eedoon

Equilibrium. The movie didn't get a lot of buzz over here and when I saw the cover of the DVD I thought it was just another cheapy action flicks so when I started the movie, I have no idea what's the movie was all about and how good it is. Man that was an awesome night.

Hokeyboy

Alejandro Amenabar's Abre Los Ojos. I caught it on HBO or Showtime in 2000, flipping through channels and stopping because BOOM there was a topless Penelope Cruz. I noted the name of the flick and thought to myself "I gotta catch this from the beginning." I thought it was just some Spanish drama flick with apparently some nice acting and impressive direction.

By the time I was able to watch the whole movie (the next time it was on), I had NO IDEA what I was getting into. For 2+ hrs, I was fucking riveted. By the time the film ended, I was bugfuck over the movie. Brilliant.

jeffkjoe

Two comedies from the '80's that I saw in the theater:


THE SURE TIHNG

and

SUMMER SCHOOL

Geofferson

This reminds me of another example for me.

I went to the theater with the intention of seeing Get Carter only to find it was sold out. I then used Plan B and went to see Almost Famous - enough said.

Geofferson

Speak of the devil...I watched The Sure Thing for the first time over the weekend (with mediocre expectations)...absolutely loved it!

Shannon Nutt

SILENCE OF THE LAMBS - I saw it on opening day (it was Valentine's Day, and I was...once again...dateless!) before all the "hype". Thought it was a just a low-budget thriller (which it was), but, of course, was totally blown away by the performances and storyline.

THE MATRIX - Actually avoided this one for weeks because I thought the trailer made it look horrible. Word of mouth finally got me in the theater.

Dash

Jarhead is another movie that surprised me. I didnt really know exactly what the movie was about and that it had no battles, but was surprised none the less that I still enjoyed the movie for what it was even while expecting action.

Im about to go tonight to go see A Scanner Darkley. Im still not quite sure even how to explain this movie and hate Keanu. Saying all this im skeptical but intrigued...

GoldenJCJ

The Shawshank Redemption looked like a typically pretentious redemption flick. I avoided it like the plague in theaters. My parents happened to rent the VHS when it came out and I was hooked from the first scene.

Wonder Boys I had heard some good things, but I went in thinking it was a boring drama, turned out to be one of the funniest movies I'd seen in a long time.

Byron_T

I never watched this until it came out on DVD, mainly due to Keanu and the trailers I'd seen. My roomate bought it and I decided to watch it one night when I had nothing else to do. After that I wished I'd seen it in the theater.

Meglos

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

I avoided this because of the crap trailers. Friends kept raving about it, so I bought it as a blind buy last month. Love it love it.

Giles

I really don't think this would qualify as the "most surprising... ever" but Richard S Grant's film: Wah Wah surprised me since the trailer unfairly made this sound like a really dull movie - when it turned out to be quite delightful.

McHawkson

I'll go with Fight Club. I wasn't interested in that movie till a month after DVD released, I rented it and loved it.

ShaunoftheDead

"You stole my thread"

Sin City
Heat
L.A. Confidential
Shawshank Redemption

except for Sin City, the others I watched for the first time only on video and not theater and was blown away by all.

edit...forgot about my namesake...only movie since I can remember that I watched back to back in 2 days!

brainee

I'll throw out an older one that really sent me for a loop when I first saw it in the mid-80s: "The Last American Virgin". There was really nothing that suggested this would be anything more than a stupid raunchy teen comedy (the likes of which were being released in droves after the success of movies like "Porky's" and "Fast Times at Ridgemont High"). And for the first half that's what it was. But then the movie undergoes a shocking change in tone with an ending you can't believe the filmmakers dared to do.

gryffinmaster

I've already posted my number one pick, but I thought I'd post what is probably my number 2 most surprising "holy $#!^" flick, since I don't think I saw it mentioned yet ...

Oldboy.

sixerb

the only other one not mentioned that i can think of was CONFIDENCE

jeffkjoe

Word.

It goes from Porky's to an afterschool special.

OwlAtHome

Les Miserables w Liam Neeson. I didn't think I'd ever like something like this but I saw it in the theater and it became one of my favorite movies.

Hokeyboy

And it goes from an afterschool special to a sharp and sudden punch in the throat.

TomOpus

fixed... just in case someone wanted to look it up

pdinosaur

Romeo + Juliet

i think the whole leo element turned me off when i'd heard about it. now that i've seen it ... i've seen it many many times.

Perhaps Rushmore, as it was my first Wes Anderson movie.

would also agree with Bring it On.

Heat

Same here, I love that movie and have seen it probably 6 or 8 times.

Pedro Almodovar's movies are also very good but I expect them to be good so there's no suprise there.

The only other movie that I can think of off of the top of my head as one that I was suprised at how good it was was the movie "O", a remake of Othello set in modern times (late '90s) . Very good.

story

About a Boy. I went in thinking I was being dragged to a chick-flick, only to discover I was entering a guy-accessible relationship tale based on an even better book.

brainee

Exactly. The subject matter of "Last American Virgin" veered into afterschool special territory, but the handling of it was anything but.

Tarantino

Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, or Garden State, both of which are in my top 5 of all time.

= J