Your LEAST favourite quicksand scene?

[Aiko]

To me the worst scenes are those with *very* watery quicksand. I mean the kind of scene where you're not quite sure whether it's actually supposed to be quicksand. The only one that comes to mind right now is the one from Bionic Woman, so I guess that makes it my least favorite.

[TK421]

To me the worst scenes are those with *very* watery quicksand. I mean the kind of scene where you're not quite sure whether it's actually supposed to be quicksand. The only one that comes to mind right now is the one from Bionic Woman, so I guess that makes it my least favorite.

Escape from Hell was up there and Demon rage just because the pshycodelic effects screwed with the entire scene. There are others that come to mind but Escape from Hell was up there on that list. Terrible acting, crappy bog and worse, a much too often played out plot to suffer through.

[PM2K]

None immediately come to mind... only because quicksand is so rare I'm happy even with watery quicksand making an appearance.

To me, the worst sort of scenes are either a) plenty of potential and tease, and no quicksand at all... like in far too many swamp and jungle movies... or b) someone sinks only ankle deep and gets pulled out. That is like winning five cents in the lottery...

The worst quicksand scene in the comics does come to mind, though... first, was one old story called "quicksand" where a guy is lured into quicksand and sinks, although you never see the quicksand... and then it turns out there's leprechans living in it! Sheesh!

A very close runner up is from an old 70s comic Dr. Specktor, one of those supernatuiral comics. The good doctor and his sexy female companion meet up with another couple, one another sexy lady, in the swamps looking for a monster... both ladies are in classic 70's midriff baring outfits and shorts, and one is even wearing boots up to her knees... the Doctor warns then to be careful because of all the bottomless quicksand all around them... and do any of them fall in? NO! They don't even come close to stumbling! That is just plain cruel...

[MadMax359]

Son of a Beach.... that was a great Playboy Playmate sinking, and BOOM she's sunk to her neck...

[redspydr_1979]

I don't know if it is my least favorite but it was very disappointing to me. It was the Nightmare on Elm Street scene at the beach. It started good with a cute girl falling into a nice pit of sand. What killed it for me is when Freddy pushed her head under. I mean come on...it is supposed to be quicksand. She isn't getting out by movie standards so let it work its own magic.

[Duncan Edwards]

I'm of the belief that there is no such thing as a bad scene. It's like asking which child is your least favorite. Certainly there are some that I like better than others but to say that one is least favorite means that it is still better than nothing. By the standard of what I would really like to see they are all equally bad. Even the scenes I've written, directed, and shot, myself fail to make the grade. There are no "least favorites" until I achieve the nirvana of the perfect scene and I'm not even certain what that would look like.

[Nessie]

I'm not sure I have a least-favorite, as such. I can name a few things that the mainstream media do, though, to frustrate a quicksand fan. Mostly, their scenes tend to be very short compared to ours.

Stuff I Don't Like:

1. The Very Obviously Half-Inch-Thick Layer Of Cork Over Lots Of Plain Water Trick

2. The Ol' "Help Me I'm Sinking!" While Bending Knees In Plain Water Trick (yeah, right, sure I believe the quicksand's under there!)

3. Camera Angles That Don't Show The "Point Of Sinkage" (where body meets mud) But Instead Show Head And Shoulders Descending...Mudpit Out Of Range

4. Camera Angles That Show Reaction Shots Of Watchers While Somebody Is Sinking

5. Nonhuman Sinkees (bears...dogs...cars...no thanks...)

6. Watery Slush Instead Of Nice Thick Gooshy Quicksand!

My prize for the #1 Most Disappointing Quicksand Scene is on YouTube right now. I wouldn't say it's the worst I've seen, just...I remember the first time I saw this clip. I had such hopes for it! I like princesses in quicksand...I love to wreck princess-type gowns, my own self...but...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixCloC1ZjlE

What a letdown! (pun intended)

Not even slow-motion helps this scene out!

BLINK AND SHE'S GONE!!!

Nessie

[jack c]

I'm the latest poster guilty of perpetuating the "favorite scene" thread, so thanks, Doomsand, for posing the counterpoint question. While I don't have a single least favorite, per se, let me list 10 disappointments (to balance the 10 favorites on the other post). These are only in the order I thought them up, not a bottom 10. Some are good scenes that could have been great.

Lure of the Swamp - great concept for a scene (she has shot the only guy who can save her), good atmosphere, and an awesome white dress on a good-looking victim. But the 20" diameter pool of water just doesn't cut it. Actually, the quicksand is variable: water, then more water, then better at submersion. What submersion, you say? Right - they edited it out in favor of the cash box. This is an effective scene even as-is: could have been great.

The Princess Bride - great actress - Buttercup; even with the dry quicksand, it would be great if the sinking were as slow as the "crawl-out." So fast that it even evades effective freeze-framing.

Death Curse of Tartu - OK actress, white skirt, on location in Everglades, and the quicksand is (not even much) sawdust on an actual pool of swamp water? - also too spread out among the silly fight scenes. She tries, but I can't pretend to be convinced that there is any semi-fluid resistance to her immersion. I still enjoy the scene, but it could have been much better.

Get Smart - this is a silly scene to begin with, but the sawdust-on-water wastes the opportunity of a good scene with an actress as beautiful as Barbara Feldon (Synthetic sand? Is that anything like quicksand? It's qu_vicker!).

Six Million Dollar Man - this had all the elements of a good scene; even the quicksand is kind of OK. However, Lee Majors nips it in the bud by being too quick to catch her before the viewer has any fun.

The Mating Season - Lucie Arnaz has the opportunity to top her mother's scene with Jack Benny. Too bad the director did not give her more than a 12" diameter hole to sink in. This is the exact opposite of the oatmeal on water problem. Sure makes for an easy rescue, though.

The Mongols - Anita Eckberg hams up the scene - pretty good submersion shot. We are, as Nessie points out above, supposed to believe that there is mud a few inches beneath the water. But after the second horse swims by, that is asking too much of the audience.

Land That Time Forgot - the cheap special effects in this movie (of a good Edgar Rice Burroughs novella) extend to the sawdust quicksand. Some good stills in freeze frames, but too watery to be as good overall as it could be.

Plunder (silent) - this is a great scene anyway. You have Pearl White (Pauline herself, as in Perils of ...). Sure it's far-fetched, but this is a cliffhanger serial. She is a pre-liberated woman and pulls herself out (rocks!). If the bog were more solid, this (already classic, even in mainstream) scene would have been so much better.

Swamp Thing - echoing Mr. Edwards' post above, this was the biggest waste ever - the scene that could have been but never happened. Say it ain't so, Miss Barbeau! One of my "if I win the Lotto" items is to refilm this movie; not sure who could replace Adrienne Barbeau, though.

[Duncan Edwards]

Swamp Thing - this was the biggest waste ever - the scene that could have been but never happened. Say it ain't so, Miss Barbeau! One of my "if I win the Lotto" items is to refilm this movie; not sure who could replace Adrienne Barbeau, though.

To this I will agree. I cannot imagine any single scene that needed to happen more than this one and didn't. I'm old enough that Adrienne has special appeal but I'm sure we could find a suitable replacement when the lotto check arrives.

[jack c]

True - and it is such a good, funny movie that I can forgive the short scene ("I'm not left-handed, either ... They (vials) were both poisoned. I spent the last few years building up an immunity ... My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die ... There's a shortage of perfect breasts in the world; it'd be a pity to damage yours ...")