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IMDb Polls

Low Budget Movies That Paid Off Big

urbanemovies
Low budgets films allow investors to reap potentially huge returns on their investment. While budget caps vary throughout the world and time, one authoritative definition sets the top end of the limit for movies with a current budget under $2,500,000 USD. On both sides of the camera, many of today's biggest stars first honed their skills on low budget films. These films launched or served as a breakthrough for many of their careers.

Which one of these select wildly successful low budget ($250,000 < $1,500,000) movies* is your favorite? * Movies with a minimum 6.0 IMDb user rating, excludes micro-budget (<$250,000) films and uses just one type of movie income stream (box office) for comparison.

Vote in the companion poll: Micro Budget Movies That Paid Off Big

Discuss the topic here.

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Recent poll activity

Sylvester Stallone and Talia Shire in Rocky (1976)
chrisgalaganamco voted for Rocky (1976)
Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfuss, Charles Martin Smith, Candy Clark, Paul Le Mat, Mackenzie Phillips, and Cindy Williams in American Graffiti (1973)
cpleye voted for American Graffiti (1973)
Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfuss, Charles Martin Smith, Candy Clark, Paul Le Mat, Mackenzie Phillips, and Cindy Williams in American Graffiti (1973)
newbygeorge voted for American Graffiti (1973)
Bruce Lee, Ahna Capri, Jim Kelly, John Saxon, Shih Kien, and Robert Wall in Enter the Dragon (1973)
forlamleoc voted for Enter the Dragon (1973)
Mel Gibson in Mad Max (1979)
MovieMaster591X voted for Mad Max (1979)
Halloween (1978)
mindedjewel voted for Halloween (1978)
John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Monty Python in Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
eryknieeryk voted for Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Monty Python in Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
DrPhibes1964 voted for Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Monty Python in Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
davidroylong voted for Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
Steve Buscemi, Harvey Keitel, Michael Madsen, Tim Roth, and Chris Penn in Reservoir Dogs (1992)
scrwtchs voted for Reservoir Dogs (1992)

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