When I went to see The Sixth Sense, it was the opening weekend and what I was going into was a ghost story. I knew it was about a kid who saw Dead people and that was all.
As such, the very famous twist did not occur to me until about 30 seconds before the movie made it clear and when I realized I literally gasped and grabbed the arm of the person I was with because I was so excited. It was one of my favorite movie going experiences and I think it is the main reason the movie has aged so well for me.
Like everyone else who saw it, I told everyone they should go and even though I didn’t tell them what the twist was I said things to the effect of, “You won’t believe the twist at the end” etc. Unfortunately, I think I did those people a disservice.
If I went into the movie knowing there was a twist, I am not so sure my experience would have been as enjoyable. Suddenly, the movie isn’t a story; it becomes a puzzle and I spend my time trying to second guess and figure it out. With that agenda, knowing things are not as they seem, I probably would have figured out what was going on sooner and I don’t know the movie would have held me like it did. Not so much because the movie had nothing else but a twist (although some bad ones are exactly like that–The Village I’m looking at you) but because watching a story unfold and doing a puzzle are two different things even if both could be enjoyable.
Generally, I hate spoilers and I prefer my movies be stories rather than puzzles but these days it is almost impossible to completely avoid that kind of stuff. I try my best because I love to recapture that feeling I had because they are so rare. I had a similar occasion with a more recent movie–giving the title outside of spoiler space would probably be hypocritical of me so I spoilered it below–which inspired me to post this thread.
How about you? Does that kind of informational count as a spoiler for you and if so do you care?
The movie was:
Cabin in the Woods. Thought it would be a horror movie with a Whedonesque twist but it was much much more than that.
I don’t know that I’d quite call this a pet peeve of mine- it’s probably more like a peeve that I put out food for on the porch each night and talk to when I see it, but it doesn’t live in my house or anything. But yes, absolutely. Knowing in advance that there’s this EXCITING UNBELIEVABLE SURPRISE plot twist coming pretty much renders the twist none of those things when it arrives.
Sure, I think so - back in the days of video store browsing I would always be disappointed when a “Surprise Twist You Won’t Believe!” was advertised right on the box…
It’s definitely a spoiler, and definitely ruins the experience. If I know there’s a great big twist coming, I watch in anticipation of it, rather than just enjoying the story as it’s told. I was spoiled that there was a huge twist in The Crying Game and when it happened, I was so let down. Like “is that all?” It kind of ruined the movie for me and I had to revisit it much later to recognize that it really is a very lovely piece of moviemaking.
It depends, some movies are basically twist-fests, some are good movies, some are bad (like a lot of Shamylan films). But knowing that a movie has twists doesn’t necessarily ruin it. I’d say it’s only a spoiler if there’s one or two big twists.
I hate, hate, hate people spoiling things. And that there is a plot twist is one of the biggest things one can spoil.
Having said that, I would like to address “non-spoilers”. In particular, the movie mentioned in the OP. The Sixth Sense does not have a plot twist. I knew what was going on the whole time and enjoyed the movie. (I basically just knew the “I see dead people.” line from the ads and that’s pretty much enough right there.) So someone telling me that it had a plot twist before I saw it would have resulted in … puzzlement.
I don’t think the movie you are talking about on your spoiler has a twist at all, you just didn’t know what it was about. The sixth sense on the other hand does have a plot twist, having figured it out before hand doesn’t make it any less so.
I think promoting a plot twist will entice more viewers. For instance I didn’t care about this film until I was told of the plot twist
of this film: Atonement
I also had no idea about the Sixth Sense so I was blown away. I had to watch it again the SAME DAY to see how it worked with me knowing the twist. Still enjoyed it.
I also saw it opening weekend with no idea there was a twist. Best theater experience in my life. The whole crowd freaked out and people were talking to total strangers after the movie about it. I was in the front row and I remember looking back while people said, “He’s been dead…the whole time!!! Wow!”
I definitely consider it a spoiler to know there is a twist.
Sure it does; you just guessed it early - it was intended to be surprising, and looking at the movie again after you’ve figured it out leads to serious reinterpretation of various scenes. By your logic, practically none of the films mentioned in this thread actually have plot twists.
I guessed the twist for The Sixth Sense because everyone I talked to was so enthusiastic about it. It seemed to me the biggest twist could be that the Bruce Willis character died early in the story. Once I realized that, it wasn’t enjoyable.
But almost all of the old Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock Presents episodes had twists in them (“It’s a cookbook!”) but that doesn’t lessen my enjoyment of them. So I don’t think knowing there’s a spoiler in the story ruins it for me, but I felt The Sixth Sense was a cheap twist, and an obvious one at that.
I knew The Sixth Sense had a twist, but didn’t know what the twist was and spent the whole movie thinking the wrong thing, so when the twist came at the end I was :eek:
Then when I saw The Village again I knew there was a twist and wasted half the movie trying to figure out what it was.
This is one of my biggest pet peeves - people who like spoilers disrespecting those of us who don’t. “What’s the big deal,” they say. I guess I don’t get to make the decision for myself!
So yes, even knowing there is a twist is a spoiler, and why would you do that? Just tell people it’s worth seeing and you really liked it. AND THEN SHUT UP.
Not if it’s well done. Even when you know there’s a twist in, for instance, The Last of Sheila or The Day of the Jackal it doesn’t ruin your appreciation for the film.
I could see it ryuining it for you if the film seems to be ending sooner than it ought to, but you’d probably be aware of that because you know how long films are generally supposed to be. Sleuth 9either version) seems to come to a conclusion long before the end, but nobody thought the film was going to be abnormally short, so it doesn’t mean anything.
The one time it bothers me is when the “twist” really isn’t much of a twist. I want to strangle the makers of Black Widow, who clearly have no appreciation for “plot twists”. A teist isn’t merely something unexpected you throw in at the last moment – it’s something that is inextricably woven into the thread of the plot that, when revealed, makes you re-examine everything that has happened in a new light. Think The Usual Suspects.
The thing people forget about that famous “To Serve Man” Twilight Zone episode is (1) the opening shows the main character is in some kind of distress on board the spaceship, and (2), the rest of the episode–apart from the coda–is told in flashback with the main character supplying a vaguely sinister narration, even though the same character in the flashback is optimistic about events as they occur.
Even if you had never seen the series, the story itself is structured such that you expect a big reversal in the main character’s attitude. So even though the specific twist is a surprise, the story plainly telegraphs that some sort of twist is going to happen–one that will adversely affect the main character. In this case I don’t think knowing this ruined the story at all.
IMO the biggest problem faced by films that rely on a major plot twist is that they are too long to rely just on the twist to be effective. You still need character development and some side-plots to fill in the time, and these run the risk of giving too much away before the big reveal. The Sixth Sense was pretty skillful with this: The film explored the boy’s growth in confronting his power, his relationship with his mother, and the (presumed) slow disintegration of Willis’ marriage in the aftermath of the shooting, yet never really “gave it away”. A 30-minute Twilight zone episode would probably dispense with most of these and limit the plot to the Willis/Osment discussions alone. Shymalan’s later efforts have been less successful IMO because he’s lost the balance, shifting almost everything toward plot developments that make the final twist more spectacular. What, for example, did you know about the characters in The Village other than they lived in the 1800’s and understood a few odd rules about leaving the Village?
This is the exact example I was going to use. Before I saw it, I kept hearing, “Oh, you’re never going to figure out the twist ending!” “What a twist ending!” “You’ll never see it coming!”. So, of course, since I knew one was coming and was looking for it, so of course I saw it coming. I’m pretty sure if I hadn’t been told ad nauseam that there was a twist, that I wouldn’t have been looking for it, and may not have seen it coming.