History YMMV / JacobsLadder

* OnceOriginalNowOverdone: Countless movies have taken their inspiration from the theme, visuals, mood and dialogue of ''Jacob's Ladder''. The "blurry face" undercranking effect has almost become a cliché. [[DyingDream The final twist]] has been ripped off by every two-bit {{Fanfic}} and WildMassGuessing on the internet.

* GeniusBonus: The film's premise seems to have been strongly influenced by Creator/AmbroseBierce's story Literature/AnOccurrenceAtOwlCreekBridge.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Countless movies have taken their inspiration from the theme, visuals, mood and dialogue of ''Jacob's Ladder''. The "blurry face" undercranking effect has almost become a cliché. [[DyingDream The final twist]] has been ripped off by every two-bit {{Fanfic}} and WildMassGuessing on the internet.

* {{Narm}}: Right at the end of the movie, when we see Jacob [[spoiler: spasm on in the hospital tent in Vietnam before dying]], there's a guy at a typewriter who looks up, sees this, then kind of shrugs and continues typing. His nonchalant reaction makes this quite comical.

* AssPull: The final twist [[spoiler: that Jacob was actually dying in Vietnam the whole time and the entire movie was all his dying dream and never actually happened]] is this whole-heartedly, leaving some viewers quite ticked that the entire movie never happened and they just wasted their time watching it. Many people completely disregard this ending, shutting the movie off as soon as Jacob walks into the light with his deceased son.
** Of course, in the process viewers also have to disregard multiple scenes that [[spoiler: clearly foreshadow Jacob's true state.]]

* UncannyValley: A lot of the demons, entirely deliberately.

* FanPreferredCutContent: There is a deleted scene just before the end where Jezzie makes a major reveal to Jacob. [[spoiler:Jezzie is revealed to be a facsimile of Jacob himself, and Jezzie was a coping mechanism to deal with all the trauma Jacob was dealing with in his life.]]

* FanPreferedCutContent: There is a deleted scene just before the end where Jezzie makes a major reveal to Jacob. [[spoiler:Jezzie is revealed to be a facsimile of Jacob himself, and Jezzie was a coping mechanism to deal with all the trauma Jacob was dealing with in his life.]]

* SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome: Louis' subdued BigDamnHeroes moment when he marches into the hospital demanding to see Jacob, calling out the staff for their harsh treatment of his patient and going so far as to threaten them with a crutch before wheeling Jacob out of the hospital for his gentler treatment. Doubly so [[spoiler: if you accept the "Louis is an angel" theory, as he's doing this ''to other angels'' by siding with a man who's dying and needs to let go]].

* OneSceneWonder: The eyeless surgeon only appears on screen for a few seconds, but still manages to be the image that sticks in people's minds the most, and even appears on some of the promotional material for the film, mainly due to how freaky he looks.

** Additionally, Jacob manages to beat up the two government goons sent to intimidate him and his friends into silence before escaping from the car.

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: The demons and angels in the film work at both a literal and metaphorical level. The events in the film make sense even if one disbelieves in a literal afterlife or in supernatural beings.

** Eriq La Salle (''Series/{{ER}}'''s Dr. Benton) and Creator/VingRhames play two of Jacob's fellow veterans, before either of their actors had those roles.

* AwardSnub: No Oscar noms for Creator/TimRobbins, Elizabeth Peña, Creator/DannyAiello, Maurice Jarre's score or Bruce Joel Rubin's screenplay.

** [[Film/HomeAlone Macaulay]] [[Creator/MacaulayCulkin Culkin]] has an uncredited role as Jacob's son.

* RewatchBonus: When the horror becomes less shocking, the poignancy and sadness take over. There's a ''reason'' the film is a favorite at hospices.

* AwardSnub: No Oscar noms for Creator/TimRobbins, Elizabeth Pena, Creator/DannyAiello, Maurice Jarre's score or Bruce Joel Rubin's screenplay.

** [[Film/HomeAlone Macauley Culkin]] has an uncredited role as Jacob's son.

* AwardSnub: No noms for Creator/TimRobbins, Elizabeth Pena, Maurice Jarre's score or Bruce Joel Rubin's screenplay.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Countless movies have taken their inspiration from the theme, visuals, mood and dialogue of ''Jacob's Ladder''. The "blurry face" undercranking effect has almost become a cliche. [[DyingDream The final twist]] has been ripped off by every two-bit {{Fanfic}} and WildMassGuessing on the internet.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Countless movies have taken their inspiration from the theme, visuals, mood and dialogue of ''Jacob's Ladder''. The "blurry face" undercranking effect has almost become a cliche.