Sci-Fi Movies That Have Come Out That Excited You but Disapointed You

[Harvey]

Re: Sci-Fi Movies That Have Come Out That Excited You but Disapointed

You know, I bought Event Horizon a couple of months ago and quite liked it. Watching the trailers on the DVD, it was advertised as a scary space movie, and that's what we got. You shouldn't hold the film back for not being something else. If I have any complaint it's that Anderson was rushed on the edit, and I wish that he had been able to find them materials in order to polish the film.

I don't know if you'd classify it as science fiction, but I was hugely disappointed in The Mummy Returns, which wasn't anthing near as fun as The Mummy, which I felt had potential as a new Indiana Jones.

Godzilla was pretty disappointing, because Stargate and Independence Day were both solid (if mindless) science fiction films from the same creative team. Godzilla was just mindless, and horribly miscast.

There are probably others, but to be honest, I don't feel "disappointed" by most science fiction films these days. Most are terribly formulaic crowd pleasers by design, and don't even bother raising my hopes to begin with.

 

[FPAlpha]

Re: Sci-Fi Movies That Have Come Out That Excited You but Disapointed

Phantom Menace

Back in the day i saw the first trailer in the TV.. Darth Maul standing on some steps, looking all menacing and igniting his lightsaber.

I thought "Man.. that dude looks awesome!"

Then another blade comes out of the other side and my jaw hit the floor.. i was utterly astonished at the sight and nearly lost it.

Sadly that trailer moved me more than the entire prequel trilogy (apart from a few scenes.. mostly in RotS).

 

[Rackon]

Re: Sci-Fi Movies That Have Come Out That Excited You but Disapointed

Superman Returns - best trailer ever. Terrible movie.

Sunshine - gorgeous drivel

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - my favorite book of the series, worst movie.

Oh, I quite liked OOTP movie, and I loved parts of it. Thought the book needed drastic editing myself. I know I'm one of the few, but I really like Yates as a HP director. My favorite so far has been Prisoner of Azkaban - I love director Alphonso Cuaron and this film is the only HP movie with any real visual poetry. The first and second HPs suffer from Columbus' stodgy "style" (shudder).

 

[Greg Cox]

Re: Sci-Fi Movies That Have Come Out That Excited You but Disapointed

Probably true, Greg, but I was disappointed nonetheless. When I saw it, I didn't know anything about the movie other than it had Sam Neill and was set in space. I really loved the premise...right up until it became a generic gory movie.

You're not the only person who had that reaction. There was obviously a marketing snafu there. They should have made it clear that it was a horror movie first and a sf film second . . . .

 

[Rackon]

Re: Sci-Fi Movies That Have Come Out That Excited You but Disapointed

Probably true, Greg, but I was disappointed nonetheless. When I saw it, I didn't know anything about the movie other than it had Sam Neill and was set in space. I really loved the premise...right up until it became a generic gory movie.

You're not the only person who had that reaction. There was obviously a marketing snafu there. They should have made it clear that it was a horror movie first and a sf film second . . . .

But the first half was very much set up as a sci-fi movie. Remember, I love Alien, so boogey men in space isn't something I'm necessarily opposed to.

What I do dislike though is boring, mindless splatter and gore in place of a coherent story. So horror and suspense elements don't deter me at all, but mediocre storytelling definitely does. And to me, neither the screenwriters nor the director knew what to do with their third act. It was just by the numbers gore by the end, lame and not very interesting at all.

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

Re: Sci-Fi Movies That Have Come Out That Excited You but Disapointed

Ghosts of Mars: John Carpenter remakes the same movies over and over. His mojo ran out in the 90's.

Escape from LA: John Carpenter remakes the same movies over and over. His mojo ran out in the 90's.

John Carpenter's Vampires:John Carpenter remakes the same movies over and over. His mojo ran out in the 90's.

I'm kidding. I mean, the part about being excited about any of those movies. But Carpenter did some good films, then what happened?

 

[LitmusDragon]

Re: Sci-Fi Movies That Have Come Out That Excited You but Disapointed

Titan AE - This movie is like the gift that keeps on disappointing. There are aspects of it that I really enjoy- some of the visual effects are awesome, the character design is great, and the voice acting is *mostly* good (Matt Damon seems to be phoning it in at times but I digress). The plot though, ultimately leads nowhere and doesn't make any real sense. This movie was a big deal at the time, if I remember correctly it was the most expensive animated movie produced to that date. Too bad it mostly failed to deliver.

Transformers - I wanted to like this. Really, I did. In fact, I think the first half of the movie is mostly good. Then somewhere in the middle- either the several minute masturbation joke, or possibly the robot pissing on John Turturro- it jumps the proverbial shark and never quite recovers.

 

[Rackon]

Re: Sci-Fi Movies That Have Come Out That Excited You but Disapointed

LitnusDragon, love your avatar.

Master & Commander - now THERE was a movie that didn't disappoint.

 

[Lapis Exilis]

Re: Sci-Fi Movies That Have Come Out That Excited You but Disapointed

Superman Returns - best trailer ever. Terrible movie.

Sunshine - gorgeous drivel

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - my favorite book of the series, worst movie.

Oh, I quite liked OOTP movie, and I loved parts of it. Thought the book needed drastic editing myself. I know I'm one of the few, but I really like Yates as a HP director. My favorite so far has been Prisoner of Azkaban - I love director Alphonso Cuaron and this film is the only HP movie with any real visual poetry. The first and second HPs suffer from Columbus' stodgy "style" (shudder).

Amen on all counts - Cuaron was the only director to actually add to the Potter-verse with a distinctive style and themes independent of the books (which, fun as they are, are remarkably thin thematically).

Disappointing movies I was excited about - Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. After The Wrath of Khan, I was hoping for a similarly strong story with real character moments and got one filled with hokey contrivances instead. That, I realize in retrospect, was the beginning of the end for the TOS crew.

 

[LitmusDragon]

Re: Sci-Fi Movies That Have Come Out That Excited You but Disapointed

LitnusDragon, love your avatar.

Master & Commander - now THERE was a movie that didn't disappoint.

Hey thanks!

 

[davejames]

Re: Sci-Fi Movies That Have Come Out That Excited You but Disapointed

But the first half was very much set up as a sci-fi movie. Remember, I love Alien, so boogey men in space isn't something I'm necessarily opposed to.

What I do dislike though is boring, mindless splatter and gore in place of a coherent story. So horror and suspense elements don't deter me at all, but mediocre storytelling definitely does. And to me, neither the screenwriters nor the director knew what to do with their third act. It was just by the numbers gore by the end, lame and not very interesting at all.

Yeah I was disappointed in that one too. It had a cool premise and story but the execution was awful. There was just NO sense of atmosphere whatsoever-- which is what a movie like this desperately needs to work. Hell, even The Black Hole was creepier and more atmospheric.

And the fact the director showed the big mystery ship in the very first shot of the movie makes it clear he had no clue how to build suspense. lol

 

[LutherSloan]

Re: Sci-Fi Movies That Have Come Out That Excited You but Disapointed

Really surprised no one has mentioned these yet:

-The Matrix Reloaded: The REALLY anticipated sequel was somewhat of a disappointment, primarily because the writers spent too much time trying to expand the whole 'Matrix' universe from beyond what the limited budget could allow in the first movie. So we get an annoying Frenchman, a short Asian locksmith that everyone has to protect, a pair of albino twins who have basically no dialogue, and a guy sitting in a chair dropping $10 words like they're out of style. They horribly overcomplicated what wasn't that complicated of an idea in the first place. Then there is the much-maligned and pointless 'rave' scene. At least some of the newer human characters were a little interesting. Can't say the same for the Matrix programs.
-The Matrix Revolutions: Just a bad way to end a series. The Christ analogies were in full-swing this time, even more so than in the second film. The ultimate goal of the human resistance, the destruction of the machines, never happens. Instead we end the series with an uneasy 'truce' between mankind and the machines. Meh.

 

[caisson2delta]

Re: Sci-Fi Movies That Have Come Out That Excited You but Disapointed

The first that comes to mind, is The Black Hole. I expected so much more than what we got. It could stand to be remade. Another one that sticks out is the remake of Planet of the Apes. This could've been huge but was just horrible.

 

[davejames]

Re: Sci-Fi Movies That Have Come Out That Excited You but Disapointed

Really surprised no one has mentioned these yet:

-The Matrix Reloaded: The REALLY anticipated sequel was somewhat of a disappointment, primarily because the writers spent too much time trying to expand the whole 'Matrix' universe from beyond what the limited budget could allow in the first movie. So we get an annoying Frenchman, a short Asian locksmith that everyone has to protect, a pair of albino twins who have basically no dialogue, and a guy sitting in a chair dropping $10 words like they're out of style. They horribly overcomplicated what wasn't that complicated of an idea in the first place. Then there is the much-maligned and pointless 'rave' scene. At least some of the newer human characters were a little interesting. Can't say the same for the Matrix programs.
-The Matrix Revolutions: Just a bad way to end a series. The Christ analogies were in full-swing this time, even more so than in the second film. The ultimate goal of the human resistance, the destruction of the machines, never happens. Instead we end the series with an uneasy 'truce' between mankind and the machines. Meh.

They definitely started taking themselves too seriously with Reloaded, but I have to admit to still being intrigued by the deeper philosophical direction they were taking the story. And plus, there was still MORE than enough great action to make up for the talkier bits, as far as I was concerned.

Unfortunately with Revolutions, all the talk started to get incredibly tiresome and repetitive, and I just couldn't work up any interest anymore. Plus most of the movie took place in the boring "real" world instead of the Matrix itself, which completely killed it for me.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Re: Sci-Fi Movies That Have Come Out That Excited You but Disapointed

I would have had a lot more on my list but was really tired at the time I posted the thread and didn't feel like making more comments.

-The Maxtrix Reloaded and Revolutions, particluarly Revolutions were indeed great let downs. Remember how excited I was after the end scene of The Matrix and wondering how good sequels would be. The War against the Machines.

-King Arthur...Clive Owen as Arthur, and Kiera Knightly as Gwen, Skarskand as Merlin...this should have been a good movie. Trying to make it realistic was okay but it just wasn't a good movie.

- The second half of Sunshine...wow what the hell happened here Danny Boyle! It started out being one of the most fascinating and visually awesome looking science fiction movies that I've ever seen before it switched gears and turned it's self into a horror movie. My friend likes this switch and claims that is what is great about Sunshine...I know that it was probably an attempt to put the crew in peril and put the mission in jephody but jeez there are other ways of doing that too.

 

[Goji]

Re: Sci-Fi Movies That Have Come Out That Excited You but Disapointed

The earliest I can recall is Independence Day. I must have been about 9 at the time, and I loved (and still do) most alien invasion films. I was excited about seeing a modern one, but never made it to the theaters, so I anxiously waited for home video. It was a big letdown. The explosions were nifty enough, but as a whole it was hollow, soulless and dumb.

The only really good thing about it is that I got my disappointment out of the way early for the American Godzilla, being a major fan of the originals. Knowing that the Independence Day guys were behind it, I went in expecting a bad movie and got exactly that.

I was also disappointed in the third X-Men movie to an extent, though probably not as much as many people, judging from the reactions I've read in the years since. Some people really despise that movie. I just don't particularly care for most of it. *shrugs*

 

[LutherSloan]

Re: Sci-Fi Movies That Have Come Out That Excited You but Disapointed

I agree that X-Men 3 and Spider-Man 3 were both big letdowns. Spider-Man 3 more so because of the way they totally ruined Venom.

 

[Too Much Fun]

Re: Sci-Fi Movies That Have Come Out That Excited You but Disapointed

I'm surprised that so many people put down "Batman Forever", and then claim they saw it as a child. I could understand being disappointed if you went into it as an adult having seen the two Burton movies as an adult, but as a child? It came out when I was 12 and I adored it.

I remember the first time I saw that brilliantly cryptic poster of the bat symbol under a question mark and was elated because I knew it meant The Riddler would be in it (he was my favourite character from "Batman: The Animated Series", which was the basis of my Batman fandom). This was the first movie I was really excited about, and when I finally saw it, I was not disappointed.

Jim Carrey's performance was entertaining, and I was surprised and pleased with how sensitively Robin's origin story was handled. Two-Face was an awful caricature, but I was too young to care/too distracted by all the other fun stuff going on to notice.

Now I can watch the movie and see how horribly it mishandles all of the characters, but as a kid, this went right over my head. I'll always think of it as a movie I have nostalgia for, something I loved as a kid that I'm now mature enough to recognize as junk. Still, I have a soft spot for it.

I bought a "Batman Forever" bathrobe and spent years arguing with people that it was the best of the Batman movies so far, until I saw it again as an adult. Even as an ignorant child who was not picky at all with movies, I knew "Batman and Robin" was terrible (although, I kinda liked Uma Thurman in it), but "Batman Forever" was completely acceptable as a dumb, but enjoyable 'popcorn movie'.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

Re: Sci-Fi Movies That Have Come Out That Excited You but Disapointed

^When you enjoy Uma Thurman in Batman & Robin is when you know you are a man!

As for Batman Forever, I was 12 when I saw it and completely furious at how they botched Two-Face.

So long as the honorable Greg Cox is here, it's a good intro to one of my most recent disappointments. His brilliant novel Underworld: Blood Enemy got me totally stoked at the prospects of a prequel movie. After all, most of the best characters were killed off in the 1st film, so I was totally jazzed about a prequel bringing back Lucian & Viktor. Unfortunately, the results of the movie Underworld: Rise of the Lycans left me distinctly underwhelmed. No Kraven. No particularly cool action/gore moments. Literally no surprises; since we already knew exactly how Sonja died from the flashbacks in the original film; we knew that Lucian, Viktor, Tanis, & Raze had to survive; and there weren't any well developed new supporting characters to kill off in interesting ways.

Thankfully, I hear that this franchise might not be quite done yet. I think there is hope for it. I've heard that Kevin Grevioux is working on a series of comics to fill in Raze's backstory. And Mr. Cox, I'm always pulling for you to get another Underworld tie-in novel gig. We just need one more book to fill in the gaps RE: Lucian's pact with Kraven.

I loved Dark City and hated SW 1-2-3.

Interesting. I don't think you can even compare those 2. A better comparison might be Dark City vs. The Matrix.

 

[Greg Cox]

Re: Sci-Fi Movies That Have Come Out That Excited You but Disapointed

Thanks for the kind words about BLOOD ENEMY. I'm proud of that book, even though it doesn't fit into the official continuity anymore.

For what it's worth, I've actually talked with Kevin Grevioux about his Raze comic books. The backstory given for Raze in the RISE OF THE LYCANS novelization comes straight from Kevin, although I kept some details vague so as not to give away all of his plans for the character.

This was, btw, the only time in my career when I've been able to consult with one of the actors regarding his character in a movie I was novelizing. It was pretty cool.