Moments of pure and utter brilliance in works you otherwise thought were bad.

[Saltyk]

I don't know if this really counts as I do enjoy DBZ, but every clip I've every seen of the Big Green dub is terrible. And yet, incredible. While the Ocean dub had some odd voices and seriously screwed up some translation or outright made stuff up, the Big Green dub is...

Well, just look at some of it!


One day, I wanna find the whole Big Green dub and watch it all. I don't think I'll survive the laughter...

 

[SomeGuyOnHisComputer]

I know this isn't the popular opinion, but I thought No More Heroes 2 was terrible compared to the original. The unnecessary minor tweaks (ironically most of them at the request of fans) they made to the gameplay made it mostly unplayable or dull to me.

However, there are several moments, where the game feels self aware and actually criticizes those tweaks and mocks said fans.
Okay, maybe this is a case of seeing something in a work of art that isn't there, but hear me out.

Spoiler

That line about wanting you to explore, that feels like a snarky comment about the overworld being removed. Errr, at least that's how I interpreted it 4 years ago when I played it.

There are also major issues with the level design that hurt the game, mostly with the areas being crowded with bullshit that gets in your way. Made even worse as direct control over the camera was taken away. Just because something looks better aesthetically doesn't mean it's better for game design, I think the developers knew this. The game demonstrates this by having a handful of segments that are barren and just all around far more video game like. Namely these are the Mimmy fight linked above, and a the segment leading up to the final boss.

... I could go on for hours about this, but I think you get it.

While No More Heroes was a "take that" to gamers, No More Heroes 2 was a "take that" to gamers who don't know how to appreciate anything and don't understand the subtleties in game design, yet criticize anyway.

 

[Stevepinto3]

Alpha Protocol had some truly excellent depth to it, particularly in the fact that your choices really do have consequences. Piss off the wrong person and you will pay for it later. Just a shame that the gunplay that made up most of the game was awful.

 

[shogunblade]

I loved the Mr. Freeze boss fight in Arkham City on the Hard Difficulty. It was the best part of literally one of my least favorite games I have played, because for that fight, You are into the Arkham Asylum stealth mechanic.

On Normal, the game is okay, but on Hard, you have to play it more like a puzzle game. Being chased by Mr. Freeze is quite stressful and it makes you have to think ahead, at least two steps forward, to make the fight work. It was the only boss fight (Hell, it was the best fight in the game) I enjoyed from the game.

 

[King Billi]

Umm, I suppose Beyond: Two Souls counts. The entire thing makes no sense but the bit where Jodie goes around raising money when homeless is pretty much the highlight of the whole game. Then David Cage ruins it by having you escape a burning building for literally no reason other than he didn't know how to transition into the next scene properly.

There were actually alot of individual moments or "scenes" in that game that I found to be either very touching, suitably creepy or visually impressive depending on the moment. Some examples I would offer would be playing as little Jodie in her home and throwing snowballs with other kids outside, following the ghost through the halls of the laboratory, shutting down the condensor underwater and the moment when you're escaping from the cops on the train.

There are other examples I could point to but the common factors in them are that each one is either a small inconsequential character moment, a scene with heavy and effective atmosphere or basically just action scenes which taken by themselves are pretty cool to watch. There are very VERY few moments when two characters are speaking in this game that is anything other than cringworthy though.

In the end brevity I think is the key, the shortest chapters or at the ones with the least things going on I feel were the most effective, and again that is just when they are taken by themselves.

 

[JagermanXcell]

I really REALLY did not care for Man of Steel.
But can I just say, how goddamn AMAZING the fights in Smallville and Metropolis were?! They are so out of place in the movie yet when I watch them I think to myself "WOW what if THIS were the Dragon Ball Z movie we've always wanted!" Something about how the fights were directed just kept making me imagine what it would look like seeing Kai blasts collide with each other, seeing how devastating these god like punches are to landscapes. As much as I disliked the movie I couldn't help but be immersed by the deity-like combat that would have been so perfect for totally different movie.

A more recent one I would have to say the Left Behind DLC for The Last of Us.

Lets face it, it was crap. The story was unnecessary, the reveal with Ellie was stupid and did nothing to improve her already established fine character. (I might even go as far as to say it ruined her character)
So what was great about it?
Having Hunter+Infected interaction. It happens so little, but it feels like this whole brand spanking new mechanic/gameplay element that brings a lot to the table in terms of enemy encounter variety. Out of supplies for a molotov? Only got a bottle? Use what you have to turn the Clickers into weapons against the humans! Brilliant!

This should have been in the final game, or should have been part of AN ISH/BILL STORY DLC!
Naughty Dog's dropped the ball plenty of times before, but man did they have it for a good while only to drop it long and far into the chasm of the abyss.

 

[[Kira Must Die]]

Elfen Lied- The stuff with Lucy and her childhood. Also, the scene between Kurama and Mariko towards the end.

Soul Eater- there were some eerie scenes, like when the Keshin was resurrecting, which was genuinely creepy and kinda cool.

Gai-Rei: Zero- When the crippled lady was dragging Yomi around in her rocket-propelled wheelchair with machine guns attached. That was pretty rad. Also when Kagura and Yomi made out, and when those two girls were hiding in the locker together while wearing tight, wet, one-piece swimsuits. Why is it that the most juvenile moments were the only things keeping my attention?

Katanagatari- The entire last episode. If only the rest of the anime was like that and wasn't an hour of people sprouting expository dialogue and explaining fighting moves while dropping additional backstory during heated fight scenes that only last 30 seconds.

 

[Jazoni89]

Kayne West is a colossal egotistical douchebag, and most of his stuff is not all that good, but his first album College Dropout is a goddamn masterpiece of rap music (and I use that in the strictest sense of the word), with hit, after hit, after hit, and I'm not even the biggest fan of rap music. It definitely makes most of his other stuff seem like total poppy garbage, that appeals to the lowest common denominator.

In fact the only song, I don't really like on that album is Workout Plan.

 

[vrbtny]

That moment in the grey with the guy sitting down by the river, and the pure and utter silence which follows.... you know that scene, amazing scene

 

[tippy2k2]

The movie "Rampage" was quite possibly one of the worst movies I had ever seen. Plot holes that you could drive a truck through and just all around stupid movie. That makes it that much more infuriating to see a few scenes that are powerful and just damn good; you see the potential that was absolutely ruined by Boll.

The Hair Salon and the Bingo Hall

Both of them are jaw dropping awesome for two entirely different reasons. Hair Salon shows the real fear and damage that a person going on a rampage like that can do (something that the rest of the movie falls epically flat on with its video game "I shoot you once and you die" setup). The Bingo Hall is the exact opposite as we take a five minute break from this kid murdering everyone in site so he can go get a sandwich. Again, a great use of pacing as we go from 60 to 0 (and back to 60 once he leaves) that was utterly brilliant.

Unfortunately, the rest of the movie sucks so much donkey that I could not in good faith recommend that anyone go see it ever. Go see "Falling Down"; the same type of movie except it's actually good for "Rampage" is just a waste of time and space. Uwe Boll should have been a giant red flag but I didn't listen....I DIDN'T LISTEN!!!

 

[Fappy]

For me, I think I'd have to say...huh...I honestly have a hard time thinking of anything. That's depressing. I suppose I could say the "For me it was Tuesday" moment from Street Fighter the movie, but that's kinda cheating considering I never watched it. Aw well, I'll put it up there. Well, I am looking forward to everything else everyone will share.

I got another Street Fighter moment for ya, though it is from the animated movie; The Chun Li/Vega fight.

Now I wouldn't say the movie is terrible, but it is pretty darn stupid. That one fight however makes it all worth it. It's seriously one of the best fights ever.

I agree wholeheartedly. That fight is one of the best animated fights in the history of ever. It's kind of weird how much that scene stands out compared to the rest of the movie.

For those who haven't seen it:
(Don't worry, it's the safe for work version. Uncensored cut shows her boobs in an inexplicable shower scene. Lol, 90's anime movies)

 

[Nimzabaat]

I'd say the first person shooter sequence in the Doom movie. The rest of the movie was so bad, but that scene made it almost worth the price of admission.

 

[WindKnight]

The final twist in the original MD Geist. The Oav is pretty awful, unless all you want is some neat designs and a variety of ways to see the human body be destroyed in the goriest manner possible. Its not helped than the nearest to likable characters are poorly defined cannon-fodder, with the... protagonist for want of a better word seemingly choosing sides in each fight solely on which one will give him the more challenging fight, and barely any characterization beyond that.

but then...

Spoiler

having fought their way through an impregnable fortress to shut down the Death Force - an unstoppable doomsday weapon of self-replicating robot warriors designed and programmed to kill every last thing on the planet - Geist ultimately chooses to unleash the Death Force just so he can have the ultimate foe to fight against

A really Jaw dropping and shocking moment that nonetheless makes total sense given what we know about the characters. Unfortunately, id also made me give MD Geist 2 a shot, but that was just as bad as the first.

 

[Nouw]

I Saw the Devil is a South Korean film directed by Kim Jee Woon of 'The Good, the Bad and the Weird' fame. I'm not the biggest fan of his movies but I don't hate them either, they're just kinda boring. I Saw the Devil is no exception but there is one amazing fight scene in a moving car involving three dudes, a few knives and a lot of blood. I think you can find it on Youtube via movieclips. It's probably my favourite action sequence in a Korean movie, beating out even yes, Oldboy's corridor brawl.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I agree wholeheartedly. That fight is one of the best animated fights in the history of ever. It's kind of weird how much that scene stands out compared to the rest of the movie.

For those who haven't seen it:
(Don't worry, it's the safe for work version. Uncensored cut shows her boobs in an inexplicable shower scene. Lol, 90's anime movies)

Can you believe the original Japanese soundtrack had soft piano music playing to this.

I recently bought this movie on blu-ray and unfortunately the sound during this scene is screwed up a bit. Like for example when Vega calls Chun Li '*****' in the blu-ray version it's changed to 'witch' for some reason.

Anyway, now I have to watch this clip again.

 

[Fappy]

I agree wholeheartedly. That fight is one of the best animated fights in the history of ever. It's kind of weird how much that scene stands out compared to the rest of the movie.

For those who haven't seen it:
(Don't worry, it's the safe for work version. Uncensored cut shows her boobs in an inexplicable shower scene. Lol, 90's anime movies)

Can you believe the original Japanese soundtrack had soft piano music playing to this.

I recently bought this movie on blu-ray and unfortunately the sound during this scene is screwed up a bit. Like for example when Vega calls Chun Li '*****' in the blu-ray version it's changed to 'witch' for some reason.

Anyway, now I have to watch this clip again.

I have no idea which version of the movie I have (I imagine there are quite a few). I think it may be the original (uncensored) English dub, but I could be wrong. Anyway, the English script and licensed music choices are so fucking weird in this movie. Things that stand out:

- Ken yelling at M. Bison, "You dickhead!"
- "Them Bones" playing at the most awkward time for an Alice in Chains song
- "Blind" by Korn playing at the very end when Ryu is getting accosted by M. Bison driving a semi

Fucking weird shit right there XD

 

[Casual Shinji]

I have no idea which version of the movie I have (I imagine there are quite a few). I think it may be the original (uncensored) English dub, but I could be wrong. Anyway, the English script and licensed music choices are so fucking weird in this movie. Things that stand out:

- Ken yelling at M. Bison, "You dickhead!"
- "Them Bones" playing at the most awkward time for an Alice in Chains song
- "Blind" by Korn playing at the very end when Ryu is getting accosted by M. Bison driving a semi

Fucking weird shit right there XD

Yeah, if you notice, everytime the movie cuts to Ken who is usually in Seattle, they'll start to play grunge music.

I think they must've redone some of the dubs for the blu-ray. The part where Vega says 'sweet' when he licks the blood off his blades is also mysteriously absent.

 

[HalfTangible]

Looking back at Eragon, it was really bad, but the moment where Saphira first speaks is friggen awesome.

Also: RWBY is a series I friggen love, but if I'm perfectly honest, it only really does fight scenes and the occasional bit of humor well. Its plot, characters and animation otherwise ranges from average to subpar. Good thing the fights are just plain awesome

 

[remnant_phoenix]

Hope's breakdown on Gran Pulse in FFXIII.

I loathe FFXIII, especially because it dropped the ball in presenting its story, but the scene where Hope breaks down and cries as the crushing weight of everything that he's had to endure up to that point...that, to me, was a real and powerful display of an emotional expression that video game narrative usually avoids: grief expressed as sadness.

We see grief expressed as anger (God of War; the first one, the sequels lost any semblance of worthwhile storytelling) and grief expressed as detachment/disillusionment (Silent Hill 2), but having a character, especially a young one, go completely heart-on-the-sleeve real and let it all out with tears? That's rare.

Hope's moment is an example of that sort of expression in game narrative, and I think it was handled quite well, especially considering how poorly FFXIII's storytelling was handled in general.