10 Actors Who Knew Their Action Movie Was Doomed From Day One
Because roles are sometimes taken despite the red flag warning signs.
If you look back over the careers of our favourite movie stars, even the very best with unbelievable runs of films are all going to have at least one or two questionable choices within their repertoire. In retrospect, it's likely that most Hollywood stars had the odd turkey early in their career, a film that absolutely bombed at the box office which they would rather forget they were a part of.
Some actors will have had movies which made money, but compromised their artist integrity. And on occasion they may have been contractually obliged to return to a franchise, or convinced against their better judgement with money just too good to turn down for a follow-up to a great picture, when their heart wasn’t in it or the script just couldn’t hold a candle to its predecessor.
There are occasions when it was apparent from day one on set, or even before shooting started, that the chemistry was all wrong and the creative partnership was going to quickly hit a downward spiral. And in its various subgenres, here are ten prime examples from the action movie world.
10. Michael Caine – Jaws: The Revenge
When Steven Spielberg directed Jaws (1977), he changed the face of the blockbuster monster movie by supplying one of the highest grossing pictures of all time, which can still be considered a masterpiece to this day. It’s a film which probably did not need any sequels, yet its success was always going to determine otherwise. As with many franchises, it’s fair to say that in the case of Jaws each movie slowly diminished in terms of quality, culminating in Jaws: The Revenge (1987), which featured iconic British acting veteran Sir Michael Caine in a chief supporting role.
The movie was widely panned and signalled the nail in the coffin for the Jaws series with its far-fetched storyline of a shark seeking revenge against the family of the first two film’s protagonist. This was a strange supernatural element to add to the story, which must have appeared slightly bizarre at the script reading stage. But, at this middling point in his career, it seems Michael Caine was willing to take whatever roles came his way and offered a decent pay check.
Whilst looking back at his involvement during an appearance on The Jonathan Ross Show, Caine explained, “Somebody said, ‘Have you ever seen Jaws 4?’ I said, ‘No. But I’ve seen the house it bought for my mum. It’s fantastic!" He added; "The bleeding shark didn’t even work on that. I thought we were in trouble when the shark didn’t work!”