List of films considered the worst
Obviously, due to the subjective nature of "good" and "bad" judgments, there can be disagreement about what constitutes an "extremely bad movie".
Motion pictures that are frequently cited by some as the worst movie ever made include:
- The Adventures of Pluto Nash: $90 million-budgeted Eddie Murphy sci-fi comedy took in only around $4 million at the box office.
- [[Alien<super>3</super>]]: third film in phenomenal Alien franchise — the feature debut of director David Fincher — alienated the series' fans for taking the saga in an undesired direction and featuring a story considered threadbare and uninvolving; its reputation could change, however, when Fincher's original cut is restored for the Alien Quadrilogy DVD box set in 2003.
- Baby Geniuses
- Battlefield Earth: audiences and critics widely viewed it as boring and nonsensical and many may also have stayed away because of L. Ron Hubbard's connection with Scientology.
- Batman and Robin: viewed with derision by fans of the character for director Joel Schumacher's overbearing style and trivial visual details, such as "nipples" on Batman and Robin's costumes. Fans seem to have preferred director Tim Burton's vision for the series.
- Caligula: graphic film about the Roman emperor.
- Cool as Ice: starring brief pop music sensation and teen idol Vanilla Ice.
- Deep Impact: about an asteroid colliding with Earth.
- From Justin to Kelly: A musical featuring winners of the first season of TV phenomenon American Idol was universally dismissed by most viewers; it lasted only two weeks in theaters. The film seems to enjoy continued distribution on airline inflight entertainment systems.
- Gigli: vehicle for celebrity couple Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez failed for numerous reasons; the script was widely attacked, and the public was tiring of the two stars' overexposure in the media.
- Glitter: Mariah Carey vehicle and disastrous commercial failure that was part of a drastic downturn in the superstar's career
- The Gong Show: movie based on the 1970s TV show.
- Heaven's Gate: Michael Cimino's complex, nearly four-hour Western that sent United Artists into bankruptcy.
- Ishtar: massively-budgeted comedy starring Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman that failed at the box office.
- Kazaam: Shaquille O'Neal stars as a rapping genie.
- Last Action Hero: first serious box office failure of star Arnold Schwarzenegger.
- Leonard, Part Six: a Bill Cosby movie that made even its star go on a talk show tour to tell people not to see it
- Manos: The Hands of Fate: no-budget horror film made by El Paso fertilizer salesman which gained cult popularity from the Mystery Science Theater 3000 television show.
- Millennium: criticized for an outrageous plot, terrible acting, and showing basically the same shots twice from different camera angles for the second half of the film.
- North: high-profile Rob Reiner movie with numerous celebrity parts and cameos, about which Roger Ebert famously said, "I hated this movie. Hated hated hated hated hated this movie. Hated it."
- Plan 9 from Outer Space: the first film even to get film fans thinking of "worst ever" movies when it was officially labelled the worst by the Golden Turkey Awards.
- The Postman: Epic post-apocalyptic science fiction film directed by and starring Kevin Costner, from David Brin's bestseller, was ignored by audiences and derided by critics.
- Santa Claus Conquers the Martians: children's film attempting to be sci-fi adventure and uplifting Christmas movie at the same time; stars Pia Zadora as a child.
- Santa with Muscles: a film starring Hulk Hogan as Santa Claus with — surprise — muscles.
- Seven Dwarfs to the Rescue: a live action Snow White sequel.
- The Silver Chalice: described by Paul Newman as the worst movie of the 1950s.
- Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace and Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones: The Star Wars prequels have divided fans of the films sharply, with critics coming down harshly on the excessively plotted scripts, poor acting, and director George Lucas' failure to recapture the swashbuckling sense of fun of the originals. Fully CGI characters such as Jar Jar Binks met with particular venom. Given the fact that there was an 18-year gap since the release of the last film during which fans were building very high expectations, it is perhaps impossible the prequels could have avoided disappointing a great many people.
- Swept Away: Remake of 1960s film assembled as vehicle for Madonna by her husband, director Guy Ritchie, met with such disaster at the box office that it appears it could completely derail the once-promising career of Ritchie.
See also:
- Golden Turkey Award
- Golden Raspberries Award
- Mystery Science Theater 3000
- List of major flops
- Alan Smithee
- List of movies that are famous for being widely considered extremely good