PopcornTreeCt

Name some films you find had brilliant concepts but botched the execution.

Giantrobo

Aliens vs Predator

jfoobar

The films of Rod Lurie.

NatrlBornThrllr

Good thread.

"A Day Without a Mexican" - The entire Mexican population of California mysteriously vanishes one day. I'd have preferred better direction and whatnot, but more so, I wish the ramifications of the disappearance of an entire section of the population would have been covered more in depth. The premise was such a great one, but the final product left me thinking about what could have been.

"Altered States" - A man takes hallucinogens, and then enters a sensory deprivation chamber (these were kinda big back in the 70's and early 80's). Basically, a sensory deprivation chamber is this box filled with a high salt to water ratio. Given the vast amounts of salt in the water, you actually float on the surface. The chamber itself is sound-proof, and completely dark. In short, all of your senses are deprived. You see nothing, taste nothing, smell nothing, hear nothing, and feel nothing. So, your brain fills the void, and you supposedly experience strong hallucinations. The use of one of these chambers, mixed with the consumption of hallucinatory drugs...what a great idea. The execution and story surrounding this combination, though, left me wholly disappointed (not to mention the fact that the special effects haven't aged well at all).

Gus Van Sant's "Elephant" and "Gerry" - A school shooting, and the hopelessness of being lost in the desert. Two amazing foundations for movies, but I felt the direction and pacing was all wrong in both cases. In "Elephant," I simply wasn't at all effected by the finale, when I knew full well that I should have been. "Gerry" just moved way, way too slowly, IMO. I know what Van Sant was going for in both cases: he wanted to put the viewer in the shoes of the characters in the film. In "Elephant," he wanted us to see these kids silently walking around campus, encountering the occasional person along the way...so that we'd get a feel that this was a real setting. In "Gerry," we're exposed to 15-minute long, silent treks across empty desert...with the hope that the viewer would begin to feel the emptiness and hopelessness the characters were feeling. I get it, I just didn't like it.

"God Has a Rap Sheet" - Basically, people from all walks of life are thrown into a prison cell together with an old homeless man who calls himself God, and appears to have soiled himself. Sounds pretty entertaining, right? Well, I appreciate the dialogue in the second half of the film, and the acting throughout...but I loathe the film's ending and some of the directorial quirks. I don't know, I just felt that something was lacking. The fact that I can't put my finger on what it is, exactly, tells me that maybe I just wasn't in the right frame of mind when I popped it in the DVD player.

"Intacto" - This film explores the notion that luck is something that can be bought, sold, traded, lost, and given away...that's it's almost palpable. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie...every aspect of it, actually. However, I just wish certain things that weren't touched on would have been. Still a good film, and I'd venture to say that it actually lives up to it's own potential. However, I just wish it would have been more, for lack of a better term, "complete" in touching on the ideas related to the notion that it set out to explore.

"Man Bites Dog" - A mockumentary where the subject is a serial killer who, with the money he collects off of his victims, funds the very project we're watching. Gradually, the filmmakers begin to cross that fine line between documenters and participants. Just like Intacto, this film left me satisfied. In fact, I think I gave it a 9/10 when I reviewed it. However, I just like the premise so much that (and I never, ever thought I'd say this), I'd actually like to see it explored by somebody else in a remake. I guess what I'm getting at is: the idea is such a good one that I'd really enjoy seeing somebody else's take on it...the manifestation of this idea through some other filmmakers eyes. I think so much is left unexplored here, that I'd really like to see the idea applied to our culture, with a bit more of a budget (just so it'd be able to further drive home that feeling of realism).

Just to clarify, if I spoke out against the execution in a film you happen to love: note that I own every one of the films I listed here. I just feel that they all lack something on some level...that, no matter how good they may be, they don't fully live up to their own potential.

-JP

Crocker Jarmen

I liked the idea behind that Disney Bruce Willis movie The Kid. I loved the idea of being forced to be confronted with yourself as a child, and be tortured by idiotic, annoying person you've spent so much time rising above. I thought you could have made a very dark, creepy movie with that premis, rather than a silly kiddy movie.

Cygnet74

NBT, if you haven't already, check out the films of Béla Tarr. Van Sant credits him as the inspiration for the turn we've seen in his recent films. Unfortunately, Van Sant's attempts haven't amounted to a drop of piss in the vast ocean of visual, spiritual and intellectual poetry that is the works of Béla Tarr. (Werckmeister Harmonies, Satantango)

jfoobar

Inspired by NBT's comments, The Trigger Effect springs immediately to mind. What a premise ripe with possibility this film has, and ultimately it shies away from being a sociological study and decides to be a fairly blah action/drama instead.

Superboy

I too saw tremendous potential with this movie, but it really fell flat. I was half expecting another "trash white people" liberal dogma piece, but it was really articulate at times. Still, the unfunny parts and poor direction really hurt it.

sureAV421

Meet Joe Black

raven56706

The Core- Just plain dumb but could have been better.

Alien vs Predator- The story could have been better.

Mortal Kombat- Annihalition- The story didnt follow up the next games.

Dumb and Dumberer- Just watch the movie. Nuff said

AeroStone

Primer
Hellboy
Daredevil
X Men
Stepford Wives

milo bloom

I'm not a huge fan of the games, I've played them here and there, but when I saw the movie, I was quite entertained. It was kinda goofy, but it had fun with itself and it ended up being pretty good. I never got around to seeing the sequel in the theaters or even renting, but a little while back I caught the last part of the original on cable, so the wife and I watched it, then it said the sequel was coming up, so we thought we'd check it out. Watching them back to back like that was like you were sliding down a slip and slide, then someone teleports a pile of bricks two inches from your nose onto the slide. As soon as we saw them traveling in those "balls", we switched it off.
How in the hell did what little quality they had in the first one get so easily thrown out the window?


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While I enjoyed Adam Sandler's Little Nicky for what it was, I soon wondered what it would be like if approached in a serious vein.

Flynn

Most recently:

"The Hithchiker's Guide to the Galaxy"

Also:
"The Beach" (Read the book, was heartbroken by the crappiness of the film)

Cygnet74

Open Water
Primer

natevines

Tron

Mondo Kane

Shadow of the Vampire

Groucho

I was about to post this one myself.

wendersfan

The Matrix and its sequels.

RichC2

The Matrix had it's ups and downs, wasn't poorly executed - just could have been better.

For me it was the korean movie Save the Green Planet - could have been fantastic, but took things a little too literally.

Dudikoff

The Ninth Gate - I found the concept incredibly interesting, but the movie leaves you empty. Still, I kinda liked it.

PopcornTreeCt

The movies that made me start this thread. Amazingly enough, Bound, the Wachowski's first film was quite the opposite. A simple premise that was executed with refreshing and original plot twists.

chente

The One. Cool concept, dumb movie.

chente

Plus it has lesbians.

chente

and Joey Pants.

fmian

S1m0ne. Interesting idea, but full of dumb unbelieveable scenes. You can see a smattering of Gattaca in there somewhere but it doesn't even come close.