Overrated/Underrated Geek Media

DrunkonDuty said:

I checked out at the bit where Leonidas calmly* exlplained to the Persian ambassador that women are treated well in Sparta. I mean, that's some chutzpah right there.

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I mean, kind of? If you were a Greek woman, you were probably better off as a Spartan than you were as an Athenian.

Autumnal said:

I will go to the mats for the Dawn of the Dead remake - parts of it are better than their counterparts in the original, and apart from the opening scene, none are worse.

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I thought the 2004 DotD remake had a fantastic opening. In a few minutes, they did more to explain the zombie apocalypse than the entire first season of Fear the Walking Dead. I will admit to preferring the original, but if you prefer the remake I'm just going to give you a high five and talk about all the cool stuff in it.

DrunkonDuty said:

The best of Discworld is very good indeed. But there's some real clunkers in there. E.g: the last few were not good. I know, he was not well at the end, poor fella.

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I read the last Tiffany Aching book, The Shepherd's Crown, and it was obvious he simply didn't have the time to properly edit and rewrite the book as there are plot threads that go nowhere. Still, it was a nice farewell to fans.

Overrated: James Bond.

007 has some cool gadgets and some good quips. But as you actually go through the catalog, you'll find that the average Bond movie is completely forgettable action schlock, the lows are really low, and the high points aren't that high. There's plenty of bad Bonds, not to mention the sexism and racism. The franchise has run on nostalgia for decades.

Underrated: Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future

It's a real shame that this series is forgotten to time. I'll admit the aesthetic is very cheesy, low budget 80s style. But the show was a low budget 80s sci fi, so... Anyway, this show deserves much more cult fame than it gets. I'm convinced that if it was on the BBC instead of marketed as a US kids show, it would have two reboots/sequels, conventions, and a dedicated fanbase the size of, say, Red Dwarf.

payn said:

Overrated: Bored of the Rings trilogy. These books are boring an absolute chore to read. Thought the same of the movies. Epic in scope perhaps but snore inducing in execution.

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Yeah I feel the same way. The LotR books were extremely painful to get through, and I didn't read them until I was 25 or so, and only because I thought I'd have my nerd card revoked if I didn't. The Hobbit was short enough that it wasn't as bad and having read it as a kid and seeing the Ralph Bakshi movie made it much more tolerable. I saw the LotR movies when they came out, and they were good...once, but got somewhat ponderous by Return of the King. I bought the DVDs and I'm not even sure if I watched all 3 of them. Now I couldn't imagine a reality where I read or watched them ever again. I certainly pass right by them if they are on TV. The new Hobbit movies were terrible to say the least, I walked out about 30 minutes into the 2nd one.

TiQuinn said:

Overrated: The Dark Knight Returns

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Absolutely. I always thought Bane was a poor choice for the main villain. Should've went with Starro

R_J_K75 said:

Absolutely. I always thought Bane was a poor choice for the main villain. Should've went with Starro

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The 1986 comic. Not the movie.

R_J_K75 said:

Yeah I feel the same way. The LotR books were extremely painful to get through, and I didn't read them until I was 25 or so, and only because I thought I'd have my nerd card revoked if I didn't. The Hobbit was short enough that it wasn't as bad and having read it as a kid and seeing the Ralph Bakshi movie made it much more tolerable. I saw the LotR movies when they came out, and they were good...once, but got somewhat ponderous by Return of the King. I bought the DVDs and I'm not even sure if I watched all 3 of them. Now I couldn't imagine a reality where I read or watched them ever again. I certainly pass right by them if they are on TV. The new Hobbit movies were terrible to say the least, I walked out about 30 minutes into the 2nd one.

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I did enjoy reading the Hobbit it’s an excellent adventure story they turned into a totally expected trilogy which was too bad.

I get LotR is a huge cultural phenomenon, but it just wasn’t all that great a read for me. At this point I’d rather read a book or watch a documentary on Tolkien writing it then ever have to try and read it again.

TiQuinn said:

The 1986 comic. Not the movie.

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Gotcha

Opps double post

payn said:

I did enjoy reading the Hobbit it’s an excellent adventure story they turned into a totally expected trilogy which was too bad.

I get LotR is a huge cultural phenomenon, but it just wasn’t all that great a read for me. At this point I’d rather read a book or watch a documentary on Tolkien writing it then ever have to try and read it again.

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I would recommend Andy Serkis' recent audio book performance: Tolkien's writing really shines when reading out loud. Just hearing the way Tom Bombadil speaks in precise Iambic sing-song is amazing.

payn said:

I get LotR is a huge cultural phenomenon,

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IIRC Tolkien was in one of the World Wars which inspired a lot of the story for LotR. Then the Counterculture of the 60s gave it quite a following. I doubt that it will be nearly as popular with younger generations to come.