# Biggest bomb of all time?? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 22, 2004, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-bomb-of-all-time/246475 "2004-05-22T03:20:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2004, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-bomb-of-all-time/246475/1 "2004-05-22T03:20:25Z")
What is the biggest box office dud of all time? Vote for one of these or nominate one of your own!!! **Gigli!** Ben Affleck/Jennifer Lopez fiasco. **The Cotton Club** Richard Gere/Francis Ford Copola/Mario Puzo/Robert Evans. How could this have been such a piece of shit? **Heaven’s Gate** did _anyone_ see this turd? **Howard the Duck** richly deserved it’s failure. **Town and Country** Warren Beatty in the biggest money loser of all time. **The Adventures of Pluto Nash** almost as bad, in terms of money loss. Much worse, in terms of suckiness. ---
**Author:** ![SuperNova](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@SuperNova](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuperNova)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2004, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-bomb-of-all-time/246475/2 "2004-05-22T03:57:25Z")
Well, financially, according to this link: [http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/records/budgets.html](http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/records/budgets.html) Town and Country is the biggest loser of money. Some other movies are on the list that I actually enjoyed (Such as the “13th Warrior”). As for my vote, I would have to say **The Postman**. Huge bust, in what the studio actually expected to be a big movie ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2004, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-bomb-of-all-time/246475/3 "2004-05-22T04:09:54Z")
All I have to say is… Howard the Duck was awesome! ---
**Author:** ![Wasabee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f05b48/32.png) [@Wasabee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wasabee)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2004, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-bomb-of-all-time/246475/4 "2004-05-22T05:36:29Z")
How can anyone not like a movie with DUCK TITS? My sister still hasn’t forgiven me for making her see Howard the Duck instead of Top Gun in the theater. Oh and I also really like The Postman. But you’d be hard pressed to find a post-apoc (or in this case post-downfall of society) movie. ---
**Author:** ![Wasabee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f05b48/32.png) [@Wasabee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wasabee)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2004, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-bomb-of-all-time/246475/5 "2004-05-22T05:38:32Z")
> [@Wasabee](#): > > How can anyone not like a movie with DUCK TITS? My sister still hasn’t forgiven me for making her see Howard the Duck instead of Top Gun in the theater. > > Oh and I also really like The Postman. But you’d be hard pressed to find a post-apoc (or in this case post-downfall of society) movie. posted before I coudl finish my thought… you’d be hard pressed to find a post-apoc (or in this case post-downfall of society) movie that I didn’t like. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2004, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-bomb-of-all-time/246475/6 "2004-05-22T06:47:35Z")
A few months ago, I started a thread about “ **Cutthroat Island** ” stating that I thought it was pretty good and most SDMB folks agreed with me. Anyway, that was a good link posted by **Supernova**. Some films that were not on that list are: “ **Cleopatra** ” (1963) - in its time it was _the_ standard by which all other box office bombs were to be judged. Where was **“Ishtar” and “Leonard Part 6”**? They have to be close to the Top 20. “ **Raise the Titanic** ” I also believe was a huge money loser. “ **Bear Island** ” (1979) seems to be a “forgotten” movie bomb - rarely mentioned in threads such as these. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2004, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-bomb-of-all-time/246475/7 "2004-05-22T06:57:12Z")
> [@](#): > > I started a thread about “Cutthroat Island” stating that I thought it was pretty good and most SDMB folks agreed with me. Now, now, I think the consensus was more that it was a _FUN_ film… let’s not use the “G-word” here… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2004, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-bomb-of-all-time/246475/8 "2004-05-22T07:40:18Z")
> [@wolf\_meister](#): > > Where was **“Ishtar” and “Leonard Part 6”**? . Curse you for making me remember **Ishtar**!!! My Lord, that was a painful 2 hours! Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman singing. \*shudder \* ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2004, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-bomb-of-all-time/246475/9 "2004-05-22T08:11:50Z")
I’m very surprised _Ali_ was on there. Didn’t Will Smith get an Oscar nomination for it? You’d think the buzz from that (plus his star power and such) would have made it a better draw. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2004, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-bomb-of-all-time/246475/10 "2004-05-22T08:14:47Z")
Whoa, _Red Planet_ was a bomb? I _liked_ that movie! It was better than _Mission to Mars_, at least. And, for some reason, _Waterworld_ actually turned a profit, but _13th Warrior_ bombed. There is no God. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2004, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-bomb-of-all-time/246475/11 "2004-05-22T09:54:07Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > It was better than _Mission to Mars_, at least… Yeah, but that’s not setting the bar very high. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2004, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-bomb-of-all-time/246475/12 "2004-05-22T14:54:28Z")
Take a look at the [IMDb’s bottom 100](http://www.amazon.imdb.com/chart/bottom). ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2004, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-bomb-of-all-time/246475/13 "2004-05-22T15:03:19Z")
> [@Jeff Olsen](#): > > Take a look at the [IMDb’s bottom 100](http://www.amazon.imdb.com/chart/bottom). Notice that six (1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9) were MST3K experiments. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2004, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-bomb-of-all-time/246475/14 "2004-05-22T15:11:31Z")
> [@](#): > > **Heaven’s Gate** did _anyone_ see this turd? Ahem. _Heaven’s Gate_ is a _wonderful_ film! It was beautifully shot by Vilmos Zsigmond. The costumes and accoutrements were historically accurate. The story was good. (The story was based on actual events, BTW.) I thought the dance scene at Harvard went on _way_ too long, as did the roller-skating scene. Overall though, it was a beautiful film. Of course, it _is_ blamed for causing the death of Universal Studios. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2004, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-bomb-of-all-time/246475/15 "2004-05-22T15:12:47Z")
Oh, yeah. Isabelle Hupert is naked in it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2004, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-bomb-of-all-time/246475/16 "2004-05-22T15:19:39Z")
> [@SuperNova](#): > > Well, financially, according to this link: > [The Numbers - Movie Budgets, Most Expensive Movies, Most Profitable Movies, Biggest Money-Losing Movies](http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/records/budgets.html) > > Town and Country is the biggest loser of money. Some other movies are on the list that I actually enjoyed (Such as the “13th Warrior”). > > As for my vote, I would have to say **The Postman**. Huge bust, in what the studio actually expected to be a big movie That site doesn’t seem to account video/dvd sales, which to my understanding are the saver of many a theatrical money loser. They’ve got the Boondock Saints up there as a loser, and while I’m sure it didn’t do brilliantly it eventually did at least well enough to justify a sequel. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2004, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-bomb-of-all-time/246475/17 "2004-05-22T15:26:43Z")
Are we talking about artisitically bad movies, or about movies that just didn’t recoup their costs? _Cleopatra_ (1963) is an example of the latter. It’s not a bad movie at all; it received nine Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor (Rex Harrison), and won four Oscars. But it went horribly over budget, and ended up costing $40 million, the equivalent today of over $230 million, which put Fox in severe straits that only the success of _The Sound of Music_ (1965) helped alleviate. Even _Heaven’s Gate_, with all its indulgences (the hopeless editing, the historical fictions) traceable back to director Michael Cimino, has some beautiful photography by Vilmos Zsigmond and solid art direction. ---
**Author:** ![Tentacle\_Monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba9def/32.png) [@Tentacle\_Monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tentacle_Monster)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2004, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-bomb-of-all-time/246475/18 "2004-05-22T15:29:18Z")
I have a confession to make. I saw _Freddy Got Fingered_. In the theater. On opening night. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Vorlon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@The\_Vorlon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Vorlon)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2004, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-bomb-of-all-time/246475/19 "2004-05-22T15:36:50Z")
> [@Tentacle Monster](#): > > I have a confession to make. > > I saw _Freddy Got Fingered_. In the theater. On opening night. By yourself… ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2004, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-bomb-of-all-time/246475/20 "2004-05-22T16:52:31Z")
Anyone mention Battlefield Earth yet? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-bomb-of-all-time/246475.md?page=2)