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Epic Disasters: When films spin out of control.

MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
edited January 2012 in General Movies & TV Posts: 14,003
I was reading this article at Empire Online:

http://www.empireonline.com/features/last-action-hero/p1

And it started me thinking about other films films that spun out of control. I'm always interested in reading similar stories.
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Comments

  • Samuel001Samuel001 Moderator
    edited January 2012 Posts: 13,356
    Casino Royale 1967 was one big spin from start to finish if there ever was one.

    Dream House went from much promise to mess - that one's a great story and can be found in the Dream House thread.

    I've heard of others and hope to dig up what I can...

    Good call, Major, should make for fascinating reading.
  • Baltimore_007Baltimore_007
    Posts: 5,634
    I've never seen that movie since it's release 18 years ago now, I can honestly say that, never saw another Schwarzenegger picture he did after say the time of Total Recall or T2 Judgement Day so can't say how bad it really is, It sounds like a sort of 'so bad it's good' kind of Schwarzenegger fare such as 'Commando' as one prime example

    I think I see what direction we are headed here but am a bit apprehensive as to what to include, there are so many examples as we are aware, one such instance will be a little picture coming later this year for arguments sake..
  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    Posts: 14,003
    When I wrote disasters, I didn't just mean ££££'s or $$$$ going up in smoke. I'm looking for stories where directors were fired or just plain walked, studios trying to stage a coup, working relations becoming strained etc...

    You could call this a morbid curiosity.
  • Samuel001Samuel001 Moderator
    edited January 2012 Posts: 13,356
    Well Sheridan gave up on Dream House whilst filming and even wanted his name taken off the credits!
  • StevenSteven
    Posts: 105
    Did anyone ever see the original directors cut of Payback - that was a complete mess? The producers and Gibson had to re-do the entire second half of the movie after they sacked the director.
  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    Posts: 14,003
    I was under the impression that Helgelands original cut was lost. I know that there is the theatrical version, and the 'straight up' version, which is just the theatrical cut, but altered by Helgeland (a few scenes removed and replaced and the blue tint replaced by a more colourful look) so that it's more closer to what he originaly wanted.

    I like both versions, but the straight up one a little more.
  • Baltimore_007Baltimore_007
    Posts: 5,634
    There was some problems during filming of The Shining if memory serves, some of Nicholson's co-workers found him impossible to work with I remember reading, some scenes had to be redone over and over, there was genuine tensions and ill ease going on, when Kubrick released the film, original writer Stephen King wasn't too impressed with it either, I haven't read the book though but it's true the movie version was a bit of a letdown
  • bondbat007bondbat007
    Posts: 1,407
    Baltimore_007 wrote:
    There was some problems during filming of The Shining if memory serves, some of Nicholson's co-workers found him impossible to work with I remember reading, some scenes had to be redone over and over, there was genuine tensions and ill ease going on, when Kubrick released the film, original writer Stephen King wasn't too impressed with it either, I haven't read the book though but it's true the movie version was a bit of a letdown

    I don't remember reading about Nicholson but I remember reading that Kubrick treated Shelly Duvall terribly to get the best performance our of her. I guess she hated the process. And yes, King hated the film, which is why he made that mini-series a few years later. But I guess that didn't hold a candle to the film
  • VirageVirage
    Posts: 1,856
    Cough Batmanandrobin cough or the two hour toy commercial
  • karatemanchan37karatemanchan37
    Posts: 584
    You know its ironic how some films acquire the same troubles (some even worse ones!) and still managed to create fantastic masterpieces. I remember reading how The Godfather and Star Wars, two very classic films, ran into trouble early on - both financially and studio wise, yet look how they turn up. It's a very interesting phenomena indeed.
  • QsAssistantQsAssistant All those moments lost in time... like tears in rain
    Posts: 1,812
    Anybody remember the "Super Mario Bros" movie? That was a disaster of a film and I believe it had problems from day one. Even the stars knew it was a disaster; Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo were reportedly doing shots, on set, before each take.
  • bondbat007bondbat007
    Posts: 1,407
    Virage wrote:
    Cough Batmanandrobin cough or the two hour toy commercial

    The funny thing about Batman and Robin is that it was EXACTLY the movie that Warner Bros wanted it to be and was expecting. They just weren't expecting people to hate it :)
  • SaintMarkSaintMark
    Posts: 7,653
    Perception by fans will always play a role when "fans" will name movies that they think went out of control. Some movies are just that...........bad.
  • BAIN123BAIN123
    Posts: 11,189
    In the world of Bond what about TND?

    According to Dench's biography the atmosphere was messy. Neither she nor Babara Brocolli got on with Roger Spottiswode. She was expected to learn pages of re-written dialogue at very short notice and recalls an incident involving her and Spottiswode and Babs.

    Dench (to Roger); didn't you see me? I almost hit you with the car?

    Babs: if only you had accelerated.

    Ouch!

    That's not including the changing of Elliot Carver's character or the frosty atmosphere between Brosnan and Hatcher.
  • BondWillReturnBondWillReturn
    Posts: 816
    The entire Superman/ Superman II ordeal, with Dick Donner and Dick Lester, and the producers. There is a very interesting documentary about it on the 4-disc edition of Superman
  • DoctorKaufmannDoctorKaufmann Can shoot you from Stuttgart and still make it look like suicide.
    edited January 2012 Posts: 1,261
    Well, Waterworld was also a mess (the final version still is). The original set at sea was destroyed by a hurricane and sank, so they had to rebuild it. And Costner fired the director Kevin Reynolds. And outside Germany, it was a financial flop, jsut the goofy CCostner-lovers in Germany flocked in to see it. And, no, I haven't.
    Funny thing, that poor Kevin Reynolds suffered teh same experience earlier on with the Costner-vehicle "Robin Hood - Prince of Thieves". Reynolds was not allowed to do the final cut, because previews showed, that Alan Rickman's OTT-Sheriff was more popular with the audience as Costner's stiff Robin Hood, so some scenes with Rickman were cut. Oh yeah, and the whole thing was not helpüful with Costner refusing to do dialect coaching, some people laughed so hart and quipped "Would you believe it, a Californian accent in medieval Britain"... What's puzzling me, Reynolds had been sacked by Costner one time, but then he agreed to return as director, only to be fired again by Costner.
  • DoctorKaufmannDoctorKaufmann Can shoot you from Stuttgart and still make it look like suicide.
    Posts: 1,261
    Another example post-production wise was "Blade Runner". As we allkonow from watching the Director's cut, the producers did not like the ending and instead added a scene hinting at a happy ending and used unused scenes for the cutting room flore from Kubrick's "The Shining" and added the narration texts spoken by Harrison Ford. The movie was not a flop, on the contrary, but it shows how some prodcuers think money-wise.
  • 4EverBonded4EverBonded the Ballrooms of Mars
    Posts: 12,480
    Costner, ah ... wren't there problems and stories from Dances with Wolves? Just asking.
  • SaintMarkSaintMark
    Posts: 7,653
    DoctorKaufmann wrote:
    Another example post-production wise was "Blade Runner". As we allkonow from watching the Director's cut, the producers did not like the ending and instead added a scene hinting at a happy ending and used unused scenes for the cutting room flore from Kubrick's "The Shining" and added the narration texts spoken by Harrison Ford. The movie was not a flop, on the contrary, but it shows how some prodcuers think money-wise.

    I think that this happens more often than not. And the producers are not always wrong some endings do work and others don't. And of course do Producers think moneywise, it is their job. ANd at the end of the day a movie is made to make money and preferable lots of it. If you have any other illusion than the moviemaking business is not something to be discussed.
  • HASEROTHASEROT has returned like the tedious inevitability of an unloved season---
    Posts: 4,399
    all the drama surrounding Sony and Sam Raimi from pre-production on Spider-man 3 through his eventual quitting of the franchise... what a bloody mess that turned out to be.... this is an example of a studio that wanted too much creative control, that ended in a disaster...

    Spider-man and Spider-man 2 were two amazing superhero movies, though i prefer 2 over the first one for it's deeper storyline (also has a cool soundtrack too lol).. but the studio, feeling the pressure from fans to include Venom, forced Raimi to include him into the film - initially Raimi refused, and only wanted to have Sandman as a central villain, while still having the struggle between Peter and Harry (with Harry obviously becoming the new Goblin).. but he eventually bowed the Sony's wish, but as an FU, he merely made him into a side character, seeing as how there was no room for him in the actual story..... and it's no secret that Raimi, a Spider-man fan, has no love affair for Venom........

    the end result of all of this was what we got in Spider-man 3..

    Sony wanted Raimi to return, and do 3 more films... Sam reluctantly agreed to do so, but advised that he wanted to have creative control over the stories, and what villains to use and so forth.. Sony agreed on this handshake deal... so Raimi started work on Spider-man 4, with talks of having The Vulture as the main and only villain... then the studio started to stick it's nose back into the mix... some execs made suggestions, about changing the Vulture's sex to female, or him having a female sidekick called Vulturess... these suggestions started to turn back into demands - and before long, Sam Raimi had enough, and quit the project - citing too much studio interference.... on the heels of Raimi quitting, so did Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst... their only reason for wanting to do another Spider-man movie was because of Raimi, with him now gone, they had no reason to stay..

    whats weird, is that apparently, the entire time, Sony had hired another writer to write a reboot script... - from the best of my knowledge, this script was written before Raimi eventually signed back on to do a 4th.... Sony kept the script instead of discarding it... so when Raimi walked with his script to Spider-man 4, Sony had a backup plan..... i find this weird, because could this had been Sony's plan all along? To force Raimi out? or was it all happenstance?.. who knows..

    so what we got now, is a rebooted Spider-man franchise that is only 10 years old, creatively controled by the studio, and not the director..

    it's hard for to be unbias in this whole matter, because I have great respect for Raimi, and I know he takes undue flack for the outcome of Spider-man 3, when if the studio didn't try to take their creative switchblade to it - it's could've turned out much much better..... so, I really do hope the new Spider-man reboot is a critical failure... i know it wont bomb, because it's a successful franchise... but i honestly hope it's just so terrible, that it warrants no future sequels.
  • JWESTBROOKJWESTBROOK
    Posts: 5,745
    The Day The Earth Stood Still (the newer one) went downhill, excuse me, down a cliff faster than you could read the title.

    Same thing with Salt (imo) based on the plot. One second her face is known by everybody in the World, and the next, she slips into the White House. Suuurreeee.

    Oh, Thor and The Green Lantern plummeted, after barely raising off the ground.
  • HASEROTHASEROT has returned like the tedious inevitability of an unloved season---
    edited January 2012 Posts: 4,399
    in terms of the films themselves...

    i thought the Ang Lee "HULK" movie was an epic failure... i remember being so hyped to see it at the time, but i damn near fell asleep in the theater... and at the end - The Hulk fighting his father in what i like to call a clusterf*** of CGI - and then he's all of sudden frozen in ice........... thank god i've blocked most of that film from memory - but certain things are beyond forgetting.

    Resident Evil Afterlife was another waste of $15 for me.. i say $15 because i actually shelled out to see it in 3D.... ugh - not even worth $8 for standard viewing... what a piece of garbage... now i liked the Resident Evil series (for the most part) up to this point... i really liked the first film.. Apocolypse was 'okay' - until the last 20 minutes or so.. and i thought Extinction was pretty good - better than i thought it would be.... but Afterlife was a complete mess..... unless you've played the video games, you'd have no clue where certain things came from - so if you were a fan of the movies, and hadn't played the games from Code Veronica on, you were left completely in the dark - with such things as how Albert Wesker has powers, The Executioner guy, and zombies with tentacles coming from the mouth... yeah... even beyond that, the movie and plot was a disaster - still can't understand how my one friend thinks it's amazing.

    The Spirit... I can't remember much about this film, as I only saw it once, and that was in the theater... I guess whenever Frank Miller wants to attempt to make a movie, it's going to always be in Sin City style - which deviated away from the look and tone of the comics of "The Spirit" themselves... i just remember it being obscenely bizarre, and lacking any real flow - it was a mess... the only highlight was Sam Jackson in full Nazi regalia - lol hilarious.
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    edited January 2012 Posts: 15,723
    I always thought that Michael Mann's first film, 'Thief', was a complete mess. I didn't connect to any character, or the story... the cinematography was cold, the characters were unlikable, the story was uninteresting... I think this is the worst movie I've ever seen... I didn't laugh at how bad it was, I didn't even look at my watch... last time I saw it, it made for the most lifeless, dull and unmemorable movie viewing I've ever taken part of... I had no emotions during the entire film... like I was watching paint dry, or my brain was switched off during the film...
  • HASEROTHASEROT has returned like the tedious inevitability of an unloved season---
    Posts: 4,399
    DaltonCraig007 wrote:
    I always thought that Michael Mann's first film, 'Thief', was a complete mess. I didn't connect to any character, or the story... the cinematography was cold, the characters were unlikable, the story was uninteresting... I think this is the worst movie I've ever seen... I didn't laugh at how bad it was, I didn't even look at my watch... last time I saw it, it made for the most lifeless, dull and unmemorable movie viewing I've ever taken part of...

    this is my feeling towards Death Bed : The Bed That Eats..

    now, it sounds like one of those movies, that is so bad that it is awesome - like any SyFy original movie lol... but don't be fooled - it's so bad, that this film actually had the ability to slow down time.... 40 minutes feels like 2 hours lol.... I've put up with watching a lot of awful movies, as me and some friends occasionally like to do, and riff them apart MST3K style... this one was damn near impossible to finish - it was so bad, that we couldn't have fun with it, and almost turned it off........ you legitimately feel like you're being punished by watching it.
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    edited January 2012 Posts: 15,723
    yes @haserot, there are 2 types of bad movies - the one's where you laugh at the film so time flies by... and those that just don't spark any emotions or laughter from you, where 90 minutes feels like a whole afternoon...

    Like 'The Core'... extremely cheesy film, prehistorical CGI, ludicrous plot and incredibly stupid 'scientific' explanations... but the sheer fun of it and the really likable characters really makes this film golden...
  • HASEROTHASEROT has returned like the tedious inevitability of an unloved season---
    edited January 2012 Posts: 4,399
    do yourself a favor, and look up films like

    Megashark vs Giant Octopus
    Megashark vs Crocosaurus
    Mega Python vs Gatoroid
    Titanic 2
    2010: Moby Dick
    Mega Piranha
    Blue Demon

    these are of the "so bad they are hilarious" variety... horrible CGI, horrible contrived plots, horrible acting.. horrible locations - such as a random factory that is supposed to be a high tech US military installation... these are B movie gems that can't go unwatched lol.... so grab some beers, and some mates - and throw on one of these, you will not be disappointed lol.
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    Posts: 15,723
    Thanks @haserot - I'll dl them. :)>-
  • HASEROTHASEROT has returned like the tedious inevitability of an unloved season---
    Posts: 4,399
    the best is in Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus.. when the Mega Shark jumps out of the ocean and destroys an passenger airliner - lol.. simply amazing.
  • forgotmyusernameforgotmyusername
    Posts: 2,782
    Virage wrote:
    Cough Batmanandrobin cough or the two hour toy commercial

    ha ha ha.

    I like Thief DC007 - Lee's Hulk was great loved it...I thought Salt was a cracking dumb action movie...

    I hated mi2 - How did Woo get it so wong?
  • VirageVirage
    Posts: 1,856
    I think about 1/3 of woo's MI2 was cut.
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