# The SDMB Stupid, Stupid Movie Awards **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 24, 2005, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-stupid-stupid-movie-awards/327633 "2005-10-24T05:47:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-stupid-stupid-movie-awards/327633/122 "2005-10-27T03:40:21Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > If that was the goal, I can accept the craptastic acting, but I think it opens up a different critisism. If this was supposed to be a futuristic propoganda film then it makes no sense to have all the supposed family sentimentality and love interests. It portrays several scenes as being sad and/or tragic which is incongruous in a propoganda film. To include the characters grief and the family strife is head scratchingly out of place. I’d argue that Verhoven compromised his goals and vision in those regards, and the end result is instead of a propoganda film just a uneven, at best, and bad, at worst, movie. That was the starting point; the perspective. It wasn’t an exercise in consistency for consistency’s sake; that was how the tone was adopted. Those aspects you mention would be perfectly valid in a commercial propaganda film–like all the Andrews Sisters movies; _Mrs. Miniver_; things like that. There were a lot of pro-war movies made in Hollywood DURING the war. John Wayne, Clark Gable, Judy Garland, Greer Garson, et al., all made their share of very gungho, patriotic “Buy Bonds!” movies in 1941-1945. Hollywood did its share to keep the home fires burning. I suspect that was more what Verhoeven had in mind, rather than the more straight-forwardly didactic propaganda films produced by the military. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-stupid-stupid-movie-awards/327633/123 "2005-10-27T04:11:27Z")
**lissener** , I thought ST reminded me a lot of _Who Framed Roger Rabbit?_. Perhaps just b/c of the outrageous cruelty towards anthropormophized characters & the political subtext (which pretty blatant - is that what everyone keeps getting their undies in a bunch about?). Both films disturbed me mightily; I never did finish Roger Rabbit. Now, for a stupid, stupid movie – _Rocky IV_. By far the worst movie that I didn’t walk out of (wasn’t my idea to go in the first place). I doubt that one’ll have any defenders. _The Life of David Gale_ was nauseatingly awful. _Pretty Woman_ was stupid, but full of pretty people. _My Best Friend’s Wedding_ was even worse. _Air Force One_ was really, really stupid - isn’t that the one where Harrison Ford is hanging onto a rope dangling out of the back of an airplane? And the one plane blows up right next to the other one, without sending it to the ground? Who thinks up this stuff? ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-stupid-stupid-movie-awards/327633/124 "2005-10-27T04:17:10Z")
> [@fessie](#): > > **lissener** , I thought ST reminded me a lot of _Who Framed Roger Rabbit?_. Perhaps just b/c of the outrageous cruelty towards anthropormophized characters & the political subtext (which pretty blatant - is that what everyone keeps getting their undies in a bunch about?). . . . Yes, usually. Some people don’t agree that there is a political subtext; that it’s just a straightforward SF action flick. I think it’s pretty blatant too, but not everyone agrees. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-stupid-stupid-movie-awards/327633/125 "2005-10-27T05:20:46Z")
Three pages and no one has mentioned _C.H.U.D.?_ Was there a rule that it had to be a recent movie? Of course I had the advantage of watching this movie for the first time at a screening hosted by its screenwriter, Parnell Hall, who very kindly pointed out all the hilarious inconsistencies as they happened onscreen. Still, I think its basic stupidity would have shone through regardless. ---
**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-stupid-stupid-movie-awards/327633/126 "2005-10-27T05:24:33Z")
> [@Terrifel](#): > > **Saw** …The result comes across as the hobbled, developmentally impaired crack baby of The \*\*Usual Suspects \*\* and **Seven** , abandoned in the wild and raised by the idiot savant from **Cube**. This is what I had in mind when I started this thread. Good stuff! ---
**Author:** ![want2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@want2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2know)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-stupid-stupid-movie-awards/327633/127 "2005-10-27T16:45:46Z")
One more post about **Mars Attacks!** : I liked this film–a lot! How can you not love a movie where Jack Nicholson plays the President of the United States? But in all the previous posts, no one has mentioned that the end is a _direct_ rip-off from **Attack of the Killer Tomatoes**! For me, that was the one disappointment in an otherwise entertaining film. Another good category of “worst movies”–the “I"m-supposed-to- **care** -about-this-character?” film. From this point of view, I nominate **The Doors** and **The Wall**. Not even counting the fact that, IMHO, Val Kilmer is possibly the **worst** actor to ever curse a movie screen, self-destruction elicits absolutely no sympathy from this quarter. The same argument applies for **The Wall** --on top of the fact that it probably never should have been filmed in the first place. And, if that wasn’t enough, BOB-FREAKING-GELDOF??? EWWWWWW!!! BTW, I am a huge fan of both The Doors and Pink Floyd–some things should just be heard and not seen. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-stupid-stupid-movie-awards/327633/128 "2005-10-27T16:52:50Z")
> [@want2know](#): > > Not even counting the fact that, IMHO, Val Kilmer is possibly the **worst** actor to ever curse a movie screen Huh? Excuse me while I pick my jaw off the floor. I haven’t seen _The Doors_, but he’s been good in everything I’ve seen him in, and he was downright perfect in _Tombstone_. He even manages to come off good in crap like _Alexander_ and _The Saint_. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-stupid-stupid-movie-awards/327633/129 "2005-10-27T18:34:06Z")
You want dumb? How about Superman III and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace? I haven’t seen either since the 1980’s, but they were both pretty stupid. ---
**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:** [October 27, 2005, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-stupid-stupid-movie-awards/327633/130 "2005-10-27T18:56:22Z")
**fessie** , what is the political subtext of _Who Framed Roger Rabbit?_ ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-stupid-stupid-movie-awards/327633/131 "2005-10-27T19:02:29Z")
> [@Priceguy](#): > > Huh? Excuse me while I pick my jaw off the floor. I haven’t seen _The Doors_, but he’s been good in everything I’ve seen him in, and he was downright perfect in _Tombstone_. He even manages to come off good in crap like _Alexander_ and _The Saint_. Not to mention _Top Secret_. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Corii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Corii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corii)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-stupid-stupid-movie-awards/327633/132 "2005-10-27T19:14:33Z")
> [@OtakuLoki](#): > > My personal _bete noir_ is **Pearl Harbor**. \*I guess Pearl Harbor sucked, just a little bit more than I miss you. \* I vote for **Wedding Crashers** as the stupidest movie I’ve seen this year; it bored me almost to sleep. I felt like I was watching the same formula that I had seen 10 times before. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-stupid-stupid-movie-awards/327633/133 "2005-10-27T19:22:20Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Not to mention _Top Secret_. 😃 I’d say that without the smiley. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-stupid-stupid-movie-awards/327633/134 "2005-10-27T19:24:07Z")
> [@Robot Arm](#): > > **fessie** , what is the political subtext of _Who Framed Roger Rabbit?_ **Roger Rabbit** is a broadly comic companion piece to **Chinatown**. While the latter was a neo-film noir mystery that dealt with the underhanded mechanizations involved in bringing water to the Los Angeles Basin (mainly by stealing from the Owens Valley), **Who Framed Roger Rabbit?** is a neo-film noir mystery parody about the underhanded mechanizations involved in the construction of LA’s freeway network after WWII. Basically, like in the movie, LA used to have an extensive streetcar and public transportation system until the 1940’s when it was dismantled in favor of buses and the freeways that exist now. The reason why this was done is because GM-- acting through a bus company it had holdings in–and the oil companies got together to buy out and dismantle public transportation systems throughout the U.S. so they could replace the streetcars and trolleys with buses and get more people to buy more cars and use more gasoline. Los Angeles was the most famous (infamous?) example of this plan. (Of course, this is an historical conspiracy theory. I’m sure you can find sources disputing the existence of this plan.) ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-stupid-stupid-movie-awards/327633/135 "2005-10-27T19:25:42Z")
> [@Sublight](#): > > I nominate _The Day After Tomorrow_ and _The Core_. And you’re not the only one. Intuitor’s “Insultingly Stupid Movie Physics” page names _The Core_ as [the worst movie physics movie of all time](http://www.intuitor.com/moviephysics/core.html). ---
**Author:** ![Corii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Corii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corii)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-stupid-stupid-movie-awards/327633/136 "2005-10-27T19:29:56Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > The reason why this was done is because GM-- acting through a bus company it had holdings in–and the oil companies got together to buy out and dismantle public transportation systems throughout the U.S. so they could replace the streetcars and trolleys with buses and get more people to buy more cars and use more gasoline. Los Angeles was the most famous (infamous?) example of this plan. [Cecil on that very subject](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_335.html) ---
**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:** [October 27, 2005, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-stupid-stupid-movie-awards/327633/137 "2005-10-27T19:37:21Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > (Of course, this is an historical conspiracy theory. I’m sure you can find sources disputing the existence of this plan.) Well, there is [one](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_335.html) that springs to mind. And I don’t know how much of that is subtext. ---
**Author:** ![TwoTrouts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9adbd/32.png) [@TwoTrouts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwoTrouts)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-stupid-stupid-movie-awards/327633/138 "2005-10-27T20:33:09Z")
Some really stupid movies in thia thread, plus some ggod movies getting trashed… My vote: \*\* Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home\*\* Who the hell thought up this one? Send the crew back in time to save the whales? It was all just an excuse to run up a few jokes about the future interacting with the past (done much better with _Back to the Future_!). I was a big fan of the original Star Trek, but stood and "booed"at the end of this one in the theater! ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-stupid-stupid-movie-awards/327633/139 "2005-10-27T20:50:00Z")
**Highlander Endgame**. I couldn’t even follow it. I rented it and did not finish it. That has never happened. Even ignoring the horrible continuity problems of all Higlander sequils, I was lost, lost, lost. And I defend Val Kilmer and Ryan Reynolds as really fun to watch, no matter what they are in. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-stupid-stupid-movie-awards/327633/140 "2005-10-27T21:31:30Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I’ve seen more bad movies in the past year than I can remember, but I’ll stick with my old favorite The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. The scene that did it for me was when the submarine is attacked (or hits something. I forget) and the immense command room is suddenly thrown into disarray, with sirens blaring, etc. two of the random sailors in the room go over, set the big war room table thing back up and replace the pieces and then return to stand near the wall. Uhm, hello? Don’t they have, like, battle stations to go to or something? “In the event of an attack, you guys stay here and make sure all the furniture is put back in order.” I agree that _The Day After Tomorrow_ is incredibly stupid, but I love it anyway. I’ve seen it three or four times, and each time I have a blast. And I liked _Saw_. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2005, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-stupid-stupid-movie-awards/327633/141 "2005-10-27T22:55:46Z")
> [@tracer](#): > > And you’re not the only one. Intuitor’s “Insultingly Stupid Movie Physics” page names _The Core_ as [the worst movie physics movie of all time](http://www.intuitor.com/moviephysics/core.html). Hm. I’ve never seen the movie, but I’m on a D&D-based messageboard where the scriptwriter hangs out sometimes, and from the way he talked about the movie, he had a blast writing it and really, really didn’t give a shit about the physics. For him, it was an exercise in high-camp, pulpitudinous scifi, the kind of thing that it would be fun to play through. I get the impression that criticizing its geophysics is a little like criticizing the biological science in _The Mummy Returns_. Daniel [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-stupid-stupid-movie-awards/327633.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-stupid-stupid-movie-awards/327633.md?page=8)