# Missed opportunities in movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 9, 2005, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missed-opportunities-in-movies/330262 "2005-11-09T19:37:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missed-opportunities-in-movies/330262/21 "2005-11-10T18:58:55Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#): > > Wait, turns out I was right. It was _Sudden Impact_ I was thinking of, not _The Gauntlet_ - and while they have pretty much the same plot, _Sudden Impact_ is an actual Dirty Harry movie. You’re conflating the two; Saundra Locke was in both, but in _The Gauntlet_ she’s a transported prisoner and in _Sudden Impact_ she’s a vigilante rape victim. > [@Little Nemo](#): > > Next I suppose you’ll be claiming that _High Plains Drifter_ wasn’t a Sergio Leone movie. Of course it isn’t, you dope; it’s a Sam Peckinpah film. 😉 “Somebody left the door open and the wrong dogs came home.” Stranger ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missed-opportunities-in-movies/330262/22 "2005-11-10T19:03:49Z")
I still think it would have been hilarious in **Top Secret** if the Nazi/Commie German officer, inspecting Val Kilmer’s documents, flip through them and each has a big red letter on them – **A, B, C, D, E** then **J** , followed by **G, H, I**. He flips through them again – **A, B, C, D, E, J**. Then he looks up at Kilmer and says: “I’m very sorry Mein Herr, you will have to come with us.” “But why? What’s wrong?” “Your papers, Mein Herr. I’m afraid they’re not _in order_.” “They’re in order look at them again.” “They are not in order. Kommen sie bitte mit uns.” ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missed-opportunities-in-movies/330262/23 "2005-11-10T19:59:35Z")
End of **Love At First Bite** Richard Benjamin and Dick Shawn are walking on the airport tarmac after George has bit Susan for the third time and turned her into a Vampire - fluttering down from the sky comes a check for payment in full for her therapy sessions - RB & DS walk off discussing who gets the cape, who’d make a better Dracula, etc - one of them \*should \* have said **"This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship"** ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missed-opportunities-in-movies/330262/24 "2005-11-10T23:36:58Z")
_The Lion King_ had an in-joke from Jeremy Irons’ Oscar winning role as Claus von Bulow (“You’re weird Uncle Scar” - “Oh, you have _no_ idea”- even retained in the stage version). I wish they’d given Mufasa the line “I _am_ your father” to Simba at some point. (James Earl Jones and Madge “Sarabi” Sinclair also played Eddie Murphy’s parents in _Coming to America_, so a “There’s a fine line between love and nausea” or “I thought you were the king” line could also have worked.) ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missed-opportunities-in-movies/330262/25 "2005-11-11T00:08:15Z")
A real example here, where a hackneyed line could easily have been replaced by a clever one: _Spiderman 2_. Doc Ock has MJ chained to a big post. She says something typically spunky, like, “Spider-Man will stop you!” and Ock turns and says, “Spider-Man is dead.” “I don’t believe you,” she says. Ock’s response _should have been_ “Okay, don’t believe me. Doesn’t change a thing.” Instead, he gave the awful response of “Believe it!” Bah. Ock is smarter than that. Too bad the writers weren’t. And I have maintained for _years_ that Luke should’ve been saying “The Force can have a strong influence on the weak-minded.” Have you been reading my brain? 😃 ---
**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:** [November 11, 2005, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missed-opportunities-in-movies/330262/26 "2005-11-11T00:48:29Z")
In the pilot of the new **Battlestar Galactica** , when Six tells Baltar that she’s a Cylon she should have said “We’re going to nuke the planet from orbit- it’s the only way to be sure”. ---
**Author:** ![LiveOnAPlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@LiveOnAPlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveOnAPlane)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missed-opportunities-in-movies/330262/27 "2005-11-11T01:15:09Z")
> [@CartesianDaemon](#): > > That happened in the sequel (the book), didn’t it? Well, more or less. I don’t think that one was given, but rather a good brains recipe instead toward the end of the novel. Can’t wait to try it! ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missed-opportunities-in-movies/330262/28 "2005-11-11T01:59:26Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > Not a movie, but TV: There isn’t much time left in the Bartlett adminstration for Christopher Walken to cameo, shaking the president’s hand… Oh that would be so perfect! I haven’t watched that show, does it have enough of a sense of humor to include that bit? ---
**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:** [November 11, 2005, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missed-opportunities-in-movies/330262/29 "2005-11-11T02:01:18Z")
Star Wars Ep III: When Kenobi goes to fight Grievous, he drops a huge metal leg onto some of Grievous’ Droids. Lucas should have had the word “Acme” on the side. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missed-opportunities-in-movies/330262/30 "2005-11-11T02:53:19Z")
“Why don’t you just kill him right now?” ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missed-opportunities-in-movies/330262/31 "2005-11-11T04:01:56Z")
> [@Robot Arm](#): > > In the Mel Gibson version of _Maverick_, he mentions early on that he believes that if he really concentrates, and believes he can do it, he sould be able to draw any card out of the deck. He tries for the ace of spades, of course, and fails. > > At the end, in the climactic poker game, he’s holding 10-J-Q-K of spades and draws one card. (He catches the dealer cheating and insists his card come off the top.) He leaves it face down on the table and doesn’t even look at it. They play the rest of the hand, everything is riding on it. At the end, he turns the card over to reveal the ace of spades, he makes his royal flush and wins. > > It should have been the nine. It’s such a send-up of traditional westerns, and there are so many digressions and surprises, they shouldn’t have taken the obvious climax. Nine of spades still makes the straight flush, he still wins; but it would have been in an unexpected way. They blew it. Huh, I thought I was the only person who was hoping that precisely that would happen. In fact, it could have been made even better if the hand that his opponent was holding CONTAINED the ace of spades, ie, quad aces or aces full of jacks or something. So then all hope looks banished, and whammo!, king-high straight flush. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missed-opportunities-in-movies/330262/32 "2005-11-11T05:44:11Z")
In _Robin Hood: Princes of Thieves_ there’s a scene where Maid Marion tells Robin Hood, that he’s no prince. The _perfect_ reply (and would have vastly iimproved the film) would have been, “And you’re no ‘maid,’ Marion.” ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missed-opportunities-in-movies/330262/33 "2005-11-11T05:53:38Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > Star Wars Ep III: > > When Kenobi goes to fight Grievous, he drops a huge metal leg onto some of Grievous’ Droids. Lucas should have had the word “Acme” on the side. Likewise, in _Star Wars_, when Ben Kenobi and Han Solo are negotiating the price of the trip to Alderaan, Kenobi says, “we can pay you 2000 now, plus 15 more when we reach Alderaan.” Han says, “17, huh?” At that point, Kenobi should have said, “No. 2015. Weren’t you listening?” ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missed-opportunities-in-movies/330262/34 "2005-11-11T06:15:21Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > **Sophie’s Choice** > > Regis Philbin as Nazi officer, to Sophie: Is that your final answer? I’ll admit, that one made me laugh. I’m way too tired to think of anything clever, but SNL I think used to have a recurring skit about what happened in movies after the credits rolled. One memorable one showed George Bailey and the gang from **It’s a Wonderful Life** beating the crap out of Mr. Potter for stealing their money. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missed-opportunities-in-movies/330262/35 "2005-11-11T06:55:13Z")
> [@Fish](#): > > And I have maintained for _years_ that Luke should’ve been saying “The Force can have a strong influence on the weak-minded.” Have you been reading my brain? 😃 IIRC, Mad Magazine even made the same joke when the film first came out. Luke: I don’t get it, why did they let us go? Ben: The force has a strong effect on weak minds. Luke: The force has a strong effect on weak minds. Ben: Let’s get going. Luke: Let’s get going. ---
**Author:** ![MackoUr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@MackoUr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MackoUr)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missed-opportunities-in-movies/330262/36 "2005-11-11T07:13:52Z")
In _L.A. Confidential_, right after James Cromwell shoots Kevin Spacey, he should have said, “That’ll do, pig.” ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missed-opportunities-in-movies/330262/37 "2005-11-11T07:16:52Z")
> [@MackoUr](#): > > In _L.A. Confidential_, right after James Cromwell shoots Kevin Spacey, he should have said, “That’ll do, pig.” Bah-dum-bump. ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missed-opportunities-in-movies/330262/38 "2005-11-11T07:59:15Z")
Hmmm. Malcom McDowell. William Shatner… James T. Kirk is… _Caligula_ ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missed-opportunities-in-movies/330262/39 "2005-11-11T08:19:08Z")
_Star Wars Ep. III_: Mace Windu: You are on the council, but we do not grant you the rank of master. Anakin Skywalker: What? Mace Windu: Say what again. SAY WHAT AGAIN!!. I dare you, I double dare you, motherfucker. Say what one more goddamn time. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2005, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missed-opportunities-in-movies/330262/40 "2005-11-11T08:23:06Z")
**Addams Family Values** - I thought the ending was totally wrong. Debbie (Joan Cusack) was _perfect_ for Fester (homicidally insane, not the least freaked out by severed hands running around or averse to digging up her mother-in-law to get the ring, etc.)- I couldn’t believe they killed her off rather than having her realize she’d found a family at last. **Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban** - (brief explanation for those who don’t know: the place where Hogwarts was filmed changed between movies two and three to a much more mountainous locale)- I kept expecting a reference to “oh cool, they’ve done some landscaping over the summer” since, being witches, it’s possible they could. I understand no reference being made to the “new” Dumbledore, but I’ve always thought that Snape should at some point say “Potter… you’re beginning to annoy me” as a nod to Rickman’s _Die Hard_ character. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missed-opportunities-in-movies/330262.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missed-opportunities-in-movies/330262.md?page=3)