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?
Thanks for watching!
Click the Looper icon to subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Plus check out all this cool stuff we know you'll love, too!