What is the best and worst facial hair in movies?

Andy Bassett

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From the Chin Curtain to the Soul Patch via the French Fork and the Coptash Standard, a dizzying array of character enhancing moustache, beard and sideburn combos have graced the screen and disgraced the wearers. What are some of the most memorable... and most egregious?

Starting proceedings off, we present bad and good… from the same movie, Kenneth Branagh's 2017 version of Murder on The Orient Express (which also got a nod in the 'Favourite train based movies' thread).

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Firstly Johnny Depp’s pencil ‘tache looks more like an attempt at a ‘blunt crayon’ whereas Branagh’s luxurious festoon of follicles just isn’t provided with enough face on which to demonstrate its magnificence.

Fire up the clippers and let’s have your suggestions.
 
Was just gonna say that. Sam Elliott wins everything :D
 
Bad: Ewan McGregor and his stuck on "beard" during reshoots for Attack of the Clones.
Good: Ewan McGregor in Revenge of the Sith
 
Everybody in Tombstone :)
 
Henry Cavil - Justice League
 
Zorg in Fifth Element and Cypher from Matrix get my vote for worst. Kane from Command and Conquer also rocked that one to superb effect.

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As already mentioned, there are no equals to Sam Elliott when it comes to facial fuzz.

A close second (and I acknowledge the shout out for Tombstone already) is Kurt Russell:

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Kurt is the only man that should have been alive during the Wild West apart from Sam Elliott.

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Keanu Reeves: he was formerly a fresh faced hunk in the likes of Point Break and Speed; in his latter career the beard maketh the man.

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Clark Gable meets Tom Selleck





And booby prize goes to Seagal’s dodgy effort from Hard To Kill.

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One of the Worst, this always gets me...
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Henry Cavil - Justice League

No, not least as his facial hair was removed.

I remember commenting around all the "fuss" at the time and it was utterly ridiculous. I (ashamedly) spent WAY too long with the 4k of this trying to work out what and where this terrible CGI was and frankly you just couldn't see it. If you stop framed on a handful of specific scenes then it does certainly look odd but in movement with all the other things going on on the screen there was barely a couple of seconds where you'd go "that looked a little odd". Even then, while watching the actual film with everything going on and not stopping to rewind over and over I'd suggest the vast majority just never noticed. A ridiculous storm in a teacup that was used as ammunition to criticise a decent enough film that I think at times was unfairly criticised (it's no Infinity War/Endgame but it's a decent enough watch for a non comic fanboy like me)

G
 
Forgot about Tom Selleck!!

Quigley Down Under.

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My favourite: Pai Mei from Kill Bill.
Love the way he swishes it around for emphasis.
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Worst facial hair: Seneca Crane in The Hunger Games.
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Looks like a stick on beard from the 50p (£1) shop!
 
No, not least as his facial hair was removed.

I remember commenting around all the "fuss" at the time and it was utterly ridiculous. I (ashamedly) spent WAY too long with the 4k of this trying to work out what and where this terrible CGI was and frankly you just couldn't see it. If you stop framed on a handful of specific scenes then it does certainly look odd but in movement with all the other things going on on the screen there was barely a couple of seconds where you'd go "that looked a little odd". Even then, while watching the actual film with everything going on and not stopping to rewind over and over I'd suggest the vast majority just never noticed. A ridiculous storm in a teacup that was used as ammunition to criticise a decent enough film that I think at times was unfairly criticised (it's no Infinity War/Endgame but it's a decent enough watch for a non comic fanboy like me)

G

Please tell me you are kidding, or at the very least registered as legally blind. The CGI for the facial hair removal is atrocious
 
Can't believe I forgot about the legend 'Lo Pan' :eek: :eek:

And he got two looks!! :D

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Please tell me you are kidding, or at the very least registered as legally blind. The CGI for the facial hair removal is atrocious

No on both counts.

If you stop frame in very specific places it's definitely dodgy but at film speed in the midst of all the action from normal viewing distances, nope I'm not kidding. It was completely overblown and exaggerated by fanboys still sore over Snyder's removal and reacting to what was certainly a let down in comparison to the Marvel equivalents.

I'm not for one second defending the CGI as good, I'm just of the opinion that if you didn't know there was an issue, most people wouldn't notice past a vague feeling there was something "odd" happening in a few scenes. I certainly didn't until I read the controversy after I'd watched it, went back and strained to see what all the fuss was about.

G
 
@xxGBHxx

This is the issue. It is terrible, and in no way looks realistic (without any need to stop frame to see it, or the need to be a fanboy)
 
How come nobody has mentioned Kenneth Branagh in Wild Wild West? It was the first one I thought of.
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@xxGBHxx

This is the issue. It is terrible, and in no way looks realistic (without any need to stop frame to see it, or the need to be a fanboy)


As I said. In a 2 hour film it's a 53 second clip where barely 20 seconds of it at most look "odd". If you didn't know it was there and were not looking for it and were not obsessing over it I'd suggest the vast majority of people wouldn't even notice. You don't have the benefit of knowing before you see it, or the benefit of rewinding it in the cinema or of focussing JUST on his upper lip.

I'm NOT defending it as good CGI or that it's not noticeable if you know it's there and if you can rewind or get up close to the screen to see it (like with a computer). What I'm saying is that if you don't know it's there, if you can't rewind, if you can't get up close (which is the VAST majority viewing the film) it's a storm in a teacup and vastly exaggerated in context.

G
 

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