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50 Movies That Sounded Great In Theory But Failed Us With Their Poor Execution
Interview With Expert
Movies are great, but good movies are even better. Just like any other art form, people appreciate when a movie has a compelling story, nice visuals, and relatable characters. Sadly, not all movie-watching experiences are satisfying. Some leave us wanting more. Way more. Especially when it seemed to be so promising.
So when one netizen asked fellow movie lovers, "What movie had a 10/10 concept and a 3/10 execution?", lots of people had their one poorly-executed movie pick. Whether it was a lacking storyline, not enough chemistry between the actors, or something less tangible that's even hard to put into words, people didn't hesitate to share them.
Bored Panda decided to reach out to some experts on bad movies – the team behind the podcast The Flop House. It's a comedy podcast about bad movies, now entering its 17th year. The people behind the mics are comedian and screenwriter Dan McCoy, writer and comedian Elliott Kalan (both former writers for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart), and podcaster Stuart Wellington.
We asked them what makes a great movie concept and why sometimes filmmakers fail to deliver on its execution. The trio also shared their favorite "good concept but bad execution" movies. If you like their takes, be sure to check out their podcast or tune into their streaming event on April 27th, where they’ll discuss the legendary bomb Speed 2.
More info: The Flop House | Streaming Event | Twitter | YouTube | Instagram
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Eragon
All they had to do was follow the damn books.
LakotaWolf (she/her) 7 months ago
Didn’t the author pretty much admit it was just Star Wars but with dragons? Genuine question there - I do know he was a kid when he wrote it and it got published by mommy and daddy’s publishing company, which is a bit telling…
"A great film concept is not just one that feels clever, or gives a zing of 'I gotta see what that is,' but also illuminates something about human nature through the characters involved or speaks to something in society," the team behind The Flop House tells Bored Panda.
"Those themes don't have to be huge or overt, but if it doesn't have that core, you're in trouble. Some terrible movies have been made from fine premises, but they fail because you walk out saying, 'Yeah, I know the plot – but what was it about?'"
The podcasters point out that when it seems like a movie has a great concept but doesn't execute it well, it's probably because something went wrong along the line. "Sometimes, it's a 'too many cooks in the kitchen' situation," they give an example.
"Film is highly collaborative, and at its best, that means you get something more impressive than any one person could create, but if the people in charge aren't all on the same page, then there's no sense there was an overriding vision."
#2
The Hobbit. It should have been 1 movie but was artificially stretched out to 3 s****y movies in an obvious attempt to cash-grab.
#3
Stephen King's Dark Tower series was his magnum opus.
I don't know what the s**t that thing they put on screen was but it wasn't any of the Dark Tower books.
Ken Beattie 7 months ago
Honestly, if you're going to do the Dark Tower you have to do it as a TV show. There is so much in the story you need to split it up over a number of seasons. It shouldn't be one film (or even a trilogy) it deserves longer.
Other times, The Flop House team notes, these films fail because they are just a cash grab. The recent trend of never-ending remakes is an example. "Sometimes, projects are doomed from the start because they're just a cynical attempt at cashing in on IP the filmmakers hope audiences remember, but there's been no attempt to discover why that IP is being revisited and what new is being brought."
Can this be a genre problem? Just one glance at this list proves that fantasy and sci-fi may flop more often in the eyes of the audience than other genres. "Some genres become difficult through overfamiliarity," The Flop House hosts admit. "It's hard to do a giant fantasy epic that breaks new ground because post-Star Wars, everyone got obsessed with the same screenwriting models, and the stories started feeling the same."
#4
Avatar the Last Airbender
Still sad about that one. Nicola Peltz was a nepotism hire because her dad was in the biz.
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 7 months ago
This film had unintended humour here in the UK as characters were referring to each other as benders. Bender being a playground insult.
#5
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Sean Connery's talents were such a waste. lackluster script. Would love to see this be remade.
LakotaWolf (she/her) 7 months ago
The original League of Extraordinary Gentlemen comic books/graphic novels, however, are fantastic.
#6
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. As a fan of the books, I was highly disappointed that we didn’t get more.
Moosy Girl 7 months ago
I really liked it, even after listening to the original radio series, reading the books, watching the 80’s bbc show and missing Douglas Adams. Especially loved Bill Nighy as Slartibartfast, Bill Bailey as the voice of the whale, and The League of Gentlemen as Vogons.
According to the podcasters, a lack of institutional knowledge can also be a contributing factor in an anticipated movie's failure. "Musicals are much less frequent on the big screen than in classic Hollywood, and now, fewer people know how to shoot them," they point out. "They get cut all to hell when it would be more effective and impressive to just watch people sing and dance."
"Some genres get harder, just as they seem to be getting easier," The Flop House team says. "Action is less thrilling now that special effects can do literally anything because it loses any sense of reality that an audience can connect to." However, they do say that it’s likely that no genre is inherently more difficult. "They all just have different challenges."
#7
Jurassic World Dominion... Dinosaurs have to co-exist with humans, will they survive? eh, who cares lets talk about LOCUSTS.
Libstak 7 months ago (edited)
It was kinda disjointed, I would have liked to see some more shock and horror at all the little raptor type creatures taking over parkland and suburbia like rats on steroids who are unafraid and bite happy, plus some "new footage" and live action of herds of cattle being butchered and wolves, bears, lions, tigers facing an unexpected apex predator competing for prey. Call me macabre but that's the stuff of legend surely.
#8
Hancock had two good concepts combined into one bad movie.
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 7 months ago (edited)
The first half was a good movie, then they air dropped the silly romance angle into it and ruined the film.
#9
I always thought Passengers would’ve been a much better movie if it was revealed that Chris Pratts character had woken up Jennifer Lawrence’s character at the end as a twist.
The Flop House has covered its fair share of stinkers, but what about those that had a really promising premise? Sometimes, it seems that the movie can't really figure out how to handle it. The team gives Next (2007) with Nicolas Cage as an example. "[It's] about someone who always knows what's going to happen, well, 'next.' The problem is that [this] overpowers the main character so much that the movie never figures out how to appropriately challenge him."
#10
Jumper. Cool idea of a secret society of teleporters, and the idea of someone becoming aware of their powers, and running a afoul of them. Lotta missed opportunities and Hayden Christensen was terrible.
Ken Beattie 7 months ago
I didn't mind him in Jumper. Would have been nice to see sequels where they did expand on the idea. Maybe it's another one where a TV show would have worked better.
#11
Jupiter Ascending Seemed like a pretty great concept but that movie was just awful. I think it could’ve made a fantastic Netflix/HBO series.
#12
Enders game. I loved the book as a kid. I absolutely hated the movie.
Bouche and Audi and Shyla, Oh My! 7 months ago
The thing I liked about the book was that, no matter what else, they were kids. Most of them were younger than portrayed throughout the book. Peter and Valentine's parts were dropped to cameos.
The podcasters also name a more recent film, Don't Worry Darling (2022), as an example that failed to deliver on its solid concept. The problem with this one was overfamiliarity, according to them. "[It] was a movie we all kind of enjoyed because it was well acted and beautifully presented, but the central twist has become overfamiliar, and the film didn't quite bring enough new elements to it."
#13
I thought valerian and the city of a million planets could have been amazing. But even as someone who liked the movie, man it was bad.
Zedrapazia 7 months ago
The biggest problem was Valerian himself. Probably the character in media I hate the most out of all. Doesn't do s**t, constantly belittles his female companion who does basically everything until he swoops in and takes her work results for himself, CONSTANTLY sexually harassing her no matter how many times she says no, and is far too overconfident and arrogant for such a baby face. The personality they gave him belongs to someone like Harrison Ford if at all, not someone who looks like he's 18. Which is even more notable when you take in consideration that the Valerian in the comic base was much much older than the actor - I mean, he was in service for like 15 years, with the actor we have that probably means he'd have started with 3. And don't even get me started about the scene where these weird bootleg Borg try to eat the female lead ...
#14
Gonna say Wild Wild West. Steampunk western? Hell yeah.
Admittedly, I enjoyed the movie as it is, despite many valid reasons not to.
David 7 months ago
SO DISAPPOINTED. As a boy in the 60s (and 70s in reruns) I LOVED the Wild Wild West TV show. Pretty good chemistry and creative plot and props for the tech of the time. I was hoping the movie would be a higher tech, colorful version of the show that captivated me in black and white on TV. But it was kind of a polished turd. Better tech and picture quality but it just didn't really grab me.
#15
The Golden Compass.
"Then there are movies that don't go far enough," The Flop House team points out. "If it were made in the '70s in Italy, I Know Who Killed Me (2007) might be a fun giallo thriller, but the version we got, while over-the-top, never quite pushed itself into the kind of stylish absurdity that would let the audience know that it could have fun and not take it seriously."
#16
Antman and the Wasp Quantumania had the potential to be an absolutely genre changing movie if they utilized the different parts to their full potential (kang as a character, the quantum realm as a concept, the family dynamic of the Lang’s/ Pym’s) but instead it came out like a burnt pizza, so much potential wasted to the point of it barely being serviceable at all.
#17
The Island (2005) had a great premise. Would have been good if it was sci-fi horror genre instead. Like if they focused on the mystery and suspense of slowly revealing the truth about "The island". Instead we got a 3/10 movie filled with car chase and explosions.
#18
The Assassin's Creed movie. I was so excited, but I don't think I've ever left a theater more disappointed. If they made a tv series (I know I heard Netflix was supposed to, but that was a long time ago) it could work better than a movie.
A captivating idea is a great foundation for a film. However, it's not enough for it to stand on its own. And the movies in this list might just be proof of that. There are far too many things needed for a movie to do well at the box office or become a cult classic many years after its release.
A film historian and filmmaker Wheeler Winston Dixon, a professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, told CNN that there is a great deal of things that can go wrong for filmmakers. "It's always a crapshoot because there are so many factors you don't know about before you're going into something. Even with all the elements in place, there's always an element of chance."
#19
The 2005 War of The Worlds with Tom Cruise.
The book is good and so is the movie from the 1950s. The 2005 adaptation was such a good concept but those kids (one of which being a very annoying young Dakota Fanning) are so damn annoying.
#20
Downsizing.
JayWantsACat 7 months ago
They turned what could have been a thought and conversation provoking message into a preachy, self-important garbage. An i totally agree with the statements the film was making. But they totally screwed up it.
#21
The Matrix sequels had some really interesting ideas, but generally sucked as movies.
Director John Jacobsen writes that it's not a good concept that moves us, it's a good story. "Concepts do not move us, stories do. They are the currency of human exchange and how we touch and move each other," he claims. According to him, people go to the movies to learn something, and in order for that to happen, they need to find the characters and the story relatable.
"I look at it this way – a concept is the promise you make, but the story is how you deliver on that promise, or a concept is something that asks a question, and the answer to the question is your story," he writes.
#24
Alien VS Predator movies
They have Soooo much potential, yet always seem to under deliver.
Zedrapazia 7 months ago
The first one is pretty fine, the second one ... Well, it's so dark that I have no idea what was going on 90% of the time
An example that does both the concept and its execution right is Good Will Hunting, Screencraft writes. It has a compelling concept, as well as characters that go through their respective arcs as the movie progresses.
Interestingly, the original idea Affleck and Damon pitched was about a mathematics genius pursued by the government. But, after reading the draft, filmmaker Rob Reiner told them to get rid of that plotline and focus on the characters.
#25
Recently 65(Million) starring Adam Driver.
I went in, not expecting high art or anything. But if you explained the premise, "Sci-Fi spaceman Adam Driver goes to prehistoric earth with a space gun and fights dinosaurs." I would GUARANTEE the movie would be a blast to watch.
It was not a blast to watch. They somehow made that movie boring. Incredibly boring. They gave the only two humans a language barrier. It was awful.
#26
The first modern Transformers. The OG (1985) was in my VHS player every day of my childhood. I was so excited to see what Hollywood CGI could do with the series.
I was so disgusted by the incessant interjection of f*****g humans that I haven't watched any of the sequels. The story is about the f*****g autobots vs decepticons not the goddamn meat bags in between the intergalactic battle of transforming metal f*****g warriors.
It's such a wasted franchise right now. Like holy s**t how about a good video game too?
Guess the robots don't have tits so we'll just not put money into the actual story.
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 7 months ago
A peeve of mine is that you do not see any of the vehicle when they transform. They could be any old robot. The transformations should have been simpler and more in line with the toys.
#27
Congo, a dangerous expedition into the jungle to rescue the son of a corporate tycoon. You have a lost city of diamonds, killer apes, and a cast that includes Ernie Hudson, Tim Curry, Laura Linney, and Delroy Lindo.
What we got was a mess of a movie, that is just a chore to watch.
Octavia Hansen 7 months ago
Book was great but the movie followed the wrong thread. It followed greed and violence instead of interspecies communication. As with most movies, the book is much better.
Another two examples they give are genre movies Get Out and A Quiet Place. Both have interesting, original concepts, as well as great character stories. A good concept, according to Screencraft, is what gets you noticed. "Yes, the more compelling your concept is, the more doors may open. But always remember that there's a place for every type of screenplay — as long as it's written well."
#28
“Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow”—trailer promised pulpy sci-fi goodness but failed to deliver.
Dread Pirate Roberts 7 months ago
I thought this was a cute movie actually lol complete with the 1940s comic book style cheesiness 😆
#29
The Giver. The book was so good, and the movie they made was complete s**t.
Dorothy Reiser 7 months ago
They made 12 year olds into 17 year olds. Totally missed the point of the book.
#30
Buffy the Vampire Slayer the movie.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer the TV show proved the concept worked if it just had the right execution.
#31
Both Waterworld and The Postman.
I’m a big fan of the post-apocalyptic genre. Kevin Costner was coming off huge after Dances With Wolves and he had two shots at mega-funded films and botched them both. They were corny, badly acted, and way too cheesy for what kind of money was spent to produce them.
Johnny Stephenson 7 months ago
F**k it…it’s cheesy n wonderful. I love it..it cost 200m to too….lol…..fantastic
#32
Don't Worry Darling! I think the concept was great, the aestetics were lovely, Flo was amazing as per usual... everything else fell entirely flat and the film was altogether mediocre. Without Florence Pugh it wouldn't have been good at all.
#34
I Am Legend.
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 7 months ago (edited)
The novel has the best ending of any novel, and the film just pissed all over it. I hate this film.
#35
Valerian and the City of A Thousand Planets - needed better casting
Ender's Game - should have been an animated movie instead of trying to work with child actors.
#37
Renfield.
Nicholas Cage as Dracula and Nicholas Hoult as Renfield. Both characters in a horrible co-dependent relationship with Dracula being a narcistic abuser. On paper it sounds like a dream. On film...it was forgettable. They shoe-horned an unnecessary good cop versus the mob storyline in. Cage and Hoult didn't have many scenes together. Their relationship was barely explored. The cop story was so utterly cliche. It could have been better if they had dropped the cop vs. mob storyline altogether and made it about Renfield and the recovery group vs. Dracula.
Moosy Girl 7 months ago
Agreed, even though I enjoyed the movie, I was disappointed they didn’t focus more on Renfield and/vs Dracula.
#38
After earth.
JayWantsACat 7 months ago
"Everything evolved to kills humans...who weren't even living there for them to evolve to kill."
#39
The maze runner movies. Absolutely terrible excution desipte amazing concept/book. The movies change plot points/characters drastically and made them so dull and builds no connection with them. Think if maybe they made a tv series to have more time to not cut so many corners by changing so much it could work.
TheRealFrappuchinoTheHedgehogr 7 months ago
Is it just me or did you think the grieves were cows at first in the books
#40
Attack of the Clones. If it had better dialogue, and fleshed out Dooku's motivations better, it would be a great movie. I still think it was higher than 3/10, though.
#41
Dragon Ball evolution has a literal 2,6/10 rating on imdb and even the writer apologized.
#42
Prometheus.
Ken Beattie 7 months ago
I both love and hate Prometheus. It has the worst scientists ever which frustrates the c**p out of me. But it has some amazing scenes, great ideas and it's visually pretty amazing. Fix a couple of the minor issues (xenobiologist poking something that looks like a Cobra, doing what is obviously a threat display for one) and you could have a very good film.
#43
The first purge movie in 2013. The sequels became “better” and explored the purge more.
#44
Beau Is Afraid. The cinematography was beautiful, and the first half was mysterious and suspenseful. But somewhere around the 2 hour mark, the wheels fell off. The rambling monologues were incoherent and felt out of place, and it seemed as if the movie was trying too hard to replicate the dream-like mood of Mulholland Drive.
#45
M Night Shyamalan’s “Old”. The plot had so much potential.
#47
Not 3/10, but way short of the cult classic it could have been: *Brightburn*.
#48
Army of the Dead.
A casino heist in the middle of a Zombie outbreak sounds like an amazing idea.
It's too bad the movie abandons the core premise immediately.
#49
Reign of Fire. I wanted the movie on the poster, attack helicopters fighting dragons over a london in flames.
What do you think ?
Moosy Girl 7 months ago
Now a movie with a 3/10 concept and 10/10 execution: the cabin in the woods!
KillerKiwi 7 months ago
I’m surprised Twilight wasn’t on here but honestly, the books were kind of fücked anyway. I don’t know that you could’ve made them better, but they definitely made them worse.
The Doom Song 7 months ago
For me it was the 2 Percy Jackson movies. Did not follow the book at all plus the fact Percy was an older teenager. The tv show however was fantastic
Lotekguy 7 months ago
The quiz question has always intrigued me. Remakes are invariably based on successful films and virtually doomed to disappoint. Why not revamp underachieving titles that left room for improvement? The temptation to ride the coattails of a hit must be too strong to resist.
Amazonia 7 months ago
Congo got a mention, but for Michael Crichton adaptations, I'm shocked nobody mentioned Timeline. The book is glorious. The movie is WTF.
MILEY MASSENGILL 7 months ago
Umm Hunger games the movies didn't even add the fact that peeta lost his leg in the first book.
Joanne Earle 7 months ago
They absolutely ruined Voyage of the Dawn Treader. It was my fave of the Narnia books and I couldn't wait to see a live action version of it.....and they made so many changes that it only vaguely resembled the book. I was getting more and more angry and nearly walked out but decided to stay till the end so that I could write a scathing review on my blog.
InfamousBerry34 7 months ago
Tropic Thunder is one for me. It has so many amazing actors all in one film, yet the plot and script is terrible.
zovjraar me 7 months ago
i just watched Outbreak for the 50th time this past weekend and wow... there are a LOT of problems with that movie. aside from all the obvious factual errors, trying to turn it from a drama to an action movie by adding a helicopter chase scene and that whole angle was weird and unnecessary.
Brandon Parisien 7 months ago
Not a movie, but Wheel of Time. The central character "dies" in the 6th book...there are 14 books. The show has left the books FAR behind.
Witch with a B 7 months ago
Nobody mentioned the first two(?) attempts at Dune. Especially the one with Sting!
Ola Polowczyk 7 months ago
This article only confirms that I'm super easy to entertain 😂 which is okay! Also, learning to treat a book and the movie based on it as two different pieces of culture saves LOTS od frustation.
Apatheist Account2 7 months ago
Perfect Storm. To use a Barry Norman quote about another film - absolute rubbish from start to finish. Really could have been so much better.
JayWantsACat 7 months ago
Men. Beautifully shot and acted, and I loved the premise. It just didn't get there for me.
Moosy Girl 7 months ago
Now a movie with a 3/10 concept and 10/10 execution: the cabin in the woods!
KillerKiwi 7 months ago
I’m surprised Twilight wasn’t on here but honestly, the books were kind of fücked anyway. I don’t know that you could’ve made them better, but they definitely made them worse.
The Doom Song 7 months ago
For me it was the 2 Percy Jackson movies. Did not follow the book at all plus the fact Percy was an older teenager. The tv show however was fantastic
Lotekguy 7 months ago
The quiz question has always intrigued me. Remakes are invariably based on successful films and virtually doomed to disappoint. Why not revamp underachieving titles that left room for improvement? The temptation to ride the coattails of a hit must be too strong to resist.
Amazonia 7 months ago
Congo got a mention, but for Michael Crichton adaptations, I'm shocked nobody mentioned Timeline. The book is glorious. The movie is WTF.
MILEY MASSENGILL 7 months ago
Umm Hunger games the movies didn't even add the fact that peeta lost his leg in the first book.
Joanne Earle 7 months ago
They absolutely ruined Voyage of the Dawn Treader. It was my fave of the Narnia books and I couldn't wait to see a live action version of it.....and they made so many changes that it only vaguely resembled the book. I was getting more and more angry and nearly walked out but decided to stay till the end so that I could write a scathing review on my blog.
InfamousBerry34 7 months ago
Tropic Thunder is one for me. It has so many amazing actors all in one film, yet the plot and script is terrible.
zovjraar me 7 months ago
i just watched Outbreak for the 50th time this past weekend and wow... there are a LOT of problems with that movie. aside from all the obvious factual errors, trying to turn it from a drama to an action movie by adding a helicopter chase scene and that whole angle was weird and unnecessary.
Brandon Parisien 7 months ago
Not a movie, but Wheel of Time. The central character "dies" in the 6th book...there are 14 books. The show has left the books FAR behind.
Witch with a B 7 months ago
Nobody mentioned the first two(?) attempts at Dune. Especially the one with Sting!
Ola Polowczyk 7 months ago
This article only confirms that I'm super easy to entertain 😂 which is okay! Also, learning to treat a book and the movie based on it as two different pieces of culture saves LOTS od frustation.
Apatheist Account2 7 months ago
Perfect Storm. To use a Barry Norman quote about another film - absolute rubbish from start to finish. Really could have been so much better.
JayWantsACat 7 months ago
Men. Beautifully shot and acted, and I loved the premise. It just didn't get there for me.
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