Shitty Big Budget movies that were suppsed to be or were blockbusters

[Rabrrrrrr]

but were just shitty - some of them managed to achieve blockbuster status, some of the them simply failed a rather hilarious death despite the millions spent on advertising and they lost millions and millions of dollars.

The Warren Beatty thread made me think of this.

To get on this list, it has to be a huge-budget movie or hugely-hyped/popular movie with otherwise legitimate actors and directors.


I list the following:


Batman Forever
Batman & Robin
Catwoman
Dick Tracy
Incredible Hulk
Jurassic Park II and III
King Kong (the De Laurentiis version)
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Mission Impossible I and II and III
Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes
Son of the Mask
Star Trek: Nemesis
Superman Returns
Titanic
Top Gun
War of the Worlds (Tom Cruise version)
Waterworld

[Taverner]

1. Titanic, MI 1-3 and Top Gun all did well at the box office

Despite being horrible movies

[Rabrrrrrr]

2. Yes, I know - that's part of the game here. Either they did really

well despite being shitty, or failed miserably but were hyped as supposed to be blockbusters.

[Love Bug]

3. The Postman

God, what a shitty movie.

[RedStateShame]

4. All Jerry Bruckheimer films

[terrya]

5. Wasn't that "Fantastic Four" movie supposed to do well?

I think that tanked at the box office.

[Orrex]

88. It did reasonably well worldwide, I believe

Not a chart-scorcher here in the states, but I think that the Four were contracted for three films, so we'll likely see sequels in any case.

Heck, I liked the movie. Aside from a few clunker moments, I found it very effective at what it was trying to do.

And Michael Chiklis as The Thing might be the best casting choice of all time.

[querelle]

6. Ishtar n/t

[Dervill Crow]

8. I liked Ishtar.

But then again, I am sofa king we todd it.

[gmoney]

82. I liked Ishtar, too...

if they'd kept it a quiet little film, it might have had a chance to get a little respect, but advance press killed any chance it had of being viewed as a movie instead of a "filmed deal"

[bertha katzenengel]

83. Me too, after my dad explained all the Arabic idioms and jokes.

Stuff that was just completely lame, unfunny, were all revealed to me by my dad, who worked in the UAE for about six years.

[Oeditpus Rex]

7. 'Pearl Harbor'

"Me and my best friend were fighting over this girl. And he died, but not really. Oh, and there was like a war."

:puke:

[JohnKleeb]

10. Worst WWII movie ever

:puke:
Shame really because Pearl Harbor is a great story.

[Oeditpus Rex]

23. I don't even think of it as a WWII movie

Because the attack was pretty much an afterthought or a sub-plot.

[JohnKleeb]

25. Yeah thats true

Shame really as I said because if yo had a talented director, cast, and scriptwriter you oculd have a great movie.

[Oeditpus Rex]

26. They did

It was called "Tora Tora Tora."

[JohnKleeb]

34. Yeah I need to see that

but I like many in my generation like modern made movies but I'll rent it.

[terrya]

12. All Michael Bay movies

Particularly "Armageddon"

That no-talent hack shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a movie set.

[ghostsofgiants]

15. I think there should be a restraining order imposed on both him and...

Jerry Bruckheimer. They must remain 1,000km apart at all times. Whenever they team up it's always the most horrid shit you'll ever watch.

[Rabrrrrrr]

27. Holy Shit - I just looked up Bruckheimer - many of my most hated

movies were by him!

I had no idea that he has been around so long - I thought he was some kind of new no-talent shitbag, but he's a long time artless shitbag. Flashdance, Top Gun, Days of Thunder, Beverly Hills Cop, American Gigolo, and so many others.

I never knew!

Though I do like the Pirates of the Carribean movies, and Young Doctors In Love is the greatest of the unsung comedy movies ever.

[ghostsofgiants]

29. I'm surprised you weren't familiar with his douchebaggery before.

[Rabrrrrrr]

31. Apparently I was, I just never realized that they were all him.

I have a very difficult time with names, and so it can take sometimes vast repeats of a name before it clicks with me. Same with actors and actresses. And, sadly, even people I work with.

[fudge stripe cookays]

17. That thing made me seasick.

There's only so much quick shifting action shots I can take without becoming nauseous.

And half the time you couldn't tell who was doing what because the shots were too fast. I hate that idiot. No way he should be allowed to continue in the business.

[fishwax]

64. that was my reaction to it too

yeesh, i know they say audiences these days have short attention spans, but we can follow a shot for more than a second and a half.

[blacksmith]

79. Steve Buschemi

Great line "I had a really good spot picked out" love that movie

[Rabrrrrrr]

16. Oh, yes! How could I forget that abomination?

[Arger68]

24. One critic's comment about that film:

"The Japanese bomb a love triangle".:rofl:

[SnohoDem]

51. That was one ABYSMAL movie.

The only good thing in it was the Scottie that played Fala.

[deucemagnet]

9. Independence Day

What an unwatchable piece of crap.

[Rude Horner]

11. Beat me to it

Extreme vomit material. :puke:

[Maestro]

63. Agreed

The acting was horrible, way over-the-top!

[One_Life_To_Give]

13. Quest for Fire

Unless you were into watching alot of caveman sex. But it wasn't any 2001.

[ThomCat]

14. I actually like Incredible Hulk.

I think it was true to the spirit of older comics. It wasn't a blockbuster, but I'm not terribly upset about that.

[flvegan]

18. Wasn't "Battlefield Earth"

supposed to be big? Travolta tanked that one pretty hard.

[Rabrrrrrr]

28. I'm pretty sure it was - it might be the biggest flop ever

in terms of vast amounts of money to produce and vast amounts of money it then lost because it was such an awful, terrible, laughable piece of shit.

[Indy_Dem_Defender]

70. Bingo

You hit the motherload of box office losers, at least that's what I thought.

from source wikipedia.org This is how much some movies lost, Not Including DVD rentals and sales so all these would all go down a little.
The Adventures of Pluto Nash $108,475,947
The Alamo (2004) $112,931,321
Around the World in 80 Days (2004) $114,896,455
Battlefield Earth $88,137,169
Catwoman $98,484,706
The Cat In The Hat $82,048,543
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within $124,434,085
Gigli $70,366,896
Treasure Planet $125,210,943

[zonkers]

19. I am a big defender of Titanic. Though not one of my favorites, its

universal appeal and kind message puts it in a class way beyond the others on your list. Yeah, it's not the most sophisticated film and the performances are often wooden but how many films can be seen and shared by both someone eight and eighty. IMO, this is a special film.

[MissMillie]

86. that's fair

also I think that sometimes movies don't have to be deep, or cultured, or thought-provoking. Sometimes we just want to be entertained.

[Flaxbee]

20. I didn't see it, but the recent King Kong seems to have performed

less than expected....

I could have told whats-his-face that. How come none of these people run movie ideas by me? :shrug:

The most recent Superman seems to have failed to live up to expectations, too. It made a ton of money, but wasn't the sensation all seemed to expect. Coulda told you that, too. ;-)


edited for smilie

[taterguy]

21. I really liked the last King Kong

I just think the length of it frightened people away

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

44. I loved the movie.

It was the best movie of the year, IMHO.

[jobycom]

22. If you can name Titanic and MI, I feel no qualm adding Lord of the Rings

That film bored me, quite literally, to tears. Great acting, and the rest sucked.

Titanic was a great film. It was the top grossing film ever at the time, and won Best Picture at the Oscars, the Empires, and the Golden Globe, and at many other award ceremonies, and was almost universally hailed by critics as brilliant. The hatred of a few film snobs who despise anything that other people like does not make it a bad film.

MI--good movie, not great. Hardly a stinker, but certainly an issue of taste. Ving Rhames, Jon Voight and Vanessa Redgrave were fantastic in it. The sequels blew harder than Katrina, though.

[Juffo Wup]

30. Am I the only one who liked War of the Worlds?

Good, I hate the possibility of sharing anything in common with hipster community that hates everything popular.

[Atmashine]

35. I didn't watch it until it came on cable

Now I'm sad I missed it in the theatres, it was really creepy and not just because whats-his-face is in it. Oh well. I like it.

[Rabrrrrrr]

36. No, there were a number of DUers who liked it.

And I don't know if we have any "hipster community" people here who hate things just because they're popular. But you will find a lot of us who refuse to enjoy something simply because it IS popular; or who even take popularity into account when judging something.

Except, perhaps, to laugh at the vast masses who sometimes enjoy crap.

[Juffo Wup]

80. No hipster community at DU. Ha!

Maybe you've missed the "I-can-out-obscure-you-with-weird-indie-music" threads.

[Rabrrrrrr]

81. people who waste time with obscure indie music aren't hipsters.

They're just time wasters. Hipsters spend their time with stuff of value.

:P

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

42. Oh, I didn't hate it because it was popular.

I hated it because it was horribly written, directed, and acted in.

[jmowreader]

50. I don't know how that movie got popular

To my discerning eye, there are Army VD films that are better-acted than War of the Worlds.

[HeardOnTheHill]

32. X-Men III

When Brian Singer went to do Superman Returns, the X-men series took a turn for the worst. For all the hype, it definitely failed to deliver.

[Rabrrrrrr]

33. Ah - yes!! I knew there was a recent movie that when I walked out I said

to my friend, "They can spend 200 million on special effects, but they couldn't spring for $50 grand to get a better writer?"

Thanks! That's the one I've been trying to remember.

What an awful movie.

[WCGreen]

37. Armageddon......

Oh what a jingoistic nightmare that movie was....

Dripping with maleness that just made me ill....

[Solon]

38. I thought Deep Impact was better...

Granted, not for the science, though that WAS a little more accurate, not much, by Hollywood standards. However, I think the actors were much better and the movie less, oh, I don't know, campy, I guess is the word.

[WCGreen]

39. Me too.....

Billy Bob Thorton as the heroic NASA scientist was just a bit much....

[terrya]

43. I liked "Deep Impact" a lot

I know what you mean...it was...less campy. It was easily the best of the disaster movies (along with "Independence Day" and "armageddon") that came out around the same time. Morgan Freeman made a great President in "Deep Impact"

[Solon]

47. Morgan Freeman plays a great president, I agree...

One thing I hated about Armeggedon is this, the TOTALLY unrealistic timetable for a Meteor Impact, 18 days? Plus its bigger than Ceres, give me a break, I can only stretch my imagination so much before it breaks. Not to mention they actually were able to do something about it, which is also totally unrealistic. Now, Deep Impact was vastly different, the Comet, in this case, was discovered to be on a trajectory towards Earth 5 full years before impact, that, at least, was realistic, enough time for solutions to come forth. Actually, that was probably the ONLY real science in that movie, but then at least it was BELIEVABLE!

[Godhumor]

54. "Lucifer's Hammer" is probably the best fictional depiction...

...of a cataclysmic event--it is an older book, but I recommend picking it up for those who want world ending entertainment.

[catbert836]

41. Such a waste of talent, too...

I didn't see it when it came out, but I watched it recently on TBS. Three hours I'll never get back.

[WCGreen]

52. Really......

[Broken_Hero]

40. here is my list...

1. Batman and Robin

2. Battlefield Earth

3. WaterWorld

4. The Postman

5. Batman Forever

6. Batman Returns

7. The Aviator

8. The Thin Red Line

9. Attack of the Clones

10. 2001 A Space Odyessy

11. Apocalypse Now

12. Deer Hunter(not sure if this one fits, but I thought it was highly overrated)

Are ones that pop out to me. All of these movies to me, were a waste of my time, and money. I don't share your dislike for

Superman Returns-you all ready knew that...:)

Hulk

WOTW

Or the League of Extraordinary Gentleman, the rest, I agree with...:)

[Rabrrrrrr]

45. Oh, God, how could I forget Star Wars episodes I and II? Such vomit.

Do you seriously put Apocalypse Now on that list? My God, man - that's one of the best films ever!

[Broken_Hero]

46. yeah, sorry

I have seen Apocalypse Now twice, and I never really got into it, with the exception of the Air Cav part, I thought the movie was...well, mediocre...not bad, but not all that great either.

As far as the Star Wars prequls go, I like Phantom Menace the best, AOTC and ROTS I thought were...boring. In truth though, I thought the whole prequel idea was lazy...why go back and do a story, that everyone all ready knows? Why not further the story, with Han and Leia's children, who are way way, TIGHTER than Luke, or Darth Vader ever was...(book wise at least)...

[jobycom]

58. Let me get this straight

Waterworld, Postman, THE AVIATOR?, 2001, and Apocolypse Now were wastes of money, but Hulk and League of Extraordinary Gentleman weren't?

Well, at least we agree on politics! :rofl:

The Aviator? I can understand though not agree with the others, but The Aviator? They need a smilie for shaking head in disbelief...

[Rabrrrrrr]

62. The Aviator was not good. Not quite unwatchable, but it wasn't good.

It was also boring, and I'm hugely interested in Howard Hughes so had looked forward to it. I simply could not get into it enough to pay any kind of real attention to it.

But I totally agree with your disagreement on 2001 and Apocalypse Now, and your trashing of Hulk and League, which were both simply awful. Hulk has to be one of the worst ever superhero movies. Truly, stunningly abysmal.

[Broken_Hero]

74. It's all a matter of taste...:)

it appears, our tastes differ...;)

[MrScorpio]

48. Actually, I thought that the Incredible Hulk rocked

But instead, I think that US version of GODZILLA should be on you list

That one sucked BIG TIME

[Broken_Hero]

49. I thought the whole

dog fight scene was amazing, and Hulk vs the Tanks/choppers/jet fighters was some amazing fx...:) Nick Nolte's character, is probably my only beef with the movie...

[Solon]

75. You could say that for almost all Japanese to American adaptations...

Can't really think of any exceptions to that rule.

[BigMcLargehuge]

84. The American Godzilla wasn't an adaptation

it was a home-grown script (cribbed very liberally from The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms). The only tie to Toho studios was the cost of the license for Emmerich and Devlin to make the film, and that Tomoyuki Tanaka approved the original monster design (which S.E. Director Tatapolous further modified into that CGI monstrosity). The Tri-Star monster was supposed to adhere to a set of standards with regard to how the monster was portrayed, including (but not limited to):

Three rows of plates on the back with the middle row slightly taller than the two outer rows
The distinctive "voice" of Godzilla had to be used (though the Tri-Star version trimmed it and sped it up)
Godzilla had to walk on two legs (he often moved around on 4 in the film)
Godzilla had to have an atomic origin and atomic breath (he had one, but not the other)

the ONLY good thing that came out of the American Godzilla was that it convinced Toho to make the Millennium series.

My review -

http://www.horrorview.com/HallofShame/Godzilla%20shame.htm

Ryuhai Kitamura did almost as much damage to the franchise with Godzilla: Final Wars as Devlin and Emmerich did with Godzilla.

My review of G:FW

http://www.horrorview.com/HallofShame/GodzillaFinalWarsShame.htm

[Solon]

87. Eh, that explains a lot...

All I can say is that that definately explains why American Godzilla didn't FEEL like a Godzilla movie. After seeing the original, and its many many sequels, some bad, some not, that particular film is simply a travesty, no other way to describe it.

[Godhumor]

53. Stealth

It is considered one of the single biggest bombs in movie history (seriously, look it up), as it pretty much bankrupted a studio.

Who knew people weren't ready for an intelligent stealth bomber that reprograms itself after being struck by lightning.

[Rabrrrrrr]

55. Yes, I very deliberately avoided that one.

It looked fucking awful even in the trailers.

[Pied Piper]

56. Dick Tracy

It was the only movie I ever walked out of, and I was in High School or early college, I don't remember. I've rented plenty of DVDs that never made it past the first 20 minutes, but Dick Tracy, ugh. That was $5 and 10 minutes of my life that I'll never see again.

[Rabrrrrrr]

57. And I was dumb enough to buy into all the hype, and friends and I

bought the $15 "Dick Tracy" t-shirts that were the tickets into the sneak-preview Thursday night midnight "special" showing of the movie.

What a piece of crap, we all said. What a waste of money, we all felt.

And that was $15 back in, what, '90? '91? That was a fair amount of money for a guy like me was probably only earning $6.50-7.00 an hour at the time.

[Merrick]

59. Cutthroat Island

[jobycom]

60. Bad Boys II

The first was rockin', the second was as boring as Lord of the Rings, and even less consistent.

[sakabatou]

61. Godzilla '98

>_<

[fishwax]

65. wild wild west

in addition to several of the others mentioned here ...

[Iniquitous Bunny]

66. Nearly every John Hughes film

With a few exceptions: Vacation, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, Some Kind of Wonderful and Home Alone 2 (for personal reasons), they were all suckage beyond suckage. A few were known suckage and strait to video or TV, but I left them in there (with indications of "V" or "TV") to show the vast collection of sucktitude.

Drillbit Taylor (2007) (pre-production)

Beethoven's 5th (2003) (V)
Maid in Manhattan (2002)
Home Alone 4 (2002) (TV)
Beethoven's 4th (2001) (V)
Just Visiting (2001)
Beethoven's 3rd (2000) (V)
Reach the Rock (1998)
Home Alone 3 (1997)
Flubber (1997)
101 Dalmatians (1996)
Miracle on 34th Street (1994)
Baby's Day Out (1994)
Beethoven's 2nd (1993)
Dennis the Menace (1993)
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)
Beethoven (1992)
Curly Sue (1991)
Dutch (1991)
Career Opportunities (1991) (written by)
Home Alone (1990)
Christmas Vacation (1989)
Uncle Buck (1989)
The Great Outdoors (1988)
She's Having a Baby (1988)
Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)
Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
Pretty in Pink (1986)
Weird Science (1985)
European Vacation (1985)
he Breakfast Club (1985)
Sixteen Candles (1984)
Nate and Hayes (1983)
Vacation (1983)
Mr. Mom (1983)
Class Reunion (1982)

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

67. "16 Candles"? "Breakfast Club"? "Ferris Brueller's Day Off"?

You thought they sucked? What are you? A commie or something?

[Iniquitous Bunny]

68. I liked the first two when I was 12.

Kind of outgrew them. However, I always thought Ferris sucked. Irritating little twit he was. Saw the movie when I was 13 or 14 when it was released (as I think it was legally required for 80's teens to watch Hughes films) and I wanted to beat the crap out of him. :grr:

[JVS]

71. vacation and eur. vacation ruled

[BigMcLargehuge]

85. I'd also include your exceptions

John Hughes, and his protege Chris Columbus should be exiled to the Mir space station for foisting so much caca on the world.

[Robeson]

69. Gladiator....

...I had to struggle to get through that colossal bore of a movie.

[RebelOne]

78. I thought Gladiator was a good movie.

Maybe it's because I'm a big fan of Joaquin Phoenix.

[NMMNG]

72. Titanic?

It grossed $600,779,824 in the US as of 09/20/98. Theater totals for other nations are below. It made $324,425,520 in rentals in the US and $900,000,000 in rentals worldwide. It was seen in the theater by about 225,678,631 people worldwide. You call that unsuccessful?





Admissions

17,184,734 (UK)
1,389,000 (Austria)
15,913,230 (Brazil) (23 July 1998)
1,050,000 (Czech Republic)
1,362,118 (Denmark)
1,028,836 (Finland)
20,738,844 (France) (29 December 1998)
17,876,702 (Germany) (18 October 1998)
850,000 (Greece)
7,921,600 (Italy)
3,428,085 (Netherlands)
1,360,505 (Norway)
3,513,530 (Poland)
1,259,993 (Romania)
10,837,725 (Spain)
10,841,850 (Spain)
2,166,584 (Sweden) (31 December 1998)
1,940,197 (Switzerland)
2,650,000 (Turkey)



All data from : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120338/business

[Rabrrrrrr]

76. No, I call it a shitty film. It was clearly successful, there's no dispute

on that.

[NMMNG]

89. Ah

I certainly won't argue with you about your perception of how good the film was.

[AmyDeLune]

73. Water World & The Postman

Kevin Costner must be stopped...!

[Glorfindel]

77. "Volcano" (the Coast is Toast!) *shudder* what a waste.....

n/t