I’d like to nominate Yentl, the only movie I’ve ever actually walked out of.
Or possibly, the only movie out of which I’ve ever actually walked.
This good grammar stuff just doesn’t work for me.
A lot of these choices are just plain silly. Hitchcock did do some bad films (Jamaica Inn, Mr. and Mrs. Smith) and some good but flawed ones (The Wrong Man), but no one has yet to mention them. The ones mentioned so far are all first-class films; if you don’t think so, that’s your failing, not the movie’s.
Same for Dr. Strangelove (though I will admit that 2001 is overrated – but not a bad movie).
And they didn’t slice open a rabbit’s eye in Un chien andalou. It was the woman’s eye. Bunuel was ahead of his time and if he disgusted you, that was the entire point.
Really bad films? MST3K has unearthed the worst of them:
Space Mutiny – a true mess.
Mitchell – not even MST3K could make this entertaining.
Others:
The Bible – filmed entirely in slow motion – or at least, it seemed that way.
Alien – the Three Stooges were more intelligent than the crew of the Nostromo.
The Other Sister – earnest attempt, lousy execution.
Leo and Lorrie – Donny (“Ralph Malph”) Most as romantic hero. Right. Talk about suspension of disbelief.
Day of the Triffids – dull and boring movie made from the perfect monster movie novel. Crying for a remake – from the book this time.
Trust me. At least the MST3K ones are amusing, as is Plan 9 From Outerspace. Hollow Man is just offensive, both to men and women (what’s the first thing a man would do when he becomes invisible? Rape a woman, of course!) but the plot doesn’t go anywhere, the acting is horrid, and the guy dies 4 times. About 15 minutes from the end of the movie, my friend screamed “Jesus! He’s INVISIBLE, not INVINCIBLE!”
Do not pay money to see this movie. Ever.
And for the record, Dr. Strangelove is one of my favorite movies of all time. POE, man. POE.
I direct you to my rant, earlier this year, on the horror that is “Kiss Her Goodbye”—
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=17819
Mr. Mike’s Mondo Video? Plan 9 From Outer Space? I think not!
I like Mr. Mike. The “cat swimming school”! “Café No Americain”! Come on!
Plan 9 was so ineptly done, it was great!
I was going to vote for Queen of Venus with one of the Gabor sisters. Truly aweful! But since it was mentioned, I think Manos: The Hands of Fate might edge out Queen.
I worked on a film called Zombie! vs. Mardi Gras http://www.reelprogress.com/movies/zombierms.html . Almost every review of it I see on the 'net calls it the “worst movie ever made”. Here’s an interview with the director: http://www.b-movie.com/dghome/pg93.html Here’s how b-movie starts it out:
Okay, I’m biased because I shot two of the scenes; but I laugh my ass off every time I see it! (It helps if you’ve seen a few Godard films.) Here’s my review of it: http://pw1.netcom.com/~heliboy/reviews.htm (click on the “Zombie!” link).
Hmmm… After going to my Reviews page, I think I’ll change my vote for the worst film ever. I’d rather sit through a double-feature of Queen of Venus and Manos: The Hands of Fate than see Magnolia again!
You’re joking, right? Groundhog Day is one of my favorite comedies. Bill Murray is absolutely brilliant in it, just one notch below his peak in Rushmore. The premise is relatively original and engaging. Perhaps you are one of those people who prefer comedies where people get hit in the face with pies?
I don’t think I’m alone on this one. On IMDB, Groundhog Day is currently being called the #243 best movie. Ok, so it’s no Godfather, but still far from the worst.
Back me up people 
Kurbick “overated”??? try underapriciated. despie what you thot of the movies, they are milestones of innovations in filmaking. that is, not to sound too artsy, but his movies contributed so much to modernizing film making, plus they ruled.
as for the fantastic four movie tho, i have to agree. i heard the director made all the special effects on his home computer and had to delay the movie several months (not that anyone would care) because his wife spilled coffee on his desktop. definetly not the stuff x-men was made out of.
and for my personal pick as worst movie, yet still got the acclaim, box office money and oscars is definetly Titanic. who didnt see everything in that movie coming a mile away? every single scene was delibratley fabricated to create the corniest and most overplayed scenes. of course the rich husband HAS to hit the female lead or he wont seem evil enuf. of course the 2 star-crossed lover HAD get it on before they dies or the guys death wouldnt be tragic enuf. i really did not see what the big fuss about this movie was. altho the tiny flailing bodies falling from the sinking ship were cool. and why did they have to do the opening and closing scenes with the main characters in thier present lives to make the rest of the movie a flashback? they are the worst parts of allready long but otherwise excellent movies (i.e. saving private ryan, the green mile) so anyway yeah, give me transformers the movie, titanic was crap.
Johnny—You’re thinking of “Queen of Outer Space” (1958), starring Zsa Zsa Gabor as the only girl on Venus with a Hungarian accent. It is indeed a treat (especially Zsa Zsa’s immortal reading of the line “I hayd her! I hay dot qvinn!”).
Oh, by the way, here’s the follow-up thread on “Kiss Her Goodbye,” wherein other Dopers weigh in with their horrified reactions to it—
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=17878
It’s so hard to answer this. There are GOOD bad movies, which are entertainingly bad, and there are BAD bad movies that you find you can’t even watch. Plan 9 from Outer Space is definitely a GOOD bad movie.
An example of a BAD bad movie is Carl Dreyer’s “Vampyr”. Art movie historians LOVE this film, but I think that’s only because they don’t have to watch it. The movie looks like it was filmed in one language and subtitled in another, neither of which is English. It’s a vampire movie without the usual Hollywood hokum of vampires, but it’s not scary either. And it doesn’t make any sense. Coppola stole some of the imagery for his “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” from this one.
Another BAD bad movie is “Star Crystal”. It involves an “Alien”-like plot with a star-beast that hatches from a crystal egg and starts eating everyone aboard the ship. The makeup and effects are pretty lame, but the ending takes the prize – they stop the monster by converting it to Christianity! I kid you not.
Reality Chuck:
“Day of the Triffids” HAS been remade. I’ve got it on tape. BBC did a three-hour adaptation that is actually faithful to John Wyndham’s book. It ran in the US on PBS about twelve years ago. I’ve never seen t for sale, unfortunately. Definitely worth looking up.
Given as I haven’t seen every movie ever made, that question is impossible to answer.
One that springs to mind is The Saint, with Val Kilmer.
Truly, truly, awful.
Do I even have to name them?
MR
Oh, God “Queen of Outer Space”!
Do you realize that movie was written by Charles Beaumont?
Charles Beaumont, who wrote a LOT of the original Twilight Zone episodes, who wrote wickedly good short-shorts in the 1950s science fiction magazines. Charles Beaumont who wrote the screenplay for “The Seven Faces of Doctor Lao”? (Not to mention “The Haunted Palace”)
I figure that he HAD to be doing “Queen of Outer Space” as a joke.
Yup, Manos and Space Mutiny are pretty rank.
But what about Mitchell? Who came up with the twisted idea of Joe Don Baker doing a LOVE SCENE? It’s VILE! And what’s up with the BABY OIL??? EWWWW!!!
Or there’s always Eegah (Arch Hall Jr? 'nuff said)
I couldn’t stand Apollo 13-it bored me to tears.
I like movies that are so bad they’re funny. Manos: The Hands Of Fate fits into this category, for sure. I hope to see Plan 9 someday soon, but from what I hear it does too.
My votes for worst movie ever go to (tied) Godzilla 1998, The Lost World: Jurassic Park 2 and Deep Blue Sea, with honorable mention to Event Horizon.
Let me explain:
There are bad movies, and there are BAAAAD movies. BAAAAAD movies are a recent phenomenon, where they spend $120 million or some ridiculous amount on A-list actors, special effects, score by Danny Elfman (or somebody equally good) and CG, but only $7.95 on a script.
Where the movie tries to pretend it’s an Epic Tale® of something or other, or thinks that it’s very important (anything starring post-“Big” Tom Hanks), but in reality it’s just fancy, pretty CRAP with a capital CRAP. The list goes on and on, but those are my picks. I haven’t seen Hollow Man, but it seems to have the makings of another truly BAAAAAD movie, possibly even the likes of “How Stella Got Her Groove Back”.
I am notorious for sitting through really awful movies, coming out of the theatre and saying, “Well, it wasn’t all bad.” But Klippendorf’s Tribe. What a colossal waste of celluloid. And I’m a big Richard Dreyfuss fan. Jaws, Close Encounters, Goodbye Girl, Let It Ride, What About Bob? Loved them. Crappendorf’s Tribe? He must have hid in his closet for a month after that turd got released.
I wanted to walk out on that movie so bad, but I was there with about 7 member’s of my then-fiance’s family and I didn’t want to make a minor scene. Turns out every one was thinking the same thing. Oh well, that’s 2 hours of our lives we’ll never get back.
Worst movies that tried to be good: “Fifth Element”, “Crash” (I really liked Holly Hunter and James Spader before that awful movie).
Worst MST3K-type movies: “Manos, Hands of Fate” is of course the worst, but I think “Skydivers” is a close second.
And, of course, both “Groundhog Day” and “Dr. Strangelove” rule. I think the latter is brilliant.
“Dune”! Not only one of the worst movies of all time, it gets extra points for being based on one of the best books of all time, and still being unbearable.
Oh, I forgot to mention Ishtar. Please tell me no one here likes that jackal.
MR
Without a doubt, Eraserhead. What a pile of crap! dpr, I hated Repo Man as well, especially after all the hype it got as a cult classic.
Dune is one of my favorite movies ever, regardless of how it relates to the book. I almost wish they had the wierding devices in the book after seeing it. What a cool concept!