Mediocre Movies That Could Have Been Great
- Thread starter vultan
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Batman Returns: Scrap Penguin, he does not work as a primary antagonist. Catwoman could use more tweaking and would work better if she never directly fought Batman and just fucked with his emotions. You can even keep the plot of trying to take over Gotham City, you can even have a "villain tries to influence (win) the election" plot. Without Penguin you don't have the missile and the baby kidnapping.
As for replacements for Penguin: Two-Face, Ra's Al Ghul, Hugo Strange, Black Mask, and Falcone all work. Or you can scrap the plot and go for someone who works better with the dark tone like Deadshot or Scarecrow.
Batman Forever: Maybe recast the parts of Batman, Robin, and Two Face and make Carrey's costume as Riddler not as silly. Keep U2 out out of the soundtrack and maybe cut down a bit on the humor.
The Kids Are Alright: Learn how to balance the comedy with the drama instead of dropping the comedy half way through. Also learn that people having sex and saying "fuck you" is not comedy. Don't make the kids as unlikable and handle the fall out of the affair better as opposed to it just kind of stopping after it's discovered. Better yet, make both the women bisexuals instead of lesbians so the movie makes a lot more sense. I have a feeling they were bisexual in the first draft.
I can think of more when it's not 1 AM and I'm procrastinating.
As for replacements for Penguin: Two-Face, Ra's Al Ghul, Hugo Strange, Black Mask, and Falcone all work. Or you can scrap the plot and go for someone who works better with the dark tone like Deadshot or Scarecrow.
Batman Forever: Maybe recast the parts of Batman, Robin, and Two Face and make Carrey's costume as Riddler not as silly. Keep U2 out out of the soundtrack and maybe cut down a bit on the humor.
The Kids Are Alright: Learn how to balance the comedy with the drama instead of dropping the comedy half way through. Also learn that people having sex and saying "fuck you" is not comedy. Don't make the kids as unlikable and handle the fall out of the affair better as opposed to it just kind of stopping after it's discovered. Better yet, make both the women bisexuals instead of lesbians so the movie makes a lot more sense. I have a feeling they were bisexual in the first draft.
I can think of more when it's not 1 AM and I'm procrastinating.
Likewise, The Usual Suspects could have been one of the greatest films ever with a better cast, besides Spacey.
Really? Which parts would you re-cast, specifically? Because I think the OTL cast is pretty solid altogether.
Two that I really feel were ok (some say they sucked) but could have been better:
The Shadow (1994)
The Phantom (1995)
Not sure what to do with them, but there was potential.
The Shadow (1994)
The Phantom (1995)
Not sure what to do with them, but there was potential.
One of my favorite movies. Al Pacino is still my favorite devil, after Robin Hughes.
Stolengood
Banned
I'd like to hear, as well; that was a great cast. Even Stephen Baldwin, pre-crazy, did a great job.
I'll toss one in: A View to a Kill. Keep the original title and use what plot can be used from the original short story, "From a View to a Kill" (because, seriously, Bond in a close-quarters motorcycle chase is too good not to be used, as is the great character of Mary Ann Russell). Use the film, also, to give Roger Moore the boot and bring in, possibly, Timothy Dalton a film early. Lose the shitty plot of the actual film, keep the theme song.
I think Darkman works the way it does because it's not a huge budget film. At least in the way it's executed, Darkman is half super hero movie and half slasher film from the killer's perspective (and the victims just happen to deserve it).
The story written as a big budget film would have the character instantly bought up by a comic book company.
The Last Airbender- Have almost anyone BUT Shyamalan direct it. And actual Asian actors, too.
Well with Batman Forever, you could have the original cut be the one that is released rather then what we got.
Batman Returns-- add in a few more scenes that more overtly clarify the Penguin's life in the circus, and a couple that track Batman's personal struggles and shift from Nineties Antihero he was during much of the story to the "Shut up, you're going to jail" hero he was in the last ten minutes of the film. Better sets up his characterisation in Forever as a more heroic man that is cleaning up the last bits of his grief. I would honestly keep everything else the same.
Judge Dredd - have it either play it striaght or go full Comando level of insanity.
Subtly recut "Dune" and rerelease it as a "Fargo"-esque dark comedy.
Or as another Star Wars.
Cook
Banned
Fargo was a comedy? I just thought it was shit!Subtly recut "Dune" and rerelease it as a "Fargo"-esque dark comedy.
Could have been?
I heard that movie was nearing 6 hours if it had not been cut. Still, it would be better than the half-chopped thing we got.
Avatar would have need that, and the whole movie just doesn't feel apt for a 3 hour film. It would have been better if it had been split into two films, with the first one dealing with Sully arriving into Pandora, and the second featuring Sully going native. The worldbuilding in the movie just feels like a lot of wasted potential.
The Wes Craven Swamp Thing movie is allowed a bigger budget, and is based more off the Alan Moore era.[/QUOTE]
You forget that In 1982, the reason the Swamp Thing Comic was restarted was because of the Wes Craven Movie. Alan Moore would not start writing for the comic till 1983. I heard that Moore submitted a script for 1989 Return of Swamp Thing.
You forget that In 1982, the reason the Swamp Thing Comic was restarted was because of the Wes Craven Movie. Alan Moore would not start writing for the comic till 1983. I heard that Moore submitted a script for 1989 Return of Swamp Thing.
For Cloverfield to be better, we need the Monster to appear earlier, and do something like what they did in Rec 3. Drop the camera about 10 or 15 minutes into the films and then film the rest normally.
Sam Raimi wanted to direct the Shadow. They should have let him.
Joe Dante wanted to do the Phantom. He left after the movie been in Development Hell and at one point the filmmakers considered Joel Schumacker. (if that had happen then we could complain about the nipples on the Phantom costumes.)