How Long Does it Take You to Decide if a Film is BAD?
 

I was thinking about this last night whilst watching Luc Besson's "Lockout" starring Guy Pearce. I'm not sure what it was in particular but I decided very quickly that this film was going to majorly SUCK. Probably within 5 minutes. The fact the Guy Pearce (an actor who chooses him films quite wisely imo) was starring gave me a glimpse of hope, and I knew the film had quite poor reviews but I thought I would give it a shot.

Perhaps it was because I quickly realised that the film had been made on quite a small budget, given the crappy action and effects, also the big "tell" of actors that I have never seen before playing big parts, a little bit like a Kung Fu movie where you have crappy actors playing the English/American guys.

Then at the opposite end of the scale I recently watched "Red Lights" starring De Niro, Sigourney Weaver and Cillian Murphy which I was quite enjoying until the end, and because the ending sucked in such a MAJOR TERRIBAD way the whole movie was let down.

Also sometimes if I see a movie trailer and it has "American Voiceover Guy", yeah you know the one I mean, I simply KNOW that the film will suck.

So how long does it take you to decide that a film is bad?

Probably some will say, "when I see who is directing", like Micheal Bay for example.

Re: How Long Does it Take You to Decide if a Film is BAD?
 

I can't say. Sometimes I know the movie is bad after 10 minutes, but some films tend to get better after some time, so I always try to watch the whole film before judging it.

Re: How Long Does it Take You to Decide if a Film is BAD?
 

Intresting thread idea! For most cases I can tell the drift the film about 2/3 in. So I voted for 1/2. But no matter how bad it is I usually finish it. Of I can't get half way through its awful, I only rate movies I get about 1/2 way through and usually try to finish it. Like The Garbage Pal Kids Movie I tried watching yesterday, I got 20 mins and had to shut it down. But there a movies that have substantially changed my opinions at the concluding scene.

I did consider giving "Lockdown" a pre 5 minute shutdown, but I paid £5 for that **** so I might aswell finish it.

lol the above is a completely unintentional short poem.

Re: How Long Does it Take You to Decide if a Film is BAD?
 

Sure a director can be a giveaway, just as equally as a writer (or given recent trends the number of writers), but I can think of a few situations that establish some sort of polar thread.

First, the film Dolls, by Kitano. Within the entirety of the first viewing I experienced the gamut of opinions; it's super slow, artsy, poignant, etc etc, and depending on the scene that either hurt it or helped it. I've never seen another film that made me feel both "this is bad" and "this is amazing" within ten minutes of each other. So, with films that are more experiences, I cannot tell until I reflect on it. Certified Copy is another perfect example, except with that one I didn't find it boring, I just found it underwhelming...until I thought about it for a few days, which led me upwards to the "this is amazing" level. On the opposite side of this spectrum would be the film Inland Empire, though not "this is bad" but more "this is ridiculous."

Second, the film Inception. When I saw it, which happened to be (luckily) before it was declared by everyone and their momma to be some intelligence goldmine, I thought it was a somewhat well-done popcorn, slightly above average crime flick. But I unfortunately saw it a second time and found it to be pretty much useless, not nearly as enjoyable as the first time, but, most importantly to me, squandering.

So, I guess to answer your question, sometimes a bit of thought will lead you to the answer, sometimes a second viewing will, and it's less about "how long."

Unless, thirdly, it's a film like Hansel and Gretel Witch Hunters, Passion of the Christ, or most american war movies, where I can tell without seeing it that it will be, to put it nicely, rather poor, hilariously heavy-handed, and to be loved by the masses. So, in this circumstance, the answer is zero seconds.

Re: How Long Does it Take You to Decide if a Film is BAD?
 

Thirty minutes max for the definitive answer. You can tell by 10-15 minutes in, though.

Re: How Long Does it Take You to Decide if a Film is BAD?
 

If a movie is going to be bad, I can usually tell almost instantaneously from the mediocre cinematography or the way that it's shot, however, for several cases, if it's a movie with a strong director and good quality acting, it takes me at least until the ending of the movie to decide, and might even take a little bit of letting it sulk in before I made my concluding opinion.

Re: How Long Does it Take You to Decide if a Film is BAD?
 

Only after I watch the whole movie I can say if it is really bad or not. Unless it is terribly bad and you can notice it in a matter of minutes.

Re: How Long Does it Take You to Decide if a Film is BAD?
 

i say till the end because i can like a movie that had a bad start but ended great. but i cant say i can like a movie that had an amazing start but ending in the worst way

I'll give it 15 minutes, if the feel and mood hasn't grabbed me by then, chances are it won't from that point on. I'm not a fan of "wait for it...."

Usually the title/cast/plot. So, long before it's actually been made, usually.:D

This is often true.

But if I've managed to be lured in to actually watching a movie, I usually know pretty quickly whether or not I'm going to like it.

Re: How Long Does it Take You to Decide if a Film is BAD?
 

If I start watching a movie that somebody was watching before me, it usually takes me approximately 10 minutes to decide, sometimes even less. It happens sometimes that I start watching a movie that another member of the family was already watching, and after a few minutes I decide to get up and say "that looks like a rubbish movie" while walking away from the room. Some films are so bad that it's very easy to notice.

Same about the opposite, I went downstairs to the living room where my brother was watching Shooter one day and I was like "Hey, what are you watching"? The film got me curious immediately. It was the beginning of the movie and after watching it for only five minutes I sat down and decided to watch it. I thought "Wow, this looks good, I'm going to have to see it." And I did, and I'm glad I did because I really liked it. It was a similar situation to what Di Caprio's character says in Django. It got me curious first, then it got my attention.

But if I decide to watch a movie myself, I'll make sure to watch at least half of it before I decide to turn the TV off. This has happened to me only once when I watched half of Natural Born Killers. I found it so bizarre and I really disliked it from what I saw, so I decided not to finish it. I thought "If I disliked half of the movie, then watching the other half won't be worth it." I had a similar experience with Looper the other day, I didn't really like the first 20-30 minutes of the movie but I could see that the film had quality so I decided to watch it until the end. And it got better, so I'm glad I did.

Re: How Long Does it Take You to Decide if a Film is BAD?
 

I voted 10 minutes.

I go by the trailer and the first few minutes of play.

But I tend to wait till the very end to make a full on judgement...

Re: How Long Does it Take You to Decide if a Film is BAD?
 

Voted for watching the whole film. I have in the past given up on films partway through however there have been films i've persisted with and been glad i did.

Re: How Long Does it Take You to Decide if a Film is BAD?
 

I voted Halfway through, generally then, I can find out if its a film that will be bad or not. Usually I'll generally finish it regardless, but that's when I usually will deem it bad or not.

Re: How Long Does it Take You to Decide if a Film is BAD?
 

If it hasn't caught my interest by the 30 minute mark then I generally will just turn it off, save it to try to watch another day.

Re: How Long Does it Take You to Decide if a Film is BAD?
 

I think it's either within the first 10 minutes or in the very end.Some movies have a very good introduction but fail later and some are bad right from the start.

Re: How Long Does it Take You to Decide if a Film is BAD?
 

usually about within 5 minutes. The way the camera moves, to how the scene is lit, it all screams bad movie. I try to stick it out if I can, but usually I know its' going to be a poor film pretty quickly and lose most interest.

Re: How Long Does it Take You to Decide if a Film is BAD?
 

I can usually tell within 10 minutes.

The instant give aways are camera movement, an array of dodgy teenagers, and a far fetched storyline without a decent cast.

I pick my movies to watch based on the back packaging screenshots, the front picture, and the description. A long description typically means they're trying to hit on something you might like (which means they have nothing), the shorter the description, the more confident the makers are about the movie.

A great example not to go off the cast (in my opinion) is "Knowing (2009)" with Nicolas Cage. What they showed in the trailers were great (trailers are very misleading), cast was decent, and a prediction story was fantastic. I didn't know till 2/3 in to the movie that it was based on aliens wanting their particular children for reproduction...

Read the cover, look at the pictures, and judge overall effort put in to the production (this is far greater than just the cost of making the film).

I don't agree that you can tell just by the actor, director, and cast. I've seen some great movies with people I hadn't heard of, and I'm the only person I know to not like "Avatar". Movies need to be given a chance.

Same. My mind will usually have been made up by the halfway point and it would have to take something really good to change it.

Right around the time Arnold Schwarzenegger asks "What killed the dinosaurs ?" and then shoots Batman with the freeze ray only to answer his own question.

"THE ICE AGE !"

http://www.artnet.com/Magazine/featu...tabi6-6-22.jpg

That's when I suspected it might be bad.

Re: How Long Does it Take You to Decide if a Film is BAD?
 

Major POS movies begin to smell within 5 minutes or so - the kind of stuff anyone can spot. But if it's not drop-dead obvious, I'll give it the benefit of the doubt. And I consider that a weakness. My wife can spot a stinker within 10-15 minutes, but I'll hang in there, hoping beyond hope, that the action will settle down and become watchable. I usually have to admit I'm wrong about the 30-minute mark.

Re: How Long Does it Take You to Decide if a Film is BAD?
 

I went for the whole movie but it was a toss up between that and 10 minutes. I think there are obviously poor movies that after 10 minutes you just know you're not going to like. They're easy to spot and aren't really a big problem. I think I'd actually have a hard time coming up with many of these movies not because I haven't seen a lot of them, but because I've forgotten them so easily.

I think I put a lot of emphasis on the ending of the movie, and to decide if I liked it, it needs to have given me a good feeling of catharsis. It doesn't even have to be that the end is a big Deus Ex Machina, but just that it doesn't tie up the movie in a satisfying way really detracts from the rest. I think Cabin in the Woods in a good example. I was quite into it, but the ending didn't match the suspense of the movie. The guys behind the camera were killed off far to easily and it was all just wrapped up in a nice little bow. I didn't think it was well thought out enough and soured my opinion of the rest of the movie.

Re: How Long Does it Take You to Decide if a Film is BAD?
 

Sometimes I think you can tell with the trailers, in the case of comedies or rom-coms.

Re: How Long Does it Take You to Decide if a Film is BAD?
 

For me, it depends on the movie. For example, I recently watched The taking of Pelham 123 and disliked it with all the "snazzy" direction that Tony Scott put in the first 10-15 minutes of the film. All the ludicrous slow motion and terrible music choice, he was trying too hard to make it cool. Add to that a poor story and sub par acting from John Travolta. I still watched it till the end but didn't enjoy it at all.

Other times, when a movie is truly terrible, I stop watching it after about 30 minutes or so. Examples include Legally Blonde, Marley and Me etc.

Re: How Long Does it Take You to Decide if a Film is BAD?
 

Usually within the first 30 minutes. I cant see wasting my time on something I wont like. I started to watch some stupid turkey the other night called Your Highness. After 5 minutes into it I knew it would go into my DVD pile for Xmas tree ornaments. Complete crap.

Re: How Long Does it Take You to Decide if a Film is BAD?
 

really depends on the movie and how it is positioned. each has their own taste as to what is bad. For me, I like some movies that most would consider bad, but for the vast majority I can usually tell about 1/4 into the movie.

Re: How Long Does it Take You to Decide if a Film is BAD?
 

I like to wait until the first third is done. If we're not getting anywhere by then, it doesn't seem worth watching. There are some rare exceptions, but generally 40 minutes is plenty to make that determination.

Exactly!!! With in the first 30 mins. of me watching if I grab my laptop and start surfing this movie is probably ******.

Re: How Long Does it Take You to Decide if a Film is BAD?
 

If I'm either the one choosing the movie or at least part of choosing it, then it's extremely rare for me to not like a movie so I'll reserve judgment until I've finished it.

But if someone else is choosing the movie then it usually takes from 10 to 30 minutes to figure out if I'll like it or not but I'll almost always tough it out.

Re: How Long Does it Take You to Decide if a Film is BAD?
 

Depends on the film. Sometimes, you don't need more than a trailer or the first couple of minutes to tell a film is generally "bad." I try not to rate films on Criticker if I haven't finished them, though.

Re: How Long Does it Take You to Decide if a Film is BAD?
 

10 minutes, you can get the impression of the rest of the dialogue, acting and story within 10 minutes.

Sometimes it's at the end, because some films end their films appallingly and completely break the rest of the film.

Re: How Long Does it Take You to Decide if a Film is BAD?
 

I was also thinking of this last night when I watch The Extra Man. I can usually tell if I'll really like a movie within the first 10 minutes, but the point I declare it a bad movie is when I don't even care to watch the rest of the movie, usually anywhere between 20-60 minutes into the film. For the films I don't like immediately, about 20 minutes in I wonder if it's going to be this way the whole way through, then in another 10 or 20 minutes I'll wonder if I should even continue watching, then, usually, in another 10 or 20 minutes I'll turn it off because it hasn't improved. And that's giving the time reference some leeway.

Re: How Long Does it Take You to Decide if a Film is BAD?
 

I usually get a pretty feeling 10-20 minutes in, but I save my final judgement until after the movie is over so I can point out what went wrong in full.

Re: How Long Does it Take You to Decide if a Film is BAD?
 

It totally depends on the movie (so I'll forego the poll).

In the last two nights I watched one movie (Happy Gilmore) that I cut off after 15 minutes because I felt that completing the film would be an exercise in masochism; and another (Children of Men) that I watched all the way through because the first half was strong - but I ended up highly disappointed.

Luckily, I watched a third (The Hours) that started off extremely strong and maintained that momentum for the duration of the movie.

The exact amount of minutes before Jennifer Lopez appears :p

Out of Sight is a pretty good movie, though.

Did you finish watching it? I agree its not a good movie, but it does get better after the first 10 minutes. Still not good, but not as horrible as it seems. That was one I gave a shot and continued to watch, and I ended up being able to finish it. For me, I had to get used to the bad accents and corny storyline.

Re: How Long Does it Take You to Decide if a Film is BAD?
 

I used to know a movie was bad when Roger Ebert told me it was bad. Just kidding. I'll give a movie about an hour and if I don't like it, I have no qualms about shutting it off.

LOL:D

This guy has nailed it, the perfect scientific formula for deciphering if a movie is bad.