# Poorly Done Moments in Otherwise Good Movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 27, 2009, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poorly-done-moments-in-otherwise-good-movies/515299 "2009-10-27T14:29:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poorly-done-moments-in-otherwise-good-movies/515299/61 "2009-10-28T15:30:28Z")
**Field of Dreams** , when Kevin Costner sees his father as a young man. He says he’d only seen him older, “when he was worn down by time.” And then I punch him in the face. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poorly-done-moments-in-otherwise-good-movies/515299/62 "2009-10-28T15:53:43Z")
> [@bup](#): > > **Field of Dreams** , when Kevin Costner sees his father as a young man. He says he’d only seen him older, “when he was worn down by time.” > > And then I punch him in the face. I never understood the “wanna have a catch?” bit. Unless the writer used some regionalism that I’m not familiar with, it should have been “wanna _play_ catch?”. ---
**Author:** ![BunnyTVS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BunnyTVS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BunnyTVS)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poorly-done-moments-in-otherwise-good-movies/515299/63 "2009-10-28T16:46:59Z")
I’ll acknowledge that **Let the Right One In** probably didn’t have a huge budget. But there’s a scene where a woman has survived an attack by Eli enters her (friends?) apartment and the cats attack her. It is just so ridiculously obvious that it’s a BIG burly stuntman wearing a coustume with toy cats sewn on to it. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poorly-done-moments-in-otherwise-good-movies/515299/64 "2009-10-28T16:48:10Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > **The Return of the Jedi** has something that _really_ bothers me. > When The Emperor is sitting in his techno-throne, holding forth and gloating to Luke, there’s this weird dark spot on the right (his left) side of his hood. It looks artificial, as if there was some weird reflection coming from there, and they fixed it by going over every 70 mm frame by hand with a Magic Marker to cover it up. That dark spot just didn’t look natural, and I’ve been debating with myself over the past quarter of a century whether it’s a real shadow or a poorly-executed cover-up. > > In any event, when Lucas re-released the trilogy in the 90s with his new CGI additions, I eagerly went to see it, figuring that, whether it was for real or a ham-handed cover-up, they’d fix it. After all, they changed it so that Greedo fired first, right? They made Han Solo walk around Jabba. They can do damned near _anything_. > > But they didn’t fix _this_ That damned spot was still there. So, whatever, it was, it apparently didn’t bother Lucas or his minions. But it continues to bother me. > Does it bother anyone else? Does anyone even know what I’m talking about? I vaguely remember that, but I think I was too distracted by the black boxes around the Tie Fighters. I don’t understand why they can’t or won’t clean that shit up instead of adding additional crappy scenes. > [@Hal Briston](#): > > I (semi-guiltily) love me some Tombstone, but “…so run, you cur!” makes me cringe every time. [I hope you are cringing from being hit with a bucket of liquid awesomeness.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynKoZD-sFi4&feature=related) Especially when there is the cringeworthy [NOOOOOOOOOO!!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yfr_Zj1iU4&feature=related)scene. ---
**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:** [October 28, 2009, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poorly-done-moments-in-otherwise-good-movies/515299/65 "2009-10-28T17:22:54Z")
> [@](#): > > I vaguely remember that, but I think I was too distracted by the black boxes around the Tie Fighters. I don’t understand why they can’t or won’t clean that shit up instead of adding additional crappy scenes. I have noticed those boxes around the effects, but notice that they’re not always there – I didn’t see them in the theatrical releases; I seem to see them on TV prints. I suspect they may become more visible with later generation versions, or something. But that damned dark bar on the Emperor’s hood is _always_ there. ---
**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:** [October 28, 2009, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poorly-done-moments-in-otherwise-good-movies/515299/66 "2009-10-28T17:27:07Z")
A lot of people disparage Jess Franco’s **Count Dracula** , but when I first stumbled across it on TV (after the opening, so I didn’t know what I was watching), I was blown away – it’s completely faithful to the book. as Christopher Lee (who starred) pointed out, the only one to be completely faithful, from Drac’s white moustache on down. Unfortunately, although it starts out great, it gets pretty bad, the nadir being when our Intrepid Vampire Hunters are frightened by a room full of wild beasts. I think the budget must have run out by then, because they’re being scared by a room full of _stuffed_ animals. Very obviously stuffed animals. It’s hard to watch the scene with a straight face. It’s not _quite_ as bad as the Polar Bear Suit in **Santa Claus Conquers the Martians** , but this movie is supposed to be for adults. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poorly-done-moments-in-otherwise-good-movies/515299/67 "2009-10-28T17:50:47Z")
> [@BunnyTVS](#): > > I’ll acknowledge that **Let the Right One In** probably didn’t have a huge budget. > > But there’s a scene where a woman has survived an attack by Eli enters her (friends?) apartment and the cats attack her. > > It is just so ridiculously obvious that it’s a BIG burly stuntman wearing a coustume with toy cats sewn on to it. OMG! I’d pay full ticket price after inflation to see that! ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poorly-done-moments-in-otherwise-good-movies/515299/68 "2009-10-28T18:00:08Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I have noticed those boxes around the effects, but notice that they’re not always there – I didn’t see them in the theatrical releases; I seem to see them on TV prints. I suspect they may become more visible with later generation versions, or something. > But that damned dark bar on the Emperor’s hood is _always_ there. I’ve seen that as well. Here’s the answer according to IMDB: [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086190/faq#.2.1.11](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086190/faq#.2.1.11) > [@](#): > > These are hand-drawn garbage mattes. A garbage matte is a technique of blotting out unwanted areas of a shot, such as the greyish boxes appearing around spacecraft in some scenes, where the matte was used to cut out mounting pylons for the models and other areas not covered by bluescreen. In this instance the black shapes were drawn over top of an area near Ian McDiarmid’s face in order to block out a defect in his makeup that had gone unnoticed during filming. In a theatrical presentation, these garbage mattes are generally invisible; however, the lower range of colors and grayscale supported by home video standards often causes these effect artifacts to show up when viewed on DVD or VHS versions. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poorly-done-moments-in-otherwise-good-movies/515299/69 "2009-10-28T18:20:19Z")
Ok, here’s mine. It’s Lolita, the 1997 version, with Jeremy Irons as Humbert. Not a GREAT movie, but fairly light and interesting, and Miss Swain was very fitting. So Lolita has run away from Humbert Humbert, and no longer wants anything to do with him. Humbert hunts down Clare Quilty, the man who tried to seduce Lolita. This is played by Frank Langella. We see Humbert is talking to Quilty, and threatening him…Quilty runs away. And we are treated to a horrible, long, slo-mo shot of Frank Langella running towards the screen, wearing nothing but a robe and thus _showing his bouncing nutsack_ to all and sundry. Do we get to see Jeremy Irons’ genitalia? No. Miss Swain is too young but the woman that plays her mother? NO. Instead, we get to see a fat hairy old man running like an asshole, his nutsack clearly framed in the shot, bouncing away. I have never forgiven this movie for this scene. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poorly-done-moments-in-otherwise-good-movies/515299/70 "2009-10-28T18:40:55Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > we pull back to see a really cheap and obvious CGI green screen, of infinitely repeated columns. :rolleyes: Really. All the fantastic fx in the trilogy, and that one shot seemed phoned in. Really? I thought that was one of the best moments of the film. I just saw it again on the huge screen at Radio City Music Hall and that scene looked amazing. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poorly-done-moments-in-otherwise-good-movies/515299/71 "2009-10-28T18:52:32Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Do we get to see Jeremy Irons’ genitalia? No. Miss Swain is too young but the woman that plays her mother? Melanie Griffith? Watch Body Double. Lots of nice naked Melanie in that. ---
**Author:** ![Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bites_when_provoked/32/18073_2.png) [@Bites\_When\_Provoked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bites_When_Provoked)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poorly-done-moments-in-otherwise-good-movies/515299/72 "2009-10-29T06:53:23Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > long, slo-mo shot of Frank Langella running towards the screen, wearing nothing but a robe and thus _showing his bouncing nutsack_ to all and sundry. FINALLY, a reason for me to see this film! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poorly-done-moments-in-otherwise-good-movies/515299/73 "2009-10-29T07:31:03Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I think I _have_ heard someone singing it, somewhere. [Maureen McGovern](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iq97-yzFDLo) released it as a single (though not to the “Hero theme” which may have been what you meant). I did find [this bit](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4628457089332571398#) of John Williams talking about the score. ---
**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:** [October 29, 2009, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poorly-done-moments-in-otherwise-good-movies/515299/74 "2009-10-29T12:12:12Z")
> [@](#): > > I’ve seen that as well. Here’s the answer according to IMDB: Vindicated at last! But it still doesn’t answer why they didn’t clean it up with CGI when Lucas brought out his Special Edition – it could have been done in a number of ways. I suspect they didn’t think that a lot of people would notice it, one way or the other. But I’ve always found that black spot distracting – more distracting than I think a makeup flaw would have been. ---
**Author:** ![Stormcrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/0ea827/32.png) [@Stormcrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stormcrow)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poorly-done-moments-in-otherwise-good-movies/515299/75 "2009-10-29T13:10:49Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I don’t remember the scene in the book because it was so long ago since I read it. In the context of the films, it didn’t make sense to me. Did Arwen have magical powers over the river or something? And why, other than the bit with Galadriel, do we never see the Elves do anything else really magical? Like I would think being able to call up the horse tide at will would be a powerful weapon in some of the later battles. Not to derail this too much - but in the context of the book it was a sort of magical trap that isn’t fully explained - except as someone note, Gandalf added the touch of the horses. So it was more of a long-standing magical enchantment set over the river as opposed to something someone could call up at will. Most magic in LotR (the books, at least) is pretty subtle. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poorly-done-moments-in-otherwise-good-movies/515299/76 "2009-10-29T15:02:21Z")
> [@TWDuke](#): > > And the horses were actually Gandalf’s added little touch, as I recall. > > I haven’t seen the film lately, but it seems to me that when Legolas jumps on the cave troll’s back he transforms from a flesh-and-blood actor to a rubber-limbed videogame character. For some reason the other SFX scenes don’t bother but that one does. I’m with you here - that shot never quite worked. It’s still NOTHING on the scale of the suck in the temptation of Galadriel scene though. What the people who are sitting here nitpicking the special effects (Aside: I have zero problems with anything in the Balrog scene, and zero problems with the “little more light” shot. Neither of them do anything for me other that exactly what was intended by the director, I wager) need to remember is that a simple bad SFX shot does not make a “poorly done moment.” What makes the Galadriel scene suck so badly is not just that the CG is bad (it’s not, really, it’s just ugly, heavyhanded, and unclear what it supposed to be representing) but that it’s so unnecessary, and that it actually OBFUSCATES what’s actually going on in the scene. Lose the reverb on Cate’s voice -she’s really talented, she can make the scene awesome without you trying to “help” her with that- and replace the glowing green “blaaah!” special effect with something more subtle and sinister ala the earlier scene IN THE SAME FILM where Gandalf utters his now nearly famous “BILBO BAGGINS! Do not take me for some conjurer of cheap tricks!” and you have an awesome scene. It’s not as simple as just “oh, the CG in that scene was terrible.” (Which, again, it wasn’t. At least, not in any technical sense.) ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poorly-done-moments-in-otherwise-good-movies/515299/77 "2009-10-29T15:16:44Z")
> [@Stormcrow](#): > > Not to derail this too much - but in the context of the book it was a sort of magical trap that isn’t fully explained - except as someone note, Gandalf added the touch of the horses. So it was more of a long-standing magical enchantment set over the river as opposed to something someone could call up at will. Most magic in LotR (the books, at least) is pretty subtle. Yup. People who’ve only seen the film can be forgiven for thinking it’s Arwen casting a spell though, because they rather stupidly had her speak that echoey elvish incantation. I guess they felt that they needed to offer something that would IMMEDIATELY explain why the river suddenly rose up and crushed the Nazgul because, you know, having Gandalf explain what happened later, when Frodo actually finds out would have been…uh… too much exposition or something. ---
**Author:** ![Wheeljack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@Wheeljack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheeljack)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poorly-done-moments-in-otherwise-good-movies/515299/78 "2009-10-29T16:10:10Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > I’ve seen that as well. Here’s the answer according to IMDB: THANK YOU! I’ve been describing that problem to people for YEARS, and nobody ever knows what I’m talking about. I’m going to run down the street screaming to anyone within earshot that I’m _not_ crazy, I’m _not_ crazy! ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poorly-done-moments-in-otherwise-good-movies/515299/79 "2009-10-29T16:15:41Z")
> [@Wheeljack](#): > > THANK YOU! I’ve been describing that problem to people for YEARS, and nobody ever knows what I’m talking about. > > I’m going to run down the street screaming to anyone within earshot that I’m _not_ crazy, I’m _not_ crazy! Yeah… that’ll take care of it… ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poorly-done-moments-in-otherwise-good-movies/515299/80 "2009-10-29T21:34:27Z")
> [@Airk](#): > > Yup. People who’ve only seen the film can be forgiven for thinking it’s Arwen casting a spell though, because they rather stupidly had her speak that echoey elvish incantation. I guess they felt that they needed to offer something that would IMMEDIATELY explain why the river suddenly rose up and crushed the Nazgul because, you know, having Gandalf explain what happened later, when Frodo actually finds out would have been…uh… too much exposition or something. Rivendell and Lothlorien survived for centuries as havens for the elves. I have always taken it for granted that lots of magic both subtle and gross was needed to do that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poorly-done-moments-in-otherwise-good-movies/515299.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poorly-done-moments-in-otherwise-good-movies/515299.md?page=5)