10 Movies That Ruined Awesome Cinematic Tricks
8. Dutch Angles - Battlefield Earth
A dutch angle involves tilting the camera to one side in order to create a skewed, unconventional perspective, as is most commonly used to depict a character undergoing a tense or uneasy situation.
Dutch angles have been employed well by filmmakers like Tim Burton and Terry Gilliam, to depict a character losing their grip on reality or perhaps even being high on drugs.
It's a relatively divisive technique all things considered, though was brought into the realm of sheer infamy by 2000's Razzie-winning sci-fi dud Battlefield Earth.
In an attempt to make the film's aesthetic resemble that of a comic book, director Roger Christian shot almost the entire film in dutch angles, as has been widely ridiculed ever since.
Hilariously, Roger Ebert had perhaps the final word on the matter in his damning review of the film:
"The director, Roger Christian, has learned from better films that directors sometimes tilt their cameras, but he has not learned why."
Sadly Battlefield Earth brought the dutch angle into such risible disrepute that few filmmakers will now go near it for fear of being in any way associated with that movie.
Kenneth Branagh was brave enough to tilt his camera for a good portion of Thor, but it's a technique that's often seen as goofy and quaint these days, even though it can be totally appropriate for depicting a reality-warping scenario.