Movies you liked as a kid but disappointing as adult?

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CharlesInCharge

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When I was a young teenager I saw this movie called "Streets of Fire" that was action packed with a good cast including Willem Dafoe, Diane Lane, Michael Pare, Rick Moranis, and Bill Paxton. I had wanted to see it as an adult for years and finally it's on Netflix. So I watched it.

I could not stomach the entire film and fast forwarded through probably 1/3rd of it. It is unwatchably bad. Really poorly flushed out characters have atrocious dialogue and behavior to pursue a really stupid plot with horribly dumb action scenes.

Do you have any childhood favorites, that were major disappointments as an adult?
 
Not sure. Up until a couple years ago I think I liked most of what I watched as a kid as an adult. Lately I’ve been reading more, and middle age is hitting hard, so I suspect most everything may well feel a bit long in tooth or otherwise just not enough to hold my attention for the 2 or so hours.
 
Fight Club - In so many ways the execution of the movie is the opposite of the message it preached. Identifies problems but does not offer any meaningful solutions. An empty, or at least very shallow, cult classic.

The Matrix (Trilogy) - VERY small world and small thinking. Lots of plot holes and inconsistencies that break the movie(s). Visuals are still among the most stunning and impressive that I've ever seen in a movie.

I frequently binge-watched those movies with my friends and my late teens and early 20's, I guess I was trying to understand some deeper meaning that I thought they had that I just wasn't understanding. The reality is that they don't hold a deeper meaning in my fairest estimation. That being said for the longest time I did not like the Star Ears prequels but I actually think that they've aged very well and I've ended up liking them more than I did for probably a decade immediately following their release.
 
supton said:
Not sure. Up until a couple years ago I think I liked most of what I watched as a kid as an adult. Lately I’ve been reading more, and middle age is hitting hard, so I suspect most everything may well feel a bit long in tooth or otherwise just not enough to hold my attention for the 2 or so hours.
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It really is different. It seems as if middle age is a time of losing interest. Hopefully, also of discovering new things.

A curveball.. I actually liked the Tom Hanks movie Big more as an adult. Whar a short, sweet little movie. 85 to 90 minutes of just pure, innocent fun.. he aged to age 30, the movie will reveal. Many of us are older than that now, but that movie, as fictional as it was.. was a sweet, sweet story, and I actually felt for both the characters when they had to go back to their lives.

Movies LESS? Street fighter, anything with Steven Seagal, anything with Tom Cruise, with minor exception.

Shows. Knight Rider and most of MacGyver were unwatchable stupid.
 
Ignatius said:
Fight Club - In so many ways the execution of the movie is the opposite of the message it preached. Identifies problems but does not offer any meaningful solutions. An empty, or at least very shallow, cult classic.

The Matrix (Trilogy) - VERY small world and small thinking. Lots of plot holes and inconsistencies that break the movie(s). Visuals are still among the most stunning and impressive that I've ever seen in a movie.

I frequently binge-watched those movies with my friends and my late teens and early 20's, I guess I was trying to understand some deeper meaning that I thought they had that I just wasn't understanding. The reality is that they don't hold a deeper meaning in my fairest estimation. That being said for the longest time I did not like the Star Ears prequels but I actually think that they've aged very well and I've ended up liking them more than I did for probably a decade immediately following their release.
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Fight Club was underwhelming, and same plot as 2004 movie The Mechanic with Christian Bale. Did not like. Should not be a classic. The Usual Suspects is a better movie and I believe had Brad Pitt in it too though I could be wrong. Depends on what you want in a movie, but Fight Club was just bad.

The first The Matrix was decent, and pretty well done.
The next two were just.. not.
Car chase with the Cadillac was amazing..

I wonder how the one in theaters is.
I will not see it.
 
There were no Marvel Comics movies as a kid, so any Superman or Batman that eventually came out as a movie were a dissapointment. Except maybe the early Superman movies. I guess the imagination doesn't really translate to film.
Further, any of the newly invented Marvel Superheros, including "Venom" is just action garbage.

Now for a "Classic" that I enjoyed when I was MUCH younger, West Side Story is on my list of favorites. I recently watched it again and enjoyed it almost as much, even though it's a remake of Romeo & Juliet....
I hope the new release can match it in production. Rumor has it that it does.
 
reemoeMO said:
Not a movie, but a TV show. "The Facts of Life" from the 80s were great then. But now, the sets, acting, and filming are just so cringy. The same can likely be said for almost any sitcom of that era.
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I still crack up thinking about the can of bis episode of Three's Company. A can of what?

The laugh track on M*A*S*H is especially bad.
 
javacontour said:
Monty Python doesn't have the same appeal as it did when I was in my teens or early 20s.

That's the one that comes to mind. I'm sure there are others.
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Today's teens and 20 year olds still love Monty Python. I work with a woman whose 9 year old kid dressed up at the None Shall Pass Knight with a few limbs missing for Halloween a couple months ago.
 
javacontour said:
Monty Python doesn't have the same appeal as it did when I was in my teens or early 20s.

That's the one that comes to mind. I'm sure there are others.
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I disagree... I've seen the Holy Grail and Life of Brian a gazillion times each, and giggle like a 12 year old every time. And I usually pick up on a subtle joke I've missed (or forgotten) each time too...

When I was a teen, I thought Ferris Beuller's day off was the greatest piece of cinematic art ever created. I watched it again after 30 years, and was extremely disappointed. Then the disappiontment made me realize that I have become **gulp** old...
 
reemoeMO said:
Not a movie, but a TV show. "The Facts of Life" from the 80s were great then. But now, the sets, acting, and filming are just so cringy. The same can likely be said for almost any sitcom of that era.
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Is that the one with Corky the retarded individual? (Or. Developmental disabilities.)

You take the good you take the bad..
You take them both, and there you have..

How about Melrose Place and Sliders
 
reemoeMO said:
Not a movie, but a TV show. "The Facts of Life" from the 80s were great then. But now, the sets, acting, and filming are just so cringy. The same can likely be said for almost any sitcom of that era.
Click to expand...
Exactly
All of that 60-80 stuff is embarrassing to watch but remember then we had 6 TV stations and 3 were duplicates and TV actually went off at night.

A different world today.
 
dadto2 said:
I disagree... I've seen the Holy Grail and Life of Brian a gazillion times each, and giggle like a 12 year old every time. And I usually pick up on a subtle joke I've missed (or forgotten) each time too...

When I was a teen, I thought Ferris Beuller's day off was the greatest piece of cinematic art ever created. I watched it again after 30 years, and was extremely disappointed. Then the disappiontment made me realize that I have become **gulp** old...
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That's why we have a few hundred channels these days.

Not sure how you could disagree with how it hits me, but okay. I never said anyone else shouldn't like it. Just said it doesn't seem so funny 30+ years later.

I'm glad you still enjoy it.
 
Show...

1640035050337.jpg
 
CharlesInCharge said:
When I was a young teenager I saw this movie called "Streets of Fire" that was action packed with a good cast including Willem Dafoe, Diane Lane, Michael Pare, Rick Moranis, and Bill Paxton. I had wanted to see it as an adult for years and finally it's on Netflix. So I watched it.

I could not stomach the entire film and fast forwarded through probably 1/3rd of it. It is unwatchably bad. Really poorly flushed out characters have atrocious dialogue and behavior to pursue a really stupid plot with horribly dumb action scenes.

Do you have any childhood favorites, that were major disappointments as an adult?
Click to expand...
I could watch anything with Diane Lane...that hasn't changed as I got older...
 
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