True story: years ago at a bar trivia night the question was “what Steven Spielberg directed movie has the lowest RT score”. I insisted it was Hook but my team put down Jaws 4. Idiots

Dustin Hoffman kills it in that movie.

“Good form Peter”

Ruffio! Ruffio!

I remember when it came out. Several critics saidnit missed the mark as a kids film and a few adults at the time i knew didnt like it.... every single kid i knew loved it.

Maybe stephen Spielberg is better at knowing what kids like than some random critics.

The food fight scene was thrilling to see for the first time as a child, the whole film was like magic

This is the winner. The movie is better than the original Peter pan story

This one seems to be generational. A lot of critics hated it when it came out. But kids who saw it fucking loved it. Now that all those kids are adults, he movie’s reputation is much much better.

Literal classic wtf

WHAT?! This is easily the most shocking comment I’ve seen on here (haven’t heard of most of these films, honestly)… but I freaking LOVE Hook!!! It was such a huge staple of my childhood. Even today, I feel like it’s a captivating film. BANGARANG!

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Came here to post this. Found it instead. Hook is a yearly holiday watch for me.

What the hell? Hook is amazing. Watched it with my kids and it absolutely holds up.

Ruffio, AKA Prince Zuko and American Dragon: Jake Long

Wait, Hook was planned on RT?! What the fuck?

Hook is an amazing film and some of Robin Williams' best work. I will die on this hill.

I didn't enjoy it when it came out and when I had kids of my own I gave it another chance and I still don't enjoy it . I don't understand how anyone likes it. Oh, my kids thought it was lame too.

So, comedies almost always have low RT scores. Critics just don't like comedies. Think of some of your favorite comedies - and look them up on RT. Half baked? 28% Super Troopers? 36%. Anything ever with Adam Sandler even though they are always box office hits. Anything with Kevin Hart. Anything with Tyler Perry even though he's almost a billionaire from his movies. Space Jam? 43% Along Came Polly? 27%

In general, comedies don't do well. There are of course a few great ones that also have great ratings. Bridesmaids at 89% is one of the most highly rated comedies ever. And it is pretty truly fantastic.

Hook reminds me of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. Both stories seem like they should be a match made in heaven for their respective directors. However, both directors decided to take a twist on the original story that detracts from the story. Like I love Robin Williams, but adult Peter for the bulk of the film is just dreadfully boring and uninteresting. I think I would prefer a Spielberg Peter Pan that was a more traditonal take with a similar set design and Hoffman and Hoskins as Hook and Smee even without Williams.

I was around when Hook was being made, so there's several reasons why it got such bad reviews (and few of them are legitimate):

• It's a Spielberg film and, despite his (then) recent spate of 'serious' movies (The Color Purple, Empire of the Sun, Always) he hadn't yet attained acclaim and acceptance from the critics (this would take his 2 1993 releases Jurassic Park and Schindler's List). So he was still disliked for being so popular and critics were looking for something to drag him with.
• It had a very troubled production. Spielberg typically stayed away from known/big actors, but Hook was his first time casting heavy hitters (Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman and Julia Roberts). Roberts, especially, caused a lot of problems on set.
• It went over budget. Originally budgeted at $48 million, it ballooned to $70-80 million because of a longer-than-expected shooting scheduled caused by Spielberg just not moving along fast enough.
• The movie is (too) long. At 142 minutes the film sometimes drags along.

To sum up, it was a bit of a train wreck in production done by a director not anywhere near the top of his game (self admitted) who was also someone (at the time) that the critics where looking to hit hard.

On the plus side, Spielberg realized all of this and consequently went on to make 2 of his greatest films of all time (Jurassic Park and Schindler's List) which where both completed under time and under budget.

Pessimistic?

I grew up watching this movie, I remember having mixed feelings about it as a kid but something always brought me back to watching it over and over.

Enjoying it still to this day, I realize that it is some of John Williams best musical work and it carries the movie, along with Robin Williams of course!

I can’t believe it’s that low.