10 Real Reasons Behind Annoying Movie Moments

Black Panther's eyesore of a finale wasn't the VFX artists' fault.

Black Panther Killmonger
Marvel Studios

We've all had those moments where we're watching a movie - whether great or not-so-great - and thought, "Why the hell did the filmmakers do that? Why did they make that choice?"

As complicated as the process of making a movie is, sometimes a creative decision just beggars belief to audiences, who are left struggling to figure out what the hell inspired it.

For the most part these eccentric moments are left for viewers to ponder forever more, but every so often someone associated with the production - whether the director, an actor, or a below-the-line crew member - will speak up years later to finally reveal why things turned out as they did.

Perhaps the filmmakers had to deal with sudden last-minute limitations on set, maybe producers hijacked the shoot and ran riot, or the ever-pesky test audiences forced the studio to pivot.

Whatever the reason, these 10 irritating and highly questionable movie moments all have explanations which lend crucial context to their existence.

And so, whenever you watch these movies again - assuming you will, of course - you'll see these scenes in a whole new light...

10. All The Dutch Angles - Battlefield Earth

Black Panther Killmonger
Warner Bros.

Battlefield Earth is a wall-to-wall dud of a movie any way you slice it, but the most annoying thing about it? All those damn Dutch angles.

Almost every single shot in the film is a Dutch angle - that is to say, almost every shot is tilted to one side, and proves supremely distracting throughout the two-hour runtime.

Apparently this was entirely at the behest of director Roger Christian, who despite pushback from cinematographer Giles Nuttgens, insisted on Dutching the whole movie, reportedly in an attempt to approximate a comic book aesthetic.

Yet there is another practical reason which allegedly dictated the decision to Dutch the movie - to cover up the fact that the nine-feet tall alien Psychlos were actually very far from that height, even with John Travolta and his alien co-stars wearing lifts in their shoes.

Tilting the camera to the side made it tougher for audiences to keep track of the height discrepancy - or not - between the Psychlos and human characters.

If every shot in the movie was kept level, it'd be much easier to discern that the Psychlos aren't as tall as billed.

Contributor
Contributor

Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.