10 Box Office Flops Much Better than Their Reputations

source// Warner Bros.

Just because a movie bombs at the box office, that doesn’t make it a bad movie. It could just mean that its budget was too bloated to reasonably expect to fill the money pit back up, or the marketing was lackluster, or the competition was incredibly stiff on opening weekend.

Or yes, maybe it was also a bad movie. Because sometimes the numbers are simply indicative of audiences saying “Thanks, but no thanks, that film appears to be garbage and I’d rather buy a couple of beers at the pub than watch your expensive garbage.”

Still, tucked away beneath all the rightful flops like Gigli and Battlefield Earth is a small collection of movies that, while they didn’t make any money for the studio, should be able to enjoy much better reputations. They may not have been great financial successes, but they’re actually pretty solid, engrossing movies if you don’t let yourself get scared off by the negative box office numbers.

Most of these are likely doomed to remain inextricably tied to their overall gross, but maybeyou could give them a second chance?

10. EuroTrip

Budget: $25 million

Worldwide Gross: $20.8 million

EuroTrip is not what you’d call a smart comedy. It’s also not an original movie by any means, nor is it a wholly subversive or clever movie. It’s not star-studded (unless you count the cameos by Matt Damon, Vinnie Jones, and Fred Armisen). And it’s not a critical darling or even a cult classic.

What EuroTrip is, though, is charming, endlessly quotable, and – yes, dammit – funny. Now, maybe that doesn’t sound like high enough praise to include in a list like this, but when you sit down to watch a teen comedy, that’s literally all you should be expecting.

Instead, it seems critics wanted this to be the next Blazing Saddles or Raising Arizona, deeming it a waste of time just because it didn’t completely revolutionize the genre. And audiences, who were likely apprehensive about seeing a movie that was marketed like a National Lampoon’s throwaway raunch-fest, never gave it a chance.

A lot of people might be tempted to attach the “guilty pleasure” label to EuroTrip, though that would be insulting to such a genuinely hilarious movie. If you can’t enjoy a scene where a couple of teenagers trick themselves into having a pot brownie freakout (complete with anxious stripping and the main character revealing that he watched a gay porno once but didn’t realize it until halfway through because “The girls never came!”) only to discover that the Rastafarian baked goods are totally weed-less… then yeah, maybe this isn’t the comedy you deserve.

9. Dredd

Budget: $50 million

Worldwide Gross: $35.6 million

If the Internet was to be believed back in 2012 when Dredd was released, you were either going to love this movie or find it so revolting that you’d never watch anything else with Karl Urban in it ever again.

Critics tended toward the latter, while audiences decided to wait until it showed up on Netflix to bother checking out the retread of the Sylvester Stallone flick. A lot of them probably wished they’d gotten to the theatre, though, because Dredd was built to be enjoyed on a gigantic screen at full volume and, preferably, in 3D.

Dredd is Dirty Harry dressed up in futuristic clothing and devoid of any moral responsibilities. This is a man who upholds the law with whatever means necessary, and won’t think twice about shooting a criminal in the back as they’re running away from him. It’s a grim, gritty cop movie that also relishes in creating beautifully-executed, extremely gratuitous death scenes that are somehow disturbing and exquisite all the same.

In that way, Dredd is a simple throwback to the ultra-violent action movies of the 80s like Predator and Invasion U.S.A. There doesn’t have to be a preponderance of backstory or some deep, overarching message. There just has to be scene after scene of over-the-top action and ridiculous but satisfying violence. And Dredd has that in spades.

8. Man On The Moon

Budget: $82 million

Worldwide Gross: $47.4 million

For most viewers, Jim Carrey-as-Andy Kaufman in Man on the Moon was all a bit confounding: this was a dramatic biopic about a famous anti-comedian that was largely short on laughs. Its contrasting nature was sort of the point, but just like the real life Kaufman, many people were too confused to really enjoy it.

Those who could suspend the need for giggle fits and a conventional structure, however, were treated to one of the best all-around biopics of the 90s.

First of all, it should be stated that Carrey completely nails it in the role of the comedian’s comedian, Andy Kaufman, who was as big of a Hollywood outsider as they come. Carrey deftly recreates all of Kaufman’s career highlights – including a montage of him wrestling women and his famous Mighty Mouse bit on Saturday Night Live – with that squirmy, constantly-evaluating quality that made Kaufman such a rare delight.

You don’t have to like the person at the centre of this biopic – in fact, it practically goes out of its way to ensure that you won’t for the most part – but you have to appreciate the exuberance with which Kaufman dedicated himself to finding new ways to deliver comedy, and the commitment with which Carrey embraces that philosophy for the film.

7. Rock Star

Budget: $57 million

Worldwide Gross: $19.3 million

2001’s Rock Star is inspired by the true story of Tim “Ripper” Owens temporarily replacing Rob Halford as the lead singer of Judas Priest. Mark Wahlberg acts as the stand-in for Ripper while fictional band Steel Dragon is subbed in for Priest. Wahlberg’s character is suddenly granted the opportunity to go on tour and record an album with his childhood heroes after slumming it in a tribute band for what seems like forever.

But that’s not the part of the movie that’s interesting. Sure, it’s fun to watch Wahlberg journey through the excesses of the rock star lifestyle for a bit, but eventually the beats of the typical “life on the road” story become predictable.

It’s in the first act, when the films dares not to take itself seriously (even as the main character takes himself way too seriously), that the movie shines. For instance, when two rival tribute bands “get into it” in the parking lot after a Steel Dragon concert. The two bands, one led by Wahlberg and the other by Third-Eye Blind’s Stephen Jenkins, face off as creepy mirror images of each other, all essentially playing adult dress up as their idols.

They trade barbs while questioning each other’s intense knowledge of the Steel Dragon back catalog, with Wahlberg apparently coming away with a victory after chastising Jenkins for having the wrong colors on his replica leather jacket (“The lapels should be blue and there’s no green in the embroidery”). OH SNAP!

Rock Star is fantastic when it relishes in the goofy minutiae. And no matter what, it’s still way better than that godawful Rock of Ages with Tom Cruise.

6. Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

Budget: $35 million

Worldwide Gross: $20.5 million

Fans of stupid, nearly-pointless humor will find plenty to like in this spoof of the modern music biopic. No, there’s not a lot of depth in the jokes, and the story is pretty much a note-for-note retread of Walk the Line, but the one thing The Dewey Cox Story accomplishes better than Meet the Spartans or any installment of Scary Movie is add something to movie its spoofing.

Take, for example, the running gag of Dewey becoming addicted to whichever drug happens to be the cool thing at the moment (a frequent trope in music biopics) is heightened by the fact that it’s literally always his drummer “accidentally” introducing him to it, then warning him not to use them while listing all of the benefits of the drug like it’s one of those “What’s your biggest weakness?” questions in a job interview (i.e. “I’m too hardworking.”)

And of course, there’s such an extraordinary collection of cameos that as soon as a joke starts to wear thin, the whole thing is enlivened by the presence of Jack White as Elvis Paul Rudd, Jack Black, Justin Long, and Jason Schwartzman as the Beatles.

It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, certainly, but even those who felt Talladega Nights was too obnoxious would probably be surprised at how well they toned down some of those more unpalatable elements for this one.

5. R.I.P.D.

Budget: $130 million

Worldwide Gross: $78.3 million

Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges are two dead lawmen, who are many, many decades apart in “age”, who are responsible for defending the living world from ne’er-do-well ghosts who refuse to move on to the next realm. It’s equal parts Men In Black and Ghost. (And maybe Ghostbusters, too, if you’re willing to stretch just a little bit.) Also, it’s directed by the same guy behind the surprise action thriller RED.

It’s quite possible that the expectations for R.I.P.D. were far too high to ever satisfy the wide scope of viewers this was hoping to draw. And while certain elements of it fall flat, like the Patrick Swayze-inspired subplot where Reynolds tries to contact his wife from beyond the grave, as a straight-up buddy cop movie this works surprisingly well.

Bridges has been criticized for being too mush-mouthed as the ex-cowboy who struggles to understand modern concepts, and although he’s not exactly up to his True Grit standard, the guy is a goddamn hoot, operating at maximum cantankerousness. Reynolds mostly does his sardonic-with-a-dash-of-charm schtick throughout, which works better than it should with his occasionally lackluster delivery.

All in all, this is a movie based on a comic about undead police officers chasing around various types of ghosts and goblins while tossing off one-liners and acting like dicks to each other. What more do you want from this type of movie??

4. The 13th Warrior

Budget: $160 million

Worldwide Gross: $61.7 million

Delayed for more than a year due to poor responses from test screenings, The 13th Warrior had a lot of people, including some of the actors involved, weary of its final product. But even after numerous re-shoots and edits, this movie came out the other end like a more polished version of Conan the Barbarian. And…why is that somehow a bad thing?

Indeed, one of the biggest criticisms lobbed against the Antonio Banderas medieval action thriller, is that it seems trapped in the 80s. But if that’s meant to somehow diminish the brutal action sequences that feature limbs being chopped off and blood spurting out of every major orifice in the human anatomy, then it’s totally unfair to lambast a movie forearning it’s R rating.

Carnage candy is everywhere in this movie, but beneath all the blood and guts is a story of a man seeking to initiate himself into a group of which he seems to be ill-equipped to fit in with. It’s like a less patronizing version of Dances With Wolves.

Banderas plays the part with an air of mystery about him, and moves effortlessly between the battle scenes and the quieter moments with his new comrades. It’s not exactly Gladiator, but it certainly gets the job done.

3. The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford

Budget: $30 million

Worldwide Gross: $15 million

Far from the fast-paced gunslinging of other Wild West actioners like Tombstone, The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford lives up to its title: it’s incredibly long and it doesn’t concern itself with being particularly snappy.

Some viewers get a little fidgety from the way this character study moseys along for nearly three hours without much in the way of big action spectacles. It’s a quasi-epic, really, one that’s more concerned with the psychology of its characters and the occasional dip into surrealism than it is with aggrandizing the mythical figure of its titular characters.

This is the thinking man’s Western, and it’s just as rewarding to watch Brad Pitt become dangerously wrapped up in paranoia as it would be to watch him in a shootout atop a moving train.

Speaking of Pitt, The Assassination of Jesse James remains one of his most undervalued performances to date, though Casey Affleck is certainly no slouch, either. Their interactions are entrancing, to the point where you have to wonder why these two never got to work more closely in the Ocean’s trilogy.

2. Children Of Men

Budget: $76 million

Worldwide Gross: $70 million

If nothing else, Children of Men excels as an imaginative and adventurous bit of technical filmmaking. There are multiple one-shot tracking shots throughout the movie, but the most iconic (and pivotal to the story) involves an extended car chase that reads like something from a more realistic version of Mad Max: Fury Road.

Children of Men is gloomy as f–k. Every last bit of hope has pretty much been washed out of this dystopian world where widespread human infertility is leading to an all but certain extinction of mankind. All of these horribly depressing “fun facts” are represented visually by the film’s never-ending green and gray color scheme.

Again, this is not a feel-good summer blockbuster, even though it contains its fair share of explosions and gunfights. Despite all those exciting action scenes, Children of Men is much more First Blood than Rambo: First Blood Part II, complete with even more psychological trauma.

1. The Postman

Budget: $80 million

Worldwide Gross: $17.6 million

The words “post-apocalyptic adventure” and “Kevin Costner” might not get many people excited nowadays, but they kept people away like a highly-publicized, violent case of herpes in 1997. Just two years after Waterworld threatened to permanently drown Costner’s career (along with anyone else who was involved in the mammoth disaster), he decided to involve himself in an eerily familiar storyline.

Granted, the specifics of these two movies couldn’t be further apart, but the vague outline was enough to rightfully scare audiences away in droves.

The Postman takes a much more sentimental approach to living in a post-apocalyptic wasteland however, as Costner’s character acts as the living embodiment of hope, an anti-hero that slowly becomes an actual hero as the film progresses. See, Costner finds a long-dead postman’s old mailbag and uniform, and quickly takes to using the relics as part of a con scheme. But as he delivers the old letters, he becomes genuinely affected by people’s reactions to these links to the past.

Sound a bit cheesy? It may be, but that’s what Costner is best at. Still, the bad guys are delightfully over-the-top, the cinematography is top-notch, and the story only appears too grandiose because of its runtime. Really, it’s a simple allegory about restoring hope to a once great nation. But… ya know… using the postal service.

Also, Tom Petty is so incredibly cool in this movie that his few scenes more than make up for any other shortcomings the film might have to offer.

Which other unjustified turkeys belong on this list? Share your picks below in the comments thread.

10 Movie Endings With Disturbing Implications You Totally Missed

source// Pixar

If you’ve seen more than 7 movies in your lifetime, chances are that at least one of them ended in a way that left you feeling relatively satisfied (unless you’ve only ever seen movies directed by Michael Bay – my sincerest condolences if that’s you).

And why not? I mean, there’s nothing wrong with a happy ending, is there? You paid good money to see these movies, after all, and if they can grant you with a momentary buzz of joy before you go stumbling back into the shambling mess that is your everyday life, then, hey, that’s not necessarily a bad thing…

Sometimes, though, the writers of said movies don’t play fair with audiences. In a lot of cases, you might notice how they’ve cleverly skimmed over crucial points of information (or avoided them all together) to trick you into thinking that everything has been wrapped up with a nice neat bow.

Take the 10 movies we’ve assembled here, for example, all of which purposely steer clear of some of the disturbing implications made by their “normal” endings. Hollywood is trying to keep you oblivious, though, often whilst avoiding the bigger picture entirely (and in hoping that you don’t take the time to actually think about what it is you’ve seen). Probably.

10. The Main Character Stole Somebody’s Entire Life/Murdered Him Out Of Existence (Source Code)

In Source Code, Jake Gyllenhaal plays Colter Stevens, a soldier who is assigned the task of working out what caused a horrific bombing on a train that left a lot of people dead. To do so, he uses a form of badass future technology which allows him to take over the body of one of the passengers (in this case, a teacher named Sean Fentress) during the last eight minutes of his life in a program that renders the scenario as it was before the attack.

It’s later revealed that this technology can be used to actually change the future, which is good, because Colter has fallen in love with Fentress’ girlfriend (who is also on the train) and really wants to save her. It’s important to remember that, within the confines of this “simulation,” she think Colter is Sean. He looks exactly like Sean, so why wouldn’t she? By the end of the movie, Colter manages to prevent the attack, and realises he will remain in this altered version of the future with his new gal…

But Wait…

What happened to Sean? You know… the guy whose body Colter hi-jacked for the purposes of this bomb prevention exercise? I mean, Colter has literally jacked into somebody else’s soul and taken away their entire life. Not to mention the fact that Colter stole Sean’s girlfriend, too – a girl who thinks that she’s still in a relationship with Sean Fentress, by the way.

I mean, this is creepy, right? I can’t be the only one who thinks that this lovely lady has got the right to know that her boyfriend is dead. And he is dead. His entire life has been plucked out from under his feet without his consent or knowing. Murdered is probably the right word here. Is this supposed to be a good thing? Are we, as an audience, supposed to cheer this scenario on?

I won’t. I simply won’t.

9. The Couple Are Doomed To Repeat A Hellish Cycle Every Day For The Rest Of Their Lives (50 First Dates)

50 First Dates stars Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore as a rom-com couple, Henry and Lucy, who stumble upon an interesting problem that hinders them from having a normal relationship: Lucy suffers from severe memory problems after being involved in a horrific accident, which makes falling in love a particularly difficult task.

These memory problems are so bad, in fact, that she completely forgets the awesome date that Henry takes her on at the start of the movie. When he sees him the next day, she can’t remember who he is, so he spends the runtime going on awesome dates over and over again. Lucy thinks it’s Sunday, October 31st of the previous year every day, you see.

At the end of the movie, there’s no way to fix this problem, so Henry hatches a plan: she can wake up everyday and watch a video which explains that she’s married to him, and that they have kids. She gets over this, and resumes her day. Aw.

But wait…

This is going to happen for another forty years? Though the ending might convince you that this plan is workable, it totally isn’t. Especially on those days when she wakes realising that she’s pregnant. Or that she’s not young anymore. Does Henry really want to commit to a life like this?

Imagine in thirty years time, for example, that Lucy will wake up to discover her children (children she never remembers having) are old – and she doesn’t know a single thing about them. Imagine the burden of having to fill in the gaps of time every single day for the rest of your life – and the more time that goes on, the more you have to explain in the aftermath of Lucy having viewed the tape.

Make more tapes, you say? Bridge the gap? But what a way to live: your life as a constant project. I know these characters are supposed to be truly in love, but c’mon – this is a terrifying existence for everybody involved. Especially the kids. And especially for Henry, who has to try and win over a human being every day for the rest of his life. What if he’s busy or not around when Lucy’s watched the tape? Or dead, for that matter? What if she freaks out and goes insane on one particular day?

I mean, love is love, but look closely and there’s a dangerous (and seemingly endless) amount of wrong to be associated with this bizarrely-rendered situation.

8. The Narrator In Fight Club Is Finally Free Of All Burdens… And Is Going To Jail For The Rest Of His Life (Fight Club)

Fight Club is a movie designed to hurt your brain, but it also clings to a great twist that most of us didn’t see coming the first time we watched it. The narrator, Jack (Ed Norton), spends much of the movie interacting with a badass named Tyler Durden, who is played by Brad Pitt. Durden is everything that Jack wants to be, although it eventually turns out that Jack was Durden all along – he has two split personalities, see, one of which has been making him do awful things under the guise of a group calling themselves “Project Mayhem.”

One of these “awful” things is rigging huge explosives to a bunch of buildings downtown. In the movie’s iconic final scene, Jack finally rids himself of Durden by shooting himself in the face (hence, the defiant gesture alone is enough to “kill” this other personality). Jack himself survives this, though, and we realise then that he has overcome his anxieties, is able to embrace the woman he loves, Marla, and can finally take control of his life. Then all the rigged buildings explode outside as the pair watch from atop a skyscraper…

But Wait…

Finally rid of Tyler, things can only look up for Jack, right? Well, ‘less we not forget that Jack still looks like Tyler Durden (the Brad Pitt look was just a projection of from his own mind). And Tyler Durden, as the leader of “Project Mayhem,” is one of the most wanted men in the city. Factor in that Jack/Durden is the one responsible for destroying an entire district with detonated explosives, and… well, this guy is about to be the most wanted terrorist in America.

Which means that poor Jack is probably going straight to jail the moment he steps back out into the street. Sure, he could try to make an escape, but how long is that going to last? Don’t you think at least one of his Project Mayhem goons is going to dob him in? The saddest part, of course, is that Jack’s romance with Marla – having finally realised itself in the closing moments of the movie – is going to be one extremely brief affair.

7. The Kid Is Going To Lose His New Best Friend/Father Figure In A Matter Of Years (Up)

Up is a Pixar movie about an grumpy old man named Carl, who decides to go on the dream vacation that he and his wife had always planned to go on before she died. Which, somewhat insanely, he decides to achieve by attaching hundreds of balloons to his house and flying to South America (it’s fine, it’s a kids’ movie).

What Carl doesn’t realise is that a small boy named Russell has stowed away on board, and the two are pitted into a wacky adventure, over the course of which Carl’s relative apathy for the child is transformed into affection. By the movie’s end, Russell, whose dad is revealed to have abandoned him, is gifted with a brand new father figure, and this is the bit where you start crying.

But Wait… 

Well, Carl isn’t going to be around for much longer, is he? I mean, he’s old. Really old. And going on the notion that the movie tells us he was a little kid in the 1930s, we can probably assume that he was around 80-years-old during the events of Up (some unconfirmed sources put his birth year at 1931).

Take into consideration the stress that such an adventure might have put on the body of a man of this age, and you’ve got a heart attack waiting to happen. Sure, Carl might have a good few years left in him, but is Russell really going to be able to cope with the loss of this guy? These two will likely remain inseparable for the next few years, until one day the poor kid goes around to find Carl stiff in his armchair. That’s unnecessarily descriptive, perhaps, but you get what I mean…

6. The Characters Are Set To Repeat A Doomed Romance On An Endless Loop (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is set in a world much like our own, with one notable exception: people are given the opportunity to erase past lovers from their mind, as to avoid the grief and torment associated with the break-up process. The main characters in the movie, Joel (Jim Carrey) and Clementine (Kate Winslet), undergo this process

The start the movie unaware that they are actually former lovers, and that they previously underwent the process to erase one another from their memories: when they meet again by circumstance, they are oblivious to the fact that they were in a two year relationship, and like how different they both are. They slowly begin to fall in love again, and later – when they discover to

But Wait…

The point of the movie is, in fact, one that a lot of people miss, though it’s perhaps even more heartbreaking because Eternal Sunshine appears to end on a relatively happy note: the couple knowing what has happened to them previously appears to “improve” their chances of having a successful relationship, but this isn’t true at all.

The fact that we know Joel and Clementine don’t work together already means that, despite the fact that this time the know about having undertook a memorable erasing process, they are still doomed to fall out of love in the exact same way. We know this because, lacking the feelings from their first two years together, their relationship will progress in the exact same fashion. Somebody should really make sure these two stop seeing one other if they break up again.

5. Max’s Happy Ending Is Completely Undercut By The Deceivingly Positive Song That Plays Him Out (Rushmore)

Wes Anderson’s Rushmore centers around a precocious, overachieving underachiever named Max Fischer, who falls in love with his teacher and ends up battling Bill Murray for her affections. Max spends much of the movie alienating his few friends, telling lies, and coming up with ill-judged plans to try and seduce a middle-aged woman who doesn’t fancy him.

By the time the movie’s over, though, Max is on the path to changing his ways, puts on the most amazing play you’ve ever seen (it’s Vietnam War themed), and ends up dancing with the nice nerdy girl who has been pestering him for the whole movie. It’s a real character arc, no?

But Wait…

As the final scene plays, the song in the background is “Ooh La La” by The Faces. And though this song sounds happy and positive in that “it’s the end of the movie and everything turned out okay” kind of way, the lyrics tell otherwise: the song is about how women continually brake the hearts of the men who pine after them, and that the narrator should have listened to his grandfather, who tried to warn of him such things.

Which sneakily implies that Max’s future might not turn out quite as great as this positively-aligned ending implies.

4. Marty McFly Replaces His Entire Family With Upgraded Counterparts That He’s Never Even Met (Back to the Future)

Back to the Future tells the brilliant story of a teenager who accidentally goes back in time and accidentally stops his parents from meeting. To ensure his own existence in 1985, he must ensure that they, uh, “consummate” at some point in the future by rekindling their relationship.

Along the way, Marty makes a few accidental changes (one of which results in a complete personality shift for his parents) that change the present when he gets back home. Mainly, his parents aren’t the losers we saw in the beginning, but are now rich, confident and still in love.

But Wait…

In order to secure this “new,” better future, Marty effectively erased the whole of his life and everybody that he knows. He did, in fact, never exist, nor did his family. Sure, there are different versions of these people in the alternate future he’s just created, but these aren’t people that he technically knows – their personalities are going to be totally different, as if they’re strangers.

The old family  are dead and gone, unable to exist without the original, unchanged 1955 to back them up. Although this future is certainly more appealing for Marty, there’s something strange about erasing your entire family and replacing them with “better” versions – especially if you have to get to know them from scratch.

3. The Eponymous Character Hasn’t Got A Whole Lot Of Time Left To Live (Jack)

Jack is a movie about a character of that name played by Robin Williams in a movie directed by Francis Ford Coppola. I’m mentioning that because it’s so weird that he was behind the camera for this one.

Anyway, Jack’s problem is a rare one: although he’s actually in elementary school, he appears to physically resemble that of a middle-aged man (and not an attractive one, at that). The entire movie is devoted to Jack’s search for acceptance, because most of the kids at his school are mean jerks and – for some reason – find his presence o be something that super annoys them. Eventually he wins them all over, though, and ol’ Jack is officially made “one of the gang.”

But Wait…

The disease that Jack has in this movie best-resembles something called “progeria,” which, for those who are sadly  born with it, usually means they won’t live further than their mid-teens. Which means that poor Jack isn’t likely to ever make it through college, despite the fact that all the kids now think he’s a swell guy. R.I.P., little buddy.

2. Truman’s Life In The Real World Is Going To Be Something Close To A Living Nightmare (The Truman Show)

The brilliant premise behind The Truman Show is that one man’s life is an ongoing reality TV show that he’s completely unaware of – all the people he interacts with on a day to day basis are actors, and his town is actually a huge set built into a giant dome.

Truman, our main character, eventually discovers this, and the ending of the movie sees him escaping from the set as the fake world around him comes crashing down. The movie ends with Truman stepping out into the real world, where new,  better horizons await him…

But Wait…

Despite the fact that Truman’s entire life was, in a sense, fake, what awaits him on the outside is going to be something close to hellish. Granted, he’s probably going to be the most famous person on the planet (or at least in the States), and every news broadcaster and television station in the world is going to wait to talk to him. Forever.

Given how many people watched “The Truman Show” in the confines of the movie, it’s not unsafe to assume that pretty much everybody knows who he is – who could you not? Truman’s existence is going to be akin to that of a hundred Brad Pitts, or a million Rob Schneiders. So much so, in fact, that living in that concealed dome where everybody was super nice to him all the time and he had no real worries will probably seem like something of a fond memory.

As it stands, the man is in store for a terribly intrusive life of press conferences and autographs. Especially when you consider that his escape probably made him even more of a hero to the world at large.

1. The Iron Giant Could Have Easily Been “Reset” – And Was Just One Of Many, Many Giants (The Iron Giant)

The Iron Giant tells the classic story of boy meets giant metallic alien monster, and also happens to be one of the most underrated animated movies of the ’90s (and ever, really). When said huge giant crash lands on Earth, it smashes its head and accidentally turns “good” (it’s an animated movie, c’mon), knocking out its programming to “destroy the planet and everybody on it.” That’s when the giant befriends Hogarth, a nerdy kid with a passion for science-fiction.

The movie ends with the giant having to sacrifice himself to save the world, despite the fact that everybody on Earth wanted to murder him dead. Hogarth awakes one night a few weeks later to discover that his new friend is reassembling himself and will soon be back together. We cut to the giant’s head, now in Iceland, which smiles as the movie ends…

But Wait…

The giant’s original programming could have easily been knocked back into place again, given that this time the guy got exploded into fifty pieces – it that’s not a “reset,” then I don’t know what is. I mean, being exploded by a missile… that’s no minor bump on the head, is it?

And if we glance back at some of the earlier scenes in the movie where the giant shows just how destructive his powers are, we know that his turning “evil” gig would mean death to the planet in its entirety – especially if this type of sentient monster can reassemble itself after being blown up by a nuke.

This danger is made especially more apparent when you consult the deleted scenes on the DVD, which heavily imply that there are more giants waiting for this one’s return journey home. So it can, you know, tell them how easy the planet is to destroy and stuff. Gulp. Let’s hope that smile we witnessed at the end of the movie wasn’t an evil one after all, huh?

Like this article? Let us know in the comments section below.

9 Things You Learn Rewatching Game of Thrones Season 2

source// HBO

Season 1 laid the groundworks for Game Of Thrones. Looking back, it almost feels like a separate prequel to the main event due to the vastly different characters and themes, but there are moments that are just as relevant now as when the show was first aired.

However, once the series progressed into its second run, storylines firmed up, seeds were sewn, and the show really started to resemble the all-conquering behemoth it has become today.

Season 2 was a huge turning point for the show as Joffrey and the Lannisters strengthened their grip, Tywin and Stannis entered the mix, Robb kickstarted his rebellion and Tyrion set fire to Blackwater Bay. And that’s only scratching the surface.

Here are 10 major things you learn after rewatching Game Of Thrones Season 2…

9. Walkers On The March

The lasting memory from Season 2 comes at the very end, with the eye-opening glimpse of White Walker forces sweeping through the cold North. It was a huge moment for TV itself, with the enormous scale of the show slowly starting to be uncovered.

The chieftain looked stunning, and the whole scene was a perfect way to round off a dramatic season South of the Wall. It built on the background threat of the walkers, and was an early sign they had plenty of power behind them.

Everyone speculated that their invasion would come soon into Season 3, but in true Thrones style, the walkers waited. They hung around until Season 5 and unleashed their power on Hardhome. It’s incredible to see that battle set in motion so early on.

8. Westeros Is More Peaceful Now

King’s Landing is more unstable than ever before, the Boltons are ruling in the North, and Stannis has been completely destroyed, but you could certainly argue that the world is a more peaceful place going into Season 6 than it was throughout Season 2.

Back then it was the War of the Five Kings. Joffrey’s reign of tyranny and torture was in full swing, causing ructions throughout the capital. Robb began sweeping through the land leaving bloodied fields in his wake. Stannis mustered his forces for a full-scale siege for the Throne, after Renly was eliminated by Melisandre’s magic.

That’s not even including Balon, with Theon and the Ironborn foolishly taking Winterfell. The world was incredibly unstable back in Season 2, and while it’s arguably just as bleak now, at least it’s not in the process of self-destruction.

7. Stupid Decisions Everywhere

There’s nothing worse than a great TV show faltering by allowing characters to make mind-boggling decisions. Catelyn Stark was a chief perpetrator when it came to making stupid choices that would decide the fate of the war.

Releasing Jaime Lannister, one of the most fearsome swordsmen in the Seven Kingdoms, with a name worth his weight in gold, was a move of sheer stupidity, and Catelyn engineered it all behind Robb’s back.

It’s at this point Robb decides to marry for love rather than a bridge crossing, and we all know that didn’t end well. He rebelled against his mother’s orders following her betrayal, so is there a chance he would’ve heeded her warning had she not gone behind his back?

6. Theon Is A Bad, Bad, Bad Man

The torture of Theon and the subsequent rise of Reek is a grim passage in Thrones history. We’re now at the point of wanting the sub-human Theon to recover from his ordeal, but in Season 2 you’re given a strong reminder of how awful he really was.

Theon arrogantly decided to take Winterfell, a move that would eventually seal his downfall. Included in seizing the castle, Theon botched the cruel beheading of his old mentor Ser Rodrik, he turned down his chance at an unlikely escape route in order to keep Winterfell, and worst of all, he murdered two innocent boys in place of Bran and Rickon.

The next time you see Reek and feel remotely sorry for him, remember what he did to end up in that position.

5. The Arya/Tywin Scene Is Great

It’s not a lingering storyline, nor is it hugely relevant in Season 6, but when you’re re-watching Season 2, you’ll realise just how good Tywin and Arya’s scene really is. It’s tense, it’s natural, and it’s perfectly handled by both actor and actress.

Watching Maisie Williams stand toe-to-toe with Charles Dance in impressive form is simply excellent, and it was a great departure from the books. Often fans complain about the show not being able to encapsulate the entire plot of the source material, but this was one moment where free-styling it really paid off.

It’s a shame that their brief bond didn’t last longer, and we now know that a reunion simply won’t happen following Tywin’s death. It would’ve been great to see them both meet once again with Arya in a greater position of power.

4. Jaqen Meets Arya

Watching Arya in the House of Black and White seems like a very recent storyline, and to an extent it is, but Jaqen’s influence has been bubbling under the surface since the very first season, though his powers became clearer in the second.

His skills as a lethal assassin are demonstrated after he gifts Arya with his services. This is the only time we’ve seen Jaqen in the real world actually eliminating people, with his more recent appearances largely focused in the temple.

It’s important to see Jaqen in action as a Faceless Man, and being able to morph his face was just another mind-bender from the show. With Season 6 looming, fans can only hope his storyline will escalate alongside Arya.

3. Melisandre Is Definitely Powerful

After Melisandre’s swing-and-miss campaign alongside Stannis, it would be easy to write her off, but do so at your peril. Melisandre is extremely powerful, and Season 2 provides all the evidence you need to prove she can produce some incredible moments.

The shadow baby assassin will live in infamy, and it has an enormous bearing on proceedings. It wasn’t chance, nor was it a coincidence. That was exactly what she intended to do.

Her power and confidence has dwindled following the death of Stannis, but you can wager she’ll be returning to her lofty position in Season 6, with at least one very important task to undertake.

2. Renly Baratheon Is A Fool

Why? Why? Why? Renly? WHY? There are many different schools of thought when it comes to the Baratheon boys, but let’s face it, if Renly had only listened to his older brother, the world would be a far more secure place and Lannisters’ heads would adorn the walls of King’s Landing.

Stannis had the cool discipline required to rule, while Renly had the charm and charisma to win allies to his cause. Together they could’ve been a lethal duo. If Renly had only accepted the line of succession, the united Baratheons would’ve conquered the capital, taken the Seven Kingdoms for their own, and the realm would be far better off.

One family feud has proved to be cataclysmic for the entire world, and while the war for the Throne continues to sizzle, the Baratheons could’ve ended it and started planning for the arrival of the White Walker onslaught.

1. Quaithe

Quaithe is one of the most confusing characters in all of Thrones. Who is she? What does she want? Will we ever see her again? There are so many questions surrounding the mysterious masked woman from Daenerys’ Qarth storyline.

Her role is short, but it has sparked countless theories as to her motives and potential re-emergence, with prophecies that she predicted coming true far later in the series. “This man must sail past Old Valyria. All who travel too close to the Doom must have protection.”

Those are her words to Jorah Mormont, and of course, he did have to sail past Old Valyria without ‘protection’ and was subsequently stricken with greyscale. Will we ever see Quaithe again?

Batman Arkham Knight: 10 Side Missions Rocksteady Should’ve Included

source// Rocksteady

The climax of the phenomenal Arkham series boasted a number of side missions that were memorable and exciting. We tracked down the vile and creepy Professer Pyg in The Perfect Crime, worked with Nightwing to take down Penguin’s arms-dealing operation in Gunrunner, investigated and captured Kirk Langstrom’s monstrous Man-Bat and fought as Azreal to see if he was a worthy replacement for Batman himself.

But, there seemed to be a lot of uneventful and uninspiring side missions that felt lacklustre compared to the rest. Locating firefighters, chasing Firefly around Gotham on three separate occasions, defusing explosive devices, clearing militia checkpoints… the majority of missions in Arkham Knight seemed to rely too much on ‘find something, break faces (or tanks), repeat’. Alongside, an over-reliance on the Batmobile made it feel like we were being fed one of our favourite snacks so much, that we quickly became sick of it.

To counter that, I’ve designed nine alternative side missions for your pleasure (and mine, it was great fun), containing villains that were never included in the games, along with two stalwarts who deserved a better send off. If you love your Batman, then you should hopefully find these pretty tantalising.

10. Maxie Zeus – The Five Labours

The VillainMaxie Zeus began as a history teacher of Greek Mythology, though he eventually lost his wife, and his sanity disappeared shortly after. Zeus uses his intelligence and cunning to become a respected crime lord, but his belief that he is the direct descendant of the actual Zeus, the King of the Gods, leads him to play each of his crimes around mythological themes.

The MissionWith his toga-wearing thugs, Maxie has turned Gotham Zoo into his ‘Olympus’. He has sired a young boy, his ‘Hercules’ with ‘Alcemene’, a clearly traumatised young woman. Zeus wants Batman to protect Hercules from the scheming of Hades and complete five of Hercules’ twelve trials (he ran out of money for the rest).

Trial 1: Battle the Nemean lion, Cretan Bull and Symphalian Birds (a lion, a bull and two giant eagles) simultaneously.

Trial 2: Track and capture the Cerynian Hind (a thug dressed as a deer) by hunting him through the Africa section whilst the animals are loose.

Trial 3: Retrieve the Belt of Hippolyta, Amazonian Queen and mother to Wonder Woman from three Amazon warriors who are forced to fight you, lest Zeus execute one of their captured sisters.

After the trials are completed, Hades arrives, a massive thug, flanked by Cerberus (three Rottweilers tied together). It’s actually Clayface assuming the role, and he is furious that Batman is there. Noting that Batman was not ‘in the script’ and that he barely survived his encounter with him in Arkham City, Clayface departs. Batman and the fourth Amazon (whom he freed earlier) take out Zeus and save Hercules and Alcemene.

Batman gingerly pats the screaming child as he kicks Zeus into the horse poop being stocked for the Augean stables.

9. Prometheus – Justice

The Villain
Prometheus is often regarded as a warped mirror image of Batman. When he was a child, he witnessed his outlaw parents slaughtered by the police in a shootout, like Bonnie and Clyde. He idolised his criminal mother and father and swore that he would annihilate the ‘forces of justice’. An extremely formidable foe, Prometheus trained all around the world, is one of the smartest men on the planet and has a helmet that can download anything directly into his brain (such as the fighting styles of other people).

The MissionThe corpses of disfigured GCPD officers have been scattered around Gotham. Analysing each one reveals their connection; they were all involved in a shoot-out that resulted in the deaths of two hippy criminals who were on a murderous crime spree.

Aaron Cash is the last surviving officer who was on the scene and was responsible for the safety of the criminal’s child. While Batman is warning him, Prometheus takes over the GCPD. You must arrive at the GCPD within a certain amount of time and glide out of the Batmobile to catch Cash after he is dropped off the roof of the precinct by Prometheus.

Prometheus wants to destroy the ‘forces of justice’ and believes Batman to be their symbol. He has learnt the fighting styles of the entire Bat family; Batgirl, Robin, Nightwing and Batman himself. Prometheus uses weapons akin to each member and you have to best each style he uses, adjusting accordingly and giving him a beat-down to move onto the next.

8. Two-Face – Self-Inflicted

The Villain
The Batman rogues are generally considered so esteemed because they each represent a part of mutual enemy. Harvey Dent is a symbolically physical manifestation of the duality of Bruce Wayne and Batman; the combination of two egos that must work together as one. However, in the former D.A. of Gotham’s case, his battle is not for the betterment of others but for the advancement of his own selfish motivations.

The MissionThis mission takes the Two-Face missions included in Arkham Knight (which were three separate bank-robberies that you had to thwart) but with a twist. Swooping through Gotham, you must stop a man who has a mutilated face from maiming his wife with a knife and making her ‘scarred’ like him.

Interrogating the man, he tells you of Two-Face’s desire to create his own ‘country’ in which his ‘fellow deformed friends’ can feel ‘normal, beautiful’. Each bank robbery is designed to fund this endeavour and, after stopping the third (and final in the original game), you must go track down Harvey.

He is holed up within his own private area of Gotham, surrounded by an army of mutilated mobsters, madmen and general, everyday people who have been ‘made in his own image’. However, eavesdropping reveals that Batman is the reason that the majority of these scarred individuals are as they are. You have the moral choice of hurting them even more (a phenomenal battle, considering their number) or focusing directly on Harvey, countering their attacks and only taking out the real mastermind.

7. Ventriloquist – Voices

The Villain
Easily one of the weirdest criminals to hail from Gotham City, Albert Wesker is a ventriloquist crime lord who directs all orders (and executions) through a wooden dummy dubbed Scarface. It has often been debated who is actually controlling who, as Wesker may be the one with his hand up Scarface’s colon, but he isn’t the dominant one in the relationship.

The Mission
Ventriloquist has put word out that he is screening potential goons, and initiates a battle royale for potential candidates, with an an old 1920’s move backlot. Batman infiltrates the meeting and must win the royale, however no gadgets are allowed and the thugs must get some hits in to make his cover as fellow mobster Matches Malone appear believable.

Wesker gushes over you but Scarface is apprehensive, recalling the Riddler stating that Matches is in cahoots with the Bat. After slapping Wesker silly, Scarface opens fire and you must contend with the remaining thugs whilst dodging the bullets, now able to use more of your gadgetry and martial arts prowess.

Wesker flees into the set and begins throwing his voice around and Batman must track him down without Detective Mode (you’re still in the Matches disguise). Getting the drop on him, Batman throws Scarface into a nearby fire. Batman stops Wesker from diving in the fire after Scarface and makes him a makeshift puppet out of a nearby piece of material to appease his fragile psyche.

Batman calls in the Batmobile but Scarface, smouldering and demonic, attacks out of nowhere. After a QTE where you must shake him off, you then hold him down as the Batmobile arrives and crushes his head.

6. Catwoman – Scars

The Villain
Queen of physically impossible sexual poses, Catwoman has been tightening Batman’s leather since 1975. A somewhat reformed cat burglar who has flirted with both sides of the law, Selina Kyle is iron-willed, liberated and morally conflicted. She also dresses head to toe in leather, uses a whip and has a zipper over boobs, which most definitely causes some discomfort.

The Mission
Precious jewels are being stolen all around Gotham and, after deducing the next location, Batman undergoes a stake out. Tracking the perpetrator without notifying them of your presence, it is revealed to be Catwoman. After a rooftop chase, the two lovers square off. Because Batman doesn’t want to cripple her, you’ll have to use your gadgets over brute force.

Kyle is working for mob boss Carmine Falcone (they have history). Falcone has kidnapped Selina’s platonic friend Holly and has demanded riches for her return. Infiltrating Falcone’s compound, you alternate between the two characters to dispatch the guards in a Predator sequence.

Falcone doesn’t care about riches and instead wants revenge for Catwoman taking a chunk out of his face and making him appear weak in front of his peers. He shoots Holly in the head and, as Selina, you give him a beat-down and are given the opportunity to kill Falcone.

Killing the mob boss will trigger a boss battle in which Batman will have to reluctantly take Selina down. Sparing Falcone’s life results in him pulling a gun on Selina and Batman must disarm him before he can pull the trigger. Failure to do so results in Selina’s death.

5. Bane – Venom

The Villain
A self-taught chiropractor, Bane was born and raised in an underground prison, forced to serve a life sentence for the crimes of his father. Grateful he wasn’t born a Cosby, Bane shaped himself into a force of mind and muscle. The he got juiced and became the Man Who Broke the Bat. Literally.

Bane was in Asylum, City and Origins but was absent from Knight due to fear of overexposure. He was notably Origins’ final boss in a white-knuckle battle. What’s left to do? Well…

The MissionHelp him kick the habit by kicking his ass. You start as a reformed Bane arriving in Gotham, only to have to fight and then be captured by the Arkham Knight and force-fed a Venom/Titan cocktail that turns you into a destructive distraction.

Because only the Batmobile is allowed to destroy Gotham’s infrastructure, Batman arrives and tries to take you on. You wail on him and then, now Batman, have to use the winch to drag him to a more seclude area.

This overdose of Venom has placed Bane’s heart under great distress. Bane wrecks the Batmobile and you must now use Detective mode at different intervals of the fight in order to monitor his heart. Eventually, you calibrate the cowl to filter out all noise except for the heartbeat when it gets faster.

Still in the fight, everything is eerily silent, save for the sound of the heart-beat. In each final beat down, you must listen and stop so Bane’s heart doesn’t give out, timing your onslaught. Eventually, Bane is finally knocked unconscious.

4. Ratcatcher – Extermination

The Villain
Otis Flannegan is a relatively unknown Batman rogue who has the ability to control and communicate with rats. With a power-set like that, you’d think he’d rule grubby Gotham with an iron fist, but he’s been in Blackgate more often than not, using his furry friends as couriers for other villains.

The MissionFinding and analysing the mutilated body of the KGBeast, Batman discovers he’s been eaten alive by rats. Placing a tracking device on a nearby rat, you follow it into the sewers. Inside, you analyse two more bodies. City officials who had been involved in Flannegan’s sentencing (a nod towards his debut story).

Ratcatcher tells you his mistreatment from other inmates shows him that villains are the true infestation. Otis summons a wave of rats and you must escape, eventually diving into a vent. Rats pour in and one wrong move means the Bat is rat scat.

Lucius Fox sends you a sonar device to keep the rats at bay. You return to the sewers and the rats part for you like the Red Sea. Flannagan has captured Crazy Quilt and Humpty Dumpty. You use batarangs to untie them so that they can deal with the rats while you take on Ratcatcher.

While fighting Flannegan, you must use the sonar device when the rats close in or attack the others. Don’t fret, you can do a double takedown with each.

Eventually, the device breaks and the two villains are eaten. Before the rats swarm you, you KO Flannagan. The rats instantly stop, silently, and you carry him away.

3. Gaggy Gagsworthy – Throwback

The Villain
Gaggy Gagsworthy (who sounds like an overambitious porn star) was Joker’s original sidekick. He was a tightrope walker at Hayley’s Circus until the Flying Graysons arrived. Delegated to a clown and part of a freak show, Gaggy caught the attention of Joker by lashing out at another clown. Willing to kill anyone for a chuckle, the two teamed up and probably shared a bathroom at one point.

The Mission
Gaggy believes Harley Quinn took Joker from a fun loving, murdering clown to a… fun loving, murdering psychopath? Disguised as Joker, he kidnaps her and now Harley’s hyenas roam the city. You follow one to the scene and create a replay of the kidnapping, finding a clue containing Harley’s scent. You have to stop them from maiming thugs along the way to Harley.

Harley is drowning in a huge ball pit while Gaggy takes a trip down memory lane. Flashing to a sixties Gotham, Adam West Batman and Burt Ward Robin are tied to giant typewriter keys. As Gaggy, alongside Joker, you jump towards them, key-by-key. The dynamic duo escape and a fight ensues, with Joker eventually becoming more brutal, killing the heroes and turning his attention to you.

Back as Batman, you fight the terrified Gaggy, who believes you to be the psychotic Joker. Dodging his old school Joker gadgets and knocking him out with one punch, Harley then thanks you by escaping with Gaggy, claiming that she’s going to feed him to her hyenas.

2.  The Court Of Owls – The Verdict

The Villain
Older than Gotham City itself, the Court of Owls is an underground organisation that rules from the shadows. In control of an army of Talons, undead assassins who cannot be killed through conventional means, the Court represents one of the biggest obstacles to Batman.

The MissionDuring a meeting with Lincoln March, a candidate for Gotham mayor, Batman is attacked by a Talon. Free-falling during the fight, you are transported to Gotham in 1922. You run through the streets as a crazed, desperate Alan Wayne, wearing a bathrobe, shouting that ‘they’ are after you. A Talon stalks you from the rooftops.

The Talon hits the ground yet somehow escapes. Following several clues leads to the ‘non-existent’ 13th floor of Wayne Tower. Ambushed by a group of Talons, you wake in the Court’s maze. In a trippy sequence, you must navigate your way through, and are forced to fight the previous Talon at low health, impaling him. The Court reveal themselves and then disappear.

Alfred sends a distress signal and you must stop Talons sent to destroy Wayne Manor. Batman is overwhelmed until Alfred activates Batman’s mech-suit. As Alfred in the suit, you fight and kill the Talons.

Returning to Gotham, you battle in the streets against an army of Talons with the entirety of the Bat family at your side (Batgirl, Nightwing, Catwoman and Robin). New dual takedowns are available and deadly force has been authorised. Upon victory, you return to the maze, only to find the Court have fled.

1. Simon Hurt And The Black Glove – R.I.P. (Part One)

The Villain
Thomas Wayne is a distant ancestor of Batman. Leader of a demonic cult that worshiped the bat demon Barbatos, Thomas was the black sheep of the Wayne bloodline. He succeeded in his quest to gain eternal life and renamed himself Simon Hurt, establishing the secret organisation The Black Glove and very nearly destroying Batman.

The MissionAlfred receives an anonymous letter that only states ‘Zur-En-Arrh’. Upon hearing the word, Batman’s head begins to explode with pain. Crawling to the Batmobile, he blacks outs just before a random thug takes a swing at his head with a bat. The thug is killed by Flamingo.

A naked Bruce wakes up in a pile of garbage with no memory of who he is. Batmite pops up and explains that Bruce is ‘The Batman of Zur-En-Arrh’. With the thug’s bat and a costume fashioned from rags, Bruce must travel to the Batcave. Your utility belt consists of random junk (such as shards of glass for Batarangs), your armour is severely limited and the Batmobile is not available.

All the while, Batmite accompanies you.

You must counter-KO the dastardly Le Bossu and immediately take out Swagman by beating him with a rocket launcher he’s attempting to use on you. The formidable Flamingo returns as a tough opponent and eventually tries to eat your face – that is, until Alfred arrives and brains him with a baseball bat.

Simon Hurt tries to flee in a helicopter while desperately trying to convince Bruce that he is his father. Bruce claims that Hurt is Mangrove Pierce, an actor who had once been his father’s double. A QTE between the two takes place in the helicopter and the it crashes, with Batman narrowly escaping. Batmite waves Hurt goodbye, and Alfred put his arm around Bruce’s shoulder.

Where there any side-missions you enjoyed in Arkham Knight? And which of our suggestions would you have loved to see?