10 Movies Ruined By Fan Overhype

10. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace

Let's kick things off with inarguably one of the most anticipated movies in the history of cinema.

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace was of course the first Star Wars movie since Return of the Jedi more than 15 years prior, and most fans never even considered the possibility that it wouldn't be another great entry into the franchise.

The movie's marketing campaign was extremely effective in drumming up hype, enough that some fans decided to camp outside of cinemas weeks or even months ahead of time in anticipation. Yup.

And then The Phantom Menace was released. Critical reviews were mixed, and the response from fans was one of general bemusement, that George Lucas had delivered something so clunky and uneven.

Esteem for the film has grown somewhat in recent years, acknowledging it as an ambitious yet deeply flawed piece of work, but let's be honest: it was never going to live up to the insurmountable hype created by an entire generation's nostalgia for watching the original trilogy in their youth.

It was impossible for most Star Wars fans to accept the possibility pre-release that the new movie would be anything less than great, and so when that turned out to be the case, there was denial, anger, confusion, and only much later begrudging acceptance.

Needless to say, follow-up Attack of the Clones didn't launch to anywhere near the same level of excitement, and it's just as well, because it turned out to be the very worst mainline Star Wars movie.