# Bad movie appreciation thread! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 6, 2002, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movie-appreciation-thread/112644 "2002-06-06T11:49:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2002, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movie-appreciation-thread/112644/1 "2002-06-06T11:49:35Z")
Its true! I loved Hudson Hawk. Waaaah! Don’t kill me, please! I know its a bad movie - everyone says so - but I still liked it. And I liked The Phantom Menace. Is there something wrong with me? However, I didn’t like Battlefield Earth or Manos: the Hands of Fate. Theres Evil and then there’s just plain WRONG! ---
**Author:** ![richardb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/96bed5/32.png) [@richardb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/richardb)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2002, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movie-appreciation-thread/112644/2 "2002-06-06T12:08:55Z")
Just to let you know you’re not alone: **I, too, loved Hudson Hawk.** I couldn’t stop laughing throughout most of the movie. I loved the way they used showtunes to keep themselves synchronized during the heist: it made for a great musical number without the music being out of place or “added” in. Using Sandra Bernhardt was brilliant, as was Richard Grant. I could never understand the universal contempt that was heaved upon this film. I guess it was just too “esoteric” for most people, although I thought it had the same sort of atmosphere and general quality of most _Moonlighting_ episodes, and that show was successful. One of my friends liked it, too. So there! 😃 (But until now I thought we might be the only two) Phantom Menace (although it was also panned by the critics) did not have anywhere near the contempt levels that Hudson Hawk generated. I liked it, as well, but clearly recognize it was not as good as the first two Star Wars movies, and Attack of the Clones I think is better than Phantom Menace (but maybe not by a whole lot). Whether Phantom Menace was better or worse than Return of the Jedi is debatable. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Elvis_Rojo)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2002, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movie-appreciation-thread/112644/3 "2002-06-06T12:10:54Z")
For some time-killing fun, I always put in **Dirty Work** and I try to make sure every one of my friends has seen it. I love love **LOVE** crappy movies. But the **Phantom Menace** still sucked. There’s a huge difference between a crappy movie and crap on celluloid/digital. **Dude, Where’s My Car** is a perfect example of the former. Phantom Menace, the latter. ---
**Author:** ![stankow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@stankow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stankow)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2002, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movie-appreciation-thread/112644/4 "2002-06-06T12:42:11Z")
I don’t even agree about **Dude, Where’s My Car** being a crappy movie. What was quote-bad-endquote about it? We have a couple of protagonists who need to find something. Along the way, they meet four groups of antagonists, three of whom may or may not be evil. They proceed through a series of side adventures to find the thing they need, each of which actually brings them closer to their goal or helps them divert the antagonists. They aren’t just bouncing from one encounter to another – they use their abilities to solve problems and put pieces of the overall puzzle together, none of which is done in a ridiculous manner. The antagonists interact with each other as much as they do with the protagonists, and everything comes together at the end. The basic structure of this movie makes more sense than any of the Indiana Jones movies, most of the Star Wars movies, and the entire Alien series. Hell, it makes more sense than practically all of Shakespeare’s plays. There are no loose plot threads. Exactly one scene has no purpose to the higher plot, and it lasts about two minutes. The protagonists _and_ the secondary characters have character arcs. The plot was unpredictable but logical. The jokes were funny and weren’t pounded into the ground. I can’t think of a single thing that one can point at and say, “Whoa – that bit just _did not work_.” Even Andy Dick, who can suck the life out of nearly any movie, was tolerable. What elements of this movie, from idea to execution, were “crappy”? I honestly don’t get it. Does the mere presence of a guy getting nailed in the crotch twice automatically make a movie crappy? The mere mention of blow jobs? **Dude, Where’s My Car** was a movie that didn’t take itself too seriously. That doesn’t automatically make it a “crappy” movie. ---
**Author:** ![richardb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/96bed5/32.png) [@richardb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/richardb)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2002, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movie-appreciation-thread/112644/5 "2002-06-06T12:56:07Z")
Right on, **stankow**! I agree **Dude, Where’s My Car?** was a funny movie. I enjoyed it. But my sense of the OP was movies that we like that were **universally** or near-universally hated and considered bad movies. I’m sure that for just about ANY movie you can think of, no matter how much money it made, how many awards it won or how much everybody always says how much they loved it, there are some people who hated it. Without exception. So while I respect **El Elvis Rojo** ’s opinions and believe he may not have liked **Dude, Where’s My Car?** , that hardly seems a proper answer for the OP. I also don’t think that movies that fall in the “they’re-so-bad-they’re-good” category (like **Plan 9 from Outer Space** or **Attack of the Killer Tomatoes** should qualify for this thread, either. We’re looking (I believe) for movies that are virtually **universally** panned that you think is great. I believe **Hudson Hawk** fits this category. I’m not even sure what other movies were so hated by everybody (let alone whether or not I agreed). Heaven’s Gate? Freddy Got Fingered? Actually, now that I think about it, I think Freddy Got Fingered **WAS** universally hated. But since I agree it sucked, I can’t use it either. Any others? ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2002, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movie-appreciation-thread/112644/6 "2002-06-06T13:55:35Z")
You know, I can’t think of the name of it, but there is another movie (non-Star Wars) that gets mentioned around here every now and then with Hudson Hawk as being an example of a really bad movie - and of course I liked it. Any remembories? (I made that word up!) Anyway, its not Congo, as I never saw it. Godzilla, of course, wasn’t bad in that any one thing was bad, it was just flat to me. uninspired. The writers, director, et. all, simply didn’t _do_ anything interesting. I went to it on openng night because I thought it was going to be a campy opcorn flick and I was bored out of my mind. Lets see, how about Hook? I loved Hook! Seeing the fat 40-year old Peter Pan was fricking hilarious! And the writers took some risks, like killing Rufio via his own arrogance. Maytbe it was because I was young, but I did like the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2002, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movie-appreciation-thread/112644/7 "2002-06-06T14:35:40Z")
Hook is despised? Why? Yeah, I thought DWMCar was great fun, but there was something about it that gets it put in the ‘so bad it’s good’ catagory for some reason. Wagons East. It was totally slammed in the review I saw, one star, and they obviously didn’t want to give it that. Cliched, unfunny and the star died half way through. But it was funny to watch. Don’t know why. Of course, I had low expectations. ---
**Author:** ![stankow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@stankow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stankow)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2002, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movie-appreciation-thread/112644/8 "2002-06-06T14:48:53Z")
I’d put, say, **Scary Movie** (the first one) or **Ace Ventura** (again, the first one) into the “crappy” category – as a movie, neither of them worked. They were predictable, forgettable, and I laughed my ass off when I saw it in the theater. **Scary Movie 2** and **Ace Ventura 2** , on the other hand, were predictable, forgettable, and I just sort of vaguely chuckled at the former and actually _fell asleep_ in the latter. **Tommy Boy** and **Black Sheep** were good crappy movies. “Gosh, I wonder if Chris Farley will turn into this amazing salesman/get his brother elected? And maybe, just maybe, David Spade will hate him at first but come to realize that he’s really cool! And I just bet there’s gonna be drug hijinks and guys getting hit in the crotch and sex jokes!” And yet, I can’t turn away from them when they come on HBO in the middle of the night. **Almost Heroes** , on the other hand, just didn’t work for me. Nearly the same formula, minus David Spade and plus Matthew Perry, but the jokes fell flat. **Independence Day** – great crappy movie. **Godzilla** – just crappy. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2002, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movie-appreciation-thread/112644/9 "2002-06-06T15:24:08Z")
**Ishtar** – but then, I don’t think it’s crappy. The songs are hilarious, as is the arms auction scene. And Hoffman and Beatty manage to pull off something that few others have: make a couple of stupid losers endearing. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@El\_Elvis\_Rojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Elvis_Rojo)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2002, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movie-appreciation-thread/112644/10 "2002-06-06T15:36:49Z")
Nonono **NO**!! You guy’s got it all wrong. I **LOVE** _Dude, Where’s My Car_. When it came out, it was my opinion it was the best movie in theaters at the time. But you have to admit…it was a crappy movie. What I loved about it was the fact that the cast KNEW it was just a silly little hum drum made to entertain, and that made it even more enjoyable. No one in it was trying to make an Oscar performance, because they knew there was no way in HELL it would ever win one. It’s a stupid movie with a stupid plot with silly characters…hence, it’s what I call a “crappy movie.” But Crappy Movies are GOOD!!! I used it as an example of the difference between crappy movies and CRAP!!! Crap is the shit that makes you want to cringe. There are crappy movies that have low budget, horrible acting, and terrible plots, yet somehow, they have some great redeaming qualities that just make them wonderful. That’s where I place **Dude**. CRAP, on the otherhand, is a movie that has horrible acting, horrible plot, terrible characters, and has **NO** redeaming qualities to it. Hence, my statement of **The Phantom Menace** being crap. **Dude, Where’s My Car** is a wonderful film, and I’ve seen it several times and enjoyed every viewing. But when my friends and I get together for “Crappy Movie Night,” it does come up on my list. It’s like **stankow** ’s description of **Independence Day** and **Godzilla**. One’s fun, the other’s shit. **Dude** is definitely fun. ---
**Author:** ![Tretiak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a88e57/32.png) [@Tretiak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tretiak)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2002, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movie-appreciation-thread/112644/11 "2002-06-06T16:13:28Z")
The movie \*_Roadhouse_ with patrick Swayze is like a train wreck. I cannot watch, yet I cannot look away. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2002, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movie-appreciation-thread/112644/12 "2002-06-06T16:16:32Z")
If theres anything this thead proves, its the old adage: There’s no accounting for taste. ---
**Author:** ![stankow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@stankow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stankow)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2002, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movie-appreciation-thread/112644/13 "2002-06-06T16:29:18Z")
But **Dude, Where’s My Car** works on a quality level. Make the following changes: Jesse and Chester, two stoners --\> Bertie Wooster and his pal whose name I forget Pot jokes --\> clothing jokes Sex jokes --\> double-entendres Hot alien chicks --\> Nazi spies Gay Nordic dudes --\> American spies Zoltan followers --\> Aleister Crowley cultists That damn alien device, the name of which has totally escaped me --\> rocket plans Bam. You’ve got yourself an Actual Movie. It would sweep the Golden Globes and be a serious contender for Best Picture. So what makes it crap? For “crap,” however, we turn to, say, **Species**. Two seconds after the main characters (Strong Leader, Token Chick, Weird Psychic and Doofy Academic) and the Hot Villain’s motivation (breed and kill) are introduced, you know what’s going to happen – Hot Villain breeds with and kills Doofy Academic, Strong Leader and Token Chick get together, and Hot Villain dies after giving birth to at least one spawn, which escapes to set up the sequel (of course, it didn’t appear in the sequel, but Hollywood is staffed largely with idiots). And yet, the movie was fun. That’s good crap. **Independence Day** – we knew that Fighter Pilot and Computer Geek would beat the aliens. We knew that Former Fighter Pilot President would climb into the cockpit. We knew that Fighter Pilot and Stripper Girlfriend would get married. We knew that Computer Geek and Political Hottie would get back together. Crap, but enjoyable crap. I will go to my grave defending **Dude, Where’s My Car** as a legitimately good movie. _It bloody well worked._ ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2002, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movie-appreciation-thread/112644/14 "2002-06-06T16:41:46Z")
Shaolin Dolemite!!! SHAOLIN DOLEMITE!!! SHAOLIN DOLEMITE!!! ever see Davy Crockett fight Tupac in a Kung Fu movie? And Ninja Ho’ Rulez!!! ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2002, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movie-appreciation-thread/112644/15 "2002-06-06T17:01:31Z")
Um, **Wing Commander**. _hangs head in shame and slumps in a corner, crying inconsolably_ ---
**Author:** ![domesticatedjunglefowl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b38774/32.png) [@domesticatedjunglefowl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/domesticatedjunglefowl)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2002, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movie-appreciation-thread/112644/16 "2002-06-06T18:10:26Z")
‘Leather Jackets’ -a video world premiere featuring Bridget Fonda and a very bad script… deliciously bad!!! ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Teerious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Miss\_Teerious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Teerious)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2002, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movie-appreciation-thread/112644/17 "2002-06-06T20:37:25Z")
I love, love, love **The Faculty**. Love. ---
**Author:** ![ladybug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/46a35a/32.png) [@ladybug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladybug)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2002, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movie-appreciation-thread/112644/18 "2002-06-06T22:13:45Z")
**Buffy the Vampire Slayer**. The movie version with Kristy Swanson and Luke Perry. I practically have it memorized. ---
**Author:** ![HelloKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecccb3/32.png) [@HelloKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelloKitty)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2002, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movie-appreciation-thread/112644/19 "2002-06-06T23:33:36Z")
I LOVE **Weekend at Bernie’s**. There are several lines that crack me up to no end: “We’re talking death, here” “Polyester doesn’t crumple!” “How about I lay YOU out?” And a couple scenes that are just too hilarious: When one of Bernie’s girlfriends comes to “visit”, the scene where Jonathan Silverman pretends his dad is the butler, the part where Bernie rolls out on the beach when Jonathan Silverman is about to kiss his girlfriend. It is CLASSIC!! Now, **Weekend at Bernie’s II** , THAT’s a pile of trash! ---
**Author:** ![Ooner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c67d28/32.png) [@Ooner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ooner)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2002, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movie-appreciation-thread/112644/20 "2002-06-06T23:43:46Z")
If you ever want to laugh so hard that your stomach hurts and your lungs get tired and you think you just might die if you don’t stop but it’s just so damn funny you can’t stop rolling around crying with laughter, rent **Three Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain**. Every action scene is loaded with full-grown stuntmen. Cut from little kid in medium shot to adult stuntman doing a flip or something, and back to the kid landing. A total riot… Oh, and I almost forgot. The stuntmen? ASIAN! All of them! Little white kids turn into adult asian stunt men from shot to shot, and it’s not even like they tried to hide it. The background music is constantly happy and corny. Even the scenes that are supposed to be serious action have a happy little dum-da-dum-dum-da-da-da keyboard score behind them. The dialogue is obviously terrible, but the editing makes it even worse. It’s like they took each shot at a different location at a different time and tried to piece it together in editing and have it make sense. Most movies you don’t really notice the cuts, here EVERY edit calls attention to itself. Few of the cuts actually match well. Hulk Hogan. 'Nuff said. Jim Varney. 'Nuff said. Loni Anderson trying to look sexy in this little leather thing, when in several shots you can clearly see the age on her thighs. Also, when she takes an amusement park hostage, instead of killing people, she threatens to turn the rides on really fast. 😃 Oh, and the little white kids have an old asian grandpa. Total fake Mr. Miagi. He gets to be in a couple completely nonsensical training scenes. Holy crap, I want to see this movie again so bad. It’s probably the most I’ve laughed at a movie ever. Oh yeah, and there’s always [this one.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=113749&highlight=deuces+wild) I want to see that again too. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movie-appreciation-thread/112644.md?page=2)