Movies that had a strong opening...

Smokin' Aces

It kicks off perfectly—just a bunch of hitmen chasing the same target, all trying to outdo one another to see who can pull the trigger first. It’s got great momentum at first, but then it shifts gears into this heavy drama and ends on a totally emo note. 😕

I honestly couldn't tell by the end if this was supposed to be a fun action comedy or a serious drama with a sudden, depressing twist. 😕

Wow, is that really how you feel about Stanley Kubrick?😲

To each their own, I guess.

Personally, I was pretty disappointed by Thomas Edison. At first, I only put it on because of Timberlake. But once I actually sat down to watch it, I was pleasantly surprised. It’s a solid thriller with decent characters, and even little Justin Timberlake wasn't half bad.
Then comes that part where everyone just starts shooting at everything and the whole movie goes to hell. Once LL Cool J showed up with the flamethrower, I honestly had to turn it off just to save myself the misery...

EDIT: Regarding Mystic River, I read the book and it is absolutely incredible, so the movie never really did much for me, but it's still a decent enough film.

Sunshine.
A bunch of scientists head out to save the sun before it burns out or whatever... Two-thirds of the movie is actually decent, pretty engaging. But once some mutant shows up on their ship and starts wrecking everything... total disaster. 🙂
🤣 🤣 🤣

Look, as a huge sci-fi nerd, I’ve gotta bring up Stargate. For about half the movie, things are actually pretty solid, but then everything just goes completely off the rails...

Michael Rivera63 said:Full Metal Jacket

Honestly, I think the second half is better...

Knight Moves
It felt like it was shaping up to be a solid thriller, but as the runtime dragged on, the quality just tanked—and honestly, the ending was such a bad ending, totally predictable and unconvincing. Now that I’m actually thinking about it, when was the last time we saw a decent movie featuring Lambert?

Mad Dog
At first glance, it really had those Tarantino vibes—maybe even leaned a bit more toward Miller's Crossing. They definitely nailed the casting, throwing a ton of big names into some pretty interesting roles. Characters are dropping left and right, but there's always someone new and even more magnetic stepping in, which keeps things moving until about halfway through. But then, right at the climax, they kill off probably the most compelling character in the whole cast. From that point on, the pacing just falls off a cliff, and the second half of the film is, frankly, a bit of a snooze fest.

"Murderous Intentions"... such a bad ending.

It felt a lot like Swordfish, except Swordfish actually loses steam way earlier, even if it did have a decent start.

wearytinker8 said:Jeepers Creepers (2001)

The movie kicks off feeling like a gritty, turn-of-the-millennium mashup of Duel and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre—just two young kids messing with a black van driven by some guy in a hat.
Then, right when you're halfway through, that mysterious driver gets absolutely crushed by a car, only to pop back up, transform into this massive, winged monster, and take to the skies.
I want my money back.

Well, I mean, what exactly were you expecting when Quentin Tarantino is involved in the script?🤷 To me, the Pirates of the Caribbean vibe at the start was pretty engaging, but by the end, I was almost in tears over such a bad ending $6.75.

Nathan Myers28 said:I mean, what exactly are you expecting to happen when... Quentin Tarantino He writes screenplays.🤷 I found the opening of Pirates of the Caribbean to be quite engaging. However, I felt nearly moved to tears by such a bad ending. $6.75.

Victor Salva is actually the screenwriter for that film.

David Price5 said:? Victor Salva wrote the screenplay for...

Then what on earth were they thinking when they credited Quentin Tarantino for the script—was he just acting as a producer or something?

Nathan Myers28 said:Then why the hell did they credit Tarantino then? Was he just producing it or something?

Tarantino has absolutely nothing to do with "Jeepers Creepers." That was directed and written by that creep Victor Salva, and Quentin isn't even listed among the eight producers. You probably had "Hostel" on the brain...

...how can you even expect anything decent from Quentin Tarantino (besides Pulp Fiction)? honestly, most of his movies are straight-up garbage. I have no clue how the guy still manages to stay in the industry...

Benjamin Hernandez4 said:...I mean, how can you expect anything halfway decent from Quentin Tarantino (aside from Pulp Fiction)? But seriously, more often than not—though maybe slightly less than most—nearly every single one of his films is total garbage. I honestly have no idea how the man manages to stay employed in this industry...

He certainly started off on a strong note, but still... 😁

wearytinker8 said:Quentin Tarantino actually has nothing to do with "Jeepers Creepers." That director and writer was Victor Salva—who is a total creep, by the way—and Quentin wasn't even one of the eight producers. Were you perhaps thinking of "Hostel"?

But I know for a fact I saw Quentin Tarantino's name in the credits! Regardless, he's not relevant here—as for "Lake Placid," it starts off with a bang, but honestly, it gets pretty dull after a while.

Collateral Damage

It starts out so promising—you've got this great little romance brewing between a business executive and her cab driver—but then everything just goes completely south once some guy like Jack Nicholson rolls up in the taxi... 🙄

Morgan Rodriguez57 said:Collateral Damage...

It starts out so promisingly, you know? This slow burn romance brewing between a high-powered businesswoman and her taxi driver... everything is going perfectly. And then, everything just goes completely to hell the second Tom Hanks walks into the cab... 🙄

So, we're looking at Collateral here. And that whole Collateral Damage thing... you know, the one with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Look, "Collateral" isn't a bad flick—it’s tense and all that... But as the movie winds down, you start seeing Tom Cruise morphing more and more into The Terminator. He's just mowing down half the people in the room like it's nothing, the police can't touch him, he takes a bullet to the neck and still refuses to quit his day job... then he's jumping over trains just to get to his target. It gets a little ridiculous...

P.S. Just a quick heads-up—that woman at the start of the movie isn't some corporate executive, she's actually a District Attorney...

wearytinker8 said:We're talking about "Collateral" here. "Collateral Damage" is the one with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Now, "Collateral" isn't actually bad—it's pretty tense and all... But as the movie starts winding down, Tom Cruise begins picking up some serious "The Terminator" vibes; he's just mowing through people like it's nothing, the militia can't touch him, he takes a bullet to the neck and still refuses to quit his mission, jumping over trains just to get to his target... It feels a bit silly...

P.S. That woman at the start of the movie isn't a business executive, she's actually a District Attorney.

Man, who can even remember all this stuff... 🤷

That’s just how most movies turn out... there isn't much you can do about it.

The Island with Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson starts off strong. It hooks you with this mysterious society, leaving you wondering what the catch is. There’s enough potential for the plot to go a thousand different ways, fueled by about eighteen solid ethical dilemmas. But twenty-five minutes in, it just devolves into a standard chase movie "blah, blah, bang, bang, run, drive, explode, jump, duck, don't trust anyone, watch out for bullets, watch out for helicopters, oh no, we're doomed, wait, actually we're fine because Mr. Bad forgot to tie his shoelace and his whole evil plan falls apart, let's kiss in the ruins and preach equality"👎

"Idiocracy" was such a massive letdown at the end. The core concept is absolutely brilliant—this hilarious look at human devolution where this brave, dim-witted guy finds himself in a future where his low IQ actually makes him the smartest person on the planet. It’s gold. But then, of course, they completely fumble the ending. They just totally run out of good ideas right when it matters most.🙄🙄