"SLC-S25/W3-Movie Snapshots|Hidden Gems"

Hello movie lovers, great to be with you once more. This week's highlight is about hidden gems. Those movies that I watched and loved so much but they were underrated in the movie industry. Some of these movies may have cost quite a fortune to produce them, but they did not meet with expected reaction.

So follow me on this journey as I explore about five of them.

Mention 5 lesser-known or underrated movie you have seen before.

I am going to mention 5 movies which I believe is not given the publicity and popularity it deserves.

300: The rise of n Empire

This is a story of the ancient battle which took place in Thermopylae between Spartans and the Persians. The Persian King Xerxes was a man turned god and any of his subjects who rejected his rulership was decimated.

This movie was based on an ancient real life story. Spartans were known for their strength and military valor and tactics. There strength was not about the number of soldiers but the military tactic used. This tactic was later copied by the Roman empire, which gave them much winnings against their enemies.

The 300 Spartan soldiers with their King Leonidas were very strong against more than tens of thousands of Xerxes Persian army. The Persian army was very massive.

The Spartans took their stand decimated the Persians to a great extent before they were killed. Each one of them fought to their last breath. It is a great movie to watch.

Catch me of you can

This is another great movie with powerful casts. Featuring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks. This is about a young hustler who can talk his way into any profession, claiming to be one while Tom is the FBI officer on his tails. The young man made so much millions of dollars by assuming professional tags easily and cleverly. He cashed forged cheques worth $2.5 million, posed as a Doctor, lawyer and Pilot. He was always one step ahead of the FBI agent. If you are a lover of detective films, hook up with this.

Apocalypto

This is movie based on the last years of the Mayan dynasty. Based on an ancient story. The Mayans were known for Human sacrifices, fear oppression. A young man named Jaguar Paw who was captured by the Mayan rulers with other tribesmen and women was taken to the capital for ritual purposes and slavery. If you love adrenaline pump movies, search for it. See how Jaguar was able to maneuver and escape from the hands of his captors. This film will definitely remind you of the hidden brutality and animality of some former great cultures.

Blood diamond.

This is a movie featuring Leonardo once more. Some parts of the movie was shot in an African Land where diamond mining was manned by rebel groups who sold it for money to western companies.

A young man Solomon was abducted by these rebels and forced to work in the diamond mine. He found a priceless diamond and hid it. Danny learns about it, and assured him that he will help him find his family and take him outside the country in exchange for the diamond. This sets the stage for all the thrills, suspense and actions.

Bourne Identity

This is another wonderful thriller. A group of fishermen picked up a man riddled with bullets in the middle of the sea, took him aboard their boat and took care of him. He woke up not remembering anything, even whom he was. He now embarked on a journey to find out his identity without knowing the dangers ahead. The more he fights to unlock his identity, the more his connections to the CIA unfolds. Who is he actually? The movie exposes what the powerful countries does to any ruler or nation that refuses to go by their biddings. It is a trilogy movie. It is a movie that showcases the dangerous lives of real-life assassins. It is based on a book known as * The Bourne Identity written by Robert Ludlum and published in 1980*

Discuss your reasons for saying these movies you have mentioned are lesser known or underrated movies.

All the movies that I mentioned above will give you a pure cinematic delight and satisfaction.

They have interesting lines, plots, rich suspense. They are rich with educational contents and teaches us about the rich cultural heritage of famous civilizations before.

Take for instance, the Mayan dynasty. They were very rich and lasted for more than a century. Famous about it was the human sacrifice. The movie takes us back to that time, making us know what it was like to live then.

300 reminds us of the aggressiveness and ruthlessness of the Persian empire and the strength and war tactics of Greecian Spartans. Every male in Sparta was a warrior and that lasted over many decades.

Historically, the stories in both movies are well proven, hence a plus to archeological discoveries which is educational.

Blood Diamond reminds us of the struggles of many in underdeveloped continents and how they are exploited for money. It is a vivid description of the emotional trauma experienced by many in war-torn areas and their efforts to survive. Many families are separated by the greed of these leaders, hence making money from the blood of other people so to speak.

So these movies did not get the ratings they deserve, the popularity they deserve, did not hit the no 1 spot on movie chart box and the possibly did not meet up with their expectations financially.

We need to understand that ratings are done by movie fans and not film lovers. These are two different set of peoples.

Movie fans are those who just love the actors or other characters of the movie, they are after the thrills and excitement the movie gives them. Thus they are not film critics or lovers who knows what it means to cast, plot and direct a beautiful movie.

So the movie fans are subjective about their ratings which makes it unable to hit the top movie chart box.

So manipulating the rating cannot be avoided.

Additionally,movie makers are just after
recovering what they invested thus will only hype it to get the ratings and become overrated.

So these are also underrated because it is definitely of high quality, It is unfairly reviewed by the critics and many people have not heard or watched the movie.

Ratings of a movie is majorly subjective than objective. So we expect to have underrated movies.

What do you think can be done to make these movies better known or valued more.

I think finances may be a limitation. Hence if the financial budget was increased, it would have helped add more resources onscreen.

There is need for extensive marketing of these movies. These movies can be advertised on social media handles ahead of time, creating the awareness that it deserves. Create a community all over the world that woud desperately be waiting for its release.

There is need to partner with educational and NGO bodies when the movie is educational and have strong cultural scenes. They can be used as an educational and training tool.

There is also need for powerful influencers and podcasters to be carried along. With the high number of followers, the movie can reach distant lands and thus improve its rating.

Having a target audience for the movie is beautiful. The bigger our target audience, the more better it is.

I will also look at the post production part of the film. The color correction, mixing of the sounds, anything that I can do to enhance ots production quality.

I invite @kidi40, @josepha and @ngoenyi to join in this contest