When dealing with forms of artistic expression, like how a director or actor views a specific scene in a story, people can often go off the rails. A scene that may look good or intense on its own can end up being downright cringeworthy and overacted when put together with the rest of the movie. But even then, sometimes directors double down on that scene and keep it in. Let’s take a look at some iconic movie scenes where they probably should’ve just reshot it.
The Monologue (Battlefield Earth)
Monologues can really lift a movie up, but not if that movie is Battlefield Earth. It’s one of those movies where everyone that has seen only a screenshot of it instantly knows “yeah this is pretty bad.” The monologue takes that badness and, well, lifts it up several notches. We can’t blame Travolta for this, but I bet he blames his agent.
Martha (Batman v Superman)
The whole concept of two superheroes that find themselves thinking they own the whole truth and they’re on the right side of justice suddenly seeing eye to eye because their moms share a name is ridiculous. The way the scene is played out makes it even more ridiculous. And honestly, it could’ve been a moderately entertaining movie otherwise.
Not The Bees (The Wicker Man)
Granted, it’s hard to pick just one Nicolas Cage movie to put on this list, but even with the entirety of Ghost Rider in the back of our minds it’s hard to find anything that matches the bee scene in The Wicker Man in terms of sheer cringe. It’s got that typical Nic Cage delivery which just makes the entire thing oddly hilarious.
Balem Creating Life (Jupiter Ascending)
Jupiter Ascending isn’t as bad as people claim it is and we know Eddie Redmayne isn’t a bad actor at all, but holy heck what a nice example of bad direction this is. It’s so overacted that you can instantly tell this probably wasn’t Eddie’s idea of how to deliver the lines, and it’s probably also one of the big reasons why he got a Razzie for his role.
Dark Peter Parker (Spider-Man 3)
Come on, you knew this was going to be on the list the moment you clicked the link. The whole “dark side of Spider-Man” didn’t pan out all that well because they basically gave Tobey Maguire an emo haircut and made him dance. The worst thing he does is be moderately rude to people. Remember, this is a superhero that can catch a car mid-flight without breaking a sweat, stopped a derailed train and gets smashed through walls on a daily basis, and he’s just being mean.
Basketball Game (Catwoman)
Yes, the entirety of Catwoman was very much a bad movie. But the entire basketball scene is just some of the worst minutes in cinematic history. Cats aren’t good at basketball and if you need to add that many cuts to your scene, you’re probably just doing it wrong. It’s just a very, very weird scene.
Johnny’s Breakdown (The Room)
Tommy Wiseau may be one of the worst actors on the planet and Johnny’s breakdown was supposed to be a very intense and emotional moment that leads up to him taking his own life. Thanks to Wiseau’s acting, it ends up being utterly hilarious and doesn’t match the tone of what was intended at all.
