In this issue of C.C.C, I'm looking at movies that are so terrible, so appalling, they aren't even in the category of so bad they're good. With so many to choose from, I created two lists: this one, and the worst direct to DVD movies ever, which will be out next week!
Top Ten Worst Theatrically Released Movies
For some reason, I like bad movies. More
precisely, I like movies that are so bad they become entertaining—usually because
they are hilarious. These ten, though, are just bad. These are the worst of the
worst as far as films that received a wide release in theaters (there are so
many bad direct to DVD films it requires a separate list). If you haven’t seen
these ten atrocities, I’m warning you to keep it that way.
Criteria:
Must have bad critic ratings and be considered terrible by people who I
have shown it to, seen it with, or know who have seen it. Must also have been
released in major theaters, not a limited release.
10. Jaws: The Revenge
Steven
Spielberg’s classic blockbuster Jaws is
highly regarded as one of the greatest movies of all time (I happen to strongly
agree). Jaws 2 was the inevitable
sequel to capitalize on the first one’s success, and it wasn’t terrible, nor
was it great. Jaws 3, originally
released in the now outdated anaglyph 3D, was a miserable film where things
started to get really bad. Then, somehow, Jaws:
The Revenge (a sequel to one of the best movies ever, don’t forget) became
one of the worst films of all time. When the mechanical shark roars like a
T.rex and is unintentionally able to fly, you know the movie sucks. I could
begin dissecting the terribleness by pointing out this shark trying to get
revenge isn’t even the same one from the first movie, but then I would be at
this forever. I still have nine more abominations to talk about.
9.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
It
doesn’t really matter which Transformers movie
I put on this list; they’re all poor adaptations of the cartoons, but people
don’t care about that. Apparently they want big explosions and Shia LaBeouf
screaming like a little girl (we’ve seen it three times, now). The first movie
was forgivable in that it had decent visual effects and action, but little
else. The one film from Michael Bay’s original trilogy that angered me the most
was the second. The first Transformers
was big, dumb fun, but at least it was
fun. Transformers: ROTF was boring,
completely stupid, racist, and (lamest of all) the visual effects were worse
than the first. You can’t blame that on the writer’s strike which took place at
that time. It’s an inexcusably subpar sequel indeed, especially with a budget
so overblown. Transformers: Dark of the
Moon may have been an improvement, but that’s like saying it’s better to be
thrown into a lake with a concrete block tied to your leg and handed a knife to
cut the rope rather than be thrown in without the knife. Either way, it sucks.
I can’t wait to not see Transformers: Age
of Extinction later this year.
8.
Howard the Duck
I
guess the first indication that George Lucas shouldn’t have been allowed to
make the Star Wars prequel trilogy
was when he personally produced Howard the Duck, an adaptation of the Marvel
comic of the same name. It follows the adventure of the anthropomorphic duck
Howard to earth, where he battles the “dark overlord of the universe”, or
something. This movie is terrible in many ways, some of them due to big
concepts that just didn’t work, and other little details that are just bizarre.
As far as big concepts, the decision to make this a live action film and have a
little person play Howard was a bad idea. As for little details, this is a
movie targeted at a young audience, right? So why have Howard reading a Playduck magazine at the beginning of
the film? Why show a half naked duck lady taking a bath? Why did George Lucas
think this movie was a good idea?! The most depressing thing is, despite the
fact that this movie is supremely terrible, it isn’t even the worst. This is
only number eight, and let me tell you, it’s not going to get any better from
here.
7. The Happening
Worst
M. Night Shyamalan movie? Take your pick: The
Last Airbender, After Earth, The Village? How about The Happening? Remember that one, where
the grass releases a chemical which made people want to kill themselves? I wish
I didn’t remember. Everything that is meant to be scary comes out being unintentionally
funny, but the deaths are surely the funniest. A man lies down in front of his
lawnmower, another guy opens the cage to the lion pen at the zoo and the lion
bites him around the neck, and there are many other stupid kills which I have
forgotten about. I remember this movie being released on Friday the 13th,
and it was made extremely clear in the advertising. You would think M. Night Shyamalan
had enough bad luck, but I guess the studio felt differently. Including a
beyond absurd plot, Mark Wahlberg’s worst performance, stupid characters, and
just general stupidity, I wonder how such a bad movie like this ever happened
in the first place.
6. Catwoman
So
besides Halle Berry wearing a skin tight leather outfit, what was good about Catwoman...? I can safely say it wasn’t
her razzie-winning performance. It wasn’t her completely made up cat super
powers, either. Was it the special effects? Nope, not those either. Anything
else? No? So to sum up, Catwoman was
bad all around. Next!
5. Batman and Robin
The
first omen that a bad Batman movie
was coming was when Joel Schumacher replaced Tim Burton as director on 1995’s Batman: Forever. It wasn’t a terrible
film, but it did introduce Robin and had a less sturdy story than Batman or Batman Returns. In Batman and
Robin, Schumacher trades in great action and characters for a plethora of
terrible one-liners, cartoony depictions of the characters, and bat nipples.
Yup, bat nipples. Oh, and codpieces. None of the characters work, the casting
is extremely questionable, and the dialogue painful. The only superhero movie
worse than Catwoman, is this movie
one. At first I thought it might teeter on the line of so bad it’s good, but I
now understand Batman and Robin was
an attempt to make a Batman movie
more like the TV series from the sixties. And no, it wasn’t a good idea.
4. Battlefield Earth
What
could go wrong in adapting L. Ron Hubbard’s futuristic sci-fi novel about
aliens that have taken over humanity? At the crack of the century, this John
Travolta-starring turkey came out and was universally panned by critics and
audiences alike, for basically all aspects of the film. The thing I hate the
most is the ridiculous camera angles. It’s like the director had a broken tri
pod; I don’t think there’s a single frame of the film that isn’t tilted or
skewed. My guess is that Travolta regrets having invested millions of his own
dollars into what has become renowned as the worst film of 2000, and one of the
worst films of all time. Cringe inducing dialogue, lame special effects, and a
bland plot all add up to make one seriously misguided and appalling film.
3. Ghost rider/Ghost rider 2: Spirit of Vengeance
Why
pick one or the other? Both Ghost
Rider films are terrible! Bad cgi, stupid story, and even Nicholas Cage
stoops to new lows here. Seeing behind the scenes footage of the directors
filming Ghost Rider 2 absolutely baffled me. They shot some of the chase scenes
wearing roller blades. They were wearing roller blades. While holding the
camera. Filming a chase scene. If that doesn’t scream unprofessional, I don’t
know what does. It’s almost tempting to recommend watching these two movies if
you haven’t seen them because you won’t believe how bad they are (especially
true of the second) but unfortunately, once you watch them, there’s no way to
get that precious time back, so I can’t recommend it.
2. Super Babies: Baby Geniuses 2
Babies
that are actually brilliant, and have semi-super powers: need I say more? All I
can say about this movie is the little story that goes with the one and only
time I saw it as a kid. I was about seven or eight, and watched it because,
like all stupid kids, thought it looked fun and didn’t know better. I disliked
it (even as a child) and later that night, woke up to a ferocious stomach bug
and puked my guts out all night. After that, I was gravely sick for over a week—sicker
than I had ever been in my life, and I have not been that sick since. Did
watching Baby Geniuses 2 cause my
illness? Are the two connected? Put it this way, anytime I see a clip from the
movie, it makes me queasy.
1. The Beast of Yucca Flats
Many
of you might not know about this movie. I didn’t until recently. Years ago, I
bought one of those discount DVD collections—those clunky box sets labelled
with ‘Over 13 Hours!’ and contain a dozen or so movies jammed into three
DVD’s—and the collection was Incredible
Monsters. I had bought it for one or two classics, but had never really
watched any of the other films it featured. I decided one day to pop in disc
one and watched the first film. It was only 54 minutes long, but it felt like
an eternity of punishment. This is surely one of the worst movies I have ever
seen, if you can even classify it as a movie. Apparently it was originally
silent, and narration and dialogue were all added in afterwards. Is it obvious?
Well, no character’s mouths are shown when they speak, and the narration is
extremely repetitive. I wonder if the director even had a script, or if they
were just shooting random scenes in hopes that they would all somehow connect.
The opening scene is a woman getting out of the shower, only to be strangled by
a man whom we never see. This woman isn’t in the film again, her significance
to the plot is never explained, it’s not even confirmed if she was killed by
the beast in the title or not! And speaking of the beast, it’s just former
wrestler Tor Johnson dressed up in stupid clothes, he isn’t even a legit
monster. I’m asking you to just take my word on this. This is such a bad movie,
you can save those precious 54 minutes of your life doing something way more
constructive, and not waste them like I did. That is my report, may you all
avoid The Best of Yucca Flats, as
well as the other films on this list.
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