bad scripts, good movies
#1
DVD Talk Special Edition
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2001
Posts: 1,923
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
bad scripts, good movies
name some flicks with bad scripts / writing, but are overall good movies.
some i can think of-
anything by sofia coppola, not very eventful or particularly clever writing, yet I can watch and still find them great.
the way back - I wanted to cringe any time a character said something, one cliche after another. but overall, the movie was good.
just saw HANNA, that had half an hour of story stretched out into two hours, yet it was so visual I could've watched it for another hour
some i can think of-
anything by sofia coppola, not very eventful or particularly clever writing, yet I can watch and still find them great.
the way back - I wanted to cringe any time a character said something, one cliche after another. but overall, the movie was good.
just saw HANNA, that had half an hour of story stretched out into two hours, yet it was so visual I could've watched it for another hour
#2
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
Re: bad scripts, good movies
Juno
#4
DVD Talk Legend
Re: bad scripts, good movies
In my view, no such beast is possible. A bad script cannot result in a good movie, whereas a good script can result in a bad movie.
#5
Banned
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Formerly known as "Solid Snake PAC"/Denton, Tx
Posts: 39,239
Likes: 0
Received 4 Likes
on
4 Posts
Re: bad scripts, good movies
The Rock? The dialogue and story element for Cage & Connery (that sounds like a TV show) are pretty bad...solid actioner though.
Jason and The Argonauts (Listen to it sometime...horrid dialogue)
Jason and The Argonauts (Listen to it sometime...horrid dialogue)
#6
#9
DVD Talk Hero
Re: bad scripts, good movies
Clash of the Titans (the original) has a pretty pisspoor script and terrible dialogue (so bad that the bigger name actors in it just phoned in all their lines) but it's still a fun film.
#11
DVD Talk Hero
#12
#14
DVD Talk Limited Edition
#15
DVD Talk Legend
Re: bad scripts, good movies
I just watched Faster starring Dwayne Johnson about a week or so ago. That kind of fits here. I saw potential for a good, action packed, gritty movie but the script just killed it.
#17
Banned
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Formerly known as "Solid Snake PAC"/Denton, Tx
Posts: 39,239
Likes: 0
Received 4 Likes
on
4 Posts
Re: bad scripts, good movies
greatest example is this:
well...I dunno about most..but..there's a shit ton of them...I don't know how I totally forgot about those flicks.
#18
Re: bad scripts, good movies
I'm not sure that the average kung fu movie from Hong Kong/Taiwan 30-odd years ago even had scripts. Just hire a fight choreographer, assemble the right combo of fight performers in front of a camera, work out which one's the hero and which the villain and figure out a motivation ("You killed my teacher!"), and you've got a movie! And, more often than not, pretty entertaining ones, too!
#19
DVD Talk Gold Edition
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 2,080
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Re: bad scripts, good movies
I'd put "Hannibal" and "Hannibal Rising" on the list but even the scripts are fine, the problem is horrible source material which are novels in this case, though the case could be made that the "Hannibal Rising" book is a novelization based on the screenplay. I also wouldn't call them good movies. "Hannibal" and "Hannibal Rising" both have above-average direction, great production value and good/great actors and writers doing the best they can with the garbage they were given.
#20
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
Re: bad scripts, good movies
Titanic
#21
DVD Talk Legend
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Behind the Orange Curtain
Posts: 20,085
Likes: 0
Received 7 Likes
on
7 Posts
Re: bad scripts, good movies
I've gotta defer to Norm on this one, although I'd say Terminator Salvation is a good candidate. Stupid-as-shit writing, but it's pretty to look at.
#22
Banned
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Conducting miss-aisle drills and listening to their rock n roll
Posts: 20,052
Received 168 Likes
on
126 Posts
Re: bad scripts, good movies
The Rock is a great example. Great actors, perfectly cast, giving performances that are fun to watch, combined with a great location make a script that has horrible dialogue and a preposterous plot highly watchable.
Recently, The Tourist. Glamorous leads. Brilliant character actors. Beautiful locations. Great, playfull decisions made by the director and cast. All of it makes a literally off the shelf script filled with cliches very pleasurable.
In a more artsy sense, some of Godard's early films aren't good because of the script. It's the actors, photography, editing, and sound mix that makes them interesting.
Recently, The Tourist. Glamorous leads. Brilliant character actors. Beautiful locations. Great, playfull decisions made by the director and cast. All of it makes a literally off the shelf script filled with cliches very pleasurable.
In a more artsy sense, some of Godard's early films aren't good because of the script. It's the actors, photography, editing, and sound mix that makes them interesting.
#23
DVD Talk Hero - 2023 TOTY Award Winner