# Recommend a terrible yet thoroughly watchable movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 15, 2005, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816 "2005-09-15T17:24:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816/1 "2005-09-15T17:24:38Z")
Millions, I’m sure there’s a name for movies like this. Not necessarily B-movies or Cult Movies, because neither of those necessarily conote that the film is actually bad, just low budget or niche-y, respectively. I’m talking about bad movies, basically those that are undeniably bad, that you just can’t turn away from. If anyone has a name for movies that suck this good, I’d love to hear it. But the purpose here was to share the guilty pleasures of the cinematic realm. I’d like to nominate [Gymkata](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089243/). For those who can get their hands on it, this is truly an amazing sight. The dialogue is criminal, the fight scenes hilarious, and the plot is basically nonsensical. You can’t put a price on a town full of crazies having a pommelhorse in their town square either. I’m telling you guys, this must be seen to be believed. And our hero, by the by, is an Olympic gymnast with a textbook feather-mullet. There’s too much to say, so I’ll leave it at that. But seriously. Watch. This. Movie. Anyone else have a favorite. And please, I beg of you: Noone mention Baby Geniuses. Or it’s sequel. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816/2 "2005-09-15T17:27:42Z")
Going beyond all the B and cult movies springing to mind… Road House Police Academy Eating Raoul ---
**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:** [September 15, 2005, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816/3 "2005-09-15T17:56:34Z")
**Starship Troopers** – too many things wrong to list here and introducing a derailing of the thread. But I own a copy and watch it regularly because it’s well-executed, with great FX, and it is so thoroughly, completely _wrong_ **Plan Nine from Outer Space** – It’s bad, but it’s entertainingly bad. I’d rather sit through this than some Larry Buchanan film. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816/4 "2005-09-15T18:01:50Z")
So, movies that you can enjoy even though you know, objectivley, they aren’t very doog? Ladyhawke. Hard Target. Condorman. Red Sonja. Bloodsport. Clue. I can’t help but watch these anytime they’re on TV. ---
**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:** [September 15, 2005, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816/5 "2005-09-15T18:02:34Z")
**the Rocky Horror Picture Show** - Let’s face it, this flick didn’t earn the prize as the pre-eminent cult flick of all time by being _good_. People simply aren’t inspired to shout out heckling comments at a good movie. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816/6 "2005-09-15T18:03:12Z")
“doog?” Dear lord. You know I meant “good.” edit: Curse you, administrator and your 60 seconds! ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816/7 "2005-09-15T18:04:12Z")
Armageddon ---
**Author:** ![SisterCoyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@SisterCoyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SisterCoyote)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816/8 "2005-09-15T18:06:15Z")
**To Live and Die in L.A.** A film about which I’m still not quite sure what I think. And yet I couldn’t stop watching, and found myself informing the air in my apartment that the “alternate ending” just wouldn’t have worked. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816/9 "2005-09-15T18:13:38Z")
_Battlefield Earth_. I wouldn’t exactly call it _watchable_ - I’ve never seen it all the way through (I don’t think I could stand it without my head exploding) but I’ll watch 20 minutes or so whenever it’s on. It’s just so monumentally _stoooooopid_ in every possible way. And seeing John Travolta play a monstrous alien from an advanced civilization as a smarmy low-level thug is priceless. ---
**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:** [September 15, 2005, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816/10 "2005-09-15T18:14:51Z")
**Big Trouble in Little China** – because the hero (played by Kurt Russell) is a jerk, and doesn’t realize it. ---
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816/11 "2005-09-15T18:15:10Z")
I forgot to metion Hudson Hawk in the OP. And, CalMeacham, I thoroughly agree on Starship Troopers. It has an ill advised sequel, which, IIRC, went straight to video. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816/12 "2005-09-15T18:17:44Z")
I think the archetype for what you describe is **The Ten Commandments**. It always amazes me that something so embarrassingly bad can be so effective. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816/13 "2005-09-15T18:17:50Z")
> [@JSexton](#): > > “doog?” Dear lord. You know I meant “good.” I think “doog movies” wouldn’t be a bad term for them: the opposite of good. ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816/14 "2005-09-15T18:25:29Z")
I have an entire section in my video collection of movies that are so bad I can’t help but watch them repeatedly. _ **Dungeons and Dragons** _–a travesty to gamers everywhere. Jimmy Olsen is the hero. There’s a Wayans. But I can’t ever shut it off. The aforementioned _ **Hudson Hawk** _–if only for the line about the hat convention. _ **The Pirate Movie** _–Just recently came out on DVD, and I forgot how much I love it. Fast foward through the songs that weren’t originally written by Gilbert & Sullivan. _ **Sleepaway Camp** _–any incarnation. Pure gory trash. It doesn’t get any better. Especially once you watch the second one a couple times and suddenly realize that all the characters are named after members of the Brat Pack. _ **The Ice Pirates** _–“Uh oh. Space herpes.” I’m sure I’ll come up with several more over the course of the afternoon. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816/15 "2005-09-15T18:25:38Z")
I posted earlier that I thought **Armageddon** fir this category but then I thought of another movie with Sarah Jessica Parker and Bruce Willis that fit but couldn’t remember the name. I went to IMDB to look it up. Turns out that movie is called\*\*[Striking Distance](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108238/) \*\*. Another thing I discovered is that just about anything ever made by Bruce or Sarah fits this category. ---
**Author:** ![Orual](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orual](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orual)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816/16 "2005-09-15T18:26:07Z")
**Deep Blue Sea**. This movie has it all: magic size-changing sharks, Samuel L. Jackson, really stupid scientists, a helicopter crash, an utterly gratuitous underwear scene… Thomas Jane: the Un-Actor, is the main character. LL Cool J sings over the closing credits about how his head is like a shark’s fin. I think it might be my favorite movie ever. ---
**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:** [September 15, 2005, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816/17 "2005-09-15T18:26:30Z")
I think wec have here the making of a new Straight-Dope-ism, along the lines of “Thank og” and “Hi, Opal” By all means, let it be declared that henceforth **"doog" movies are Bad but Watchable Movies** We can also apply the term to TV shows, books, music visdeos, etc. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816/18 "2005-09-15T18:33:04Z")
As a person of a certain age (and a certain past relationship with various mind- and mood-altering substances), I have a continuing fondness for the ouvre of Ken Russell, esp. [_Lair of the White Worm_](http://imdb.com/title/tt0095488/). If you want a movie that makes you say “I can’t believe I’m watching this,” as you continue to watch to the bitter end – this is it. ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816/19 "2005-09-15T18:35:15Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > If you want a movie that makes you say “I can’t believe I’m watching this,” as you continue to watch to the bitter end – this is it. Amen to that. I recall being completely unable to turn away. ---
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816/20 "2005-09-15T18:37:32Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > **"doog" movies are Bad but Watchable Movies** Seconded. Oh, and Orual. His “hat” is like a shark’s fin. Just to increase the stupidity there. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-terrible-yet-thoroughly-watchable-movie/321816.md?page=2)