10 Perfect Scenes In God-Awful Movies
They weren't all bad.
No matter how abysmal a movie is, there are often some redeeming qualities. The worst comedies are bound to have a couple of decent jokes. The dumbest blockbusters have one or two imaginative action sequences. Even when you're watching the cheesiest rom-com, you can sometimes feel your heartstrings tugging a little.
But every now and again, you'll watch a film that's atrocious from start-to-finish, save for one scene. And this scene in question isn't just funny or entertaining - it's a work of art. Moments like this are so masterfully crafted, you become enraptured, momentarily forgetting how rubbish the rest of the movie is.
The first few minutes of Mortal Kombat are so heart-wrenching, it's a pity the rest of the adaptation couldn't match it. Shallow Hal is a pretty silly comedy but it's challenging not to choke up during the hospital sequence. Despite how derivative Valerian is, the prologue has some of the best world-building seen in sci-fi in recent years.
Because of how thrilling, emotional, and hilarious these scenes are, it's genuinely frustrating that they're trapped in such god-awful movies.
10. The Tripod Attack - War Of The Worlds
With Tom Cruise playing the lead in Steven Spielberg's adaptation of one of HG Well's most influential stories, it sounded like War of the Worlds couldn't fail.
But due to the uneven tone, forced family drama, and an annoyingly abrupt ending, few were bowled over by this blockbuster. (Also, how did Robbie survive that explosion near the end? After 17 years, this plothole still bothers me.)
Fortunately, the story's centrepiece, the alien invasion itself, is as chilling as you'd expect. After an EMP hits a town, Ray and his family walk towards an intersection, gawking in horror at the source of the signal.
With little warning, a Martian ship bursts from the ground and begins reducing everything to ash with a high-powered energy weapon. Ray and his family dive into their car and drive off, while the tripod's lasers hurl trucks into houses and rip freeways to shreds.
As delightfully well-shot and edited as this scene is, there's one simple detail that really sells it.
The sound. Or, more accurately, the lack of sound. Once the tripod appears, there's no dialogue. No witty banter. No monologues. No cheesy one-liners. There's barely any music. Watching this colossal automaton in pure silence just before it obliterates the town makes the scene far more gripping.