# Genre/subject matter that makes universally bad films (and their exceptions) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 1, 2016, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-subject-matter-that-makes-universally-bad-films-and-their-exceptions/744858 "2016-02-01T17:32:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-subject-matter-that-makes-universally-bad-films-and-their-exceptions/744858/81 "2016-02-05T15:06:43Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Dude, _Warcraft_ has _acres_ of plot. > > Mostly dumb plot, granted, but there’s still a lot of it. There’s backstory, such that it is, but not game plot. And that’s part of the issue- any movie of that franchise is basically going to have to make up a story out of whole cloth, and set it within that backstory, as well as include enough artwork and gameplay shout-outs to the fans. So I’d be willing to bet that something in the upcoming Warcraft movie will involve peasants chopping a shit-ton of wood for one reason or another. That’s the difference- some games have backstory, but some have actual in-game plot/storyline, and the ones with only backstory tend to stink mightily. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-subject-matter-that-makes-universally-bad-films-and-their-exceptions/744858/82 "2016-02-05T17:12:14Z")
Warcraft has enough plot for at least two dozen movies. Maybe not good movies, as Miller says, but there’s plenty there. They’ve been working on Warcraft for literally 20 years. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-subject-matter-that-makes-universally-bad-films-and-their-exceptions/744858/83 "2016-02-05T17:27:22Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > I’ve gotten pretty tired of police dramas that hew to this formulaic script: > > Detective So-and-So is an overworked, under-appreciated member of the Big City Police Department. His/her personal life is a train wreck and they’re approaching burn out, which they deal with by excessive drinking and/or meaningless hookups, when not crashing in their tiny squalid big city apartment. > > The Detective is assigned a seemingly routine case involving some dead lowlife nobody would ever miss. But the Detective can’t shake a nagging feeling that some tiny clue just doesn’t add up. The more they dig, the more it turns out that the lowlife’s death was just the tip of the iceberg, and moreover important and dangerous people want the case dropped. > > The Detective pursues the case with increasing risk to his/her career and/or life, their only ally their partner (who has at least a 50% chance of getting killed as a result) and either their estranged ex or someone new they’re falling for. The conspiracy reaches even into the Department itself, and the Detective has to survive a betrayal or ambush by one of their own. They persevere until the bad guys are exposed, justice is done, they reconcile with their ex or form a new relationship, and they realize their job is worthwhile after all. The End. You should write movies for HOLLYWOOD! ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-subject-matter-that-makes-universally-bad-films-and-their-exceptions/744858/84 "2016-02-05T17:41:42Z")
> [@bump](#): > > There’s backstory, such that it is, but not game plot. And that’s part of the issue- any movie of that franchise is basically going to have to make up a story out of whole cloth, and set it within that backstory, as well as include enough artwork and gameplay shout-outs to the fans. So I’d be willing to bet that something in the upcoming Warcraft movie will involve peasants chopping a shit-ton of wood for one reason or another. > > That’s the difference- some games have backstory, but some have actual in-game plot/storyline, and the ones with only backstory tend to stink mightily. World of Warcraft’s plot is actually fairly deep, if rather convoluted. In fact, the game does a pretty good job of making you feel like you are a part of a very large-scale story, and a very important cog in that story. Many of the events are even Hollywood-quality movie moments! If it wasn’t for the fact that it becomes such a grind-fest in the end game, I would pay for my subscription for more than a month or two after each expansion- just long enough to be part of the story. That doesn’t mean that the movie won’t be terrible- but if it is, it won’t be because there is a lack of story in the source material. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-subject-matter-that-makes-universally-bad-films-and-their-exceptions/744858/85 "2016-02-05T21:08:45Z")
> [@Kron](#): > > You should write movies for HOLLYWOOD! :dubious: I’m not sure how I should take that… (:D) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-subject-matter-that-makes-universally-bad-films-and-their-exceptions/744858/86 "2016-02-05T21:39:59Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Well known histories. I was pretty certain \*Titanic \*was gonna sink. Everybody knew Oedipus was gonna poke his eyes out. Everybody knew Richard III was gonna die on Bosworth Field. They went to see the plays anyway. There is more to a story than its ending – what matters is **how** the story is told. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-subject-matter-that-makes-universally-bad-films-and-their-exceptions/744858/87 "2016-02-05T21:42:02Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > Next worse is westerns. > > Example: all of them except Back to the Future 3, A million ways to Die in The West, and Django Unchained. Fun Exception: _Cowboys & Aliens._ ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2016, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-subject-matter-that-makes-universally-bad-films-and-their-exceptions/744858/88 "2016-02-05T21:50:07Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Westerns were a part of the Hollywood scene from the very start of filmmaking. And Westerns were “Hollywood” long **before** the very start of filmmaking. The whole “Wild West” was a media (dime novels, melodramas & Wild West shows) creation beginning not long after the Civil War. In the real Old West there was little violence apart from the Indian Wars, and a cowboy was much likelier to die of illness, or of falling off his horse with his feet tangled in the stirrups and getting dragged to death, than in a gunfight. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2016, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-subject-matter-that-makes-universally-bad-films-and-their-exceptions/744858/89 "2016-02-06T03:34:33Z")
> [@bump](#): > > There’s backstory, such that it is, but not game plot. Sorry, but no. That’s just plain wrong. Maybe not the first two games, but from _Warcraft III_ on, the franchise has been _very_ story driven. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2016, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-subject-matter-that-makes-universally-bad-films-and-their-exceptions/744858/90 "2016-02-06T04:15:08Z")
There has never been a good movie about an internet forum. No exception. If you are considering making one, don’t. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-subject-matter-that-makes-universally-bad-films-and-their-exceptions/744858.md?page=4)