Bionic Commando

1. Requiem for a Dream - Held in critical acclaim by nearly everyone who has seen it. Requiem for a dream is a story about four drug addicts doing their best to succeed in the world yet ultimately failing due to their addictions. It is a film that highlights just how much drugs can affect personalities and just how far those who have succumbed to them are willing to go for their latest fix. Darren Aronofsky's compelling and eye-opening directing skills give the audience a unique glimpse into the world of drugs and their potential disasterous consequences as four peoples lives spiral out of control as a result of their cravings.

2. They Live - They Live could be summarised quite literally as Carpenter at his most refined. The plot focuses around a down-and-out construction worker named John Nada who is desperately looking for a job in the big city. He is a man who keeps himself to himself and doesn't ask questions, however as time goes on he starts to witness some truly disturbing and disorientating scenes. It appears that not all is what it seems. People go missing daily due to government raids and John gets caught up in it all. Eventually he stumbles upon a pair of sunglasses that may have more purpose than first thought. Wearing them, he is able to see the world as it really is: people being bombarded by the media and government with messages like "Stay Asleep", "No Imagination", "Submit to Authority". Money is printed as "This is Your God". What's worse is that not everyone is who they seem. The world is being run by aliens who convert humans through promises of greed and fortune. Nada joins a rebel group who are trying to help people see the truth in this corrupt society and they make a stand against this manipulative race.

3. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - A film which is difficult to pinpoint into any specific genre, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is somewhat of a film noir that combines comedic aspects with with the same pace of a murder mystery/crime thriller. The humour is very dark yet never feels forced. It's a film that takes itself just seriously enough to keep you in suspense yet provides a sufficient amount of entertainment at the same time. Robert Downey Jr plays a thief who narrowly escapes a fate with the police after an unsuccessful robbery attempt through an accidental submission to the audition for a role as a detective in a movie and is later invited to a party because of his lifelike acting skills. There he meets Val Kilmer AKA Gay Perry who is a private detective who offers him a chance to partake in an investigation to develop his character. He also meets the gorgeous aspirant actress Harmony Faith Lane (Michelle Monaghan) and they accidently stumble on a murder case with many leads. Together they strive to figure out the truth one step at a time.

4. The Warriors - These are the Armies of The Night. They are 100,000 strong. They outnumber the cops five to one. They could run New York City. Tonight they're all out to get the Warriors. Sums up the film pretty well.

5. Azumi - Azumi begins the film as the only girl among 10 warriors who have been trained from childhood by Jiji, a gray-bearded samurai. One day, Jiji tells them they must pass a final test before they embark on the mission they have prepared for all these years. He pairs them up, and, only five survive, including Azumi. Led by Jiji, this small band descends from the mountain that is the only world they know. Their mission, we learn, is to stop a nefarious plot to unseat the current shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu, by the supporters of Hideyori, the son of deceased warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi. In other words, they are out to prevent a civil war of the kind that devastated their own families before Ieyasy wrested power from his rivals at the battle of Sekigahara in 1600 and imposed peace...

6. 12 Angry Men - Heralded as one of the all-time great theatrical releases, "12 Angry Men" focuses on a jury's deliberations in a capital murder case. A 12-man jury is sent to begin deliberations in the first-degree murder trial of an 18-year-old Latino accused in the stabbing death of his father, where a guilty verdict means an automatic death sentence. The case appears to be open-and-shut: The defendant has a weak alibi; a knife he claimed to have lost is found at the murder scene; and several witnesses either heard screaming, saw the killing or the boy fleeing the scene. Eleven of the jurors immediately vote guilty; only Juror No. 8 (Mr. Davis, played by Henry Fonda) casts a not guilty vote. At first Mr. Davis' bases his vote moreso for the sake of discussion after all, the jurors must believe beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty. As the deliberations unfold, the story quickly becomes a study of the jurors' complex personalities (which range from wise, bright and empathetic to arrogant, prejudiced and merciless), preconceptions, backgrounds and interactions. That provides the backdrop to Mr. Davis' attempts in convincing the other jurors that a "not guilty" verdict might be appropriate

7. Swingers - A criminally underrated masterpiece. Jon Favreau plays a lonely actor who left New York to come to LA and become a star. Unfortunately, he hasn't had much luck for the past 6 months and resents commitment with other women as he is still waiting for that call from his girlfriend. You know, the one where she says she messed up and wants him back? It isn't likely and perhaps he knows this deep down but he continues to wait, after all he was with this girl for 6 years of his life. His friends decide to try to get him back into the social scene by visiting a wave of different bars, clubs and parties and they teach him a few things in life. It turns out he is more "money" than he thinks.

8. Killing Zoe - An American vault-cracker ( Zed ) meets up with an old friend ( Eric ) in Paris. Eric and his gang have planned to raid the only bank in the city which is open on Bastille day. Zed is trapped in a situation beyond his control when heroin abuse, poor planning and a call-girl named Zoe all conspire to turn the robbery into a very bloody seige.

9. Suicide Kings - When Avery Chasten's sister, Elise, is kidnapped for a $2,000,000 ransom, he turns to his friends for a means to collect the money. Their plan, to kidnap ex-mob boss Carlos BartolucciCharlie Barret and make him pay. The only problem, what happens when you put a wiley mob boss up against 4 rich kids who've never kidnapped anyone before? And what happens when they start turning against each other? Elsewhere, Barret's henchman Lono Veccio is beating up everyone in town to find Elise. So the real question is: Who ends up screwing who?

10. Tiger on the Beat - This film could be described as a Hong Kong cop film which never takes itself too seriously but provides enough action to entertain even the most dedicated Eastern viewer. Chow Yun Fat and Conan Lee star as cops who get caught up in a huge drug deal unexpectedly. With this in mind, they still wisecrack their way through a multitude of situations. Despite this the action is relentless and doesn't hold back for a second. The shotgun-on-a-rope and Chainsaw scenes are the first that come to mind to nearly anyone who has seen this film. It really is underappreciated.

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Drunken Savior

Swingers praise!? It's been so long...

[EDIT] I like that list, except for Reqiuem. A Lot of people have seen it and rate it very high. Ergo, it's hard to call it underrated. I'd almost say the same about Swingers, but I have a feeling that though my circle of friends watched it religiously, not many others have. I'd like to throw in Decasia, A Symphony in Decay. It's a film made with eerie music set to old stock footage that was found (as you guessed) partially decayed. They remastered it (leaving in the permanent damage) and made an amazing film.

Check out a clip here!

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"Because most people think, "Life sucks, and then you die." I disagree. I think life sucks, then you get cancer. Then you go into chemotherapy. You lose all your hair, you feel bad about yourself. Then all of the sudden the cancer goes into remission. You look good you feel good, you're going great, and all of the sudden you have a stroke. You can't move your right side. And one day you step off the curb at 68th by Lincoln Center and bang, you get hit by a bus. And then, maybe, you die."

KeyserSoze

I haven't seen any of these movies. lol
But I have to say Memento is one of the most underated movie EVER!?

Bionic Commando

Swingers is one of my all time favourites. I don't want to see Made because i've heard it just doesn't compare.

Ellen Burstyn was justly nominated for an Oscar for her role in the film and that's why people know about it, but they wanted to edit out the sex and mirror scenes in the US and Darren Aronofsky (director and screenplay co-writer) appealed against it as he felt it would take away from the films message, as a result the film was left unrated for a while. The sex scene was later shortened and it got an R-rating. This affected the film as it wasn't released in big cinemas. It was later re-released in smaller cinemas when the hype had already passed. This is why I think it's an underrated movie despite the fact that a lot of movie goers have already seen it.

I'll have to get Quicktime and check out that trailer, it sounds interesting to say the least!

Keyser - Memento is a brilliant film but I wouldn't necessarily deem it as underrated due to the fact that it has always had quite a large fanbase.

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Xavius

Delores Claiborne - I think this is easily my most favorite Stephen King movie and I love Kathy Bates as Delores. The flashbacks and cinematography work are great..

Demons - I always bring this one up but I can't help it - not a lot of people know about it and yet it's so damn GOOD. A movie theater filled with people get infected by .. hm.. Demon blood?? And these Demons don't care if you're old, fat, blind, young.. you're gonna get your throat torn out in a close-up.

Oh and who doesn't love seeing a pimp demon?

Iron Monkey - I love watching this movie over and over.. it's one of my favorite martial arts movies. Much more fun than any modern Jackie Chan crap.

Office Space - Do I have to explain this one?

American Psycho -

Starship Troopers - One of the most misunderstood science fiction movies ever.. this isn't a brainless violent romp as much as it is a message about fascism, which works very interestingly with a certain war on terror happening right now.

Pee Wee's Big Adventure - I used to know this movie by heart.

Oh Brother Where Art Thou - I could listen to this soundtrack forever.

Strange Days - ok i am running out of time on my break here

Unbreakable - oh shut up it was good.

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Pelican Sam

O Brother Where Art Thou is a true classic, Xavius.

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Assman

Wait. I thought the movie received great reviews? Plus, I think it's easily M. Night's best movie.

StarFoxEternity

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Pandas_UNITE

Whoever started this thread doesn't realize that a few of his movies DID get alot of praise. Swingers wasn't a studio film, it super launched the careers of Jon and Vince.

Also Requiem has an INTENSE cult following. Considering its pretentious as all hell, I'm surprised people think its so great. Its prolly the style it tries to pretend it has.

Suicide Kings was one of the most boring films I've ever seen. Was it a heist flick? im confused wtf kind of movie this wanted to be.

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Xavius

Well that doesn't mean it can't be underrated. And I also think it's M. Night's best movie. If only he had made a second one instead of a damn mermaid bull**** fantasy movie.

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Assman

People have their own interpretations of what makes a movie underrated. Quite odd.

Pandas_UNITE

1. Last Action Hero - Its a fantastic film, fun the whole way i think.

2. Donnie Darko - A mega cult classic phenomenon, but still not enough people have seen it. Everyone needs to see this movie.

3. Arrested Development - such a great show, damn why couldn't people get into it!!!

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Assman

Now those are underrated movies. ^^

Deacon

It's a pretty brainless violent romp compared to the book.

Bionic Commando

It's not about praise, it's about universal recognition. The film Festival was heavily praised by critics yet didn't do so well at the box office and as a result it has slipped beyond the radar. If more people knew more about it, it'd no doubt be a British classic. Unfortunately they haven't, therefore it's underrated.

Well, I don't know about America but Swingers is virtually unheard of in the UK. I couldn't find a single person who had seen this film until after i'd watched and praised it. It gets very little airplay and I rarely see publications talking about it. It's underrated in my eyes.

I notice you say Requiem has an intense cult following and then go on to cite Donnie Darko, a film which has a very similar cult following. Slightly hypocritical to say the least. Requiem to me is a masterpiece and I know plenty of movie goers know of it but like you said, everyone should see it in my opinion.

Suicide Kings was a bit like Kiss Kiss Bang Bang in that it was a a film that is difficult to peg into one particular genre. Sure it was slow at parts but I felt it paid off in the end. It has a lot of twists and turns but i'm glad I stuck it out to the end.

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Pandas_UNITE

no such thing as opinion when it comes to what i know are good under rated movies and what are not.

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Pandas_UNITE

im jk, but in all honesty suicide kings was 90% boring dialogue.

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Xavius

I liked Donnie Darko, but I didn't love it. I thought it had a very unique style to it, and of course my beloved Jakey, but I thought part of it was so surreal that it became confusing for me. And maybe now I see too many emo types who really enjoyed it so I wonder what might be wrong with me if I, too, enjoyed it.

I guess I should read Starship Troopers now, too.

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Pandas_UNITE

its not really an emo movie, but emos dont even kno wat they can or can't do, so i guess it makes sense for them to watch it.

Its one of those "can be explained in multiple ways" types of movies, of course the director has his own way...but Kevin Smith has his own way.

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