I saw Bullitt with Steve McQueen over the weekend and have to say I was disappointed.  It's not that it's a bad movie, because I found it to be a decent police thriller.  I think my problem was one of expectations.  Bullitt is renowned for having one of the greatest car chases in the history of cinema, but it didn't do anything for me.  I think there have been many chases that have come since then that seem more spectacular, faster, more dangerous, more exciting.  Watching it, the one that came to mind was Foul Play, which added comedy and reaction shots.

I had a similar reaction to watching Duck Soup by The Marx Brothers.  The famous mirror scene is one that has been done so frequently (in cartoons, TV shows, etc.) that I can't summon the sense of amazement it must have evoked when it first came out.

I wish there was a way to go back in time to be able to appreciate or see a movie when it came out and not have the knowledge of everything that came after.  How else can you see something that was groundbreaking, whose influence was profound, which is the one that people say 'It is the greatest XXX since YYY'?