10 Most Overrated Movies On IMDb's Top 250
1. The Shawshank Redemption (#1)
According to IMDb, The Shawshank Redemption is the greatest film of all time. Not The Godfather. Not Citizen Kane. Not Vertigo, or Jaws, or Lord of the Rings. Not Saving Private Ryan , or It’s A Wonderful Life, or Pulp Fiction. The Shawshank Redemption.
As with The Green Mile, Frank Darabont directs another far-too-long movie that at least explores some more interesting and three-dimensional characters. Let’s be clear - The Shawshank Redemption is still a really good movie. But the best movie of all time? Come on. It’s just another one of those saccharine hope-for-humanity films that has a happy ending and makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
It’s not a deep and excellent look into control and chaos like Apocalypse Now. It’s not a exposé of humanity at its very best and its very worst like Schindler’s List. It’s not an epic drama with sweeping action and themes of friendship like The Empire Strikes Back. It’s just… nice.
The film focuses far too often on supporting and unessential characters, attempting to flesh out the entire prison, but by the end of the film it has very little impact. In addition, the representation of the gay characters is blatantly homophobic, and the way the prison is presented makes it look like we’re living a harder life than those inside, with only occasional bouts of violence to remind us otherwise.
It’s still a decent portrayal - but it’s somewhat muddled and certainly isn’t the kind of perfection you’d expect from what audiences believe to be the best film ever made.