Movies that really surprised you

[Brazoo]

I guess all great movies surprise you in some way - but I'm looking for obscure movies you happened upon that really connected with you.

OR - well known movies that you weren't expecting to effect you or make you really think.

It doesn't have to be a "serious drama" - it could be, but it could also be a movie that looked like 'fluff' at first, but had some real truth to it about life - you know?

--

Here's an obscure one:
Longford (TV 2006) - IMDb

I never heard of it before I caught it on public television late one night. It's a British made-for-HBO movie. Just totally sucked me in and stuck with me long after I saw it.


Here's a well known one:
High Fidelity (2000) - IMDb

I expected I was going to like it going in - I like the cast and it looked like a cute comedy - but I had no idea it would effect me in any way. The way it dealt with them main character's passion for collecting, his particular problems in life and with his relationships - even if I didn't identify 100% with all of it - it still felt like it was speaking directly to me - especially at that time.

[megoapesnut]

I sat in the movie theater absolutely enthralled by Gladiator. My brother made me go see it and I fully expected to be sleeping halfway through. It could have ran another 3 hours and I would have happily sat there watching it.

"Journey to the Far Side of the Sun" is one that I turned on one winter day when I had nothing to do and expected to be bored. It's now one of my favorite Sci-Fi Flicks.

[Cmonster]

"My name is Maximus Desmus Meridius, commander of the armies of the North, leader of the Felix legions, and I shall have my vengeance, in this life or the next..."

SC

[pmwasson]

I really thought the low-budget scifi movie Sleep Dealer was pretty neat and thought provoking about current US immigration laws.

SLEEP DEALER : English Trailer

[Brad]

Fight Club. I never saw that ending coming. Took Maggy and I by surprise when we watched it. Same thing for the movie Secret Window.

Secret Window (2004) - IMDb

[Hector]

The Three Amigos.

When I first saw the trailer...I thought seeing three gringos dressed as Mexican mariachis...that it was going to suck...but after my very first viewing...I fell in love with the movie...now it's one of my all time favorite comedies...right up there with Ghostbusters, Trading Places, and Galaxy Quest...lol.

[babycyclops]

I avoided There's Something about Mary for years, thinking it was going to be too stupid and lowbrow. First time I watched it I laughed my arse off.

[DocDrako]

The Big Lebowski - Had no interest in it, but finally watched it this year. Great fun!

One movie that really affected me was Saving Private Ryan. I don't usually watch war movies, but I went with my best friend to see 'Ryan'. After the 'Normandy Invasion' opening scenes, I couldn't believe how mentally exhausted I was. I know it's only a movie and I imagine nothing near experiencing the real thing, but it changed my outlook on war in ways I never thought it would. I always played 'war' when I was a kid, but suddenly it struck me that war wasn't a kid's game. Despite how popular or unpopular the film may be, it definitely made me think about war in a different way. I know war is sometimes necessary, but I now feel for our soldiers in ways I never did before. Not everyone holding a gun is 'John Wayne' or 'Arnold Schwarzenegger'. Soldiers are just people thrown into a battle, some scared, some brave, some indifferent. But even the scared have something I don't have that makes them run into battle when everything they know tells them it's a bad idea. I wish I had that kind of nerve. (Here's to all the soldiers out there. Thanks for defending my freedom. I'll never be able to repay you.)

K-PAX took me by surprise. The movie gives you two options (either he's an alien as he claims, or he's crazy) and of course settles it by the end (the books offer a third option, but you'll have to read them to find out). To this day I am very fond of Kevin Spacey's portrayal of prot, and the soundtrack easily brings back the sad feelings I get from watching the movie. I have often wished I could leave Earth for somewhere like K-PAX, and have always felt like an alien among men, even since childhood. As someone who never feels like I truly belong here (or anywhere), I can relate to a man who claims to come from another planet.

[David at Sherry Lou Toys]

For me: The Matrix

I had heard all the hype, but I was never a fan of Keneau Reeves' acting.
But all my friends kept bugging me to see it.
So I finally saw it expecting just to see some cool effects.
I ended up falling in love with that movie.
Sequels not so much...

[johnmiic]

Obscure:

Crumb, a documentary about the oddball, underground artist.

Popular films:

The Godfather i & II, Robocop, Barton Fink, The Frighteners, There's Something about Mary, The Crying Game, Pulp Fiction, Big Lebowski, The Blob, (re-make), Watchmen, David Lynch films.

I saw Blade on DVD at a friends house, (when DVD was first invented), and I think Vampire films are over-done. I hate to watch Vampire films nowadays. I don't find vampirism sexy or romantic. I saw Blade and was like this is a Superhero film! He's kicking Vampire-azz! This is damn cool!

Men In Black really surprised me. The trailers were so obnoxious I avoided it in the theaters. A girl I knew in college always liked to pick bad films to see when we all hung out, (The Fifth Power, Year of the Comet, Sleepwalkers, Pet Semetary 2). I missed one outing and she tells me, "We saw Men In Black. I didn't like it. Maybe you would!" Figures she picked a film to see I would actually like and I didn't get to go.

Still avoiding, (out of stubborness): Gone With The Wind, Cassablanca, The Maltese Falcon, White Heat, Vertigo, Psycho.

[CrimsonGhost]

Sleepaway Camp - seems like a typical crappy Friday the 13th type movie but the twist at the end still disturbs me.

Being John Malkovich - I had never even heard of this movie and since my chick wanted to see it, I figured it was going to be some dumb romantic comedy. Then it wrung out my mind.

[DocDrako]

...Still avoiding, (out of stubborness): Gone With The Wind...

Good. Keep avoiding. By the end of that movie I couldn't stand Scarlet O'Hara. Maybe that's the point of the movie, maybe not, but I couldn't stand her by the end.

I will NEVER watch it again.

[Brazoo]

Fight Club. I never saw that ending coming. Took Maggy and I by surprise when we watched it.

Great one!

My date just wanted to see it because she loved Brad Pitt, so I went opening weekend - I hadn't heard anything about it through my friends and the ads didn't really reveal what the movie was - I thought it was some kind of action movie about fighting. I knew Fincher directed it, but I only liked his movie "Se7en" at that point, so I thought he just had a good script and got lucky or something with that one - because "Aliens 3" and "The Game" were not for me.

So here I am, thinking I'm going to politely sit through the movie and kinda tease my date afterwards - when right from the opening credits I was thinking "Oh...That's different." and it didn't let up.

Obscure:

Crumb, a documentary about the oddball, underground artist.

Popular films:

The Godfather i & II, Robocop, Barton Fink, The Frighteners, There's Something about Mary, The Crying Game, Pulp Fiction, Big Lebowski, The Blob, (re-make), Watchmen, David Lynch films.

I saw Blade on DVD at a friends house, (when DVD was first invented), and I think Vampire films are over-done. I hate to watch Vampire films nowadays. I don't find vampirism sexy or romantic. I saw Blade and was like this is a Superhero film! He's kicking Vampire-azz! This is damn cool!

Men In Black really surprised me. The trailers were so obnoxious I avoided it in the theaters. A girl I knew in college always liked to pick bad films to see when we all hung out, (The Fifth Power, Year of the Comet, Sleepwalkers, Pet Semetary 2). I missed one outing and she tells me, "We saw Men In Black. I didn't like it. Maybe you would!" Figures she picked a film to see I would actually like and I didn't get to go.

Still avoiding, (out of stubborness): Gone With The Wind, Cassablanca, The Maltese Falcon, White Heat, Vertigo, Psycho.

Crumb is incredible!

I saw "Gone with the Wind" a few years ago - I was glad I finally saw it, but it didn't do much for me.

"Vertigo" I found very frustrating to watch the first time I saw it - then it just clicked with me and now it's one of my favorite films.

The others on that list are all pretty awesome though - you should check them out at some point.

[Random Axe]

I still have never seen Fight Club. I suppose that in itself is a surprise. I will have to rent it sometime.

I'm still surprised I love an indie, direct to video sci-fi flick I Come In Peace. This was an impulse purchase when it was released cause it had DOlph Lundgren. What a fun, fast ride. I still consider it maybe a top ten film for me. I'm waiting for it to be released in the States on DVD.

[rche]

when the wind blows

regrettably beautiful - took the wind out of my sails when I first saw it