Shamelessly stolen from a Facebook challenge, my top favorite under-rated movies.
Honorable Mentions:
- Pitch Perfect – I don’t think this really counts as underrated, since it spawned three sequels and made plenty of money, but a movie about acapella singing competitions is still kind of a cult classic. Regardless, I’ll happily tune in to watch this whenever I see it on a cable channel and I’m looking for someone to watch.
- Cars 2 – Same as Pitch Perfect, it’s hard to call a highly successful Disney/Pixar film underrated, but Cars 2 has a rep as being a sequel that no one at Pixar wanted to make. Which, if true, means that they Pixar team then went and made the Bond-esque spy movie that they really wanted to make anyway, just with cars. I still find it hilarious. Is it as good as Cars? No. But it’s a better Bond movie than a good number of actual Bond movies.
- The Fast and the Furious – This spawned so many sequels that it’s definitely not underrated, but the original F&F was definitely a cult classic for a good while. But if this is on TV, I’ll always watch it.
Number 5:
Cowboys & Aliens – Or, the movie that Daniel Craig did when he didn’t want to do another Bond movie. It’s exactly what it says on the title, which evidently wasn’t something that a lot of audiences wanted. I thoroughly enjoy it.
Number 4:
Wing Commander – Look, this is in no way a good movie. The casting is bad, the writing is terrible, but as the only movie adaptation of my all time favorite video game franchise, I still kind of love it. The dogfight FX hold up surprisingly well, and Wing Commander the video game series desperately deserves a revival.
Number 3:
Iron Eagle – Of course this is on the list. The plot is hot garbage, but the flying… oh, the flying. Even more than Top Gun, this was what every ’80s kid near an Air Force base saw in his dreams at night.
Number 2:
C.H.I.P.S. (2017 Remake) – Once again, I will freely admit, this is not a good movie. This is what happens when motorcycle nut Dax Shephard convinced someone in Hollywood to give him a suitcase of money so that he could make a movie about riding motorcycles, and then they sort of wrapped a plot around it. It’s crude, stupid, and mostly unfunny, but all the stuff that’s on motorcycles is pure gold because it was shot by motorcycle nuts.
Number 1:
Les Chevaliers du Ciel (Sky Fighters) – Last, and absolutely number 1. Is this movie better than Top Gun? Maybe. Is the Mirage 2000 prettier than a Tomcat? Duh. Filled with gorgeous aerial photography of beautiful airplanes and beautiful scenery, this film doesn’t get nearly the love it deserves, mostly because it’s French. Just go find a copy on Amazon or eBay. It’s worth it.