Although 3D films are becoming increasingly popular, the movie industry is in the process of going one step further. 4D films, which are 3D films with an added physical effect, most usually smell, are becoming more popular, and we’ve created a list of the top ten worst-smelling movies.
Some amusement parks have special, short thrill rides that are in 4D, but full-length films are not typically created in 4D (Avatar and Journey to the Center of the Earth had limited releases in 4D). While initially 4D films sound intriguing, there’s a huge negative aspect to them: foul odors. There are many films that would be nice to watch in 4D – that is, if they’re full of fields of flowers, but it’s the memory-burning grotesque scenes that are the most memorable.
Featured below are a list of films that, frankly, we wouldn’t recommend watching in 4D. Whether it’s a constant odor that lingers with characters throughout the film or one particular scene that is especially repulsive, these films are probably the most rancid films in Hollywood, and we’re pleased by the fact that our nostrils have been spared the displeasure of viewing in 4D.
10. ‘Fight Club’ (1999)
A fantastically psychological film from the late 1990s would also be one of the most fantastically pungent films in 4D.
Fight Club features many half-naked men fighting in an isolated space. While it initially sounds incredibly inciting to watch, it wouldn’t be wonderful to catch a whiff of it. Dozens of men sweating to no end, fighting each other, with blood pouring out everywhere? That’s enough to make nose hairs stand on their ends. Fight Club is pretty much what a mens athletic locker room would smell like, with the added bonus of pools of blood. Lovely.
There’s also the scene where Tyler Durden pours the sodium hydroxide on the narrator’s hand. Not only would that be excruciatingly painful, it would exhort the smell of “searing flesh.” Clearly not required, an oxygen mask would assuredly be helpful in dodging the foul odor. At the end, the narrator stands with Marla and watches buildings destruct from bombs he set up. The after-smell of bombs and collapsed buildings surely cannot enhance the smell of the city.
Fight Club thankfully doesn’t have any abhorrently rancid scenes, but would still be unpleasant to watch in 4D.
9. ‘The Goonies’ (1985)
HEY, YOU GUYS! In case you didn’t know, the classic kid’s movie The Goonies features some rather smelly characters and scenes.
Sloth: one of the most interesting, unique, and memory-burning characters from probably any children’s movie ever made. Although not specifically noted in the screenplay, I can only imagine that Sloth’s odor is just as pleasing as his physical appearance. Who knows how long he’s been locked up in the abandoned restaurant. He seemingly hasn’t showered anytime in the recent past.
Not only is it Sloth who would make our noses want to fall off, but it’s also the dead person found in the freezer – decaying human corpses don’t have a wonderful scent (fortunately, I don’t have first-hand experience knowing that). Additionally, there’s the skeleton of Chester Copperpot, the old organ created from bones, and the musty pirate ship. All of those artifacts sitting in a cave for a period of time doesn’t help the probable unfriendly stench of the cave all-around.
Although The Goonies is a childhood favorite, we can spare ourselves from any enhanced viewing of the film. Even if an adorable and young Sean Astin stars as the lead.
8. ‘Cast Away’ (2000)
One of Tom Hank’s finest dramas is Cast Away, and it’s probably one of his most malodorous films, too.
After a very unfortunate plane crash in the middle of the Pacific, Tom Hanks’ character, Chuck, must learn how to survive on a deserted island. After four years on the island, he finally builds a raft, leaves the island, and returns to civilization. Four years on the island. While yes, the ocean was available to use to rinse off, there was still four years without a true shower, no soap, and no deodorant. Thank goodness there wasn’t anyone around to smell Chuck in those four years; they would have probably died from his odor. Chuck’s hair and beard is considerably and understandably longer after four years; imagine how lovely that smells without any shampoo.
Eventually, Chuck is picked up by a cargo ship and taken back to the U.S. I can only imagine the horror the ship workers experienced when they found out he hadn’t showered in four years. Who knows what types of bacteria and germs Chuck was infested with.
Cast Away is one of those films that makes one realize how wonderful showers truly are.
7. ‘Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back’
The Tauntaun scene from Empire Strikes Back is a winner for this list, as Han Solo even says, “and I thought they smelled bad on the outside.”
At the beginning of The Empire Strikes Back, the rebels are on Hoth, an Artic-like planet. While taking patrols around their base by riding Tauntauns, unique camel-like creatures, Luke gets pulled into a cave by a Yeti-like creature, a Wampa. After escaping the Wampa, Luke wanders back out into the snowy abiss and nearly freezes to death. Han, realizing that Luke is in trouble, dangerously sets back out after sunset to look for Luke.
After finding Luke and realizing he’s close to death/hypothermia, and after Han’s Tauntaun decides to literally keel over and die, Han takes Luke’s lightsaber and cuts the Tauntaun open for warmth. Although finding warmth in the Tauntaun’s intestines is (unpleasantly) successful, it apparently (stated by Han) smells worse on the inside than it does on the outside. By examining how unattractive Tauntans physically are, we can only imagine how amazingly atrocious they truly smell on the outside.
Although The Empire Strikes Back, and Star Wars in general, hosts many appalling odors, the Tauntaun scene is by far one of the smelliest.
6. ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers’ (2002)
Although Lord of the Rings is full of many ghastly aromas, there’s a lingering offensive stench that follows a specific race in Middle Earth: Orcs.
Gollum sums up Orcs in one perfect word: filthy. Doing Saron’s dirty work, Orcs live in caves, underground, who knows where, and are just overall disguisting creatures. Do they bathe? Probably not. They travel in large packs, are obtuse looking, hygienically unkempt, and tons of lice and pink-eye are undoubtedly being passed consistently through the troops of Orcs.
In one particular scene from The Two Towers, Orcs are camped out for a night next to a forest in Rohan, and argue whether or not to feast on Merry and Pippin because their starving stomachs can’t hold out. When the argument turns into Orc Fight-and-Feast Fest Third Age 3019/2002 C.E., we can only (fortunately) imagine how putrid the Orc-fest would be. Traveling for days, with the word “shower” probably not in their vocabulary doesn’t make a delightful combination. Based upon how yellow and fungus-infested their teeth are I don’t even want to think about how dirty their breath smells.
While there are many scenes with Orcs and other fantastically terrible smells in Lord of the Rings, this scene from Two Towers is downright one of the most repulsive.
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