Top 10 Dramatic Movie Scenes RUINED by Terrible Acting

WatchMojo

When high stakes meet low talent, the results are unforgettable... for all the wrong reasons! Join us as we count down the most intense movie moments completely destroyed by terrible performances. From awkward breakdowns to laughable death scenes, these actors took dramatic gold and turned it into cringe.

Transcript

00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most intense movie

00:13moments that fell flat due to bad line readings or poor emoting.

00:17But what are they going to do with the other half? It's not enough to make a nuclear bomb.

00:22You're the scientist, you tell me.

00:2310. Nomi's Tantrum – Showgirls

00:29Nomi's dreams of making it big in LA get majorly derailed when she's robbed on her very first day

00:35in the city. It's only natural she's at her wits' end here, but Elizabeth Berkley makes some

00:51questionable choices that turn Nomi's breaking point into a cringey mess. It's especially glaring

00:57opposite Gina Rivera's Molly, who calmly offers the main character a place to crash.

01:02You can stay with me if you need a place to crash. It's not much until you get a job.

01:09We don't know why, since all Nomi does is throw french fries and pout in extremely unconvincing

01:15fashion. It's one thing to be upset, but Berkley goes so over the top, it's hard to view this as

01:22anything other than embarrassing. 9. Dad – The Godfather Part 3

01:46One of the most infamous cases of Hollywood nepotism,

01:49Francis Ford Coppola cast his own daughter Sophia in a pivotal role in the final Godfather film.

01:55Too bad for him, he didn't check whether she was a good actress or not.

02:08The movie hinges upon Mary Corleone's death, but unfortunately, Sophia's flat delivery doesn't

02:15muster much in terms of emotion. The way she utters her last words is somehow dull and overdramatic at

02:21the same time, which is honestly kind of impressive.

02:24"...Dad?"

02:25While the production had to scramble for a replacement when Winona Ryder dropped out of the role,

02:30surely they could've found someone better than Sophia Coppola.

02:358. Confronting His Mother – Alexander

02:38Let's be clear, Colin Farrell is a great actor. He isn't Oscar-nominated for nothing.

02:539. Now, if I've done something to you, just tell me what I've done to you. And if I've said something to

02:58you, maybe I said something when I was drunk and I've forgotten it, but I don't think I said something

03:01when I was drunk and I've forgotten it. But whether it's due to the script or direction,

03:05his work in Alexander is… dubious, to put it nicely. In this scene, Alexander is confronting

03:11his mother about her role in his father's death.

03:13"...I forbid you to ever talk to me like that! Such a man would be forever chased by the Furies!"

03:19Sounds intense, right? Well, in Farrell's miscast hands, all it results in is a lot of weird

03:25inflections and arm-waving. While Angelina Jolie's Olympias doesn't give him a ton to work with,

03:31the blame ultimately lies on Farrell as the leading man.

03:34Enough. Half the mothers in Greece share such a fantasy.

03:39Sadly, the gravitas of Alexander's plight is completely lost in this middling-screen adaptation.

03:467. What? No! The Happening

03:50Look, I don't know if you guys have heard about this article in the New York Times about honeybees

03:53vanishing. Well, apparently honeybees are disappearing all over the country. Tens of millions of them just

03:59disappearing. Given the world-ending stakes of this sci-fi thriller, you'd think Mark Wahlberg would

04:04be able to conjure up a little urgency. Instead, he utters each line like he's in a bad parody.

04:10When Mrs. Jones accuses him of plotting to hurt her, his response is so unbelievably awkward. Well,

04:25listen for yourself. For the record, Wahlberg's character isn't actually trying to hurt her.

04:39He just sounds like that. So, we don't even blame Mrs. Jones for being suspicious.

04:44If someone answered a question as timidly as Wahlberg did here,

04:57we'd think they were up to something, too. In this case, though, it's just a case of tremendously

05:02poor casting. It's alarming to say that, of all things wrong with this dumpster fire,

05:28John Travolta's horribly misguided performance might be the absolute worst.

05:32He aims for sophisticated alien, and lands somewhere between hammy mustache,

05:37twirler, and vaguely British middle school kid.

05:39Are you not aware that I graduated top of my class?

05:43Quite an accomplishment. I don't mean to second guess the home office.

05:48The accent, if you can even call it that, just doesn't work. Not that he can maintain it for long.

05:54The moment we see Terl in a true rage is supposed to be chilling, but with everything working against

05:59him, it feels laughable instead. Home office does not make mistakes.

06:04Of course not. But have you looked at my file, sir? It explicitly says that this is a temporary

06:10assignment. It'd be right at home in a Campy B movie, but something tells us that wasn't Travolta's

06:16intention. 5. Cooper is the Butcher

06:29Trap

06:30Another day, another director casting their daughter in a major motion picture. This one didn't work out

06:45any better than Sofia Coppola in The Godfather. In fact, it might be even worse.

06:50Playing a pop star who gets caught up in a killer's clutches, Salika Knight's Shyamalan is given one

06:56of the film's greatest lines, and proceeds to absolutely butcher it.

07:00Rachel, listen to me! Your husband is the Butcher! Cooper is the Butcher!

07:05Telling a woman her husband is a notorious criminal should be an actor's dream. For Salika, though,

07:11it sounds like she's in an SNL skit. Her awful line reads single-handedly destroys

07:25all of Trapp's tension, although it did create some awesome memes. So, there's that.

07:30Did I tell you you could talk back to me, Cooper? That profiler told you things.

07:37You never listen when you're told. I know what you're doing.

07:404. Oh. My. God. Troll 2

07:45This broth is miraculous. It contains sap from the forest.

07:54Beleaguered by a shoestring budget, language barriers, and inexperienced actors, it's really

07:59no wonder Troll 2 wound up as one of the most awful movies ever made. At the very least,

08:04it falls into the category of so bad it's good, particularly when Arnold discovers the titular

08:10monsters. His exclamation has zero impact, fear, or shock in the slightest. And, in a way,

08:17that's what makes it iconic. In a more refined actor's hand, this could have established the

08:33real horror of the Trolls. Then again, considering the rest of the film, an unintentionally hilarious

08:38death scene was probably the best legacy Arnold could've hoped for.

08:533. Oh God. Oh Man. Tough Guys Don't Dance

08:57Hold it. Till you're home. Open it. Think about it. Don't ring me. Don't ask me how I know.

09:05That's six promises. Tim's having a really rough day. He discovers his wife is having an affair,

09:11and rightfully breaks down. Or, at least, that's what we think is happening. In reality,

09:16Ryan O'Neal stomps around a lot, saying the same four words over and over.

09:21It's not exactly moving, that's for sure. O'Neal comes off as a bad improviser who isn't sure how

09:37to continue the story, and instead just keeps repeating the same beat. To make matters worse,

09:42O'Neal's so-called grief is way too over the top to hit its mark. As the emotional climax of Tough

09:48Guys Don't Dance, it's a shame you walk away more confused and upset.

10:012. Dr. Christmas Jones' Expertise

10:04The world is not enough. To give credit where it's due, this isn't a Denise Richards issue as

10:11much as it is a casting blunder. There's just no buying her as a nuclear scientist. She's the

10:26spitting image of a Bond girl, but instead of playing up those strengths, The World Is Not

10:30Enough saddles her with a ton of scientific jargon that sounds utterly ridiculous coming out of her

10:35mouth. You can tell Richards has no idea what she's actually saying, and it grinds the entire story to an

10:51absolute halt. The acting is so flimsy, it completely takes you out of the movie, and doesn't let you

10:57back in for the rest of the runtime. Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and

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11:15occasional videos, or all of them. If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and

11:19switch on notifications. You're tearing me apart, Lisa! The Room. No one can say Tommy Wiseau lacks

11:30passion. He certainly brings energy to his iconic movie, The Room. Unfortunately for him, emphasizing

11:36words is not the same as acting. Wiseau's character makes it very clear Lisa's betrayal is tearing him

11:55up. But all the performance gets across is he really likes yelling. While there's a bevy of poorly

12:07performed scenes in this infamous film, Wiseau's meltdown lives on, as the most damning example of

12:13what happens when you don't have trained actors. It's overblown, completely nonsensical, and only

12:19served to cement The Room as the laughing stock of cinema for generations. What's the worst acting

12:36you've ever seen in a pivotal movie scene? Let us know in the comments below.

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