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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!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
"Amber Heard is in it."
Just a ray of f'ing sunshine 3 years ago
(Sorry, my screen froze) in shouldn't be punished just because of her though.
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RELATED:
#2
"When you feel the preview showed basically the whole movie."
#3
"Critics are calling it ‘laugh-out-loud funny!’. It’s almost always garbage."
Vinchenski 3 years ago
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."
Vinchenski 3 years ago
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.
Random Dent 3 years ago
I agree that the first few are decent, then they start to get a bit over the top. But I actually love that in action films, the more ridiculous the better. So I like them all :)
Load More Replies... Paulo Freitas 3 years ago
Meh, 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, and 8 where fun to watch, 9 was just painfully bad, and 10... Well its was shot in Portugal, Im Portuguese, and hás Jason Momoa in it, there for i'l watch it ( but those are the only good argumenta i have to watch the movie lol )
#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."
WindySwede 3 years ago
Does this include love making scenes that does nothing for the plot? Skip that.
#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."
David Spencer 3 years ago
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.
#7
"Sony pictures presents" "Adam Sandler" "Based on a video game"
Zedrapazia 3 years ago
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.
Katy Klessig 2 years ago
Again, unpopular opinion, but Sandler has made it in Hollywood. I live his humour-most don't
Tris Hunt 3 years ago
He's a great actor. I loved Wedding Singer. Never got to watch 50 First Dates though.
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Mimi La Souris 3 years ago
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Childrenwas good (not really a movie, ok)
scag$y 3 years ago
Poor old Adam Sandler. Not funny enough to be a comedy actor anymore and not serious enough to be a serious actor. Examples? Reign Over Me and Jack and Jill. Don't get me wrong, he USED to be funny, like in Happy Gilmore for example, but his humour is stuck in the nineties and hasn't changed as the world has changed. I would rather get kidnapped than watch one of his movies.
#8
"All-female star cast remake of a classic. All the money spent on the best actresses and awesome marketing. None for scriptwriters."
Kraneia The Dancing Dryad 2 years ago
Exactly. Diversity is good. Diversity for the sake of diversity is not.
Load More Replies... #9
"How bad a movie is is exponentially proportional to how many helicopters are in the trailer."
Vinchenski 3 years ago
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.
#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."
Sonja 3 years ago
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.
#11
"Steven Seagull is in it."
Vic 3 years ago
Steven Seagal himself is dangerous.. Steven Seagull would be apocalyptic!!
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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."
#13
"If it’s based off of a true event that occurred less than a year prior."
David Spencer 3 years ago
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."
#15
"In A World..."
ZeroCapacity 3 years ago
Yeape and I finished with pumpernickel bread. So it was "In a world with a Pumpernickel Bread"
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#17
"If it has the words "Grown ups" and "2" in the title."
Katy Klessig 2 years ago
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."
#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."
Cat Chat 3 years ago
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."
Jeff Gabrisl 3 years ago
My grandma always said that d**k and fart jokes are the best types of jokes, but if you start talking about poo, you're gonna have a s****y time
#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."
Fania Santana 3 years ago
I never read the rate... I tend to find good movies with low rate and really boring movies with high rates...
Luke Branwen 3 years ago
I no longer follow movie ratings. You never know if someone rated it low because the movie is genuinely bad/stupid or if it's being review-bombed by anti-sjw internet trolls because there is a woman / Black person / LGBT+ person in it.
Remi (He/Him) 3 years ago
I prefer Tomatometer or metacritic, because the user scores sometimes get bombed by racists or other people who get upset if the actors aren't all white cis hetero men. Those two are at least based on critics reviews so less chance of some proud man baby snowflakes skewing them.
#22
"Most bad movies cover up their terrible plot, characters, etc. with nudity scenes."
Vic 3 years ago
Busty Grandmas 1 & 2 were, in 3 they were just milking off the success of the first 2 movies.. so to speak 😂😂
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#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!”"
Jody Whitmarsh 3 years ago
Unless it's a spaghetti western. Guilty pleasure but I like the narrations in those
#24
"Too much CGI"
Paulo Freitas 3 years ago
Nop, i like dumb fun movies, like Marvel's ones, the CGI is 80% of the movie.
Cloakred_Is_Bored 2 years ago
Ahem, Avatar was ALL CGI and it was a great movie, same with the second
lauralett50 3 years ago
The latest version of call of the wild, with Harrison Ford . The dogs are all cgi
#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."
#27
"The minute anyone says "You just don't get it, do you?"
Literallyaeasybakeoven 3 years ago
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
Benita Valdez 3 years ago
That was I Heart Huckabees for me. Yeah I get it, it's an existential movie, I get what it's all about and I understand it completely, but the plot and acting are garbage to me and I'd rather watch paint peel.
#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.""
Benita Valdez 3 years ago
Not gonna lie, I'd take a look if it has Tom Savini; he's a horror makeup/fx legend.
Cat Chat 3 years ago
I love Locke & Key with his cameo, given the main group of high school kids are The Savinis (comics are better, though. Glad I read them years before they actually accomplished getting an adaptation made, after so many years of trying)
Load More Replies... #29
"If you hear that it had numerous rewrites."
Sonja 3 years ago
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."
#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."
Joost K 3 years ago
"The way actors clearly wait for their turn to do something." Would be perfect for a D&D movie :)
Yorktown Brian 3 years ago
Look up the NZ comedy team Viva La Dirt League and their sketch for waiting your turn D&D logic
Load More Replies... #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."
#33
"If any of the actors have an overly expressive "O" face on the films poster."
Paulo Freitas 3 years ago
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 "
Lisa H 3 years ago
How dare you say such things about Home Alone!!! I oughtta downvote you for that! (I upvoted)
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#34
"Directed by Michael Bay."
Moonwalker 3 years ago
Ambulance wasn’t that bad compared to his previous works, still haven’t forgiven him for The Last Knight though.
scag$y 3 years ago (edited)
My answer to that is 'Pearl Harbor'. If you haven't seen it, you must. Awesome movie. EDIT: Transformers, Armageddon, The Rock, Bad Boys. All great Michael Bay movies too. Easy to target because they aren't particularly cerebral, but when I watch a movie, I want to be entertained, and the films above tick that box.
#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."
Tris Hunt 3 years ago
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?
Lee 3 years ago
I often know him from Doctor Who and I loved him in that.
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#37
"If I smell political agendas from the real world, its a NAH."
Luke Branwen 3 years ago
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.
Sonja 3 years ago
While it is true for real LGBT+ people, LGBTQ+ characters are often just used for agenda. And in most cases, it's just appeasement on top and not real representation because the characters have no role besides existing as a LGBTQ+ character in minuscule scenes that can be cut for the foreign market. And it's never the main character.
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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)"
#39
"A movie has a popular song with different lyrics."
Tushar Roy Mukherjee 2 years ago
Or a slightly different tune. That's mostly how Bollywood does it.
Sami-Jo Ross 2 years ago
The Mandarin cover of "Hey Mickey" from The Meg was damn good though.
#40
"Is it written, directed, and produced by the same guy as the lead actor? Pass."
Cat Chat 3 years ago
A Quiet Place fits this, but was excellent imho. His more famous wife Emily Blunt normally doesn't ask to be involved in her husband's projects, but was so impressed with the script, she asked to play his on screen wife in the movie. Then she even came back for the sequel.
#41
"FIVE STARS" - The Daily Mail
#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."
#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."
#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."
Paulo Freitas 3 years ago (edited)
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.
ZeroCapacity 3 years ago
But....but that is his +5 leather armor of holding
Load More Replies... Sonja 3 years ago
I would have said that's nonsense and that the story matters and not the dress, but since I'm paying more attention I realized that if they don't bother to do a proper research and depict the right costumes and aera specific circumstances they usually also don't care much for good storytelling and just rely on worn out tropes. Then they try to make up for their bad plot by 'beautifying' the looks to modern standards and smoothing out edges that could put off the more superficial moviegoers that can bring in a baseline even when the movie itself is bad.
#48
"Most sequels to Horror movies are garbage with a few exceptions."
#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."
Vinchenski 3 years ago
Always some exceptions. The Expendables was a really good movie with a lot of really famous action movie actors.
Paulo Freitas 3 years ago
Ok the movies plot wise are just bad as hell, but they are só frikking fun, i can't wait for " the expendables 4 "
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Moonwalker 3 years ago
Amsterdam recently came out with a huge cast list of well known actors/actresses and Taylor Swift, I wanted to leave 15 mins into the movie
#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."
#51
"If they don't screen it for critics, you know it's going to be really bad."
#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."
#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."
#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."
#55
"The “5 stars” bit is huge but the publication is not reputable so they put it in a tiny tiny font size."
#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."
Magey 3 years ago
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."
#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."
#60
"When the lead character looks more confused about the lines he's delivering than I am with the movie up until that point..."
Benita Valdez 3 years ago (edited)
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."
#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."
#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."
What do you think ?
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