The Death Star tractor beam sound effect in Star Wars - Special Edition. As soon as the beam kicks in I can hardly hear a word said in the cockpit of the Millenium Falcon, I’m sure the original was not like that
The new scream in Empire Strikes Back: Special Edition when Luke falls down the shaft.
Similar to the ricochets: The metallic scraping sound when anyon unsheathes a sword. (never noticied it until Peter Jackson pointed it out in one of the LOTR commentaries, and now it bugs the heck out of me.)
Actually I think that’s Not-Carpenter’s Friday the 13th movies.
And that’s more a part of the soundtrack and not a sound effect so I don’t know if that counts.
My vote goes for the “Hey guys, the camera’s doing something impossible! Isn’t this neat?! Swoooosh!” Sound in Panic Room whenever Finch took his camera through the coffee cup handle/railing/walls.
That drove me batty. Why is it necessary to assign sound effects to something that theorectically ISN’T THERE?!
Howyadoin,
The Death Star explosion in Star Wars - Special Edition. Damnnear brought the theater roof down. For that matter, most of the movie was way to damn loud, and I’m not one to shy away from loudness (singer in a rock band)…
-Rav
The music crescendo during every Neo fight scene in the last two Matrix movies annoyed me no end. (not a sound effect, but certainly excessive).
The best use of a sound effect in a movie was the insect sound that arose whenever the press came around in The Right Stuff.
IIRC, his jeep is stuck in the mud, and he’s looking for a tree to wrap a metal cable around so the winch can pull it out. He’s holding the cable in his hands and it’s unrolling as he walks. When he falls, you hear the sound of a bunch of it rolling off the spool really quick.
The excessive “singing” of the swords unsheathed in Kill Bill bugged me, that’s a really annoying sound when it’s at a significant volume and it’s sustained for several seconds.
LC
Just about anything in Armageddon.
The streaming water sounds in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery when AP relieves himself after waking up from his decades long hibernation.
For me, it’s more prominent with kicks. It’s been years since my last karate lesson, but I loved the sound doing a sideways kick.
And, while we’re on the subject of bad sound effects in old movies:
How about that screaming parrot in Citizen Kane? It damn near ruptured my eardrums.
[/quote]
The Death Star explosion in Star Wars - Special Edition.
[/quote]
You nuts? That explosion was a mere whisper compared to what it should be…
Anyway, the worst abusers of excessive sound effects are shows that depict any computer use or operation - including pressing a button on the keyboard - results in a beep or a swishing sound. Maximize a window? VWEEEOOOP! Installing software? BZEEEEEEEEEBOOP! Jerking off to porn? Well, we won’t go into the FX needed for that one…
The Bond movies tend to use the same divebomber-scream everytime a plane is about to crash – regardless of the type of plane. They even do this with helicopters!
Made you regret buying that extra-large Pepsi at the concession stand, did it?
The ‘swish, swish, swiiish’ of Eowyn’s sword in the LOTR TT. I’m sure there was other poor foley work on that movie, but that one stands out because it’s a quiet scene.
Although I’m sure it was done for effect (to get your nerves on edge) I hated how every thing was so loud at the start of The Exorcist.
Speaking of absent “whooshes”, what about the Superman movies. IMO, Superman has a “whoosh” when he takes off to fly somewhere. Only silence from Christopher Reeves. WTF?
Mr. Ruby likes it but I really dislike the dinosaur noises that makes the windows rattle in Jurassic Park.
The boxing sound effects in the Rocky movies always made me laugh, they got progressively worse with each installment. The blows sounded like they were made with an aluminium bat rather than a padded glove.
OH! I just remembered the thw worst offender that no one will ever top. The scene from Cabin Fever where the dude gives that chick a massage “down there”.
In Goldfinger,
At the beginning, Bond is with one of his lady friends pool-side.
Felix walks over to Bond to give him his assignment. Bond introduces his girlfriend to Felix
Bond: “Say Hello, Dink”
Dink: “Hello”
Bond: “Say Goodbye, Dink”
Bond: “Man Talk!” and he slaps her on the ass.
To make it worse, they added a really loud smacking sound. Like a bullwhip.