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#4499241 - 12/05/19 11:46 AM Movies that were totally NOT what you were expecting  
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I'm sure all of us here have had at least one instance where we went to the theater to see a movie and it turned out to be radically different from what we were expecting? The ultimate example for me is "Alien 3".

I was expecting it to be essentially the same as "Aliens" in both style and plot; a direct continuation of where "Aliens" left off. I was expecting to see armed marines fighting large groups of aliens while Ripley, Newt, Hicks and Bishop tried to make their way back to Earth.


Instead I got a bald Ripley on a prison planet inhabited mostly by Englishmen who acted more like they were in a religious convent than a prison while two major characters from the previous film were killed off for no logical reason. The whole vibe of the movie just felt "off" and awkward.


“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
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#4499244 - 12/05/19 01:44 PM Re: Movies that were totally NOT what you were expecting [Re: PanzerMeyer]  
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I wasn't so sure about Alien 3 either and I agree with you on the killing off of the 2 characters (I am guessing we are talking about the same people).

One movie I saw recently that was not what I was expecting at all was "Anna." I thought it was going to be a rip off of the original "La Femme Nikita", which would have bothered me since "Anna" was made by Luc Besson who did "Nikita". But I was pleasantly surprised. It was a different take I didn't expect. It had its moments of course that was typical of Luc Besson where things were somewhat off kilter (pretty good celphones they had in 1995) and some other signature Besson things, but it was a great plot I thought.

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#4499249 - 12/05/19 02:27 PM Re: Movies that were totally NOT what you were expecting [Re: PanzerMeyer]  
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If you are also considering films that offspring dragged one along to see under protest and parental duty but turned out to be more enjoyable than expected, then:
Pirates of the Caribbean, the first one.
School of Rock.



#4499255 - 12/05/19 03:41 PM Re: Movies that were totally NOT what you were expecting [Re: PanzerMeyer]  
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The year is '95.

The movie we'd came to see was sold out, so we ended up choosing to see a film we knew little about and what we assumed was some lame historical romantic drama, called Braveheart.

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#4499256 - 12/05/19 03:46 PM Re: Movies that were totally NOT what you were expecting [Re: Crane Hunter]  
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Originally Posted by Crane Hunter
The year is '95.

The movie we'd came to see was sold out, so we ended up choosing to see a film we knew little about and what we assumed was some lame historical romantic drama, called Braveheart.

[Linked Image]



You know, Braveheart is a very interesting film for me because while it has a LOT of historical inaccuracies, dramatically it still "works" on screen. Usually films that are way off the mark with historical facts are crummy movies across the board in all aspects.


“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
#4499260 - 12/05/19 04:02 PM Re: Movies that were totally NOT what you were expecting [Re: PanzerMeyer]  
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Fight Club. I knew nothing of the source material and my entire assumption of what the movie was about came from the title.

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#4499265 - 12/05/19 05:16 PM Re: Movies that were totally NOT what you were expecting [Re: PanzerMeyer]  
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I had no desire to see this movie, but somehow ended up watching it sometime when completely bored and was pleasantly surprised by it.
The Box
"A small wooden box arrives on the doorstep of a married couple, who know that opening it will grant them a million dollars and kill someone they don't know."
It's a lot more involved than that and is actually scifi, not just some lame suspense drama. Great story!

The Matrix was nothing like I expected. From the ads, it sounded like some kind of horror, maybe conspiracy, movie. Saw it in the theater anyway and was completely BLOWN AWAY by what it turned out to be.

Rogue One was still SW of course, but the tone it took was unprecedented and it's tied with ESB for my favorite SW movie because of that. Dark and not an idealized version of a clean, white hat wearing rebellion.


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#4499267 - 12/05/19 05:24 PM Re: Movies that were totally NOT what you were expecting [Re: Raw Kryptonite]  
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Originally Posted by Raw Kryptonite

The Box
"A small wooden box arrives on the doorstep of a married couple, who know that opening it will grant them a million dollars and kill someone they don't know."
It's a lot more involved than that and is actually scifi, not just some lame suspense drama. Great story!

.



I saw this on Netflix a few months ago and I enjoyed it for the most part but it shares the same trait that many Netflix original sci-fi movies share in that the story starts off really interesting and the mystery keeps you engaged but then the story just runs out steam by the final act as the different "twists" to the story are revealed.

I agree 100% with everything you said about Rogue One.

Last edited by PanzerMeyer; 12/05/19 05:25 PM.

“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
#4499279 - 12/05/19 09:07 PM Re: Movies that were totally NOT what you were expecting [Re: PanzerMeyer]  
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Originally Posted by PanzerMeyer
I'm sure all of us here have had at least one instance where we went to the theater to see a movie and it turned out to be radically different from what we were expecting? The ultimate example for me is "Alien 3".

I was expecting it to be essentially the same as "Aliens" in both style and plot; a direct continuation of where "Aliens" left off. I was expecting to see armed marines fighting large groups of aliens while Ripley, Newt, Hicks and Bishop tried to make their way back to Earth.


Instead I got a bald Ripley on a prison planet inhabited mostly by Englishmen who acted more like they were in a religious convent than a prison while two major characters from the previous film were killed off for no logical reason. The whole vibe of the movie just felt "off" and awkward.


Killing off Hicks and Newt at the beginning were two of the greatest screenwriting and producer decisions I have ever witnessed on screen.

Cameron and his partner had set up a brilliant layering of character development by the end of Aliens, were we truly cared about the folks in the film, and then they threw it all away. The Alien franchise has never been the same, since. Even Joss Whedon was unable to save things in Alien Resurrection because... once again producers got in the way and reduced what could have been a brilliant script with Whedon's trademark brilliant dialogue and character development into... something average that could have been so much more.


Back on subject, The Matrix Reloaded was one of the greatest disappointments in cinematic history. The first hour was so dull and boring, none of the action in the second half could save the mess that had been started. What a disaster. I never saw the third film. How they went from the brilliance of the first film to a pacing nightmare of the second we'll never know.




Last edited by Mr_Blastman; 12/05/19 09:07 PM.
#4499283 - 12/05/19 09:56 PM Re: Movies that were totally NOT what you were expecting [Re: PanzerMeyer]  
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Hancock.

If you have seen it, you will know what I picked this movie for the subject of this thread.


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#4499289 - 12/05/19 11:00 PM Re: Movies that were totally NOT what you were expecting [Re: PanzerMeyer]  
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Project X with Matthew Broderick. It was made in his '80s heyday of comedies, and I think the studio felt they had to market it as such to fit in with his M.O., but while it had a few funny scenes (all of them in the previews), it was anything but a comedy.


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#4499290 - 12/05/19 11:01 PM Re: Movies that were totally NOT what you were expecting [Re: PanzerMeyer]  
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Both Tom Holland Spiderman movies. Went in expecting a superhero flick, got a vapid 80's teen coming-of-age movie instead. Although "Homecoming" did have the redeeming virtue of another terrific performance by Michael Keaton as the Vulture.


SALUTE TO ALL!
#4499314 - 12/06/19 06:58 AM Re: Movies that were totally NOT what you were expecting [Re: PanzerMeyer]  
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Agree that Rogue One was both better and much darker than I was expecting. I love how the whole movie was encapsulated in a brief line in the Original Star Wars movie and gave a rational reason for what I had seen as an inexplicably weak plot point- the fatal flaw that allowed the Death Star to be destroyed.

Ended up watching a Japanese movie on TV late one night that I knew nothing about and was shocked how it went from slow paced and mundane to horror that had me literally saying "Holy crap!" out loud. That movie was "Audition." The less you know going in the better. Prepare to be traumatized.


"For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" -- Mark 8:36
#4499317 - 12/06/19 09:19 AM Re: Movies that were totally NOT what you were expecting [Re: PanzerMeyer]  
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I went to the cinema to see Natural Born Killers, but when I got there it has stopped showing. Instead, I went to see a movie I had not heard about, Pulp Fiction.

One of the greatest feelings is when you're 15 minutes into a film and you realise it's going to be one of the best movies you'll ever see. I wish I could forget it & watch it again smile


"They might look the same, but they don't taste the same."
#4499322 - 12/06/19 11:32 AM Re: Movies that were totally NOT what you were expecting [Re: Mr_Blastman]  
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Originally Posted by Mr_Blastman


Back on subject, The Matrix Reloaded was one of the greatest disappointments in cinematic history. The first hour was so dull and boring, none of the action in the second half could save the mess that had been started. What a disaster. I never saw the third film. How they went from the brilliance of the first film to a pacing nightmare of the second we'll never know.






For me I actually liked Reloaded quite a bit but Revolutions is where I started to tune out. That final fight between Neo and Agent Smith in Revolutions was just so confusing and over the top that I didn't care anymore.

Last edited by PanzerMeyer; 12/06/19 11:32 AM.

“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
#4499326 - 12/06/19 01:48 PM Re: Movies that were totally NOT what you were expecting [Re: PanzerMeyer]  
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Alot of these movies that people mention, I can't tell if they are saying it was not what they were expected in a good way or in a bad way...

"The Matrix" is one of those movies going into it that I had no idea what to expect. I saw the ads and trailers but WTF was the Matrix? Even the url was whatisthematrix.com. When we saw it opening night, we were blown away. It was the first time in a long time where people were so in awe at a scene that they couldn't help but clap for it, and the movie wasn't even over yet (the lobby fight scene).

Speaking of Keanu Reeves movies, "John Wick" was another one that surprised me. It had low-key ads and I expected just a shoot-em up but it was so much more than that and had so much depth.

"Overlord" was one that I expected to be totally cheesy. Historical inaccuracies aside, it was pretty riveting and entertaining and the opening scene where they jump for D-Day was pretty good. I found out later that they didn't CGI that scene hardly at all...the actors/stuntmen actually jumped or fell out of a real life fuselage.

"Happy Death Day" and "Happy Death Day 2 U" were both pretty good also. I was expecting just a slasher flick but it was actually well written and funny. In the same vein I also liked "Cabin in the Woods."

v6,
boNes


"Also, I would prefer a back seater over the extra gas any day. I would have 80 pounds of flesh to eat and a pair of glasses to start a fire." --F/A-18 Hornet pilot
#4499330 - 12/06/19 01:59 PM Re: Movies that were totally NOT what you were expecting [Re: bones]  
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Originally Posted by bones


"Overlord" was one that I expected to be totally cheesy. Historical inaccuracies aside, it was pretty riveting and entertaining and the opening scene where they jump for D-Day was pretty good. I found out later that they didn't CGI that scene hardly at all...the actors/stuntmen actually jumped or fell out of a real life fuselage.





I've heard that "Overlord" was essentially the closest we've ever been to having a film adaptation of the Wolfenstein games by ID Software. Is that accurate?


“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
#4499334 - 12/06/19 02:50 PM Re: Movies that were totally NOT what you were expecting [Re: PanzerMeyer]  
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Agreed on John Wick...expected just another forgettable action flick and discovered a universe full of AWESOME.

Hotel Artemis...turned out to be really cool. I swear it would fit perfectly in the John Wick universe, I hope that happens somehow.

Foreign, but let me add Brotherhood of the Wolf. Looks like some period drama/suspense and takes a bit to get going but it turns into a cool flick.
Whenever I see Marc Dacascos I think of this movie.

13th Warrior. Thought it would be ok, not great, and got much more as something of a Beowulf type story. Really liked it, one of Banderas’s best IMO.


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#4499335 - 12/06/19 02:56 PM Re: Movies that were totally NOT what you were expecting [Re: bones]  
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Originally Posted by bones

"Happy Death Day" and "Happy Death Day 2 U" were both pretty good also. I was expecting just a slasher flick but it was actually well written and funny. In the same vein I also liked "Cabin in the Woods."


Both of these movies were great. I loved the first one, what with the whole Groundhog Day horror vibe, but the second surprised me in not being a horror movie at all, but more of a sci-fi film.

#4499336 - 12/06/19 02:59 PM Re: Movies that were totally NOT what you were expecting [Re: PanzerMeyer]  
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Good call on Cabin! Loved the humor and backstory.
Tucker and Dale vs Evil is another surprisingly good flick.


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