Yahoo Lifestyle 26 Of The Most Cringey Moments In The History Of Film
There are some movie moments that are instant classics. Others age like fine wine. But, there are some moments in film that leave me turning away because they are so bad.
Here are 26 movie moments that I believe are the cringiest of all:
NOTE: I chose to omit "so bad, it's good" movies, including those in which I believe the film intentionally tries to make the audience uncomfortable or chuckle from the cringe.
1.The Irishman has worst "beatdown" scene you'll ever witness.
While the film starring all-time great Robert De Niro has plenty to offer, the scene involving De Niro beating up a guy who pushed his daughter is not one of them.
The movie is actually a gorgeously shot film, but has a runtime close to three and a half hours, and watching a stiffly-moving, de-aged DeNiro makes me believe that the moment should have never seen the light of day.
There are plenty of movie "revenge beatdowns" and everything about this one takes you out of the movie. They easily could have used a younger stunt double for more physical moments.
Check out the scene here:
2.Bring It On: All or Nothing makes Hayden Panettiere krump like the rent is free.
While I was hesitant to include a straight-to-home film, this moment from Bring it On: All or Nothing was one of the first ones that came to mind when I made this list.
I had a huge crush on Hayden Panettiere when I was a kid, and the first Bring It On is hilarious...so what could go wrong? There is a scene where Panettiere's character joins in on a group of guys krumping and I remember, even as a kid, going, "oh no." Oh, she krumps alright, just not very well and the scene portrays it like everyone is impressed by her.
Watch the attempt at krumping here:
3.The Flash will leave you never looking at a microwave the same way again.
Man, even as a kid, I was never into the speedy superhero, so when I saw this scene from The Flash, I wished I could unsee it immediately.
The "baby shower" scene is one of the worst-looking special effects action sequences in recent memory that involves bad comedy, terrible effects, and the problematic Ezra Miller putting a baby into a microwave. I wish I had super speed to run away from this unforgettably low moment for comic book movies.
Watch it in a flash here:
4."He who shall not be named" loses all evil after thinking he killed the "boy who lived."
Ralph Fiennes' interpretation of Voldemort was always a bit sassy from his arrival in the Harry Potter series. Once he thinks he's succeeded in killing Harry Potter, his character becomes borderline comical.
It's like when Santa doesn't show up in that one episode of SpongeBob, and Squidward starts slapping his butt in SpongeBob's face. In his victory, Voldemort is laughing, making jokes, and even gives Draco Malfoy the cringiest hug ever filmed. It's supposed to be the darkest moment for Potter fans and it really evolved into something silly, so when the final battle comes, no one is really scared of the guy who is supposed to be this "ultimate evil" figure.
You can give the dark lord a big ol' hug here:
5.Will Smith somehow wins the worst line in a Suicide Squad movie filled with them.
Suicide Squad (2016) could get its own top 10 cringe moments, but I could only pick one.
Any moment with Jared Leto's version of Ace Ventura...I mean, the Joker could have been on here, but I think his moments are more straight-up bad than cringe. I'm going with Will Smith's Deadshot for the line, "Lady, you are evil!" There's a weird zoom-in on him and the line itself is really unnecessary. It's like Smith was being paid by screen time, and they needed this one line to appease a contract detail.
Watch the moment here:
6.The Star Wars: Attack of the Clones love story has as much chemistry as a Wookie and a droid.
If you want Star Wars least hot romance, this scene has everything. Awkward back caressing. Forced dialogue. And what's that? It's a kiss from out of nowhere!
The scene is capped off with the famous "I don't like sand" speech. Anakin is speaking facts. Sand does get everywhere.
Watch the lovers here:
7.Somehow, Oscar Issac delivered this forced line in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
I am outspoken about how I like Rise of Skywalker more than the average viewer and think it is over-hated. That said, there is no defending Oscar Isaac telling a room of people, "Somehow, Palpatine returned." That followed by, "...only secrets the Sith knew," is some of the worst "writing it off" writing ever.
Not everything has to be explained away verbally. This all still could have worked without a character saying it so the audience would know that the resistance is aware that the Emperor has a new groove.
Somehow, watch it here:
8.Rose kisses Finn to conclude one of the worst Star Wars arcs ever.
I loved the performances by both John Boyega and Kelly Marie Tran, but the story did them so dirty.
Finn's sacrifice is cut short by Rose, who lets the entire resistance eat a space laser to save and kiss Finn. Both characters were solid, but the movie had nothing for them to do, never mind warrant a kiss in front of their friends by the door potentially exploding to bits.
Watch the scene here:
9."Gobble, gobble."
Ugh. Jennifer Lopez's character tells Affleck that it is "turkey time" while looking down at her "Jennie from the Block" and then saying, "Gobble, gobble." Even for a romantic comedy, it's a moment that isn't really played off as too humorous.
Watch it here:
10.The Dark Knight Rises has one of the blandest fight lines ever.
After having his back broken, Batman finally confronts Bane in an epic final showdown. For some reason, they needed to speak to each other which led to the weakest comeback ever after Bane says, "So, you have come back to die with your city."
Batman responds by saying, "No, I came back to stop you." Ugh. I know people focus on a famous death scene in this as cringe, but this line is often overlooked. What was meant to be an epic stare-down turned into an eye-roller.
Even the way they are standing is hilarious.
"WaTCH iT HeRe" —My Batman voice:
11.I'm convinced Aquaman filmed this flashback in one take.
I feel sooo bad for the young actor portraying a young Aquaman in the first movie.
The flashback contains a young Arthur learning the truth about what happened to his mother, and the line delivery mixed with the green screen background and bad yellow contacts is somehow the worst part of an already not great film. It put the actor in a bad position and the direction did not do him any favors.
Watch the flashback here:
12.Superman infamously throws his "S" to make cinema's most useless scene in history.
Where to begin?
Superman confronts the three baddies in the final act, and his first move is throwing the "S" on his chest which looks like a Fruit Roll-up at one of Zod's goons. It grows and wraps around the villain, only to disappear seconds later with no effect.
This part easily could have been cut from the film and offers nothing but a distraction that will take you out of the movie. He never again removes the "S" from his chest. To me, it's one of the most random movie scenes ever.
Watch the Man of S here:
13.Ghostbusters goes from family movie to rated X.
Oof. So, in this family action comedy, there is a montage in the first Ghostbusters that implies a ghost is performing oral sex in what could be described as a "group dream" among the team.
It's such a left-field moment, extremely inappropriate, and for all the funny moments the movie has, it really misses the mark.
If you're into ghost stuff, watch it here:
14.The Mummy Returns has my favorite (and cringiest) NOOO in history!
I adore the Brenden Fraser Mummy movies, but even campy movies can have moments that make you go, "WHAT?"
When Fraser's character stabs the giant CGI Scorpion Dwayne Johnson, the shot holds just long enough for the villain Imhotep to charge into the frame and deliver the corniest "NOOO" in Egyptian. It's my kind of camp, but still hilariously cringey.
Watch the wonderfully ridiculous moment here:
15.Twilight sparkles with cringe moments, but one line delivery sticks with me.
Twilight has a lot of funny acting moments, but it can still be enjoyable as a Young Adult Vampire flick.
That said, the one moment that still makes me shudder is when Edward sparkles in the sunlight and says, "this is the skin of the killer," in the weirdest way possible. His face contorts in such a way that will leave you laughing and grossed out at the same time.
Why aren't you watching it, Loca?:
16.Nicholas Cage goes all "Nicholas Cage" in The Wickerman remake.
"Not the bees!"
From the fake bees to Cage's acting, this scene embodies everything wrong with the remake. I know people LOVE Cage, but to me, this performance and scene is peak cringe material.
They're in your eyes! AHHH!:
17.Mark Wahlberg's acting fascinates me, and he goes all-or-nothing in The Happening.
There is plenty of questionable acting in The Happening, but one interaction between Wahlberg and another character really sticks out.
As a guest in a woman's home, Wahlberg's character is as confused as always when she accuses him of thinking about murdering her in her sleep. His facial expressions and delivery really leave you wanting more and less at the same time.
Check out Marky Mark:
18.The "X-Women" feels out of place in Dark Phoenix.
An argument between the characters of Jennifer Lawrence and James McAvoy is very compelling and well-written during a scene in Dark Phoenix. As Mystique is leaving the room, she goes on to say, "And by the way, the women are always saving the men around here, you might want to think about changing the name to 'X-Women.'"
It's a really cringe, forced moment out of nowhere. The line before is her saying to Professor X, "It's funny, I can't actually remember when it was the last time you were risking something." That is a really great line relevant to the story, but it got overshadowed by a "storming off" line for cheap laughs.
X-Women would make for a cool spin-off though:
19.What does happen when a toad is struck by lightning?
Storm will never stop being one of the coolest X-Men, but the original movie made Halle Berry deliver one of the silliest "before the kill" lines ever.
After having a character named Toad on the ropes, or in this case, his tongue on the rail, Storm asks the villain, "Do you know what happens to a toad when it's struck by lightning?" She follows it up by concluding, "The same thing that happens to everything else." Followed by a lightning bolt for the win.
Ugh, it's such a silly line. Not everyone has to get a zinger during a fight, just let her be a badass.
Oh, Storm:
20.Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has a Tarzan-like scene that is too much even for an Indiana Jones flick.
The Indiana Jones movies have always been filled with campy madness. But one moment crossed the line into cringe.
Shia LaBeouf's character chases down a car by swinging on vines with monkeys. That's it. If it sounds awful, wait until you see all the CGI and lighting that will make you look away in disgust.
And I actually like this movie, but this scene was too much.
Swing with monkeys in this unnecessary scene:
21.Michael Fassbender kisses himself in Alien: Covenant.
Not much to this one. It's just another Alien movie that can't live up to the original.
But hey, if you're into Michael Fassbender, one scene has got to be a dream come true as his character meets another version of him. They go on to lock lips. Hot?
The film itself tries too hard to play on deep meanings, much like Prometheus, and it falls flat. The cringe isn't the kiss, but more of the interaction as a whole.
Hot Michael-on-Michael action here:
22.The third installment of The Mummy that no one rightfully talks about has an abominable snowman kicking a person like a field goal.
The first two Mummy films are fun, so I don't know what the heck happened in the making of The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.
One scene features a group of abominable snowmen attacking people, and it gets worse as one kicks a man through the uprights of an archway, which leads another yeti-like creature to gesture the field goal arm motion.
What am I watching?
Watch the snow bowl here:
23.Keanu Reeves has one line I quote daily in Bram Stoker's Dracula because it made me cringe so hard.
Keanu Reeves' attempt at a British accent in Bram Stoker's Dracula is nothing short of captivating. It's like every time he is on screen, it is his first time trying to fake an accent.
The best moment comes during a dinner when Reeves manages to squeeze out the line, "I know where the bastard sleeps." It makes me cringe every time, but I love it so much. I can't hear a British accent without saying this to myself.
If you also love Keanu, watch this scene:
24.The acting in Saw almost ruins a legendary ending.
Cary Elwes is a phenomenal actor, but I have no clue what direction was given to him at the end of Saw. I don't know why cutting off a foot would turn him into an old Victorian ghost, but that is exactly what he sounds like in Elwes' final moments in the movie.
The voice he puts on is so distracting in what should be a dramatic moment that it makes me cringe every time—or maybe it's all that blood that's making me cringe.
Watch the famous ending here:
25.The Matrix Reloaded "rave scene" is as uncomfortable as it is un-sexy.
Sex, sweat, and dancing all sound great, just not randomly in a Matrix film.
The rave scene makes sense with what is happening in the story, but I feel like the way it was filmed and the general suddenness of it in a kung-fu-like action flick really can take anyone out of it.
Again, it doesn't feel like it doesn't make sense, but it does feel out of place.
Check out some of the rave here:
26.Jurassic Park III features a dream sequence that is terribly out of place, and it takes a while for me to refocus on what is happening in the movie.
There have been six Jurassic movies, and only one has had a dream sequence.
In the dream, Alan is alone on a seemingly abandoned plane he fell asleep on, and when he turns, a raptor says his name in his friend's voice. It then transitions to him waking up. The scene is sooo unnecessary and almost plays it off like it should be funny, but it is just awful.
(Fun fact: I almost choked on popcorn as a kid when in theaters to see this movie for the first time, so you can imagine my disappointment when this scene happened.)
Alan?:
Is there a movie moment that you think belongs in the Cinema Cringe Hall of Fame? Let me know in the comment section below!
