Everyone Makes Mistakes
Roger Ebert was more than just a guy with a thumb. He was a smart, thoughtful and excellent film critic—the most famous film critic there has ever been, as well as the first film critic to win the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. But, as the old adage goes: Everyone makes mistakes. And even the great Roger Ebert wasn't immune to getting things wrong. As he did with his critiques of these films...
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999): 3.5 Stars
It's arguably the worst Star Wars movie ever made. And yet, there was Roger Ebert giving it 3.5 out of 4 stars. The force (of being wrong) was strong with him that day.
Lucasfilm, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999)
Fight Club (1999): 2 Stars
It's true that Fight Club wasn't a big hit with audiences or critics when it first came out in 1999—and it took a little time for people to find it and see both its critical and commercial appreciation to develop into the acclaimed movie it is today. But Roger Ebert never came around on it.
Twentieth Century, Fight Club (1999)
Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009): 3 Stars
Kevin James is funny. Paul Blart: Mall Cop isn't! The film is wholly deserving of its 34% score on Rotten Tomatoes. But if you were wondering who one of those 34% are that liked it... one of them was Roger Ebert.
Columbia, Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009)
Gladiator (2000): 2 Stars
Ebert called it "Rocky on downers" and said it lacked any real entertainment value. Say it with us: Roger Ebert, are you not entertained?!
A Clockwork Orange (1971): 2 Stars
To say that Roger Ebert didn't like this film is an understatement. In fact, based on what he wrote in his review, two stars seems like too many. "An ideological mess", "talky and boring". Yes, the film is controversial. And yes, it was misread by some as simply a pure celebration of violence. But we're surprised that as the years went on, Ebert never came back to the film and adjusted his review in appreciation of this one of Kubrick's many masterpieces.
Warner Bros., A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997): 3 Stars
Ebert said, of this lame sequel, "Movies like this embrace goofiness with an almost sensual pleasure. And so, on a warm summer evening, do I". While he was wrong about this movie, thankfully he gave the first Speed film a higher rating of 4 out of 4 stars—so, at least he knew which one was better.
Twentieth Century, Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997)
Green Lantern (2011): 2.5 Stars
While 2.5 stars isn't high praise, it's a lot more praise than this movie deserved. And we're not alone in that feeling. Even the director Martin Campbell has said that "The film did not work".
But not only did Ebert not hate Green Lantern, he liked it more than... Thor.
Warner Bros., Green Lantern (2011)
Thor (2011): 1.5 Stars
He said it right there in his Green Lantern review: "I liked it more than Thor".
Now, we aren't going to try and argue that Thor was a great movie—or even a great superhero movie. But it was definitely better than Green Lantern. In fact, as far as we see it, the scores Ebert gave the two films need to just be flipped, and everything would be pretty okay.
Daredevil (2003): 3 Stars
Ebert's appreciation for bad superhero movies was also evident in 2003, when he called Daredevil "actually pretty good"—and gave it three stars. Yes, three!
Twentieth Century, Daredevil (2003)
Beetlejuice (1988): 2 Stars
We'll never know what he would've thought about the recent sequel, but we do know that he thought the first one was all "about gimmicks, not characters". This might surprise some, but when it came to Tim Burton films—Ebert was wrong about a bunch of them.
Warner Bros., Beetlejuice (1988)
Edward Scissorhands (1990): 2 Stars
While Ebert praised Tim Burton's striving to give us things that we've never seen before, he also felt that ,"Burton has not yet found the storytelling and character-building strength to go along with his pictorial flair". And according to Ebert, Edward Scissorhands was yet another example of that.
Twentieth Century, Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Batman (1989): 2 Stars
Ebert called it "a triumph of design over story, style over substance". Sorry Ebert—Tim Burton's OG Batman movie was style AND substance. But what about the sequel?
Batman Returns (1992): 2 Stars
Nope. Ebert didn't like this one either: "There is no doubt Burton is a gifted director, but is he the right director for Batman?" Yes, Ebert. He is!
Warner Bros., Batman Returns (1992)
The Usual Suspects (1995): 1.5 Stars
This movie confused Ebert and "To the degree that I do understand," he wrote, "I don’t care". He even went so far as to put this great film on his "Most Hated" list.
PolyGram, The Usual Suspects (1995)
Napoleon Dynamite (2004): 1.5 Stars
Looks like Ebert wasn't going to be voting for Pedro (unless Pedro also hated the movie).
Paramount, Napoleon Dynamite (2004)
Home Alone (1990): 2.5 Stars
Ebert wasn't a fan of the first two Home Alone films. He gave the second one two stars—which is arguably accurate. But what isn't accurate is the 2.5 he gave the first one—calling it "so implausible that it makes it hard" to care about what happens to Kevin.
Apparently the third film was much more believable though...
Twentieth Century, Home Alone (1990)
Home Alone 3 (1997): 3 Stars
Yup, Ebert finally came around to the series once Macaulay Culkin and director Chris Columbus left–saying the third film was "fresh, very funny, and better than the first two". We will now all put our hands to our cheeks in collective shock.
Twentieth Century, Home Alone 3 (1997)
Godzilla (1954): 1.5 Stars
While some people might argue that the first Godzilla film is the greatest monster movie of all time, Roger Ebert was not one of those people. To quote his review: Godzilla is "a bad movie".
Pink Flamingos (1972): 0 Stars
Okay, so we kinda get it. We can appreciate that John Waters' gross-out-bad-taste cult classic isn't for everyone. In fact, it probably isn't for most people. But zero stars?
New Line, Pink Flamingos (1972)
The Elephant Man (1980): 2 Stars
Often mentioned as one of David Lynch's best films, Ebert called it "shallow" and "pure sentimentalism". And while we're talking about Lynch...
Columbia, The Elephant Man (1980)
Blue Velvet (1986): 1 Star
It's quite possibly Lynch's best and most enduring film. Yet Ebert said that it "pulled so violently in opposite directions that it [pulled] itself apart".
De Laurentiis, Blue Velvet (1986)
Raising Arizona (1987): 1.5 Stars
This underrated Coen Brothers film was underrated by Roger Ebert.
Twentieth Century, Raising Arizona (1987)
Fast Times At Ridgemont High (1982): 1 Star
Ebert called the filmmakers of Fast Times at Ridgemont High "tone-deaf". Looks like he was the tone-deaf one this time.
Universal, Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
Taste Of Cherry (1997): 1 Stars
The Iranian drama has an 83% on Rotten Tomatoes and has been hailed by some critics as one of the best films of the 90s. But Roger Ebert was definitely not one of those critics. Ebert called the film, "excruciatingly boring".
Kanoon, Taste of Cherry (1997)
Cop And A Half (1993): 3 Stars
For those who might not remember this 1993 cop-and-a-kid comedy starring Burt Reynolds... it wasn't good. Even if you wanted to call it "sunny and good-hearted"—as Ebert did, you shouldn't then go and call it a 3 out of 4 star movie—as Ebert also did. Even his partner in "thumbs", Gene Siskel, called Ebert out on his review of this one (Siskel eventually put the film at the top of his "Worst of the Year" list).
Universal, Cop and a Half (1993)
Dead Poets Society (1989): 2 Stars
"When [Williams’] students stood on their desks to protest his dismissal, I was so moved, I wanted to throw up". We're not sure what makes us cry more—that scene, or Ebert's unflattering take on it.
