# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![MyFootsZZZ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/myfootszzz/32/12580_2.png) [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900/101 "2012-04-30T22:43:24Z")
> [@Silver\_Tyger](#): > > _The Super Mario Bros Movie._ Yes it makes no sense in the context of the games (but making a serious movie of the games would suck). It’s fun. It makes sense. It’s funny. I came in here to list this movie. The least you associate it with Mario, the better it is. “Trust the fungus.” ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900/102 "2012-04-30T22:49:20Z")
The recent Nicolas Cage film _Season Of The Witch_ got terrible reviews - at one point it had 0% on RT, and currently has 10% - I absolutely love. Anyone who can give a bad review to a film with Nic Cage and Ron Perlman swordfighting zombie monks in a burning medieval library has something missing, in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900/103 "2012-04-30T23:17:49Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > _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. I also caught that on TV yesterday and thought both that it wasn’t the movie that I’d remembered (I last saw it as a child) and a whole lot worse than I had remembered, my memory had been kind. It’s not unwatchable, but it’s very much less than good. ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Hartwick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@Dave\_Hartwick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Hartwick)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900/104 "2012-05-01T00:05:25Z")
> [@Steophan](#): > > The recent Nicolas Cage film _Season Of The Witch_ got terrible reviews - at one point it had 0% on RT, and currently has 10% - I absolutely love. > > Anyone who can give a bad review to a film with Nic Cage and Ron Perlman swordfighting zombie monks in a burning medieval library has something missing, in my opinion. Ebert gave it two stars and another funny [review](http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110105/REVIEWS/110109993). ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900/105 "2012-05-01T03:29:57Z")
Adam Sandler’s _Little Nicky_ was panned by most, but I found it had a lot of funny bits, and some very clever ideas. I thought, for example, that Nicky, when arriving on Earth, acted a lot like you’d expect someone who’s never been on Earth (“I was hit by some lights attached to a lot of metal.” “That’s a train, son.”) ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900/106 "2012-05-01T03:50:54Z")
> [@Steophan](#): > > Anyone who can give a bad review to a film with Nic Cage and Ron Perlman swordfighting zombie monks in a burning medieval library has something missing, in my opinion. Urgh. It’s one of those movies that make the wrong choices at almost every crossroads (plot, photography, performance, visual effects, etc). See a slightly improved version of almost the same plot in _Solomon Kane_ marred only by the unfortunate casting of awful actor James Purefoy. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900/107 "2012-05-01T03:53:21Z")
I just finished watching the 1996 made for TV Doctor Who movie. Okay, it was bad, but it was still better than some of the Doctor Who episodes I’ve seen. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900/108 "2012-05-02T09:14:12Z")
Danger Diabolik- Loved it, incredibly stylish movie with great visuals but not to be taken seriously of course. It has a great timeless comic book look, the exploits of Diabolik are over the top and that is the fun. It meanders a bit towards the middle to the end, I don’t think this deserves the reputation as one of the worst films ever. Solomon Kane- Competent swords and sorcery style fluff, which is just what the source material is. Good costumes and I enjoyed the commitment to the source material(god and the devil oh my). ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2012, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900/109 "2012-05-03T12:34:37Z")
I thought of another one: Osmosis Jones. The live action parts have some gross gross out humor but the animated parts are imaginative and fun. ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2012, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900/110 "2012-05-03T15:37:18Z")
Has anyone mentioned Star Trek: Insurrection or Nemesis? While they may rank low on lists that rank ST movies from best to worst, they’re still not bad. Besides, any list has to have a first and last, even if they’re all great. If anything, the two movies were opportunities that were wasted, but I still don’t think they’re bad. I like them much better than III or V. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2012, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900/111 "2012-05-03T16:02:01Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Here is one that I like to the point of being blown away by the dislike of it: > > **Van Helsing** Seconded. I think it’s good campy action-fun. The hate for it is intense though. I made the error of using it to support an argument in a paper back in college (we had just finished reading Shelley), and I believe my professor called it ‘tripe.’ ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2012, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900/112 "2012-05-03T20:15:35Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > I actually thought that **Battlefield Earth** was a pretty good fun and light space opera. It’s not that realistic and there are some elements that are just cheesy, but its fun with cool weapons and vehicles. If John Travolta had played his character with calm intellectual menace and not with that flouncing foppish Liberace-ish formula he decided on… well, it still wouldn’t be a _good_ movie, but it would be far more watchable. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2012, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900/113 "2012-05-03T21:04:50Z")
**Speedracer** got panned (38% Rotten Tomatoes) and was written off as a summer blockbuster bomb. The story however is pretty good and multi layered, the visuals great, and a has a lot of interesting characters. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2012, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900/114 "2012-05-04T02:48:08Z")
**Ang Lee’s Hulk movie.** Loved it. Heck, even **Ed Norton’s Hulk movie isn’t bad** , either, but both were poorly received compared to many superhero movies. ---
**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:** [May 4, 2012, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900/115 "2012-05-04T12:22:03Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > **Ang Lee’s Hulk movie.** Loved it. > > Heck, even **Ed Norton’s Hulk movie isn’t bad** , either, but both were poorly received compared to many superhero movies. Ed Norton’s Hulk is fucking awesome. Ang Lee’s Hulk has earned its reputation as just a bad, bad movie. ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900/116 "2012-05-06T00:12:26Z")
(About the movie Constantine) > [@Morbo](#): > > 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. This one irks me. In some sense they did the original comic a little justice, with some of the good plot points of the comic, and it wasn’t the _worst_ Keanu Reeves one by a long shot. The trouble is it’s wrong. Very wrong. John Constantine, from the comic Hellblazer (and further back Swamp Thing, and Books of Magic), is a very sarcastic drunken scouser (from Liverpool, think the Beatles accents), who fronts and tricks a whole selection of demons and supernatural beings. He’s supposed to be a magician, but isn’t seen to practice magic and lives from his wits. He also rarely gives a crap about anyone and isn’t in general a nice guy. Due to the comic being called Hellblazer, they changed it to Constantine to avoid confusion with the HellBLAZER series. This is fair enough. Then the cast Keanu Reeves playing the most emo souless magician angsting about poor little him and exorcising demons to save people. The type of character Constantine would laugh at. So ironically they named it Constantine, and then removed all traces of the actual character Constantine. The movie in itself would have redeemed itself massively for me, if it had been called ‘Big Davey the exorcist’. Then it might have worked… ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900/117 "2012-05-06T00:21:55Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > **Speedracer** got panned (38% Rotten Tomatoes) and was written off as a summer blockbuster bomb. > The story however is pretty good and multi layered, the visuals great, and a has a lot of interesting characters. And my aunt sang the theme song 😉 (family joke) ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900/118 "2012-05-06T03:13:37Z")
Another vote for **Waterworld** , which was ripped to shreds when it first went over budget and then hit the screens. Not a terrible movie at all. Just a bit too long, a bit too boring in spots, and terrible plot holes that tended to annoy me. But I can still put it on if I’m channel surfing and it’s on. I think at the time, Hollywood had a bug up their collective asses with Costner. No idea why, so if someone can shed some light on this, great. **Dances with Wolves** always gets slammed when compared to **Goodfellas** , but rarely on its own. And that’s because \*\*Dances \*\*won every major category at the oscars at the expense of **Goodfellas**. The scenery was amazing, and a movie that must be seen on a big screen to be appreciated. [slight hijack] JMHO, but \*\*Goodfellas \*\*is the most overrated movie of the past 25 years. The final act is very boring and I don’t enjoy it at all. (Helicopters chasing Henry, and the arrest of Henry Hill and the witness protection program.) [/end slight hijack] ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900/119 "2012-05-06T04:00:10Z")
> [@Smid](#): > > Due to the comic being called Hellblazer, they changed it to Constantine to avoid confusion with the HellBLAZER series. This is fair enough. I think you mean HellRAISER. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900/120 "2012-05-06T16:41:40Z")
While I agree with some of the others on here (like _Super Mario Bros._), I came to mention _Lost in Space_. I genuinely liked it and it floored me when I found out people though it was a bad movie. I thought it no worse than any other popcorn Sci-fi fare. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-just-arent-that-bad/619900.md?page=7)