# Most extreme examples of movies with bad to mediocre reviews that had great box office success? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 14, 2016, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-examples-of-movies-with-bad-to-mediocre-reviews-that-had-great-box-office-success/754808 "2016-05-14T23:20:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2016, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-examples-of-movies-with-bad-to-mediocre-reviews-that-had-great-box-office-success/754808/1 "2016-05-14T23:20:45Z")
The Passion of the Christ is the largest divergence I can find on [Rotten Tomatoes.](http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/passion_of_the_christ/)Are there ones with more extreme differences? ---
**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:** [May 14, 2016, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-examples-of-movies-with-bad-to-mediocre-reviews-that-had-great-box-office-success/754808/2 "2016-05-14T23:35:21Z")
> [@astro](#): > > The Passion of the Christ is the largest divergence I can find on [Rotten Tomatoes.](http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/passion_of_the_christ/)Are there ones with more extreme differences? Still in theaters today, BATMAN V SUPERMAN has a lower score (27%) and has grossed hundreds of millions of dollars more than POTC. (At that, it looks like a couple of PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN sequels got low scores while grossing roughly a billion apiece.) ---
**Author:** ![journeyman\_southpaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5e9695/32.png) [@journeyman\_southpaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/journeyman_southpaw)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-examples-of-movies-with-bad-to-mediocre-reviews-that-had-great-box-office-success/754808/3 "2016-05-15T00:11:45Z")
The Michael Bay Transformers movies are an easy pick here. ---
**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:** [May 15, 2016, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-examples-of-movies-with-bad-to-mediocre-reviews-that-had-great-box-office-success/754808/4 "2016-05-15T00:54:17Z")
Coming at the question another way, consider THE DEVIL INSIDE: it has a pathetic 6% on Rotten Tomatoes – in return-on-investment terms, it grossed over a hundred million on a million-dollar budget after debuting at #1. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-examples-of-movies-with-bad-to-mediocre-reviews-that-had-great-box-office-success/754808/5 "2016-05-15T00:59:40Z")
The Passion of the Christ was good for what it was. “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” was not, has 19% on RT, and made over $800 million. ---
**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:** [May 15, 2016, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-examples-of-movies-with-bad-to-mediocre-reviews-that-had-great-box-office-success/754808/6 "2016-05-15T01:35:12Z")
_Staying Alive_ made the eighth highest amount of money for the domestic box office in 1983 but got 0% on Rotten Tomatoes. > **[Staying Alive - Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl2389935617/weekend/)** > **[Staying Alive](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/staying_alive)** > > Six years after his glittering triumph in the disco dance contest of ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-examples-of-movies-with-bad-to-mediocre-reviews-that-had-great-box-office-success/754808/7 "2016-05-15T02:49:15Z")
The first example that comes to mind for me is “Deuce Bigelow: Male Gigolo” and its sequels, of which there was one that I know of. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-examples-of-movies-with-bad-to-mediocre-reviews-that-had-great-box-office-success/754808/8 "2016-05-15T03:34:53Z")
While its critical reputation has vastly improved over the years, Stanley Kubrick’s **the Shining** initially received scathingly bad reviews, enough that the film actually didn’t do so well financially at first. But a word-of-mouth audience made it into a sizeable hit over the summer of 1980. ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-examples-of-movies-with-bad-to-mediocre-reviews-that-had-great-box-office-success/754808/9 "2016-05-15T11:27:07Z")
Infamous pornographic film **Deep Throat** got a zero rating by Ebert and went on to be one of the highest _grossing_ (no pun intended) adjusted for _inflation_ (no pun intended) films of all time. Although it has been suggested the _gross_ (still no pun intended) was reported as much higher than reality as part of an organised crime money laundering operation. TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![DonLogan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@DonLogan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DonLogan)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-examples-of-movies-with-bad-to-mediocre-reviews-that-had-great-box-office-success/754808/10 "2016-05-15T12:01:35Z")
Lifetime Achievement Award: Adam Sandler Lifetime Gross Total (32): $2,660,971,312 Average: $83,155,354 Average Rotten Tomatoes score: 29% ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-examples-of-movies-with-bad-to-mediocre-reviews-that-had-great-box-office-success/754808/11 "2016-05-15T12:26:03Z")
Sandler HAS figured something out, hasn’t he? A sustainable business model that has him producing modestly budgeted (comparatively) comedies with a reliable cast that use international gross to make a very good return. The simple fact is that now that the movie-going public is internationalize almost any film can make a decent profit if it opens in enough countries. Quality notwithstanding, there are enough fans of effects and explosions to make such movies work. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-examples-of-movies-with-bad-to-mediocre-reviews-that-had-great-box-office-success/754808/12 "2016-05-15T15:23:13Z")
Well I was beaten to it on the Micheal Bay and Adam Sandler flicks front. I’d like to add most flicks by M. Night Shyamalan. Tons of sequelled franchises like “Porky’s” should also qualify. ---
**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:** [May 15, 2016, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-examples-of-movies-with-bad-to-mediocre-reviews-that-had-great-box-office-success/754808/13 "2016-05-15T16:11:32Z")
For what it’s worth, it’s nearly impossible to say much about what either the critical or the box office reception of _Deep Throat_ was. The Wikipedia article about it says that the film was controlled by the Mafia. The filmmakers claimed that it made $600 million at the box office. Other estimates are that it made more like $100 million. It probably got very few reviews. The only ones quoted by the article are Ebert’s and one by Al Goldstein. There were quite a few pornographic films before that time that cost very little to make and made quite a lot relative to the amount spent, but nobody reviewed them or even acknowledged their existence: > **[Deep Throat (film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Throat_(film))** > > Deep Throat is a 1972 American pornographic film that was at the forefront of the Golden Age of Porn (1969–1984). The film was written and directed by Gerard Damiano, who was listed in the credits as "Jerry Gerard"; produced by Louis Peraino, credited as "Lou Perry"; and starring Linda Lovelace, the pseudonym given to Linda Susan Boreman. > One of the first pornographic films to feature a plot, character development, and relatively high production values, Deep Throat earned mainstream attention ... ---
**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:** [May 15, 2016, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-examples-of-movies-with-bad-to-mediocre-reviews-that-had-great-box-office-success/754808/14 "2016-05-15T16:20:13Z")
Kinda sorta coming full circle: at 15%, GOD’S NOT DEAD got a much lower score on Rotten Tomatoes than POTC did – but it’s grossed more than 30x its budget. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-examples-of-movies-with-bad-to-mediocre-reviews-that-had-great-box-office-success/754808/15 "2016-05-15T16:25:01Z")
> [@TCMF-2L](#): > > Infamous pornographic film **Deep Throat** got a zero rating by Ebert and went on to be one of the highest _grossing_ (no pun intended) adjusted for _inflation_ (no pun intended) films of all time. Although it has been suggested the _gross_ (still no pun intended) was reported as much higher than reality as part of an organised crime money laundering operation. > > TCMF-2L > [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > For what it’s worth, it’s nearly impossible to say much about what either the critical or the box office reception of _Deep Throat_ was. The Wikipedia article about it says that the film was controlled by the Mafia. The filmmakers claimed that it made $600 million at the box office. Other estimates are that it made more like $100 million. It probably got very few reviews. The only ones quoted by the article are Ebert’s and one by Al Goldstein. There were quite a few pornographic films before that time that cost very little to make and made quite a lot relative to the amount spent, but nobody reviewed them or even acknowledged their existence: > > [Deep Throat (film) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Throat_(film)) Remember that this was a film that played in some theaters for **years**. There was one Time Square theater that showed _Deep Throat_ and _The Devil In Miss Jones_ pretty much 24/7 for years. According to the documentary _Inside Deep Throat_, a Mafia guy literally stood in the theater lobby with a counter and a bag, and would collect their share from the theater box office in cash at the end of his shift based on the counter. As for reviews, 100% on _Screw’s_ “Peter Meter” is nothing to sneeze at. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-examples-of-movies-with-bad-to-mediocre-reviews-that-had-great-box-office-success/754808/16 "2016-05-15T17:30:51Z")
Yeah, there were plenty of magazines that reviewed \*Deep Throat \* and other pornographic films… ---
**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:** [May 15, 2016, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-examples-of-movies-with-bad-to-mediocre-reviews-that-had-great-box-office-success/754808/17 "2016-05-15T17:42:16Z")
Adam Sandler’s movies haven’t been quite as successful as you might think. Look at the list I link to at the bottom from Box Office Mojo. Eliminate the films that he did just a cameo or a voice in. Eliminate the ones that made less than $100 million. That leaves just the following movies and box office totals: _Grown Ups 2_ $133,668,525 _Just Go With It_ $103,028,109 _Grown Ups_ $162,001,186 _Bedtime Stories_ $110,101,975 _You Don’t Mess with the Zohan_ $100,018,837 _I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry_ $120,059,556 _Click_ $137,355,633 _The Longest Yard_ $158,119,460 _50 First Dates_ $120,908,074 _Anger Management_ $135,645,823 _Mr. Deeds_ $126,293,452 _Big Daddy_ $163,479,795 _The Waterboy_ $161,491,646 These were all released between 1998 and 2011. $100 million is a very good total for a comedy, but it’s not equivalent to the real blockbusters. The real story with Sandler is that for about 14 years he was able to make comedies that made very good money for a comedy. Before and after that time (and sometimes in the middle of that period) his movies made decent money but nothing great. One movie was a real disaster at the box office: Men, Women & Children $705,908 So it’s not like Sandler has been able over his entire career to make much more money than you would expect given the critical response to his films: > **[Adam Sandler - Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/name/nm0001191/)** ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-examples-of-movies-with-bad-to-mediocre-reviews-that-had-great-box-office-success/754808/18 "2016-05-15T18:51:12Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Adam Sandler’s movies haven’t been quite as successful as you might think. Look at the list I link to at the bottom from Box Office Mojo. Eliminate the films that he did just a cameo or a voice in. Eliminate the ones that made less than $100 million. That leaves just the following movies and box office totals: > > _Grown Ups 2_ $133,668,525 > _Just Go With It_ $103,028,109 > _Grown Ups_ $162,001,186 > _Bedtime Stories_ $110,101,975 > _You Don’t Mess with the Zohan_ $100,018,837 > _I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry_ $120,059,556 > _Click_ $137,355,633 > _The Longest Yard_ $158,119,460 > _50 First Dates_ $120,908,074 > _Anger Management_ $135,645,823 > _Mr. Deeds_ $126,293,452 > _Big Daddy_ $163,479,795 > _The Waterboy_ $161,491,646 > > These were all released between 1998 and 2011. $100 million is a very good total for a comedy, but it’s not equivalent to the real blockbusters. The real story with Sandler is that for about 14 years he was able to make comedies that made very good money for a comedy. Before and after that time (and sometimes in the middle of that period) his movies made decent money but nothing great. One movie was a real disaster at the box office: > > Men, Women & Children $705,908 > > So it’s not like Sandler has been able over his entire career to make much more money than you would expect given the critical response to his films: > > [Adam Sandler - Box Office Mojo](http://www.boxofficemojo.com/people/chart/?id=adamsandler.htm) You are missing the point. Most people wonder why he is allowed to make so many mediocre to terrible movies at all. Other actors don’t get that many chances but that is the real point - he isn’t a typical actor aiming for cinematic greatness. Instead, he stumbled on a reliable formula for making somewhat modestly budgeted movies that are almost guaranteed a set return. Unlike many producers, directors and actors he fully understands that the studios are a business first and foremost and they really want people like him that can produce consistent profits which he does. Most of his movies are just a rework of a limited number of previous storylines that have already been proven to work. He gets to take his friends on vacation for a few months, maybe make out with Drew Barrymore again and incidentally shoot a movie for fun while they are there. Everybody wins! It sounds simple but he is one of the only people in Hollywood today that is allowed to operate like that because he consistently brings home the bacon with low risk. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-examples-of-movies-with-bad-to-mediocre-reviews-that-had-great-box-office-success/754808/19 "2016-05-15T18:56:31Z")
> [@TCMF-2L](#): > > Infamous pornographic film **Deep Throat** got a zero rating by Ebert and went on to be one of the highest _grossing_ (no pun intended) adjusted for _inflation_ (no pun intended) films of all time. Although it has been suggested the _gross_ (still no pun intended) was reported as much higher than reality as part of an organised crime money laundering operation. > > TCMF-2L “Pink Flamingos” also got a zero stars rating from Roger Ebert (“How do you rate a movie like this?”) and was a huge midnight movie draw in the early 1970s. I have seen “Pink Flamingos”; I haven’t seen “Deep Throat”. I did see the documentary, “Inside Deep Throat” which is available on Netflix. Yes, it’s rated NC-17; so is “Pink Flamingos”. As for the popularity of Adam Sandler, it’s because we have a perpetual crop of adolescent boys IMHO. Anyone have stats on “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”? ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2016, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-examples-of-movies-with-bad-to-mediocre-reviews-that-had-great-box-office-success/754808/20 "2016-05-15T19:06:41Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Sandler HAS figured something out, hasn’t he? Oh criminey, yes, he does. I loved [Red Letter Media’s scathing review of Jack and Jill](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXNsT7-Lwsk) outlining the shenanigans behind that film. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-extreme-examples-of-movies-with-bad-to-mediocre-reviews-that-had-great-box-office-success/754808.md?page=2)