Top-10 Movie Disappointments

[filmmusic 1,829]

1 minute ago, Nick1Ø66 said:

Superman II is one of those films that feel like a really good sequel initially. It's a lot of fun. But the silliness and Lester's stupid comedy really come out more on subsequent viewings, and sadly it undercuts some of the first films mythic qualities. Especially in contrast, as you point out, to the (admittedly flawed) Donner cut.

It's been yeaaaaars since I last saw Superman II, but I don't remember any comedy... 

[Edmilson 7,443]

A movie that everyone seems to love but I wasn't a fan of is Ghostbusters. It's a beloved movie that was huge for people who were kids in the 80s, but it didn't do much for me. The VFX is incredible for 1984, but overall I found it boring and silly. The 2016 female reboot wasn't very good either. But I'm willing to give it another shot one of these days should I find it on a streaming service.

 

Also, I don't know if I'd call it a disappointment considering I never expected much from it, but still, after seeing how much Hook is loved by some fans, I hoped it at least had some redeeming qualities. And yeah, it's at the very least watchable, but still far from good (aside from a great Williams score). I guess it's one of those movies where the only way you could like it is if you saw it as a kid, otherwise it just won't have any "magic". 

 

Anyway, I may not like either of these movies, but I at least respect that it created some wonderful childhood memories for some people. It's exactly how I feel about some early 2000s movies... lol

[HunterTech 994]

8 hours ago, Nick1Ø66 said:

The Last Jedi isn't a bad movie. It's a bad Star Wars movie. Some of the ideas in it perhaps could have made for a decent stand alone Star Wars film, or TV series, which would have been the time to introduce some of its more subversive elements (ala Andor). But the penultimate chapter in a nine-film saga was the time to fulfil, not subvert, expectations.

 

I think after how much TFA compelled me through its sheer fanboy-ism on display (even with the heavy lack of originality in areas), TLJ just left me confused on what I should walk away feeling about it. The core ideas are certainly intriguing, and some do work fairly decently, but the overall execution just leaves me scratching my head at points. It really would've benefited from TRoS actually following up on it, which I suppose is the general consensus at this point (assuming any could be formed on this film).
 

8 hours ago, Nick1Ø66 said:

Agreed. Superman II is one of those films that feel like a really good sequel initially, especially when you're young. It's a lot of fun. But the silliness and Lester's stupid comedy really come out more on subsequent viewings, and sadly it undercuts some of the first films mythic qualities. Especially in contrast, as you point out, to the (admittedly flawed) Donner cut.  One of cinema's biggest missed opportunities.

It's the rewrites that honestly muddy it for me, since some of the reworked dialogue really treats the audience poorly. Things that feel more natural in the Donner cut are clunky here, since the Salkinds were very invested in ensuring their stamp overrode what was originally shot. Hell, I'll even go as far as to say that the lead performances feel a bit weaker for me, since Reeves and Kidder seem to have more trouble selling their characters in the Lester footage. The one exception being the memory wiping kiss scene weirdly enough, since it was far more effective at selling me these two as people than everything that came before. Alas, that gets thrown out once the titular event happens.

The ending is the main gripe with both cuts really, given the reversing time thing really sullies the Donner cut for me. The team were so desperate to present the pure original vision as much as they could that it didn't occur to them to just end the movie with Lois remembering if they didn't want the stupid kiss. There never was going to be another one with the original cast, and Returns is only possible if it follows theatrical II, so it wouldn't hurt to end on a bittersweet note. Oh yeah, and the new effects are terrible. The Director's Edition for the first Star Trek movie really spoiled me in how one can handle a restoration effort, so for WB to not give much money to the project is just unfortunate.

 

8 hours ago, Nick1Ø66 said:

When were movies ever more than simply movies? 

For most people? Never, I presume. I think it's very easy to get lost when one spends much of their time online, since so much discussion on social media can arise from folks that take these things so seriously to a degree that is concerning. I guess with things like the discourse for TLJ and the whole Snyderverse movement, you're just left to wonder what might be next. I'm very appreciative of the passion people have for the medium, since it's what compels me to watch things these days. I just worry sometimes with how heated things appear elsewhere.

 

8 hours ago, filmmusic said:

It's been yeaaaaars since I last saw Superman II, but I don't remember any comedy... 

The moment of Zod using his powerful breath across Metropolis is honestly more offensive to me than the opening of III. At least that sequence is supposed to indicate the general tone of the movie (even with it heavily falling flat). In II, the whiplash is so heavy that it basically left me baffled when I revisited the film.

[Datameister 2,042]

A few more for me:

 

• The Goonies (first saw it as an adult, didn't feel the 80s nostalgia vibes I hoped for)
• The Princess Bride (first saw part of it on VHS in a crowded, noisy setting as a kid and didn't get it at all; now it's one of my favorites)
• The Illusionist (heard it was better than The Prestige; I disagreed)
• Inside Out (should have absolutely loved it; found it merely pretty good)
• Plan 9 From Outer Space (I'd hoped to enjoy the terribleness more than I did)
• Star Trek Into Darkness (not awful by a long shot, but just not as fun)
• The Spy Kids sequels (just got worse and worse...)

[Bellosh 3,418]

Jurassic World.  Just awful.

 

Rise of Skywalker Trailer (yeah that's all i needed, still haven't seen the movie)

 

honorable mention, as it was kinda expected to suck in hindsight, so probably doesn't count, but as a kid, I was so pumped to go see Congo (simply because Michael Crichton  = Jurassic Park so therefor this must follow suit).  Holy shit was I wrong.

 

The Thin Red Line.  There's a great war story here.  Just muddled in with way too many actors/side stories for no reason at all.

 

[filmmusic 1,829]

8 minutes ago, Datameister said:

The Princess Bride (first saw part of it on VHS in a crowded, noisy setting as a kid and didn't get it at all; now it's one of my favorites)

Yeah, this was a huge disappointment for me!

I love 80s adventure films, but I really didn't like this at all and I was surprised by its reputation and ratings at imdb!

Perhaps I should revisit and re-evaluate.

[Edmilson 7,443]

52 minutes ago, Datameister said:

• The Illusionist (heard it was better than The Prestige; I disagreed)
•  

Agreed. The Prestige is Nolan's best movie, while The Illusionist was just forgettable. Can't remember anything about it other than the fact that I found it "meh".

[Datameister 2,042]

49 minutes ago, filmmusic said:

Yeah, this was a huge disappointment for me!

I love 80s adventure films, but I really didn't like this at all and I was surprised by its reputation and ratings at imdb!

Perhaps I should revisit and re-evaluate.

 

Yes, you should. As far as I'm concerned, it's an absolute treasure.

[Andy 4,127]

Most movies I am initially disappointed in get forgiven over the years. It’s like the statute of limitations expires on them and I find with either nostalgia or things to love in them. 
 

that said:

 

Top Gun and Top Gun Maverick  

I grew up with everyone raving about the first one, and I just didn’t get the appeal.  There’s really not much to it.   I gave it a re watch last year to see if my opinion would change. It didn’t. 

 

I was ready to love Maverick after all the good word of mouth, and Cruise stepping up his game since his Spielberg years.  Nope. These films are just not for me. 
 

ALIEN3

So let’s just destroy all the people who survived the last one, despite the fact you were rooting for them.  This movie is just ugly. 
 

Tron Legacy
They took one of the coolest aesthetics of the 80s, and made it look like an Apple Store and told the exact same story.
 

Star Trek Generations 

This one is allllmost forgiven. It’s pretty to look at. Has some haunting exchanges.  But they did my boy Kirk wrong. I don’t think I’ll ever accept that. 
 

Independence Day 2 and Pacific Rim 2

These felt like the same movie.  And both lacked the fun of the originals.  Just dull. Mind you, I wasn’t expecting highbrow cinema, but at least show me a good time. 
 

Movies I was disappointed in but have forgiven completely: any SW and Indiana Jones, Superman III, Jaws 2, Star Trek TMP, 

 

[enderdrag64 624]

Other people mentioned The Last Jedi already but for me that's really one of the only movies I've seen where I walked out of the theater incredibly disappointed. Kind of sad too because I was really excited for it before it came out. It basically killed my love for Star Wars for a few years until I got back into it through the music.

 

The Rise of Skywalker didn't disappoint me because my expectations were already so low and I didn't take the film seriously. And that's okay, because it seems the writers didn't either.

 

 

Since I have such a small list and this was just so disappointing, I'm going to venture a little beyond movies for a second:

 

The Promised Neverland Season 2 is the most disappointing thing I have ever watched, and probably ever will. I don't understand how it's even possible for the same creative team to fuck up so badly after making a masterpiece season 1. The first episode is still to this day one of the strongest hooks I've ever seen in a show, and the entire story of season 1 is just beautiful.  

 

Then for season 2 they decided not to adapt most of the rest of the story and to just skip over almost everything to speedrun to the ending. The result is a season that is confusing and nonsensical, and missing almost all of the best and most important parts of the source material. 

 

Just to give an idea of how much they skipped:

Season 1 covered 37 chapters in 12 episodes

Season 2 covered 141 chapters in 11 episodes

 

Oh and also the final episode ends with a fucking *slideshow* to show the epilogue of the story, followed by a bunch of random frames of earlier arcs they didn't adapt. It's so baffling it's not even funny

 

The Promised Neverland Season 2 is the only piece of media I've ever wished was never made.

[Giftheck 916]

Here's my top 10 biggest disappointments, in no particular order.

 

Avengers: Infinity War: You knew the way this film was going to end, but the loss of a few of the characters before Thanos even snapped his fingers soured me a bit. And then the Snap itself: it loses its effectiveness as a plot point when they announced practically the entire cast returning for Endgame. I personally would have ended the film on the Snap so the mystery was preserved. Not the most heinous film on this list by a mile, but I still recall the profound disappointment when leaving the cinema after this one.

 

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines: Where do I begin with this one?  From the off, it gets crucial lore details wrong, it screws up the Terminator character, making him thick as a brick, the villain is laughably bad, the whole thing about Skynet's activation is farfetched. The only saving grace is they had the balls to give the film a somewhat dark ending with Judgment Day happening.

 

The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Roberto Orci, fresh off ruining Star Trek Into Darkness, gives us a poorly-thought-out film with a villain whose motivations are so weak, it's almost comedic. This film has some salvageable parts in the chemistry between Andrre Garfield and Emma Stone, and Electro was redeemed in Spider-Man: No Way Home, but, really: it should not have been up to that film to fix one of the biggest issues with this one. There's also the fact that Avi Arad clearly did not learn his lesson from Spider-Man 3 about overstuffing your film.

 

Star Trek Into Darkness: after mentioning it above, how could I not include it? It's a film that doesn't know if it wants to be a continuation of 2009's origin story, or a bad remake of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Benedict Cumberbatch is a good actor but is woefully miscast as Khan, and the protestations of 'well, we wanted the story to be about the enemy within us, not some other culture' just don't fly. Not only was this a poor attempt at explaining away a blatant case of whitewashing a character, but it fundamentally misunderstands one of the biggest ideals of Star Trek: that we have by this point moved past such notions as racial divides.

 

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: What can I say that hasn't already been said? The biggest disappointment to me isn't Rey's lineage being tied to an existing character, stripping away one of the biggest messages of the previous movie about how you don't have to have ties to a special lineage to be important. It isn't Kylo Ren's disappointingly-executed redemption. It isn't even that they brought Palpatine back. It is the manner they chose to do it. There were lots of ways to do it, but JJ Abrams chose the easiest possible route: a bastardization of the Dark Empire comic book. If you remember, that comic centred around Palpatine surviving death by cloning his body and placing his spirit into it. I hated the idea then, I hate the idea now. And the worst part is that the actual explanation is relegated to a novel the general audience is unlikely to ever read. Add to the mix awful editing choices and story omissions that would arguably have made the final film stronger, and you get a spicy disappointment soup.

 

Spider-Man 3: A film which should have been so much better than it was wound up being partly a middle finger to fans of the then-antagonist/antihero Venom. Sam Raimi is on record as not 'getting' the Venom character, but Avi Arad knew Venom was highly marketable and all he saw was the merchandising dollars. If ever there was proof he should be kept away from the IP, there it is. On top of that, the woeful design choice and miscasting of Venom was baffling. I don't blame Sam Raimi for this one, because his hands are tied. On the other hand, Sandman was still a fairly compelling, tragic villain in the same vein as the previous two. I would have loved to have seen more of THAT over badly-executed Venom. I coined the term 'Venom Moment' to describe that execution- a villain whose reveal is left so late they basically only occupy the last 10-20 minutes, suffering a quick defeat before they can be developed. This will apply to multiple films on this list.

 

Terminator Genisys: Another film that badly misunderstands the previous films, lore and character development. But what makes this even worse than Terminator 3 is just how bunched up it all feels. Top it off with a villain reveal that was actually spoiled in trailers and even then not properly explained, along with a cliffhanger ending that went nowhere, and it's even worse than Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.

 

GODZILLA: Planet of the Monsters, GODZILLA: City on the Edge of Battle, and GODZILLA: Planet Eater: I'll treat this as a single entry on this list since it's a single story split into three. Godzilla's first foray into Japanese animation should have been triumphant. The medium alone allows for things that are either too expensive or impossible to do in live action. The idea of Godzilla as a giant plant-based monster, taking back the planet from the humans that had poisoned it and the kaiju that had been unleashed sounds ripe for some pretty epic monster brawls. Instead, we got stuck with some of the most poorly-executed human characters ever, guest starring Godzilla. The second film teased a fight with Mechagodzilla, but he's just a big city. The third film promised a showdown with King Ghidorah, undoubtedly one of Godzilla's most notorious foes, but instead we got quasi-religious bullshit and an anti-climax for an ending.

 

Godzilla Vs. Kong: Don't get me wrong, the monster fights were great. But the big disappointment comes from the human characters. I was mostly okay with them in the previous film, but I know many thought they were weak. In a film where Godzilla appears to be attacking humanity, the correct choice would have been to strengthen those characters. Instead they are actually WORSE. Especially the holdovers from KOTM. Mark basically forgets all of his development from the previous film, forgets that MONARCH has ORCA capabilities. But he HAS to be dumb, because if he were smart, he'd have figured out that whenever Godzilla attacks, he's reacting to garbled Ghidorah bioaccoustics whenever Mechagodzilla is activated, and we can't have our Venom Moment spoiled. And then we have Serizawa Junior, whose motivations are relegated to the novel - sound familiar?

 

IT Chapter Two: It's not all bad. It's not even mostly bad. But it is disappointing in a few key ways. They changed Stan's suicide to be a 'selfless, noble act', rather than the act of pure terror it was originally, and they took out Mike's search for his token, though I do get that the movie was getting too long at that point - nevertheless it also took out some pretty important context (that Pennywise wanted them to come back). There's also the weird ending where the Power of Words defeats Pennywise (though I do understand the intent was that it was the power of their collective belief, it wasn't conveyed well enough for an average viewer to get that).

[Chen G. 3,949]

Kinda surprised to see The Rise of Skywalker here that many times. Even if one liked The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, surely once we learned the Emperor was in it...

[Giftheck 916]

I was okay with the Emperor coming back, if it was done right. It wasn't. Heck, there's a 'Force Mechanic' Luke used in TLJ they could have used, but they were too busy undoing and ignoring almost everything in that film.

 

In truth, I would strip almost everything away about that film and start almost entirely anew from just a bullet point list.

[Nick1Ø66 4,714]

 

9 hours ago, Chen G. said:

Kinda surprised to see The Rise of Skywalker here that many times. Even if one liked The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, surely once we learned the Emperor was in it...

 

 

9 hours ago, Giftheck said:

I was okay with the Emperor coming back, if it was done right. It wasn't.

In truth, I would strip almost everything away about that film and start almost entirely anew from just a bullet point list.

 

There's only one who can set us straight.

Send up the MatSignal!

 

[Chen G. 3,949]

 

On Fellowship of Fans, whenever I'm away for a while, I get sent this: 

 

[Richard Penna 3,687]

No Time To Die - It didn't feel like it had any memorable action, a villain or anything very exciting going on.

 

The Force Awakens - It's got a cop-out, I'd argue almost fan-pleasing title, and having only seen Episode 4 not long before it just felt like a remake of that with nothing new to add.

 

Jurassic World - just a dumb, dumb film with story holes and stupid characters which were stupid even by Hollywood popcorn standards.

 

Road to Perdition - thought I'd throw in a possibly contentious one. I've never understood this film - sure, Hanks and that kid give decent performances but it always felt so slow and plodding and I don't think I ever really understood what was going on.

 

Back to the Future II - I think when you initially see it as part of the franchise, it's lent a quality it doesn't possess. Extremely high school play quality acting at times and (unavoidable, but nonetheless) almost comical depictions of life in 2015. If it weren't part of the BTTF universe and didn't have Fox/Lloyd, I reckon it would've bombed.

 

Men in Black International: the only movie I've ever turned off whilst on a plane. Just boring, and even in an environment where most people have literally nothing better to do than watch a throwaway movie, it still failed that low water mark.

[Sweeping Strings 2,358]

A recent-ish one ... discovering too late that body-swap horror-comedy Freaky had an agenda (and said agenda was that all middle-aged white men are horrible bastards) was both very disappointing and extremely irritating to me. 

[Brónach 1,302]

4 hours ago, enderdrag64 said:

Other people mentioned The Last Jedi already but for me that's really one of the only movies I've seen where I walked out of the theater incredibly disappointed. Kind of sad too because I was really excited for it before it came out. It basically killed my love for Star Wars for a few years until I got back into it through the music.

 

this is me but the previous one. i had to be dragged to see TLJ.

[GerateWohl 4,367]

20 minutes ago, Richard Penna said:

Road to Perdition - thought I'd throw in a possibly contentious one. I've never understood this film - sure, Hanks and that kid give decent performances but it always felt so slow and plodding and I don't think I ever really understood what was going on.

I had also some high expectations to this one. Never was a big fan of Tom Hanks and his "pensive dear uncle" performances in every "serious" role. Was looking forward to see at last Hanks as a cold blooded killer. And what did we get? Even as a profesional killer Hanks gave the pensive dear uncle. 

His real bad guy roles came much later.

[HunterTech 994]

22 hours ago, Edmilson said:

As an adult, my biggest disappointment has to be Batman vs Superman. As a lifelong DC fan I was waiting for all my life (or at least since the MCU became a thing) for a cinematic DC universe - remember that, until 2016, there haven't been no crossovers between DC characters until that point. I was expecting a truly epic Dawn of the Justice League... and instead we got utter crap. 

 

You know, thinking back to that time, BvS should have counted as a much more straightforward pick for me, given I was so excited for it. And yet, the initial watch I had of it was so mesmerizing in its insanity that I walked away with the feeling of very confused awe (not helped by admittedly tearing up a bit by Superman's death from the mere idea alone).

 

If anything, Man of Steel I think is the movie that left me feeling the most cold when I first saw it, despite how much I might've said otherwise when asked what I thought. It just wasn't quite what I would've expected for a Superman movie, especially with that infamous climax ending. There wasn't much to latch onto afterwards, which is not a good sign for someone who would've glowed about his favorite parts walking out of the theater when he was younger.

[Chen G. 3,949]

Oh, I just remembered another one. Generally speaking, period action films from the 1990s (many inspired by Braveheart) are generally my jam, so I had some hopes for 13th Warrior...

 

I've scarcely seen a less fullfilling film in my life.

[Brónach 1,302]

fun score though

 

ridiculous scene with an american snake

[Chen G. 3,949]

Yeah, and some of the set design looks cool.

 

While reading-up on the production afterwards, it made total and complete sense that it was subjected to major reshoots: in watching it, you can sorta see traces of a different movie (not necessarily better!) under the finished product (inasmuch as you can call it "finished"). Terrible.

 

The tone makes it hard to sit there and laugh at the cheesiness of it all (a-la Prince of Thieves).

[Brónach 1,302]

what's your favourite movie with major reshoots that works? that's a fun question, but not for this thread

[A24 4,333]

12 hours ago, Nick1Ø66 said:

When were movies ever more than simply movies? 

 

The Goonies is not just a movie, it's a way of living.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Schilkeman 963]

Some films that don’t didn’t get, or like at first, but have grown on me.

 

Citizen Kane - I first saw this in my 20’s, after the AFI special. I honestly hadn’t even heard of it before then, and it left me cold at first viewing. I didn’t see it again for years, and still didn’t like it. Finally watched it again a couple of years ago, and it finally clicked. Maybe my film vocabulary just wasn’t good enough before, or I didn’t have enough life experience, I don’t know. I’m on board now.

 

Schindler’s List - Similar to the above, I first saw this when it aired on national tv (98 I believe). I was just too young to understand what was going on. I didn’t have the proper historical education to get the context, and the film making mastery on display went right over me. I saw it again a few years ago, about when my daughter was the same age as the girl in red, and I cried the biggest ugliest tears. Even the ending worked for me. As Spielberg said, “I could have done more,” was for the audience, not the characters. There are many moments of that film where it comes out of itself to talk directly to us, like a ghost, or like a cave painting. Beautiful stuff. 
 

The Matrix sequels - I bought the line for a long time that they were bad, and that I should avoid them. Then I watched them, and enjoyed them a great deal. Now my second favorite trilogy.
 

The Big Lebowski - This film was too subtle for younger me. I saw it again in 2015, and proceeded to live with it on repeat for about a year. It took over my life, to the point that I briefly moved to California to get a little closer to The Dude. I ran out of money, but the film is still great. 
 

Aliens - Alien is 100% my jam, and I’d always heard good things about the sequel. What a dumb movie. I’ve learned to love it, and a number of other Cameron films I initially dismissed, like T and T2 and the Abyss (still don’t like Titanic). 

[Chen G. 3,949]

20 minutes ago, Brónach said:

what's your favourite movie with major reshoots that works? that's a fun question, but not for this thread

 

Hmm...

 

Depends on how we define "reshoots." I tend to separate reshoots from pickups: the former represents a late-in-the-day rethinking of the narrative and the style of a film, and trying to completely retool a part of a movie, either because the filmmaker himself has recast his thoughts on the material, or because of external collusion. For instance, in the case of 13th Warrior, you can tell they shot it as a very solemn historical actioner, bordering on horror, and then lost their confidence and reshoot it to make it pass for a more swashbuckling Indy-style adventure.

 

Pickups, by comparison, are usually scheduled from before principal photography and are used to fine-tune the edit. I certainly have no issue with that: there's a purist part of the fandom (especially in music circles, because it makes life easier for the composer) that hallows a David Lean kind of filmmaking where everything is planned and shot, with absolutely no tinkering in the editing and pickups. I mean, if that's how a certain filmmaker does it and sees success from it, fine. But I certainly don't think it ought to be seen as an inherently superior way of filmmaking. Most movies going back at least to the 1990s had pickups, so its a common practice. The Lord of the Rings had a fair amount of pickups (although the bulk of all three films was shot in one "go" in principal photography) and I don't think its any worst for it.

 

In terms of a film that was really reshot significantly? I dunno: does the monsterously out-of-control schedule and conflicting versions of scenes (including the coda) shot by Coppola for Apocalypse Now counts?

[Nick1Ø66 4,714]

22 minutes ago, Brónach said:

what's your favourite movie with major reshoots that works?

 

Well Eric Stoltz simply wouldn't have worked as Marty McFly, so...

[GerateWohl 4,367]

25 minutes ago, Brónach said:

what's your favourite movie with major reshoots that works? that's a fun question, but not for this thread

When the Special Editions of the three original Star Wars movies came out I disliked almost everything about them except the final battle in the first movie. That was significantly improved.

 

And I like the theatrical version of Alien³ much better than this so called Director's Cut.

[A24 4,333]

On 27/05/2023 at 1:25 PM, Chen G. said:

 

Actually, I can think of a movie disappointment, and its probably not going to be a popular one: David Lean's epics post-Lawrence of Arabia, especially (for me personally) A Passage to India. Lean being Lean, there are obviously strong points all over even his worst films, from his performances to his eye for composition and so forth. But India... there was just something about it...after about 100 minutes of it, it just dawned on me "you know what, this is boring!" Talk about taking small stories and making them unnecessarily big!

 

 

I can imagine children being bored with A Passage Of India (no guns, war or other epic stuff) but you're saying you found it boring as an adult? Hmmm ...

[Chen G. 3,949]

8 minutes ago, AC1 said:

you're saying you found it boring as an adult? Hmmm ...

 

Not all at once. It just snuck up on me. I can't quite analyse what it was that was boring about it, but it just was, and has remained that.

 

I guess part - not all, part - of the issue is the scale of the movie lulls you into thinking the inevitable scandal around Aziz and Ms. Quested's relationship and the (truly bizarre) rape allegation would result in something much more large-scale than a spot of rioting in one Indian town.

 

The Bridge on the River Kwai is about saboutaging a Japanese supply-line of strategic importance.

Lawrence is about the Arab revolt.

Doctor Zhivago is not about the revolution, but it coincides with it at least.

Ryan's Daughter has a gun-running suplot that at least ties it to the Easter Uprising (and lets not pretend that film was succesfull at much of anything beyond making the Irish countryside look rapturously beautiful).

 

So they all either depict or use as a backdrop events of considerable historical significance. A Passage to India does not, and yet it absolutely plays like an epic. Its uselessly massive.

[GerateWohl 4,367]

Offen movies disappoint when you read the book first. We talked in other threads enough about disappointment on the Harry Potter movies. But same applied for me on Clockwork Orange. 

 

Speaking of Kubrick. Was terribly disappointed the first time I watched 2001. Left me bored and confused. 

 

Speaking of being bored. Also my big favourite David Cronenberg disappointed me twice.

With eXistenZ and Spider.

 

Speaking of Spider. The whole The Amazing Spiderman reboot was disappointing. The more surprising to me it was, that I managed to be disappointed by the first movie with such low expectations.

[Edmilson 7,443]

1 hour ago, Brónach said:

fun score though

 

ridiculous scene with an american snake

Never saw the 13th Warrior, but the score is one of my favorites from Goldsmith in the 90s. I think I like it even more than the Mummy! 

 

19 minutes ago, GerateWohl said:

Speaking of Spider. The whole The Amazing Spiderman reboot was disappointing. The more surprising to me it was, that I managed to be disappointed by the first movie with such low expectations.

The same happened with me. Despite being a huge Raimi SM trilogy fan, I was willing to give TASM a fair shot... but in the end both of these movies only managed to bore me. Garfield is a good actor though and his chemistry with Stone is good, too bad they had crappy screenplays.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,527]

Here's a few from my dim and distant:

 

COCOON: THE RETURN - it took everything that was wonderful about the original, and flushed it all down the shitter.

 

THE RISE OF SKYWALKER - it's a turd, a giant, stinking, fucking turd. There's no other way to describe it.

 

GENERATIONS - I'll go on record by saying that I'm not the world's greatest TNG fan, but this takes the proverbial Chocolate Digestive. What on earth were they thinking?!

 

SUPERMAN II - see COCOON THE RETURN and multiply by a factor of 1000.

 

NO TIME TO DIE - ostensibly, it's not a bad film, but it places too much emphasis on wrapping up Craig's tenure, and it's ham-fisted in its approach. Also, what might work in the books (Bond having a child with Kissy Suzuki) definitely does not work in the films.

 

 

 

 

Some "on second thoughts" (with acknowledgement to @Nick1Ø66 - good call, my young padawan!)

 

STAR TREK VI - never liked it at the cinema; love it, now.

 

BATMAN RETURNS - ditto. I now regard it as the pinnacle of Batman films.

 

TOMORROW NEVER DIES - I was very disappointed with this, after the utterly class act that was GOLDENEYE, but I've come to appreciate it, over the years.

 

QUANTUM OF SOLACE - my initial reaction of "what the hell was that???!!!" has given way to a new appreciation, to the extent of it becoming my second favourite Craig Bond.

 

 

Ps, @AC1, Alex, RETURN OF THE JEDI was definitely worth the trip to London, especially as I saw it at the Dominion, Tottenham Court Road, in Dolby 6-track and 70mm.

 

[mrbellamy 6,286]

In retrospect, I think The Cat in the Hat and Garfield: The Movie coming out within a year of each other when I was 13 really signaled the absolute cold death of my childhood and the beginning of my adolescence. 

[Edmilson 7,443]

Another disappointment I had as a teen: The Hangover. I used to read a lot about movies both on the internet (with that crappy 2000s connection) and on magazines (remember those? lol), and then I saw reviews lauding this as one of the best and most hilarious comedies ever made. Not only that, it was received as one of the best movies of that year, period. 

 

Then I saw it on DVD and it was... meh. Not bad by any means, but not exactly funny either. I laughed very little and was bored throughout most of the movie. To this day I don't understand how it got such great reviews, even taking into account the context of movie business in 2009.

 

9 minutes ago, mrbellamy said:

In retrospect, I think The Cat in the Hat and Garfield: The Movie coming out within a year of each other when I was 13 really signaled the absolute cold death of my childhood and the beginning of my adolescence. 

Lol, I saw both of those in the theaters at ages 10 and 11! Even kid me thought this movies were garbage and preferred stuff like HP or LOTR or Spiderman. Actually, aside from Pixar or Potter, most mid-2000s family movies were utter crap, which is sad because it was my childhood. 

[Nick1Ø66 4,714]

21 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

Another disappointment I had as a teen: The Hangover. I used to read a lot about movies both on the internet (with that crappy 2000s connection) and on magazines (remember those? lol), and then I saw reviews lauding this as one of the best and most hilarious comedies ever made. Not only that, it was received as one of the best movies of that year, period. 

 

Then I saw it on DVD and it was... meh.

 

So you're saying you find The Hangover to be...overrated?

[mrbellamy 6,286]

One movie that I really let myself get excited for, to the extent that I imagined it could be one of my favorites of the year, and then it turned out to be one of the worst I've ever seen is Escape From Tomorrow, the horror movie shot illegally inside Disney World. So many brilliantly fun behind-the-scenes stories and a real turd. 

[Edmilson 7,443]

24 minutes ago, Nick1Ø66 said:

 

So you're saying you find The Hangover to be...overrated?

In 2009, it certainly was. IIRC, it even won a Golden Globe for Best Comedy. I don't know how it would be received today though.

[Thor 7,504]

Threads like these are always bit of a downer, as I see many of my favourite films listed as 'disappointments'. But God knows I've had plenty of disappointments of my own, especially when some of my favourite filmmakers, or filmmakers I "trust", have put out a less-than-stellar product.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,527]

You're not alone, @Thor, but I don't regret creating the thread.

Some of my favourite films have been either box office, or critical, disasters, including three of my all-time favourite films, one of which has received a lot of negative attention on this very site. Conversely, there are a lot of successful films that do zero for me, so go figure.

I understand that people who write about films for a living need to be far more objective than your average JWfaner, myself included. It must be difficult to create a mature piece of literature, without using the word "disappointment".

[Thor 7,504]

Yeah, it's tricky. Rather than list titles of my own, I'm ALMOST tempted to go on a 'defense rampage' for each and every title mentioned in this thread. Although, to be fair, there are some 4-5 titles wherein I share the disappointment. I say 'almost', because I don't know if I have the stamina.

[Nick1Ø66 4,714]

26 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

You're not alone, @Thor, but I don't regret creating the thread.

Some of my favourite films have been either box office, or critical, disasters, including three of my all-time favourite films, one of which has received a lot of negative attention on this very site. Conversely, there are a lot of successful films that do zero for me, so go figure.

I understand that people who write about films for a living need to be far more objective than your average JWfaner, myself included. It must be difficult to create a mature piece of literature, without using the word "disappointment".

 

 

Exactly. And I think the topic of "disappointing" films leads to a much more nuanced, and interesting (from my POV anyway) discussion than simply ranting about what our "worst" films are. 

 

You can argue with someone all day if they say a film you liked "sucked", but there's no arguing if they say it disappointed them. I'm frankly more interested in why someone found something they wanted to like, and had high expectations for, disappointing, than another useless argument about the film's merits that has no resolution.

 

Disappointment is a part of life, and we learn from disappointment. If anything, disappointment over time helps us refine our own taste in art. It's also interesting to see what films disappoint other people, because it tells you something about their taste as well, as opposed to simply talking about films everyone thinks suck.

[GerateWohl 4,367]

Disappointment is not necessarily a measure for a film's quality. It just means, you had higher expectations that were not fulfilled by the movie. So, it can be that a bad film does not disappoint you because you knew it in advance and expected nothing from it and another good film that you expected to be fantastic and lift you off your seat didn't meet your expecatations, so you were disappointed.

 

[Richard Penna 3,687]

I find these threads fun to discuss why certain movies may take time for people to like, or on the opposite side, not hold up on subsequent viewings.

 

Like the aforementioned Hangover films - I lked all three a few years ago during my Blu-ray rental period, but I just saw the first two again and was a little bit bored in places.

 

The same goes for Life of Pi, which I saw vaguely around when it came out and I really liked it but then I rented it for a second time a few years ago and it completely failed to grab me second time around.

[JTN 2,013]

- Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

- Star Wars: The Force Awakens

- The Matrix Resurrections

- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

- Ready Player One

- The BFG

- RoboCop 3

- Ghostbusters Afterlife

- Ghostbusters (2016)

- The Batman

- Alien Resurrection

- Blade Runner 2049

 

etc.

[Edmilson 7,443]

The sad part is that The Hangover might be indeed the funniest comedy of 2009, even though I don't think it is that funny, but mostly because the others were so bad.

 

Since the mid-90s, American comedy became much more crass, raunchy, mean spirited, stupid, focused on sexual organs and just plain dumb. It was idiotic in the 90s and it only got worse in the 2000s and 2010s, thanks to the likes of the Farrely brothers, Adam Sandler and his unfunny friends and whoever made those American Pie movies.

 

These guys had such a huge impact in the Hollywood comedy that it is felt until today, even though we haven't had a successful comedy in years.

 

So yeah, while The Hangover wasn't that different from the typical R-rated sex comedy from the 2000s, at least it had an interesting premise that was executed with more care than your average Adam Sandler movie.

 

People put more thought into that movie than just "let's be as gross and offensive as we can be!" and "ain't penises fun?".

 

[Richard Penna 3,687]

It's well executed but I wonder if the premise doesn't hold up much to repeat viewings when you know what actually happened and if like me, you're not really into the more vulgar jokes (i.e. basically all of them).

 

I liked the American Pie movies although haven't seen them in years. I saw one of them (might have been Wedding) on a plane before the days when you could watch anything on demand, and the crew had to stop the entertainment system to prep for landing about 5-10 mins before the end, and judging by the subsequent displeasure a lot of people on that flight were watching and enjoying it.

 

One that I do think stands the 'time' test a bit better is Road Trip which has Seann Scott in one of his more bearable roles and generally a fun vibe throughout.

[Kasey Kockroach 2,344]

Citizen Kane taught me to fear parrots.

[Indianagirl 298]

Most disappointed??? The last ten to fifteen years of cinema going?