What movies were considered failures when they came out but are now considered classics?

Question

I've noticed that a lot of films that are highly respected and considered classic films today were seen as critical and/or commercial disappointments when they first came out.

For example, "Raging Bull" got mixed critical reviews and was lackluster at the box office. And "The Shining" actually got Razzie nominations for both Shelly Duvall, for Worst Actress, and Stanley Kubrick, for Worst Director.

What other now-classic films had bad starts?

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

One of the most famous flop-gone-classics is Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946).

This wonderful flick was released in August and was met with poor reviews. The public shunned it, and it ended up on the shelf having lost money. In the early 70s, though, it was sold to TV in a package of hundreds of movies, both good and bad.

I saw this gem in the middle of a winter's night in Chicago ~1976. I couldn't believe that I had never seen or heard of such a great film. I actually wrote to the TV station (WBBM-TV) to find out more about this jewel. They told me that it was part of a package of movies and that they were glad I liked it.

Soon the film was featured during winter holiday season, and the rest of the world got to share this classic. What a great film!

George Bailey really IS the richest man in town!

Asker's Rating:

Asker's Comment:

So many good answers from everyone, and singling out one was difficult. I chose this one because I found "It's a Wonderful life" to be the most striking example of the question I asked. I had no idea that it had such a mediocre initial reception.

Answer 2

The Shawshank Redemption didn't do very well at the cinemas, but did very well on DVD release and is now consistently rated highly.

Answer 3

Bladerunner was rejected by almost every movie reviewer when it came out. But either Siskel or Ebert had it on their list of the decades' ten best movies, years later. both my husband and i remember them panning it unmercifully when it first came out.

Cleopatra, the one with Elizabeth Taylor ?
was insulted terribly, for at least a decade, because it cost SO MUCH MONEY TO MAKE! over 40 million dollars. sounds almost cheap these days

CITIZEN KANE was pulled from theaters, really fast - or not even distributed, because William Randolph Heart was offended.
few people saw it originally, so it probably wasn't considered a dud, just a waste. Now many movie critics consider it the great American movie.

Answer 4

The Princess Bride was considered a failure and a bomb at the box office but is now a cult classic and one of my personal favs.

Ditto with Brazil, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, etc. - poor Terry Gilliam can't seem to catch a break.

Answer 5

"Bringing Up Baby" (1938) starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant was a commercial failure upon initial relase. It later became a classic.

I agree that "Blade Runner" was panned by critics upon its first release in 1982. Somehow it developed a cult following and many critics have since praised it (but Leonard Maltin has stuck by his guns and continues to hate it).

Answer 6

Fantasia-a commercial disappointment, The blending of Classical Music with animation finally made money at Re-releasing over many years (this was before home video) and with the MTV generation that it spawned a sequal 50 years later

Rocky Horror Picture Show-The original movie failed at the box office-however in midnight ride it made money and history

Eddie and the Crusers-The Film failed at the box office, however with a successful cable TV running it-it spawned a sequal

M*A*S*H-The movie barely made money-when the TV show came out the movie made money on home video


Lone Wolf McQaud-Chuck Norris film about a lone Texas Ranger. The film was a box office dud. But this film was brought to the network by Orion Television to try to sell Walker Texas Ranger to CBS-which ran for nine seasons

Source(s):

Bennet Pomerantz Amazon.com Media Com

Answer 7

The Wizard of Oz was reviewed well but considered a box office flop. It did make a small profit but not much considering its huge budget ($2.8 million in 1939).

Source(s):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wizard_of_Oz_(1939_film)#Release