Uncovering Hidden Treasures: Why Box Office Bombs Are Worth Your Time

Tucked away in the bright world of box-office results where, it often seems, money can even buy great art, there are many cinematic gems that are unloved and go unnoticed. Great movies, often experimental, thought-provoking and remarkably original, are left in the shadows, won over by the latest Marvel superhero movie, and – more importantly – struggling to recoup their filming costs. This is a love letter to the little guy; a look at why some of the biggest box-office duds are also some of the most tantalising treasures, hidden away in the dusty virtual film library of cinema.

The Undisputed Charm of the Underappreciated

Some of the year’s many film releases prove to be more than just commercially successful; they also become cult hits, first underperforming at the box office but then, after some time, growing into full-fledged classics.

REDISCOVERING THE MAGIC OF THE CULT CLASSIC

You need only look to the Coen Brothers’ The Big Lebowski (1998), an awkward oddity 15 years ago, that’s matured—thanks in part to the legion of internet acolytes—into an offbeat comedy. Or Blade Runner (1982), a commercial flop that reinvented the sci-fi genre with its philosophical complexity and visual design. These changes reveal that the true value of creative works often is hidden well into the future.

THE UNFORGETTABLE NARRATIVES THAT CAPTIVATED HEARTS

The fairy-tale-cum-romance adventure story The Princess Bride (1987) and the edgy, maybe-even-deadly and definitely subversive Fight Club (1999) showcase how these otherworldly lessons from cinema touch us at the deepest of levels. Box-office failure notwithstanding, The Shawshank Redemption (1994), another credible contender for Greatest Film Ever Made (ahead of, but not above, others, as the nature of greatness forbids ranking), wins the Academy Award for cinematic classicism by proving that: Great stories ring true again and again, no matter how well they performed at the box office.

Exploring the Genre Defining Classics

GENRE-DEFINING CLASSICS

Genre-defining classics such as The Thing (1982) (widely cited as the greatest horror film of its lifetime for its use of practical effects and cataclysmic sense of dread) or Donnie Darko (2001) (a sci-fi drama with dark-comedy elements, which marked a moment for indie cinema to innovate).

EMBRACING THE UNIQUE BLENDS OF ACTION, FANTASY, AND ANIMATION

From Big Trouble in Little China’s (1986) eclectic mashup of action, adventure and fantasy, to the gorgeously animated The Iron Giant’s (1999) heart-wrenching story and vivid visual storytelling, these films are just a small slice of the wildly entertaining, artistically accomplished noncommercial films produced over the past few decades that – whether you’ve seen them or not – you should definitely seek out.

The Modern Cult Phenomenons

By the dawn of the 21st century, across the ocean, the multilayered Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010) had started the new millennium by becoming the new classic: a cult hit that meshes the genre vocabulary of action and comedy with that of pop culture. As all these classical films attest, they are always new; we make them new by consuming them in ways that fit our own tastes but also renew the tastes of those who tasted them before.

Why Box Office Performance Doesn't Dictate Worth

Their subsequent reception as emergent classics shows that the degree to which a film flops at the box office is not always a reliable predictor of its eventual esteem. With their experimental innovations, their transgressive themes or their subversive aspects, many of these films were ahead of their time – awarded their status as classics in retrospect, far away from the limelight of the box office and through the enthusiasm of specialised fans.

Discovering the Essence of a Classic

WHAT MAKES A FILM TIMELESSLY CLASSIC?

A classic is timeless – a work whose stories, characters and themes are not bound to the age of its creation, which endures in service to repeatedly challenge and inspire viewers to think differently, to have an emotional spectrum of feeling, and to last as a benchmark of innovation for visuals, story and theme. Classics are the antithesis of commercial bombs.

But in celebrating such box-office disasters that became cinematic classics, we acknowledge the numerous different factors that contribute to a film’s classic status, whether it is a compelling story, visual innovation or the deep emotional relationships that they foster.

In short, the classic life cycle of a film that bombed at the box office and found its true audience at home shows that cinema is an unpredictable endeavour, but that true art is often found in the unexpected and the overlooked. The next disappointing box-office flop you see, think of it as an opportunity to discover a new classic – a gem that will continue to hold your heart and your imagination.