# Scenes that completely ruined a film **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [April 30, 2025, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-completely-ruined-a-film/1017675 "2025-04-30T01:07:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**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:** [May 2, 2025, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-completely-ruined-a-film/1017675/141 "2025-05-02T15:55:21Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > Yeah but for me that ship had sailed long before the mitochodrians appeared. The franchise had been ruined, for me, 12 times over by then. Wait, the franchise had been ruined 12 times over for you… **before** _Phantom Menace_ came out? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2025, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-completely-ruined-a-film/1017675/142 "2025-05-02T16:06:27Z")
> [@icon](#): > > The other one that I always mention, is the ending of the First _Mission Impossible_, mainly because they make a point of talking about taking the train from London to Paris, which would be the Eurostar, but the train they use is a standard TGV. Although the whole movie is fantastical in the execution of a lot of things, this took me out of the movie because I couldn’t believe they skimped on the very simple research on an existing train. I _assume_ they used the train that was available for filming rather than the correct one. As for the banquet scene in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, it’s been years, perhaps decades since I saw the movie but it occurs to me that everyone else at the table was under the spell of whatever black magic was being used, and their comfort with the weird food (which is not, as far as I know, even appropriate for _any_ culture in India, of which there are many) demonstrated that. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2025, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-completely-ruined-a-film/1017675/143 "2025-05-02T16:21:42Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > **before** _Phantom Menace_ came out? They appear about a third of the way through the Phantom Menace IIRC. The franchise had been well and truly ruined by then (though it definitely went down hill from there) ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2025, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-completely-ruined-a-film/1017675/144 "2025-05-02T16:31:06Z")
> [@Stanislaus](#): > > However silly the aliens bit is, and it is very silly, it is actually a better explanation for Brian’s survival than “It was a miracle”. And in that sense, it serves a genuine narrative function - after all, Brian needed _some_ way to escape from the tower. ---
**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:** [May 2, 2025, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-completely-ruined-a-film/1017675/145 "2025-05-02T16:35:18Z")
I thought the scene was meant to be a slam of the “Chariots of the Gods/Was Jesus an alien?” nonsense that came to prominence during the '70s and unfortunately hasn’t gone away. ---
**Author:** ![FluffyBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecb155/32.png) [@FluffyBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FluffyBob)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2025, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-completely-ruined-a-film/1017675/146 "2025-05-02T16:35:23Z")
In the original movie Darth Vader recognizes Lukes forciness just flying in a straight line behind him, so its already established that it can be sensed in someway by others. I getvit now; attempting to de-mystifying a primarily mystical key aspect of the story pissed people off. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2025, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-completely-ruined-a-film/1017675/147 "2025-05-02T16:36:11Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > It’s also the set up for the best line in the movie. What’s the line? ---
**Author:** ![FluffyBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecb155/32.png) [@FluffyBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FluffyBob)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2025, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-completely-ruined-a-film/1017675/148 "2025-05-02T16:45:46Z")
Yeah for me it was a brilliant addition to the film, adding to not only the general irreverence and chaos, but also how so many events in Brian’s life were out of his control. I was maybe 19 when I first saw it and that scene had me in tears. ---
**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:** [May 2, 2025, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-completely-ruined-a-film/1017675/149 "2025-05-02T16:56:16Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > “You served my father in the Clone Wars.” > > That sounds so cool. What are clone wars? Are the clones good, or evil? Or are the wars themselves clones? The Fan explanation I heard at the time was that Obi-wan Kenobi was _himself_ a clone – “Obi-wan” is really “O. B. 1”, as in “Old Ben One” (they called him “Old Ben who lived out near the Dune Sea”, if you recall), so he was the first clone from the original Ben Kenobi. “Obi-wan” was just their way of rendering it, the way C-3PO became “See Threepio” and R2D2 became “Artoo-Detoo” It would’ve been much cooler if they went that route. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2025, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-completely-ruined-a-film/1017675/150 "2025-05-02T17:22:58Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Or are the wars themselves clones? Just like, is it a bunch of menacing phantoms (or just one?) or an insubstantial menace? I run into the same issue (speaking of MST3K) with the Phantom Creeps… ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2025, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-completely-ruined-a-film/1017675/151 "2025-05-02T17:29:19Z")
I know for a fact that whatever any of us in 1977 imagined the “Clone Wars” were, it would have been better than what we got. And I’m sure that whatever we all thought, no one imagined that the clones were on the (supposedly) good side! The Jedi and daddy Organa are supposed to be fighting clones, not fighting alongside clones. It should have been “You served my father in the droid wars.” ---
**Author:** ![JohnnyEcks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnnyecks/32/18197_2.png) [@JohnnyEcks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnnyEcks)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2025, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-completely-ruined-a-film/1017675/152 "2025-05-02T17:41:55Z")
I’ve mentioned this in another thread, but I recall reading somewhere that the spaceship scene in Life of Brian wasn’t in the original script. Originally, he was supposed to survive the fall by a cartoonish Rube Goldberg happenstance, falling, bouncing, and swinging down the scaffolding until he landed battered but alive at the bottom. Apparently the cost and difficulty of the elaborate stunt work made them switch to the UFO as a cheaper alternative. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2025, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-completely-ruined-a-film/1017675/153 "2025-05-02T17:45:06Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > > [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > > > It’s also the set up for the best line in the movie. > > What’s the line? “You lucky bastard!” ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2025, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-completely-ruined-a-film/1017675/154 "2025-05-02T19:25:51Z")
> [@JohnnyEcks](#): > > I’ve mentioned this in another thread, but I recall reading somewhere that the spaceship scene in Life of Brian wasn’t in the original script. Originally, he was supposed to survive the fall by a cartoonish Rube Goldberg happenstance, falling, bouncing, and swinging down the scaffolding until he landed battered but alive at the bottom. Apparently the cost and difficulty of the elaborate stunt work made them switch to the UFO as a cheaper alternative. They could’ve just done one of their signature animations for the falling sequence. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2025, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-completely-ruined-a-film/1017675/155 "2025-05-02T19:50:48Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > _Superman_, 1978: > > The _Can You Read My Mind?_ sequence “performed” by Margot Kidder. Hit the FF button every time I watch this movie (and that’s a lot, because I do love this movie – except for _that_). I see your point, artsy but went on far too long. I also objected to Lois smoking. > [@Spoons](#): > > The original _Apocalypse Now_ was a tense, taut, thriller that gains momentum until it ends. But the longgggg additional scenes in _Redux_ (specifically, the dalliance with the Playmates and the time on the French plantation) just stop the momentum, and the film doesn’t regain momentum quickly. Worth watching once, after you have seen the Original. Then go back to the original. > [@Tamerlane](#): > > The name “Eggsy” is what kills the film for me. I fucking hate it - it’s an absolutely horrid nickname. I concur. > [@griffin1977](#): > > The franchise had been ruined, for me, 12 times over by then. Too many Star wars “fans” are haters. > [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I know for a fact that whatever any of us in 1977 imagined the “Clone Wars” were, it would have been better than what we got. Imagination is nearly always better than reality. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2025, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-completely-ruined-a-film/1017675/156 "2025-05-02T20:36:20Z")
> [@FluffyBob](#): > > In the original movie Darth Vader recognizes Lukes forciness just flying in a straight line behind him, so its already established that it can be sensed in someway by others. This is a big part of what makes the midichlorian thing so extra stupid to me. It’s already been established that force users can sense each other and tell how strong another one is. All that had to happen was for Qui-Gon to hold Anakin’s shoulders, make a concentration face, and say something like “the force is stronger in this one than any I’ve sensed before. Not even Master Yoda is this strong with the force, I think he was born from the force!”. Drop a few lines, change a few lines, and it wouldn’t have fixed the movie, but it probably would have removed the biggest audience groan, without changing any part of the plot or action. I really wanted to like the movie, but I think midichlorians is when I realized I was not going to. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2025, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-completely-ruined-a-film/1017675/157 "2025-05-02T20:40:26Z")
> [@Tierce](#): > > Same battle, different bit: when the Rohirrim see the Oliphaunts come into view and Theoden says “Reform the line!” Dude, when the animals on the other side are 20-25 feet tall, you ain’t the _heavy_ cavalry any more. Hated the skateboarding elf and the thrown dwarf, but was unbothered by reforming the line. Liked it actually. The cavalry charge was successful beyond all expectation, and the battle swung from apparently lost to apparently won. Then the war pachyderms appear, sweeping horsemen casually aside. What was Theodan (who 10 minutes earlier was ready to sacrifice himself and all his riders) supposed to do? Call for a retreat into the hills? Reforming the line made sense. The task seemed, again, hopeless, but organizing the ranks was the rational starting point to face the new threat. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2025, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-completely-ruined-a-film/1017675/158 "2025-05-02T21:30:49Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > It certainly didn’t “completely ruin” an otherwise excellent movie, but the flying saucer bit in **The Life Of Brian** is a brick wall that stops the film in its tracks. Jarring, utterly unnecessary and out of place. Which is why it’s so funny. Other people have already mentioned reasons why that scene is there. I’ll include a couple more reasons: (1) _Star Wars_ had just come out and been a big hit a couple of years before, so space battles in movies were all the rage at the time, or (2) to give Terry Gilliam something to do. Or see this, from The AV Club: [For two unexpected minutes, _Life Of Brian_ becomes a chintzy sci-fi epic](https://www.avclub.com/for-two-unexpected-minutes-life-of-brian-becomes-a-chi-1798266039) ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2025, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-completely-ruined-a-film/1017675/159 "2025-05-03T00:55:00Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > > [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > > > It certainly didn’t “completely ruin” an otherwise excellent movie, but the flying saucer bit in **The Life Of Brian** is a brick wall that stops the film in its tracks. Jarring, utterly unnecessary and out of place. > > Which is why it’s so funny. I ain’t too proud to admit that because of your comment, and all the others before you, I’ll watch TLOB (for the hundredth time) and try to see it with a different attitude. Not making any promises, mind you. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2025, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-completely-ruined-a-film/1017675/160 "2025-05-03T01:00:10Z")
And I just read the AV article. Hmm. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-completely-ruined-a-film/1017675.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scenes-that-completely-ruined-a-film/1017675.md?page=9)