With the release of any piece of art, there are always going to be conflicting opinions regarding its quality. Whether any given movie is “good” or not will always be debated, and while fans and critics alike will come to some sort of consensus, it’s often not the same thing.
It’s far from uncommon for the consensus of film critics to differ greatly from general movie fans. Some of the biggest box office success stories are films that critics hated. But which movies did critics really and truly get wrong? A recent Twitter post asking that question has gone viral, and even speaking as a professional critic, I can’t disagree with choices like this one:
Few will ever be as (almost intentionally) misunderstood as Starship Troopers. pic.twitter.com/98tmetEcNWAugust 12, 2025
The degree to which everybody, critics and audience members alike, widely misunderstood Starship Troopers is pretty widely known at this point. The movie is a harsh satire of militarization, which goes directly against its own source material. Perhaps this conflict was the reason that many simply didn’t see the satirical elements originally and read Starship Troopers as a pro-military story. Today, most understand what the movie was going for, whether or not they think it succeeded.
Another popular movie mentioned in the thread is Speed Racer. The movie has undergone a fairly significant reappraisal in recent years that sees the Wachowskis’ adaptation of the popular anime as a movie that was so far ahead of its time that critics, and even many fans, simply didn’t understand it. At the time, that meant the movie got bad reviews, but today, many love it, like this person:
This is the correct answer.August 13, 2025
One of the movies that was brought up by more than one person in the replies was Disney’s John Carter. The adaptation of The Princess of Mars is one of Disney’s most famous box office bombs, though that has more to do with the movie’s massive costs rather than its lack of a box office take.
John Carter. Yes, it was bad marketing, but critics thinking it was a rip-off of Star Wars got it all backwards. A Princess of Mars was the pioneering story. pic.twitter.com/4V9se5o14WAugust 13, 2025
Even as somebody who likes the movie, I’d still argue it isn’t great. The flick clearly had some difficulty in finding the best way to adapt its source material. Still, there’s a lot to enjoy about it. However, sadly, its failure clearly killed any franchise potential, and that’s a big loss for all of us.
Of all the movies mentioned, however, one that I’m taking note of is A Knight’s Tale. While I wasn’t a critic back when the Heath Ledger movie came out, I remember not caring for it when I saw it upon release. I haven’t seen it since, but I’ve heard more than one person recently talk about how it’s actually really great.
When most people think of Heath Ledger they think of The Dark Knight with him playing the Joker first but I personally also think of his portrayal of William in A Knight’s Tale as well, but imo this is obviously underrated by the critics . . .59% 🍅 /🥫pic.twitter.com/lyFSATDDB8 https://t.co/8PRPss2J4zAugust 12, 2025
There are so many great movies being added to the list that it's almost difficult to keep track of them all. Robin Williams' grown-up Peter Pan movie Hook is there. The movie didn't get great reviews upon release, but the movie has certainly achieved a level of popularity today among the audience that grew up with it.
And then there's the inclusion of Blade Runner, a film that nobody seemed to like in 1982, with it getting mixed reviews from critics and seeing a rough box office take. The movie is generally regarded today as one of the best science fiction movies ever made.
We all have those movies that we love that critics didn’t care for. Whether it’s because the film speaks to us differently or that critics just “didn’t get it” isn’t really that important. Still, sometimes it’s clear in hindsight that critics really did miss the boat.
