# Bad movies that you actually think are great **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 26, 2007, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-you-actually-think-are-great/416999 "2007-08-26T17:59:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2007, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-you-actually-think-are-great/416999/41 "2007-08-26T22:23:26Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] _Destroy All Monsters_. Total Kaiju Cheese. But I love it. [/QUOTE] So did my son when he was 5 or 6…he made me play it over and over, two or three times in a setting. There’s this one point in the movie where one of the scientists, talking about the guy who’d been taken over and killed himself (Professor Otani) says something like “Possibly Otani was…” whatever. But the dubbing was so bad, he paused after possibly, making it sound as if he were answering a question “Possibly, Otani.” The upshot of this long, boring story is that, to this day, whenever any of us answer a question with “possibly” we always say “Possibly, Otani.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2007, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-you-actually-think-are-great/416999/42 "2007-08-26T22:33:08Z")
_Waterworld._ It’s so much fun! ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2007, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-you-actually-think-are-great/416999/43 "2007-08-26T22:40:52Z")
_The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer_ - a complete cash-in movie on the star power of Myrna Loy, Cary Grant, and Shirley Temple. The last time I’d looked it was the only Cary Grant movie that hadn’t been released on DVD. Cheese of the highest grade, and totally worth it for the scenes of Cary Grant dressed both in shining armor (in a high school, no less) or looking like a Wally Cleaver clone. Not a bad movie, but one that gets me a bit of odd looks when people see the title: _I Was A Male War Bride_. I’ve seen a lot of love for the movie on the net, but mostly for the Cary Grant cross-dressing scenes, it seems. I like it for the romance and the whole bureaucracy gone mad theme going through the whole movie. More recently, I’ll add votes for: _Last Action Hero_ _Joe vs. the Volcano_ _Hudson Hawk_ Though, I’ll admit all three are at least partially great for the cheese factors. At least two of them fail the straight face plot test. I’ll also add the Patrick Dempsey coming of age movie _Can’t Buy Me Love_. I think it was grand fun. (Who me? Do I have a fondness for “The geek gets the beauty” plotlines? Why would you ask that?) ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2007, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-you-actually-think-are-great/416999/44 "2007-08-26T22:41:32Z")
[QUOTE=Speaker for the Dead] _Waterworld._ It’s so much fun! [/QUOTE] Yeah, I used to like this one too (past tense b/c I haven’t seen it in almost a decade). I think the press the budget created pretty much killed this movie. It’s too bad because it’s a lot of fun. ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2007, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-you-actually-think-are-great/416999/45 "2007-08-26T23:19:01Z")
_The Experts_. Arye Gross and John Travolta get kidnapped and whisked to Russia to teach spies how to be like modern Americans, and they don’t know they’re not in the midwest. _Bad Medicine_. Steve Guttenberg, Julie Hagerty, and a host of B actors go to medical school “someplace in South America.” With a very moving speech by Alan Arkin as the school headmaster. _The Last Action Hero_. What’s not to like? Okay, the sappy bits with the kid. ---
**Author:** ![SSG\_Schwartz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SSG\_Schwartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSG_Schwartz)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2007, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-you-actually-think-are-great/416999/46 "2007-08-26T23:30:07Z")
Ok, I know I’m gonna get flamed for this, but I really like _Showgirls_. I mean really what is not to like. A lot of topless chicks, gratuitous sex scenes, and the prude from “Saved by the Bell” engaging in those sex scenes. Add in female on female sexual harassment, and you should have an Academy Award winner. SSG Schwartz ---
**Author:** ![mamboman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecb155/32.png) [@mamboman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mamboman)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2007, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-you-actually-think-are-great/416999/47 "2007-08-26T23:52:47Z")
[QUOTE=SSG Schwartz] Ok, I know I’m gonna get flamed for this, but I really like _Showgirls_. I mean really what is not to like. A lot of topless chicks, gratuitous sex scenes, and the prude from “Saved by the Bell” engaging in those sex scenes. Add in female on female sexual harassment, and you should have an Academy Award winner. SSG Schwartz [/QUOTE] Look, I think Showgirls is a _massively_ under-rated film. It’s the _GlenGarryGlenRoss_ of quasi-porn. mm ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2007, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-you-actually-think-are-great/416999/48 "2007-08-26T23:54:09Z")
[QUOTE=Struan] Yes, you’re right. The backlash does seem to be an internet-based thing, too. It’s odd though that the LotR films don’t get the same backlash, and they were critically and financially in the same ballpark. I wouldn’t like to speculate why. [/QUOTE] You probably haven’t been looking in the right place. I see quite a bit of it with the usual mix of people saying “It’s not to my taste” down to “I didn’t like it so I fail to see how any person possibly could” with an extra dash of “How dare they actually **adapt** the book for a movie rather than preserving each aspect of it exactly!” ---
**Author:** ![mamboman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecb155/32.png) [@mamboman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mamboman)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2007, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-you-actually-think-are-great/416999/49 "2007-08-26T23:57:26Z")
[QUOTE=Endiqua] A few people cited it in the recent “Heavily Hyped Movies that made you go meh” thread, for one thing. Most of the people I know IRL disliked it, as well. I tend to get a “Oh, you LIKED that overblown piece of crap?” reaction when I mention it. [/QUOTE] A lot of people I know IRL say that about \*all \* Kubrick films. For me, the highest praise possible for EWS is that it’s a film featuring Nicole Kidman which doesn’t make me want to leave the room in disgust (even though her performance is typically, shall we say, Kidman-esque). mm ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-you-actually-think-are-great/416999/50 "2007-08-27T00:57:27Z")
Nearly all the movies mentioned so far in this thread have a significant cult fan base. Many of them did fairly well with critics too. ---
**Author:** ![Elenfair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cc9497/32.png) [@Elenfair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elenfair)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-you-actually-think-are-great/416999/51 "2007-08-27T03:27:09Z")
Mars Attacks! How could I forget! ACK ACK ACK… Brilliant in its awfulness! There’s this one local lady here who looks just like the White House Killer Alien lady-on-roller-skates… Thingie… I swear, she lives here. Really! Or, at least, her twin does. She sometimes frequents the local coffee shop. It’s the hairdo that gives her away. Every time she glides by, I feel the urge to chuckle and quietly say “ack ack ack” to myself. I’ve only been caught saying the “ack” once, by another patron, who choked on his latte and gave me the most amused look ever. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Caractacus\_Pott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@Caractacus\_Pott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caractacus_Pott)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-you-actually-think-are-great/416999/52 "2007-08-27T03:29:29Z")
[QUOTE=Czarcasm] _Hudson Hawk_ _Xanadu_ _Sahara_ _Rat Race_ [/QUOTE] My name is Caractacus and I am a Xanadu fan. Thanks to **Czarcasm** , I know I’m not alone. The timelessness of Greek mythology overlaid onto the ephermerality of roller disco, what’s not to like? It couldn’t have been too bad; it was nominated in 6 categories but won only one [Razzie](http://www.razzies.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=330&PN=2) award. ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-you-actually-think-are-great/416999/53 "2007-08-27T05:23:38Z")
_Facing the Giants_. My son saw it and suggested it. Sure, it’s a ripoff of _Friday Night Lights_, sometimes down to the individual shots. It’s corny, and the Christian message could hit some like being whacked over the head with a bible, but it’s also an honest, inspirational movie. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-you-actually-think-are-great/416999/54 "2007-08-27T08:39:14Z")
At the time, I thought that [The Island of Dr. Moreau](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116654/) was fantastic, and went back to see it in the theater. Twice. (The 1996 version with Val Kilmer and Marlon Brando.) I am truly a minority of one, I suspect. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-you-actually-think-are-great/416999/55 "2007-08-27T08:47:33Z")
The comedy masterpiece, with Dan Ackroyd, John Candy, Chevy Chase, Demi Moore, AND Valri Bromfield, Taylor Negron & Digital Underground,~~~ VALKENVANIA!!! Released as “Nothing But Trouble”. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-you-actually-think-are-great/416999/56 "2007-08-27T09:37:00Z")
I loved The Postman, thought it had great costumes, amazing scenery, and a really interesting plot. There was some Costner cheesiness, but it was outweighed by the unique premise and good story. Freddy Got Fingered is one of my favorite comedies, and so is Me, Myself and Irene (which has an amazing soundtrack of Steely Dan covers and the beautiful setting of upstate New York in the summertime.) I bought a VHS of [Desert Kickboxer](http://imdb.com/title/tt0104087/) for 2 dollars at a Village Pantry one night, and it turned out to be hilariously bad - truly one of those movies that’s so bad that it will leave you howling with laughter - and yet strangely appealing and memorable. Set in the desert of Mexico, it’s about a Native American policeman and retired kickboxer who has to save a sexy woman from a drug lord who she stole 2 million dollars from. The villains include a biker gang whose leader is an evil preacher, a fat bearded cocaine dealer who carries a cane with a concealed sword inside and speaks the classic line “Don’t come any closer, or I’ll have to eradicate her!” (referring to the heroine, held at gunpoint,) and his sidekick, a Dolph Lundgren-esque karate wizard who wears imacculately tailored suits and has news-anchor hair. There’s one scene that features the hero standing, shirtless and oiled, on a mountaintop doing “martial arts moves” that are really just bodybuilding poses, for about 4 minutes straight, with music straight out of an 80s gay porn movie - utterly in earnest, with no irony - while a red-tailed hawk circles above him, screeching. If you ever find this movie in a bargain bin somewhere, I highly recommend getting some people together, getting drunk, and watching it. It’s fucking great. ---
**Author:** ![DJ\_Motorbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90ced4/32.png) [@DJ\_Motorbike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DJ_Motorbike)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-you-actually-think-are-great/416999/57 "2007-08-27T09:50:50Z")
I’ve never heard anyone say anything good about _Les Miserables_, the one with Liam Neeson and Geoffrey Rush, but I saw it twice in the Theater. However, I am still not familiar with the novel or any other film or stage adaptation, so maybe that’s why I liked it. ---
**Author:** ![Tinkertoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f19dbf/32.png) [@Tinkertoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinkertoy)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-you-actually-think-are-great/416999/58 "2007-08-27T10:26:42Z")
[Loverboy](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097790/) with Patrick Dempsey, I just love this movie. [Drop Dead Gorgeous](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0157503/) I quote this like I do Blazing Saddles. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-you-actually-think-are-great/416999/59 "2007-08-27T11:34:37Z")
[QUOTE=RikWriter] Movies panned by critics and that didn’t do well in the box office that I like quite a lot: … The Rocketeer … [/QUOTE] I liked this one too, and while it didn’t kill at the box office I thought it got at least some critic love. I could be misremembering though, its been a long time. ---
**Author:** ![AmalgramFour](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@AmalgramFour](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AmalgramFour)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-you-actually-think-are-great/416999/60 "2007-08-27T12:02:09Z")
I quite enjoyed National Treasure. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-you-actually-think-are-great/416999.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-movies-that-you-actually-think-are-great/416999.md?page=4)