# Infamous bombs you've actually seen **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 3, 2006, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-bombs-youve-actually-seen/338232 "2006-01-03T16:03:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-bombs-youve-actually-seen/338232/41 "2006-01-03T20:46:02Z")
Loved **Mystery Men** ; hated **Punisher**. I see a lot of comic book-based movies, and just over half of them are terribly disappointing. **Fantastic Four** had some flaws, especially with the villain, but the four central characters were very well-done. ---
**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:** [January 3, 2006, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-bombs-youve-actually-seen/338232/42 "2006-01-03T20:52:01Z")
> [@Shirley Ujest](#): > > I wanted and still want to see **Timeline** because I liked the book. I fear though for the effort. It \*\* Timeline\*\* considered a huge bomb? My wife and I really liked it. It’s not on our top 10 list or anything, but it was entertaining. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-bombs-youve-actually-seen/338232/43 "2006-01-03T21:27:02Z")
[Wikipedia has a list of box office bombs.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Box_office_bomb) I have a bunch of questions about the entries and methodology - I suppose it’s really a list of “movies that seemed to lose money, and in a lot of cases we don’t even know how much.” 😛 That said, there are some definite bombs on there. Some may be too recent to be infamous: for example, I saw _Final Fantasy_ in theaters, and that’s one of the biggest money-losers ever. It was boring, but I watched the animation (which was interesting-looking) and didn’t pay much attention to the story, so I guess I could’ve been much more bored than I was. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-bombs-youve-actually-seen/338232/44 "2006-01-03T23:07:22Z")
I saw **From Justin to Kelly** somewhere. I think it was on HBO. (Got my money’s worth there.) It was not good. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-bombs-youve-actually-seen/338232/45 "2006-01-03T23:32:28Z")
**Blair witch 2:** I liked the first one, but the 2nd was one pretty bad. The big thing that annoyed me was that the central theme of the movie was that these guys go out to Rustin Parr’s house, drink a lot of booze, smoke some dope and then the next morning, suprise surprise, they can’t remember anything and the video is all wierd. And nobody ever mentions once that maybe the booze and pot may have had something to do with it. In which case, I shudder to see them try to distingush their ass from a hole in the ground. That and I wanted someone to off the wiccan girl about 5 minutes after she started incessantly whining about the persuction of witches. A throwaway line would have been fine, but she kept on about it. The Schumacher\*\* Batman \*\* movies were pretty horrid. **Rambo III** wasn’t totally horrible. There is a nice scene near the end of the film when they are leaving and half the Soviet Army appears in front of them to block their path. Soviet Col: “Put down your weapons. We do not want to hurt you” Col. Troutman: “Somehow I don’t believe him. Any ideas?” Rambo: "Well, surrounding them’s out. And a line from earlier in the film. Zaysen: Who do you think this man is? God? Colonel Trautman: No. God would have mercy. He won’t. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-bombs-youve-actually-seen/338232/46 "2006-01-03T23:33:24Z")
Well, looking at that Wikipedia list, I’ve seen:- _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_: surprisingly bad, given how good the TV series was. _Dungeons and Dragons_: aaargh. Just aaargh. _Event Horizon_: stupid movie, but just a “meh” rather than an “aaargh” from me. Brain-damaged, but not actively brain-damaging. _Hudson Hawk_: simply dreadful. _Judge Dredd_: given that it was based on a gratuitously violent comic-strip aimed at thirteen-year-olds, it’s surprising how much they managed to dumb that one down … Still, I think it had a couple of moments. So, bad, but not _bad_ bad. Well, not very. _Showgirls_: yes, well. I know this has been the subject of some debate … My opinion is, it’s a straightforwardly bad movie. Nothing to commend it at all, not even all the copious nudity on display. _Star Trek: Nemesis_: Had a few moments, but managed to insult my intelligence quite comprehensively from the first scene onwards. Still not as bad as That _Star Trek_ Film We All Know Never Really Happened, but by jingo it tries … _Wing Commander_: some good SFX (for its time, at least) and a surprisingly strong cast, but not strong enough to cope with total failures of plot logic. Bad film. Of those _not_ mentioned on the Wikipedia site … I’ve seen _Waterworld_ (stupid _Mad Max 2_ rip-off, pointless and implausible), _Alien 3_ (contains remnants of what might have been a good movie) and _Highlander II_ (ugh). ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-bombs-youve-actually-seen/338232/47 "2006-01-03T23:40:54Z")
> [@SmackFu](#): > > I saw **From Justin to Kelly** somewhere. I think it was on HBO. (Got my money’s worth there.) It was not good. From the show Daria: Jake: I went to a concert once. Daria: Woodstock? Jake: Alamont. Daria: Shame what happened. Jake: We demanded our money back, and got it too! Daria: You didn’t pay anything. Jake: That’s the same line they tried to use on us. Cut out the first three lines and it works pretty well. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-bombs-youve-actually-seen/338232/48 "2006-01-03T23:44:30Z")
> [@Steve Wright](#): > > _Dungeons and Dragons_: aaargh. Just aaargh. Well, the thieves maze was pretty good. Of course, it was better in Raiders of the lost ark. I was going to give it points for killing off the clumsy thief, but then they brought him back to life at the end and made it worse. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-bombs-youve-actually-seen/338232/49 "2006-01-03T23:51:08Z")
> [@HPL](#): > > Well, the thieves maze was pretty good. Of course, it was better in Raiders of the lost ark. > > I was going to give it points for killing off the clumsy thief, but then they brought him back to life at the end and made it worse. The thieves’ maze was a rip-off (if it had been good, it would have been a pastiche, but it wasn’t good, so it was a rip-off) of a UK game show called _The Crystal Maze_. Even to the extent of having a crystal as a prize, and Richard O’Brien as the master of ceremonies. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-bombs-youve-actually-seen/338232/50 "2006-01-04T00:02:02Z")
Well, what bothered me about the Crystal Maze thing was that it loked like you could easily just lower someone into the last room on a rope. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-bombs-youve-actually-seen/338232/51 "2006-01-04T00:28:53Z")
**Waterworld, Howard the Duck, Wing Commander, Battlefield Earth.** The first was at least entertaining. The other three were on the dull side, mostly. And I’m one of the few people who’s actually seen **A Sound of Thunder**. Thuddingly, jaw-droppingly bad. ---
**Author:** ![Linty\_Fresh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Linty\_Fresh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linty_Fresh)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-bombs-youve-actually-seen/338232/52 "2006-01-04T00:34:40Z")
When I was 15, I saw [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band](http://imdb.com/title/tt0078239/) and liked it. :eek: Please don’t hate me. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-bombs-youve-actually-seen/338232/53 "2006-01-04T00:50:47Z")
I paid to see **Leonard Part 6**. _shudder_ I saw **Deep Blue Sea** on cable and still felt like I’d been ripped off. I too saw **Sergeant Pepper** as a youth but had it surgically removed. I liked **Howard the Duck** and was amused by **Hudson Hawk** , though I wouldn’t go so far as to say I _liked_ it. **Taps** was a painful blow to the brain, as was **Tarzan** with Bo Derek. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-bombs-youve-actually-seen/338232/54 "2006-01-04T01:06:53Z")
Among those already listed, I’ve also seen **Howard the Duck** and **Batman and Robin.**** HTD** could have been a contender with better special effects and a Steve Gerber script, but _nooooooooooo…_ I don’t think **Star Trek V** has been listed yet, but that was a stinker. The only movie I’ve ever paid money for where I seriously considered walking out and demanding a refund. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-bombs-youve-actually-seen/338232/55 "2006-01-04T01:32:36Z")
Of those mentioned I have seen: Ishtar - I recall it was OK Showgirls - twice to see if I had missed something first time round as some maintain. I hadn’t, it is plain bad. The Postman - moderately entertaining from memory. Hudson Hawk - yawn inducing. Heaven’s Gate - I’ve seen this twice too and quite enjoyed large slabs of it both times. Had some eminently cutable bits though. Highlander II - with the kids. Horrible. They got me to watch the originla which I expected to hate but liked. Wired - interestingly staged and not so bad it’s only a cheapy biopic. Bulletproof Monk - forgettable Timeline - very dull Mystery Men - I really like this even though the kids watched it regularly. Judge Dredd - lol, 5 minutes is enough. Noticeable how many SF films have been listed. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-bombs-youve-actually-seen/338232/56 "2006-01-04T02:01:53Z")
I saw most of ShowGirls I actually enjoy Hudson Hawk but won’t defend it. I saw Highlander II and Mystery Men I actually enjoy Buffy. ---
**Author:** ![Tikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5daacb/32.png) [@Tikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tikki)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-bombs-youve-actually-seen/338232/57 "2006-01-04T02:25:18Z")
When I think of bad movies, I automatically think **The Flintstones**. I liked the cartoon and I liked John Goodman but the movie stunk worse than Pebbles’ diaper during a strong bout of diarrehea! That stupid optomistic part of me kept telling me it had to get better but it never did. It’s the only movie I seriously considered asking for my money back but I was too stunned by the absolute lameness of the movie to get out of my seat. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-bombs-youve-actually-seen/338232/58 "2006-01-04T02:47:50Z")
> [@Linty Fresh](#): > > When I was 15, I saw [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band](http://imdb.com/title/tt0078239/) and liked it. :eek: > > Please don’t hate me. I saw it a couple years ago. I liked the part with Steve Martin singing “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” and the creepy old Mr. Mustard singing his song was not bad either. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-bombs-youve-actually-seen/338232/59 "2006-01-04T02:50:44Z")
I’ve seen: Battlefield Earth. It’s not as bad as you’ve heard. It’s worse. Highlander II. The worst professionally made, theatrically released movie ever. Showgirls. Yes, it’s satirical. It’s still gross, insulting, and unpleasant. Ishtar. Not really as bad as it’s reputed to be. But bad in a normal, pedestrian way. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-bombs-youve-actually-seen/338232/60 "2006-01-04T02:54:19Z")
I saw [Day of the Dead](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088993/) in the theater – at the Bryn Mawr. I didn’t manage to sit through it because watching dead people biting the flesh off of live people was something that made me extremely uncomfortable. Years later I heard the movie had done very poorly, for all that it’s kind of legendary. The Bryn Mawr used to show second-run pictures in triple features, so I watched all kinds of shit there. Possibly the worst film I ever saw in the theater was [American Cyborg](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109098/). Aside from the badness that you would probably expect from a low-budget apocalyptic thriller made in the 90’s with a poor man’s Dolph Lundgren, the part that had us howling was that it was a blatant allegory of Christ. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-bombs-youve-actually-seen/338232.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/infamous-bombs-youve-actually-seen/338232.md?page=4)