Three times in my life, a fellow has deigned to watch a beloved older film for the first time - and not because anyone forced them to! - then come to me with the words "Actually, it's not nearly as good as it's made out to be" before proceeding to try to tell me why it's no good, for no darned reason.
Not the same dude, mind you!
But reader, the films for which this has happened are:
Blade Runner (non-voice-over cut)
Alien
And just now?
Road House ('89)
So you can understand my reaction. 🙃
@MLClark Often when that's happened I've felt like they were trying to be impressive by being unimpressed. Though there's always the possibility that older, classic films have been built up so much that seeing them *could* be a let down, especially if it's taken years to watch them.
But when it's a film that's critically acclaimed AND a personal fave, I find the 'rejection' a bit harder to take. It's like someone coming to you after Casablanca, saying "Well I don't like war films anyway, so.."
I think that classic movies did a lot of things first and now we see them all the time, so the classics seem less. What was done back then without the current technology was sometimes astounding, I think so anyway.
Many early works still hold up beautifully, too, if folks grow up with a wide range of exposures. I always showed my nephews Chaplin films when they were very young, and there's something pure about a child riveted by such a film as if it were made yesterday. They would laugh and cry at The Kid and The Gold Rush without any contempt for silent films. That kneejerk judgment comes later, from lack of early exposure. (Personally, Sunrise [1927] still gets me every time.)
@MLClark @BillyBones
Sometimes what makes a movie great is who you watched it with.