Every once and awhile there will be film releases that are spectacular but which no one goes to see. This is a sign to film producers that either nobody was interested in seeing that film, or the film producers did not market the film enough and thus no one was aware of the film’s release. The following are two excellent films that came out in 2012 where this must have happened. These two underrated films are both excellent but barely made any money at the time of their release, are “Dredd” and “Ruby Sparks.”

“Dredd” was released on Sept 21, 2012, and the film only made $36.5 million of its $45 million budget. Though the original “Judge Dredd” with Sylvester Stallone from 1995 was no masterpiece, this new film is a different animal. “Dredd” is a film reboot that uses the same comic book universe and the same character on which the Stallone version was based. The film perfectly portrayed what the “2000 A.D.” comics were like, and includes some very well made action sequences. The film also introduces a new camera called a “Phantom Camera,” which can film scenes at a much higher frame rate than ever before. This allowed for super slow-motion effects used in the film. “Dredd” also has a well-written storyline and Karl Urban’s performance as Judge Dredd is top notch.

“Ruby Sparks” was released on July 25, 2012, and the film made only $6.5 million at the box office during its limited release. “Ruby Sparks” manages to balance a great storyline with a very fresh approach to romance stories. The plot involves a writer falling in love with a flesh and blood version of one of his own characters, and the end results are amazing. The directors of the critically acclaimed “Little Miss Sunshine,” Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, returned as a directing duo for this film. The results are unfortunately weaker than their previous film. If the marketing division of “Ruby Sparks” found a way to emphasize that these two amazing directors came back together to work on this film, the box office performance may have been much better. It didn’t help that the film only had a limited release, so not as many theaters could show this incredible film.

It’s a shame that some great film releases throughout every year aren’t the box office successes that the director may have wanted. If there were any cases where the box office results were much worse than critical opinions, “Dredd” and “Ruby Sparks” fall into that category.