# Movies that start out good, but then turn bad
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-out-good-but-then-turn-bad/82982
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [September 21, 2001, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-out-good-but-then-turn-bad/82982 "2001-09-21T08:54:42Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)
#### Post date: [September 23, 2001, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-out-good-but-then-turn-bad/82982/41 "2001-09-23T13:51:34Z")
> [@](#):
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> \*Originally posted by AHunter3 \*
> \*\*Wolf, the movie in which Jack Nicholson is a werewolf. Starts off somber and metaphorical and eerie. When a competitor gets a sense of what’s going on and becomes a werewolf himself, it degenerates to DC Comics quality entertainment (except without the good artwork). \*\*
I wonder if there is more than one version of this movie, then. The version _I_ saw started out at a coma-inducing level of boring and maintained that mood the entire way through.
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### Author:  [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)
#### Post date: [September 23, 2001, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-out-good-but-then-turn-bad/82982/42 "2001-09-23T16:21:51Z")
**Forrest Gump**.
It was kind of funny at first but it went down hill to the point of being one of the worst movies that I have ever seen. When he was giving that horrendous speech at his wife’s grave that went on and on and on, I was just moments away from shrieking in agony and plucking out both of my eyes when it mercifully ended.. What a case of the emperor has no clothes. Everyone just loved that glurgey piece of crap and talked about it’s originality. It was no more than a third rate **Zelig**.
Haj
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### Author:  [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)
#### Post date: [September 23, 2001, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-out-good-but-then-turn-bad/82982/43 "2001-09-23T20:18:50Z")
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> \*Originally posted by minlokwat \*
> **The Birdcage almost seems like two different movies. The first part is sharp, funny and quick-moving. Then when the dinner scene begins, the film drags unmercifully. What the HELL were they thinking with that one?**
That’s funny I had almost the opposite reaction. That the first 15 minutes or so were totally boring and the rest of the movie was funny.
Forrest Gump is what Zelig wants to be when it grows up.
My reply to the OP: **Explorers**. The first half of this movie was perhaps one of the best Teenage adventure movies ever, then all of a sudden it turns into a bad teenage comedy movie. It’s like it’s two entirely seperate movies they spliced together. I cna’t help thinking that this movie would have been ten time better if the aliens had been more imposing, like the Talosians in Star Trek: TOS.
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### Author:  [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)
#### Post date: [September 23, 2001, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-out-good-but-then-turn-bad/82982/44 "2001-09-23T21:04:48Z")
**Heathers**
You know, I really wanted to like this movie because the beginning half of it was pretty original and perceptive, if a little over the top. But then in the second half, it completely lost it’s focus until you weren’t really sure _what_ the movie was supposed to be about and it turned into a second rate _Massacre at Central High_.
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### Author:  [@Oblong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oblong)
#### Post date: [September 23, 2001, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-out-good-but-then-turn-bad/82982/45 "2001-09-23T22:07:14Z")
Bullworth-I didnt’ even watch the end but when he started going after Halle Barry and acting like a black guy, I was bored.
The beginning had some good political satire.
Any Cheech and Chong movie, but I think that is by design. Dopers tend to not pay much attention after 25 or 30 minutes so it’s harmless.
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### Author:  [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)
#### Post date: [September 23, 2001, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-out-good-but-then-turn-bad/82982/46 "2001-09-23T22:31:10Z")
I would like to add, Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. Starts out in a very interesting post apocalyptic society then degenerates into baby-sitting kids.
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### Author:  [@Epistaxis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epistaxis)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2001, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-out-good-but-then-turn-bad/82982/47 "2001-09-24T08:05:21Z")
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> \*Originally posted by Legomancer \*
> I have two unpopular additions:
>
> **Stripes**. I like the boot camp stuff, but the “mission” part of it is just dumb. I thought that part was a lot weaker than the first half and really dragged it down.
I agree, and pretty much the same argument can be applied to **Spies Like Us**
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### Author:  [@Chaosopher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chaosopher)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2001, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-out-good-but-then-turn-bad/82982/48 "2001-09-24T11:40:28Z")
> [@](#):
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> \*Originally posted by Tapswiller \*
> \*\*A classic that I felt definitely fall into this category:
> _The Manchurian Candidate_
> The first two-thirds were great. Interesting ideas, well acted, suspensful. But the final third was just _sooo_ contrived. I won’t go into details (to avoid spoilers), but I saw that “surprise ending” coming a mile away. \*\*
OMG. You are talking about a movie that’s 40 years old. Believe me, in it’s day, that ending was pretty suprising.
To me this is like hearing that shakespear used too many cliches.
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### Author:  [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2001, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-out-good-but-then-turn-bad/82982/49 "2001-09-24T15:07:59Z")
> [@](#):
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> \*Originally posted by minlokwat \*
> \*\*the opening chords of _These Boots Were Made For Walking_ strikes up, I can’t hit the “Stop” button quick enough. \*\*
I agree about **Full Metal Jacket** , but I watch enough to see the “me so horny” hooker before I turn it off.
And in the not just the movie but also the book category, **The Stand** begins excellently but once they all move to Boulder the story is crap.
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### Author:  [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2001, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-out-good-but-then-turn-bad/82982/50 "2001-09-24T22:24:51Z")
> [@](#):
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> \*Originally posted by Number Six \*
> \*\*
>
> > [@](#):
> >
> > \*Originally posted by WIGGUM \*
> > \*\*I really enjoyed _From Dusk Till Dawn_ for about the first 45 minutes or so, and then everyone started turning into vampires. At this point, the movie just got plain stupid. \*\*
>
> I have heard this criticism time and again, and it irritates me more every time. The people in the nightclub don’t turn into vampires, they already were vampires. The thieves have chosen a vampire nightclub to hide out in. \*\*
The hell? Four people turn into vampires. Jim Brown, Harvey Keitel, Quentin Tarantino, and Sex Machine. Keitel’s sone would have, too, had he not been kiled so quickly. And this movie, at least, is _supposed_ to take a ninety-degree turn into B-movie gore.
Justin
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### Author:  [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)
#### Post date: [September 25, 2001, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-out-good-but-then-turn-bad/82982/51 "2001-09-25T02:01:38Z")
> [@](#):
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> \*Originally posted by JSexton \*
> \*\*
>
> > [@](#):
> >
> > \*Originally posted by Number Six \*
> > \*\*
> >
> > > [@](#):
> > >
> > > \*Originally posted by WIGGUM \*
> > > \*\*I really enjoyed _From Dusk Till Dawn_ for about the first 45 minutes or so, and then everyone started turning into vampires. At this point, the movie just got plain stupid. \*\*
> >
> > I have heard this criticism time and again, and it irritates me more every time. The people in the nightclub don’t turn into vampires, they already were vampires. The thieves have chosen a vampire nightclub to hide out in. \*\*
>
> The hell? Four people turn into vampires. Jim Brown, Harvey Keitel, Quentin Tarantino, and Sex Machine. Keitel’s sone would have, too, had he not been kiled so quickly. And this movie, at least, is _supposed_ to take a ninety-degree turn into B-movie gore.
>
> Justin \*\*
[rereads Justin’s reply] Hmmm. I’m not really sure if you’re arguing with me or agreeing with me.
There are dozens of people in the nightclub. Most of them were already vampires before the movie begins. Four people turn into vampires; the rest already were. Perhaps I should rephrase for clarity:
The people in the nightclub _when the fugitives arrive_ don’t turn into vampires, they already were vampires. (italics added for clarity). Thus I refute the assertion that “everyone started turning into vampires”.
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