BruIrn

I know I'll upset a few people but I have to say I felt a bit letdown by the ending of Don't Look Now, although the build up was very atmospheric.

Rowdon

I loved that film the first time I saw it, but recently my wife and I saw it together and she was very disappointed in the ending ... she thought it was some ill-thought-out metaphor, rather than a straightforward slasher moment.


The most disappointing British film could be Absolute Beginners, considering how good we were all hoping it was going to be.

Carmel

Never ever seen the atraction in that film i didn't think it was scary or a horror.

BruIrn

I thought that the film brilliantly conveyed the tragic sense of loss that the bereaved parents and felt that it was building to a brilliant climax but when it ended I was fairly non-plussed.

clitheroekid

What was all the fuss about The Commitments?

Rubbish.

TimR

I thought "Ryan's Daughter" was very disappointing. I have great respect for David Lean's talent. "Lawrence of Arabia" is my favorite British film, and "Great Expectations" and "Bridge on the River Kwai" (such different films!) were also outstanding.

But "Ryan's Daughter" seemed to me to be a weird mix of an epic production and a pip-squeak soap opera story. I saw it on television, and of course that makes a difference. Lean's films must be seen on the wide screen. Still, I thought the story didn't deserve all that effort and spectacle. Also, John Mills was a fine actor - and under-rated, I believe - but his performance as the "village fool" was a little over-the-top.

Wolfgang

I think underlying problem that watcher perceives with climax of "Don't Look Now" is that they do not appreciate that it is also film's premise. It is story of self fulfilling prophecy: John's death is brought about after he 'sees' his wife with sisters, who have claimed to be in contact with their deceased daughter who is trying to warn them that their lives are in peril. If John were not to die then this chain of events would not occur. Narrative logic is reversed backwards through film, so its 'story' actually starts with John's death. Nicolas Roeg claims that when he edited films while serving his apprenticeship he became fascinated playing film backwards and "Don't Look Now" realizes that idea as narrative. I think if its ending feels out of place it is probably down to not fully understanding what he is trying to do with its structure, because if you do you then appreciate just how cleverly it all fits together - especially its climax.

Rowdon

I don't think the ending feels oput of place, as it's the same as the novel. It's just that the film can't have that brilliant last line (if I remember rightly) where John thinks, as his life's blood ebbs away "What a bloody stupid way to die".

The end is supposed to be a shock. And it is a shock. Its strength is that it is so sudden, and so out of step with the rhythm of the rest of the film. And that is also its weakness, if you want to see it like that.

As for appreciating its reverse structure, you can't really do that until after you've seen the whole film, by which time you will have been disappointed or not by the ending.

But including "Don't Look Now" anywhere near a list of disappointing films is ill-judged, to say the least.

Marky B

The Wicker Man was a major "so so" for me,and Get Carter.
Ta Ta
Marky B

I am special. The heavens always open for me.

NappieB

I'll probably be flamed for this, but BATTLE OF BRITAIN (circa 1969/70) was a major letdown. Too much emphasis on the wrong subjects, too little on the big picture and "micro-picture" (the latter relating to the effects on lives of the man-in-the-street/woman-in-the-street/couple-in-the-street, etc.)

Not nearly enough technical data, strategy-explanations, historical research and consequence of actions taken on both sides...

"The future is yet to come" - George W. Bush

Steve Crook

Did you want a documentary?
I thought Dowding (Olivier) summed up the strategy very neatly "the essential arithmetic is that our young men will have to shoot down their young men at the rate of four to one, if we're to keep pace at all"

Steve

TimR

Agreed.

I looked forward to this one and was expecting a film that would present a great deal of historical detail and scrupuous authenticity. The Battle of Britain is both very well know, but now well known enough. I was hoping for more detail. The cast was excellent - I think it was a wasted opportunity.

TimR

I just read this after I posted - for my part, my answer would be "yes". I would have preferred a film that was closer to a documentary. That subject is well worth that sort of careful analysis.

Carmel

Another disaster is the newest vesion of Oliver Twist what a bore that film was i never watched such drival in my life i thought it would have been good as the original was great i also loved the musical version. and Marky B the wicker man how could you i thought that was a great film

ChristineCB

I agree with Nappie's point about BATTLE OF BRITAIN - I don't think it would have been impossible to have explored more issues and facts instead of spreading around star-power scenes. But I turn down my expectations pretty low for these films, and occasionally some turn out to be fairly good fact-illuminators.