Movie productions are so disjointed and fraught with uncertainty that any film that crosses the finish line should be considered a major accomplishment. That doesn’t mean that bad movies should get a pass or that good ones with bafflingly bad scenes should either, but it does speak to the chaotic mindset that filmmakers can have while they are in the thick of production. In the case of some singular scenes, temporary insanity seems to be the only good excuse for why they were included in their respective films in the first place.
Many of these scenes have become infamous for being the one notable blemish in otherwise immaculately produced films, while others are just so bad they can’t help but stick out like a sore thumb regardless of the quality of the movie that surrounds them. Many of these scenes have been so bad that the directors or stars involved in them have had to come out to apologize for or defend them, while audiences still haven’t gotten a satisfactory explanation for some others. What’s inarguable for all of these ten scenes is that none of them was a good idea.
10
The Max Rebo Band – ‘Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi’ (1983)
This first bad scene comes with an asterisk, as it’s only present in the special edition of Return of the Jedi that was first released in 1997. Seeing as that version is the one most widely available to audiences, the scene is getting a dishonorable mention here because it is demonstrably worse than the original. Set in Jabba’s palace, the scene is a musical interlude performed by the Max Rebo Band, a group of aliens whose style of music is apparently known as jizz-wail (not a relevant fact, but a terrible one that must be shared like the cursed videotape in The Ring).
In the original film, the song was relatively catchy and performed by a limited number of performers in decent alien costumes, with the lead singer played by a rigid puppet. For the special edition, George Lucas saw fit to replace the entire band with cartoonish CGI creations and the song itself was replaced with a brassier, jazzier version that feels far more incongruous than the quirkier original. In retrospect, the scene is a microcosm of the issues that would plague the Star Wars prequel films: over-the-top CGI characters, tonal inconsistency and just plain confusing.
9
Alice Eve in her underwear – ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ (2011)
Star Wars fans aren’t the only ones who have been subjected to excessive or unnecessary scenes. Trekkies have their fair share of bad scenes across the Star Trek franchise, but none feel quite as utterly pointless as Alice Eve stripping down to her underwear for literally no reason in the much-maligned Star Trek Into Darkness. J.J. Abrams‘ follow-up to his successful reboot is filled with many scenes of questionable intent, such as the decision to hide the identity of Benedict Cumberbatch‘s villain when it was plain to everyone with even a cursory knowledge of Star Trek lore that he was playing the infamous Khan. Eve was even playing a character who originated in the film where Khan exerted his wrath, for crying out loud!
The scene where Eve strips off her clothing while Chris Pine‘s Kirk fails to keep his eyes averted is inconsequential to the plot, with a bare amount of exposition that could be positioned in any number of other scenes. That makes its sole purpose to parade Eve as a piece of eye candy, which the actress herself had to later defend. Fair play to Eve; she pulls off the coy playfulness of the scene, but it is also, by default, the only memorable moment the character has, as she is woefully underwritten. Those who have tried to defend the scene have argued it was merely following in the footsteps of the franchise’s sexually charged history, but there are dozens of ways it could have accomplished it that aren’t half as lazy as asking an accomplished actress to take her kit off for no logical reason whatsoever.
8
Jazz Club Dance – ‘Spider-Man 3’ (2007)
To say that Sam Raimi‘s Spider-Man 3 was met with negative reactions is putting it lightly. The vitriol that was spewed forth at the superhero threequel was downright toxic at times. Perhaps it was that Raimi had simply set too high a bar to clear with Spider-Man 2, and fans came in with astronomical expectations that no movie could truly live up to. Regardless, Spider-Man 3 is a film that, if not fully reclaimed, has had fans soften considerably towards it in the near two decades since its release. That dance scene still sucks, though. For clarification, this isn’t in reference to the infamous sidewalk dance moves that Peter Parker busts out after his initial transformation to the dark side courtesy of the alien symbiote, though the fact that the movie has more than one dance sequence is already an issue.
Peter Parker is a dork, and he dances exactly how a dork who thinks he’s cool would (I’ve done years of research on the matter), and the movie treats him like a dork. When he goes to a jazz club to show up Mary Jane with Gwen Stacy and breaks out into a Chicago-style dance routine that’s met with a round of applause, however, that is painfully cringey. It might be a scene that has contributed immeasurably to meme culture and falls into the so-bad-it’s-good category, but that does not excuse its existence, which is an affront to jazz music, dancing, and Spider-Man’s otherwise pristine legacy.
7
Zion Rave – ‘The Matrix Reloaded’ (2003)
Lame white guys dancing in a jazz club is bad, but at least it likely doesn’t smell near as bad as a thousand freedom fighters getting their freak on in an underground rave. Of all the things that audiences likely weren’t expecting to feature in The Matrix Reloaded, an extended dance sequence filled with extras from Christina Aguilera‘s Dirrty music video was probably high on the list. Not to yuck anyone’s yum, since if anyone deserves to let off a little steam, it’s the machine-oppressed remnants of humanity that populate Zion. Alas, there’s just no way that the entire dance floor doesn’t smell like vomit and regret.
A party sequence isn’t facially a bad idea, but this one goes on way too long, with several shots of sweaty slow-mo that are cross-cut with Neo and Trinity having the world’s most vanilla lovemaking session. All of it is just so awkward and unnecessarily drawn out for no better reason than the Wachowskis needing to work out some kinks on screen. More power to them for getting Warner Bros. to bankroll their underground dance party, but the scene only reinforces the idea that maybe the machines should win.
6
Women Unite – ‘Avengers: Endgame’ (2019)
It’s pretty astonishing that in the 21st century, Hollywood continues to be flummoxed by how to depict heroic women without hollow pandering. Exhibit A: Avengers: Endgame, a superhero epic that can somehow find a way to coordinate dozens of cast members in a time-traveling plotline but can’t figure out how to organically pay homage to its roster of heroines. The resulting corporate-approved “girl power” moment is painfully forced, almost as much as the thirty seconds allotted for gay representation at the start of the film, and only adds insult to injury, considering how underwritten many of those female characters were.
Coming during the climactic battle with Thanos, the moment sees all the available female cast members team up to escort Captain Marvel, a character shown to be powerful enough to destroy an entire planet, across the battlefield. It’s a moment designed for applause, although, to be fair, about half the movie is made up of those moments. Where some of them work because they call back to prior movies or have been properly set up in the plot, this moment feels like an afterthought. Is it worse than how women have traditionally been treated in comic books and their associated movies? Absolutely not. Is it still egregious as hell? Definitely.
5
Quentin Tarantino’s cameo – ‘Django Unchained’ (2012)
Directors acting in their movies have had mixed results, to say the least. Sometimes it’s a fun cameo that serves as an Easter egg for eagle-eyed viewers, such as Alfred Hitchcock‘s; other times, it’s a painful, self-aggrandizing performance, like M. Night Shyamalan in Lady in the Water. When it comes to Quentin Tarantino, his track record on screen isn’t nearly as successful as his work behind the camera.
While he’s completely outclassed by every other performer around him in Reservoir Dogs, his role is small enough that he gets away with it. He’s better in Pulp Fiction, but that performance is overshadowed by his character’s abundant use of a certain racial slur. Then there’s Django Unchained, a film replete with racial slurs, but none of them uttered by Tarantino, who still manages to make viewers cringe thanks to his attempt at an Australian accent. To say Tarantino has a bit of an ego isn’t a bold statement, but it’s on another level if he thought he could convincingly play a character from down under.
4
Julia Roberts pretending to be Julia Roberts – ‘Ocean’s Twelve’ (2004)
Ocean’s Twelve was not well-liked when it first came out. The movie was basically one big excuse for George Clooney and company to get a paid vacation to Europe, and most critics and viewers felt it was inferior to the breezy but fun first film. Since then, opinions have softened, and many have come to enjoy it on its merits. It’s not a cohesive movie but more a series of well-executed sequences. The scene where Julia Roberts‘ character pretends to be actress Julia Roberts is not one of those sequences.
The Ocean’s franchise has always dabbled in sly meta-commentary and clever in-jokes, but this extended scene, where Roberts, playing the wife of Clooney’s master thief, must play the part of herself, is neither sly nor clever. While the sequel’s plot had to be adjusted to accommodate Robert’s real-life pregnancy, the ultimate decision they landed on unfortunately grinds the film’s momentum to a halt. When even the magnetic charisma of Bruce Willis can’t save a scene, there’s something seriously wrong.
3
The Epilogue – ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2’ (2011)
To be fair to the filmmakers behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the completely unnecessary epilogue, where a middle-aged Harry, Ron and Hermione see their children off to Hogwarts, comes directly from the book. It was unnecessary there too, but it also has the benefit of allowing the reader to imagine what the characters might look like in twenty years’ time. The make-up effects used on the young cast members, however, are about as convincing as a high school production of On Golden Pond.
For a film series as monumental as Harry Potter was for audiences throughout the 2000s, it’s especially unfortunate that the final scene of the franchise ends things on such an awkward note. The trio of actors is perfectly fine in the scene, but they are even better in the penultimate scene, where they are given a final reflective moment outside the grounds of Hogwarts after finally defeating Voldemort. It’s an emotional climax that perfectly caps off the central relationships that have been at the heart of the film series for ten years. The epilogue undercuts all that emotion and is undeniable proof that not every scene from the source material needs to be adapted.
2
Blackface – ‘Trading Places’ (1983)
Many movies canonized as classics, particularly comedies, haven’t exactly aged well, and when viewed through a modern lens, can be incredibly uncomfortable. That doesn’t negate their overall quality or mean that fans can’t still enjoy them, but it should be called out just the same. Director John Landis has a filmography filled with beloved classics, but several come with qualifiers, such as Animal House, which purposefully revels in being transgressive, and his Twilight Zone: The Movie segment, a criminally negligent can of worms. If there’s one single unfortunate scene that has aged particularly poorly, it’s the one that put Dan Aykroyd in blackface in Trading Places.
For a movie whose plot is steeped in a satire of class warfare and race relations, it makes Aykroyd’s use of a racist practice historically used to mock Black people all the more baffling. The scene itself involves all the principal characters pretending to be broad stereotypes. Eddie Murphy is a naive but boisterous Cameroonian, Denholm Elliot is a drunk Irish priest, and Jamie Lee Curtis is a hyper-sexualized Austrian (with a hilarious Swedish accent). The scene is played very broadly, but none of that excuses painting Aykroyd’s face like a minstrel performer while using a bad Jamaican accent when literally so many other options would have sufficed.
1
Sexual Assault – ‘Revenge of the Nerds’ (1984)
Revenge of the Nerds is another ’80s comedy that is deeply, and unfortunately, of its era. From homophobic stereotypes to multiple acts of sexual harassment and misconduct, the movie barely lets a minute go by before engaging in bad behavior that was excused as hilarious hijinks back then. Some viewers might be able to ignore the more inappropriate moments in favor of the funny performances and underdog spirit, but everyone should be horrified by what is a straight-up sexual assault scene that’s played for laughs.
Lewis, the lead nerd played by Robert Carradine, is infatuated with the girlfriend of one of the villainous jocks and decides to act on it by stealing his adversary’s costume and tricking the woman into sleeping with him. That is, to the letter of the law, sexual assault, and there is no excuse for it, nor should anyone even attempt to. The movie actually makes the moment even worse by having the woman profess her love for her assaulter. It’s a terrible scene and one which both the writer and director of the film have come to regret, even if it is an unintended, honest reflection of the misogynistic culture in which it was made.
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