While editing might sound like the simplest
part of a movie's production, that couldn't
be further from the truth.
It's not just putting footage in a timeline;
it's determining everything about how that
movie will be perceived.
In the editing room, a movie's entire tone
can change on a whim.
No big deal, right?
It's only everything.
An editor—often working side by side with
the director—has the ability to reshape
the film as they see fit.
However, as we all know, with great power
comes great responsibility—a maxim the editors
of the movies on this list couldn't live up
to.
Here are movies that were ruined by really
bad editing.
Justice League
The Justice League movie didn't swing the
DCEU around, much as Warner Bros. had hoped
it would.
Instead, Justice League sank into rotten territory
on Rotten Tomatoes, with slipshod editing
being among critics' top complaints with the
film.
Due to Zack Snyder leaving midway through
the film's development and Joss Whedon taking
over, there are two distinct tones in Justice
League: Snyder's grim realism and Whedon's
campy optimism.
"OK, yeah, here's the thing: um, see, I'm
afraid of bugs, and um, guns, and obnoxiously
tall people, and murder, and I can't be here."
While that's not the easiest issue to fix
in the editing room, it is something the film's
final cut should've done a much better job
of rectifying.
Worse yet, the haphazard editing led to important
exposition being cut from the film in order
for the studio to achieve its desired two-hour
runtime.
"I honestly didn't hear anything after 'we're
all gonna die.'"
These are just some of the biggest reasons
fans continue to petition for a purely Zack
Snyder cut of the film.
Sadly, even that rumored version likely wouldn't
be able to remedy Justice League's largest
editing flaw—namely, mustachioed Superman.
The solution to digitally remove actor Henry
Cavill's mustache, which only existed when
he returned for re-shoots, was ham-fisted
and blatantly obvious in the final cut.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Sorry DC, we're not done with you yet.
One of the most high-profile cases of bad
editing in recent years was Batman versus
Superman: Dawn of Justice.
The biggest point of contention most people
had with the film was its running time.
Clocking in at two-and-a-half hours long,
the film was simultaneously really, really
long... and way too short.
How could a film possibly be both?
A lot of important exposition was left on
the cutting room floor, leaving audiences
feeling that characters' motivations were
underdeveloped.
At the same time, most agreed that the film
had a lot of fat that could've been trimmed
down.
While Warner Bros. released an even lengthier
director's cut that did alleviate some of
the plot holes and character motivation issues
found in the theatrical version of the film,
the theatrical cut had already left a negative
impression on millions of viewers.
"She's the key!
Am I too soon?!"
Alien: Covenant
Misguided editing and pacing issues squandered
the potential of Alien: Covenant.
The film inserts lengthy sequences of exposition,
seemingly at random, so that scenes built
to provide context ironically end up further
confusing the entire narrative.
"You were too human.
Too idiosyncratic.
Thinking for yourself.
Made people uncomfortable."
Worse still, in the movie's horror moments,
so much unnecessary foreshadowing was left
in that, by the time anything actually scary
does crop up, the audience is aware of what's
going to happen three minutes too early.
"Breathe on the nostrils of a horse, and he'll
be yours for life.
But you have to get close."
Transformers: Age of Extinction
In a movie titled Transformers, a franchise
widely known to be about giant transforming
robots punching each other, there's absolutely
no reason for the majority of screen time
to go to a human cast and their tiny, fleshy
problems.
You'd be forgiven for forgetting that Optimus
Prime is even in Transformers: Age of Extinction;
the film's editing completely drops the ball
and treats its robot aliens as a subplot.
Clocking in at an exhausting two hours and
forty-five minutes, this film chooses to prioritize
downright embarrassing sequences:
"Well she's a minor!"
"We're protected by the Romeo and Juliet laws."
"We dated for a little while I was a sophomore
and he was a senior.
It's fine."
One can only hope there's an alternate reality
where this movie's editors decided the heavily
advertised dinobots received more screen time
than a father and daughter discussing the
suitability of short-shorts.
"Sweetheart, your shorts are shrinking by
the second, okay?
Cold water, air dry, please."
The Snowman
The Snowman was a movie caught in an unfortunate
position right out of the gate since, according
to director Tomas Alfredson, he and his production
team weren't even able to shoot the whole
thing before moving into post-production.
It's troublesome projects like these where
editing becomes the defining aspect of the
film, often becoming the the only way to fix
a problem movie—especially once the shooting
budget is gone and the crew is out of time.
You're probably heard this phrase before.
"Uh, we'll fix it in post."
"Well, we'll fix it in post."
"I'll fix it in post."
If you didn't guess it already, The Snowman
was not fixed in post.
Beyond creating tonal inconsistencies throughout,
the shoddy cutting openly exposes the film's
nightmarish production history, smashing from
shot to shot so sporadically that one can
practically tell that there wasn't enough
footage to work with.
Suicide Squad
Sorry DC fans, but here we go again: Suicide
Squad is the rare example of a studio publicly
advertising a movie as one thing, panicking,
then completely reshaping the same film all
inside of one frantic marketing blitz.
Need evidence?
Check out the insane differences between the
movie's first trailer and second trailer.
It's this complete overhaul of the movie's
tone that contributed to a lot of the negative
reviews.
The general consensus is that in Warner Bros.'
haste to reshape the movie in a more electric,
upbeat style to match the popularity of Deadpool,
they created a muddled product that spat on
director David Ayer's original vision.
"Do somethin!"
"Don't touch me!"
"Do somethin!"
"You wanna see somethin?!
You wanna see somethin?!"
"Yeah, I wanna see somethin!"
Warner Bros. did more than just confuse the
tone of the movie by usurping editing power
from Ayer and his team, the execs also cut
out a lot of Jared Leto's Joker.
(Suicide Squad summarized)
Fantastic 4
There's no easy way to say it: Fantastic 4's
2015 iteration was a failure, both critically
and financially.
While the movie had a lot of bright spots
and sported entertaining, experimental ideas,
its overall execution was slaughtered by a
plodding editing that gave the team superpowers
over halfway through the film.
That late-bloomer mentality resulted in the
movie having only one major superhero and
supervillain throw-down in the entire film.
If that massive editing faux pas sounds like
a deal-breaker to you, just know that the
director himself agrees.
Director Josh Trank bad-mouthed the studio's
cut on Twitter before the movie had even released.
In the now-deleted tweet, he said,
"A year ago I had a fantastic version of this.
And it would've received great reviews.
You'll probably never see it.
That's reality though."
Taken 3
Taken 3 is a severe case of death by a thousand
cinematic cuts.
It plays out at the speed any other movie
would run if you accidentally hit the fast-forward
button several times in a row.
If you blink, there's a pretty good chance
the film will have already barreled into another
scene entirely, leaving you absolutely lost.
Unfortunately, while some films choose this
speed as part of a broader stylistic choice,
Taken 3 uses it because whoever was responsible
for the theatrical cut's editing just didn't
do a very good job.
[Sirens and intense, exhilarating music]
At worst, this editing is a recipe for motion
sickness and migraines.
At best, it's an intensely discombobulating
style of editing that makes it hard to keep
track of virtually any of the on-screen information.
Star Wars: Attack of the Clones
As a wise Jedi once said, "I hate bad editing.
It's coarse and rough and irritating and it
gets everywhere."
That wisdom was nowhere to be found during
the editing of Attack of the Clones, the second
Star Wars prequel movie.
While the movie itself sported plenty of noteworthy
elements, like an imaginative story, impressive
world design, and some cutting-edge special
effects, the one thing it sorely lacked was
sharp editing.
Far too much of Attack of the Clones' two-hour
and twenty-two minute runtime focuses on undercooked
romantic and political subplots—side narratives
that could've been cut down without affecting
the film's overall story whatsoever.
The quality of the movie could only have improved
if these lengthy sequences had been cut down
to their essentials, giving the happy couple
enough screen time to resonate with audiences
but not so much that they overstayed their
welcome.
Han and Leia?
Awesome.
Anakin and Padme?
Who cares?
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