Ten "worst" films ever

[truth on hold]

American Beauty sucked. Not nearly as bad as Alexander, but Id say wins the prize for suckiness relative to acclaim and awards (Alexander at least got panned.) AB jjust loaded with corny cliches and the stereotypes that hollywood slaps on Amercians. Everyone in suburbs is shallow and materialistic, and the ex-Marine guy doesn't like gay people, because you guess it, he's a latent homosexual. Give it a rest. That movie gave me a migraine, I came real close to walking out of the theatre.

Edited May 22, 2011 by Joe_the_6_pack

[Fixxxer]

The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced about which *major* motion pictures are the worst. To me, it really has to do with the amount put into the production, the expectations, and the quality of the work. Kind of like the ratio of the suckitude of a movie to the money and expectations that went into it. A flick that sucked badly, but had low expectations is not nearly as bad as a flick that sucked but had huge expectations.

 

In that light, without question, the worst major motion pictures are the first three Star Wars prequels, and the second and third Matrix movies.

 

I can't even begin to describe just how bad the writing and acting are in Star Wars 1-3. It embarrassingly bad. The plot lines are confusing and nonsensical, and the dialogue is horrendous. No acting could turn those scripts into something respectable, but it didn't matter, because the acting sucked. But given how high the expectations were for these flicks when they came out, the overall rank of suckitude had to be right at the top.

 

And then you have Matrix 2 and 3. Another example of movies that took a cool idea and made the plot lines confusing and incomprehensible, along with dialogue that makes me want to retch every time I hear it. This is seriously some of the worst dialogue I can recall. This wouldn't be so bad if the movies didn't really take themselves so seriously, but I never got that sense from these movies. Add to this the fact that the acting was led -- no really, led -- by Keanu Reeves (can you really call it acting, anyway?) and you have some of the worst movies ever in the face of their great expectations and the amount that went into them.

 

All that said, I still watch these whenever I see them on the tube. Why? I have no idea. Must be the special effects.

 

I agree with your concept of major motion picture gone bad.

 

Regarding SW 1-3 this guy nailed with his review, it never gets old.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxKtZmQgxrI

[Pete]

American Beauty sucked. Not nearly as bad as Alexander, but Id say wins the prize for suckiness relative to acclaim and awards (Alexander at least got panned.) AB jjust loaded with corny cliches and the stereotypes that hollywood slaps on Amercians. Everyone in suburbs is shallow and materialistic, and the ex-Marine guy doesn't like gay people, because you guess it, he's a latent homosexual. Give it a rest. That movie gave me a migraine, I came real close to walking out of the theatre.

I loved that film. Those stereotypes are not to far off. And Spacey is a great antihero. Tell me there is not a little bit of Lester in us all

[TheMadCap]

I would like to nominate "Gods and Generals" for your consideration. For those of you who don't know, this is the follow-up prequel to Ted Turner's "Gettysburg", and G&G deals primarily with the rise and fall of General T.J "Stonewall" Jackson. The film covers the war from First Manassas to Chancellorsville, and the death of Jackson.

 

I am quite well versed in the subject matter, and enjoyed both Gettysburg (minus the redonkulous fake beards) and Ken Burns Civil War documentary, which I watch everytime it comes on t.v. I wanted desperately to like this film. But is sucked so hard in the following ways:

 

1. Running Time: WAAAAAAYYYYY to long! This film was nearly 4 hours long, and even though "Gettysburg" was longer, that film never seemed to drag, and the subject matter warrented the time spent, as it was essentially the most epic battle ever fought in North America. This film could have used a good editor, any editor, as I was finding myself nodding off and paying more attention to my laptop than the movie itself.

 

2. Dialog: practially nonexistant. You never got the sense that this is what actual soldiers would say to each other on the battlefield. Most of the dialog was either praying or some pompous soliloquy. Now I completely understand that these people, especially Stonewall, were very religious and they pretty much talked like that. But that doesn't translate well to a film setting, especially if that is all the dialog you are going to put in.

 

3. Pretentious: there were TWO black people in this film. And I S#^# you not, there is a scene where the black folks are out cheering the brave, southern soldiers as they march into battle against the evil hordes of Northerners who would free them from chains. Actually cheering them!

 

4. One-sided: It was said that "Gettysburg" took a very pro-Southern viewpoint, well, aside from one excellent scene with Jeff Daniels as Chamberlain, you would have thought that the Angels themselves were not as pure as the brave Southerners fighting for thier Independence from the tyranny of the north. It was quite annoying from the standpoint of someone who knows a bit about the history of the war.

 

5. Boring: the biggest sin of all. How can a movie about one of the most important and epic periods of American history be so damn monontonous and dull? Too many confusing shots of men running through the woods, and while I KNOW this is pretty much what they did, it did not translate well to the screen. Someone who is not as versed in the history of the battles would not know what was going on. The Battle of Fredricksburg was well done, but couldn't save the nearly four hour run time.

 

One good thing, at least they fixed the over-the-top fake beards on this one. But this movie sucked so hard, that Ted Turner wouldn't bankroll the third and final movie in the series. In short, this movie was a bloody mess of a boring film.

Edited May 23, 2011 by TheMadCap

[KD in CA]

American Beauty sucked. Not nearly as bad as Alexander, but Id say wins the prize for suckiness relative to acclaim and awards (Alexander at least got panned.) AB jjust loaded with corny cliches and the stereotypes that hollywood slaps on Amercians. Everyone in suburbs is shallow and materialistic, and the ex-Marine guy doesn't like gay people, because you guess it, he's a latent homosexual. Give it a rest. That movie gave me a migraine, I came real close to walking out of the theatre.

 

 

I hate to use the "obviously you didn't understand the movie" card, but obviously you didn't understand the movie.

 

American Beauty was one of the best movies of the 90s.

[Buftex]

I hate to use the "obviously you didn't understand the movie" card, but obviously you didn't understand the movie.

 

American Beauty was one of the best movies of the 90s.

 

 

Agreed....

[shrader]

My vote is for a recent one, Meet the Fockers. The worst part is that it's a franchise filled to the brim with good actors. I think they must have all gotten a collective brain aneurysm 5 minutes before accepting their roles once again.

 

I missed this one the first time around when I read it. I assume you're talking about Little Fockers here? That one was pretty awful. Meet the Fockers was nowhere near as good as the first one, but your description doesn't seem to fit that movie too well.

[Rubes]

I agree with your concept of major motion picture gone bad.

 

Regarding SW 1-3 this guy nailed with his review, it never gets old.

 

youtube.com/watch?v=FxKtZmQgxrI

 

 

I loved those reviews. So perfectly on target.

 

Great line: "It's almost mind-boggling how complex the awfulness is."

[Taro T]

No way! The Bodyguard is one of my faves. I've watched it about a gazillion times. *LOL* Same with The Replacements and Bring It On.

Remind me not to ask you for a movie recommendation.

 

(I'll repay the favor, and won't give you any either; as The Princess Bride is probably the only movie ever made that we'd agree upon.)

[truth on hold]

I loved that film. Those stereotypes are not to far off. And Spacey is a great antihero. Tell me there is not a little bit of Lester in us all

I grew wary of spacey over time just like I did Tom hanks. Basically I don't want to be lectured about how shallow and materialistic I am by a guy getting paid $20 million for making a corny cliched film.

[Pete]

I grew wary of spacey over time just like I did Tom hanks. Basically I don't want to be lectured about how shallow and materialistic I am by a guy getting paid $20 million for making a corny cliched film.

Is there a society more shallow and materialistic then America? I travel whenever I can and have yet to find a country anywhere as materialistic as the USA. It is the land of in your face advertising and consumerism. We are 5% of the worlds population and consume 30%. And there were many other deep themes in American Beauty. Maybe you need to rewatch American Beauty.

[Helpmenow]

Knocked up

[CosmicBills]

Is there a society more shallow and materialistic then America? I travel whenever I can and have yet to find a country anywhere as materialistic as the USA. It is the land of in your face advertising and consumerism. We are 5% of the worlds population and consume 30%. And there were many other deep themes in American Beauty. Maybe you need to rewatch American Beauty.

I agree with a lot of what you're saying. When I first saw American Beauty I was blown away by it. Maybe it was my age at the time, but it just struck me at the right moment. It was one of the movies that really cemented home the fact that I was going to be a screenwriter for a living. It's one of the more literary mainstream American films in the past two decades. The entire movie was rife with symbolism, subtext and social commentary.

 

However, upon seeing it in subsequent viewings, it has not held up for me. What I found inspiring and refreshing when I first saw it seemed ham-fisted now (none more so than Wes Bentley's character). It comes off as a movie trying to be daring without taking any actual risks. Of course this is a problem I have with most of Ball's subsequent stuff.

 

Still, the fact that you can have this sort of debate about a film 11 years after its release only proves how terrific the film actually is.

[Just Jack]

I hate to use the "obviously you didn't understand the movie" card, but obviously you didn't understand the movie.

 

American Beauty was one of the best movies of the 90s.

I liked it, and still do.

 

Funny story from when I went and saw it. The girl I was dating at the time and I were doing some shopping at a mall before going to see the movie. A sales woman we were talking to asked what movie we were going to see, so we told her. She went on and on about how she saw it and it was exactly what is happening all over, etc. To hear her explain it, it was more a documentary than a movie.

[Canadian Bills Fan]

The Wicker Man with Nicolas Cage

[ajzepp]

The Wicker Man with Nicolas Cage

 

Good call...one of the worst films I've ever seen for sure.

[....lybob]

Worse movies I got dragged to - Lemon Sisters, any of the Sister acts

 

Worse movies I actually went to on my own volition- Wicker man Cage (I had blocked the memory until I saw the previous post) BloodRayne (in my defense it was because the movie I wanted to see was sold out) The Covenant ( a four dollar DVD I didn't think I could go wrong yet I did)

 

Movie I though was good until I watched again- Saw Undercover Brother while I was in the endorphin filled early part of dating and thought it was super hilarious - so a couple years later I bought it as a bargain DVD and didn't even crack a smile.

[Buftex]

The Wicker Man with Nicolas Cage

 

 

Very good call! However, I think that is one of those films that earns the rare "it's so bad it's good" status...Cage is just terrible in it...and I like him, sometimes...

 

Worse movies I got dragged to - Lemon Sisters, any of the Sister acts

 

Worse movies I actually went to on my own volition- Wicker man Cage (I had blocked the memory until I saw the previous post) BloodRayne (in my defense it was because the movie I wanted to see was sold out) The Covenant ( a four dollar DVD I didn't think I could go wrong yet I did)

 

Movie I though was good until I watched again- Saw Undercover Brother while I was in the endorphin filled early part of dating and thought it was super hilarious - so a couple years later I bought it as a bargain DVD and didn't even crack a smile.

 

 

Had the same experience, fairly recently, watching a re-run of "Welcome Back Kotter". When I was a kid, that was the height of comedy...I hadn't seen an episode since the late 70's...man, it is monumentally bad...not even remotely funny.

[Chilly]

Wolf Creek

[DDD]

Worst movie I ever saw, and coincidentally another Oliver Stone film, was Natural Born Killers. That's the only movie I've ever got up during and left the theater.