Masterpieces that were initially hated by critics.

[sullydnl]

Reading a piece by Christopher Nolan about the fiftieth anniversary of 2001: A Space Odessey in today's Sunday Times.

I hadn't realised that 2001 was initially poorly recieved. Apparently there were hundreds of walkouts, boos and hisses at the film's premier. The critics hated it, the co-writer was left in tears and one MGM executive said it would be the end of Kubrick. Yet the general public flocked to see it in droves, making it the biggest selling film of 1968 before critics eventually came to regard it as a work of genius.

Can you think of any other examples now-acclaimed books, films and music which were initially met with as negative a reception as that? Also, which critically derided works of recent years do you think will be later reassessed in a similar way?

 

[Pexbo]

Showgirls is the first that comes to mind.

 

[harms]

My first thought when I saw the title was "oh, I'll name 2001!"

 

[ivaldo]

The Great Gatsby wasnt entirely well received and initial sales were pretty poor.

 

[T00lsh3d]

Weren’t Led Zeppelin slated in their early days? Bit young to know personally

 

[sullydnl]

Weren’t Led Zeppelin slated in their early days? Bit young to know personally

Yep. I think Page refused to do interviews for something like two years after their third (and best) album was met with a rough reception.

 

[Tarrou]

Moby Dick, Eyes Wide Shut and Con Air

 

[arthurka]

Weren’t Led Zeppelin slated in their early days? Bit young to know personally

Well they still are the thieving lot..

 

[InfiniteBoredom]

Wasn't Van Gogh dead broke throughout his adult life? Riddled with mental illness too.

 

[The Firestarter]

In what universe is Con Air a masterpiece

 

[Wumminator]

Ronaldo at United

 

[Jippy]

Shakespeare in general was not appreciated at first, as far as I know

Not sure about that- he became very wealthy off the back of his plays.

 

[Classical Mechanic]

Post Malone.

Wasn't Van Gogh dead broke throughout his adult life? Riddled with mental illness too.

He was starting to get respected at the very end of his life but really became famous once he committed suicide.

 

[stretford_oslo]

The Wire

Guess it wasn’t hated, but it took some time to receive the credit it deserves.

 

[EverReddy]

The Rite of Spring

 

[T00lsh3d]

Well they still are the thieving lot..

??

 

[Sweet Square]

??

They've stolen a ton of other people music and pass it off as their own.

 

[RedTiger]

In what universe is Con Air a masterpiece

'put the bunny back in the box'

That's some next level tension.

 

[Scarecrow]

The Wire

Moreso ignored and underappreciated than hated, as far as I know. But I get what you mean.

Fight Club wasn't much of a hit when it came out, was it?

Pretty sure The Shining had a "worst performance" award of some kind and wasn't received well. Seems to be the case with a lot of Kubrick’s work.

 

[dumbo]

Moby Dick was considered trash belonging to the worst school of Bedlam literature. Wuthering Heights was noted for its vulgar depravity. Peeping Tom wasn't well recieved and Frankenstein had mixed reviews.

 

[T00lsh3d]

They've stolen a ton of other people music and pass it off as their own.

Ahh ok, wondered what he meant. The way it was worded made it sound like actual theft, rather than plagiarism, which is a bit more subjective. I was wondering what they’d nicked

 

[711]

I still think 2001's rubbish. And I'm a sci-fi fan.

I did read once that the cast and makers of Casablanca didn't think they'd done anything special at the time.

 

[Oaencha]

Moby Dick, Eyes Wide Shut and Con Air

Eyes Wide Shut is definitely not a masterpiece but I actually really liked it. In my opinion there are two reasons why it was so poorly received by critics.

1 - It was Kubrick’s last film and expectations were crazy high.

2 - Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman being cast.

Interesting fact. Even though Cruise and Kidman were married at the time, their sexual chemistry was apparently so bad that Kubrick hired couple counsellers and sex therapists to help them seem more plausible in the romantic scenes. Needless to say their marriage didn’t last.

 

[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

Weezer - Pinkerton

Though I still think Blue is better, it is retrospectively admired. It bombed at the time and was widely disregarded for a few years, until it seemed to become cool to like it again. Now it seems universally loved and would probably be voted as their best album.

 

[Sweet Square]

Ahh ok, wondered what he meant. The way it was worded made it sound like actual theft, rather than plagiarism, which is a bit more subjective. I was wondering what they’d nicked

 

[VorZakone]

Scarface? I think it took a long while before being regarded as a classic.

 

[Ish]

In what universe is Con Air a masterpiece

 

[arthurka]

Ahh ok, wondered what he meant. The way it was worded made it sound like actual theft, rather than plagiarism, which is a bit more subjective. I was wondering what they’d nicked

Nothing subtle about it.. Just give this a listen ..

http://www.hark.com/clips/qmqjfdsztg-howard-stern-exposes-led-zeppelin-as-a-farce

 

[Ish]

Rumors that sir Alex have been rushed to hospital Screenrant has a decent, albeit surprising list of sorts.

The first movie that sprung to mind was actually Balde runner (original). Through I read it wasn’t well received (by critics) initially but has since gone on to be a classic.

Some other mentions in here:
https://screenrant.com/great-movies-panned-critics/

Fight club being in there is a surprise though.

 

[SalfordRed18]

The room.

 

[Tommy]

Kid A.

Went from average reviews (with a few standouts on either extreme) to being considered the album of the century & one of the greatest albums of all time.

 

[The Firestarter]

I am not sure if it's the same , because it was nominated for several Oscars and didn't win any. But The Shawshank Redemption is now regarded as one of the best films ever made, and is my personal best.

 

[Florida Man]

They've stolen a ton of other people music and pass it off as their own.

Like who? The Birds is one example but Page wrote the songs that were “stolen” from them.

Tbh most rock n roll was stolen from southern blues artists though. Elvis and The Rolling Stones come to mind.

 

[Vidyoyo]

Yet the general public flocked to see it in droves, making it the biggest selling film of 1968 before critics eventually came to regard it as a work of genius.

My old drama teacher told me that one of the reasons it was so popular was because people used to smoke up and wait around for the dazzling light scene near the end. Might be an urban myth but I can imagine there being some truth to it.

On topic, wasn't Apocalypse Now received fairly badly? Also Vertigo - 'the movie was so poorly received in fact that Hitchcock himself eventually took it out of circulation, effectively hiding it from the public, in 1973. Eventually, after Hitchcock’s death, the film was re-released and this time thoroughly appreciated, moving on to be the classic it’s considered today'.

 

[Ish]

My old drama teacher told me that one of the reasons it was so popular was because people used to smoke up and wait around for the dazzling light scene near the end. Might be an urban myth but I can imagine there being some truth to it.

On topic, wasn't Apocalypse Now received fairly badly? Also Vertigo - 'the movie was so poorly received in fact that Hitchcock himself eventually took it out of circulation, effectively hiding it from the public, in 1973. Eventually, after Hitchcock’s death, the film was re-released and this time thoroughly appreciated, moving on to be the classic it’s considered today'.

Indeed! They’re both on that screenrant top 10 list I linked above.

 

[Rory 7]

Pretty sure a few of the Beatle's best albums were written off by critics. The White Album springs to mind.

 

[sullydnl]

My old drama teacher told me that one of the reasons it was so popular was because people used to smoke up and wait around for the dazzling light scene near the end. Might be an urban myth but I can imagine there being some truth to it.

On topic, wasn't Apocalypse Now received fairly badly? Also Vertigo - 'the movie was so poorly received in fact that Hitchcock himself eventually took it out of circulation, effectively hiding it from the public, in 1973. Eventually, after Hitchcock’s death, the film was re-released and this time thoroughly appreciated, moving on to be the classic it’s considered today'.

Nolan does mention in the piece that part of its success was down to the countercultural element, with MGM releasing a campaign describing it as "the ultimate trip".

 

[Revan]

The work of Van Gogh. Totally underappreciated during his lifetime, he was really poor and dependent on his younger brother who gave him a salary.

A few decades after his death he became one of the greatest painters of all time.

 

[oneniltothearsenal]

They've stolen a ton of other people music and pass it off as their own.

That's a bit harsh especially considering that many blues and folk songs existed before they were even recorded. For instance, Babe I'm Gonna Leave You is cited as one of their "stolen" songs from Joan Baez. Yet both Zeppelin and Baez credit the song as traditional. And even though the first recorded version was Anne Bredon in 1960, its most likely that Bredon's version was simply a reworking of an older folk song as many of those songs were. "traditional" is probably the most accurate credit even though the way copyright laws are structured might favor the first "officially recorded version". I knew a musician who said most who had songs allegedly "stolen" declined to sue Zeppelin because they probably felt guilty suing over a song they just adapted from older folk/blues anyway.

 

[jackofalltrades]

Les Miserables got panned initially.