# Hated movies or flops that were not BAD films **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 21, 2017, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hated-movies-or-flops-that-were-not-bad-films/784943 "2017-04-21T20:35:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hated-movies-or-flops-that-were-not-bad-films/784943/61 "2017-04-24T17:26:05Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I’ve never been a huge fan of **Buckaroo Banzai**. To me, it’s a Failed cult Movie (I showed it one year at my Bad Film Festival at which the theme was Failed Cult Movies). My favorite time seeing this was at _Chicon V_, where it was a Successful Cult Movie, with the whole audience whistling along to the theme song, and responding to “Where are we going?” with “Planet 10!” and “When?” with “REAL SOON!” _The Last Action Hero_ was a great movie, and we saw and loved it in the theater. No idea why it never found it’s audience. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hated-movies-or-flops-that-were-not-bad-films/784943/62 "2017-04-24T18:18:24Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > Another one that I always liked but that never gets any love is 1998’s **Dark City**. Creepy sci-fi with Keifer Sutherland, Jennifer Connelly, and Richard O’Brien, among others, I thought it was an interesting, suspenseful story. Kind of like a really dark **Truman Show** , which came out around the same time. “Dark” it’s right there in the title. I love **Dark City** , and until this I didn’t know it was a flop. It was critically acclaimed and Roger Ebert’s favorite film that year. I’ve watched pretty much everything by director Alex Proyas since. His stuff is interesting to watch, but I don’t think he’s had a hit since **The Crow** (which may be my least favorite film by him). What came to mind for me was **The 13th Floor** , which everyone claims got stepped on by **The Matrix** that year. And I’ve always thought 2002’s **Count of Monte Cristo** should have done better. ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hated-movies-or-flops-that-were-not-bad-films/784943/63 "2017-04-24T18:26:54Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > Dutch was really underappreciated, I thought. Only thing I ever saw Al Bundy in besides MWC until Modern Family. Find the remake of the tv series (LA) Dragnet and watch that. I loved him in that, and it was an underrated gem which got cancelled after a season and a bit. DVDs never appeared. It might be available on hulu, and not on the torrents (my only option as a non US citizen). ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hated-movies-or-flops-that-were-not-bad-films/784943/64 "2017-04-24T18:27:54Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > My favorite time seeing this was at _Chicon V_, where it was a Successful Cult Movie, with the whole audience whistling along to the theme song, and responding to “Where are we going?” with “Planet 10!” and “When?” with “REAL SOON!” > > _The Last Action Hero_ was a great movie, and we saw and loved it in the theater. No idea why it never found it’s audience. Well, you can call it successful if you want, but it never generated the sequel it promised. Of course, _Rocky Horror Picture Show_, definitely a Successful Cult Film by any measure, generated a sequel in **Shock Treatment** , and look at how well _that_ turned out. My other Failed Cult Films, by the way, were \*\*Forbidden Zone Lisztomania\*\* ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hated-movies-or-flops-that-were-not-bad-films/784943/65 "2017-04-24T18:33:57Z")
> [@epbrown01](#): > > I love **Dark City** , and until this I didn’t know it was a flop. It was critically acclaimed and Roger Ebert’s favorite film that year. I’ve watched pretty much everything by director Alex Proyas since. His stuff is interesting to watch, but I don’t think he’s had a hit since **The Crow** (which may be my least favorite film by him). > > What came to mind for me was **The 13th Floor** , which everyone claims got stepped on by **The Matrix** that year. And I’ve always thought 2002’s **Count of Monte Cristo** should have done better. I’m a big fan od **The 13th Floor** , based on Danial Galouye’s **Simulacron-3** (AKA **Counterfeir World**. It’s been claimed to be the first Virtual Reality novel (earlier supposed VR stories had simulated _physical_ environments. Inouye’s was in an electronic computer). It had been adapted for German TV in 1973 by Rainier Werner Fassbinder (better known for _Berlin Alexanderplatz_). I also liked the same year’s **eXistenZ** by David Lynch, but not as much as Matrix or 13th Floor. I have to admnit, one thing I liked about Matrix, unlike these other two examples and the later Inception was that it didn’t get hung up on the whole “are we now in reality or in the simulation” mess. ---
**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:** [April 24, 2017, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hated-movies-or-flops-that-were-not-bad-films/784943/66 "2017-04-24T18:36:36Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > Another one that I always liked but that never gets any love is 1998’s **Dark City**. I thought Dark City was great and saw it a few times in the theatre when it came out. It was released around the same time everyone was going gaga for The Matrix and I thought Dark City was clearly the superior film dragging everyone I knew to go see it to come to the same conclusion. I was alone in my prognosis. ---
**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:** [April 24, 2017, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hated-movies-or-flops-that-were-not-bad-films/784943/67 "2017-04-24T18:56:54Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > My other Failed Cult Films, by the way, were > > \*\*Forbidden Zone Wait… _WHAT?_ :eek: _The Forbidden Zone_ is one of my favourite films! I saw in a theatre in the early-'80s, I have a VHS tape somewhere that I taped off of Showtime, I have a bootleg VHS tape, I have the original DVD, and the colourised DVD. To be fair, [Dr. Donald Reed](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1394740/) (as he called himself) said at the screening I attended at the Los Angeles Science Fiction and Fantasy Film Society that ‘You’re either going to love it, or _hate_ it.’ As a fan of Oingo Boingo, liking vintage songs, and seeing echoes of Robert Wiene’s 1920 classic _The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari_ in the set design, plus being a fan of absurdist humour (sadly, I never got to see the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo), _The Forbidden Zone_ was right up my alley. Still is. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hated-movies-or-flops-that-were-not-bad-films/784943/68 "2017-04-24T19:14:51Z")
Did anybody say “Bill and Ted’s Excxellent Adventure” yet? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hated-movies-or-flops-that-were-not-bad-films/784943/69 "2017-04-24T19:22:45Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Did anybody say “Bill and Ted’s Excxellent Adventure” yet? As far as I can tell, that one grossed more than quadruple its budget and is at 75%+ on Rotten Tomatoes, which I figure would disqualify it from this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hated-movies-or-flops-that-were-not-bad-films/784943/70 "2017-04-24T19:53:14Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I’ve never been a huge fan of **Buckaroo Banzai**. To me, it’s a Failed cult Movie (I showed it one year at my Bad Film Festival at which the theme was Failed Cult Movies). I remember seeing _Buckaroo Banzai_ in the theater when it first came out (yay, me!) and not really knowing quite what to make of it. I came to appreciate it, but it wasn’t love at first sight. I can absolutely see how someone would come to the opposite conclusion. When I describe it to people, I say it’s like seeing the 12th movie in a series when you haven’t seen the first 11. I think that’s deliberate for the most part. It just dumps you into this world with a brain surgeon/physicist/rock star and expects you to keep up. I’ve always enjoyed that sort of deadpan approach; to take something extraordinary and have people treat it like it’s no big deal. Works for me, but as I said, not everybody’s cuppa. I find the whole phenomenon of cult movies to be fascinating. I’ve always thought that the elements that make a cult movie are so mercurial that you’d have to be a fool to try and make one on purpose, but then I see something like _Rocky Horror Picture Show_ (which I’ve only seen once) and think they couldn’t have been trying to make anything else. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hated-movies-or-flops-that-were-not-bad-films/784943/71 "2017-04-24T20:03:25Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Wait… _WHAT?_ :eek: > > _The Forbidden Zone_ is one of my favourite films! I saw in a theatre in the early-'80s, I have a VHS tape somewhere that I taped off of Showtime, I have a bootleg VHS tape, I have the original DVD, and the colourised DVD. > > To be fair, [Dr. Donald Reed](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1394740/) (as he called himself) said at the screening I attended at the Los Angeles Science Fiction and Fantasy Film Society that ‘You’re either going to love it, or _hate_ it.’ As a fan of Oingo Boingo, liking vintage songs, and seeing echoes of Robert Wiene’s 1920 classic _The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari_ in the set design, plus being a fan of absurdist humour (sadly, I never got to see the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo), _The Forbidden Zone_ was right up my alley. Still is. I’ve seen FZ numerous times. I can appreciate the love of 1930s cinema (Three Stooges routines, Fleischer animation) and the general wackiness. But when I showed it at the aforementioned BFF, Pepper Mill begged me to stop it _during the opening credits_. She was voted down by everyone else, who opted to keep it going, but even they voted it down after five more minutes. To me, it seems that they have no idea what they were trying to make, and experimented with whatever was at hand. it’s definitely not for everyone. an acquired taste. But myself, I can’t get past the outrageously racist jokes. And I don’t find the “We’re doing it ironically, so it’s not really racist” excuse. I’d be embarrassed showing this to black friends. Probably a good thing I didn’t try showing **Eraserhead** at that Bad Film Festival. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2017, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hated-movies-or-flops-that-were-not-bad-films/784943/72 "2017-04-24T21:16:16Z")
I just watched the 2nd Independence Day movie. This movie has been slammed, was a big failure at the box office and I think it was OK. I was not bad, and has me looking forward to the third movie where they take the fight to the aliens. ---
**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:** [April 24, 2017, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hated-movies-or-flops-that-were-not-bad-films/784943/73 "2017-04-24T21:41:08Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > But when I showed it at the aforementioned BFF, Pepper Mill begged me to stop it _during the opening credits_. Some people were over several years ago, and I put on _The Lost Skeleton Of Cadavra_. One guy commented, ‘This film is f\_\_\_ed up!’ Kids today! No appreciation for the Classics, so they don’t ‘get’ the parodies! (TLSoC is brilliant!) ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hated-movies-or-flops-that-were-not-bad-films/784943/74 "2017-04-25T04:08:46Z")
oops ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hated-movies-or-flops-that-were-not-bad-films/784943/75 "2017-04-25T04:39:13Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > As far as I can tell, [Bill and Ted’s Excxellent Adventure] grossed more than quadruple its budget and is at 75%+ on Rotten Tomatoes, which I figure would disqualify it from this thread. I was going to mention _Kindergarten Cop,_ but apparently that one grossed $200 million on a $15 mil budget. And no one can explain why. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hated-movies-or-flops-that-were-not-bad-films/784943/76 "2017-04-25T15:28:47Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > I was going to mention _Kindergarten Cop,_ but apparently that one grossed $200 million on a $15 mil budget. And no one can explain why. Because it cost nothing to make, Arnold still drew viewers at that point, and it wasn’t completely terrible? (“It’s not a tuuumah!”) But yeah, I too came to this thread to mention Last Action Hero, which I really enjoyed. I think people went into Last Action Hero expecting a “play it straight” action film, and that definitely is NOT what they got. ---
**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:** [April 25, 2017, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hated-movies-or-flops-that-were-not-bad-films/784943/77 "2017-04-25T15:31:40Z")
_Idiocracy_ is pretty bleedin’ dumb. It could have been a _lot_ better. But then, I was expecting a comedy and not a documentary. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2017, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hated-movies-or-flops-that-were-not-bad-films/784943/78 "2017-04-25T15:44:28Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Some people were over several years ago, and I put on _The Lost Skeleton Of Cadavra_. One guy commented, ‘This film is f\_\_\_ed up!’ Kids today! No appreciation for the Classics, so they don’t ‘get’ the parodies! (TLSoC is brilliant!) I agree. I can even name the films parodied in the movie and in its poster. The sequel, _The Lost Skeleton Returns Again_, was also great. They’ve supposedly been working on a third, _The Lost Skeleton Walks Among Us_, but it’s been years since the announcement > **[The Lost Skeleton Walks Among Us KICKSTARTER! + The Skeleton's Revenge](http://thehorrorsofitall.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-lost-skeleton-walks-among-us.html)** > > Fans of Larry Blamire's hilarious and loving film series tribute to 50's sci-fi/horror "The Lost Skeleton" , will be pleased to know that ... ---
**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:** [April 25, 2017, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hated-movies-or-flops-that-were-not-bad-films/784943/79 "2017-04-25T15:56:26Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > The sequel, _The Lost Skeleton Returns Again_, was also great. I haven’t watched it yet, but I have it. I have, and have watched, _Dark And Stormy Night_. Funny, but not as good as _The Lost Skeleton Of Cadavra_. I need to find some time (when Mrs. L.A. is feeling charitable, or otherwise occupied) to have a double-feature of _The Lost Skeleton Of Cadavra_ and _The Lost Skeleton Returns Again_. And I still have so many kaiju to re-watch… ---
**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:** [April 25, 2017, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hated-movies-or-flops-that-were-not-bad-films/784943/80 "2017-04-25T16:33:24Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > I didn’t think Battlefield Earth was bad as a SF-action movie. I watched it with some friends over beer and you got to see some stuff blow up flashily, which is all I really expected of it - I didn’t expect the plot to stand up to scrutiny, or to come back and see it again and again in the future. Don’t think it justified it’s budget, but I didn’t mind seeing it even though it’s supposedly one of the worst movies ever. I’ve only seen bits & pieces of _Battlefield Earth_ but the ending is great. Travolta’s character is trying to loot as much of Earth’s gold as he can and ends up locked inside Fort Knox. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hated-movies-or-flops-that-were-not-bad-films/784943.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hated-movies-or-flops-that-were-not-bad-films/784943.md?page=5)