# The worst movies that you liked. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 17, 2007, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movies-that-you-liked/415967 "2007-08-17T17:55:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Eliphalet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eliphalet/32/9563_2.png) [@Eliphalet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eliphalet)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2007, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movies-that-you-liked/415967/141 "2007-08-21T21:02:47Z")
[QUOTE=phouka] I even managed to rent and watch _The Perils of Gwendolyn in the Land of Yik-Yak_. [/QUOTE] How could you NOT love that movie??? Any flick where the male star (Brett Huff?) comments that he felt embarrassed taking money for the file, because he spent the entire film making corny jokes and watching the female star’s clevage bounce. I’d add _Bull Durham_ as one that I liked the first time, and cringed every time I saw it again. Eli ---
**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:** [August 22, 2007, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movies-that-you-liked/415967/142 "2007-08-22T00:30:07Z")
[QUOTE=An Gadaí] Two films I loved and watched loads of times as a kid are Pee Wee’s Big Adventure and Hairspray. I’m scared to watch them again lest my illusions of their amazingness be shattered. [/QUOTE] I watched the original **Hairspray** for the first time three weeks ago and _loved_ it! I’m in my late 30’s, btw. I can’t think of **Roadhouse** without thinking of Ron White’s routine about bouncers. He pretty much ruined that movie for me. ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movies-that-you-liked/415967/143 "2007-08-22T01:15:28Z")
[QUOTE=Miss Purl McKnittington] I like that movie, too. I also don’t know anyone else who likes it. [/QUOTE] I like it, too! Not only does it have great literary antecedents (Michael Crichton cribbed not only from Beowulf but also from the real Ibn Fadlan manuscripts), but the scenes of how a language is absorbed and learned via immersion are terrific. Oh, dear, did that sound too pedantic? Let me add, the men are gorgeous eye candy and gave me many happy thoughts. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movies-that-you-liked/415967/144 "2007-08-22T02:35:29Z")
Two pages in, and nobody’s claimed _Xanadu_, yet? [SUB]Wow, I really AM lame.[/SUB] ---
**Author:** ![Dunawake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dunawake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunawake)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movies-that-you-liked/415967/145 "2007-08-22T04:48:34Z")
[QUOTE=Tapiotar] but the scenes of how a language is absorbed and learned via immersion are terrific [/QUOTE] Yeah, that scene is one of the most memorable out of that whole movie, it’s the first thing I think of actually. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movies-that-you-liked/415967/146 "2007-08-22T14:31:18Z")
[QUOTE=Lightnin’] Two pages in, and nobody’s claimed _Xanadu_, yet? [SUB]Wow, I really AM lame.[/SUB] [/QUOTE] No, just brave. _Now that we’re here Now that you’re near…_ ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movies-that-you-liked/415967/147 "2007-08-22T15:02:18Z")
As a kid my best friends and I were sci-fi and fantasy connoisseurs. Quality however, never entered into the equation. So yes, I hang my head in shame as I must admit, we thought _Clash of the Titans_ and _Dragonslayer_ were both da bomb! And for weeks, my best friend ran across the playground going “Flash! Aaaaaah-aaaaaaaah! Flash!” because he went and saw the Flash Gordon movie without me, but was inspired to fight an invisible Ming the Merciless in his palace (jungle gym) just the same. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movies-that-you-liked/415967/148 "2007-08-22T16:44:36Z")
[QUOTE=monstro] **The Wiz** is my favorite movie of all time. I watch it every time it comes on TV, even though I have it on VHS. I have both soundtracks–the Broadway and the film version. I even used to run a website devoted to it. Sometimes I think I’m the only one in the universe who likes it, but I’m not ashamed. [/QUOTE] Ease on down the road, **Monstro**. Ease on down the road. ---
**Author:** ![Tully\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ab992/32.png) [@Tully\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tully_Mars)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movies-that-you-liked/415967/149 "2007-08-22T17:02:15Z")
[QUOTE=cbawlmer] _Road House_ breezed past the “Awful” section on the Wheel of Quality and ran right back around to “Awesome.” I resisted watching it for years because it looked like it couldn’t be any good, but it is in fact deliriously entertaining. Give yourself over to the story of The Greatest Bouncer in the World, for such things are ranked. Eventually you will realize that the plot is 100% western (evil cattle baron/landowner/bully runs town, townsfolk hire out-of-town badass to set things straight), only it’s set in 1989 so it has more kung fu and sports cars. [/QUOTE] Don’t forget the Monster Trucks crushing cars. It’s not easy to work that into the plot of a movie; true screenwriter artistry. Oh, and don’t forget the sex with underage girls in the back room. Is there any redneck cliche’ that it didn’t address? ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movies-that-you-liked/415967/150 "2007-08-22T18:48:15Z")
[QUOTE=Dunawake] I actually like _The 13th Warrior_ with Antonio Banderas, even though everyone I’ve talked to hates it. [/QUOTE] Count me as another fan of this movie. [QUOTE=tremorviolet] But the most embarassing movie I liked was [The Pirate Movie](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0084504/). I thought Kristy McNichol was really cool and had a crush on Christopher Atkins. A local indie movie theatre played the trailer before “Pirates of the Caribbean” and even the trailer was painfully bad. [/QUOTE] My wife still uses a line from that movie, “I’d hate to be pillaged.” ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movies-that-you-liked/415967/151 "2007-08-22T20:28:13Z")
The very first slasher/horror flick that I ever snuck into was _Phantasm_. My friend and I (also his first) were scared shitless (didn’t help that to walk home we could either cut through a cemetary, saving about 15 minutes, or walk around its perimeter - lovely choices considering most of the movie took place in a cemetary). Fast forward a few years, in the early days of HBO, we’re watching the film again wondering, “We were afraid of that?!” ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movies-that-you-liked/415967/152 "2007-08-22T21:16:22Z")
Speaking of horror movies, I love 13 Ghosts. It’s so bad, but the imagery of the house, the ghosts, and the diabolical plot all add up to mucho enjoyment for me. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movies-that-you-liked/415967/153 "2007-08-22T22:54:49Z")
Horror movies are a good example of the phenomenon described in the OP. Movies that might have been terrifying to us as children may just seem silly when we view them again as adults. Not all horror movies, mind you, but some. ---
**Author:** ![cormac262](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@cormac262](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cormac262)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2007, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movies-that-you-liked/415967/154 "2007-08-22T23:04:31Z")
[QUOTE=D\_Odds] The very first slasher/horror flick that I ever snuck into was _Phantasm_. My friend and I (also his first) were scared shitless (didn’t help that to walk home we could either cut through a cemetary, saving about 15 minutes, or walk around its perimeter - lovely choices considering most of the movie took place in a cemetary). Fast forward a few years, in the early days of HBO, we’re watching the film again wondering, “We were afraid of that?!” [/QUOTE] Reggie Bannister (the guy who played “Reggie” in all the Phantasm movies) is a regular at the (San Diego) Comic con. On one of the first times I met him, I told him about how scared my first viewing of that movie was. He asked how old I was (I was just out of high school), and he said it was because of my age at the time. He told me he’d heard the same thing from many people, and he is convinced that it was because of how old the viewers were because the movie was filmed through the kid’s eyes - not the adults. He said that that was a deliberate move, and why it had such an impact on the kids (high school) who saw it. It also makes sense as to why it doesn’t seem so scary seeing it today. Not only is it pretty dated, but you just can’t relate to the main character as well. (Okay, and also all the shock effects have become cliche over the years). In contrast, the One movie that scared the absolute bejeesus out of me when I first saw it, AND STILL jacks me up is (the original) “Night of the Living Dead”. Now there’s a horror film that has held up over time (despite all the recent sequels and spinoffs). ---
**Author:** ![Auntbeast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Auntbeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Auntbeast)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2007, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movies-that-you-liked/415967/155 "2007-08-23T01:18:50Z")
[QUOTE=Zebra] **Joe Vs. Volcano** , It does have the greatest scene in cinema, better than the baby carriage in Battleship Potemkin, better than the shower scene in Psycho, better than the opening speech in Patton or the Godfather. I am speaking of course about the suitcase salesman scene. . [/QUOTE] We are one. I love you. AB Owner of Two Steamer Trunks and Lover of Joe Vs. The Volcano. I adore Armageddon. I love when they are rounding up the roughnecks from the scattered world. I loved when they were being processed. I loved the torn patch and the dancing animal cracker. I’m terrified to rewatch any of the “Sinbad and the” movies, I absolutely adored them as a child. Are they real stinkers? ---
**Author:** ![Chum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3ab097/32.png) [@Chum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chum)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2007, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movies-that-you-liked/415967/156 "2007-08-23T01:35:52Z")
I really liked _Mars Attacks_ when I was younger, so I snatched it up when I saw it for $5 at Best Buy. I made my boyfriend watch it with me. It’s absolutely horrible. I genuinely love _Labyrinth_ and _Pee Wee’s Big Adventure_ and believe them to be excellent movies. _Xanadu_, however, sucks. I even knew that when I was 10. ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2007, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movies-that-you-liked/415967/157 "2007-08-23T01:38:32Z")
[Meet the Deedles](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120645/) It’s about two surfers from Hawaii who spend the summer in Yellowstone National Park as park rangers. They are charged with ridding the park of prairie dogs, which unbeknownst to them is a nefarious plot by Dennis Hopper to dig a new Geyser and divert the water away from Old Faithful. Anyway, it’s pretty effing stupid but what can I say, I love it. Also, Armageddon and…ohhh…why don’t I throw in a Van Wilder for good measure. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2007, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movies-that-you-liked/415967/158 "2007-08-23T01:39:33Z")
Don’t think I’ve seen **Batman and Robin** mentioned. I still watch it every now and then. Probably even pick up the DVD one day. I liked it better than **Batman Begins.** I thought **Batman Forever** was the best of the bunch. ---
**Author:** ![I\_mOnlySleeping](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/76d3ee/32.png) [@I\_mOnlySleeping](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_mOnlySleeping)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2007, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movies-that-you-liked/415967/159 "2007-08-23T02:26:06Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] [_Liquid Sky._](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquid_Sky) When I saw it I thought it was gritty cutting-edge '80s-New-Wave artsy coolness. Recommended it to my brother, who took a date to see it and took a long time to forgive me, and on reflection his assessment is closer to the mark. [/QUOTE] My best friend and I were completely OBSESSED with that movie when we were about 18. We saw it at midnight movies, rented it a few times and watched it over and over all night. I saw it a few years ago on some movie channel and couldn’t believe how bad it was. However, I have to admit that still enjoy watching Xanadu, and love the music from it. :o But it all brings back memories of my first boyfriend when I was 14. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2007, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movies-that-you-liked/415967/160 "2007-08-23T16:39:02Z")
[QUOTE=cormac262] Reggie Bannister (the guy who played “Reggie” in all the Phantasm movies) is a regular at the (San Diego) Comic con. On one of the first times I met him, I told him about how scared my first viewing of that movie was. He asked how old I was (I was just out of high school), and he said it was because of my age at the time. He told me he’d heard the same thing from many people, and he is convinced that it was because of how old the viewers were because the movie was filmed through the kid’s eyes - not the adults. He said that that was a deliberate move, and why it had such an impact on the kids (high school) who saw it. It also makes sense as to why it doesn’t seem so scary seeing it today. Not only is it pretty dated, but you just can’t relate to the main character as well. (Okay, and also all the shock effects have become cliche over the years). [/QUOTE] I’m a little younger. I saw it first while in Jr. High, then on cable in HS, and even by then, I was ‘over’ it. True though, that my age and the fact that it was my ‘first’ played into the movie scaring me. The walk home did not help at all! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movies-that-you-liked/415967.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-movies-that-you-liked/415967.md?page=9)