Perhaps more than any other art form, film criticism is a subjective, inexact science. However, more often than not, the critical mass coalesces over time and issues a unanimous verdict on whether a movie is good, bad, or mediocre. Sometimes, a movie like Eyes Wide Shut is so far ahead of its time that it takes years after its release for critics to appreciate its artistry. Other times, the critical wave misses the boat entirely, resulting in some of the best-made and most crowd-pleasing movies receiving some of the worst reviews on record.
Let’s take Steven Spielberg’s Hook as an example. Despite earning five Academy Award nominations and becoming the fourth highest-grossing movie of 1991, the movie was eviscerated by critics, earning a paltry 37% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Masterfully made and enduring as a beloved cult classic, Hook‘s 76% approval among non-critics shows how out of touch the reception was for one of the all-time best filmmakers’ most playful ventures. While far from exhaustive, Hook is joined by nine stone-cold classics that deserve far better than their poor Rotten Tomatoes scores indicate.
Why You Should Trust Me: I have been covering the entertainment industry since 2008, across sites such as ScreenRant, MovieWeb, CBR, JoBlo, and Arrow in the Head, writing extensive news articles, movie, TV, book, and script reviews, thousands of Top 10 Lists, retrospective features, long-form videos, interviews, and more. I have personally seen each one of the following movies multiple times and know in my heart of hearts that their RT scores are insultingly low.
Top Gun (1986) – 57% Rotten Tomatoes Score
A Landmark ’80s Hit That Shot Tom Cruise’s Iconic Career to the A-List
Top Gun was deemed rotten by a few percentage points. Critics weren’t very kind to Tony Scott’s high-flying aerial acrobatics on display in the monumental ’80s hit. In addition to its 83% Popcorn Meter score (audience approval), the film became the highest-grossing of 1986, turning its modest $15 million budget into a monstrous $360 million global moneymaker. More importantly, Top Gun launched the career of Tom Cruise, arguably the greatest and most bankable movie star of the last 40 years.
Ripped for being too immature and for lacking adult appeal, Top Gun has endured over the past four decades to become one of the most popular ’80s movies. In 2015, the film was added to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for its cultural, historical, and aesthetic significance. Of course, the film also spawned an even more successful sequel, Top Gun: Maverick, 34 years later, which not only drew more acclaim than the original but also grossed over $1.5 billion worldwide.
Watch This If: You want to see Tom Cruise’s star-making performance, appreciate the late great Tony Scott’s visual panache, enjoy a ripping ’80s soundtrack, and wish see one of Val Kilmer’s most iconic roles.
Skip This If: You have an aversion to macho frat party vibes, dated fashion, and a movie that favors a vapid plot over rich character development
‘Three Amigos!’ (1986) – 44% Rotten Tomatoes Score
One of the All-Time Funniest and Most Rewatchable SNL Movies on Record
Released seven months after Top Gun, John Landis’ beloved comedy Three Amigos! took a critical drubbing upon release. However, between the eminently quotable Dusty Bottoms (Chevy Chase), Lucky Day (Steve Martin), and Ned Nederlander (Martin Short), the Singing Bush voiced by Randy Newman, and hysterical supporting turns from Phil Hartman, Jon Lovitz, Alfonso Arau (El Guapo), and Tony Plana (Jefe), Three Amigos! holds up as a wildly amusing, cartoonish pastiche of the 1944 Disney movie The Three Caballeros.
Vindicated by its cult following 40 years later, a 67% Popcorn Meter score, a B CinemaScore grade, and a 6.5 IMDb rating, Three Amigos has a much better reputation than its poor Rotten Tomatoes score suggests. It was listed 79th on Bravo’s “100 Funniest Movies” compilation in 2012. While movies featuring SNL alums aren’t typically considered masterpieces, Three Amigos‘ legacy includes Steve Martin and Martin Short meeting and working together for the first time, which led to their reunion on Only Murders in the Building.
Watch This If: Saturday Night Live is your jam, you want to see Steve Martin and Martin Short’s first on-screen collaboration, and see how talented John Landis was in his heyday.
Skip This If: You absolutely detest SNL movies, aren’t a fan of Westerns, dislike any one of the three main stars, or feel like a movie from the ’80s is too outdated.
‘Spaceballs’ (1987) – 52% Rotten Tomatoes Score
Mel Brooks’ Masterful Spoof Spares No Sci-Fi Prisoners
Legendary lampoon master Mel Brooks took a big, bold aim at Star Wars, Alien, Star Trek, and other epic space sagas in Spaceballs, a cult classic ’80s comedy that has only been more appreciated since its release. Although it has an 83% Audience Score and a 7.1 IMDb rating, the film has a subpar 52% score on Rotten Tomatoes, with most critics unfairly judging the hilarious parody against Brooks’ previous spoof movies.
Anyone who came of age in the ’80s is bound to keep Spaceballs on a loop and repeat its endlessly quotable characters, like Barf (John Candy), Dark Helmet (Rick Moranis), Lone Starr (Bill Pullman), Dot Matrix (Joan Rivers), and Yogurt (Brooks). It may not be Brooks’ all-time best parody, but Spaceballs has endured long in the collective consciousness, inspiring a novelization, an animated series, an episode of The Goldbergs, and Tesla’s acceleration modes (i.e., Ludicrous Speed). Best of all, a sequel is being released 40 years later, solidifying Spaceballs as a masterful ribbing of Hollywood’s commercial greed.
Watch This If: You are a giant Mel Brooks fan, enjoy spoof movies, and like seeing Star Wars being poked fun at. It’s also worth seeing the hilarious performances by the late John Candy and Joan Rivers.
Skip This If: You’re waiting for the sequel to come out, are protective of the Star Wars franchise and don’t want to see it lampooned, and dislike Mel Brooks movies.
‘Overboard’ (1987) – 46% Rotten Tomatoes Score
Onscreen Romantic Chemistry Doesn’t Get Better Than Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn
Arturooooo! Despite the combustible, impossible-to-fake chemistry between real-life couple Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn, critics tragically missed the boat on Overboard during its initial run. Not only does the beloved Garry Marshall romantic comedy warrant repeat viewings, but it also inspired several multilingual remakes. Of course, many may not realize that Overboard itself is a remake of the 1974 Italian farce Swept Away.
With an Audience Score of 83%, an A- CinemaScore grade, and a 6.9 IMDb rating, there’s no way Overboard deserves such an abysmal Rotten Tomatoes score. The timeless tale of fish-out-of-water love has transcended the English language, being remade as the 1992 Indian film Ek Ladka, the 1997 Malayalam film Mayaponman, the 2006 South Korean film Couple or Trouble, and the 2018 gender-swapping Mexican-American remake. Never one to go with the tide, at least Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4-star review, noting the film’s irrepressible charm and infectious energy.
Watch This If: You’re a sucker for genuinely romantic movies starring real-life lovers, have a hankering for fun ’80s comedies, and love Garry Marshall movies.
Skip This If: You have a problem with a female protagonist being duped as the major plot point, or are offended by harmless ’80s stereotypes.
‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’ (1998) – 50% Rotten Tomatoes Score
A Wildly Intoxicating Ride That Perfectly Embodies Hunter S. Thompson’s Spirit
Terry Gilliam’s fiendish adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson’s vivid excursion into Sin City proved too much for critics, with Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas leaving most reviewers more floored than the intoxicated characters. That’s a downright shame, as the film’s hallucinogenic mania and roaring ’60s soundtrack perfectly embody the freewheeling spirit of Thompson’s text. Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro deliver two of their all-time best performances as Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo.
The movie has a near-perfect 89% audience score and a 7.4 IMDb rating. Gilliam achieved his plan to make “one of the great movies of all time, and one of the most hated movies of all time” (via ELLE). While critics felt the film took the drug-induced surrealism too far, others, like Gene Siskel, were astute enough to notice how Las Vegas served as a grand metaphor for American excess, vulgarity, and profligacy. Although the movie’s subpar box office performance didn’t help its popularity, Gilliam earned a Palme d’Or nomination at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival.
Watch This If: You want to be transported to the early 1970s, enjoy Terry Gilliam’s wild brand of filmmaking, and are keen to see the astonishing chemistry between Depp and Del Toro.
Skip This If: You’re sensitive to a visual, sensorial assault of sound and image, or dislike Hunter S. Thompson’s polarizing brand of Gonzo journalism.
‘The Boondock Saints’ (1999) – 26% Rotten Tomatoes Score
Far More Substantive Than Most Tarantino Inspirations
In the vast wave of Quentin Tarantino rip-offs ushered in by the success of Pulp Fiction, Troy Duffy’s Boondock Saints stands head and shoulders above the rest. However, in perhaps the greatest disparity between critics’ and non-critics’ reactions, the film holds a 26% Tomato Meter score compared to its 91% Popcorn Meter score. While the dramatic making of the movie is chronicled in the 2003 documentary Overnight, the hilariously unhinged performance by Willem Dafoe is alone worth calling The Boondock Saints an undisputed masterpiece.
Beyond Dafoe’s unforgettable turn, the story of twin Irish brothers, Connor (Sean Patrick Flanery) and Murphy MacManus (Norman Reedus), hell-bent on serving swift vigilante justice in Boston, is so undeniably powerful that it was re-released in theaters in 2006 and spawned All Saints’ Day, a sequel released 10 years later. With a third franchise entry in the works as recently as 2024, with Reedus and Flanery on board to reprise their roles, The Boondock Saints is far more than a bald Tarantino knockoff.
Watch This If: You’re interested in seeing one of the greatest directorial debuts on record, enjoy Willem Dafoe’s acting style, and have a penchant for vigilante justice.
Skip This If: You’re averse to intense graphic violence, do not like movies inspired by Quentin Tarantino, or are sick of the overplayed revenge plot device.
‘Super Troopers’ (2001) – 37% Rotten Tomatoes Score
A Truly Hilarious Buddy-Cop Movie That Launched Broken Lizard’s Career
Give me a liter of cola, Farva. Say what you will about the filmmaking prowess of Jay Chandrasekhar, when it comes to juvenile stoner comedies, Super Troopers is a bona fide masterwork. Not only did the film gross $23 million on a $3.5 million budget, but it also spawned a sequel released 17 years later and a third entry set for release in 2026. Most significantly, it launched the careers of the Broken Lizard comedy troupe, which has made roughly ten movies and TV projects since 2001.
With a sterling 90% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, the unanimous love for the genuinely hilarious, subversively punk rock buddy comedy proves that critics had no idea what they were in for. The natural onscreen rapport of the Broken Lizard gang is beyond reproach, leading to one laugh-out-loud moment after another. After winning the Audience Award at the SXSW Film Festival, it’s no surprise that there’s still enough interest in Super Troopers 3, which entered production in August 2025.
Watch This If: Subversive comedy with a rebellious streak is up your alley, you enjoy silly buddy cop movies, and you want to turn your brain off and enjoy some hearty laughs.
Skip This If: Sophomoric humor and hijinks aren’t your thing, you dislike Broken Lizard’s other movies, and are tired of the trampled buddy-cop genre.
‘Saw’ (2004) – 50% Rotten Tomatoes Score
The Start of James Wan’s Career Sparked a Mega-Successful Horror Franchise
The microbudget production values and dubious acting in James Wan’s crude directorial debut proved too much for most critics to recommend. But, considering the staggeringly lucrative horror franchise that it spawned for Lionsgate, Saw deserves to be remembered more fondly. The ingenious concept of Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), a terminally ill maniac who sets sadistically elaborate traps and forces his victims to solve time-sensitive puzzles, has led to nine cinematic sequels released between 2005 and 2023, two video games, a theme park ride, and more.
While the franchise has seen diminishing returns like any long-running horror series, Saw‘s biggest legacy is the start of James Wan’s remarkable Hollywood career. In addition to creating The Conjuring and Insidious franchises, Wan has helmed big-budget Hollywood blockbusters in the Fast and Furious and Aquaman franchises while also becoming a power producer behind some of the most recent horror hits like M3GAN and Backrooms.
Watch This If: You want to see where James Wan got his start, would like to see how far the Saw franchise has come over the last two decades, and are a fan of torturous horror films.
Skip This If: Questionable acting takes you out of the story, you’re squeamish about gory violence, or you haven’t seen any of the other franchise entries.
‘The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou’ (2004) – 57% Rotten Tomatoes Score
Wes Anderson’s Most Underrated Movie Is Also One of Bill Murray’s Best
Despite appearing to be critic-proof, Wes Anderson’s soulfully tender meditation on loss in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou didn’t resonate as well as his other, often inferior movies. Between Bill Murray’s off-beat performance, the acoustic David Bowie songs played by Seu Jorge, and the heartfelt final moment in which Steve wonders if the mystical jaguar shark remembers him, The Life Aquatic is a woefully misunderstood masterpiece from one of cinema’s true original auteurs.
Retroactively seen as one of Anderson’s inarguable masterworks in the past two decades, The Life Aquatic has an 82% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes to offset its poor critical reviews. Although it was a box-office failure, it has been reappraised over time and is now considered among Anderson’s finest films. Although it didn’t make The New York Times‘ list of the 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century in 2025, it ranked #226, indicating that the film deserved higher marks than it received in 2004 and has remained in the collective consciousness for over 20 years.
Watch This If: You’re a Wes Anderson completist, enjoy underwater adventures, and want to see one of Bill Murray’s most tender performances.
Skip This If: You think Wes Anderson movies are too precious, seafaring movies make you seasick, or you dislike David Bowie’s music.
Do you agree with our list of amazing movies that deserve higher Rotten Tomatoes score? Is there one you would add? Let us know in the comments!
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
