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Wouldn’t it be cool if every movie you watch matches your cinema taste like a glove? But, before such an algorithm is created and we have to rely on the IMDB or Rotten Tomatoes score, other people’s reviews, or the recommendations of our friends, we can become sort of experts on identifying movie red flags ourselves. Not without the help from this nifty AskReddit thread where people share their experience on identifying bad movies, of course! And while it isn’t a foolproof system to identify the movies you’ll really enjoy, it sure helps a lot. 

So, it turns out there are plenty of red flags that might indicate a movie’s quality. First off, it’s the official critic’s reviews - have you noticed that the ‘laugh-out-loud funny’ indications almost always mean it’s going to be a load of bull? Neither did we, but oh, the things you learn through others’ experiences! Then there’s the matter of sequels, but you knew that already, right? Also, there are some subtle indicators, too - like a crazy amount of advertising dedicated to a movie’s release. Always a bad thing to look out for! 

See, even with this introduction, you’re already almost an expert in indicating movie red flags; just think about how much more cool stuff is in this article! Once again, all the info in here is courtesy of an AskReddit thread, but it is you who has the power to rate the submissions the way you like them. And once you’re done with that, share this article with your friends! 

#2

"When you feel the preview showed basically the whole movie."

dklein15 Report

#3

"Critics are calling it ‘laugh-out-loud funny!’. It’s almost always garbage."

an_ineffable_plan Report

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Vinchenski
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They say that because you laugh-out-loud as you walk out of the theatre, realising how funny it was that you thought it would be a good movie based on that crtitique.

#4

"If the words "fast" and "furious" are in the title."

reddit.com Report

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Vinchenski
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I disagree with this one to an extent. The first few Fast & Furious were really good. The street racing and all. Once they started jumping out of planes in tanks... That's when I stopped enjoying them too much.

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#5

"Anytime they shoehorn some romance into an otherwise non-romance movie. Bonus points if the movie is an action/horror/thriller movie and the poster shows a couple in any way."

Vaiara Report

#6

"A comedy's best jokes will be in the trailer. If the jokes in the trailer turn you off, the movie is going to suck."

pokey1984 Report

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David Spencer
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Speaking of, most action movie trailers will have a cut with some sort of joke or punchline in it towards the end. If the joke is bad, the movie won't have plot.

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#7

"Sony pictures presents"

"Adam Sandler"

"Based on a video game"

Goukaruma Report

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Zedrapazia
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The only good videogame adaptions are the Sonic movies, Detective Pikachu and Tomb Raider - and hopefully the Mario Movie that comes out next year, it looks promising so far.

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#8

"All-female star cast remake of a classic. All the money spent on the best actresses and awesome marketing. None for scriptwriters."

Ivanka_Gorgonzola Report

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#9

"How bad a movie is is exponentially proportional to how many helicopters are in the trailer."

prot34n Report

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Vinchenski
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I don't know. That helicopter documentary I watched had a good few helicopters in the trailer... That turned out to be exactly what I expected.

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#10

"Anything that leans too heavily on marketing gimmicks to try get me to watch it. I don't care about your all-female cast - I care if it's good."

wheresmattynow Report

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Sonja
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Had that with Lightyear. Weak story, ableism, unrelatable characters. So they hyped the gay couple scenes that had no real influence on the story so they could cut it for China and was never mentioned again thorough the rest of the movie. Because there was nothing good they could say otherwise. It's queerbaiting par excellence.

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#12

"Super dark and 1-second clips with loud noises. Horror movies that rely on jump scares in the trailers ruin them in the actual movie. Supposed to invoke great fear, but its rated PG-13."

Clawoftherooster Report

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zak
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Jump scares are (generally) the laziest and least creative way to make a horror movie.

#13

"If it’s based off of a true event that occurred less than a year prior."

reddit.com Report

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David Spencer
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Death to 2020 and death to 2021 were pretty good though ngl. They're on Netflix

#14

"It's clearly just a "star vehicle." Like, all the hype is about the star's riveting new performance... But no corresponding critical praise for the story, directing, special effects, nothing."

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Sonja
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Again: always when they're hyping anything that doesn't relate to the story or actual parts of the movie that's telling. It means they have nothing good to say

#16

"Fired multiple directors."

Banzai51 Report

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#17

"If it has the words "Grown ups" and "2" in the title."

Cache22- Report

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Katy Klessig
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The Sandman is the best! Unpopular opinion, but he's made it in Hollywood for sure

#18

"If it’s animated and one of the selling points is that’s a celebrity who is not a voice actor is in it like James Corden."

NinjaCatAttack321 Report

#19

"Them desperately pointing out the director/producers/writers/studios better movies and productions that barely relate to the movie's themes in an attempt to lure in fans. To me it always meant the movie doesn't stand out enough to stand on its own."

Illier1 Report

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Cat Chat
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I don't necessarily agree with this. I'm terrible at remembering some names, and don't keep up enough to know off hand some of what those whose names I do remember have done. So, I like when it states other projects to save me some Google time to know if a movie might be worth it or not.

#20

"When a comedy has poop and fart jokes, outdated meme and pop culture references."

reddit.com Report

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scag$y
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

...was the answer to the question, 'Can you describe Adam Sandler's movies in one sentence please?'

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#21

"6/10 on imdb. Some movies lower than that are so bad they're good. But the 6/10 will be bad in ways that vaguely annoy you, which is somehow worse."

Dispatcher12 Report

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Fania Santana
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I never read the rate... I tend to find good movies with low rate and really boring movies with high rates...

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#22

"Most bad movies cover up their terrible plot, characters, etc. with nudity scenes."

reddit.com Report

#23

"Long voiceovers to set up the story or to advance the story. It means either the writer sucked or they couldn’t get the scenes quite right. So the editor had nothing to work with. “Just explain the plot!”"

jackof47trades Report

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Jody Whitmarsh
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Unless it's a spaghetti western. Guilty pleasure but I like the narrations in those

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#25

"If it’s produced by Lifetime."

willfully_hopeful Report

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#26

"The emphasis of who's in it over what it's about. I don't care who's in the movie half the time."

RealPokesatsu Report

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#27

"The minute anyone says "You just don't get it, do you?"

Schezzi Report

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Literallyaeasybakeoven
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I personally like delving deeper beyond the surface of shows/movies to find metaphors or characterization I didn’t know was there, but the pretentious “oooh lookit how confusing our plot is” movies usually just annoy me

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#28

"From the makers of...". Dude, if the film cannot stand on its own without pointing out who made the film? Sign me the F out. Even worse if the "makers of" only include like "the sound designers of" or "the makeup artist of.""

kadzur Report

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Benita Valdez
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not gonna lie, I'd take a look if it has Tom Savini; he's a horror makeup/fx legend.

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#29

"If you hear that it had numerous rewrites."

astarisaslave Report

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Sonja
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If you hear it beforehand it's a bad sign. But some great movies had several rewrites but you only read it later. If you hear of it beforehand it's usually done to cater to loud voices that don't even know the movie and they announce it to pacify the haters. If you don't hear of it beforehand, it's just the normal editing when the movie makers find put during shots that something doesn't work out

#30

"When it's obvious that the dialogue in the preview was put into the movie for the sole purpose of making the preview interesting."

pokey1984 Report

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#31

"The way actors clearly wait for their turn to do something. Fight scenes, general timing of occurrences or conversations. It seems like a reason we think many movies are bad, because we sense the issues of the acting, but can't really consciously pinpoint what's bad. When I realized that's why I REALLY love actual fantastic movies, I was impressed by both the movie creators and my inner wannabe movie analyzer."

Rubyhamster Report

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Joost K
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"The way actors clearly wait for their turn to do something." Would be perfect for a D&D movie :)

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#32

"If in the commercial the people who are "raving" about it aren't anyone reputable. Susan on Twitter said it was the best movie she saw in 2020. Susan didn't have many options in 2020, her standards were lower."

Sea_Somewhere2297 Report

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#33

"If any of the actors have an overly expressive "O" face on the films poster."

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Paulo Freitas
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Man, there is at least 2 exceptions to that, " home alone 1 " ( yea the movie is s**t for most adults, but when i Saw it as a kid i loved it ), and " Deadpool " lol ( though you can't see his face under the mask, you know thats exactly what he's doing "

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#35

"If James Corden is in it. He has never done a good movie in his life! He is also a garbage person in real life too."

NeuroTrophicShock Report

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Tris Hunt
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I liked Peter Rabbit. James Corden did very well in that. And when he was in Doctor Who. How judgmental does someone need to be about another person and the movies they are in when they're meant to be entertaining?

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#36

“Number 1 movie in the world!”

Isaiahharris Report

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#37

"If I smell political agendas from the real world, its a NAH."

LukeTheGroundwalker Report

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Luke Branwen
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

However, there's a problem that some people equate "There is a person of color / LGBT+ person in this movie" with "It pushes political agenda". Minorities aren't "agenda". People just exist.

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#38

"When it has tons of merch aimed mostly at kids and stuff from the movie is added to a random popular online game before the movie is even released. (Or even better when they downright tell you the main plot in said game. Looking at you, Rise of Skywalker)"

methanol_ethanolovic Report

#39

"A movie has a popular song with different lyrics."

Da_Budster Report

#40

"Is it written, directed, and produced by the same guy as the lead actor? Pass."

K1nd4Weird Report

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#42

"Any recent popular songs, a narrator speaking over the trailer, a cheesy message about "being yourself" advertised in the trailer, telling the audience instead of showing them (too much exposition), and so forth."

abductodude Report

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#43

"Any time I EVER see "raving" in regard to critics. What a load."

LotusPrince Report

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#44

"When the trailer is 90% visuals and no one speaks more than three words, unless it's an art house film. Prime example is "The Phantom Menace." I'll never forget seeing the trailer for the first time and sinking down into my seat with dismay."

Fredredphooey Report

#45

"It has a title like "resurrection" added to it."

reddit.com Report

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#46

"Historical" movie but the costumes are ugly, drab, contain too much leather and the dress shapes are all wrong for the era. Bonus if you see stays/corsets worn directly on bare skin, UGH."

AkechiJubeiMitsuhide Report

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Paulo Freitas
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Corsets lol, try chain mail armor Over a shirt, swords that can cut plate or mail armor, " morning star flails ", simple leather vest pretending to be armor, lol all of those iqual to utter garbage.

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#47

"They push the ads way too hard on TV and reddit."

LasVegasLoner147 Report

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#49

"The longer the famous actor list the worse the movie will be. Especially if it's some obvious Oscar baiting that doesn't deserve to see the light of day."

Illier1 Report

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Vinchenski
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Always some exceptions. The Expendables was a really good movie with a lot of really famous action movie actors.

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#50

"I am getting sick of dead voiced singers singing covers of popular songs. Any trailer that has it basically tells me they think their movie is more emotional than it is."

TheKingofHats007 Report

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#51

"If they don't screen it for critics, you know it's going to be really bad."

crlarkin Report

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#52

"If you can see the actors watching the other actors mouths waiting for their turn to speak. In particularly bad movies you can see actors moving there mouths slightly, saying the other peoples line."

idkifthisisgonnawork Report

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#53

"I would argue that these days, nearly all movies with narrated trailers end up being bad. Having said that, the trailer for Star Wars in 1977 was narrated. So, take that as you will."

Darnitol1 Report

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#54

"In animated movies, whenever the animation is too "clean". It's not ugly, but everything is just a little too smooth and a little too bright."

mildlyinsecurelol90 Report

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Sonja
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yep. Can confirm. That's because the animations are not reworked or edited, just rendered and that's it to keep the cost low because they know it won't bring much revenue

#55

"The “5 stars” bit is huge but the publication is not reputable so they put it in a tiny tiny font size."

demonicneon Report

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#56

"Release date. The only movies that go into wide release in January or February are:

- Oscar bait that got limited releases in December in NY/LA to qualify for the Oscars

- A romance or two the Friday before Valentine's Day

- Crap that the distributors are assuming will bomb that they dump onto the screens in midwinter.

Hollywood insiders even refer to the first two months of the year as "Dumpuary." Every so often a Dumpuary release will succeed (Get Out and Deadpool are recent examples), but by and large it's garbage they're hoping to squeeze something/anything out of."

RayAnselmo Report

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Magey
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This has been true, but I think it's been changing over the past few years. I think studios have realized that if they release something good while every s****y movie is also getting dumped, they can get great word of mouth and end up making good money because it's the only thing worth seeing. A few promising movies are coming out next month.

#57

"If something is gnawing at you when you watch the trailer, but you can't explain it. Something seems... Off about the trailers."

Trick_Enthusiasm Report

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#58

"If the trailer has blurbs from reviews, check to see who wrote each review. On bad movies, they will often put multiple blurbs from the same review."

Tricky4279 Report

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#60

"When the lead character looks more confused about the lines he's delivering than I am with the movie up until that point..."

f1del1us Report

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Benita Valdez
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

So basically anything with Tara Reid in it that doesn't have a shark in it; if it has a shark in it may actually be good bad

#61

"If you recognize the main character from your humanities class in high school."

Th3rd0ne Report

#62

"Usually release dates are subtle indicator. But lately the February graveyard of releases has been proven otherwise. I think March August and September are still considered releases for bad movies."

shaka_sulu Report

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#63

"If there's ever pop music playing in the background. The music's also always slightly out of date, like 6 months after its heyday."

mildlyinsecurelol90 Report

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Dan Scheuer
Community Member
1 year ago

This comment has been deleted.

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