Successful Movies With Crappy Scripts

Oh god; let;s not start with the enneagram again

I disagree; there ahve been many blockbusters with great scripts (IMO)

Jaws
Star Wars 1
Titanic
The Entire LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy
Pirates of the Carribean
The Sixth Sense
Meet the Fockers
Beverly Hills Cop
Ghostbusters
Back to the Future
The Mummy

I could list a ton more. To me; these films rock. What about them makes their SCRIPTS bad? (And back it up with some meat will ya?)
 
here is my take:

Jaws had a lousy script. It was novel to me cause it was the first to do what it did but watching it today its anything but a great script. Why: Just doesn't hold interest to me today. Perhaps because it's so dated.

Star Wars one had a quirkiness and good character development and he copied a 30s serial style so I would give you that.

Titanic had a horrible script. In fact they cut the movie so poorly down from five hours that they left things in the movie that had no close. Nevertheless it was fun movie to watch (escapism)

Never saw a Lord movie. Not my taste.

Pirate had Depp. Script was stupid but Depp is a great actor. The guy could read off a cereal box and make it great.

Sixth sense did have a good script. And Bruce Willis, another favorite of mine.

Never saw Meet the Fockers. I hate Dinero so would never watch something that he is in.

Beverly hills cop was a horrible script. Once again it was Eddie Murphy that made that movie tolerable and even then it could have used some steroids. Once again watching it today I see how sophomoric it is. BUt that works for the film.

Ghostbusters was also novel. Watch it today and see how silly it is. Great script, no. Fun yes. I worked on the opening scene shot on 1st ave and 77th Street in NY.

Back to a Future. Once again Enjoyable. great script? not to me.

The Mummy? I liked it. Award winning? No it's just a summer blockbuster.
 
His best film to me was King of Comedy. Outside of that, he's the same character in every movie. I worked with him and never liked him all that much and don't find him as anything but Dinero when he plays in a film.
 
walter, come on. Back To The Future is one of the top five best "Big Budget Entertainment" scripts of all time. There is no script that competes with that one as far as set-ups and payoffs. The concept is great. The story is awesome. The dialogue scenes are hilarious. And what movie moves quicker than Back To The Future? Not a great script? How is this not a great script?
 
I'll conceded because come to think of it, if it was on Tv right now I could watch it over and over. It's a great combination of character and plot. Actually Fox is great in the roll.
 
Walter_Graff said:
"We all agree that the script is critical . . .

But is it always? Here's a start of a list of movies which did well in the varying ways that movies can do well, but had lousy scripts:"

Yes it is. What you are referring to is a genre of moviemaking that has always done well regardless of how bad the film is, partially because they spend between 70 and 100 million dollars marketing it, and partially because they use big stars. Well I take that back. Actually big stars have little to do with it, it's more the genre that Spielberg started with Jaws that every movie since in that genre imitates; mystery, conflict, and suspense blown out of proportion. Flight Plan got panned horribly (http://www.boxofficemojo.com/reviews/?id=1902&p=.htm) but it stars Jodie foster and this is the fall season of these blockbuster films. It did $24,646,000 this weekend. The worst film with a big star draws crowds but it's really the Mo of this method of moviemaking that has folks coming back. At the level of the people here, it is a comparison that has no relevance. If you don't have a good script all you have is a DVD no one wants to watch or does because they are your relative and feel guilty.
Click to expand...

I wasn't talking ONLY about box office. You might recall that Titanic took home a slew of statues as well?

Besides, I think you missed the point. I didn't start this thread trying to argue that script doesn't matter. I'm just pointing out notable exceptions to the rule. The point: fun.
 
Popular movie...bad script

Popular movie...bad script

How about "The Outsiders?" I don't think I have ever hated a movie more. I don't know that it was a blockbuster, but a lot of people consider it a classic. According to the IMDB, it made $25m, which wasn't too bad in 1983-84. The story itself is just awful (although I haven't read the book, I've seen the play and it was bad as well), and though it has all the brat-packers in it, none of them can make it even remotely good.
 
Just saw Magnolia. Movie sucked and thought Cruise was better in Born on the Fourth of July. The way they used the music in Magnolia was just annoying. Its a long movie, so I started surfing the net while watching. Stuff on the internet was more interesting to watch and listen to.

I'm a fan of the Outsiders, might be more for nostalgia. But the cinematography is good. The acting isn't i agree with that. I like the story though and was a fan of the book before the movie too.

I agree that Deniro has been typcaste, but not too many can out act him. Sure he's done some pretty stupid movies, that has been the trend with some really great actors (Pacino for instance).
 
I have kind of a different take on this. Most of the films disscussed are in many ways Hollywood "bread and butter". So so scripts are given to highly skilled craftsman, who make movies that are marketable and in many instances become hits. That is what Hollywood does so well, in many cases.

My examples of great films from crappy scripts would be first, "Apocalypse Now". Check out "Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse" to see the process. Coopola went into the jungle with a mediocre action adventure script and came out the other end with a masterpiece.

My next example is "Annie Hall". In the shooting script, Annie was a minor character and this film was made in the editiing. Check out Ralph Rosenblum's book, "When the Shooting Stops" for details about the film.

My last example is "High Noon". From what I have read, the movie was unwatchable until Zinneman, cut it down to real time, again made in editing.

I agree that script is key, but I also think that the key to a great film script or great movie, in most instances is not just plot, but is character, structure and that "X" factor, that can not be put into words. It is in many ways, almost magical.
 
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