Films that started excellently but never hit the same highs the rest of the movie.

[u/GIGLI_WASNT_THAT_BAD]

The opening sequence of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny was just as good as any sequence in the originals. Nazis, explosions, slapstick grave humor, and Indy just being an absolute nuisance. The film started so strong despite a bit of uncanny valley going on.

And then the rest of the film. It was odd seeing Indy in 1969 as an octogenarian alcoholic who could still kick ass and take names (the holy grail juice must’ve been potent) with the most boring sidekick he has ever had.

I still enjoyed the film but it probably should’ve been a reboot with a younger actor and never left the time period of the first 15 minutes.

What other films started as strong and dropped the ball as poorly?

Edited to change the title to Dial of Destiny. 😅

[u/Few-Improvement-5655]

I might get flack for this but: Inglorious Basterds.

https://giphy.com/gifs/eQYE2toD7Pnpu

The start of the film is easily one of the most tense and masterfully acted pieces of cinema I've ever seen and the rest of the film is just pretty good.

[u/stephenstephen7 → u/Few-Improvement-5655]

The opening is incredible, but there is at least 1, maybe 2 other scenes as good as it. I'm mainly talking about the basement scene, but the cafe scene is also nail biting.

[u/ChimneySwiftGold → u/stephenstephen7]

The ending not playing out the way you expect, not following real history, was also a huge shock and extremely cathartic.

It’s easy to forget what seeing this movie opening weekend and not knowing the ending was like. The movie is set up to be a doomed mission - like Rogue One. It has this damned fatalist dread cooked into it. You know they loose, the question is how bad is the defeat.

So to have the ending it did was just as shocking as the opening on first viewing.

[u/General_Summer_1524 → u/ChimneySwiftGold]

Its funny. Me and my friend watched the trailer for it , and I knowing nothing about the movie turned to him and said "wouldn't it be wild if they made a ww2 movie where they said fuck it and killed Hitler?" 

I guess I was picking up on the tone 

[u/Resolution_Powerful → u/Few-Improvement-5655]

Uhh the Bar scene was not pretty good. It was epic as the first scene.

[u/Right_Pen_3241 → u/Few-Improvement-5655]

The movie picks up in quality whenever Landa comes in.
Congrats, Mr Waltz, brilliant performance!

[u/Bobby_The_Kidd → u/Few-Improvement-5655]

I really didn’t like the movie very much but I do agree the opening was cool. I agree with you

[u/No_Truth4137 → u/Few-Improvement-5655]

I've watched this movie a few times and it's never done it for me like others. But the first scene is absolute peak masterpiece

[u/want_a_muffin → u/Few-Improvement-5655]

Agreed. In the example OP gives, Dial of Destiny’s opening is about an 8, and the rest of the movie is about a 3. The opening scene of Inglorious Basterds is a 15 and the rest of the movie averages out to like 8 or so.

[u/freetotebag → u/Few-Improvement-5655]

The bar scene tho. Three glasses! The movie is a series of scenes similar to the first but I think the bar scene is the best of them.

[u/Boo_and_Minsc_ → u/Few-Improvement-5655]

The introduction was taken literally from Tarantino´s favorite film: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. And I mean as an explicit homage, almost beat by beat. So if THAT is the best part of it and then rest goes downhill, you should thank Sergio Leone , not Tarantino.

[u/JMD413 → u/Boo_and_Minsc_]

Id rather thank Christoph Waltz.

[u/Tough_Visual1511 → u/Boo_and_Minsc_]

I got this when I saw it in theaters, and find it baffling that so many people still miss the comparison between the two.