How long does it take to realize a movie is bad?

[phart010 | 1,707]

Let’s say you bought a ticket for a movie. You are sitting in the theater and the movie seems to suck.

Two questions:

1. How long does it take before you realize that the movie is bad?
2. Will you walk out of the theater before the movie ends when you confirm that the movie is bad?

[LifeGame | 760]

1. Im a very bad critic, i find the positive so i like everything.

2. Never happened and i dont think it will either because of #1

 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,547]

Probably about half of the movie in most cases.

I've definitely realized some horror movies were going to be bad earlier.

Only movie I ever "walked out of" was Lyle Lyle Crocodile, not because it was horrible (it is average at best), but because one of my kids was bored stiff and couldn't sit in there any longer, so I took him out.

Can't say I've gone to too many bad movies in the theater.

[Link | 2,714]

If I’m not interested in 30 minutes I’m out for sure. It happened once or twice when I was in high school and tickets were $3.75 (5.75 for adults). At the time I was going to the movie theater every week sometimes.

I hope to never feel like walking out of a theater again, and I read about stuff ahead of time so I know what to expect and hopefully not waste time and money. But yes, I would if it’s so bad.

At home, the last thing I remember turning off quickly because it was not just boring but so bad, was RV starring Robin Williams. I did not think he could be in a truly bad movie but that was one. Think Little Miss Sunshine or Family Vacation, with awful writing and the whole family getting sprayed with human waste in the first act for honestly no reason. 

Edited November 7, 2023 by Link

[DefaultGen | 5,412]

I just sit through everything. I fell asleep during Peter Jackson’s King Kong because it was 5 hours too long. The only movie I even remember turning off was Stone with Cornrows Norton for being interminably boring.

[Tabonga | 2,323]

Mrs. Tabonga and I only walked out of 2 movies.  Krull was one - I thought it was somewhat watchable (but I am a fantasy geek) but Mrs. Tabonga was insistent.

The not-yet-Mrs. Tabonga and I  used to go a run down theater called the Gothic (which in its prime was a gorgeous place) and went to a weekend film showing of 4 movies - the one we wanted to see (an East European animation collection)  was of course last which meant we had to sit through 3 of the most god awful movies ever - but what do you expect for $2 each for the package.

After a really amusing night (which I have related before) - which included a row of horsehair balcony seats catching on fire and eventually being dismounted and then taken out and dumped in the alley we finally got to the one we wanted to see.  It was only at the end of the first short (which made no sense whatsoever) that we got to some credits and realized the thing had been running backwards (and possibly inside out) .  At which point we threw in the towel and went home.

Edited November 7, 2023 by Tabonga

[ZeldaFreak | 3,600]

29 minutes ago, LifeGame said:

1. Im a very bad critic, i find the positive so i like everything.

2. Never happened and i dont think it will either because of #1

Same for me on both accounts.

With that said, obviously I can tell when something is objectively bad, or if I don't personally enjoy it very much at least, but I'll usually still sit through it anyway if I've already committed to watching it, especially if I'm paying to watch it, unless it's something more long-form like a TV show.

If something is objectively bad, I can usually tell within like 5 minutes, I can spot it pretty damn early. But in regards to something I just personally don't enjoy that much, I can usually tell within maybe 30-40 minutes, though sometimes a bit longer if it's more of a mixed bag.

[Gloves | 11,790]

I recall vividly that at the end of The Fellowship of the Ring, as the credits rolled in the theatre, my grandfather stood up and exclaimed "that was fuckin it!?". The man had never read the books and it just sort of "ending" where it does put him off enough to complain to the cashier at the theatre. She said she couldn't give the money back since we watched the whole movie, but he old manned his way into his money back in the end lol. 

[Estil | 1,265]

Honestly, I think they tanked Ghostbusters '16 on purpose just so they could claim some moral high ground and have an excuse to claim only sexist toxic masculinity types would have a problem with it.  An all female Ghostbusters team could've totally worked (see Charlie's Angels and Final Fantasy X-2) if they hadn't gone out of their way to get about the ugliest (both outside and in), most unlikeable women possible.

Going further back not only was this 1948 film (probably) fairly low budget but it was rushed to production because they wanted to release it before Babe Ruth died (which he did three weeks after he personally attended the premiere).  It doesn't even mention Babe's first wife and the star of the movie William Bendix who was right handed had to try to bat/throw like the left handed Babe, and by his own admission he wasn't very good at it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Babe_Ruth_Story

Edited November 7, 2023 by Estil

[Reed Rothchild | 9,547]

55 minutes ago, Estil said:

Honestly, I think they tanked Ghostbusters '16 on purpose just so they could claim some moral high ground and have an excuse to claim only sexist toxic masculinity types would have a problem with it.  An all female Ghostbusters team could've totally worked (see Charlie's Angels and Final Fantasy X-2) if they hadn't gone out of their way to get about the ugliest (both outside and in), most unlikeable women possible.

Going further back not only was this 1948 film (probably) fairly low budget but it was rushed to production because they wanted to release it before Babe Ruth died (which he did three weeks after he personally attended the premiere).  It doesn't even mention Babe's first wife and the star of the movie William Bendix who was right handed had to try to bat/throw like the left handed Babe, and by his own admission he wasn't very good at it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Babe_Ruth_Story

Speaking of...

I did actually go to Charlie's Angels with some lady friends, and if I was with anyone else I would have walked out.

And I walked out on my playthrough of Final Fantasy X-2.

Ghostbusters '16 is like a hundred times better than either of those 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,547]

4 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

if they hadn't gone out of their way to get about the ugliest (both outside and in), most unlikeable women possible.

Please explain why Kate McKinnon is an ugly person inside 

Among other things in this comment

[JamesRobot | 5,805]

Ghostbusters 2016 is the second best Ghostbusters movie.  Soundtrack is bangin too.

[JamesRobot | 5,805]

Just recently, 15 minutes in to Critters 4 I realized something was wrong.  I gave it another 15 minutes and my suspicions were confirmed that it was indeed a bad movie.  Still watched the whole thing though.  I don't think I've ever walked out of the theater.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,547]

1 minute ago, JamesRobot said:

Just recently, 15 minutes in to Critters 4 I realized something was wrong.  I gave it another 15 minutes and my suspicions were confirmed that it was indeed a bad movie.  Still watched the whole thing though.  I don't think I've ever walked out of the theater.

So you're saying I should open this up ASAP?

[JamesRobot | 5,805]

1 minute ago, Reed Rothchild said:

So you're saying I should open this up ASAP?

Oh yeah definitely. And you should watch em all.  

I'd seen the first two countless times.  Had the DVD 4 pack forever and finally gave the other two a shot.  It's a shame really, 3 was pretty good and had a decent setup for 4.  

[Aguy | 773]

I've never walked out of a movie, but the worst was Radio (mentally disabled Cuba Gooding Jr) with the eventual Mrs. Aguy. We were the only ones in the theater, so we just MST3000 the thing. The only movie I can recall turning off because it was so bad was House of 1000 Corpses.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,547]

26 minutes ago, JamesRobot said:

Oh yeah definitely. And you should watch em all.  

I'd seen the first two countless times.  Had the DVD 4 pack forever and finally gave the other two a shot.  It's a shame really, 3 was pretty good and had a decent setup for 4.  

We rented 1 for my birthday back in grade school.  That was the last time I watched it.

[Tabonga | 2,323]

I don't think this really counts but Mrs. Tabonga and I were about 20 minutes into Edward Scissorhands when everyone had to leave because there was fire in one of the other projection rooms.  We did get our money back though.

 

 

 

 

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[Tabonga | 2,323]

Here is a picture of the Gothic  (which was built in an Art Deco style in the 1920s) when it was sold in 1998.  The new owners restored it - it was a vast improvement.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,547]

1 hour ago, Tabonga said:

I don't think this really counts but Mrs. Tabonga and I were about 20 minutes into Edward Scissorhands when everyone had to leave because there was fire in one of the other projection rooms.  We did get our money back though.

Funny.  I saw Edward Scissorhands at the Missoula Roxy, and a short time after that it burned down.

[Brickman | 3,993]

I give a movie 30mins and if it hasn't grabbed me even a little I drop it.

I've never walked out of a movie but that's mainly due to ticket prices been insane here for the movies so I only go to movies that I think I really like.

[DarkTone | 985]

I was one a supervisor at a cinema. One day a couple walked up to me, asking for their money back. I asked why and they said the film was horrible. I asked how much of it they watched, and at that point the rest of the audience came out out of the screen. 

They watched the entire film!

I told them if you didn't come to us in the first 20 minutes, then we won't do a refund, unless its for the quality of our copy of the film, the sound, screen too cold, etc. And even then we can double down if you managed to sit through THE WHOLE FUCKING FILM!

[Link | 2,714]

4 hours ago, DarkTone said:

screen too cold,

What does that do?

[Tabonga | 2,323]

13 minutes ago, Link said:

What does that do?

The dew frost on the screen really clouds the image.

[RH | 4,915]

11 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Probably about half of the movie in most cases.

I've definitely realized some horror movies were going to be bad earlier.

Only movie I ever "walked out of" was Lyle Lyle Crocodile, not because it was horrible (it is average at best), but because one of my kids was bored stiff and couldn't sit in there any longer, so I took him out.

Can't say I've gone to too many bad movies in the theater.

I've only walked out of two movies and both were because of kids.  One was a really good nature film but my son had taken some medication that day (I can't recall) and was literally bouncing off the chairs.  I had to go.  The other was an ocean nature video, but in 3D and my daughter couldn't take the shark footage.

You do what you have to do as a Dad, but I was actually enjoying both of those films.  We don't go to watch to many nature movies.  I think the only other one we saw in theatres was March of the Penguins.  It's just turned out that the nature videos tend to be the most problematic.

9 hours ago, JamesRobot said:

Just recently, 15 minutes in to Critters 4 I realized something was wrong.  I gave it another 15 minutes and my suspicions were confirmed that it was indeed a bad movie.  Still watched the whole thing though.  I don't think I've ever walked out of the theater.

Ah ,so it's like Rocky V--A movie that I refuse to say exists in Rocky cannon.

9 hours ago, Aguy said:

I've never walked out of a movie, but the worst was Radio (mentally disabled Cuba Gooding Jr) with the eventual Mrs. Aguy. We were the only ones in the theater, so we just MST3000 the thing. The only movie I can recall turning off because it was so bad was House of 1000 Corpses.

You see, this is what my wife and I will do.  We try to sit away from other people and if we're not getting into a film, we lean over and make snide comments.

But when it comes to watching media on my own, I have a really high tolerance for bad films.  The fact is, I just need closure with stories I start watching. It can be the most painful, paint-by-numbers story but if I get 1/3rd of the way into it, it's like I _have_ to finish it.

This is why I watched every episode of Alias and Chuck.  I admit those shows got bad toward the end... but I couldn't walk away.