Misdelivered lines

Thrawn said:

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Empire Strikes Back, "Good, our first catch of the day". Always sounds "off" to me.

I HATE this line. It sounds so bad, it's laughable.

JediG60racer said:

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When he said, "Murgle urgle mumbeltee groooo."

Should have been more emphasis on the "OOOO"

Hey, that's my quote!

Batman Episode 4 - The Penguin's A Jinx - YouTube

Agreed. That might have been dubbed which could have caused that.

When Aunt Beru says "he has too much of his Father in him", the "F" is dragged out. Sounds off to me. I know that was dubbed.

Mullreel said:

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+1

no idea where in the movie we are talking about

Lucky.

My favorite bad line delivery is probably a recurring failure from an old Captain Marvel movie serial. In each episode, Captain Marvel collars a bad guy and says, "Talk, or I'll...!" The threat is supposed to be cut off by the bad guy stammering, "No, please, I'll tell you everything I know!" or something equally banal. The problem was, those movie serials didn't hire A-list actors... so the timing is way off. Many of the scenes play out like this:

Capt. Marvel: "Talk, or I'll!"
(Bad guy looks confused)
(Capt. Marvel looks back threateningly)
Bad guy: "No, no, I'll talk!"

PHArchivist said:

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I realize such interpretation is a bit subjective, and I don't REALLY know what is in the writer's head. But I OFTEN see actors delivering lines with an emphasis or inflection that doesn't "fit"...

Speaking from the acting side of things... sometimes (in my admittedly limited experience) the actor will have an idea of how he/she wants to deliver the line, but after a take or two the director will say, "Now, let's try it like this" or "Let's change that delivery so we have some options to choose from." And then it all gets sent to the editor, who might pick the take that looks best but doesn't necessarily have the best line delivery.

And then sometimes you just can't win no matter what inflection you give -- I was in one show where the director had also written the script, and he decided to REWRITE THE LINES while we were shooting. So we'd finish a take, the crew would move the camera for the reaction shot, and the director would come over and say, "I think I want to change that line. It will have more of a double meaning if you say ____ instead." (Not surprisingly, we had to reshoot that entire scene later. With the original script.)

In Star Wars, Darth Vader says COUNSELOR ship when he should say CONSULAR ship. Really bugs me! The correct word is used by the Rebel captain in the preceding line too and Vader is meant to be repeating what the captain says which just makes the wrong one all the worse. If only there had been some opportunity to correct it sometime in the last 35 years.

southcenter said:

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The first few times I saw it I had no idea what he was trying to tell Neo and it was only after repeated viewings that I finally figured out that they were referring to the "TV" version of the construct that the crew had been watching during the fight between Neo and Morpheus.

Obligatory Neo moment in three...two...one...

WOAH!

In all of the times I've seen the Matrix, that bit of babble really never made sense to me and I just pretty much wrote it off as bad writing. And now it actually makes total sense. Gee, thanks for the wonky delivery, Joey Pants!

This has got to be the best mis-delivered line I have ever seen in a movie.

Phantom Planet

AVA said:

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Speaking from the acting side of things... sometimes (in my admittedly limited experience) the actor will have an idea of how he/she wants to deliver the line, but after a take or two the director will say, "Now, let's try it like this" or "Let's change that delivery so we have some options to choose from." And then it all gets sent to the editor, who might pick the take that looks best but doesn't necessarily have the best line delivery.

100% agree and understand...

In fact, it really makes you wonder when it comes to award winning (or p**s-poor) performances - how much credit should apply to the editor?

I'd imagine with the best actors, directors, and editors, there is a caliber, confidence, and synergy that will generate the best end result. But a cavalier or unskilled editor can really make or break an actor's performance, I suppose.

Yes. The editor decides whether to use the pacing of the scene as performed, or to change it.

It's always bugged me that when Luke says, "Well, more wealth than YOU can imagine," he puts the emphasis on YOU. Maybe it's because Solo was always described as a "cynical, mercenary space pilot" that I figured Luke should have assumed he'd be familiar with the idea of wealth. So maybe the emphasis should have been on IMAGINE.

Probably even more OT, but in "Die Hard," when Hans tells Karl to "Shoot the glass," he says the line first in German, then in English for emphasis. Wouldn't saying the line in their native language have been more emphatic? (Extra bonus points for getting the article wrong: He says "Schiess den Fenster" when "Schiess DAS Fenster" is correct.)

Avengers... RDJ's: "Billionare, genius, playboy, philanthropist." I loved how it was delievered in the trailer, but the movie came around, and it sounds like they forced him to say it different. I still say he could have pulled off the cocky version better than the angry version.

Spiderman 2: Toby's "NAAAAOOoooaaooa!" scream. Need I say more?

Next, in the previews for Episode I(bear with me here), when Padme screams "Get to your ships!", it sounded a hell of a lot better than the, "I'm a politician and have to maintain composure".

And finally, this is more of a fault on Uncle Georgy, Boba Fetts voice change in ESB. I'm not gonna get into why it shouldn't have been changed to Jangos, but if you are gonna do it, make it sound like you care! The delivery of Jango's voice sounded like it could care less of what happens. "What if he doesn't survive? He's worth alot to me." It sounded like, "La la la la, whatever you wish Lord Vader!" When the old voice had the umph, rasp, and ruggedness that should be Boba. *Sigh* don't get me going on this one...

Satxer said:

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And finally, this is more of a fault on Uncle Georgy, Boba Fetts voice change in ESB. I'm not gonna get into why it shouldn't have been changed to Jangos, but if you are gonna do it, make it sound like you care! The delivery of Jango's voice sounded like it could care less of what happens. "What if he doesn't survive? He's worth alot to me." It sounded like, "La la la la, whatever you wish Lord Vader!" When the old voice had the umph, rasp, and ruggedness that should be Boba. *Sigh* don't get me going on this one...

Totally agree. Seems like recording those bits of dialogue were a total after thought and done while the guy who played Jango (can't think of his name...) was just trying to get out of the studio.

MFP 2020 said:

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It's always bugged me that when Luke says, "Well, more wealth than YOU can imagine," he puts the emphasis on YOU. Maybe it's because Solo was always described as a "cynical, mercenary space pilot" that I figured Luke should have assumed he'd be familiar with the idea of wealth. So maybe the emphasis should have been on IMAGINE.

I thought the emphasis on YOU meant Han just didn't have much of an imagination. Too much of a realist, and not a wide eyed dreamer like Luke.

Jm419 said:

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I HATE this line. It sounds so bad, it's laughable.

What's wrong with the "first catch of the day" line? Never had an issue with it.

Em-PHA-sis on the wrong syl-LA-ble as my old band conductor used to say.

Don't know if it's been mentioned, but Boondock Saints when Agent Smecker (Willem Dafoe) says "EXTRA-ordinary circumstances" when speaking to the gathered Boston PD cops. It always struck me as a weird emphasis, but perhaps just a part of his character's eccentricity. Plus the entire movie is full of camp.

Alec Guinness in the remote scene on the Falcon in ANH

'Stretch out with your feelings'

Sounds like he's coughing up a frog.

MFP 2020 said:

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It's always bugged me that when Luke says, "Well, more wealth than YOU can imagine," he puts the emphasis on YOU. Maybe it's because Solo was always described as a "cynical, mercenary space pilot" that I figured Luke should have assumed he'd be familiar with the idea of wealth. So maybe the emphasis should have been on IMAGINE.

Probably even more OT, but in "Die Hard," when Hans tells Karl to "Shoot the glass," he says the line first in German, then in English for emphasis. Wouldn't saying the line in their native language have been more emphatic? (Extra bonus points for getting the article wrong: He says "Schiess den Fenster" when "Schiess DAS Fenster" is correct.)

Its of course for our benefit, but that's understood.

I do like Rickman's delivery, though!

"Shoot - the glass...!"

By Grabthar's hammer, Rickman is a god.

Satxer said:

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And finally, this is more of a fault on Uncle Georgy, Boba Fetts voice change in ESB. I'm not gonna get into why it shouldn't have been changed to Jangos, but if you are gonna do it, make it sound like you care! The delivery of Jango's voice sounded like it could care less of what happens. "What if he doesn't survive? He's worth alot to me." It sounded like, "La la la la, whatever you wish Lord Vader!" When the old voice had the umph, rasp, and ruggedness that should be Boba. *Sigh* don't get me going on this one...

Just another example of why Lucas' Not-So-Special-Editions of the Original Trilogy films suck!

kibosh said:

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Totally agree. Seems like recording those bits of dialogue were a total after thought and done while the guy who played Jango (can't think of his name...) was just trying to get out of the studio.

For the record, it's Temuera Morrison.

Thrawn said:

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Empire Strikes Back, "Good, our first catch of the day". Always sounds "off" to me.

I've heard this often from others, but I like it.

MFP 2020 said:

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Probably even more OT, but in "Die Hard," when Hans tells Karl to "Shoot the glass," he says the line first in German, then in English for emphasis. Wouldn't saying the line in their native language have been more emphatic? (Extra bonus points for getting the article wrong: He says "Schiess den Fenster" when "Schiess DAS Fenster" is correct.)

In addition (& my German is pretty rusty, so...), IIRC, "fenster" is technically "window", where the German word for "glass" is "glas".

"First catch of the day" is supposed to sound pompous and a bit self conscious, I always thought.

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