The WORST Films of All Time (According To You!)

me | 9-13-05 | Houmatt

[Houmatt]

Just for fun, what is the WORST film you have EVER seen? And why?

I know a lot of you will be inclined to insert a Michael Moore film, but I am talking about films that are supposed to be fiction.

To begin, here is my personal pick: Ron Howard's The Grinch.

Surely we all remember the classic story from Dr. Seuss. Very simple, all about the spirit of Christmas.

Now, we get to the film. To begin with, the Whos are portrayed as the exact dead opposite of what they are in the story: They are quite materialistic.

Then, there seems to be something happening concurrent to the X-mas celebration. Just what the hell is the "Whobilation?" The audience is never told.

And there's the Grinch. The story says nobody knows why he hates Christmas. So, naturally, he is given a back story that rather implies he should be hating the Whos, or at least certain Whos, but certainly not Christmas. AND he is given a love interest (played by Christine Baranski).

Considering the target audience of the book (and therefore the film), there is some humor and a particular dress worn by the aforementioned Baranski early on (accented by a camera angle) that is just not suitable for that audience. So why have it? Heaven only knows.

Finally, when we get to the stealing part of the story, we see the Grinch predicting some very upset Whos. Now we all know what happens in the original story. But guess what? In this version of the story, the Grinch is proven right. In fact, it takes one of the Whos to talk the others into believing Christmas is more than just toys and trees.

I was shocked when I saw this film upon its release in theaters. Was it true Theodor Geisel's widow actually approved of this? How could she, when it absolutely violated everything her late husband was trying to impart with his beloved masterpiece in children's storytelling?

Whatever the truth was, one thing was certain: This film was an abomination. It was not merely bad; it was offensive. And I have never been so angered by a film like that to this day.

It is worth mentioning, as an aside, the film went on to make $250 million dollars domestic box office, making it perhaps the most profitable Ron Howard directed film to date. However, about three years later, when they decided to repeat or at least further the insult with another Seuss classic, Cat in the Hat, people saw right through it and gave it the b*tch slap it deserved.

[atomicpossum]

I didn't hate 2001.... The special effects were good for the day.

The special effects remain the gold standard even today.

[newgeezer]

I stood up after the movie in a crowded theator full of "moved" people and all but yelled "THAT SUCKED!".

If you'd have given me enough warning to move to the other side of the theater, I'd have paid to see you do that.

[kenth]

Battlefield Earth

[Future Snake Eater]

"Piranha"? I can only imagine. One of my favorite directors, James Cameron, directed the sequel ("Piranha 2: The Spawning") before he was able to escape Hollywood's clutches long enough to make "Terminator."

[Charles Henrickson]

I usually avoid movies I think are going to be bad, which covers the vast majority of them. And I will not mention movies generally considered to be bad. No, I will only mention movies that got high praise from critics and that I actually sat through. Two come to mind:

"The Cook, The Thief, His Wife And Her Lover"
"American Beauty"

I'll add one more, but it was so bad, I could only watch about 20 minutes of it:

"Moulin Rouge"

[HairOfTheDog]

I haven't seen the sequel, so I can't vouch fer it.

But the original Piranha is just laugh out loud funny. It's almost a spoof of the genre.

[Da Bilge Troll]

Well, let's see... I guess that would have to be The Eye Creatures. I saw it in about 1972 on the Midnight Movies show in Columbus Ohio. It looked like it was made about 1958.

Plot: Men wearing rubber suits covered with what look like eyes land in flying saucers near a small town. Town's teenagers in bobby socks save the day by surrounding the creatures with their '57 Chevies and turning on their headlights. Creatures explode. Hero teenage guy gets teenage girl. The end.

[kidd]

"Santa Claus Conquers the Martians" is also terrible

Yes, but it was one of the best Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes.

[NRA1995]

"Fright Night".....Chris Sarandon as a vampire was a total loser

"Boys Don't Cry" I HAD to walk out of....can't believe I didn't check out what it was about before I let my girlfriend at the time talk me into going....

[RichRepublican]

That's the problem--you only watched the first 20 minutes of Moulin Rouge. You have to get beyond that first part.

[M Kehoe]

Hole with S. Weaver and what's his name.

5.56mm

[subterfuge]

"A Beautiful Mind"

What a waste of 2 perfectly good hours. I take no one's advice on what is a good or bad movie anymore. Except my wife's. She knows what I consider garbage which is most of what Follywood puts out.

[day10]

Eddie Murphy flick called "The Golden Child" (I think). Horrible.

[najida]

OMIGOD!

I forgot that one....
I was dating someone at the time who saw it and told me I just HAD to see this movie! It was wonderful, deep, great blah blah blahbla blah.

I didn't see it until later, after we had broken up...Wish I'd seen it sooner so I'd had a clue about the inside of his head.

[subterfuge]

Love Groundhog Day too.

[Brainhose]

#1) Independence Day!,
Jeff Goldblum connects his Mac Laptop into an alien network and creates a virus to attack their network.
It's a good thing that the aliens were running TCP/IP and that he was able to locate their domain controller, all within a few seconds.
That is so damned retarded.

[kidd]

Only movie I ever walked out of: Bridges Over Madison County

Worst movie that multiple sequels were made of: Police Academy (please make them stop)

Most disappointing: Dune

Most overrated (but still OK): Citizen Kane

[Auntbee]

I like those "mafia" movies. I prefer a war story over a love story.

[alwaysconservative]

The English Patient

Fargo (sorry, it was lame, lame, lame, trite and mean)

The one with Harrison Ford and some blonde, and their spouses died in a plane crash while heading off for an affair (Broken Hearts?) Completely wooden performances.

Anything with Keanu Reeves (other than Speed)

Hidalgo (gag)

Blade with Wesley Snipes was pretty awful

Anything with Mickey Rourke, but especially "Angel Heart"

[pelosi_is_a_dope]

Sean Connery is the best as far as I am concerned but two
of his worst stinkers are” Darby O'Gill and the Little People”.
He is about 20 yrs old in this painful piece and actually attempts to sing,
dreadful voice
and “ The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen “This thing is a real nothing !
In order to make this thing they must have had something on him and blackmailed him to make it !Its so bad that it is funny ,”especially the invisible man” and the very skinny submarine !

"Just when it seems about to become a real corker of an adventure movie, [the movie] plunges into incomprehensible action, idiotic dialogue, inexplicable motivations, causes without effects, effects without causes, and general lunacy."
Roger Ebert, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES

"Connery chews the scenery, beats up everybody in sight, and tries to bully his co-stars into acting."
Victoria Alexander, FILMSINREVIEW.COM
1. "What a riveting movie The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen might have been! And what a rickety mess it turned out to be when the people responsible lost faith in the origin of the material!"
Lawrence Toppman, CHARLOTTE OBSERVER