Most disappointing movies

[J.R.]

Most would probably say The Phantom Menace should rank near the top of the list, and I'd agree. Seventeen years and that's the best Lucas could come up with?
But I'd rather hear about movies we had low expectations for and were still let down by. Jason X for me. I was expecting very little and I got more-namely shockingly annoying characters and a lame script. I'm aware this movie's been discussed a lot lately, but I was disapointed that Freddy Gt Fingered wasn't as bad as everyone made it out to be.

[Chadzilla]

I think that the movie that I was left the most slack jawed and numb from shock by was Jaws the Revenge (1987), hands down.  I could not believe that a major studio and a name director could make a movie so insulting to the intelligence as that.  I remember just walking out of the theater dumb founded and incapable of thinking anything but "They should never have made it" over and over again.

I still give the movie two slimes, but the disappointment of seeing THAT on opening day (first matinee showing) was devestating at the time.

The American Godzilla ranks a distant second on the gut punched dismay-o-meter.  Especially when they first called the creature Godzilla, the disappointment that washed over me was palpable.

Third could be Alien Resurrection.

I movie I just hated when I saw it - Return of the Living Dead Part 2.

[raj]

My most recent disappointment was Reign of Fire.  A post-apocalyptic world, populated with fire-breathing dragons?  Gotta be cool.  But with plot holes too big to ignore and a too predictable story I left the theater unsatisfied.  The dragons were way cool, though.

I was also disappointed with the Sylvester Stallone-Sandra Bullock movie (name escapes me at the minute).  Some real good social commentary that was way underplayed.

Puppet Master III.  Um, wait a second, the puppets are good now?  And why would a (supposedly) kindly old man make puppets that are nothing but designed to kill?

[Fearless Freep]

I was also disappointed with the Sylvester Stallone-Sandra Bullock movie (name escapes me at the minute). Some real good social commentary that was way underplayed.

"Demolition Man"

[StatCat]

Puppet Master 3:

Well he did learn of the re-animation techniques for puppets in Egypt as the story goes. (don't think thats shown in the 3rd movie from what I remember) There are comic books that came out in the early 90s (about 7 I have them all) based on puppet master that are pretty cool. Really graphic and there are tons of sex in them too to my surprise. Artwise the drawings are very good- the first 4 are based on the movies, while the others go off about other stories not seen on film. Part 4 I think is when this series went to hell but part 3 is a little weak storywise too. The whole puppet master series itself has many holes in it.

[Fearless Freep]

The whole puppet master series itself has many holes in it.

Try the "Trancers" series for inconsistancies from story to story.  PuppetMaster has some hiccups where motivations changed from movie to movie and reactions in one movie don't match revelations in other movies, but they were small small issues compared to the total train-wreck of "Just what is a 'Trancer', anyway?!?!"

[Chris K.]

Mel Gibson's BRAVEHEART. I am sorry, but what is so special about this film besides it's Academy Award winning Best Director and Best Makeup as well as some other categories.

Ah 1995, a time in which the film industry was at an all time high with action exploitationers and dramas. But before the groundbreaking (though not groundbreaking in my book) SCHINDLER'S LIST in 1996, in 1995 their was BRAVEHEART. I never saw the so-called "epic" in the theatres (my parents were not in tune with taking an under age kid to see an R rated film at that time), but I do have some fond memories of my local friends acting out the scene of Gibson holding his sword proudly in the air and yelling like a maniac. And it really made me want to see it. Well, in 1997 it was on TV and I saw it. I was amazed by the action scenes and the drama, but later on I never could remember a scene from the film.  So, cut to 2002 and three months ago in my Religion class we had a little showing of BRAVEHEART and I thought "It will be a grand reunion". Ha! After the first 10 minutes, I was just BORED! And when the fight scenes came up between Mel and the "evil British" I began laughing and actually yelled outloud in class "This is so comic book it's funny". I don't know what it was, but I must have outgrown the film. I now consider BRAVEHEART a badly written, poorly performed, slowly paced film (and historically inaccurate as well, sorry).

But the fact that BRAVEHEART won a couple of Academy Awards is priceless. Best Makeup? I don't think warpaint counts as Best Makeup, but to the Academy it does. The makeup in RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD has more effort than BRAVEHEART. Best Director? You know, BRAVEHEART was Gibson's first directorial debut and he wins an award like that. Look at Peter Jackson and the fact that he has made films and graduated to going mainstream with LORD OF THE RINGS and he has not recieved an Academy Award for Best Director! Wow!

Of course, Gibson's direction is totally non-existant. Gibson spends more time using the camera to capture 10 minutes of scenery and 5 minutes of talk. And when Mel walks in playing William Wallace, all the women go "ooh" and "ahh" and I go "Yeah, right!" If that's directing, then...who knows! Even Gibson's Scottish accent is p**s poor. Like I said about Mel before, he acts like a dumb blondie. All he needs is a blondie wig and there you have it.

Not only that, but the script is by Randall "I wrote PEARL HARBOR" Wallace. So expect the same corny dialouge and historical inaccuracies that were so obvious in PEARL HARBOR. Wallace wallows around the same stereotypes such as the Scottish being good and the British being bad, even though both sides were pretty much ruthless. Is it just me, or is Randall afraid of picking up a history book and reading it to get the fact's straight for once? In BRAVEHEART, William Wallace screws the Princess of Wales and dies while
screaming "Freedom" and King Edward Longshakns throws out the so-called homosexual boyfriend of his son out the castle window! But, NONE OF THESE INCIDENTS ACTUALLY HAPPENED!

Gibson must have liked BRAVEHEART's plot so much because he would revisit it in the really crappy THE PATRIOT. And acording to Mel himself, the original cut of BRAVEHEART was four hours long instead of three. Thank God it was cut down to three. otherwise it would have been an eternity to watch.

And you know, their are some out there that like BRAVEHEART. And that's fine by me. Just don't say that I am "Insane", "Crazy", or "Stupid" that I don't like this turkey. The people who call me that are the same ones who didn't understand BRAINDEAD.

[J.R.]

I think Braveheart won best makeup not only for the warpaint but also for the prosthetics on Rebert De Bruce's dad and the battle wounds. The Academy's always been lazy in the technical categories. For instance, Rick Baker's superb work on Planet Of The Apes (2001) was not even nominated, while the not-too-special old age makeup in A Beautiful Mind was. LOTR won the makeup award, and deservedly so, but it wasn't for the Orcs or Hobbit feet, it was for turning Johnathan Rhys-Davies into Gimli. WTF?

[Chadzilla]

Chris K. wrote:
>
> You know, BRAVEHEART was Gibson's first directorial
> debut and he wins an award like that.

Actually BRAVEHEART was Gibson's second directing debut.  His first was the melodrama The Man Without a Face (which I liked).

>Look at Peter Jackson
> and the fact that he has made films and graduated to going
> mainstream with LORD OF THE RINGS and he has not recieved an
> Academy Award for Best Director! Wow!
>
>

And he ain't gonna as long as he makes Fantasy/horror movies.  The second he does another movie like Heavenly Creatures, then maybe.  But the Academy prefers Historical Epics, Period Pieces, and Drama over all else.

[Chris K.]

Yes, as I can recall Gibson first directed MAN WITHOUT A FACE before BRAVEHEART so thanks Chadzilla for catching that flub I made.

However, as much as I haven't seen MAN WITHOUT A FACE if it has Mel Gibson in it then to me it's a lost cause. I might rent it someday, but that will probably be 12 years down the road from now as it holds very little interest to me.

As for the Academy, nothing with them and movies will ever change.

[Mofo Rising]

BRAVEHEART is one of my favorite movies.

The movie that most disappointed me in recent times would be UNBREAKABLE.  I was completely impressed with THE SIXTH SENSE and was eagerly awaiting Shyamalan's new movie.  So much so that I avoided hearing anything about the film until I saw it in the theaters opening night.

I found it a slow, pretentious pile of crap that couldn't even get its own mood right.  The audience was laughing when the kid pulled the gun at the kitchen table.  Laughing!

Not to mention that it comes down to an attempt to "legitimize" superheros.  As if they should be "legitimized".  The reduction of comic books to a superhero medium is a long-standing complaint of mine, to which I am prone to much grumbling.  To see the topic brought up and fumbled on the big screen was like pouring salt on my open wounds.

SIGNS was better, but too much like his other films.  I'm watching you M. Night.

[Chris K.]

You like BRAVEHEART! Hey, whatever floats you boat it's fine with me. However, BRAVEHEART usually sinks my boat pretty quickly.

I, too, was also disappointed with UNBREAKABLE for some of the same reasons. Others were disappointed with it because they were expecting another THE SIXTH SENSE. I mean, UNBREAKABLE did have possibities but M. Night Shyamalan's direction was just too slow and the script was a bit dry. Not only that, but UNBREAKABLE seems to have a hard time trying to be a thriller, suspense or supernatual film that just goes nowhere. However, the opening really had me at the edge of my seat so Shyamalan knows how to get your attention.

I found THE SIXTH SENSE to be good, but quite predictable due to the trailers and hype (I knew when the kid says "I see dead people"). That and when it was parodied on TV and such it just took the flavor out of the film.

I am waiting for SIGNS to come out on video. Sorry, but I still consider ANY film featuring Mel Gibson to be a lost cause. If I want to see him "perform" at least I will pay $2.00 to watch him on video rather than $7.50 on the big screen.

[Dano]

I thought Indy: Temple of Doom was the biggest letdown in terms of movies I was really really really looking forward to.  The girl was awful, the kid was obnoxious and classic mid-80's Spielberg, and the plot had no gravity whatsoever.

Alien Resurrection was a steaming heap of garbage following a great original and an excellent 1st sequel, but the lackluster 2nd sequel sort of prepared me.

In terms of "Bad Movies" my award goes to Deep Star 6.  Eleven characters, two romantic leads who will obviously live... this gives you 9 fodder characters.  Three are killed in the blink of an eye, two more die in one monster attack, and the other four were not even directly killed by the monster.  A lame attempt to beat the Abyss to the "Alien-ripoff-in-the-deepsea-base" punch.

[K-Sonic]

Tim Burton's ED WOOD was a big letdown. Landau was cool as Lugosi but when he recreated Lugosi's acting - he SUCKED! Especially the infamous BRIDE OF THE MONSTER speech.
Bill Murray acted like he didn't even want to be there. They omitted JAILBAIT altogether. And apparently, Sarah Jessica Parker didn't even meet the real Delores Fuller, therefore creating a character based on nothing.

This movie was a real disappointment.

Also, the American GODZILLA 1998 was the worst thing ever to be associated with Godzilla. Total Hollywood fantasy s**t for the whole family to be insulted by!! The music was lame...I don't want to hear sappy, Disney-like orchestral music when I first see the monster! Where's Akira Ifukube when you need him?
The story was absolutely stupid. Matthew Broderick, scientist  falls (back) in love with a totally air-headed blonde newscaster??? This movie was beyond retarded!
The freakin monster puts his face right up to Broderick and nothing happens!?! This is riduculous insipid Hollywood brain wrecking crap at its fullest effect. I knew it would suck, but not this bad.
Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster is a better freakin movie!

[raj]

Thanks.  That's the second time recently I was thinking about the movie, but couldn't remember the name.