# Bad movies that just aren't that bad **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 25, 2012, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900 "2012-04-25T13:32:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900/81 "2012-04-26T22:14:11Z")
> [@Dave\_Hartwick](#): > > Ebert’s review of _Constantine_ is one of my favorite bad reviews, incidentally. There’s one I forgot to mention. I never read the comic or anything, but I thought that was a great movie. Peter Stormare’s scene as the devil was just amazing. ---
**Author:** ![Scupper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Scupper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scupper)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900/82 "2012-04-27T00:19:48Z")
> [@Dave\_Hartwick](#): > > He was pointing out, I think, that some fans were acting like there’d never been a dumb scene in the Indiana Jones movies before the nuclear fridge. The problem is, the nuclear fridge is one of the BETTER scenes in that movie. It’s funny. It’s implausible, but it works in the context of a man who can ride a frigging U-Boat hundreds of miles while hanging onto its periscope. On the other hand, Mutt swinging on the vines with the painfully bad CG monkeys, commies being carried off by painfully bad CG ants, and the opening shot with painfully bad CG prairie dogs were all twinge-inducing. Karen Allen’s very very rusty acting skills were painful to watch. The pointlessly circular plot involving Mac repeatedly double-crossing both sides was lame. Worst movie ever? No, of course not. But even as a stand-alone film without having to bear comparison with the other IJ films, it’s pretty weak. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900/83 "2012-04-27T01:36:40Z")
Remember folks, if your standard for the thread is “not the worst film”, then every single bad movie you’ve ever seen (except one) qualifies. But maybe I’m atypical. I tend to hate more movies that get decent reviews than like movies that the get completely panned. Of course, that could be some kind of shock effect making one more notable to me than the other. “I can’t believe _anyone_ could enjoy this crap” as opposed to “Well, it’s not _as_ bad as I heard.” ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900/84 "2012-04-27T01:56:47Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Remember folks, if your standard for the thread is “not the worst film”, then every single bad movie you’ve ever seen (except one) qualifies. > ." None of the movies I nominated I would mind watching again a few years down the line if they came on TV, far from close to the worst. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900/85 "2012-04-27T02:00:02Z")
> [@Dave\_Hartwick](#): > > One that comes to mind for me is _Not Another Teen Movie_, which has a 28% on RT. I happened to catch it on TV and it was amusing. I think possibly some gross-out scenes were edited out Ebert complains of “characters being sprayed with vast quantities of excrement.” Good one! I forgot about that. I unreservedly love that movie and think it’s a crime that it was dismissed when the aggressively unfunny “Scary Movie” movies went on and on. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900/86 "2012-04-29T15:27:40Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > “1408” (or was it “Room 1408”?) A Stephen King-ish writer who investigates haunted houses is locked in a hotel room, #1408, as a matter of fact. Stars John Cusak and it isn’t entirely awful. (Though he must be one HELL of a writer, he’s wildly popular with his fans. Something like his job seems more made-for-cable-tv). I really enjoyed 1408. It’s probably one of the best Stephen King stories ever written, and I thought Cusack did a bang-up performance. I mean the whole film was basically a monologue. As for the latter part of your comment, Stephen King is an excellent writer with some very bad luck when it comes to translating his writing to film. I wasn’t aware that was considered a terrible movie. I consider it one of King’s few successful adaptations. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900/87 "2012-04-29T15:51:03Z")
I have a new one to add Quintet 1979 starring Paul Newman, just saw it and loved it! But I see its reputation is horrible, most people despise the film which is very hard to find a legit copy of. While it is a post-apocalyptic film this might set up false expectations in the audience, it isn’t an action movie but a slow dreamlike meditation on mortality. The setting doesn’t make sense and you just have to let it go, the director is notorious for making movies based on dreams he had and I bet the setting of this one is similar. The early parts of the movie also set up false expectations, the real film only starts about a half hour in. If you enjoy characters debating the meaning of life in a post-apoc dream-scape you might like it. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900/88 "2012-04-29T20:05:17Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > I wasn’t aware that was considered a terrible movie. I consider it one of King’s few successful adaptations. It’s not on a level with Stand By Me or Shawshank Redemption, certainly, but I would agree it’s much better than many of his adaptations. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900/89 "2012-04-29T20:17:03Z")
The Fifth Element. Demolition Man. Judge Dredd. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2012, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900/90 "2012-04-29T21:01:33Z")
> [@Yookeroo](#): > > I thought I read somewhere that that reviewers themselves picked the Fresh/Rotten designation? I could be wrong. Reviewers can pick the designation, but there are limits. For example, RT won’t like you mark a 1 out of 4 movie as “Fresh.” Caveat: This was before RT changed owners, I don’t know what the official policy is now. ---
**Author:** ![Moe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moe/32/2972_2.png) [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900/91 "2012-04-30T01:27:33Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Well, I guess _Mulholland Drive_ wasn’t a truly bad movie then, because it was mostly technically competent. Well, that and also being one of the greatest masterpieces of any art form ever. I think those 2 things keep it from the designation of a “truly bad movie”. As far as this thread goes, I’ve always been puzzled by the critical response to \*\* [Dutch](http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dutch/)\*\*. Although interestingly now I see on rotten tomatoes, though the tomato meter has it at 14%, the audience rates it at 60%. I’ve always remembered it being in the teens, so I’m surprised to see now that there are actually others who don’t hate it. Admittedly, it’s no _Mulholland Drive_, but Ed O’Neil is quite good in it and I think there was a lot of great chemistry between him and the boy. There was a lot of real heart in the movie. I think it’s far better than not-the-worst-movie-in-the-world. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900/92 "2012-04-30T19:22:48Z")
> [@Max\_the\_Immortal](#): > > I didn’t think that _The Postman_ deserved all the hate it got. I always dredge up The Postman for these threads. I enjoyed that movie. That and Ishtar. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900/93 "2012-04-30T20:00:54Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > _Freddy Got Fingered_ I laughed my ass off. Yeah, I’ll second this one. Perhaps it’s because I’ve never seen anything else Tom Green has ever done, and I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I randomly picked up this movie, but I thought it was a fun, absurd, anarchic romp–so unabashedly over-the-top in moments, just brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900/94 "2012-04-30T20:41:56Z")
_1941_ I think that after _Jaws_ and _Close Encounters of the Third Kind_, critics (both amateur and professional) were waiting for Steven Spielberg to do a pratfall. They pounced on this movie like a pack of wolves on Bambi with four broken legs. Granted, its humor is very broad, slapstick, un-PC and generally just so-so, but it does not deserved the horrific reputation it garnered. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900/95 "2012-04-30T20:44:23Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > 13th Warrior got slammed pretty hard by the critics and I’m not sure why. I liked the book when I read it and I thought the movie was pretty decent as well. It wasn’t perfect by any means, but I thought it did a decent job with the whole story. Both 13th Warrior and Waterworld are films with a bad reputation with critics not so much because they were bad movies, but because even before they came out it was widely known that they had huge production problems and cost overruns, and so were going to be disastrous for the studios that produced them unless they were so good they drew Star Wars like crowds. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900/96 "2012-04-30T21:24:00Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > I think the Cage version was SO bad that it circled around and became good, as a hysterically funny, if unintentionally so, parody of… something. I swear I almost fainted with laughter a couple of times. The “NOT THE BEES!” scene was worth the price of admission. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900/97 "2012-04-30T21:26:48Z")
Yeah, but running around in a bear suit and punching out little girls was – priceless! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900/98 "2012-04-30T22:23:24Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > **Stuart Saves his Family** (Al Franken’s Stuart Smalley movie) has a 27% rating on RT but I thought it was actually pretty good. Not very funny, but it had a lot of heart and had some good performances in it (especially Vincent D’Onofrio). I’ve shown _Stuart Saves His Family_ to several friends who, like Mr. S and me, grew up in dysfunctional families, and like us, they all loved it. Maybe you have to have lived that life in order to “get” this movie. Its funny moments are more on the order of black comedy. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900/99 "2012-04-30T22:25:06Z")
> [@Scarlett67](#): > > I’ve shown _Stuart Saves His Family_ to several friends who, like Mr. S and me, grew up in dysfunctional families, and like us, they all loved it. Maybe you have to have lived that life in order to “get” this movie. Its funny moments are more on the order of black comedy. I love this movie. I was just unaware that as many as two other people had seen it. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900/100 "2012-04-30T22:28:29Z")
_The Wiz_ was on TV yesterday; I haven’t seen it since I watched it on a tiny b-w set back when it first came on TV. It has a lot of overdone/not good scenes, but to have been as universally panned as it was and such a gigantic flop it’s not only “not as bad as you’d expect” but has some really good moments and some brilliant set & costume design, cinematography, and musical moments. (It had a 19 year old Michael Jackson- the music and dancing [his anyway] is going to be out of this world.) There are some scenes that drag and a couple of numbers that don’t need to be there at all, but I think with some editing (scalpel, not scissors) it would have fared much better. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900.md?page=6)