Over-rated/Under-rated

[bosssmiley]

OK, here's a simple one. Name one thing (book, film, album, painting, etc.) you think is over-rated and another that is under-rated and explain why.

I'll start:

Over-rated: "Princess Mononoke"
Finally saw this supposedly 'seminal' anime the other day and didn't see anything in it other than a poorly plotted and shallowly characterised, heavy-handed pseudo-ecological fable. Errr...and was I supposed to have sympathy with the characters? ???

Under-rated: "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen"
How on earth did a film this good manage to make a loss at the box-office? It's fantastic! The effects are great. The story is as near to Don Quixote as we're ever likely to see. The dialogue was smarter and the action more fun than most of the 80s fantasy stuff that people rave about when in the throes of nostalgia.

Terry Gilliam: a genius unacknowledged in his own country in favour of some self-indulgent Japanese cartoon 'auteur'

[Serpentine]

I really really want to see that second one!
Also, what is it with the Japanese (or at least anime-makers) and big, white, drippy humanoid thingies?
Can't really think of anything over- or under-rated... the band Cake, maybe, but I can see why people might not like it.

[Jibar]

Over-rated: "Harry Potter"
I'm a big fan of the books, I think they're enjoyable, and a good read.
If you're under 16.
Sorry, they're are kids book, the writing is aimed at kids. Sure, her fans and characters have grown up, so she's been treating different issues,
But they are still KID'S BOOKS!
They are no brilliant work of art. They are no amazing piece of writing. They are children's book that have become too damn popular. I'll stay reading them, because I enjoy them, but for the love of God, I wish people would realise they're aimed at kids like me.

Under-rated: "X-Men 3: The Last Stand"
I thought it was good! I admit there were some flaws, such as Storm suddenly becoming hostile about mutants giving up powers, but it was still a good movie.
And the introduction of Kitty Pryde and Dr. McCoy as proper characters was a smart choice. They both added a lot to the film.
Though, I think my only real problem with it was that Angel was a bit overhyped by the media. He didn't do much. Which is a shame, because I like Angel.

[sun_tzu]

Over-rated: Moby ****. Then again, what do I know? I stopped halfway through. It was boring me out of my skull.

Under-rated: Daredevil. Okay, so it wasn't as good as the Spiderman movies, but still better than most people say.
A Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur's Court. How can something this good - by a well-known author - not be more ubiquitous?
Webcomics.

[bartak_the_healer]

Over-rated Green Day at least where I am from their new music is over-played and over-rated


Under-rated The new Star Wars Films I will admit they are no where near as good ats the originals but, still!

[Hungerdog]

Over-rated: SUV's

Under-rated: Long walks

[Caillach]

Over rated: The Mona Lisa. Really, it's a tiny little painting. It's not even that great a peice. Sure it's Davinci, but he has other works that are by far better all round works of Art.

Under rated: Andrew Wyeth. He used to be snubbed for being an illustrater. The art community needs to remove the stick from their a$$ and recognize great art in all mediums. Not nearly enough people know Wyeths name.

[Gorbash Kazdar]

Over-rated:
Gundam Wing; the animation was never particularly great, even in its day, and the voice acting is pretty bad (the Japanese is just as bad as the English dub). I always found it rather ridiculous as well - the mecha were way overpowered and there were far too many silly super-power, special attack, superhero type things going on. The redeeming qualities (the wonderful poltical manuevering and war between Earth and the colonies) is a feature that's constant between all the Gundam series, so I don't feel the need to sit through the rest just for that.

Under-rated:
Old school Green Day. To many listen to the new stuff and either do not know or have forgotten where they started from. Also, some of the new stuff fits the old style, but you have to pick and choose carefully.

I personally really like Princess Mononoke. The characters - save perhaps A****aka - are all supposed to be very grey. No one is clearly a bad guy or a good guy, so it's hard to be sympathetic with any of them all the time, or to dislike them all the way through (also, I found the dub rather flat, which definitely takes away from many things).

Certain choices in Mononoke do make more sense, IMHO, if you look at it as sort of a remake of Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind, the first film Miyazaki was really in charge of, and which he never seemed fully satisfied with. Nausicaä is somewhat underrated; the animation stands up remarkably well despite being 22 years old, and the world is just amazing (the manga is even better and much more epic in scope). The credits are a who's-who of the movers and shakers in the industry over the next two decades, before they were big.

[Quirinus_Obsidian]

Over-rated:
The Simpsons. Really fell off after season 944 to the 612th power.

Under-rated:
Futurama. Fantastic show from the same creator. More interesting characters, better plot (the fact that there is a plot) and pop culture references.

=======

Overrated:
Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home.
It was really fun to see them in "modern at the time" San Fransisco. Over acted, as usual. The whole "Save the whales" was cheese to the max, but we got the point.

Under-rated:
Star Trek: Nemesis.
This was much better than all other "Evil Twin" shows, movies, book, blurbs, pamphlets and etc. out there. Patrick Stewart was fantastic, and the death of Data? (in classic Episode 3 homage) NNNOOOOOOO!!

=========

Over-rated:
Cowboy Bebop. Sat down, grabbed a few beers, and watched the first several episodes. Fell asleep. I could not get into it.

Under-rated:
This Ugly Yet Beautiful World. From the same creators of Evangelion and FLCL, this short yet wonderful series took an emotional toll; much like FMA.


=========


I also really enjoyed Princess Mononoke. The story itself was a little overly "Save the Earth" (which I can whole hartedly agree with). Naussicca (sp?) was also fantastic. So was "Howl's Moving Castle"; even though not everyone that I talked to liked it.

[ElfLad]

Underrated: Firefly.

Not sure I can call this underrated, because everyone I know who's seen it, loves it. But it's underappreciated and not enough people know about it.

[RoboticSheeple]

Underrated: the use of spoiler tags I guess, thanks guys.

Overrated: People

[Dhavaer]

Over-rated: Tolkien. Good story, average to terrible writer.

Under-rated: The second D&D movie. Pulpy, but that's exactly what a D&D movie should be. The plot-holes are almost as important as the action.

[BelkarsDagger]

Overrated: the iPod. Whats so cool about it? Sure, it has headphones, and its tiny, and holds up to 1000 songs, but what makes it cool? I mean, who has a thousand songs to listen to, anyway?
Underrated: Starcraft. Awsome game, fun gameplay, some unoriginal content (Zerg = Tyranids, Terran Marines = Space Marines, etc.), but not many people like it. Sure its not as classy, or advanced as Warcraft III, but it has heart.

[Dhavaer]

Overrated: Starcraft
Underrated: Total Annihilation

[Elrosth]

I mean, who has a thousand songs to listen to, anyway?


7,910 and counting in my music folder, and I listen to all of them on shuffle on my computer.

Overrated Opinions.

Underrated Apathy.

But that's just my opinion... :)

[Gorbash Kazdar]

Overrated: the iPod. Whats so cool about it? Sure, it has headphones, and its tiny, and holds up to 1000 songs, but what makes it cool? I mean, who has a thousand songs to listen to, anyway?
3k plus here, and growing. And I know people who have collections best expressed in scientific notation. The other advantage is that you can take the thing anywhere, it doesn't skip, and you can still pick out the one song you just need to here right now.

[Hungerdog]

Overrated: Lots of musical recordings.

Underrated: Learning to play muscial instrument(s) yourself.

Enjoying music is good. Creating it from "thin air" is, IMHO, infinitely better.

[Deckmaster]

Over-rated: Stan Lee. Sure, he's a creative genius, and yes, he is responsible for some great superheroes, but he's not the only one, and he hasn't controlled any of those characters in years. I'm just saying he isn't God.

Under-rated: Star Trek: Voyager. It was a great show! Why does everyone seem to hate it?

[Tiferet]

Over-rated: The Princess Bride. My friend kept telling me how awsome and great this movie was and how much I was going to love it before she showed it to me. . . I was very unimpressed, and I still don't get why people like it so much.

Under-rated: lots of things. I suppose one of my favorite under-rated things is almost all of the obscure books I read. To many to list, and most of them are old and not of new york times best seller quality.

[ElfLad]

The Princess Bride. My friend kept telling me how awsome and great this movie was and how much I was going to love it before she showed it to me. . . I was very unimpressed, and I still don't get why people like it so much.

11 words: I am Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.

One of the best quotes ever.

[LadyGlutter]

Oooooooh, I'd actually put Princess Bride in the UNDER-Rated category. I agree with Princess Mononoke being way less cool than hyped.

I also agree with early Green Day being way cooler than anyone knows. 8)

Over-rated: Keira Knightley! EAT A BISCUIT, GIRL!! No one buys you kicking butt and taking names. It's a JOKE! All the male eye candy, and they couldn't get a decent girl for Pirates, sigh. I mean really, she's just, meh. And that stupid King Arthur movie she was in too, especially. What a waste of time, energy, money. And I borrowed it from the library. :P

Underrated: Hmmmmmm.... bluegrass music. The fiddle is WAY underrated. My Peepaw played fiddle, he used to play "Devil Went to Georgia" and I'd dance to it, and *sigh* That's gonna be in the jukebox in heaven.

[Deckmaster]

Oh, yeah, bluegrass is way under-rated. The way I see it, that's the real country music and anything is pop pretending to be country.

[HypnoticMonk]

Overrated: Gone With The Wind(movie) - I wanted to throw things at the TV the one time I watched it. If I was Rhett, I would have shot Scarlett instead of dealing with her crap.

[Tom_Violence]

Over-rated: iTunes. If I wanted to pay a lot more for worse quality music that is not guaranteed (i.e. if my computer dies, which isn't exactly unlikely, then I'd be out stacks of cash, right?), well... I may as well just throw my wallet at the nearest hobo.

Under-rated: Not exactly under-rated, but most probably under-appreciated (judging from the fact that most people I talk to seem to have not even heard of it): Terry Gilliam's Brazil. Genius film. Sheer brilliance. 1984+1/2 indeed! And the title track is always superb.

[Serpentine]

Ooh, have to track that Brazil down!
Mostly "hear, hear!"s from me, with some exceptions. Re. iPod, the really unfortunate thing is there's plenty of cheaper, better MP3-players that can hold several dozen times more songs out there that you can put on random AND recharge/replace the battery!

Thought of an underrated: High Spirits. Noone seems to have even heard of it :(
Agree with the overratedness of Harry Potter. They are enjoyable, at least the first 3 or 4 were, and the characters are generally interesting, but it is NOT art, nor are they particularly original (which isn't really a bad thing but it can be hard to convice a die-hard fan of this), they seriously need a good editor (for the last one, I wanted to go through it with a red marker, doing crosses here, corrections there, "no no no, re-do, cut this, expand on that, what the hell is that about?", give it a D+, and send it back for resubmission), and in... book 4, I think it was, and/or book 5, I just wanted to get in the book and slap that bloody emo Harry across the face. I'm actually looking forward to the movie of the 6th book, because they'll have no choice but to cull all the crap. [/rant]

[Quirinus_Obsidian]

Over-rated: Stan Lee. Sure, he's a creative genius, and yes, he is responsible for some great superheroes, but he's not the only one, and he hasn't controlled any of those characters in years. I'm just saying he isn't God.

Under-rated: Star Trek: Voyager. It was a great show! Why does everyone seem to hate it?

Voyager went down hill after they brought on Jeri Ryan as 7/9. Would have been cool to have both her and Kes; they could have played off each other very well. There were a few great episodes afterwards (Year of Hell arc, anyone?) but a lot of it was just tripe. That's also when the character development stopped.

Now, if you would have said ST DS9, then I would be agreeing with you until the end of time. That was the BEST startrek show.

[Midnight Son]

Now, if you would have said ST DS9, then I would be agreeing with you until the end of time. That was the BEST startrek show. Until the Dominion war anyway. Then it just blew.

I couldn't stand Voyager at first. Mostly 'cause Janeway was just so whiney. At least her voice made her seem so. Didn't actually start enjoying it at all till 7 of 9 showed up, and, even then, I thought it was substandard for Star Trek. It was much more watchable than Enterprise, though. Just couldn't get around the fact that the tech seems to have decreased between Enterprise and Kirk. And how everybody forgot that it's possible to time travel till Kirk rediscovered it. It's like the writers had never even watched the original or just said, "Screw it! Who's gonna care about continuity anyway?"

[sun_tzu]

Overrated: Gone With The Wind(movie) - I wanted to throw things at the TV the one time I watched it. If I was Rhett, I would have shot Scarlett instead of dealing with her crap.

Totally agreed. How this...thing became a classic (in any sense other than "Plan 9 from Outer Space") is beyond me. The dialogue's more wooden than the love scenes from Episode II.

Another over-rated: The Godfather. I've heard a lot about what a great movie it is. I just don't see why. I didn't enjoy it much.

[Closet_Skeleton]

I found Princess Mononoke to be Miyazaki's worse movie. Howl's Moving Castle makes no sense and forgets the book's plot until the last 2 minutes but is more enjoyable. Nothing what so ever happens in Kikki's Delivery Service and that's more enjoyable. I far prefer My Neighbour Tototo. Best Miyazaki film for me is Castle of Cagliostro, and he directed that before he and his friends got their own studio.

Okay, time to get myself really dis-liked.

Over rated: Star Wars. All of them. None of them are really great movies. Everybody says they prefer the first trillogy, but they're forgetting that when the sequels to the first film (Episode 4) came out everybody said how much they sucked compared to the original.

They're good kids movies, the first trillogy was enjoyable, it even have a few good performances. None of them were actually great movies.

Comrade Gorby: What part of "NO RELIGIOUS DISCUSSION" is unclear to you?

[ZombieRockStar]

Over:

Snakes on a Plane. The bloody thing hasn't come out yet, and there's been so much hype for months. Over the concept of there being snakes on a plane? (Although I do laugh every time I hear someone quote "There's m*****-f***ing snakes on the m*****-f***ing plane!")

Under:

Timothy Dalton. Why does he only rate just above George Lazenby on most people's best Bond lists? He was the only half-way decent actor among the lot of them, and he was Bond as Bond was originally written: a stone-cold killing bastard. Not the wisecracking Moore or the emotional, easy-to-get-the-drop-on Brosnan. Liscense to Kill is definitely my favourite Bond movie of all of them.

[slapdash]

Nothing to see here, move along, move along.

Bluegrass is awesome, and I like Keira Knightley. I can see her as over-exposed, but not really over-rated; she's not like Charlize Theron in that she's a critic's darling.

Over-rated: Cowboy Bebop. I saw the subbed DVDs, so I got it about as pure as I think I could. Just didn't impress me.

Under-rated: Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. The best movie of 2005, and no one saw it!

[Were-Sandwich]

Over-rated:
The Simpsons. Really fell off after season 944 to the 612th power.

Under-rated:
Futurama. Fantastic show from the same creator. More interesting characters, better plot (the fact that there is a plot) and pop culture references.


I totally agree.

[Deckmaster]

Comrade Gorby: What part of "NO RELIGIOUS DISCUSSION" is unclear to you?

[Midnight Son]

Over-rated: theological discussions on a board dedicated to not having them.

Under-rated: Apple Pie A-la-mode.

[Deckmaster]

Hey, I'm not the one that brought it up. However, I admit it was wrong to rant about that here.

That was just the release of the supressed rage of a rational man surrounded by irrationality.

[BelkarsDagger]

Overrated: Ninjas. I have been assured a slow painful death filled with shuriken. But I mean, whats so cool about ninjas? "OMFG TEH NINJAZZZZ TEHY DO TEH FLIPZORZZZZZ" Sure, they hide, they throw things, and they commit seppuku, but what REALLY makes them cool? I fail to see.

[Elrosth]

Underrated: Flipzorzzz

[Death_McMuffin]

Overrated: Thelogical discussions taken single-angledly and drawn through by selfproclaimed philosophers who think too highly of themselves.

Pirates. Thats right, I said it. Ooooo, look at me! I'm on a boat! I might shoot your with my archaic black powder pistols and then readjust my bandanna! Unless you're are Cpt. Jack Sparrow. Then you are cool.

Underrated: Stephen Colbert. I don't give a flipzorz about the popularity of his show. It's the man behind the show.

p.s.-the flipzorz comment by the Orange Zergling was probably the funniest thing I had ever heard. it just works. and it will be in my sig.

[Genome]

Video game over/under-rated discussion would not go here, correct?

[Quirinus_Obsidian]

Until the Dominion war anyway. Then it just blew.

I couldn't stand Voyager at first. Mostly 'cause Janeway was just so whiney. At least her voice made her seem so. Didn't actually start enjoying it at all till 7 of 9 showed up, and, even then, I thought it was substandard for Star Trek. It was much more watchable than Enterprise, though. Just couldn't get around the fact that the tech seems to have decreased between Enterprise and Kirk. And how everybody forgot that it's possible to time travel till Kirk rediscovered it. It's like the writers had never even watched the original or just said, "Screw it! Who's gonna care about continuity anyway?"


The Dominion War lasted too long, I agree with that. I do not beleive that it blew; I think that it was mostly thenabouts they decided to just say "go to hek" with the character development and air that which everyone wants to see; that being sex and violence.

I will also agree that Enterprise was complete tripe. That was a waste of precious airtime. It jumped the shark when they referenced the Borg in the early season(s). "itl'' be about (x) years when they get here.." Ummm, yeah... Q was the one that introduced humankind to the Borg, dumbarses...

Grrr.

now you have me going off about that. Ack.

I will throw something into the ring:

Overrated: Evanescence.
I LOVE this band. I really really do. Amy Lee is both hot and a fantastic singer / songwriter. The drummer is approaching Neal Peart / Mike Portnoy level, also the bass artist / new guitarist are well qualified. What I don't like is that they are getting all of the airtime when....

(underrated) Lacuna Coil / Nightwish
...should be getting the airtime. LC's latest album is not as good as their previous works (Unleashed Memories, Comalies, etc.), but is still decent. Nightwish, sadly, has fired their lead singer Tarja Turinien and are looking for a new singer. Their music is Epic, Huge, and Legendary. It's utterly fantastic. Just listen to "Dark Chest of Wonders" and "Ghost Love Score". Hell, listen to anything on the "Once" album =).

[Quirinus_Obsidian]

Video game over/under-rated discussion would not go here, correct?

Oh yeah; anything that you beleive to be underrated / overrated will be quoted and smacked upon within this thread. =)

[Poison_Fish]

Overrated: Naruto. Ok, I like it, it's got good stuff. But it gets a bit too much credit in the line of shonen shows. Plenty of stuff out there that is similar to it. I still read it and enjoy it of course, but it has far to much PR here in the states.

Underrated: Blade of the Immortal. This manga packs a wallop in character and fun. Just don't mind the violence. Also, it's translated by Dark Horse, who have a bad rep. compared to Viz Media in the U.S. But still, it's too good of a read to give up.

[RoboticSheeple]

More opinions from me:
Overrated: Black tee-shirts, Jeans, and tennis shoes

Underrated: Style. Would it hurt to maybe throw on some real shoes, and a button up at least? Maybe with some work Cords or a real pant would be possible.
Kino's Journey - The best show I have ever seen, ever.
Taking risks, speficially social/romanticly.
Complexity, everyone is always simple this simple that. Try something complex, don't you feel like you DID something?
Which brings me to the most important,
Doing something. Far too many people are content to do nothing at all but sit infront of their TV. And what then? they hear something that angers then, raise to their feet... and fall back onto the couch, panting heavily.

[NeonBlack]

Overrated: Evanescence.
I LOVE this band. I really really do. Amy Lee is both hot and a fantastic singer / songwriter. The drummer is approaching Neal Peart / Mike Portnoy level, also the bass artist / new guitarist are well qualified. What I don't like is that they are getting all of the airtime when....

(underrated) Lacuna Coil / Nightwish
...should be getting the airtime. LC's latest album is not as good as their previous works (Unleashed Memories, Comalies, etc.), but is still decent. Nightwish, sadly, has fired their lead singer Tarja Turinien and are looking for a new singer. Their music is Epic, Huge, and Legendary. It's utterly fantastic. Just listen to "Dark Chest of Wonders" and "Ghost Love Score". Hell, listen to anything on the "Once" album =).

Totally agree, specially on the Lacuna Coil side. Cristina Scabbia > Amy Lee, as hard as that may seem 8). And don't forget about After Forever and Within Temptation (although the latter are also being ultra-hyped lately).

More wood to the flames:

- Overrated: Dream Theater. I just don't get them. They're nice and everything, very talented musicians, but oh so boring. It's funny that my favourite DT album would be Train of Thought, probably their less "artsy" work. Certainly NOT the best prog metal group out there, despite the hype. Specially if compared to...

- Underrated: Symphony X and Opeth. Or how to make prog metal both technically interesting and funny to listen to, by mixing it with other sub-genres (power metal and death metal, respectively). The Divine Wings of Tragedy, V - The New Mythology and The Odyssey are all masterpieces by Symphony X (and about time they released something new and came back to Europe for some shows, huh). Opeth are harder to get into, specially if you're scared of death metal growls, but once you get over that barrier, they're just awesome. Anything by them is close to perfection, but I'd say Blackwater Park is their best. Mikael Åkerfeldt is a genius.

[Midnight Son]

Overrated: Evanescence.
I LOVE this band. I really really do. Amy Lee is both hot and a fantastic singer / songwriter. The drummer is approaching Neal Peart / Mike Portnoy level, also the bass artist / new guitarist are well qualified. What I don't like is that they are getting all of the airtime when....

(underrated) Lacuna Coil / Nightwish
...should be getting the airtime. LC's latest album is not as good as their previous works (Unleashed Memories, Comalies, etc.), but is still decent. Nightwish, sadly, has fired their lead singer Tarja Turinien and are looking for a new singer. Their music is Epic, Huge, and Legendary. It's utterly fantastic. Just listen to "Dark Chest of Wonders" and "Ghost Love Score". Hell, listen to anything on the "Once" album =).Seeing as Evanescence is my favorite group, I'd have to disagree on the overrated part. I do, however, agree that Lacuna Coil does not get enough airplay. Their talent is better than Evanescence in all ways except one. Amy Lee has a far superior voice, which gives Evanescence a major edge in my opinion. If the voice is good enough, I can handle all kinds of tripe from the guitar, and Evanescence's guitar is quite far above tripe.

[Vaniel]

Over-Rated: The Chronicles of Narnia. Am I the only person who found the movie... not so good?

Under-Rated: Power/Epic/Score/Speed metal.

[Deckmaster]

Over-Rated: The Chronicles of Narnia. Am I the only person who found the movie... not so good?

Under-Rated: Power/Epic/Score/Speed metal.


I thought it was pretty good. I thought it could have been better. If, say, it had been a stylized animated film instead of a LotR-style live action epic, it would have been great.

Also, that just happens to be one of my favorite kinds of music. ;D

[Vaniel]

Also, that just happens to be one of my favorite kinds of music. ;D

That's good, very good
;D

[Steward]

Over-Rated: Fantasy books. I mean, it's like every year the hacks of that genre are pumping out two thousand-page "epics" that fall into the categories of "bland and unrealistic" or "gritty and unrealistic". The shameless theft and unrepentant blandness of the fantasy genre is starting to seriously turn me to other form of literature.

Under-rated: Cartoon shorts. They are as boring and repetitive as books nowadays but don't cost money and only last about 5-15 minutes apiece.

[Athanatos]

Overrated: Halo series, Final Fantasy series, Counter-Strike. It's the trifecta of horribly overrated games!

Underrated: Battle Realms. One of the most innovative and unique RTSes I've ever played, and it never gets a mention anywhere.

[kriklaf]

overrated: Japanimania. Sorry to all the Asia fanatics out there--don't get me wrong, there are lots of things Asian that I like (especially the food...mmm...Thai curry...gyoza) but really--why the 'if it's Asian, it's got to be good?' Dragon Ball Z? Akira? Katanas? Eh.

underrated: an appreciation of what's cool around you. It irks the crap out of me to hear people say that their hometown sucks, or that their country sucks--particularly Americans. I have to say that while there's nothing spectacular about my hometown, it has its charm. There's a nifty hand-operated wooden lock on the dam that's recently been restored, there's a really nice bike/footpath beside the canal, there are beautiful flowers all over in the spring--I don't live there anymore, but I appreciate it when I go home to visit (Augusta, GA for the curious) Granted, there is also a whole boatload full of buffoons in charge of running the place (highlights--former mayor was in jail for embezzling from the city, former state senator in jail for racketeering, former community leader in jail for misuse of mental health facility funds...my home town, ladies and gents!) but acknowledging its faults doesn't mean ignoring its highlights.

[Quirinus_Obsidian]

- Overrated: Dream Theater. I just don't get them. They're nice and everything, very talented musicians, but oh so boring. It's funny that my favourite DT album would be Train of Thought, probably their less "artsy" work. Certainly NOT the best prog metal group out there, despite the hype. Specially if compared to...

I will have to kinda disagre with you there. DT is probably my overall favorite band. Songwriting, technical expertise, and a vocalist that does freaking opera between their releases. ToT was a decent album; but Awake and Metropolis PtII were definetly the best. Octavarium was a bit of a letdown, much like Falling Into Infinity. Even still, I would take them before anything else right about now.

[Zeful]

overrated: Japanimania. Sorry to all the Asia fanatics out there--don't get me wrong, there are lots of things Asian that I like (especially the food...mmm...Thai curry...gyoza) but really--why the 'if it's Asian, it's got to be good?' Dragon Ball Z? Akira? Katanas? Eh.
Katanas are easy, the smithing proccess used to make them was revolutionary (if we didn't figure out guns) a Katana was lighter and stronger than a European sword of similar length. The others I'll have to agree with you, pointlessly overrated.

Now for my opinions

Overrated: DVDs, Now I have nothing against DVDs it's just that they seem pretty needless. Granted, they don't suffer the problems of Vhs tapes, but they have their own problems which are as bad, if not worse, than those that you find with Vhs.

Underrated: The Diadem: Worlds of magic series. The only things it has in common with normal fantasy are unicorns, centaurs, evil, good, and Dragons, otherwise it's nothing like any established fantasy universe, that I know of.

[adanedhel9]

Katanas are easy, the smithing proccess used to make them was revolutionary (if we didn't figure out guns) a Katana was lighter and stronger than a European sword of similar length.

Not true. Wikipedia's Katana article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katana#Comparisons_with_swords_of_other_cultures) explains. In short, Katana were, on average, higher quality than European swords - not because of some inherit advantage in steel or craftsmanship, but because the Japanese smiths chose to make higher quality swords. When European smiths did choose to make higher quality blades, they were better. But due to the relatively wide availability of steel and the presence of heavy metal armors (which make slashing weapons of any make nearly worthless) in Europe, few European smiths bothered.

Overrated: Final Fantasy anything. I've tried playing about 5 different editions of these games over the years, and I've never gotten into them.

Underrated: Secret of Mana (Seiken Densetsu) series. Okay, the first, for Gameboy, was kinda iffy... but the two sequels for SNES are among my favorite games of all time.

[Athanatos]

Overrated: Dream Theater.

Underrated: Pretty much everything that's not Dream Theater. ;)

[Quirinus_Obsidian]

Overrated: Dream Theater.

Underrated: Pretty much everything that's not Dream Theater. ;)

That would be an awesome flame starting post if I wanted to flame. :P

[InaVegt]

Over rated: pirates o/t carribean, hip hop

Under rated: Bach

[Closet_Skeleton]

Underrated: Battle Realms. One of the most innovative and unique RTSes I've ever played, and it never gets a mention anywhere.

I played that once, but I borrowed it. I should borrow it again some time...

One of my favourite quotes was from that game;

Hero "Give me your power!"

Dragon God: "First, show me what you can do without it."

[BelkarsDagger]

Overrated: Dragonball Z. I mean, big whoop. People go around, make balls of energy, fling them at eachother, fly around and dodge them, and insult eachother. How is that entertaining?

Underrated: Actually spelling out things instead of saying o/t or w/o.

[Vaniel]

Overrated: Dragonball Z. I mean, big whoop. People go around, make balls of energy, fling them at eachother, fly around and dodge them, and insult eachother. How is that entertaining?

As much entertaining as Wrestling (WWE, RAW, SMACKDOWN).

[kriklaf]

As much entertaining as Wrestling (WWE, RAW, SMACKDOWN).


A true statement if you don't like either.

[Athanatos]

As much entertaining as Wrestling (WWE, RAW, SMACKDOWN).


Wrestling has energy beams now? Damn, I gotta tune in one of these times.

[kill_the_cleric]

over-rated harry potter

I'm sorry, but they are okay but not great.

under-rated alan dean foster

asome wirter, great books.

(this should be in SMBG)

[Elrosth]

Wrestling has energy beams now? Damn, I gotta tune in one of these times.

Can you see what the Rock is laz0ring?

[GeeVee]

Overrated: Angsty/angry music. Nuff said.

Underrated: Almost Famous, my favorite movie ever. Beautiful movie, beautiful female lead and a beautiful scene involving a bus and a certain Elton John song. Watching that movie makes me feel so warm and fuzzy inside.

[Ted_Stryker]

Overrated - Nirvana

Underrated - Pixies

Not sure this is quite on-topic, but having just gone through a draft:

Overrated - QBs in Fantasy Football

Underrated - TEs in Fantasy Football (only applicable in leagues where TEs get their own position)

[Mattaeu]

Over Rated: Golf.

Under Rated: Vanilla Ice Cream.

[BelkarsDagger]

Overrated: Poker. It's a fun game, but there are about 3,500 versions and counting out there... Texas Hold 'Em wasnt good enough?
Underrated: Table manners. 'Nuff said.

[Archonic Energy]

Overrated: Zerg Swarms... and rushes.
Underrated: Protoss Zelots

[Tursho]

Overrated: Emo. Please, no more Dashboard Confessional.

Underrated: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, though I could understand why. The guy's voice is a love/hate sort of thing.

Overrated: Speed metal, thrash metal. M'kay kids, now we're going to record music then send the bpm rate up into the sky, because that makes us more metal than thou. Alright, some of it is okay, but... why? Are you hyperactive? Also, have you ever tried headbanging to speed metal? By the Noodly One, that really doesn't work well. Listen to Emperor instead, okay?

Underrated: Drone metal, sludge metal. Nice trippy slatherings of odd chords and stuff, but not enough people like it.

Overrated: "working class" Britpop. Okay cool, so you're not middle class. Oh, you're not middle class you say? Wow, nice song there, about how you're working class and not middle class.
...

Underrated: Shoegazing. The music style, though the past time is also pretty good. But really. Listen to Loveless by My Bloody Valentine, you should get what I'm saying.

[Mattaeu]

Listen to Loveless by My Bloody Valentine, you should get what I'm saying.Done and Done. :D

[Casualgamer]

Overrated: Naruto. Watch it if you want to see episode after episode of a kid in an orange jumpsuit defecating on the concept of a ninja, while experiencing flashbacks lasting large fractions of the half-baked pile of trash they call an episode.

Underrated: Individuality. Its like everyone wants to be in some sort of clique these days.

[Martyr]

Overrated:
I'm with Vaniel on The Chronicles of Narnia, provided he's only referring to the movie. Absolutely hated it. Of course, I am something of a purist...I disliked the LotR movies as well.

Robert Jordan! Read the first two books, they drove me up the wall. Tiresome, repetitive, not a single likeable character I could find.

Underrated: Starting a DnD campaign at level one. Maybe this is just due to newbishness, but I do not understand why the DM's I've played with so far can't stomach a campaign under level ten. I don't care if I can't dispatch ten goblins with a single swipe, or my wizard still can't vaporize an entire town. Adventure is about struggle, suffering, fighting against the odds! I find it MORE exciting the weaker my character is, because that makes things just more challenging. Yes, you can ratchet up the challenge by throwing more and more ridiculously high-powered monsters out there, but that gets tiresome. I'll stop now before this turns into a rant. :P

[BelkarsDagger]

^ I hate starting at anything other than 1 or 2. I'm with ya there. :)

[happyjenn97]

Over-rated: Starbucks. They're literally on every corner around here. There are a few blocks downtown where there are two on the same side of the street on one block and another on the other side of the street. GRAH!

Under-rated: Death to Smoochy. Hilarious movie.

[Deckmaster]

Over-rated: Starbucks. They're literally on every corner around here. There are a few blocks downtown where there are two on the same side of the street on one block and another on the other side of the street. GRAH!

Under-rated: Death to Smoochy. Hilarious movie.

Lewis Black has a funny bit about how there are too many Starbucks.

Death to Smoochy! I can't believe anyone else has heard of this movie. I can vouch for the fact that is hilarious. It's a dark comedy that is actually funny.

[Gorbash Kazdar]

Lewis Black has a funny bit about how there are too many Starbucks.
I love that one. Heck, I love all his stuff. I'm putting him in as "under-rated."


Death to Smoochy! I can't believe anyone else has heard of this movie. I can vouch for the fact that is hilarious. It's a dark comedy that is actually funny.
Definitely. It's a great movie. I love Norton's character, and Williams does a great job vacillating between weirdly creepy and outrageously funny (and at all the right spots, too). They play really well off each other, since Norton is, as usual, pretty low key. And I love the mobsters.

[endoperez]

Under-rated:
Endings. There are many comics, many manga, many webcomics, many book series, many books and many tv series that would have been better had they already ended. I enjoyed Wheel of Time books. I stopped around book 12 of the Finnish translation (~ 5 or 6 in of the originals) IIRC. I have long since stopped enjoying webcomics in which nothing happens. I was never a big Stargate fan, but others have commented that the end of the Goa-Uld war would have made a fine ending. The Bold and the Beautiful, Dallas, Berserk-manga and other series that last over a decade, or multiple decades, are fit right in.

Over-rated:
Stagant and/or unchanging as a positive thing:
See above examples. Some things were good. Some old things still are good. However, if something is just copied again and again and again, it becomes old.

Over-rated:
Superlatives. I'll use the Gaming section as an example.
Why ask for "the best build"? Isn't "a powerful build" good enough? Wouldn't "a build that does this" be a better question more often if you have any idea for a character? Many people ask for all of these things. I believe that those who buy for the most powerful build get the least out of it: they don't get the joy of having invented it, or the joy of trying it out because everything was explained to them, or the joy of succeeding against odds with a sub-optimal character. I know play styles differ, this is just an opinion.

[Logic]

Overrated: Titanic. I hate that movie with such a passion. The only part of the movie I found watchable was the band playing while the ship is sinking.

Underrated: Hulk. The editing was alot like a comic book, and for the most part, they stayed true to the form that Bruce Banner's biggest enemy is the Hulk.



Over-rated: Starbucks. They're literally on every corner around here. There are a few blocks downtown where there are two on the same side of the street on one block and another on the other side of the street. GRAH!

Under-rated: Death to Smoochy. Hilarious movie.
At least you don't have everyone and their brother thinking that you like coffee 'cause you live near the Seattle area (but, i can in fact smell the difference between several different brands, taste, no way. i put far too much sugar in my coffee to ever taste the difference)

[Tom_Violence]

Golf is awesome! Poker is awesome! All kinds of metal make my ears bleed and my brain sigh! Over-rated: Other people's opinions! :P

If you don't like golf then clearly you're not lazy enough. If you don't like poker then clearly you don't like lying and taking things from your friends (and strangers) enough. As for metal, whatever happened to music that actually sounded good and had melodies and stuff? :)

Flame away, for today I wear my over-sized asbestos hat and waistcoat.

[Sir_Rosh]

The most underrated band ever (and also imho the BEST band ever) are Mr Bungle.

[ElfLad]

Over-rated: John Lennon and Paul McCartney

They're a great songwriting team, and they wrote some of the best songs of all time. But they're not the best songwriters of all time. Hell, they're not even the best songwriters in the Beatles.

Under-rated: George Harrison

This guy was the best songwriter in the Beatles. His songs were the highlight of Abbey Road, my personal favorite Beatles album, and he was the lead guitarist. Hear a solo in a Beatles song, the odds are it's him. And he only went up after the Beatles broke up. He had a whole bunch of unpublished songs because John and Paul only gave him two song slots per album. While John and Paul were busy having little spats, George organized Concert for Bangladesh, the first wide-scale charity concert and released All Things Must Pass, a whopping three-disc album that was full of gems that he had like All Things Must Pass, If Not For You (written for him as a favor by Bob Dylan, What Is Life, My Sweet Lord, and Isn't It A Pity. One of the best things about Harrison is that he was genuinely a nice guy. That's why, unlike the other members of the Beatles, he was still able to work with other people. IIRC, he's the only member of the Beatles who worked with every other member of the Beatles. John and Paul avoided each other like the plague, and Ringo never worked with John. George was hugely underrated and was always overshadowed by his bandmates.

[Lord Iames Osari]

Nausicaä is somewhat underrated; the animation stands up remarkably well despite being 22 years old, and the world is just amazing (the manga is even better and much more epic in scope).

Amen to that. I saw the movie after reading the manga, and my reaction was: "Dude! Where are the dorok and the forest people and the wormhandlers and..." Well, you get the idea.

Over-rated: Coffee. Its smells awesome and tastes horrible. 'Nuff said.

Under-rated: Books/reading. Probably not by people on these boards, but among 'outsiders' ;)...

[Old_el_Paso]

EAT A BISCUIT, GIRL!!I'm sorry, but I have no idea what that's supposed to mean.

[Dhavaer]

I'm sorry, but I have no idea what that's supposed to mean.

'Put on weight, you look like a scarecrow' is the general message.

[Athanatos]

Overrated: Monty Python. It's funny, sure, but stop proclaiming it to be the be-all-end-all of comedy. And Meaning of Life sucked.

Underrated: Blackadder. TRUE British humor.

[Tom_Violence]

Overrated: Monty Python. It's funny, sure, but stop proclaiming it to be the be-all-end-all of comedy. And Meaning of Life sucked.

Underrated: Blackadder. TRUE British humor.

Bits of The Meaning Of Life are funny. The tiger scene and the WWII one stick in memory the most. I still can't watch the fat guy explode at the end, though. Appreciating Python, like many so-called 'classics', often requires also appreciating its context, specifically its time and its peers.

And yeah, Blackadder does dominate. Apart from the first series which was just dire. On the basis of that one, it makes me wonder how the rest even got made at all.

[Don Beegles]

I agree, I didn't like Meaning of Life either, and the otehr moveis may not be the ultimate and comedic entertainment, but I'd be hardpressed to find another that makes me laugh quite so hard.

As for Flying Circus itself: it had a lot of very good sketches, thought towards the end they had a problem with cramming too many jokes into one skit which sort of killed just about all of them. I do have to say that they had the best links/recurring bits betweeen scenes of any similar show I have ever seen. An example that comesto mind; Stop I'm <Insert Animal> of Sctoland Yard, Airborne Division. It started off with Fox and teh resposne was *Gasp*"Flying Fox of the Yard?", and then animals only got more rediculous up until "Flying Thompson's Gazelle of the yard at the end of the argument sketch.

I've never noticed them to be over-rated per se, though I do know of mayn otehr comedies that are underrated.

Airplane for one. That is at least as funny as Holy Grail, though in a completeyl different manner. Holy Grail is silly in a witty, clever way, whereas Airplane does whatever you least expect and is easily more full of great quotes. I'm still dying to use something along the lines of "From the hospital? What is it?" "Oh it's a big building with patients." And the last comic contains a reference in "I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing pixie dust."

[LazyJoe]

Under-rated: Rugby. It's harsh but fun, and so totally not gay.

Personally, Meaning Of Life is my favourite Python Film. It may not be the cult classic that its predecessors were, but I'd have to say I find it more watchable and less grating in the long-run than either of Life Of Brian or Holy Grail.

[EDIT: Airplane rocks.]

[krbroyl]

Over-rated-
Emo. Seriously. Get a life. I don't see why they wallow in their angst like a bunch of eyeliner-wearing hippos.

Under-rated-
Mott the Hoople. I don't know anyone that has even heard of them.