# Worst movie title? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 20, 2007, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-movie-title/427180 "2007-11-20T14:36:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-movie-title/427180/41 "2007-11-20T17:10:26Z")
[QUOTE=Elret] Speaking of not being able to pronounce things, I still don’t have any idea how to say **Gigli** (Not that I’d ever need to.) [/QUOTE] As you’d know if you’d watched it (ha!), the eponymous character explains that it rhymes with “really”. Of course, if you’d watched it you’d also be wondering how I could’ve read your post, seeing as I would surely have gouged out my eyeballs during the scene in which Affleck reads a bottle of tabasco sauce to a mentally disabled man. The answer is that I saved myself only at the last second with a strategic deployment of 6 inch lead plating and a barrage of firefighting foam directed at the television. I second (well, fourth or fifth) **Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever**. The only thing going for it is that it tells you _exactly_ how bad the movie is going to be. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-movie-title/427180/42 "2007-11-20T17:13:51Z")
Not so much the _worst_ title, but certainly among the most misleading was [King of Comedy](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085794/). I suspect that i) some people went to see it expecting a comedy, and ii) some people stayed away thinking it was a comedy. Of course, and as anyone who did see it knows, King of Comedy was a fairly heavy drama that delivered a strong commentary on what was then becoming an increasingly common phenomenon (and which remains so). ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-movie-title/427180/43 "2007-11-20T17:23:48Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] But the titles I _really_ hate are those that don’t really tell you what it’s about, or give you any sense of what the film is. [/QUOTE] _Vision Quest._ If you know it, please sit out during the following. If you haven’t heard of it, please try to guess. What’s the story? Where is it set? Give up? [spoiler]Matt Modine and Linda Fiorentino star in a high school wrestling movie. No, really.[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-movie-title/427180/44 "2007-11-20T17:27:07Z")
[QUOTE=xizor] I totally agree with this, and would like to add that **Love in the Time of Cholera** sounds like a romance novel that Marge Simpson would be seen reading. [/QUOTE] Not sure if you were alluding to it or not, but there was a Simpsons episode where Marge was reading a book called “Love in the Time of Scurvy.” I’ve always thought that _Cholera_ was a pretty goofy title for a novel, but maybe it sounds better in its original Spanish. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-movie-title/427180/45 "2007-11-20T17:34:14Z")
[QUOTE=KarlGauss] Not so much the _worst_ title, but certainly among the most misleading was [King of Comedy](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085794/). I suspect that i) some people went to see it expecting a comedy, and ii) some people stayed away thinking it was a comedy. Of course, and as anyone who did see it knows, King of Comedy was a fairly heavy drama that delivered a strong commentary on what was then becoming an increasingly common phenomenon (and which remains so). [/QUOTE] Heck, yeah. I watched this movie, expecting some laughs. I got none. Bah. ---
**Author:** ![cookeze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@cookeze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cookeze)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-movie-title/427180/46 "2007-11-20T17:34:49Z")
Any movie that has a long involved title would probably fit this list. From 1969 we have "Can Hieronymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness? " It wasn’t as good as it sounds. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-movie-title/427180/47 "2007-11-20T17:38:44Z")
[QUOTE=cookeze] From 1969 we have "Can Hieronymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness? " It wasn’t as good as it sounds. [/QUOTE] Ugh. Still, the title isn’t quite as bad as the movie itself, and it does give you a very accurate impression of the pretentious, irredeemably horrible piece of trash a viewer will be confronted with if he ever sits down to watch this disaster. Worst movie I’ve ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![Ferd\_Burfel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@Ferd\_Burfel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferd_Burfel)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-movie-title/427180/48 "2007-11-20T17:43:52Z")
[The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068528/) Turns out this film has only a passing connection to nuclear radiation and botany. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-movie-title/427180/49 "2007-11-20T17:54:53Z")
At the opposite end of the spectrum, the movie **Being John Malcovich** is a movie about being John Malcovich! ---
**Author:** ![I\_m\_No\_Saint](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/977dab/32.png) [@I\_m\_No\_Saint](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_m_No_Saint)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-movie-title/427180/50 "2007-11-20T18:00:35Z")
**Manos, Hand of Fate** ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-movie-title/427180/51 "2007-11-20T18:01:59Z")
[QUOTE=Ellen Cherry] This gives me the opportunity to rant about the trend (now seeming to come to an end) that was prevalent in the mid-90s. That is, the “impressive” one-word title. I think it plunged to its nadir with HOFFA. A few in this genre, are CASINO, TITANIC, PRIEST, NIXON, CONGO (yes, a book first, I know), CRASH, Michael, EVITA, the aforementioned SPEED. A non-one-word title of the same ilk: QUIZ SHOW. Please think of something clever, or at least descriptive. It does not make your movie more impressive or important to have a one-word title of the main character. [/QUOTE] Hoffa, Titanic, Nixon and Speed are not descriptive? [quote=] The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds Turns out this film has only a passing connection to nuclear radiation and botany. [/quote] Metaphorically, the connection is strong; the mother effect on the children is similar to the effect in the science project. Another vote for **Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever**. Not only is it meaningless except to those who know something about the video game, but Ecks and Sever are on the same side. Two very bad titles for fairly good movies: **[It Could Happen to You](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110167/)**. Hard to remember, and especially bad considering the working title was the immensely superior **Cop Give Waitress $2 million Tip**. The latter would bring in an audience. **[Picking Up the Pieces](http://www.sff.net/people/rothman/GBF/pieces.htm)**, a very weird comedy with a logical but completely unmemorable title. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-movie-title/427180/52 "2007-11-20T18:14:19Z")
I never thought **Willow** was a good title for a fantasy/adventure or any other type of movie. Also, **Wilder Napalm**. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-movie-title/427180/53 "2007-11-20T18:22:41Z")
[QUOTE=vivalostwages] Also, **Wilder Napalm**. [/QUOTE] Ahhh, movie title’s from the “All Blow’d Up” school of names. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-movie-title/427180/54 "2007-11-20T18:23:56Z")
Classic movie, bad title: [Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 hours 11 minutes](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059797/) Movies I watched because I thought the title was intriguing: [Nice Girls Don’t Explode](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093617/) and [Un Señor muy viejo con unas alas enormes](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096077/) (aka A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings). ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-movie-title/427180/55 "2007-11-20T18:39:37Z")
[Passenger 57](http://imdb.com/title/tt0105104/) is a “meh” sort of title for a rather exciting action movie starring Wesley Snipes. If I were re-releasing this on video, I would be mighty tempted to retitle it **Snipes on a Plane**. ---
**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:** [November 20, 2007, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-movie-title/427180/56 "2007-11-20T18:43:38Z")
> [@](#): > > Classic movie, bad title: Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 hours 11 minutes Or how abouit **Those Daring Young Men in their Jaunting Jalopies**? ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-movie-title/427180/57 "2007-11-20T19:07:30Z")
[QUOTE=Dead Badger] As you’d know if you’d watched it (ha!), the eponymous character explains that it rhymes with “really”. [/QUOTE] Yep, “zheally”. I had to go see what all the fuss was about. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-movie-title/427180/58 "2007-11-20T19:22:08Z")
Don’t get me wrong, it’s one of my favorites but:\*\* Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb \*\* always seemed like their ‘Plan C’ title. ---
**Author:** ![MrSquishy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9e5f3/32.png) [@MrSquishy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrSquishy)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-movie-title/427180/59 "2007-11-20T19:34:42Z")
[QUOTE=Zebra] Closed for Remodeling [/QUOTE] Nice. ---
**Author:** ![neorxnawange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f4b2a3/32.png) [@neorxnawange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neorxnawange)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-movie-title/427180/60 "2007-11-20T20:04:54Z")
**Master and Commander: Far Side of the World** - a great film based on a good book. The title **Master and Commander** isn’t a great title for the book, but it sort of makes sense when mixed in with the titles from the rest of O’Brien’s naval series. It is an even worse title for the movie made especially bad by the addition of the lame **Far Side of the World**. Such an unecessary long and somewhat confusing title. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-movie-title/427180.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-movie-title/427180.md?page=4)