What movie(s) do you regard as missed opportunities?

[DerekG]

Bad movies rarely bother me (mostly because I make great pains to avoid them). But as an avid film fan, it's crushing to see a production that boasts superb performances, or whose framework is so thematically rich, yet somehow, things just don't work out.

One example (in regards to the latter): "Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones." It had all the elements of a great epic:

--A forbidden romance between a chaste knight and a virginal, pseudo-pacifistic maiden? Lovely.

--A gumshoe--played by the guy from "Trainspotting"--who pursues a mystery involving human cloning? Intriguing.

--Intergalactic war? Groovy.

--Ian McDiarmid, Christopher Lee, and Samuel L. Jackson? In the same flick? F--k an A.



In lieu of this treasure trove, the bloody thing just fell apart. I was never so depressed walking out of a theater.

[Flaxbee]

1. Beauty Shop...

rented it last night, looking for something, anything, frivolous and distracting. Queen Latifah, Alfre Woodard -- good cast, right? And the story was OK, the premise good/cute. But the movie just stank. Fell apart, totally.

The Arrival with Charlie Sheen, aliens here terraforming the planet b/c they're lizards and need the heat. Not a bad idea, but shitty movie.

Another Charlie Sheen, with Donald Sutherland called Shadow Conspiracy about a shadow gov't attempt to assassinate the pres. played by Sam Waterston. Had a cameo by Gore Vidal. But turned out to be utter crap.

[LeftyDarthBrodie]

2. Jesus Christ, Vampire Hunter

Just imagine the possibilities with a title like that and then imagine how dissapointed you could possibly be by a lack of vampire hunting by Jesus.

[DerekG]

3. The believer in me may balk; but that's one enticing title

Almost as neat as "Bullet-Proof Monk" (which, as I understand, was not a very good flick).

[henslee]

4. John Carpenter's Lifeforce... Some sequences of street anarchy were

totally insane and the plot was cool but nothing really added up.

[stlsaxman]

5. Brothers Grimm

what a sad, sad event THAT turned out to be.

[CBHagman]

6. False premise, though.

I don't care how brilliant Terry Gilliam is supposed to be. It's a damnably stupid idea to take two historical figures who were scholars and compiled a dictionary, not just the famous fairy tales, and pass them off as...con men. It's as dumb (and slanderous) as depicting Frederick Douglass as a snake oil salesman or Marie Curie as a can-can dancer.

Yes, I allowed myself a forbidden portion of Schadenfreude after the critics slapped Gilliam around for The Brothers Grimm.

[HawkerHurricane]

7. Pearl Harbor

Had everything: Special Effect budget in the millions, big name stars, romance triangle, real live historical commentary on racism, and...
Nothing.
Millions in special effects, and they got the CGI/Paper Mache planes and ships WRONG.
Plenty of documentary material, and they got the facts screwed up.
The love triangle was contrived and hokey.
The historically accurate commentary on racism lost in the shuffle.
Bah.
Give me that kind of budget, and I'll do a remake of Tora!Tora!Tora! that will make eyes pop. Or, if you prefer, pick another famous naval battle (or not famous one) and I'll do it. I'll even add in a better romance and a better commentary on racism in the U.S. in the 1940's.