Let’s face it—nothing delights film buffs more than a heated debate. Five-star movie for one, one-star bomb for another. Some critics fawn while audiences are smirking. Other times, a film is a crowd-pleaser, and critics behave as if it’s fast food for the cinema.
Such disconnects aren’t new, but they’re always entertaining to investigate. Here are 10 films that ignited that time-honored divide between expert critique and popular opinion. Whether touted as underrated masterpieces or overhyped flops, they kept people talking—and fighting.
8. Twilight
The brooding vampire romance left critics cold, with a lukewarm 49% on Rotten Tomatoes. But fan boys and girls? They descended upon it in droves. With a 72% audience score, Twilight was a full-bore cultural phenomenon. Is it the star-crossed love? Is it the glitter? Whatever, Bella and Edward won over their fans.
7. Playing With Fire
The critics weren’t getting roasted—the John Cena family comedy was roasted with a 24%. But families seemed to enjoy the silly antics and raised the audience rating to 77%. It’s not classy, but for a rainy day with the kids? It works.
6. Grown Ups
Critics panned this Adam Sandler comedy (11%), but audiences rated it a decent 62%. It’s immature, yes—but that’s sort of the point. It’s just a group of comedians getting together and making jokes. Sometimes people just want that.
5. Harlem Nights
Starring Redd Foxx, Richard Pryor, and Eddie Murphy, Harlem Nights was a future classic. It didn’t agree with the critics (25%), but the audience most definitely did—its viewers gave it an 80%. It’s garish, filthy, and full of one-liners. A future cult classic.
4. Venom
Venom is the poster child for a critical bomb that became a cult favorite. It had a mere 30% with critics but jumped up to 80% with the general audience. Tom Hardy’s insane performance and the film’s offbeat tone were bugs to some, but a total blast to others.
3. Spy Kids
Crazy though it is, Spy Kids got a critical 93% but just a 46% audience score. Maybe it’s because of the far-fetched imagery or unconventional villains like the Thumb-Thumbs, but whatever the case, the masses did not love it quite so dearly. That aside, to many a millennial, it’s a childhood classic movie.
2. Warcraft
The critics weren’t kind to this fantasy epic (28%), but the gamers and fans rallied behind it with a 76% audience score. To someone who wasn’t a gamer, it may have seemed like a confused CGI extravaganza, but to the gamers, it was a warmly embraced trip to Azeroth.
1. Sausage Party
Critics adored this filthy animated film (82%), but half the audience didn’t. Maybe it was the shock value, the food-borne innuendo, or the sheer raw oddness—but it didn’t quite work for everyone. But it’s hard to shake a film where a hot dog wonders if he exists.
As ScreenCrush puts it, there is no such movie as one everyone loves or one everyone hates. Every so-called classic has its detractors, and even those films panned to death have devoted defenders. So if your favorites don’t show up on the critics’ radar—or the rest of the web—don’t worry. That’s just part of the fun of being a film fan.