Films that start well and end terribly

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I've been rewatching the Bond films recently, and I realised that a fairly common theme is that many of them have a really strong first hour or so then suddenly decline in quality and go out with a whimper - sometimes they go completely off the rails, sometimes they go nowhere, sometimes they jump the shark massively. Examples:

Thunderball - great first hour with an intriguing plot and genuinely engaging characters - then it descends into endless underwater sequences and nothing much else, and by the end is intensely boring.

Moonraker - it does not need the space sections at all. I wouldn't say the first hour is great, to be honest, but it's a hell of a lot better than what follows, which is basically a poor man's Star Wars.

Quantum of Solace - in the second half of the film, all the most interesting characters disappear to varying degrees, the film rushes into a half-baked conclusion, and the final scenes are a mess.

And it got me thinking about other films that do this - I would say Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Spider-Man 3, and The Island all go completely insane in their second half after relatively enjoyable first halves. What other films would you suggest and why?



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Really felt that about Tron Legacy. I was thinking why all the average reviews and then it just ended very badly.



Haven't seen since the release but I enjoyed the first,not sure,maybe 30 minutes of Twilight.It ended terribly,though.

Also,the first 40 minutes of Martyrs are extremely good,then it just get worse and worse for me.

God Bless America also has a great and promising beginning yet the other half of the film is disappointing.

I also feel that Kick-Ass has a better first half,too but it's not bad at the end.Just not as good as the beginning.
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will.15's Avatar
Semper Fooey
The Marlon Brando version of The Island of Dr. Moreau starts well, but it isn't long before it turns into an insane science fiction version of Apocalypse Now.
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Most films based on Stephen King stories.
Funnily enough, the three films based on Stephen King stories I've watched (The Shawshank redemption, The mist and Dolores Claiborne) actually do get improved with their endings.

I'd say Saving private Ryan. It may not be an exaggerated case, but after 20 minutes of non-stop, genuinely tense and well-directed action, the storyline becomes stretched, the discourse gets rather simple and one-sided and the character design doesn't really help to get an emotional attachment to the story.



I would say Wet Hot American Summer, although I wouldn't say it ended terribly. The first half is great and hilarious, but the 2nd half is kind of a mess and goes on far too long. It's still worth watching, but if it could have maintained what it had in the 1st half (or ended early), it would be one of my favorite comedies.



will.15's Avatar
Semper Fooey
Funnily enough, the three films based on Stephen King stories I've watched (The Shawshank redemption, The mist and Dolores Claiborne) actually do get improved with their endings.
Watch Rose Red.



I'd say Saving private Ryan. It may not be an exaggerated case, but after 20 minutes of non-stop, genuinely tense and well-directed action, the storyline becomes stretched, the discourse gets rather simple and one-sided and the character design doesn't really help to get an emotional attachment to the story.
Hey, that was my answer!

I disagree with Martyrs; it switches gears completely though.

Dream House maybe...that just needed a script overhaul. The Day After Tomorrow, after the first storm it's pretty dull. I hated the ending of Apocalypto, but maybe that's just because it's Mel Gibson.



The mini-series I guess... will check it out. Also, Carrie, Misery and The shining, maybe those were among the "most" that honeykid meant (though I have heard nothing but words of praise about them so who knows).



The king of this for me is "Knowing" with Nic Cage.

The opening half of the film features an amazing premise delivered in an intelligent and chilling manner. The plot is believable in that, along the way, you truly experience the horror and spine chilling nature of the ominous events depicted on screen. There is genuine intrigue and a definite connection to Nic Cage’s character. I was hooked. Then, the story spins off to freaky land. The story could have delivered a poignant message about faith or even prayer. Instead, it unravels in to a bizarre doomsday scenario. I don’t know if the ending was suppose to be an artsy attempt at everyone making up their own mind about faith or some sort of crappy tribute to Indiana Jones 4. Whatever the case, the last third of this film absolutely ruins what was a good first two-thirds of a movie.



X-Men Origins Wolverine.It started in a epic manner but then later fizzled out



Southland Tales, without a doubt. The nuclear bomb being dropped in Texas was just chilling. But then there is a shot of two elephants having sex almost directly afterwards. It couldn't make up its mind about what genre it wanted to be. It's supposed to be a comedy, but at times it was anything but.



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A pair that sprang to mind instantly was



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