MovieChat Forums > The Usual Suspects (1995) Discussion > Why is this so high on the top 250

Why is this so high on the top 250

posted 11 years ago by jimmyr5595
48 replies | jump to latest

I thought it was a great movie deserving of an 8/10 rating, but I have no idea how it's so high up on the list. I don't think it's better than The Silence of the Lambs, Once Upon a Time in the West, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Sunset Blvd., Apocalypse Now, Django Unchained, The Lion King, Wall E, North by Northwest, Taxi Driver, Oldboy, To Kill A Mockingbird, Reservoir Dogs, Requiem for a Dream, Once Upon a Time in America, Return of the Jedi, The Wolf of Wall Street, For a Few Dollars More, Inglourious Basterds, Batman Begins, Yojimbo, Chinatown, Scarface, Up, The Big Lebowski, Fargo, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Kill Bill Vol 1/2, The Wizard of Oz, 8 1/2, Donnie Darko, A Fisful of Dollars, or The Truman Show which are all on the top 250.

But that's my opinion I guess. Anyone else think it's overrated on this site?

[–] Stratego 11 years ago

Well, it may very well be that other people don't agree with you those movies are better (I sure don't), it's all subjective. The reason this is movie so high on the list is because many people gave this movie a high vote. But that doesn't mean they haven't rated many of those other movies even higher. It could very well mean that they didn't all rate the same movies higher.

[–] jimmyr5595 11 years ago

This movie just... isn't that good. I have no idea how it's so high.

[–] Stratego 11 years ago

This movie "just isn't that good" and you give it a 8 out of 10?

[–] jimmyr5595 11 years ago

It's not Top 25 good, but it's worthy of an 8/10 rating imo.

[–] Stratego 11 years ago

Well, okay, that's your opinion. I just explained why I think this movie may be higher on the list than the other movies you mentioned. And 8.7 isn't THAT much higher than your 8 rating, there are movies in the Top 25 I would rate MUCH lower than that.

[–] jimmyr5595 11 years ago

It's quite a bit of a difference on imdb though. The ending is what bumped the film from a 7 quality film to an 8 for me. Damn that was a good ending.

On a side note, Once Upon a Time in the West is my favorite of all time and it's barely in the top 25.

[–] Stratego 11 years ago

On a side note, Once Upon a Time in the West is my favorite of all time and it's barely in the top 25.

That's kinda disappointing if you're a fan. I don't pay much attention to lists like this, but I'm sure some of my favourite movies aren't in the Top 25 either. I see you mentioned Reservoir Dogs isn't. I'm sure the list would look different if it was based on people's actual Top 25 lists and not the ratings. The Usual Suspects is in my Top 25, though.

[–] jimmyr5595 11 years ago

I'm surprised OUATITW is in the top 25. It's so different than the films in places around it such as The Usual Suspects. I said that Reservoir Dogs is in the top 250 and I prefer it over The Usual Suspects. I think The Usual Suspects is in my top 150 whereas Reservoir Dogs is in my top 50.

[–] Stratego 11 years ago

I would also put Reservoir Dogs in my Top 25, but at least we agree that both movies are good.

[–] jennaporch 11 years ago

I have to agree it was the ending that made this film. If it had ended differently my rating probably would have gone down! http://goo.gl/1SccqN

www.flick-chicks.blogspot.com

[–] vicky_lc2001-1 10 years ago

You just saw the film recently. You saw it after it has influenced so many other films that it no longer surprises you or sweeps you off your feet by its originality and ingenuity. You listed Oldboy as one of those great films, watch it again, after the initial viewings, it's really not that good.

You would probably have a poor opinion of Memento as well.

Someone once went to watch a play by Shakespeare, he comes out saying that it sucks and has no originality because it was 'full of cliches.' It's full of cliches because Shakespeare innovated those cliches before they became cliches. I got that story from Al Pacino.

Global Warming, it's a personal decision innit? - Nigel Tufnel

[–] Tales-from-the-Goondocks 9 years ago

So, what other movies were influenced by The Usual Suspects and in what way?

[–] mrpinbert 9 years ago

I think it has more to do with knowing the twist beforehand. I watched this movie tonight and already sorta knew about the twist. It was still a cool movie but I guess it did not leave me with the same impact as it did for others when it first came out.

(on a side note, spoiling a movie without a warning beforehand is never cool, even if it came out a long time ago).

Zardoz (1974) has spoken!
My top 100 http://www.imdb.com/list/ls079512886/

[–] !!!deleted!!! (2212087) 11 years ago

"This movie just... isn't that good"

Yes, it is (in my opinion).

[–] jimmyr5595 11 years ago

It suffered a bit from something I can't quite put my finger on. Character development might be it. It was a good movie that had an ending that bumped it up to great, but not quite top 250 great.

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] jimmyr5595 11 years ago

Of course I know why, but The Usual Suspects, in my opinion, was mostly style over substance, and It was really only in the end where it all came together for me, but it wasn't enough for me to say, "this is one of the top 25 movies of all time". It was a pretty good thriller, I guess, but there were a lot of points where the tension was kind of lost. It was a cool movie that kind of lacked depth, if you ask me.

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] jimmyr5595 11 years ago

But top 25...? I suppose it's worthy of the top 250, but top 25... of all time?

[–] jbaddock 11 years ago

Maybe it's because a lot of people like it?

[–] jimmyr5595 11 years ago

I like it too, but people always seem to rank it with the absolute best movies, which I don't quite understand. A lot of people complain that the ending was cheap, but that's the part of the movie that made it a very good one. The rest was good, but it wasn't... spectacular.

[–] GoodfellaSeinfeld 11 years ago

It's one of my favorite films, but I can respect your opinion. I'm not a huge Inception fan and I don't think it should be that high up at all, maybe a 170 spot.

The Grand Budapest Hotel: 9/10
http://www.imdb.com/list/Yq9xMpcJgcA/

[–] jimmyr5595 11 years ago

I've yet to see Inception.

[–] jeginvest 9 years ago

Hello, the first thing I want to say is that I appreciate you responding to your Uown threads comments. The next thing I want to say is that YOU NEED TO SEE "INCEPTION".

Now to your original post: Of the movies you listed as better than "The Usual Suspects"(from here on "TUS") I agree with "Apoc. Now", "Chinatown", Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", "The Big Lebowski" in that order.

Those you mentioned that are on par with TUS: "Inglorius Bastards", "Django Unchained" both of which I rank slightly lower than TUS.

Those you mentioned which are quite lower are: "A Few Good Men"(solely on the acting-nobody can suck the oxygen out of a scene like ), "Raiders of the Lost Ark"(however subsequent Sequels totally ruined it), "Truman Show", "Reservoir Dogs", "To Kill a Mockingbird", "Taxi Driver". Listed best to worse.

The others, most noteably "Grand Budapest Hotel" have better examples by the same director(Wes Anderson)--"The Royal Tennenbaums", "The Life Acuatic with Steve Zissou", "Rushmore" in that order. If you want a movie set in India by Wes Anderson a better movie is "The Dargeeling Limited". That is not to say that "The Grand Budapest Hotel" is not a VERY good movie, it is.

Now RE: you predilection with Clint, you leave off his ABSOLUTE best movie "Unforgiven" which I rate as equal or maybe better than TUS as it is the best western of all time. I have seen them all, grew up watching "The Rifleman", "Bonanza", etc.

Please respond.

[–] jeginvest 9 years ago

Hello, the first thing I want to say is that I appreciate you responding to your Uown threads comments. The next thing I want to say is that YOU NEED TO SEE "INCEPTION".

Now to your original post: Of the movies you listed as better than "The Usual Suspects"(from here on "TUS") I agree with "Apoc. Now", "Chinatown", Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", "The Big Lebowski" in that order.

Those you mentioned that are on par with TUS: "Inglorius Bastards", "Django Unchained" both of which I rank slightly lower than TUS.

Those you mentioned which are quite lower are: "A Few Good Men"(solely on the acting-nobody can suck the oxygen out of a scene like Jack Nicolson, made Tom seem like a nobody), "Raiders of the Lost Ark"(however subsequent Sequels totally ruined it), "Truman Show", "Reservoir Dogs", "To Kill a Mockingbird", "Taxi Driver". Listed best to worse.

The others, most noteably "Grand Budapest Hotel" have better examples by the same director(Wes Anderson)--"The Royal Tennenbaums", "The Life Acuatic with Steve Zissou", "Rushmore" in that order. If you want a movie set in India by Wes Anderson a better movie is "The Dargeeling Limited". That is not to say that "The Grand Budapest Hotel" is not a VERY good movie, it is.

Now RE: you predilection with Clint, you leave off his ABSOLUTE best movie "Unforgiven" which I rate as equal or maybe better than TUS as it is the best western of all time. I have seen them all, grew up watching "The Rifleman", "Bonanza", etc.

Please respond.

[–] chikupakas1 11 years ago

Why is this so high? Because of it's story, acting, music and other aspects, that requires talent. Most of imdb top 250 movies has icredibly big budgets, which allows them to purchase expensive CGI, hire star-actors, etc. Meanwhile, The Usual Suspects had only $6m budget, which compared to other top 250 movies is very small. This fact just highlights how talented were people who made this movie.
It's worth noting, that majority of cinema viewers, nowadays don`t appreciate real talent.

[–] jimmyr5595 11 years ago

I agree that it's a great movie with a lot of talent, but I don't feel like it's worthy of such a high position. And that has nothing to do with it's budget.

[–] chikupakas1 11 years ago

I believe that if somebody creates a thread with single statement that movie doesn't deserve such high rating, people expect some kind of arguments. You wrote 8 posts, but there isn't a single argument in them. Threads are for discussions, opinions for surveys.

[–] jimmyr5595 11 years ago

there isn't a single argument in them.

That's arguable.

Threads are for discussions, opinions for surveys.

There aren't rules, such as the ones you mentioned, to these threads, you know?

I find your comment to be a bit rude.

[–] CrunchCameron 11 years ago

Anyone who ranks this in the top 25, hell even the top 100 films of all time, obviously hasn't seen very many movies. This is very basic, cookie cutter crime caper material with a twist. Big deal. Once you know the twist, this movie still doesn't have any re-watchability value. There's nothing special about it, except maybe Del Toro's character.

[–] nsham01 11 years ago

I know that The Usual Suspects isn't a new movie, so this doesn't really apply to it. But the ratings on this site (the Top 250 List) tend to be very inflated for newer movies. What I mean by new is only 1-2 years old.

I scanned through the list earlier today and there are quite a few movies from the 2012-2014 range. A disproportion amount. Unless directors and actors suddenly became exponentially better in the last 2 years, there is clearly a sampling bias to these ratings. Which is fine, I guess, as long as you know that before looking to deeply into the rankings. Some examples are Her, Wolf of Wall Street, Django, The Hunger Games, The Hobbit. Don't get me wrong - these are great films (I've seen all but Her), but it seems a little crazy to claim a 1-year old movie in one of the greatest in the entire history of cinema. Of course, time may tell whether any of these deserve their rankings, but at this point none of them have a "legacy" so it's hard to compare to movies from the 30s, 40s, 50s, and even the 90s.

I will say that The Usual Suspects was great, and certainly deserves to be on the list, but I would probably put it a little lower.

Tl;dr : It's an internet site, so more recent movies will naturally have a bias in their ratings as more people will rate them after seeing them in theaters. Usual Suspects was good, but ranked a little high.

[–] jimmyr5595 11 years ago

I don't think An Unexpected Journey should be on there either, but Wolf of Wall Street and Django Unchained are pretty great movies.

[–] cjh8504 10 years ago

Rocky should be way higher. It's like 211 or some nonsense. I liked the Usual Suspects very much, but it wouldn't be in my Top 250 either. Half the movies on IMDB wouldn't be. Terrible voting. Shawshank is #1. I may like that more than The Usual Suspects, but the #1 movie of all time? Please.

RIP Ultimate Warrior. You will be missed.

[–] Cborg2505 10 years ago

Twist?? Maybe the worst "twist" I've ever seen? The entire movie was a lie! None of it happened! Pointless! The purpose of a twist is to be able to look back at the film that you just watched and put the pieces together to make sense out of the movie. In this case, it didn't matter. Because the entire movie was just a made up lie, he could of told any story he wanted to, therefore everything that we saw in the film was completely pointless regarding the "twist". And it's strange that kaiser sosay,someone who supposedly goes through incredible lengths never to be photographed, decides to turn himself in and show his face in a police precinct with probably hundreds of cameras and cops everywhere, stupid! There was absolutely no logical reason for him to even have been there telling the made up story. When I was young, I actually liked the movie, I thought the ending was so cool, but as I got older and actually thought about it, and watch it again I realized how stupid the movie is. And honestly, the acting was subpar at best. Maybe the most overrated movie of all time.

[–] dolenraug 10 years ago

I get OP's question. The movie is by no means bad -- it IS quite good, in fact -- but after watching it numerous times, I still don't see what exactly makes everyone so gaga over it. The filmmaking actually seems pretty amateurish (not surprising since Singer is a newbie) and the rest of it seems pretty straightforward. What, exactly, makes it so praise-worthy? It seems like the ending skews everyone severely into the favorable camp.

To me, it's above average, but not outright amazing. The position so high in the top 250 seems...overreaching.

[–] Mystery-fan 10 years ago

Yes, let us argue why the Top 250 list which is voted by millions of people around the world is not exactly the same movie by movie from rank 1 to 250, as we would ourselves have it.

[–] jimmyr5595 10 years ago

Bruh, shawshank is clearly the best film of all time.