I've just been going through the Rocky collection again (just picked up the Bluray pack) and there's one thing that I've never really understood - why Rocky 5 is hated so much. Wherever you go, you keep hearing about how part 5 destroyed the Rocky franchise etc. etc. etc. and yet no matter how much I try to ascribe my liking it to childhood nostalgia, I don't like it any less as a film, certainly on a par with part 3, and certainly much more character driven than 3 and 4.

And it's defintely better than part 4, which was a bad joke and is massively outdated nowadays with its non-stop anti-Soviet rhetoric, and yet many people seem to see Rocky IV as a high point of the series. Why?

There are other films where I've never really understood the hate, except to ascribe it to fanboy rage because the film didn't meet their precise specifications and expectations: Hulk (the first one with Eric Bana), X-Men 3, the Timothy Dalton Bond films...

Anything else that comes to mind?

Maybe the remake of planet of the apes?

Kingdom of Heaven.

The theatrical version was butchered by the studio but the director's cut is a masterpiece.

You mean the one with Mark Wahlberg some years ago or the very recent prequel with Harry Osborn?

The one with mark wahlberg

Rocky IV.

Behind the clichèd depiction of the East-West conflict is actually a very inspiring tale about friendship, dedication and sport as a cultural ambassador. The movie isn't about the superiority about the the West over the East, but how the ridiculous fear the Reagan era formed about the Soviets was without reason as both citizens are united in valuing the same core beliefs. It also was a smart criticism of the current arms race in showing that it's not the money or technology that wins out in the end (literally), but dedication and passion.

People tend to see the movie superficially and think it is pro-west propaganda, while it is actually quite the opposite.

The theatrical version of Alien 3 is terrible, when you watch it feels like just a load of scenes cobbled together to make a film. It didn't particularly follow the book either.

I got the Quadrilogy on Blu Ray a few month back and there is a directors version of Alien 3 which is a good 30 minutes longer, the Alien comes out of an Ox they get for meat not a dog and there is a large bit restored where they are trying to trap it. This version is far superior to the cinema version in every way and adds to the whole franchise ongoing story.

I second Kingdom of Heaven Director's Cut and Alien 3 Workprint Cut.

The theatrical version of Alien 3 is very weird. The alien actually runs out of the toxic waste room in the theatrical cut but it makes no sense since the scene about how he got out isn't there.

There was loads of issues when it was being filmed with constant script changes and certain bits of the films script had to be wrote around sets they had already built. It was a garbled mess at the time.

With the Blu Ray version of the workprint / directors cut or as it is officially known The Assembly Cut everything that hit the cutting room floor is restored and the high def tidy up you can't even tell it is from workprint footage.

To this day the Alien 3 director literally wants nothing to do with the film given that he was messed around by studio execs and script at the time, can't blame him really.

I am going to lower the standards here and bring up Scary Movie 3. While I find the whole series to be complete garbage, I felt three was pretty funny in some spots. I can't see why fans criticize 3 so badly and say the first two are great, those two movies are probably the worst parody movies I ever seen. 3 while not being great, is a lot better since it is directed by the same guys behind Airplane and some of that humor comes off in the film.

Really? I always thought it was a little overrated.

I actually prefer A3 - it works as a fairly decent end to the trilogy.
Now, you wanna talk A4:Resurrection? Now THAT was a horrible mess! :P
You meant 99.999999999999999999999999995%, right? O_o!

Yeah, Resurrection was pretty naff, I liked the concept with the mercs (Michael Wincott is an awesome actor) but that whole hybrid thing towards the end just killing anything was utter tripe! I think Sigourney Weaver over acted Ripley in this one also, going from likeable survivor of the previous movies to out and out psycho just didn't fit right with Ripleys background.

It could have worked so well with the way the movie started, it was dark & gritty but literally just declined the further it got into the film.