The IMDb stands as a sort of method of cultural shorthandedness. When somebody asks whether or not a movie is any good or not, it's perfectly acceptable to say: "Well, it has an 8.1 on the Internet Movie Database," and nothing else really needs to be said. The reason people seem to value this system as an indicator or quality, then, stems from the fact that the scores assigned to movies on the IMDb are the results of user votes: not critics or movie buffs, necessarily, but regular folk who love motion pictures and like to log on and grade what they've seen. The IMDb Top 250, then, provides an incredibly value resource for those who like movies and are looking for what to see next. If you're in doubt, scan the list of 250 films, pick one at random, and chances are you'll find yourself gazing upon an absolute classic. Or, at least, that's what's supposed to happen. Because although most of the movies on the Top 250 certainly deserve to be there - Pulp Fiction, Seven Samurai, Apocalypse Now - there are several movies that have somehow found their way into the pantheon that, quite honestly, probably don't deserve it. Join us, then, as we highlight the 20 most overrated movies currently sitting pretty in the IMDb Top 250; movies that are almost certainly good or worthy of praise, but - usually due to the fact that they're recently popular or have succumbed to insane levels of hype - deserve to be knocked from the ranks and replaced with worthier titles...
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
