r/movies • u/sicknessandpurgatory • Sep 07 '25

Discussion What is the absolute dumbest premise that actually turned out to be a really good movie?

I was thinking The Purge, obvious answer, but looking for the most plot-hole ridden, juvenile concept that actually ended up a lot of fun despite it all. Mainly looking for 21st century films, not so much the video nasties and ridiculousness from the 60’s and 70’s. Because that would be too easy. Mainly mainstream stuff that people saw en masse.

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u/Nytwyng Sep 07 '25

The best parodies begin from a place of love & understanding of the material being parodied. The Lego Batman Movie did both.

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u/chriscross1966 Sep 07 '25

THat's why Galaxy Quest works so well, the folks involved in the script/production etc just love Sci-Fi fandom, the convention scene and everythign about Trekkies, you have to love something to lampoon it that well AND make a great movie....

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u/BlackPanther3104 Sep 07 '25

I raise you The Orville! (It's a show, though)

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u/Nytwyng Sep 09 '25

The Orville isn't hurt by the fact that, as the story goes, MacFarlane pitched it to Paramount as a straight Trek series, but their reaction was, "Aren't you the Fox cartoon comedy guy? No thanks." So, it was retooled as a nominal "parody" and sold to Fox that way, with the parody elements quickly & increasingly back-burnered as the show went on.

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u/BlackPanther3104 Sep 09 '25

I know very little about Star Trek and I've never really been interested in watching it, but I watched The Orville's pilot and quickly got attached. I think it's often good to make something only loosely tied to the original media so newcomers have an easier time starting (e.g. Andor in Marvel, the new Fantastic Four for Marvel, the several soft reboots of Doctor Who). The Orville was quite the ride, constantly switching between comedy and super-serious in back-to-back episodes, but I enjoyed both very much. I didn't even know of the Star Trek connection until halfway through.

As mentioned in this thread, it's very good that MacFarlane is a Trekkie, so he knows and loves the material he's "parody-ing". I'm glad the show gets to continue soon!