OK Movies That Could Have Been Great

[voltron]

The Burning didn't really grab me, but folks seem to love it. I was all revved up to be blown away by a classic slasher, but the movie seems to be missing some indefinable quality that I can't explain. A lot of Fulci's films could be improved (ie: The Beyond, House By The Cemetary) with a little more style and class. Pieces would've been great if it weren't for those damn tennis playing segments. Clerks 2 had it's moments (few and far between though), but it seemed too self referential and "put on". I'd like to see a 3rd sequel set back at the convenience store. Class Reunion Massacre (aka The Redeemer) could use more gore, plus the killer didn't really strike me as being too scary, except when he drowns that girl while wearing a clown mask. I'm sure there's a lot more but I can't think of any at the moment. Oh, wait, Scream could've been half decent if the killers weren't some lame teens.

[BTM]

My proposal for a halfway decent D&D movie is as follows, and this is something Kevin Smith could probably pull off, although I'm not a huge fan of his -seems to be up his alley:

They need to make a D&D movie from the players' perspective ... show the group of players getting together around the table, dealing with the antics of trying to play a game and then intercut it with animated sections of the gameplay/adventure itself. 

This way, they could insert a lot of comedy - you know, show the guy who always shows up to the game late, the other guy who's girlfriend keeps calling and interrupting the game, the guy who always seems to get killed/ko'd, etc.,  And they could showcase each type of player as well: the manly man/real man, the brainac puzzle solver, the thespian who tries to talk to every npc, the loon, and the munchie.  They need to showcase the best elements of the game - players making fun of each other, throwing cheezy puffs at one another, etc.,

Actually there IS a film like that.  Check out The Gamers: Dorkness Rising.  It's a pretty hysterical film.  You can even get it from Netflix.

[BTM]

One word: War

I mean, seriously, WTF, people?  Plot: Jason Statham and Jet Li fight.  Seriously, they didn't have to say anything else to get my ass into the theater, that was enough.  And yet, while the film has some good action sequences, the two main characters only get like ONE fight scene and ten or so minutes or screentime.  What's the damn point in hiring two of the best fighters in cinema today if you're not going to have them smack each other around?

[claws]

The Burning didn't really grab me, but folks seem to love it. I was all revved up to be blown away by a classic slasher, but the movie seems to be missing some indefinable quality that I can't explain. A lot of Fulci's films could be improved (ie: The Beyond, House By The Cemetary) with a little more style and class. Pieces would've been great if it weren't for those damn tennis playing segments. Clerks 2 had it's moments (few and far between though), but it seemed too self referential and "put on". I'd like to see a 3rd sequel set back at the convenience store. Class Reunion Massacre (aka The Redeemer) could use more gore, plus the killer didn't really strike me as being too scary, except when he drowns that girl while wearing a clown mask. I'm sure there's a lot more but I can't think of any at the moment. Oh, wait, Scream could've been half decent if the killers weren't some lame teens.

Improving The Beyond and Pieces would only take away the magic. It's the badness and the awkward Euro-way of doing things that made both the beloved classics that they are today. The Beyond without "Do Not Entry" and Pieces without "BAAAAASTARD" just wouldn't be the same. Its part of our pop culture.

Class Reunion Massacre (The Redeemer) is a respected cult item amongst genre fans because its so different compared to other "slashers" (plus it was ahead of its time). Personally I don't think the movie needs to be improved and is just great the way it is.

As for The Burning, it wasn't ground breaking or anything but has a reputation because of the raft massacre scene. Basically its just a fun camp slasher (and Friday the 13th knock off) with better than average gore effects (in the uncut version). I enjoy it for what it is.

[Flick James]

Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy has already been brought up, but I'll provide some commentary of my own there.

I liked the movies, but they certainly could have been better. Here are two things that stood out that limited it from being great:

Aragorn: I like Viggo Mortenson as an actor, actually, but I didn't really like him as Aragorn. Something about him just didn't fit. Part of it was his voice. When I read the book I heard a much richer voice that Viggo has. I'm not saying it was a bad performance, it just didn't work in my opinion.

Gollum: I really wish they had stayed away from going all CGI with this character. This came in crystal clear when I saw the opening scene of the last film, where they explained the character's origin with the ring. Andy Serkis was actually quite good in portraying Smeagol before the fall, and his facial expressions when he first sees the ring and when he's killing his brother were appropriately disturbing. I think it would have worked much better if Andy Serkis has actually played the part with the aid of make-up and perhaps some CGI enhancements, kind of like what you see with Benicio Del Toro in The Wolfman. The capability was there, and I just think it would have played better, as I thought Andy Serkis' performance in the orgin sequence was far more convincing and moving than the CGI Gollum was. My opinion.

I think those two pivotal aspects had a huge influence over the series being good and being great.

[voltron]

Improving The Beyond and Pieces would only take away the magic. It's the badness and the awkward Euro-way of doing things that made both the beloved classics that they are today. The Beyond without "Do Not Entry" and Pieces without "BAAAAASTARD" just wouldn't be the same. Its part of our pop culture.

Class Reunion Massacre (The Redeemer) is a respected cult item amongst genre fans because its so different compared to other "slashers" (plus it was ahead of its time). Personally I don't think the movie needs to be improved and is just great the way it is.

As for The Burning, it wasn't ground breaking or anything but has a reputation because of the raft massacre scene. Basically its just a fun camp slasher (and Friday the 13th knock off) with better than average gore effects (in the uncut version). I enjoy it for what it is.

Claws, I know what you mean about the Euro-ness of The Beyond and Pieces. I'm a sucker when it comes to that stuff - for instance, I really like a lot of Umberto Lenzi's work - it has that "magic badness" that makes me smile. But for some strange reason, I find Fulci's more popular works left me feeling like "huh?" - the gore and general atmosphere are pretty cool but i can't help but feel that there's something missing from these films, more coherence, more sleaze, etc. Don't Torture A Duckling was ablsolutely BRILLIANT, though if I must say, but it's quite far removed from, say, Zombie. I also agree about Class Reunion Massacre -I thought a lot of the acting was sub par, but I do agree that it was a certainly interesting take on the slasher subgenre, despiite a few flaws it may have had. And for me, the raft scene in the Burning was undeniably classic and redeemed what was, in my opinion, a kinda subpar F13th style slasher. Give me Sleepaway Camp or Just Before Dawn any day.

[Alex]

The Lost Boys.

While I think it is a good movie I just feel like having Sam and the Frog Brothers as a comedy element is too much. Either one or the other would have been fine.

[bob]

Flash Dance

there is a good story here... but the characters are very underdeveloped