Movies that went wrong...

[Thespeckledkiwi]

Transformers: It had a few good elements going in, namely Spielberg attached and Dreamworks. While there were conceptual changes and some liberties taken, some of the photos looked outstanding. And then Bay got attached and it went downhill from there. If he could only find competent writers...and not jiggly the camera around like a speed addict having a seizure, this film might have been really good.

 

[Deckerd]

I'm going to defend Alien 3. It's my favorite film in the series.

Alien 3 is perhaps the most nihilistic and depressing mainstream film that Hollywood has ever produced. The whole point of the film is to invert every expectation of the series to date. Yes, it defeats the whole point of Aliens, but that's its genius. Aliens' happy ending was... wrong. Alien 3 shows how cruel, callous, and uncaring the universe is. Everything that Ripley has fought for has been corrupted. The innocent suffer the most. And no matter how cruel, vicious, and depraved you are, the universe will come along and fuck you up. That David Fincher could take a production as troubled as Alien 3 and create a film that is haunting and lyrical demonstrates the man's genius. Alien 3 is the necessary corrective to the excesses of Aliens. It's a brilliant film, and perhaps the only film in the series that will stand the test of time.

I absolutely loved the ending. Loved it. That slo-mo crucifix fall backward is one of the most amazing scenes in cinema. The proper version with the oxen and the missing middle part is much more coherent, too.

I agree the monster at the end of Resurrection was utterly risible. What were they thinking? The Ripley/alien hybrid was so original and then completely squandered. Why was the script so awful? Why did Ripley and the completely underrated Michael Wincott never meet on screen? Why why why.

 

[TheSeeker]

Spider-Man 3 stands out. I didn't expect grand art, but neither did I suspect Peter Parker going emo.

I think this one was one of the bigger disappoints for me in recent memory. Especially after Spidey 2.

 

[Booji]

All the Spiderman flicks
Transformers
Matrix 2 & 3
The Dark Knight
X-Men 3
The Phantom Menace

 

[Starbreaker]

28 Days Later- The worst last third of a movie I have ever seen. A decent twist on the zombie genre even if the concept didn't make much sense. So why junk all that to make some lame anti-militaristic point at the end?

.

If you listen to the commentary, the point Boyle is trying to make is that humans could be more dangerous than the infected. It wasn't anti-military.

 

[Goliath]

At 4:15am off the top of my head...Payback: Director's Cut.

I love the regular version, up there as one of my favorite movies, I was expecting the DC to take it up a notch when instead it completely kills everything that was awesome about the movie.

I have to say... I feel the exact opposite way.

I thought the theatrical release was mediocre, and the director's cut was a great improvement.

My own vote for "most disappointing movie ever" goes to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. That was so boring and unfunny that I walked out half way through.

 

[scorpius1701]

Star Trek Nemesis. They killed Data and I was so done with the movie by that point that I didnt even care.

 

[Sagart]

Most recently? The Dark Knight and Indy IV

All time? Close between The Phantom Menance and Titanic.

 

[trekkier]

the dark knight?!

 

[Bishbot]

Spider-Man 3 stands out. I didn't expect grand art, but neither did I suspect Peter Parker going emo.

I think this one was one of the bigger disappoints for me in recent memory. Especially after Spidey 2.

Another vote here. I was so excited for the third one, I dragged all my friends along on opening night because of my abiding love for Spider-Man 2 but it just... sucked.

I haven't seen the film since, and I'm not in any hurry to alter that. There were some great bits but the whole film just reeks of squandered potential.

(I did however quite like the emo-Parker bits that everyone rags on - it made sense that rather than turning him mean and dangerous, a bad version of Peter would still be a dork. I especially loved the reactions of the women he hit on.)

 

[Davros]

Starship Troopers.

 

[Admiral2]

And yes...GODZILLA 1998. My friends wont let me live that one down. I told them that it would be, perhaps, the greatest movie of all time...an AMERICAN GODZILLA MOVIE!! YEAH!!! uh-uh-..They couldn't have F'ed that movie up any worse than they did..

Actually, I thought the same thing and felt like I got what i was expecting, so I loved it. (Yes, I'm well aware I'm in the superminority on that one...)

As for movies I had high hopes for that sucked, my immediate choice is both Fantastic 4 movies. How they managed to make the freakin' FF boring I have no idea...

 

[MyCylon]

Starship Troopers.

I'm curious. What did you feel went wrong with that movie?

Personally, I think it's a very clever and effective film.

 

[Norrin Radd]

Starship Troopers.

I'm curious. What did you feel went wrong with that movie?

Personally, I think it's a very clever and effective film.

Troopers, imo, is an underrated sci-fi classic, but I can see why someone may dislike it if they love the original book. It's quite a bit different.

 

[Icemizer]

Soldier with Kurt Russel. Great concept but not the movie we wanted to see. We wanted to see the movie before this one where he was kicking space @ss left and right. Not the movie we got where he is helping kids. Bah!!

 

[MyCylon]

Re. Norrin Radd:

I never read the book so I can't actually comment on that. I can imagine that might be off-putting.
And I totally agree that Starship Troopers is underrated. I'm not quite sure I'd call it a classic, but I definitely think it's great.

 

[Dr_Daystrom]

Andromeda Strain (A&E remake)
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
X-Files: I Want to Believe

 

[miraclefan]

Alien3/Resurrection, Batman Forever/& Robin, Judge Dredd, Indy the Temple ''O'' doom, F4/F4-2, Star Trek:Insurection, Event Horizon, Matrix 2&3, Star Wars Eps 1-3, Demmoltition Man, Soldier, Pretty much EVERY ''horror'' movie ever made.Oh and Scanners, the only reason people seem to love that movie so much is the ''special'' effects. And even then it was lack-luster. Wow so many AWFUL movies so little time.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Starship Troopers.

I'm curious. What did you feel went wrong with that movie?

It was a joke. Literally.

I mean, think what you like about the original novel, but at least do the frickin' homework first. Even Paul Verhoeven himself admitted that he never read the novel all the way through!

And who was it...might have been Verhoeven again...who said "War makes fascists of us all". Yeah, right. I'm sure that all our troops who fought and died in World War II - AGAINST fascism - would appreciate that kind of slander.

 

[miraclefan]

Starship Troopers.

I'm curious. What did you feel went wrong with that movie?

It was a joke. Literally.

I mean, think what you like about the original novel, but at least do the frickin' homework first. Even Paul Verhoeven himself admitted that he never read the novel all the way through!

And who was it...might have been Verhoeven again...who said "War makes fascists of us all". Yeah, right. I'm sure that all our troops who fought and died in World War II - AGAINST fascism - would appreciate that kind of slander.

When you think about it, if it ''werent'' for those fascists(u.s.soldiers) Verhoeven and his entire family probably would have been put in to the furnaces.