What Single Scene Killed an Otherwise Great Movie?

[happyninja42]

Oh god yeah, hah! I forgot about those. I could kind of buy it in the first movie, as it culminated after days of research on the woman's part, to uncover his secret. Highlander: The Quickening though. *stabs self in stomach* "Hey babe! I'm immortal yo! Let's bang!" "Ok!" *jumps bones* So lame. xD

I forget how it happened in the third movie, (which wasn't that bad as I recall. Wasn't great, but it was enjoyable the one time I saw it), but I'm guessing it was similar to the first movie?

Hssss - Don't speak of the 2nd and 4th movies. The 2nd where immortals are actually aliens and the 4th where the quickening is reduced to power levels based on the number of heads taken...instead of you know, skill, with a sword...

I didn't mention the 4th movie, I mentioned the third. The 4th movie was the one with Adrian Paul, and the blue lipped death knight from the Dungeons and Dragons movie right? Never saw it, but I remember watching Spoony do a review of it. His reactions were glorious.

And yes, I DID mention the 2nd movie, HIGHLANDER: THE QUICKENING!! *in the voice of the dwarf from Family Guy* "What you gonna do about it? Wanna fight me? Huh? Come at me!!" *bounces around on his feet, brushing his thumb against his nose, making hissing noises*.

Personally, I don't hate The Quickening, as I found the tv show the superior Highlander setting. Having a full season to flesh out what it would be like to live forever, and pepper the events with tons of backstory flashbacks. Much better than the truncated story of the movies, even the first one. Plus, we got someone who could actually use a fucking sword. Not a nearsighted frenchman with no ability, pretending to be an excellent martial artist. Don't get me wrong, I love Mr. Lambert, and love the first movie, but it's not great. Freddy Mercury helped prop up what would've been a fairly mediocre movie, and rocketed it into cult fandom on his flamboyant, tasseled cape of awesomeness.

 

[Duffeknol]

Far from ruining an otherwise great film but there was a moment in The Revenant where we see a small avalanche in the background of the shot. The problem is that it is noticeably CGI and this really sticks out in a film which is largely free of CGI. It's a seemingly incidental moment too, as far as I could tell the avalanche doesn't have any bearing on the story or even for dramatic purpose in the scene. So any film that breaks immersion for poor reason always sticks out in my mind.

Wanna know something really funny? That avalanche was real, not CGI. Made with explosives. Guess you're not as good at picking out CGI as you think.

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/jan/03/alejandro-gonzalez-inarritu-interview-the-revenant

 

[Semudara]

Well as for my own examples. I was amazed that the final Harry Potter film decided to adapt the books' terrible epilogue chapter into a terrible epilogue scene.

Ironically, while I thought that epilogue almost ruined the whole book by its inclusion and was really terribly written, I actually thought it was done WAY better in the movie. Maybe because it completely leaves out the cloying and unnecessary "everything is completely fine and great now, forever, no question" overtone.

 

[Semudara]

Except she's not being philosophical. The entire scene (Which I can't be bothered to link right now) makes it clear - She really thinks she's being called to her dead boyfriend by the universe. She really thinks love transcends dimensions.

AccursedTheory, I am surprised at you. This is fundamentally untrue, and actually dis-proven by the youtube video you have JUST helpfully provided for us. She's rambling, and even in her rambling prefacing everything with "maybe". When she's eventually over-ruled, she goes along with it. She doesn't turn into a true believer, gibbling about "Love" at every opportunity. She proffers a fuzzy theory in a wild defense of a preferred course of action, because she's a human being operating under tremendous emotional stress.

And the movie makes it clear that's exactly what happens.

It does no such thing!

Cooper is pulled into another dimension to exploit this - While gravity is how he talks to his daughter, its clear that his love somehow allows him to find her, guiding him through a dimension where all time is compressed to a single 'moment.'

How is that clear? The entire tesseract sequence is anything but clear, and it's actually one of the science bits that checks out. It was overseen by a physicist. You know which part he hated? The planet with the ice clouds. He says there was too much artistic license taken there. Tesseract scene? He's FINE WITH IT. It was his favorite sequence.

As for 'why would you watch a movie if you don't like this...' love and emotions are fan thematically devices. But it doesn't mean it fits in everywhere. Ridley doesn't escape from the Nostromo because the love for her daughter and her cat guides her to the escape ship. Interstellar's usage of love is bizarre and jarring because it goes from 'loose but generally realistic sci fi film where love is a motivation' to 'love isn't just a motivation, it's a god damn universal fact that can be exploited by physics we'll understand one day' in about a 2 minute time span.

Well, it primarily appears to be "bizarre and jarring" because a portion of the audience had absolutely no idea how to read a theme. A character said "love" at one point and pocket protectors were flying everywhere in apoplectic rage.

You know, I don't think AccursedTheory's interpretation is wrong. But, as corny as it might be, I actually really liked that about the movie. It wasn't afraid to get a bit whimsical with its philosophy, or its science; and while I understand that being hit-or-miss, I thought it was wonderfully daring and effective.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

You know, I don't think AccursedTheory's interpretation is wrong. But, as corny as it might be, I actually really liked that about the movie. It wasn't afraid to get a bit whimsical with its philosophy, or its science; and while I understand that being hit-or-miss, I thought it was wonderfully daring and effective.

As an interpretation it cannot be wrong or right, because it's left deliberately vague to allow for audience interpretation. His argument that it's CLEAR that A happened because B is verifiably false, IMO.

It's definitely a philosophical film, as all good science fiction should be. And I agree, that element of its construction is laudable. There's just no "Love was behind it all, from the beginning!" moment where they rip a rubber mask off and it's love underneath, as AT is positing. They do not discover that love is the Fifth Element and shoot a love beam into space to destroy evil.

 

[Silk_Sk]

This is probably not the most original answer - but War of the Worlds 2005. The scene where Ray has to choose between which child he wants to take care of. Rachel's treatment is clumsy and easily could have been dealt with by Ray shouting "she's my daughter, fuck off", and Robbie's motivations make no sense just like all of his motivations make no sense.

While I still enjoy the film after this scene, that scene does piss me off immensely and it builds towards a horrifically bewildering ending. It's a shame because the first half of this film is beautifully tense, and the second half has its moments even if the story starts to meander around going nowhere.

What was bewildering about the ending? It's the same ending as every WotW adaption there's been going right back to the original book.

 

[TheVampwizimp_v1legacy]

You know, I don't think AccursedTheory's interpretation is wrong. But, as corny as it might be, I actually really liked that about the movie. It wasn't afraid to get a bit whimsical with its philosophy, or its science; and while I understand that being hit-or-miss, I thought it was wonderfully daring and effective.

As an interpretation it cannot be wrong or right, because it's left deliberately vague to allow for audience interpretation. His argument that it's CLEAR that A happened because B is verifiably false, IMO.

It's definitely a philosophical film, as all good science fiction should be. And I agree, that element of its construction is laudable. There's just no "Love was behind it all, from the beginning!" moment where they rip a rubber mask off and it's love underneath, as AT is positing. They do not discover that love is the Fifth Element and shoot a love beam into space to destroy evil.

I gotta disagree. Completely. I still liked the movie, but the worst part about it was that the ending is allowed to happen because Matthew McConaughey loves his daughter so much he can see through time to find her, in all the universe, at exactly the right place and time. It is literally telling us that the power of an emotion is equivalent to a fundamental force of nature and can be exploited by a scientist to save the world.

 

[09philj]

The very last shot in The Dark Knight Rises. If the movie had ended on a close up of Alfred's face, and him nodding, that would have been perfect. Instead we get Christian Bale grinning and staring. Because that was really needed.

 

[DefunctTheory]

The very last shot in The Dark Knight Rises. If the movie had ended on a close up of Alfred's face, and him nodding, that would have been perfect. Instead we get Christian Bale grinning and staring. Because that was really needed.

Spoiler: Star Wars Spoiler

In the same vein as this, I'd like to throw out Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The final scene was just so bizarre and unnecessary, stretched out presumably just to inflate Mark Hamill's screen time. It didn't ruin the movie completely, so it doesn't really fulfill OPs request, but it in many ways undermined the climax of the movie by going on for so long. It's a testament to the rest of the movie that it survives, I think.

Oh shit, I forgot people may not have seen it yet. I really hope 09philj has. If not, I am so, so sorry.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

The very last shot in The Dark Knight Rises. If the movie had ended on a close up of Alfred's face, and him nodding, that would have been perfect. Instead we get Christian Bale grinning and staring. Because that was really needed.

The Director's Cut version with them running in slow motion, hand-in-hand, down a sun lit beach is even more maudlin.

 

[Spider RedNight]

Faramir and (to a smaller extent) Denethor from the Lord of the Rings movies - they're just so out of character and weird that anytime they're onscreen, I'm just shaking my head. Also lest we forget the part in Return of the King where Denethor runs, like, a mile on fire so he can comically jump off the railing. I love the hell outta that movie but I just can't take that part (or the parts in TT/RotK where Faramir acts all tempted by the Ring) seriously.

Also it didn't ruin it for me but if they removed the framing device for Book of Life, I'd be happier - those kids are friggin' annoying.

 

[Remus]

Oh god yeah, hah! I forgot about those. I could kind of buy it in the first movie, as it culminated after days of research on the woman's part, to uncover his secret. Highlander: The Quickening though. *stabs self in stomach* "Hey babe! I'm immortal yo! Let's bang!" "Ok!" *jumps bones* So lame. xD

I forget how it happened in the third movie, (which wasn't that bad as I recall. Wasn't great, but it was enjoyable the one time I saw it), but I'm guessing it was similar to the first movie?

Hssss - Don't speak of the 2nd and 4th movies. The 2nd where immortals are actually aliens and the 4th where the quickening is reduced to power levels based on the number of heads taken...instead of you know, skill, with a sword...

In the third movie, the girl gives Connor the speech after she finds a piece of his kilt in a 500 yr old cave and retraces his bloodline based off the lines in the kilt. And then they have sex. Gotta say, Deborah Unger was not bad to look at in those days.

 

[Silverbeard]

Batman Begins: During the finale there comes a bit where Rachel asks Batman who he really is. And instead of Batman being the stolid and unflappable warrior he's presented as in the film... he basically spits out his identity for the woman. Presumably because he hasn't wet his dick in years and is hoping that his muscles and gravelly voice will impress the lady into bending over for him.
C'mon, Bats. Grow a fucking pair. Be as emotionless as you seem to believe people think you are. I loved the movie up until that point but that scene made me drop my face into my palms.

The very last shot in The Dark Knight Rises. If the movie had ended on a close up of Alfred's face, and him nodding, that would have been perfect. Instead we get Christian Bale grinning and staring. Because that was really needed.

The Director's Cut version with them running in slow motion, hand-in-hand, down a sun lit beach is even more maudlin.

If this is really true I'm going to break something.

 

[Evonisia]

This is probably not the most original answer - but War of the Worlds 2005. The scene where Ray has to choose between which child he wants to take care of. Rachel's treatment is clumsy and easily could have been dealt with by Ray shouting "she's my daughter, fuck off", and Robbie's motivations make no sense just like all of his motivations make no sense.

While I still enjoy the film after this scene, that scene does piss me off immensely and it builds towards a horrifically bewildering ending. It's a shame because the first half of this film is beautifully tense, and the second half has its moments even if the story starts to meander around going nowhere.

What was bewildering about the ending? It's the same ending as every WotW adaption there's been going right back to the original book.

Spoiler

I'm fine with the ending until the very last minute. The way the Aliens are defeated is fine.

I'm more bewildered by the fact that Robbie lives. The way the film portrays the scene where Robbie charges with the army to fight the Tripods does not leave his fate ambiguous enough to even suggest that he could have survived.

I'm not familiar with all the WotW adaptations, but I'm willing to guess that they didn't present a character as blatantly walking in to a fire then all of a sudden showing up for the last minute of the film alive and reasonably unscathed.

 

[Synigma]

I'd go further than that and argue the fact that the film departed so heavily from the book was a massive problem. I enjoyed the movie for what it was but the ending seemed like a massive just...well they pulled it from nowhere to make everything happiness and light.

Then I read the book and...well...spoilers...

Spoiler

In All You Need is Kill it culminates with the aliens attacking the base. The character Tom Cruise is based on is looping at this point but Rita hasn't lost her ability to do so. However this particular loop is centred around him, which has turned Rita into the equivalent of one of the resetting aliens too (its more complicated than this but I'm paraphrasing) and in the book version you need to specifically kill the aliens that reset the day in a specific order to stop them from resetting it. So in short they can't both escape from the loop, either he needs to die to end his looping or she needs to die so as to remove the ability for the aliens to keep resetting.

She attacks him, forcing him to fight in a one-on-one climactic battle. He reluctantly fights back and kills her. Going on to take up her mantle as the 'one hope for humanity' due to his ability, unknown to most, of resetting the day when he dies. But overall you get the impression that he'd give up all those plaudits and honours and medals to have her back.

I can understand WHY the film didn't go with this kind of tragic ending. But its still a bit disappointing because I feel its a much stronger finale.

I heard the book's ending was massively different and ya that sounds pretty cool. I would love to see that sort of ending on a mini-series but I can also understand for a movie they would have to simplify it for the runtime's sake. I'm glad I'm not the only one that felt that ending was just... it just didn't match the tone of the movie. Personally I found it so jarring that it went from a 'must see' movie to just 'meh, it was fun'.

The very last shot in The Dark Knight Rises. If the movie had ended on a close up of Alfred's face, and him nodding, that would have been perfect. Instead we get Christian Bale grinning and staring. Because that was really needed.

Hollywood treats it's audiences like a bunch of ADHD children and it ruins so many endings. Think about some of the most memorable endings; Bladerunner: was Deckard a replicant? Inception: was he still dreaming? Or even The Godfather: he closes the door on his wife symbolizing that the whole process is starting again... instead of him walking up to the camera and telling us flat out "yeah, I'm the new godfather now." A great ending wraps up the story, giving us closure, but leaves the characters facing some kind of unknown future, for better or worse, and that leaves our brain running, filling in gaps, and engaging with the story even after it's suppose to be done.

Just a theory.

 

[Redryhno]

Oh! I just thought of one!

The finale of Here Comes the Boom:

Spoiler

The underdog of course beats the world champion at MMA fighting, and saves the day. This is such a cliche ending, and honestly totally against the premise of the story. The whole movie, he's doing MMA as a means to an end. He didn't care about winning. The amount of money he got for just showing up to fight, was enough to pay for the kids to keep their school programs. He even had fun with it, amping up his showmanship and then just giving a good showing in the fight. But even when he lost, he'd still happily walk away with several hundred, if not a few thousand dollars, each fight. Steadily reaching his cash goal. But then at the end, he has to win, because someone stole the money. And of course he does. I would've LOVED it instead, if he had fought, and lost. And then had the champion show up a day later, giving him the prize money as a donation to the school's budget. When asked why, he could say "Hey, it's a tax writeoff, and besides, I heard why you were doing this, and wanted to help. Besides, the good PR I'll get for doing this will net me so much cash in endorsements, that I will be swimming in money!" *cunning grin and pat guy on the arm* "Good luck teach! Cya around! You've got a good right hook!" *walks out as the kids cheer, showing that you don't have to win to be victorious* But instead, I got a run of the mill Underdog Saves the Day story, which made me go from really enjoying this movie, to just, "meh".

Ehhh, considering the setup of MMA, he wasn't really fighting the world champ, just a random guy on the circuit. They even say in the movie that he was looking forward to a real fight to further his career, not a defense for a title, and that's why he was so pissed off he was fighting a newbie.

If you want to see a movie ACTUALLY using love as an elemental power, watch The Fifth Element.

I'd argue that it's more a catalyst and that Hope is the actual elemental power. She does completely lose faith in humanity after looking up war after all. And it takes Dallas reminding her for her to go glowy light shooty.

 

[Scarim Coral]

I gonna typed Prometheus but it kinda hard to pinned down the the specific single scene since there were several-

Those two scientist that got lost at the start of the film and both were stupid to approach that alien cobra vagina.
The other scientist touching stuff inside like there were no tomorrow!
The two female characters running away from the spacecraft SHADOW when it is clear the length/ width of the craft is alot shorter to escape from!

EDIT-
I just remember this scene from Ant-Man

Spoiler: Baskin Robbin

Yes I know Ant-Man was more comedical for a Marvel film and I still overall loved it but dangit I have a sence of disbelief. Don't quote me that I can believe in a god cube, a man achieving a sonicboom in a metal suit (a mate say he should had pass out). I just can't believed a man walked in there thinking they sell hot stuff WITHOUT looking at their advertment sign inside the shop!
It would be like if I walked into KFC without knowing what the C in KFC stand for, didn't bother looking at the menu above the staff and asked for a BEEF burger!
Maybe I just haven't encounter that sort of idiot in retail yet.
Also yeah that "dog" scene was the same level of stupidity too!

 

[happyninja42]

In the third movie, the girl gives Connor the speech after she finds a piece of his kilt in a 500 yr old cave and retraces his bloodline based off the lines in the kilt. And then they have sex. Gotta say, Deborah Unger was not bad to look at in those days.

She's still not bad to look at.

Oh! I just thought of one!

The finale of Here Comes the Boom:

Spoiler

The underdog of course beats the world champion at MMA fighting, and saves the day. This is such a cliche ending, and honestly totally against the premise of the story. The whole movie, he's doing MMA as a means to an end. He didn't care about winning. The amount of money he got for just showing up to fight, was enough to pay for the kids to keep their school programs. He even had fun with it, amping up his showmanship and then just giving a good showing in the fight. But even when he lost, he'd still happily walk away with several hundred, if not a few thousand dollars, each fight. Steadily reaching his cash goal. But then at the end, he has to win, because someone stole the money. And of course he does. I would've LOVED it instead, if he had fought, and lost. And then had the champion show up a day later, giving him the prize money as a donation to the school's budget. When asked why, he could say "Hey, it's a tax writeoff, and besides, I heard why you were doing this, and wanted to help. Besides, the good PR I'll get for doing this will net me so much cash in endorsements, that I will be swimming in money!" *cunning grin and pat guy on the arm* "Good luck teach! Cya around! You've got a good right hook!" *walks out as the kids cheer, showing that you don't have to win to be victorious* But instead, I got a run of the mill Underdog Saves the Day story, which made me go from really enjoying this movie, to just, "meh".

Ehhh, considering the setup of MMA, he wasn't really fighting the world champ, just a random guy on the circuit. They even say in the movie that he was looking forward to a real fight to further his career, not a defense for a title, and that's why he was so pissed off he was fighting a newbie.

Oh, I thought he was the reigning champ or something. But still, my analysis holds.

 

[DefunctTheory]

I gonna typed Prometheus but it kinda hard to pinned down the the specific single scene since there were several-

Those two scientist that got lost at the start of the film and both were stupid to approach that alien cobra vagina.
The other scientist touching stuff inside like there were no tomorrow!
The two female characters running away from the spacecraft SHADOW when it is clear the length/ width of the craft is alot shorter to escape from!

I'd be interested in finding a scene in that movie that gave it any sort of positive aspect. The whole thing is a massive train wreck.