Frustrating Movies

[Jabberwock]

Reading through the good scenes in bad movies thread, I was struck with an idea. What are some movies that were frustrating? These are movies that started really well, but fell apart at the end.

One of the first ones that springs to mind was "Stargate." Pretty cool first and second acts (providing you accept the movie's flawed archaeology and the Ancient Astronaut thesis going in), ruined by some poor acting and a utterly predictable ending. If you stopped the movie where they first came out of the stargate and rewrote the rest of the film...

[A_Feeble_Mind]

Office Space

Hilarious... until they realized that they needed to end the film and threw that "Superman 3" crap in.

[LucyR]

Gosford Park. Should've worked - just didn't.

[RebeccaBradley]

Gladiator: the implication that Max's death somehow redeemed Rome and made the Romans better and nicer people - whereas all that happened after the difficult 2nd century was the disastrous 3rd century.

[chrisberez]

I thought "Signs" was pretty good, until it completely feel apart with an ending that I found both ridiculous and insulting. First off, the idea of aliens being so easily defeated by water coming to a planet that is 2/3 water, etc.

Second, I hate movies that use an atheist character only for the purpose of that character being converted or re-converted at the end.

Third, the movie seems to conclude that God:
a)killed this guys wife in order to send him a message of how to save his family in the future.
b)decided to do something to reavow this one man's faith while allowing the deaths of (presumeably) thousands of others.

But until then, I appreciated the tense, claustrophobic, quite sense of dread the movie wove. But man, that ending was so dissapointing.

[Voob]

Adaptation.

I can appreciate the irony of the movie mocking itself, but I was disappointed to see it turn into exactly what the main character didn't want to have in his movie.
I know it was done on purpose, but it kind of ruined the potential beauty of it for me.

[shecky]

Raiders Of The Lost Ark.

You have Indiana Jones swashbuckling through all kinds of impossible situations, surviving by his wits, luck, strength and sheer will. Yet in the end, when the Nazis are about to reveal the power of the ark and it looks like the end for our hero (once again), all of a sudden, it's the Woo Woo Magic Of God to the rescue to smite the evildoers into oblivion.

What a cop out. :(

[rastamonte]

The Stand (the book). Great buildup of characters and story, good against evil, but in the end the hand of god just comes down out of the clouds and wipes out the bad guys, all the buildup is for nothing.

[LucyR]

Any so-called pornographic film in which genitals are not observable.

[wollery]

The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable were both disappointing for me. Any film that relies on building tension up until the final plot twist is going to be disappointing if you can work out what that plot twist is going to be before the movie is a third of the way through!

[kittynh]

How about kids movies?

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang...an Ian Fleming book that would make a wonderful movie. I loved the book, and when I saw the movie I almost puked.

Tuck Everlasting....a wonderful book that preteens love. A movie that decided to go to the young girl crowd and took a beloved novel and ruined it.

A film done correctly, "Cold Comfort Farm", not exactly like the book, but the feel and story come through. A well done job.

[Ove]

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang...an Ian Fleming book that would make a wonderful movie. I loved the book, and when I saw the movie I almost puked.
Know exactly how you feel, i've read that book too. Where f.inst. are the recipe for the worlds best Nougat? ;)

[Zombified]

The Thin Red Line.

Beautifully shot. Never edited.

There was a good story about interesting characters buried in there somewhere. There were also a lot of really bad cameos that didn't fit into the movie at all. Woody Harrelson was especially bad, it was like Oliver Stone took the movie over for five minutes. And I'll never buy John 'Space Cooties' Travolta as Nick Nolte's CO...

And long. Oh, so a$$-numbingly long.

[Bluegill]

Originally posted by RebeccaBradley
Gladiator: the implication that Max's death somehow redeemed Rome and made the Romans better and nicer people - whereas all that happened after the difficult 2nd century was the disastrous 3rd century.

I'm trying to put my finger on why this post cracked me up. I think it's the juxtaposition of mundane subject matter with epic, sweeping indictment. :) It just got me.


I'd like to mention any movie that has an involving story and then ends with It Was All a Dream. "Jacob's Ladder" was interesting and creepy, but I felt let down. It seems like a few Star Trek episodes were like that, one way or another. Sometimes this plot twist is partially redeemed by having revealed very important information about characters, or by introducing some level of symbolic or supernatural conflict into a story line. At least "Jacob's Ladder" and most worthy TV series that try this (and, if a series lasts long enough, it eventually will try it.) But sometimes the story writer just stretches this lame old idea out for no reason at all, and that sux.

[patnray]

"Leap of Faith"

Great job exposing what a sham faith healing is until the total cop out at the end...

[nelsondogg]

AI - Brilliant movie until the contrived, unbelievably stupid happy ending.

[zakur]

Originally posted by nelsondogg
AI - Brilliant movie until the contrived, unbelievably stupid happy ending. Seconded.

When the ship crashed at the bottom of the sea with the boy staring at the "Blue Lady" presumably for eternity, I thought "Wow, what a powerful ending."

I should have known better.

Spielberg really f*cked that ending up big time.

[Quester_X]

Third vote for AI. I was spitting mad when I left the theater. I think that it should have ended with David plunging himself in the sea. That way, the movie would have made a point about the need to be an individual and not just a ''thing". I also second the votes for the Stand and Signs. Blegh, both of them. My own vote goes for the new Ladykillers. NOT the kind of movie I was expecting, and just had so many little flaws that detracted from the movie. It could have been so much better.

[JAR]

Originally posted by patnray
"Leap of Faith"

Great job exposing what a sham faith healing is until the total cop out at the end...
I agree. The part at the end where an actual miracle occured following other parts that showed skepticism of faith healers was totally disappointing. It became clear at that part that the makers of the film were just making a Christian propaganda film. It seems to me that the makers of the film didn't get the fact that having a miracle happen in a fictional movie doesn't make religious beliefs true.

[Zombified]

Originally posted by Quester_X
Third vote for AI. I was spitting mad when I left the theater. I think that it should have ended with David plunging himself in the sea. That way, the movie would have made a point about the need to be an individual and not just a ''thing".I guess I have a different interpretation of AI...

Here's the thing: "David" never, ever deviated from its programming in any way whatsoever. It was programmed to "love mommy" and that's exactly what it did. It never learned, most significantly, it never matured.

It was a machine. Not a person.

Kubrick was trying to make the point that human emotions and sentiment are the same thing: the programmed responses of machines. Because of the Pinoccio motif and David's charismatic behavior, the audience was tricked into believing David really could become a real little boy, but that was Kubrick manipulating the human emotional program for a little audience participation. Kubrick was planning to attack people's most cherished and deeply held emotions.

Spielberg tried to change the movie, especially the ending, to make it sentimental and life-affirming, trying to exorcise the cold, cynical ghost of Stanley Kubrick. He failed. He obscured Kubrick's purpose, but didn't comprehend the implications of David's mechanistic failure to mature. So it ended up a Kubrick movie after all.

[LuxFerum]

Fight club.


Really cool movie, but the end really sucks.

[Beancounter]

Star Wars Parts 1 & 2.

But these were frustrating because the original SW movies were so good and these films were just so ordinary.

[Jabberwock]

Originally posted by Beancounter
Star Wars Parts 1 & 2.


I'd go back further to "Return of the Jedi." A mainly yawn inducing first twenty minutes, followed by a quick ten minute wrap up of all the "mysteries" from the first two movies ("He's your dad and she's your sister"), then to top it off...what do stormtroopers fear more than a frigate full of Rebels? A forest of Care Bears! The movie was almost saved by the confrontation between Vader, Luke, and the Emperor plotline, but I couldn't get the image of armored stormtroopers going down in a hail of STICKS and STONES out of my head! :p

[Beancounter]

Originally posted by Jabberwock


I'd go back further to "Return of the Jedi." A mainly yawn inducing first twenty minutes, followed by a quick ten minute wrap up of all the "mysteries" from the first two movies ("He's your dad and she's your sister"), then to top it off...what do stormtroopers fear more than a frigate full of Rebels? A forest of Care Bears! The movie was almost saved by the confrontation between Vader, Luke, and the Emperor plotline, but I couldn't get the image of armored stormtroopers going down in a hail of STICKS and STONES out of my head! :p

Fair comment - it is some time since I saw them so I am clearly wearing the rose tinted specs!

[Jabberwock]

Originally posted by Beancounter


Fair comment - it is some time since I saw them so I am clearly wearing the rose tinted specs!

:D I know all about those! I often use them to watch the original "Rollerball"

[Brian]

Originally posted by Zombified
I guess I have a different interpretation of AI...

Here's the thing: "David" never, ever deviated from its programming in any way whatsoever. It was programmed to "love mommy" and that's exactly what it did. It never learned, most significantly, it never matured.

It was a machine. Not a person.

Kubrick was trying to make the point that human emotions and sentiment are the same thing: the programmed responses of machines. Because of the Pinoccio motif and David's charismatic behavior, the audience was tricked into believing David really could become a real little boy, but that was Kubrick manipulating the human emotional program for a little audience participation. Kubrick was planning to attack people's most cherished and deeply held emotions.

Spielberg tried to change the movie, especially the ending, to make it sentimental and life-affirming, trying to exorcise the cold, cynical ghost of Stanley Kubrick. He failed. He obscured Kubrick's purpose, but didn't comprehend the implications of David's mechanistic failure to mature. So it ended up a Kubrick movie after all.
Yup. Kubrick was a.. well I don't know what the hell he was. Speilberg is a 90% great film maker. He just adds that cheery glow to everything. Ruins his movies. Jaws was great, Schindlers List was important, Saving Private Ryan was interesting.

[sorgoth]

Originally posted by Voob
Adaptation.

I can appreciate the irony of the movie mocking itself, but I was disappointed to see it turn into exactly what the main character didn't want to have in his movie.
I know it was done on purpose, but it kind of ruined the potential beauty of it for me.


Agreed!

I loved the movie up until that part...the desperation, the voiceovers, the movie slowly making itself... all that.

But then the action starts :/.


Gothika. I liked the beginning of that movie, and was hoping that she really was crazy, that it wouldn't be yet another preditable "It's not really her, she's not crazy, they just don't believe her" movie. When the action started, that's when it started to suck.

[bluess]

'Man on Fire' (plot spoiler follows ...) So, the guy blew up half of Mexico and the kid is alive? And siller even, why wouldn't the kidnappers have killed this kid if they'd killed every other one?

League of Extraordinary Gentleman looked like it would be so much fun....and then they had a submarine the size of the Empire State Building easily navigating the canals of Venice, continuity problems and the usual 'good guys are SOOO stupid' plot line.

[gnome]

Originally posted by kittynh
Tuck Everlasting....a wonderful book that preteens love. A movie that decided to go to the young girl crowd and took a beloved novel and ruined it.

There was an earlier version of the movie (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081664/) that I remember loving. The new movie just left me feeling... eh...

[Mr Manifesto]

Originally posted by Jabberwock


I'd go back further to "Return of the Jedi." A mainly yawn inducing first twenty minutes, followed by a quick ten minute wrap up of all the "mysteries" from the first two movies ("He's your dad and she's your sister"), then to top it off...what do stormtroopers fear more than a frigate full of Rebels? A forest of Care Bears! The movie was almost saved by the confrontation between Vader, Luke, and the Emperor plotline, but I couldn't get the image of armored stormtroopers going down in a hail of STICKS and STONES out of my head! :p

And if that wasn't annoying enough, Lucas obviously ran out of ideas for ultimate weapons, so we get... another Death Star. Even solarmanite would have been less tedious than this.

But give him this much- the Emperor firing lightning bolts out of his fingers was a pretty cool special effect for the time.

[rebecca]

Originally posted by Mr Manifesto


And if that wasn't annoying enough, Lucas obviously ran out of ideas for ultimate weapons, so we get... another Death Star. Even solarmanite would have been less tedious than this.

But give him this much- the Emperor firing lightning bolts out of his fingers was a pretty cool special effect for the time.

I'll have no more of this Return of the Jedi-bashing. Those Ewoks were AWESOME, as was their delightful treehouse, the box to which my parents keep Christmas ornaments in TO THIS DAY.

---Signed rebecca, who was two at the time of the theatrical release.

[varwoche]

Originally posted by Voob
Adaptation.

I can appreciate the irony of the movie mocking itself, but I was disappointed to see it turn into exactly what the main character didn't want to have in his movie.
I know it was done on purpose, but it kind of ruined the potential beauty of it for me.
OK, the ending was frustrating.

But for an hour and a half that was one of the most amazingly original films, pure genuis, thank the universe for Charlie Kaufman.

[Frostbite]

Originally posted by Jabberwock


I'd go back further to "Return of the Jedi." A mainly yawn inducing first twenty minutes, followed by a quick ten minute wrap up of all the "mysteries" from the first two movies ("He's your dad and she's your sister"), then to top it off...what do stormtroopers fear more than a frigate full of Rebels? A forest of Care Bears! The movie was almost saved by the confrontation between Vader, Luke, and the Emperor plotline, but I couldn't get the image of armored stormtroopers going down in a hail of STICKS and STONES out of my head! :p

I hate to admit it but yeah, RotJ was the beginning of the end for Lucas. It had a lot of cheese in it, and the Special Edition went even further in the thick velveeta crust with a new vomit-inducing musical piece in Jabba's Palace. However, I still think RotJ's space battle was the best ever.

[Piscivore]

I'd have to nominate the abomination that was ABC's "Wrinkle in Time".

I waited a LONG time for that movie, and then it was just awful. Everything on Camazotz was very very wrong. Alfre Woodard played Mrs. Whatsit as a cartoon character, the Ixchelians looked like baby Chewbaccas, and the Happy Medium was made to be a giggling idiot.

I thought the kids did a good job, though.

[BoulderHead`]

There was a DVD disk that a friend sent me containing two movies, though I have only watched one of them. The one I viewed had Omar Sheriff and some other notable actors but it was really bad. The acting struck me as poor and the ending seemed never to arrive. I believe the movie was titled: Beyond Justice, which seems suitable to me as no words I can utter do justice to this film. Although it has been a year or more I have not been able to bring myself to view the other movie which came with it (Escape From Sobidor), fearing it would be as bad. Perhaps someone having seen this last one could tell me if it is worth watching?

There was a John Wayne movie made in the 1930’s (several, actually, but here I speak only of a particular one) that was something of a stinker, though I do not remember the title. In more modern times I felt that the third Matrix movie blew a dog. My apologies for the bad language, as I had only a single drink this evening and already I feel surprisingly giddy.

[aerosolben]

Originally posted by Brian

Yup. Kubrick was a.. well I don't know what the hell he was. Speilberg is a 90% great film maker. He just adds that cheery glow to everything. Ruins his movies. Jaws was great, Schindlers List was important, Saving Private Ryan was interesting.
There's was a (conspiracy) theory proposed by some movie buffs that Spielberg did not actually direct Schindler's List, because it's so different and and so much better than his other films.

Oh, and Beancounter's avatar is excellent.

[boooeee]

Originally posted by Frostbite
I hate to admit it but yeah, RotJ was the beginning of the end for Lucas. It had a lot of cheese in it, and the Special Edition went even further in the thick velveeta crust with a new vomit-inducing musical piece in Jabba's Palace. However, I still think RotJ's space battle was the best ever.

50 Reasons Why Return of the Jedi Sucks (http://www.digiserve.com/eescape/closet/silly/50-Reasons-Jedi-Sucks.html)

Some excerpts:

1. EWOKS, EWOKS, EWOKS: One of the miracles of the Star Wars trilogy is that Lucas's bizarre and ever present fascination with little people didn't hurt the first two films. The Jawas were cool. But George had to push his luck. The Ewoks are not cool. Period. In circles of die-hard Star Wars fans, to say you hate the Ewoks is like saying you enjoy breathing air. The Ewoks are the primary example of many of the points on this list: their unapologetic cuddliness is uncharacteristic and unwelcome; they look fake; they engage in constant physical comedy; their teddy bear design is wholly uninteresting; they live in boring surroundings; several of the film's dumbest scenes revolve around them; they were originally supposed to have been Wookies; and they sing that damn song at the end (well, at least until the Special Edition). But aside from what we see on-screen, the Ewoks are miserable little creatures for a completely different reason: they are the single clearest example of Lucas's willingness to compromise the integrity of his trilogy in favor of merchandising dollars. How intensely were the Ewoks marketed? Consider this: Ewok is a household word, despite the fact that it's never once spoken in the film.

11. MUSIC: The soundtrack to Wars is an unquestioned classic. Empire's soundtrack gave us the trilogy's best piece of music: "The Imperial March." What does Jedi have to offer? Some playful Peter and the Wolf-esque Ewok tunes and Jabba's foam-and-latex band. The song "Lapti Nek' was translated into English for an MTV video, and we learned that "Lapti Nek" actually means "workin' out." That whole Flashdance craze was certainly popular back in 1983, but now it's just embarrassing. Jabba's band is a pale imitation of Wars' cantina musicians. The Muppets look fake, and the music they play is truly wretched. (Yet one of the scenes added to the Special Edition Jedi is another song by the band!) Even more insipid, though, is the Ewoks' celebratory "Yub-yub" number at the end (now cut from the Special Edition), which sounds suspiciously as if it's sung not by Ewoks but by humans. The theme to the Alien Nation TV show sounded more authentic.

13. OBI-WAN'S APPEARANCE TO LUKE: In case you missed the first two films, Obi-Wan Kenobi is supposed to be dead. In Wars and Empire, he made himself known to Luke through an occasional voice in the head or in a floating vision. In Jedi, all of Obi-Wan's street credibility as a wizened spiritual guide is thrown out the window when he appears on Dagobah and shuffles around like Fred G. Sanford in a coat of glow paint. Rather than floating in one place, he fades in twenty feet away and walks up to Luke, eventually resting his non-corporeal butt on a rock. The ensuing two-way conversation scrambles to tie up too many loose ends at once, made worse by the fact that the character saying it all shouldn't even be there on such a literal level. And unlike his similarly flawed Dagobah appearance in Empire, Obi-Wan never fades back into oblivion once his message is delivered in Jedi. For all we know, he and Luke could have spent hours hanging out and gossiping like housewives.

20. BOBA FETT'S DEATH: It's inexcusable that such an imposing figure as Boba Fett -- the one bounty hunter good enough to capture Solo -- flies clumsily to his death in the Sarlacc pit while screaming like Shemp from the Three Stooges. Any Star Wars geek worth his weight in trading cards will tell you that Boba Fett is the trilogy's most underused character. His brief but badass appearance in Empire had us all anxiously awaiting the next film, assuming his role would be greatly expanded by the events surrounding what we then thought would be an incredible escape by Han. Not only does Fett have nothing to do in Jedi, but in the ultimate indignity, he's killed off without ceremony or honor for no better reason than another damn burp joke. According to the novels and comics, Fett survived. But that's not what's implied in the film itself, and it doesn't make the scene any less shameful.

50. THE SARLACC PIT AS FREUD'S VAGINA DENTATA: Come on, like it never occurred to you.

[hawkins_anderson]

2001: A Space Odyssey - I understood the damn thing but it just wasn't working for me. ;)

[Frank Newgent]

Citizen Kane. Just found out that what Charles Foster Kane really whispers is: "Rumsfeld".

[Aardvark_DK]

Ok, so I had unbelievably high expectations of it, and it certainly didn't "fall apart at the end", but Park Chan-wook's new movie Old Boy dissapointed me slightly. Somehow the plot, particularly towards the end, seemed too laboured. I suppose I should have known that there was no way it could live up to Park's previous film, the masterpiece Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance.

Still, Old Boy was given the Grand Prix award at Cannes - quite surprising considering what a gross movie it is (gross in a good way, but still gross).

[rastamonte]

My 9-year old daughter was extremely disappointed with "Ella Enchanted". She read the book and was excited to go see the movie, but then found that the movie didn't hardly follow the book at all. I told her that this is true of most movies, and that the lesson she should learn is ALWAYS read the book, it's usually better.

[LostAngeles]

Originally posted by Jabberwock


I'd go back further to "Return of the Jedi." A mainly yawn inducing first twenty minutes, followed by a quick ten minute wrap up of all the "mysteries" from the first two movies ("He's your dad and she's your sister"), then to top it off...what do stormtroopers fear more than a frigate full of Rebels? A forest of Care Bears! The movie was almost saved by the confrontation between Vader, Luke, and the Emperor plotline, but I couldn't get the image of armored stormtroopers going down in a hail of STICKS and STONES out of my head! :p

I liked the beginning of RoTJ. No, rather, that was the only time I liked Luke Skywalker. He was pretty badass. Plus, Carrie Fisher looked nice in that outfit. I wish I could pull that off.

Any scene with Emperor Palpatine in it was absitively great. Especially when he mocks Luke with his sad little comment about "Oh, this battle station works. Sucks to be you." Ian McDirmand does make his scenes in I and II more platable also.

And lastly, Mon Mothma's one moment. Because damn if her actress didn't just portray a calm and elegant commander.

Ewoks are my hell for sucking and for taking down the Baby AT-ATs.

More on the topic, Mission to Mars. I paid to see that. Don Cheadle is better than that. Jerry O'Connell isn't, but he knows it and makes his part enjoyable. That movie almost ruined Dr. Pepper for me too. You know, don't even get me started on the stupid CG'ed alien's one lousy tear.

I also add every Schumacher Batman movie, the end of Batman Returns (that mask does -not- come off!), the plot holes of Equilibrium, and Argento's Phenomena. That movie was all right until the freaking monkey in the last minute and a half. Way to ruin your one good movie.

[Brian]

Back when me and 2 of my friends had rented nearly every movie in the horror section of the local blockbuster, we came across Stuff Stephani in the Incinerator. Not only was it a sucky, no budget, stupid plot mess;

At no time did Stephanie come even remotely close to getting stuffed into the incinerator!
No one got stuffed in the incinerator at all!

Never felt so cheated in my life.

[Piscivore]

Originally posted by boooeee

50. THE SARLACC PIT AS FREUD'S VAGINA DENTATA: Come on, like it never occurred to you.

Heh. (http://www.queenofwands.net/d/20040121.html)

[kookbreaker]

Originally posted by Jabberwock


:D I know all about those! I often use them to watch the original "Rollerball"

They the ones that let you forget the 1-1/2 hours of James Caan muttering philosophy between games?

I can't decide if its really good acting of a monosyllabic sports star or really bad acting.

[Leif Roar]

"Constantine (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0360486/)", and I haven't even seen that movie yet. (And most likely never will. Keanue Reeves as John Constantine? Keanue @#$%@# Reeves!?)

For a movie that I have seen - "Starship Troopers." Read the book, liked the book, went to see the movie. ARRRRGH!

[RSLancastr]

Originally posted by Jabberwock
then to top it off...what do stormtroopers fear more than a frigate full of Rebels? A forest of Care Bears!A month or two before RotJ's release, I was in a toy store and saw a display of Ewok toys. As soon as I realized they were from the up-and-coming Star Waras movie, I turned to my then wife and said "That movie is going to be an utter pile of crap, if this is any indication."

It was indeed.

[Jabberwock]

Originally posted by kookbreaker


They the ones that let you forget the 1-1/2 hours of James Caan muttering philosophy between games?

I can't decide if its really good acting of a monosyllabic sports star or really bad acting.

It really good acting + violence + motorcycles on fire! :D
It's that I was twelve when I first saw it and the philosophy was so "kewl" (to my twelve year old mind) that I overlooked the way it was delivered. :) Even now, when I watch it, I am reminded of what things were like when I was twelve. The glasses do have their limits, though. I loved the original Battlestar Galactica. Now I can't sit through more than about twenty minutes of it. :p