5 "Classics" That Critics Absolutely Trashed The First Time Around

Critics Called Its Title "Enigmatic" — Now It's IMDb's #1 Movie Of All Time

The Shawshank Redemption didn't just underperform — it lost money in its initial 1994 run, and reviewers at the time weren't exactly rushing to save it. Decades of VHS rentals, endless TNT reruns, and awards-season rediscovery later, it's the single highest-rated film on IMDb, ahead of The Godfather.

Roger Ebert Said This Sci-Fi Landmark Was "A Failure As A Story" — Yeah, About That

In his original 1982 review, Ebert called Blade Runner <cite index="15-16">"a stunningly interesting visual achievement, but a failure as a story."</cite> The Washington Post later recalled it as <cite index="11-16">a "box-office disappointment lost on audiences appalled by the British visualist's glowering, smoggy portrait of the future."</cite> Today it sits at 96% on Rotten Tomatoes' critics' scale and is treated as one of the most influential sci-fi films ever made.

Ebert Called It "Macho Porn." The New Yorker Called It Fascist. Now It's A Cult Bible.

Fight Club's 1999 reviews were downright hostile — <cite index="17-4">Roger Ebert called it "the most frankly and cheerfully fascist big-star movie since Death Wish,"</cite> a <cite index="20-14">"macho porn"</cite> in his own words, while <cite index="17-5">David Denby of the New Yorker also called it out with the same f-word.</cite> The film limped through theaters before exploding into a defining cult classic on home video, and it now holds an 81% critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes.

The New York Times Called It "Instant Junk" — Horror Fans Now Call It A Masterpiece

John Carpenter's The Thing got savaged on release: <cite index="27-16">Vincent Canby of the New York Times described it as "foolish, depressing," adding that it "qualifies only as instant junk,"</cite> while <cite index="27-17">Roger Ebert called it "a great barf-bag movie" but said he "found it disappointing."</cite> It was even floated by a horror magazine as <cite index="28-1">the "most-hated film of all time."</cite> Decades later, it's regularly ranked among the greatest horror and sci-fi films ever made, with Rob Bottin's practical effects now treated as legendary rather than obscene.

The Times Called It "Pollyanna Platitudes." Now It's THE Christmas Movie.

It's a Wonderful Life bombed hard enough in 1946 to help sink Frank Capra's own production company, and reviewers weren't gentle about it either — <cite index="34-1">Bosley Crowther of the New York Times called it "a figment of simple Pollyanna platitudes."</cite> <cite index="33-6">Archer Winsten of the New York Post wrote that Capra was "trying for the big, meaningful sentiments and as often as not falling into embarrassing theatrics."</cite> A copyright lapse into the public domain in the 1970s got it onto endless free TV airings — and turned a forgotten flop into the movie that basically defines the holiday season.