The 2000s saw digital effects finally become preferred over practical effects, and promising up-and-coming 90s “wunderkinder” were making the best movies of their careers. The decade was such an innovative time in the movie industry, but some films were hugely successful in the 2000s, whether critically or financially, that audiences no longer talk about.
Whether Redditors think it’s fair or not, they have listed a bunch of nostalgic movies that nobody talks about anymore. Between stoner teen comedies and the Best Picture winner, these movies defined the 2000s, but they have somehow become forgotten.
Mission: Impossible 2 (2000)
The Mission: Impossible series has become one of the most successful action franchises of all time, with a seventh movie scheduled for release in 2023 and an eighth movie currently in pre-production. But of them all, Mission: Impossible 2 is the movie that’s talked about the least. Thewrldisntenough makes the interesting observation that the film was the highest-grossing movie of the year.
The Redditor notes that “none of the other Impossible movies have gotten that high on the top-grossing list, yet it’s the embarrassment of the series.” Even though action auteur John Woo was behind the camera, it’s the least exciting entry in the franchise and doesn’t feature any memorable stunts that have become the series’ signature.
Dude, Where’s My Car (2000)
Diptick cites the 2000 stoner comedy as being one of the biggest 2000s hits that nobody talks about anymore. Dude, Where’s My Car? wasn’t a phenomenal box office success, and it certainly wasn’t a hit with critics, but it earned huge cult status when it was released on DVD.
Throughout the 2000s, the movie was quoted to no end and was known for being a stoner comedy that doesn’t feature any marijuana. But since then, the film has been almost completely forgotten in the time since. However, between doing the Hangover premise better than The Hangover and meshing sci-fi with stoner comedy, Dude, Where’s My Car? is severely underrated.
Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001)
Bridget Jones’s Diary was one of the most beloved comedies of the 2000s and Kylie_Forever even admits that. But when asked about what 2000s movie people no longer talk about is, the Redditor responds, “although I loved it……Bridget Jones’s Diary.“
In 2004, there was an almost as good sequel, and 12 years later, Bridget Jones’s Baby followed, which has no right being as good as it is. That unexpectedly throws the series in contention for one of the best movie trilogies, but sadly, it isn’t exactly gaining any new fans.
Avatar (2009)
A deleted user makes a controversial choice, calling Avatar a movie that nobody talks about anymore. Avatar is the highest-grossing movie of all time and the only other movie that could dethrone it is its upcoming sequel, which has made new headlines for over a decade.
However, the Redditor makes a great argument “I was listening to a podcast and they were talking about how it was this massive film, but no one in their office could name more than one character.” The film isn’t exactly the most character-driven movie in the world, but it’s a problem if most viewers can’t name anyone other than Jake Sully in the highest-grossing movie of all time.
Ice Age (2002)
JBrundy thinks nobody talks about the Ice Age anymore. Between the animation and jokes about global warming, Ice Age hasn’t aged that well, but it’s still a fun movie with strong messages about friendship. Unfortunately, when it comes to animated franchises, though the Ice Age series was popular, it had laid dormant for too long.
And though the Ice Age franchise will continue without its original studio, that might be a detriment to the series, as this year’s The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild was uploaded to Disney+ with absolutely no fanfare. However, as Ice Age’s original production company, Blue Sky Studios, has closed it does, it gave its tentpole franchise the most perfect send-off with a short film of Scrat finally capturing the acorn.
Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery (1997)
There are so many James Bond parody series, and one of the most successful is the Austin Powers series. Beginning with International Man of Mystery, Mike Myers has had audiences in stitches as the British 60s spy for three movies. But DadBodDeadpool thinks it hasn’t been a part of the pop culture zeitgeist for a long time. The Redditor claims, “you get some people referencing it now and then, but mostly as an example of it being irrelevant.”
That, unfortunately, seems to be the case with most of Myers’s characters, especially considering that his film career has taken a backseat in recent years. However, the series could very easily be revived and parody the more dark and gritty recent portrayal of James Bond, and it’d undoubtedly be hilarious.
The Mummy Returns (2001)
Just_another_indie remembers The Mummy Returns “totally being the thing when it came out, but man, it hasn’t aged well.” The CGI throughout the movie, especially the so-funny-it’s-bad rendering of the Scorpion King, has kept the film from being as well-remembered as the original despite its box office gross of $435 million.
The reason why it was such a box office smash hit upon its release is because of the huge success of the original. Similar to the phenomenal box office gross of The Matrix Reloaded despite being polarizing, the first Mummy was so beloved that not even the sequel’s middling reviews could deter fans and families from seeing it.
American Pie (1999)
American Pie might not have been released in the 2000s, but being released in September 1999, it’s extremely close, and it did start what would become a huge movie trend at the beginning of the decade. And Complete-let-2670 thinks the film applies here more than any other here.
The Redditor almost rhetorically asks, “do people still care about the American Pie movies?” All of the series’ direct-to-DVD sequels may have tarnished the original’s legacy, but there are still classic scenes in the original film and things it got right about being a teenager, even if it isn’t talked about as much anymore.
Crash (2005)
Crash is one of the most controversial movies of the 2000s, as it won the Best Picture award over Brokeback Mountain at The Academy Awards, and it has since received a ton of backlash. Referring to the 2005 release, Back_patio argues, “what a clunky mess that is, looking back. It was awarded the best picture Oscar then faded immediately into obscurity.”
The movie attempts to tackle race relations in Los Angeles, and though it earned rave reviews upon its release, it has since been criticized for coming off as simplistic and on-the-nose. Crash is now known as one of the Best Picture winners that aged badly
The Perfect Storm (2000)
The Perfect Storm might not have had a Mission: Impossible 2 amount of success in 2000, but it was one of the runners-up. SandwichSandiwch69 notes that the disaster movie was the “4th highest-grossing US release of 2000,” but nobody would ever know, as it has been all but forgotten about.
The movie is about a fishing vessel that gets lost at sea and how the crew deals with a hurricane. An incredible ensemble cast including George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, and John C. Reilly aided its box office success, but the out-at-sea movie struggled to stay afloat in the years since. The film is one of the last of its kind, as disaster movies are in no way as popular as they were in the 90s and early 2000s.
