Highly Overrated Movies

A few so-called great films that I don't think are all that great:

Saving Private Ryan
I do think this is mostly a good film, but it's status as a masterpiece is puzzling to me and I was pretty disapointed when I saw it. The main reason for this, I think, is that there's a pretty huge plot hole at the end. We find out that the man who's visiting Captain Miller's grave is, in fact, the eponymous Private Ryan. Which is bull, because he's flashing back to Charlie Company's experiences at Normandy, and he wasn't with Charlie Company at Normandy. Heck, we don't know if he even was at Normandy. So that whole breathtaking first 20 minutes is a con. That ticked me off. Also, I felt Spielberg pulled a little too hard on the heartstrings at the end, and it came off very forced. Obviously, it's a great tribute to the veterans of WW2, but as a film it's kind of underwhelming.

Vertigo
I don't get what's so great about this movie. And I certainly don't get why people think this is Hitchcock's greatest work. I think Psycho and Rear Window are much more involving and cinematic. A lot of the effects seem cheesy to me and take me right out of the story, and it feels like it drags on and on and on. I do think that Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak have some pretty smokin' chemistry - and Barbara Bel Geddes is too cute to be allowed - but it seems like they're wasted here.

Rocky
Maybe I was born too late to appreciate it. Or maybe it's that I don't understand why the world of boxing has inspired so many movies. Or maybe I simply can't get over being annoyed by Stallone. But I'm not that fond of this movie at all. I think this is one of those movies that was very much a product of its time. When it was released in 1976, there must have been something in the water that made it such a culturally significant work. But I was one year old back then, and I'm afraid whatever it was is lost on me. Also, I can't believe that this flick won Best Picture when it was up against Taxi Driver, Network, and All the President's Men. I mean, come ON!