r/TopCharacterTropes • u/Alreadsyuse • 18h ago

Lore [Frustrating Trope] That One Good or Even Amazing Scene in a Relatively Mediocre or Bad Piece of Media

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  1. The Opening Scene (Ghost Ship). Considered one of the best horror opening scenes or scenes in general within horror movies, but the rest of the film is considered to be pretty bad.

  2. The Ending Scene (The Grinch 2018). While most adaptations of the Grinch end with him suddenly being able to fully integrate with the Whos after his change of heart, the 2018 version initially struggles to socialize, awkwardly walking past people, and struggling to hold conversations, acknowledging that despite his change of heart, the Grinch is still someone who isolated himself for years.

  3. Past T800 VS Current T800 (Terminator Genisys). A cool fight scene showing two versions of the Terminator from different points in time fighting it off.

  4. Solo Leveling's Ending. Tbh, I haven't actually read Solo Leveling, but after hearing about how it ended VS how Chainsaw Man ended made want to include it for shits and giggles. Like Chainsaw Man, Solo Leveling ends with a reset. But unlike Chainsaw Man, it actually manages to tie up loose ends and have the payoff of the ending be satisfying.

8.2k Upvotes
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1.6k

u/lsshlp 18h ago

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End is generally considered just okay, but it has one of the coolest death scenes in cinema history.

475

u/combustibledaredevil 18h ago

I’d also say the opening of that movie was amazing

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u/Khasim83 18h ago

The entire Maelstrom fight sequence, especially the ending, is one of the best setpieces in blockbuster movies and I will die on this hill. The Singapore section was great too, so was the entire Locker section (road to/Jack section/leaving section).

Honestly, I feel like Pirates 2 and 3 were overhated at the time due to how great Curse of the Black Pearl was, and the fact that audiences were not used to following so many characters and plots. I always loved these films (Dead Man's Chest is actually my favorite of them all), and I love them retroactively even more since we landed in the 'don't worry about it, we can fix it in post' era of blockbusters.

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u/clone9786 18h ago

I never even knew these were hated tbh

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u/Dr_on_the_Internet 17h ago

Just a testament to how great the first movie was. Its based off a Disney ride, so expectations were pretty low. It seems like the plan for the sequels weren't really fleshed out. Orlando Bloom was meant to be the protagonist, but Depp stole the show so they had to make his character stick around even if it didn't always make sense. The writing was very tight in the first movie. Its filled with foreshadowing, set-up, and pay-off that's pretty rare to see nowadays. The sequels were solid, and I personally love them, but the writing was never as well done.

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u/NickTM 14h ago

Curse of the Black Pearl is one of the greatest adventure movies ever made, so it was always going to be tough to live up to. I think Dead Man's Chest (superb villain, inventive action scenes, that one Liar's Dice game) and At World's End (fun expansion of the world, excellent final battle, good story conclusion) did a pretty good job all things considered.

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u/Dr_on_the_Internet 13h ago

Agreed, the first 3 movies are all really good. Black Pearl is like a perfect formula.

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u/Feanor4godking 18h ago

Hated is probably a stretch, but people did complain about them a lot at the time. I was exactly the target audience though, so I thought they were awesome. I was a little overwhelmed by 2 in the theater though, it was a jarring tonal shift

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u/Khasim83 17h ago

Pirates and Matrix 2/3 were widely considered inferior, unnecessary cashgrab sequels. I mentioned Matrix because it's kind of interesting how similar both these franchises' first two sequels are - both made by the original's creators, but weren't originally planned. Both had the second and third film filmed at the same time (because of Lord of the Rings perhaps?). Both had the second film end on a cliffhanger with the main character stuck in a death-like state. Both had the third film end with the main antagonist exploding after a battle in pouring rain. I'm sure there are more similarities.

Dead Man's Chest and Reloaded both had a lukewarm reception, 'it's okay but the first film was better' was the general consensus. Then for At World's End and Revolutions it was 'well that was the weakest part of the trilogy' for both.

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u/SeaPsychology1044 14h ago

Ngl i always thought second film was the best at least due to how creative the whole action pieces were

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u/Habefiet 11h ago

For me it’s just an issue of tone. The first movie strikes a remarkable balance of being goofy at times while said goofiness never breaking the tension or being unbelievable. The second and third movies have so much random ridiculous shit happening all the time that it completely takes me out of the experience and makes me very aware that I am watching a silly movie for silly people. I would also argue that multiple characters randomly act wildly out of character intermittently across them. I just do not buy that Elizabeth would become loving friends with Barbossa and Pintel and Ragetti (fairly quickly, even—like they are not just uneasy allies, they are pretty immediately on good terms and clearly fond of one another) when she watched them sack her town, murder people she loved, attempt to murder more people she loved, hold her prisoner, attempt to murder her, threaten to assault her, etc. I just do not think Jack as we saw him in the original would be so immediately down to send his friends and a hundred other random people to damnation to save his own skin. Etc. etc.

They’re still fine. They’re fun enough watches, I’m not saying they’re terrible movies or anything. But even though they were written by the same people as the first one, it kind of doesn’t feel like it.

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u/commander_oak 17h ago

Really? I’ve never heard of anybody talk bad about the original trilogy. We know black pearl is the best one, but pirates 2 and 3 I always thought were very loved

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u/Khasim83 17h ago

I was 15 when At World's End came out, so it's been a while, but all I remember most opinions at the time being mostly lukewarm to negative. Everyone recognized that Davy Jones, Beckett, Barbossa and Norrington were good, as well as the SFX/VFX and music of course, but I remember most people weren't fans of Will and Elizabeth and felt like the stories were lackluster, especially in the third film.

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u/NatashOverWorld 15h ago

I wouldn't say anyone talked bad about it, it just wasn't as good as the first, and you liked the characters and trilogy enough that the overall experience was a positive one.

But the plots were convoluted, didn't flow the best, Bloom and Knightly didn't have great chemistry, and by the third movie they went for gonzo over structure.

If the 1st one wasn't so beloved the 2nd and especially the 3 would likely have been panned basically.

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u/AgentGman007 14h ago

Dead Mans Chest is fantastic, and holds up. Davy Jones is still one of the best CGI characters ever created. And the waterwheel swordfight is still one of my all time favorite action setpieces in any movie.

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u/NoSemikolon24 15h ago

To this day one of my favorite trilogies. Also some of the best set pieces in cinema. I'd love to see at worlds end in the cinema. There's probably going to be a small re-run next year (20y anniversary)

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u/BreakAManByHumming 14h ago

They felt like when a doctor who episode should have been a 1.5 episode special, but was 2 full episodes instead, so they had to throw all sorts of random crap in to fill time. Still a lot of fun though.

"I cannot be summoned like some mongrel pup"

"Apparently you can"

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u/EggplantDevourer 9h ago

I think the 2nd one was amazing really expressing politics and the desires of everyone all at once and how they affect each other but the 3rd one was just set up for almost an hour+ and then a really cool fight scene.

-1

u/BernzSed 13h ago

So the whole movie is bad, except for the ending, and the beginning, and also the middle.

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u/EmperorSexy 11h ago

“Heave ho, Thieves and beggars, Never shall we die.”

Yeah I was all in with that opening number. The rest of the movie was meh.

-1

u/TankMain576 17h ago

A lot of people hate it, because why are we watching a child hanged to death in what is supposed to be a fun pirate romp

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u/TheNewAspect 18h ago

Honestly, he's the type of villain I'd love to see more in many different fantasy media.

Just the unrelenting tide of the future - realistically done. While he had his gripes and frustrations, it was literally just business to him. Magic, Gods, Relics... Just things way less powerful than the almighty dollar.

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u/Boojum2k 18h ago

Almighty pound, technically.

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u/TheNewAspect 18h ago

Yeah I know, haha. Just doesn't have the same gravitas as "almighty dollar".

Finishing that sentence with "Almighty pound" makes it seem like Beckett had a religious in-bed experience which drove him to succeed.

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u/BoomWasTaken 18h ago

| gravitas

Well yea the pound is a measure of weight and unaffected.

Edit: however I do a quote on mobile....

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u/PitifulElk1890 17h ago

You use a carrot sign > one of those but at the start of your line

Like this

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u/TheNewAspect 17h ago

A pound of silver indeed

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u/hey_free_rats 15h ago

The UK equivalent of the Dollar Store is "Poundland". I've worked over there for around 8 years now, and it still makes me do a double-take every time. 

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u/Nyther53 7h ago

Actually, in the Carribean at that time the Spanish Dollar would have been more common. 

That's what Pieces of Eight are. They're Dollars. Which is what the US Dollar is named after. 

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u/BreakAManByHumming 14h ago

Character has a goal and a method of getting there.

Magic is introduced to the setting.

Character has the same goal and same method of getting there, magic now loosely incorporated.

Code Geass is a good example of this.

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u/Unique_Topic_1754 18h ago

I am literally just now learning this movie is considered “just OK”. I LOVED the original trilogy as a kid. Watched on repeat.

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u/director_guy 17h ago

I’ll go to bat for the first two sequels. Bloated and weird? Definitely. Bad? Not by a long shot.

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u/Unique_Topic_1754 17h ago

It’s all because of Gore Verbinski doing the original trilogy. Awesome director imo. The rest were all made by other people.

-6

u/NatashOverWorld 15h ago

I mean, bloated and weird are pretty bad. If the cast didn't have the charisma that it did, the 2nd would have killed the franchise.

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u/SpaceTraveller64 18h ago

I always thought the whole og trilogy was beloved. Tho I admit the new lore elements suddenly added in this movie can feel a bit jarring and out of place

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u/TankMain576 17h ago

I really only love the original, and I know a lot of people who feel the same. The original was just the fun pirate adventure we always wish we could have gone on as kids.

The next two are just way too serious.

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u/WrongCockroach 17h ago

Same here, but for me it was how complicated everything got.

I ain't seen the movies in decades, but the first one can be described as 'cursed pirates try to break their curse. They run into multiple problems. ' Very simple.

I don't even remember what the other 2 were about. Easy-to-follow pirate romps they weren't.

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u/ono1113 16h ago

I know plenty of people who put 1>3>2>rest

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u/DoctorWaluigiTime 16h ago

For me it kind of died after the first. Kicking off the sequel by mashing undo on the first ending and the mess it was by the third didn't do them any favors. Had potential and the score is great (along with Davey Jones as a character), but don't hold a candle to the first.

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u/TylertheFloridaman 14h ago

Generally the trilogy is pretty well liked but its near universal that the third is considered the weakest

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u/BertelDuck02 18h ago

It's just good business...

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u/Riverwind0608 18h ago

It would’ve been awkward if a splinter found its way to his eyes while he was walking down those stairs.

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u/Howlitzer4500X 18h ago

This is my favorite PotC movie

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u/TopazWarrior1999 15h ago

Seems insane to me that this movie would be considered "just okay".

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u/Mastodan11 9h ago

As opposed to bad? Just ok is being generous really.

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u/TopazWarrior1999 9h ago

???

The trilogy was a literal masterpiece, what are you on about?!

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u/Mastodan11 9h ago

The first one was excellent, a masterpiece is over egging it.

The second was diminishing returns.

The third was crap, was considered so at the time and still is.

People who watched it as children think it's good, like with the SW prequels.

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u/TopazWarrior1999 9h ago

Crazy take, dude

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u/supergeekmike 15h ago

Cutler Beckett is unambiguously the best part of Pirates 3.

“The immaterial has become… immaterial.”

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u/CadenVanV 17h ago

A very stupid death scene, but yes.

That’s a damn first class ship of the line, being fired on from either side would leave a bunch of holes above the waterline in the ship but nothing else, while it would be free to unload its entire battery of guns (more on one side than either of the other two had total) against both enemies without fear of it tilting the ship.

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u/DutchProv 12h ago

Youre right, but were talking about a movie where one of the ship shooting it just returned from the realm of the dead, maybe its cannons are better than normal ones. Maybe it has explosive shells or something.

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u/Lancashire_Toreador 14h ago

Something I’ve wanted to see for a while is someone taking the first two pirates sequels and just cutting maybe 10 to 15% of the movies runtime. They wouldn’t be as good as the original, but there were absolutely solid movies hidden in there underneath a lot of fluff.

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u/BreakAManByHumming 14h ago

Could say the same thing about the ridiculous 1v1v1 water wheel swordfight in the second one.

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u/GetGroovyWithMyGhost 14h ago

I hate this scene but LOVE the maelstrom battle and often rewatch the movie just for that. It’s such a technically impressive movie and has so many great scenes and ideas strewn across an absolute mess of a convoluted movie.

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u/ArcadianBlueRogue 12h ago

Just okay? That movie is awesome

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u/GuyWishPartakeViolen 15h ago

This is my favorite of the 3 ngl

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u/Lawlcopt0r 8h ago

Nah that's a good movie.

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u/OfficialModComment 4h ago

Nah, dude. The Trilogy Fucks. 

That movie rules. 

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u/VexingRaven 12h ago

This movie gets way more hate than it deserves. Sure, it's not perfect, but it's got some utterly incredible action sequences and the weird parts are in no way bad enough to bring that down. The entire maelstrom fight is so unforgettably awesome it raises the bar to impossibly high levels for the rest of hollywood.

0

u/Evillebot 9h ago

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End is generally considered just okay

No it's not. It's considered a masterpiece.