# Improve a Movie By Changing Just One Thing **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 5, 2005, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improve-a-movie-by-changing-just-one-thing/324845 "2005-10-05T04:35:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improve-a-movie-by-changing-just-one-thing/324845/1 "2005-10-05T04:35:32Z")
Here’s the deal; you have to take a movie and improve it by changing just one aspect of the plot, story, script or setting. Preferably, this should change only one part of the movie, not the entire thing. You can’t change the cast. My change: I’d improve “Superman” by having the movie START when Superman arrives on Earth and is discovered by the Kents. None of the Krypton prologue is seen. Thus, the first actual reference to Krypton and Jor-el is when teenaged Superman arrives in the Fortress of Solitude. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improve-a-movie-by-changing-just-one-thing/324845/2 "2005-10-05T04:51:13Z")
Lord of the Rings Trilogy - no stupid Aragorn falling off a cliff/fake death scene. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improve-a-movie-by-changing-just-one-thing/324845/3 "2005-10-05T05:11:21Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I’d improve “Superman” by having the movie START when Superman arrives on Earth and is discovered by the Kents. None of the Krypton prologue is seen. Thus, the first actual reference to Krypton and Jor-el is when teenaged Superman arrives in the Fortress of Solitude. Well, considering all the money they paid Brando to play Jor-el, they had to get at least some of their money’s worth. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improve-a-movie-by-changing-just-one-thing/324845/4 "2005-10-05T05:16:11Z")
Mute Jar-Jar Binks. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improve-a-movie-by-changing-just-one-thing/324845/5 "2005-10-05T05:19:03Z")
_Fight Club_: This movie would’ve been vastly superior if not for the two main characters being the same person. Apply that to just about any movie that features multiple personalities as the “UNEXPECTED PLOT-TWIST!” _The Princess Bride_: Take out all the modern-day scenes with grandpa reading the story to Fred Savage. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improve-a-movie-by-changing-just-one-thing/324845/6 "2005-10-05T05:42:58Z")
RETURN OF THE SITH: Take out the “Noooooooooooooooo!” PASSION OF THE CHRIST: Add a funny cartoon dog sidekick. ALEXANDER: (there was a lot wrong with this movie, but if I could just change one thing to _improve_ (not _perfect_ it)- Get rid of the flashbacks. Tell the story in a linear fashion, from childhood to death. Flashbacks are an irritating affectation. THE BIRDCAGE: Have some balls and make Robin Williams & Nathan Lane a real couple (like they were in _La Cage Aux Folles_) rather than the funny asexual fags they were in the end result. If it’s just “one” particular thing- have Armand’s fight occur when a homophobe insults Albert (again as it happened in La Cage) rather than when Armand’s just trying to act macho. GODS & MONSTERS: the opposite of Alexander- more flashbacks. THE COLOR PURPLE: Restore the scene of Celie and Mister as much older characters sitting on the porch chatting as old friends. Mister’s redemption was _vital_ to the book and only hinted at in the movie, which is one reason it was considered so defamatory of black men. (If I could change two things, the other would be to delete a copule of the scenes of Harpo falling threw roofs- he wasn’t a total fool.\*) THE GODFATHER- explain why all charges were dropped agains Michael when he came out of hiding. (It’s in the book but I wondered when I saw the movie.) FLIGHT PLAN- Establish a link between her husband and the conspirators other than the conspirators just knowing his wife designed part of the plane engine [which still doesn’t explain how she’s a walking encyclopedia of the plane’s inner architecture] This one is and isn’t about casting- it’s more about concept- DIARY OF A MAD BLACK WOMAN (or any other Tyler Perry vehicle)- cast an old black _woman_ (Irma Hall, for instance, or Della Reese, or give the chance of a lifetime to an unknown) as Madea. Perry is not the least bit believable as a woman (though in interviews he comes across as a total megalomaniac so I doubt he’d sell the rights at any price if he didn’t star). HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN- the Dementors should have been scarier. THE AVIATOR- Another movie I think a flashback may have helped. An old naked recluse watching movies and reliving his life through them. At very least there should have been better afterwards (for example, the movie ends with Howard having another breakdown, but IRL he recovered and held it together for another 15 years or so [marrying twice more] before descending completely into paranoia. \*Alice Walker said that this was one of the two most irritating things about the movie to her (there were many others). The most irritating detail was that in the movie Mister, a poor farmer [poorer in the book than in the movie] in central Georgia decades before electricity, didn’t know how to start a fire in a stove. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improve-a-movie-by-changing-just-one-thing/324845/7 "2005-10-05T06:35:17Z")
A.I.: End it about 20 minutes earlier. Ben-Hur: Dump the Jesus scenes (yes, I know that changes the whole meaning of the movie, but in a good way, IMO) ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improve-a-movie-by-changing-just-one-thing/324845/8 "2005-10-05T06:43:24Z")
_Changing Lanes_ - have the Ben Affleck character’s attempts to fix things up at the end fail. Have the movie end with both his and the Samuel L. Jackson character’s lives in ruins. ---
**Author:** ![Euthanasiast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Euthanasiast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euthanasiast)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improve-a-movie-by-changing-just-one-thing/324845/9 "2005-10-05T07:48:28Z")
**Battlefield Earth** Leave the lens cap on from start to finish, then replace the soundtrack with Celine Dion doing a cover version of _Led Zeppelin_’s _ **Whole Lotta Love** _ over and over again. 'course that’s two things, but it would take at least two things to improve _that_ celluloid abortion. No, wait! I got it! Give every patron to the screening of that cinematic goat rodeo a wasp nest that they could skull-fuck to get their minds off the fact that the film stinks so bad that you can literally see the dog shit fumes boiling off the screen. No, I don’t suppose that would be enough either. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improve-a-movie-by-changing-just-one-thing/324845/10 "2005-10-05T07:57:24Z")
_Elizabeth_: a very enjoyable film, right up until the final scene where Queen Elizabeth transforms herself into the “Gloriana” character, forsaking love for the good of her kingdom, all to the strains of the Mozart Requiem - a musical anachronism that grated on me and completely ruined the film. ---
**Author:** ![Vintage\_1957](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f04885/32.png) [@Vintage\_1957](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vintage_1957)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improve-a-movie-by-changing-just-one-thing/324845/11 "2005-10-05T08:05:09Z")
**Star Wars** Have Han shoot first. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improve-a-movie-by-changing-just-one-thing/324845/12 "2005-10-05T10:30:11Z")
**Aliens** Ripley, having rescued Newt from the Queen, doesn’t burn the eggs, remembering that they’re all going to be vapourised in a few minutes anyway. Then there’s no vengeful Queen to come after Ripley, tear Bishop in half, or plant an egg on the _Sulaco_. We lose the Queen vs Powerloader fight, but Alien[sup]3[/sup] never happens. On balance, a win for the good guys. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improve-a-movie-by-changing-just-one-thing/324845/13 "2005-10-05T11:40:08Z")
**Return of the Jedi** : Since we can’t eliminate cast members, how about making the Ewoks bloodthirsty monsters who eat the Stormtroopers’ brains instead of bopping them on the head with rocks. The Star Wars prequels: give Anakin some nads earlier on. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improve-a-movie-by-changing-just-one-thing/324845/14 "2005-10-05T11:49:16Z")
**Return of the King** We get rid of the stupid Gollum-turns-Frodo-against-Sam subplot, which probably made Prof T. revolve fast enough to affect the precession of the Earth’s axis. :rolleyes: Unfortunately I have more suggestions than the terms of the OP allow. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improve-a-movie-by-changing-just-one-thing/324845/15 "2005-10-05T12:33:58Z")
Remove the frame story from **Invasion of the Body Snatchers**. ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improve-a-movie-by-changing-just-one-thing/324845/16 "2005-10-05T12:40:16Z")
**Highlander 2** : Remember, _there can be only one_. ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improve-a-movie-by-changing-just-one-thing/324845/17 "2005-10-05T12:42:59Z")
> [@Jeff Lichtman](#): > > _Changing Lanes_ - have the Ben Affleck character’s attempts to fix things up at the end fail. Have the movie end with both his and the Samuel L. Jackson character’s lives in ruins. _that_ would certainly have been more plausable ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improve-a-movie-by-changing-just-one-thing/324845/18 "2005-10-05T12:47:57Z")
_Bad Santa_: Leave Bad Santa lying dead on the doorstep as they fade out. What an ending that would have been!!! Instead, we get lame-o voice over, “I got better. Then I spent time in jail and became pen pals with the boy.” ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improve-a-movie-by-changing-just-one-thing/324845/19 "2005-10-05T12:48:18Z")
Serenity let Wash live, just wound him Sister Act: opening scene: schoolage Dolores’ last name should have been Carter - when we later meet her as “Van Cartier” it would have made more sense ---
**Author:** ![cbawlmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cbawlmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbawlmer)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2005, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improve-a-movie-by-changing-just-one-thing/324845/20 "2005-10-05T14:59:51Z")
_Ladyhawke_: can we get an alternative score that’s not so heavy on the oh-so-1985 synthesizers? It doesn’t really match an otherwise gorgeous film. _Sleepy Hollow_: don’t reveal Christopher Walken’s face until the very end, where he is magically reconstituted from the inside out. It ruins the surprise if you saw him in the beginning. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/improve-a-movie-by-changing-just-one-thing/324845.md?page=2)