A not-so-great movie can be redeemed - at least slightly - by a great cameo. All a cameo needs to be great is a respected celebrity and a little bit of creativity. That magical mixture has somewhat saved the reputations of Anchorman 2, EuroTrip, Get Smart, A Million Ways to Die in the West, Men in Black II, and many other movies.
Check out these and several other films that are lacking in many departments, but not cameos!
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There are a million reasons not to watch A Million Ways to Die in the West, but Christopher Lloyd's cameo isn't one of them. Lloyd appears as his Back to the Future character Doc Brown, whose DeLorean gives Seth MacFarlane's character a start considering it's the 1880s.
Brown covers it up and calls it a “weather experiment.” After MacFarlane's character leaves, Brown gives a “Great Scott!”
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Anchorman 2, for all its shortcomings, contains one of the most epic battles in cinematic history. Seriously. News teams from various networks converge in a park for a bloodbath featuring a bomber jet, a were-hyena, a minotaur, telekinesis, a gun from the future, and the Dementor-like ghost of Stonewall Jackson.
Among the celebrities involved in the battle are Ye, Will Smith, Harrison Ford, Will Ferrell, Liam Neeson, Tina Fey, Steve Carell, Sacha Baron Cohen, Amy Poehler, Paul Rudd, Kirsten Dunst, Marion Cotillard, and John C. Reilly.
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Charlton Heston, who starred as the human Taylor in the original Planet of the Apes movie, cameoed as a dying ape leader in Tim Burton's reboot 33 years later. Although he's covered in makeup/prosthetics and didn't receive credit for his appearance, Heston is unmistakable to fans of the earlier Planet of the Apes. His dialogue is even similar.
In the 2001 version, Heston's character's last words damn all humans to hell; this is an homage to “God damn you all to hell!" - the most famous line from the entire franchise, which Heston's human character yells at the ape race when he realizes that (SPOILER from 1968) the “planet of the apes” is Earth.
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Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves is a messy film with a few clean spots, one of which is Sean Connery's minute-long cameo.
Retaining his signature accent, Connery plays King Richard, who interrupts the wedding between his daughter and Robin to give them his blessing. That grand scene ends the mediocre movie.
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EuroTrip came out in 2004, and there's a good chance its song “Scotty Doesn't Know” is still stuck in your head. That may be the only thing stuck in your head from this dime-a-dozen sex comedy; if so, you have Matt Damon to thank. Damon cameos as the punk band frontman who steals the main character's girlfriend.
The main character is named Scotty - and the song that the band plays at his high school graduation party divulges, in painfully specific detail, how the singer had clandestine relations with his then-girlfriend. It doesn't help that his ex makes out with and grinds on the singer during the performance.
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Pirates of the Caribbean may have lost the plot with At World's End, but it gained a legendary rock star. Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards appears as Captain Teague, Keeper of the Pirate's Code and father of Jack Sparrow, in At World's End and both sequels.
Many people know that Johnny Depp modeled Captain Jack Sparrow off Richards, which made the rocker entering the franchise - as Jack's dad, nonetheless - extremely special.
Better cameo than movie?
