# Movies that could have, should have, been much better than they were. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 16, 2013, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-have-should-have-been-much-better-than-they-were/671420 "2013-10-16T18:11:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![LC\_Strawhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@LC\_Strawhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LC_Strawhouse)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2013, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-have-should-have-been-much-better-than-they-were/671420/141 "2013-11-02T23:02:14Z")
I vote for “Wolf” (1994). All I wanted was to see Jack Nicholson turn into a werewolf and run amok. How on earth do you mess up that concept? Well, they did mess it up. They made Nicholson’s character the “good werewolf” who has to fight a “bad werewolf”, and the plot is basically yuppie drama about middle aged people reclaiming their mojo. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2013, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-have-should-have-been-much-better-than-they-were/671420/142 "2013-11-02T23:28:31Z")
> [@LC\_Strawhouse](#): > > I vote for “Wolf” (1994). All I wanted was to see Jack Nicholson turn into a werewolf and run amok. How on earth do you mess up that concept? > > Well, they did mess it up. They made Nicholson’s character the “good werewolf” who has to fight a “bad werewolf”, and the plot is basically yuppie drama about middle aged people reclaiming their mojo. :smack: That’s the movie that taught Hollywood an important lesson - if you ever feel the need to film Jack Nicholson jumping in slow motion\*, don’t.\* ---
**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:** [November 3, 2013, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-have-should-have-been-much-better-than-they-were/671420/143 "2013-11-03T01:56:47Z")
> [@LC\_Strawhouse](#): > > I vote for “Wolf” (1994). All I wanted was to see Jack Nicholson turn into a werewolf and run amok. How on earth do you mess up that concept? > > Well, they did mess it up. They made Nicholson’s character the “good werewolf” who has to fight a “bad werewolf”, and the plot is basically yuppie drama about middle aged people reclaiming their mojo. :smack: The reason why that film turned out to be a turd is because they had Mike Nichols direct it. Don’t get me wrong, Mike Nichols is a talented director and has been responsible for some bona fide classics but he’s the second-to-last good director I’d get to helm a horror movie (the first being Woody Allen). And Nicholson was too old to be running around with fangs and grizzled chops. I kept expecting for him to keel over with a heart attack when he tried to maul somebody. ---
**Author:** ![WilyQuixote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f9ae1b/32.png) [@WilyQuixote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WilyQuixote)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-have-should-have-been-much-better-than-they-were/671420/144 "2013-11-03T11:16:22Z")
Independence Day. I can buy into the alien invasion concept, death rays that decimate entire cities and gigantic flying saucers surrounded by impenetrable forcefields for two hours. Then they ruined an otherwise passable popcorn movie by having Goldblum’s character defeat the aliens with a virus. Really? All that super-advanced technology can be defeated by a virus in an era when two computers two decades apart are incompatible? ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-have-should-have-been-much-better-than-they-were/671420/145 "2013-11-03T12:11:46Z")
> [@WilyQuixote](#): > > Independence Day. I can buy into the alien invasion concept, death rays that decimate entire cities and gigantic flying saucers surrounded by impenetrable forcefields for two hours. Then they ruined an otherwise passable popcorn movie by having Goldblum’s character defeat the aliens with a virus. Really? All that super-advanced technology can be defeated by a virus in an era when two computers two decades apart are incompatible? Deleted scene on the DVD showed that America captured a scount ship 50 years ago and has been studying it at Area 51, not only is the IC and presumably all Earth computers based on the alien tech but the humans had backward engineered the operating system on the scout ship. So yea give me fifty years and thousands of scientists and I’ll give you a computer virus. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-have-should-have-been-much-better-than-they-were/671420/146 "2013-11-03T12:55:40Z")
The Avengers, of course. John Steed & Emma Peel, of course. Ralph Finnes as Steed, Uma Thurmas as Peel, Sean Connery as weather-controlling supervillian with the wonderful name of August DeWinter, WHAT COULD GO WRONG??? Oy! ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-have-should-have-been-much-better-than-they-were/671420/147 "2013-11-03T13:52:45Z")
> [@WilyQuixote](#): > > Independence Day. I can buy into the alien invasion concept, death rays that decimate entire cities and gigantic flying saucers surrounded by impenetrable forcefields for two hours. Then they ruined an otherwise passable popcorn movie by having Goldblum’s character defeat the aliens with a virus. Really? All that super-advanced technology can be defeated by a virus in an era when two computers two decades apart are incompatible? It’s a clever, updated homage to the reveal in War of the Worlds. Yeah, it strains credibility that a Mac effortlessly interfaces with with 100% alien tech - but no more so than an Earth-borne virus infecting 100% alien biology. ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-have-should-have-been-much-better-than-they-were/671420/148 "2013-11-03T15:23:46Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > Don’t get me wrong, Mike Nichols is a talented director and has been responsible for some bona fide classics but he’s the second-to-last good director I’d get to helm a horror movie (the first being Woody Allen). How about [Wes Anderson](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSEzGDzZ1dY)? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![LC\_Strawhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@LC\_Strawhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LC_Strawhouse)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-have-should-have-been-much-better-than-they-were/671420/149 "2013-11-03T15:30:58Z")
> [@Flywheel](#): > > How about [Wes Anderson](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSEzGDzZ1dY)? 🙂 Or [Ingmar Bergman](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMVrMHQk95s)? ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-have-should-have-been-much-better-than-they-were/671420/150 "2013-11-03T15:47:10Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > The Avengers, of course. > > John Steed & Emma Peel, of course. > > Ralph Finnes as Steed, Uma Thurmas as Peel, Sean Connery as weather-controlling supervillian with the wonderful name of August DeWinter, WHAT COULD GO WRONG??? > > Oy! The fact that the filmmakers even WANTED to cast Uma Thurman as Mrs. Peel presaged that the film would be a disaster. They needed someone silky, sexy, funny and quick-witted. Diana Rigg was perfect for the part, Linda Thorsen did a fine job. But … Uma Thurman, who looks like a female impersonator and projects a personality that is all pointy and sharp? So WRONG. They should have cast a Brit. Billie Piper, the actress who played Rose Tyler on Dr. Who could have handled the part, though she may have been too young to play it back in 1998. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-have-should-have-been-much-better-than-they-were/671420/151 "2013-11-03T18:25:31Z")
> [@WilyQuixote](#): > > Independence Day. I can buy into the alien invasion concept, death rays that decimate entire cities and gigantic flying saucers surrounded by impenetrable forcefields for two hours. Then they ruined an otherwise passable popcorn movie by having Goldblum’s character defeat the aliens with a virus. Really? All that super-advanced technology can be defeated by a virus in an era when two computers two decades apart are incompatible? > [@grude](#): > > Deleted scene on the DVD showed that America captured a scount ship 50 years ago and has been studying it at Area 51, not only is the IC and presumably all Earth computers based on the alien tech but the humans had backward engineered the operating system on the scout ship. So yea give me fifty years and thousands of scientists and I’ll give you a computer virus. There was also a deleted scene which was supposed to make it clearer that Goldblum wasn’t using an ordinary Mac. If you’ll recall, he was the guy who had translated the alien messages earlier in the movie. The computer he took to the spaceship was the one he had designed to interface with the alien communications system. ---
**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:** [November 3, 2013, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-have-should-have-been-much-better-than-they-were/671420/152 "2013-11-03T18:29:34Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > The fact that the filmmakers even WANTED to cast Uma Thurman as Mrs. Peel presaged that the film would be a disaster. They needed someone silky, sexy, funny and quick-witted. Diana Rigg was perfect for the part, Linda Thorsen did a fine job. But … Uma Thurman, who looks like a female impersonator and projects a personality that is all pointy and sharp? So WRONG. They should have cast a Brit. Billie Piper, the actress who played Rose Tyler on Dr. Who could have handled the part, though she may have been too young to play it back in 1998. She’d have been sixteen, so yeah, way too young. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-have-should-have-been-much-better-than-they-were/671420/153 "2013-11-03T18:46:18Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > There was also a deleted scene which was supposed to make it clearer that Goldblum wasn’t using an ordinary Mac. If you’ll recall, he was the guy who had translated the alien messages earlier in the movie. The computer he took to the spaceship was the one he had designed to interface with the alien communications system. Speaking of vital deleted scenes, this gem from the cutting room floor of Terminator 3 explains (hilariously) why all the T800s look like Arnold Schwarzenegger. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/kayFrIR-Qfw/hqdefault.jpg "Terminator 3 Sergent Candy Scene") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kayFrIR-Qfw) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2013, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-have-should-have-been-much-better-than-they-were/671420/154 "2013-11-03T19:03:47Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > The fact that the filmmakers even WANTED to cast Uma Thurman as Mrs. Peel presaged that the film would be a disaster. They needed someone silky, sexy, funny and quick-witted. Diana Rigg was perfect for the part, Linda Thorsen did a fine job. But … Uma Thurman, who looks like a female impersonator and projects a personality that is all pointy and sharp? So WRONG. They should have cast a Brit. Billie Piper, the actress who played Rose Tyler on Dr. Who could have handled the part, though she may have been too young to play it back in 1998. Uma was fine, but she didn’t “click” with Steed. It’s hard to get that 'click". To me, she’s lovely and not at all pointy or sharp. She is also known for playing scenes tongue-in-cheek, which was what they needed. I blame the writing or perhaps the directing. But yes, it just didn’t have “it”. ---
**Author:** ![Hermione](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/cdc98d/32.png) [@Hermione](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermione)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-have-should-have-been-much-better-than-they-were/671420/155 "2013-11-04T01:22:23Z")
I’ve had a bit of Dracula on the brain since Halloween, so I’ll say…_Van Helsing._ I haven’t actually seen VH, because once I read what they’d done it sounded like a colossal missed opportunity. You see, in the wake of the Coppola movie I read the novel for the first time (up until then, all I’d read was an abridgment for younger readers–granted, a very good one, with some excellent illustrations). Because I liked Anthony Hopkins so much, I was especially drawn to the character of Van Helsing in the movie, and one bit I found in Stoker’s novel especially intrigued me. (Spoilers for the novel here, if you don’t mind spoilers for something that’s over a century old.) After Lucy’s death, Arthur, her fiancé, tells the others that he feels that he and Lucy were already married, in a way, since he had given her his blood in a transfusion to try to save her life. He has no idea that Van Helsing himself and Lucy’s other would-be suitors had also given her blood. Once Van Helsing and Dr. Seward are alone, Van Helsing laughs grimly at the irony of it all. During the following conversation with Jack, he reveals that he had a son, who seemed to have died quite young, and who would have been Arthur’s age by now and bore some resemblance to him. Even more intriguing is Van Helsing’s sorrowful musing on the irony of Arthur’s “marriage” to Lucy: “Then this so sweet maid is a polyandrist, and me, with my poor wife dead to me, but alive by Church law, though no wits, all gone–even I, who am faithful husband to this now-no-wife, am bigamist.” Very interesting–Van Helsing’s son is dead and his wife is insane, possibly even catatonic, but Van Helsing, devout Catholic that he is, will not divorce her or even allow himself another love. Which reflects very poignantly on the depth of his feelings both for his God and for his wife. And how did his son die? And what drove his wife insane? It’s implied that it’s the death of their son–or could there be an even darker reason? (An anthology of short stories that came out around the same time as the Van Helsing movie explored those ideas.) So there was a whole wealth of possibility that could have been explored in a Van Helsing-focused movie. I heard at the time that they were considering a spinoff with Sir Anthony, and looked forward to seeing it. Instead, it must have morphed into the one we got…that was basically just Abbott And Costello Meet The Monsters played without laughs, that didn’t touch on any of the backstory that Stoker had given the professor, and that COULDN’T EVEN GET VAN HELSING’S FIRST NAME RIGHT FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!! (Well, in all fairness, Hammer didn’t quite get that right either.) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-have-should-have-been-much-better-than-they-were/671420/156 "2013-11-10T06:17:46Z")
Haven’t read the whole thread, but my current vote goes to “The Black Stallion”. I never saw it until today, and it would have been much better if it had been a half hour shorter. JMHO. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-have-should-have-been-much-better-than-they-were/671420/157 "2013-11-10T06:25:37Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > **Sphere**. An incredible cast, a wonderful premise indicating something fascinating involving time travel, and it all turns into… something idiotic about nightmares becoming real or something Never saw the movie, but I did read the book, and EVERY.SINGLE.PERSON with whom I’ve discussed it has reacted the same way: “What was with that ending?!?!?” ---
**Author:** ![PeacePlease](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/71c47a/32.png) [@PeacePlease](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PeacePlease)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-have-should-have-been-much-better-than-they-were/671420/158 "2013-11-10T07:51:36Z")
> [@Lightnin](#): > > _The Mist_ is one of my favorite stories. I was really looking forward to the movie. And, in fact, I really enjoyed it- it captured the essence of the book, and the sheer terror of watching the world around you turn into a Cthuloid horror. > > And then the ending. Sigh. In my opinion, the book ending was _perfect_; the world has permanently changed, but there’s still a small sliver of hope for survival. The movie ending was just a big ol’ “fuck you” to the protagonist. > > I understand that Stephen King, himself, has said that he prefers Darabont’s ending. I disagree, and would like to point out that King has also done a hell of a lot of cocaine over the years. Couldn’t disagree more. I, too, liked the short story but I thought that the movie ending was so BRAVE and crazy. Hollywood doesn’t do stuff like that very often. I just wish that poor Dad had one more damn bullet! ---
**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-have-should-have-been-much-better-than-they-were/671420/159 "2013-11-10T10:05:43Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Never saw the movie, but I did read the book, and EVERY.SINGLE.PERSON with whom I’ve discussed it has reacted the same way: “What was with that ending?!?!?” If I recall correctly, the power of the sphere was that once you touched it your thoughts could materialize into reality. Like when Samuel L. Jackson’s character was reading about cereal boxes all the cupboards suddenly were filled with cereal boxes. Since the 3 characters were the only ones to have interacted with the sphere, they realized that such a power was beyond human capacity to handle, and they all agreed to simultaneously “think” that the sphere had never existed. Thus you get the ending where the Sphere flies back into outer space. I actually thought it was a rather profound way to end the story…maybe you had to read the book to understand what was going on… ---
**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2013, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-have-should-have-been-much-better-than-they-were/671420/160 "2013-11-10T10:13:30Z")
Apparently there was an alternate ending as well that you can find on youtube [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-have-should-have-been-much-better-than-they-were/671420.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-could-have-should-have-been-much-better-than-they-were/671420.md?page=9)