Blog #5 – Editing

Top ten worst movies – with focus on production (editing, effects, sound, graphics)

If there is one thing you need to know about me when watching a movie, I tend to look at what is going on in the background, I point out places I have been to or have been in other movies. The famous one I always point out is Riverview Mental Hospital in Port Coquitlam. Almost every movie and show filmed in BC has used that location for one part of the plot. Another thing that can ruin a movie for me is bad CGI, I cannot handle it. Think the Hulk Buster suit in Avengers Infinity War or Superman’s Moustache in Justice League. My boyfriend HATES that I do this. So, this week’s blog prompt for this has me buzzing in my seat.

10. Justice League (2019) – Joss Whedon

I can’t overly fault Whedon for this one because the last director Zack Synder left halfway through which meant a lot of reshoots and that darn moustache cover up. But when people first saw this movie they left upset. They could tell it was two different visions put on the big screen. DC was trying to hard to follow in Marvel’s happy go lucky foot steps and this did not work. Story lines of major characters were cut, Steppenwolf did not have a very scary look to him and this film became a joke to viewers. When Zack Synder was finally able to release his vision of the film in 2021 people loved it. (Not so much the 4 hour run time) but seeing the true vision for this film was all the redemption it needed. It was dark and had all the aspects of good editing. If you watch these films back to back you will realize how different the same story can be with two visions.

9. Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011) – Michael Bay

It is well known that Bay is a fan of over the top explosions and heavy CGI films. At times they come off very well done. However there are not many good qualities within this film. The script feels forced and the way the film is edited makes some of these actions scenes feel out of place. Each seen feels like they are not in the proper place. The soundtrack is one of those ones where you need the remote in your hand because the music and action is very loud while the dialogue is very quiet. While space robots are something of fiction the way this film was spliced together is sadly something that is real.

8. Ghostbusters (2016) – Paul Feig

I should start off by saying I am all for equality but this is a film that was better not made. It has one of the most forced dialogues in recent history. All four of the main characters are very talented actresses. Every joke is forced and lands flat, the CGI is also pretty rough. It is cut in weird ways that leave out what appear to have major plot points left out, sadly we wont know because of the editing. There are not many redeemable qualities to this movie. Even the remake of the Ghostbusters theme song was not well received.

7.  Super Mario Bros (1993) – Rocky Morton

If you watch any top ten YouTube videos about bad movies this is almost always on that list. There are points in the film where props are in one cut then gone in the next only to reappear two seconds later. It was also has a terrible script that seems forced. There are references to the game which don’t make sense or are lost on viewers because they aren’t actually references. The Goombas are something straight out of my CGI nightmares. A big body and a tiny head is the exact opposite of what they look like in the game. It has bad CGI, a bad script, bad editing and placement of props. It is basically a perfectly horrible movie.

6. Resident Evil (2002) – Paul Anderson

This movie comes off as one giant jump cut. Which makes it hard for viewers to focus on what is going on. people were very excited for this video game to be brought to life on the big screen. George Romero was originally brought in to write the script and keep it true to the video game but Anderson wanted this to be a film that would appeal to more people which was a big flaw. The CGI and even the makeup is pretty questionable at times as well.  These movies are still being made today but they are still suffering at the box office because people know this is nothing worth paying for.

5. The Snowman (2017) – Tomas Alfredson

This is a film that is a crime mystery. There is one thing with mystery films they need to tie up all loose ends. Leaving things left open because they were assumed the audience would forget about them during editing is a great way to leave viewers upset. There are parts of this film where viewers are given new pieces of evidence that seem to be important to the plot then are never spoke of again. From what I have heard there was a significant part of the film that did not even get filmed. This is most likely where those missing pieces were left. Actively not filming a part of the film is such a poor editing choice.

4. The Meg (2018) – Jon Turteltaub

You would think someone involved in the writing and editing of this film would have seen Jaws and used that as the basis for The Meg. With Jaws there is still a sense of fear even when the characters are on land or unaware of where the shark is. This film does not do this. There is almost a lost sense of suspense when the shark is not on the screen. This is supposed to be the biggest deadliest shark that kills anything in its path. The jump cuts in the final scene also make it hard to follow which characters suffer injuries or death and who gets to walk away. A viewer should not be seeing the ending credits and wonder about every single person in the cast whether they lived or died.

3. Venom (2018) – Ruben Fleischer

A lot of people have their first experience with comic book characters on screen. It is up to the director and editor to ensure these characters are done well and viewers return to see the sequel. Venom did get a sequel, but Sony has a history of doing Marvel characters dirty. They don’t give viewers enough of the backstory of Venom and there was 40 minutes of the film that got cut, which would have included the main characters bonding and showing how they reached where they did at the end of the film. Venom also decides to stay with Eddie instead of taking him over which is a weird ending and is not explained very well.

2. Event Horizon (1997) – Paul Anderson (oh no he’s on this list twice)

This is a very good film, however just like Justice League this is so far from the original vision. There are some very weird editing choices. There are also a lot of factual errors in this film. The jump cuts at times can be a lot to take in. There is a scene where viewers are given an opportunity to see what happened to the previous crew members although it jumps so fast you cant actually make out what is happening. There are also problems where props are there one second and gone another then suddenly reappear. The music is also a lot louder. There are points where the CGI is not something to phone home about, although I will give it  break because it is a film from 1997.

1. The Room (2003) – Tommy Wiseau

I’m not sure if this is here for a good reason or a bad reason. The room has become a cult classic because of how bad it is. I could probably write an entire essay on the flaws of this film. There are sex scenes that never end, characters that disappear, subplots that are never mentioned again. The dialogue at times is hard to understand. The green screens are what really make me struggle to watch. The plot is all over the place. There are misogynistic overtones that are not something that people enjoy watching. There are also a lot of issues that happened behind the scenes as well. This even inspired a spin off parody film by James Franco named The Disaster Artist (2017). It is a film that you need to watch to understand how truly awful and cringe-worthy it is.