Some completely missed the mark
A director's vision is very important in filmmaking, but sometimes the final cut is not quite what directors envisioned. Some directors have openly criticized their own work, and some really dislike a few of their movies, despite some being critically-acclaimed, box-office hits. The reasons for this vary; while some directors don't think their movies are good enough, others blame the studios for the poor final cut.
In this gallery, we revisit some of the movies hated by their own directors. Click on and see if you agree!
'Alien 3' was David Fincher's debut feature film, and it wasn't a great one, both commercially and critically. The director and 20th Century Fox clashed over numerous aspects of the film, and the result was not to Fincher's liking.
"No one hated it more than me; to this day, no one hates it more than me," said Fincher.
George Clooney has expressed his regret in taking the part, and director Joel Schumacher is not a fan of the movie either. The director wanted the film to be a lot darker and more realistic, but that was not the studio's plan.
"I wanted to make 'The Dark Knight' desperately, but the studio didn’t want that and it’s their money and they’re my bosses," said Schumacher.
Arguably one of the best Woody Allen movies is also one that the director doesn't quite understand the acclaim over. "For some reason, that film is very likable," he's stated.
Apparently Allen wanted the Oscar-winning film to be more experimental, and not quite the romantic comedy it ended up being.
The movie was a flop, and the director blamed the studio for it. "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,” Trank tweeted.
David Lynch's adaptation of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi novel left a lot to be desired for the director. So much so that he said the movie was "a huge sadness" in his life.
The reason? David Lynch did not have final cut. "When you don’t have final cut, total creative freedom, you stand to die the death. Die the death. And dying I did," said the director.
Writer George Lucas was going through a divorce and director Steven Spielberg broke up with his girlfriend at the time, so the movie has that gloomy feel.
Apparently not all the 'Transformers' movies get the same love from director Michael Bay, who has called this one "crap."
'Thor: The Dark World' is yet another classic case of creative clashes between director and studio. Taylor described the Marvel experience as "particularly wrenching," because the studio's cut "turned it into a different movie."
This unreleased controversial Holocaust comedy film by Jerry Lewis hasn't been released because, until his death, the comedian didn't think it was appropriate.
"It was bad, and it was bad because I lost the magic. No one will ever see it, because I’m embarrassed at the poor work," said Lewis in 2013. Nonetheless, the film is scheduled to be released in 2025.
'Hannah and Her Sisters' may have won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, but Woody Allen is not very happy with it.
"'Hannah and Her Sisters' is a film I feel I screwed up very badly," confessed Allen. The director particularly disliked the ending, calling it "the part that killed me."
The director cast 'Sex, Lies, and Videotape' (1989) actor Peter Gallagher in this remake of a 1949 film noir. Unfortunately, it was not as successful as the previous movie starring Gallagher.
The director later admitted that the film was "kind of a mess" and "dead on arrival."
The director started shooting the movie back in 2008, but after numerous budget issues he abandoned the project. 'Accidental Love' was then released, but David O. Russell asked for the pseudonym Stephen Greene be used in the credits.
The iconic English filmmaker called 'Rope' an "experiment that didn’t work out."
The director "really hated the experience" of working with producer Harvey Weinstein, adding that 'Mimic 'is "visually 100% what [he] wanted." Del Toro also said that he felt "condemned to doing the best giant cockroach movie ever made."
Kiefer Sutherland hated 'Woman Wanted' so much that he asked for the pseudonym Alan Smithee to disown his movie. The pseudonym has been used by Hollywood directors since the late '60s to express their dissatisfaction.
This black comedy starring Jodie Foster and Dennis Hopper was first credited under the pseudonym Alan Smithee, which attests to Hopper's dislike of the final cut. In 1992, a director's cut was released under the new title 'Backtrack.'
The movie starring Edward Norton as a neo-Nazi was well received by critics at the time, but director Tony Kaye was not happy with the final cut imposed by the studio.
The story goes that the director took a very long time fine-tuning the last cut, so New Line Cinema bosses brought in Norton to finish the job. Kaye even tried to get his name out of the credits, but to no avail.
The director of this sci-fi movie starring Vin Diesel slammed his own film, after receiving poor reviews from critics. Kassovitz blamed the studio lawyers: "Fox was sending lawyers who were looking at all the commas and the dots. They made everything difficult from A to Z," he said.
The director said that the final cut was "pure violence and stupidity." Adding that "[...] parts of the movie are like a bad episode of '24.'"
Sources: (NME) (Screen Rant) (Looper) (Ranker)
Movies that directors aren’t proud of
Some filmmakers even used pseudonyms in the credits!
MOVIES Film
A director's vision is very important in filmmaking, but sometimes the final cut is not quite what directors envisioned. Some directors have openly criticized their own work, and some really dislike a few of their movies, despite some being critically-acclaimed, box-office hits. The reasons for this vary; while some directors don't think their movies are good enough, others blame the studios for the poor final cut.
In this gallery, we revisit some of the movies hated by their own directors. Click on and see if you agree!