualify. These sorts of critical reclamation projects require at least a decade or two of marinating in people’s minds (and basic cable airings) to transform from flops to hits.
Classic Movies That Got Bad Reviews From Critics
These movies are all considered classic today. But when they came out, most critics were not kind.
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Negative Reviews of Classic Films on Letterboxd
These movies might be considered classics by a lot of people. But not by everyone, as these Letterboxd half-star reviews prove.
