Because I've only got seven at the moment and have no wish to rank them, I'm going to roll out my list of Awesome Films that Inadvertently Ruined the Movies in a pretty much random order. First up is The Matrix.
What it was:
An epic adventure/mind screw with enough cod-theology to justify the use of the vaunted "multi-layered" label.
What it gave the hacks:
Bullet time. Also the idea that "stoic acting," i.e, "no facial expression whatsoever" is acceptable in a Western action film (er, that's Western in the "not-Asia" sense, not Western in the "cowboys and indi- Native Americans" sense). It also spawned The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, which would be enough to condemn any lesser film to Hell for all eternity on that basis alone.
Face it, if it's a science-fiction or action flick or tv show, and it's set on present-day Earth or the very near future, and it was made after 1999, it owes something to The Matrix. Buffy did a "Dodge this" gag that very fall, for crying out loud!
The (biggest) problem is, bullet time was created to visually show that yes, you can have superpowers in an unreal world. It's a disconnect that breaks the cardinal rule of camera work; you notice it. Putting bullet time in any film set in "the real world" and using it when mere mortals duke it out (God DAMN it, Watchmen!) cheapens the original intended effect and breaks the audience's suspension of disbelief. So nice job breaking it, every single hack who didn't get it.
(At this point I feel the need to direct your attention to the 1996 film Star Trek: First Contact. Even though it's Aliens meets Moby-Dick, the music during the big pull-out from Picard's eye at the beginning is very, very similar to the music that plays when Neo wakes up in the power plant. And look at the implants on the back of the Borg Queen's neck. Just saying.)
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