# Worst Science Fiction Movie Ever **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 19, 2000, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-science-fiction-movie-ever/33742 "2000-09-19T17:06:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2000, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-science-fiction-movie-ever/33742/41 "2000-09-20T13:21:37Z")
Well, I have seen _Santa Claus Conquers the Martians_, and without the benefit/distraction of MST3k, and it is by far worse than any other SF movie (including Ed Wood’s) that I have ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2000, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-science-fiction-movie-ever/33742/42 "2000-09-20T13:53:19Z")
: dons fireproof longjohns : After hearing several people praise it (some on this very MB), I finally rented _Dark Star_ and watched it. What the hell were those people smoking when they watched that movie and thought it was good? That was easily the worst US$3.50 I ever spent. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2000, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-science-fiction-movie-ever/33742/43 "2000-09-20T15:43:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mazirian \* > **Uhh… That’s Highlander IV. Highlander III: The Sorcerer came out in 1994, I’m not suprised you didn’t notice, no one did.** Actually, as I recall, that was just the working title and perhaps an overseas title. It was released in the U.S. as _Highlander: The Final Dimension_. In the tradition of trying to pretend that the second movie didn’t exist, they kept a number off the third and fourth movies. And yet, with the title tack-on that includes the word “final”, we had to endure another sequel. I wish the bastards could keep a promise. Maybe this time they meant the titular “end.” ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2000, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-science-fiction-movie-ever/33742/44 "2000-09-20T15:57:42Z")
Re the negative opinions of Starship Troopers. This was a quite amusing and entertaining film. The director made it pretty clear in both the film and his comments it was supposed to be seen as something of a comedic (and somewhat snide) straight take on the author’s hard line world view. ---
**Author:** ![Why\_A\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@Why\_A\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Why_A_Duck)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2000, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-science-fiction-movie-ever/33742/45 "2000-09-20T16:15:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KneadToKnow \* > \*\*: dons fireproof longjohns : > > After hearing several people praise it (some on this very MB), I finally rented _Dark Star_ and watched it. > > What the hell were those people smoking when they watched that movie and thought it was good? That was easily the worst US$3.50 I ever spent. \*\* No need for the asbestos union suit, everyone is entitled to an opinion, no matter how wrong it may be. I loved **Dark Star**. It was made awhile back and probably does seem a little dated, but cut it some slack, definitely not the worst. I nominate **Battle Beyond the Stars**. [ul] [li]See - John Boy in space[/li][li]See - A spaceship that looks like a moose with cleavage[/li][li]See - John Saxon - a definite hallmark of bad cinema[/li][/ul] [http://us.imdb.com/Title?0080421](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0080421) ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2000, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-science-fiction-movie-ever/33742/46 "2000-09-20T16:31:08Z")
…And let’s not forget George Peppard playing a harmonica in the face of his impending demise. Boy, that movie did suck. Astro has a point about _Starship Troopers_. I found the Leni Riefenstahl-esque introduction and closing to be chilling and comedic, and the neo-Nazi outfits were a nice touch. Plus, has anyone noticed how NBC has ripped off that film’s “Would You Like to Learn More?” graphic for the Olympics? I guess that pretty much trashes my earlier post. I still stick to the sphincter thing, though. ---
**Author:** ![Mojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Mojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mojo)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2000, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-science-fiction-movie-ever/33742/47 "2000-09-20T16:47:41Z")
> [@](#): > > Highlander III: The Sorcerer came out in 1994, I’m not suprised you didn’t notice, no one did. Well, it is hard to notice when, to paraphrase _The Onion_, it bypasses the theaters and video stores and is released straight to landfill. My vote goes to either _Highlander II_, _Congo_, or one of the _Hell Comes to Frogtown_ movies. I’m sure there are sci-fi movies from the 70’s that are much, much worse but its hard to pay attention long enough to really notice how bad they are (i.e. Yor, Warrior from the Future). ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2000, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-science-fiction-movie-ever/33742/48 "2000-09-20T17:02:57Z")
**RealityChuck** : > [@](#): > > _Starship Troopers_ certainly ranks down there, as does _Alien._ You thought _Alien_ was bad, Chuck? Not one of the sequels, but the original, Ridley-Scott-directed, John-Hurt’s-chest-exploding, _Alien_? Why? ---
**Author:** ![lucie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed8c4c/32.png) [@lucie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucie)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2000, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-science-fiction-movie-ever/33742/49 "2000-09-20T17:22:56Z")
Hey, I loved that film! John Saxon in leather! James Horner’s first movie score! Robert Vaughn practically cringing in embarrassment through all his lines! John-Boy in Space! All these big entertainment factors, and more! Nah, not even in the same league as BE or Lost in Space. ---
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2000, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-science-fiction-movie-ever/33742/50 "2000-09-20T17:32:59Z")
If my brother has it on DVD or VHS. Nice guy, but he has NO taste in movies. He has _Armageddon; Lost in Space; Wild, Wild West_ (sorta Sci-Fi); _Independence Day;_ the American version of _Godzilla_, but none of the Japanese ones. He does have some good ones, like all of the _Star Wars_ movies, and both _Terminators_, but if you shell out the bucks to buy the Criterion Collection DVD of _Armageddon_, you’re telling the world, “I have no taste. I do not know the difference between a good movie and a bad one.” As for _Battle Beyond the Stars,_ let us not forget Sybil Danning. :drool: ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2000, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-science-fiction-movie-ever/33742/51 "2000-09-20T18:20:46Z")
If Roger Corman’s name is attatched to it, it doesn’t belong in this thread, to my mind. This thread seems to be about movies that tried to be good, but turned out bad. Most of Corman’s movies don’t even bother trying. Which is why I love them…they’re FUN, and the people who made them knew it from the start. ---
**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:** [September 20, 2000, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-science-fiction-movie-ever/33742/52 "2000-09-20T18:29:54Z")
Count me in as someone who thought _Solarbabies_ was worse than _Battlefield Earth._ A couple of other points: John Sayles wrote _Battle Beyond the Stars._ But then, he also wrote the adaptation for _Clan of the Cave Bear_, so I guess he ain’t perfect. _Starship Troopers_ is certainly a parody of war propaganda films, and is a worthwhile effort. (I’m writing a followup review for my site, changing my initial opinion.) E-mail me separately if you want to discuss. _Dark Star_ is a camp classic, and a lot smarter than it seems. I put it on at least once a year and laugh my ass off – **with** it, not **at** it. (“What’s **my** first name?”) If you’re going to nominate _Highlander 2_, you also have to nominate _Zardoz._ Two hours of Sean Connery in a diaper. For my money, the worst attempt at a sci-fi movie is… [_Rollerblade_](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0089930) If you’re talking bad movies, and you haven’t seen this one, then I’m sorry, my child, but [darth vader] your education is not yet complete. [/darth vader] ---
**Author:** ![Why\_A\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@Why\_A\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Why_A_Duck)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2000, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-science-fiction-movie-ever/33742/53 "2000-09-20T19:33:49Z")
Re: Battle Beyond the Stars Wow, I had forgotten that Corman and Sayles were involved. I wonder what Sayles original story was like, and how much it changed by the time it hit the screen. That’s okay though, Sayles still gets a lot of points in my book for “Brother From Another Planet”, still one amazingly cool SF movie. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2000, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-science-fiction-movie-ever/33742/54 "2000-09-20T22:11:45Z")
> [@](#): > > Then there’s “Millenium”. I never read Varley’s book, but it CAN’T have been as bad as this flick! Correct! The book was MUCH better. The fact that the movie stars Cheryl Ladd **AND** Kris Kristofferson should have been a tipoff. Also, 5 of the “Bottom Ten” have been MSTied! I’d like to nominate “Star Crystal”. A horrifyingly bad “Alien” ripoff. An example of the movie’s POSTER being better than the movie itself. As for “Plan 9…” & “Robot Montser”, those guys just didn’t care. ---
**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:** [September 20, 2000, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-science-fiction-movie-ever/33742/55 "2000-09-20T23:37:21Z")
For reviews of these and many other bad, bad movies, visit “Bad Movie Night” at [http://www.hit-n-run.com](http://www.hit-n-run.com). ---
**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 21, 2000, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-science-fiction-movie-ever/33742/56 "2000-09-21T02:36:10Z")
I have to agree with Mr. Blue Sky about Star Crystal. It’s the only movie in which they defeat the alien by converting to Christianity. I kid you not. Track this one down and try to watch it. ---
**Author:** ![Saturn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19b73/32.png) [@Saturn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saturn)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2000, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-science-fiction-movie-ever/33742/57 "2000-09-21T03:36:46Z")
Worst film is “Solar Crisis”: [http://us.imdb.com/Title?0100649](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0100649) Charlton Heston saying “I’ve got to go back to Earth to save my grandson…” did me in before 5 minutes was up and I left the theatre. That is the only film I have left during, with the exception of the neverending film (aka the film that wouldn’t die): The Thin Red Line. I left 10 minutes (or so I am told) before the end. A GOOD Corman film ppl seem to be forgetting was “The Tomb of Ligeia”…one of my favorites of the Poe films… ---
**Author:** ![JBENZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b77776/32.png) [@JBENZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBENZ)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2000, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-science-fiction-movie-ever/33742/58 "2000-09-21T05:24:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Timon of Athens \* > \*\*Allow me to nominate a little piece of poo staring Farrah Fawcett and Kirk Douglas, Saturn 3. As the Internet Movie Database say, the plot is: > > Two lovers stationed at a remote base in the asteroid fields of Saturn are intruded upon by a retentive technocrat from Earth and his charge: a malevolent 8-ft robot. Remember, in space no one can hear you scream… > > Yeah, great. Farrah loses her clothing while being chased by a killer robot with Kirk as the mad scientist. Bad plot, bad acting, bad special effects and bad cinematography; it’s the unholy quadinity. This thing was boring even in puberty and sneaking a peek at late-night HBO. Time in my life that can never be returned. \*\* Um…that was Harvey Keitel as the mad scientist…Kirk was the good guy not so mad scientist who got to boff Farrah in between monster mashes with the robot. And, speaking of dopey space station movies, leave us not forget the inimitable “Silent Running” with Bruce Dern and Huey, Dewey & Louie, the lovable robots. ---
**Author:** ![Kilt-wearin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kilt-wearin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilt-wearin_man)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2000, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-science-fiction-movie-ever/33742/59 "2000-09-21T07:30:12Z")
Ok, I’m gonna take a lot of crap for this but… Independence Day wasn’t all that bad. It was pure popcorn entertainment, but hey, it was fun and the good guys won in a big, impressive, thousand plane dogfight under the giant UFO. And the special effects were incredible. Every one of those F-18’s was computer generated and done WELL (case in point - the canyon chase, with wind gusts knocking Will Smith’s plane around and his slipstream kicking up dust devils). So the story had holes you could fly a saucer through. It’s fun to watch. Sometimes you just need lightweight entertainment. On the other hand, I have to agree that Dark Star wasn’t that impressive, although the philosiphising bomb was amusing. I’m still annoyed that I paid to rent it. ---
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2000, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-science-fiction-movie-ever/33742/60 "2000-09-21T18:26:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CalMeacham \* > \*\*I have to agree with Mr. Blue Sky about Star Crystal. It’s the only movie in which they defeat the alien by converting to Christianity. > > I kid you not. Track this one down and try to watch it. \*\* I can beat that one: [_Red Planet Mars_ (1952)](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0045073), starring Peter Graves as a scientist who makes radio contact with Mars and finds out God lives there. It ends with Graves and his wife (Andrea King) sacrificing themselves to defeat an ex-Nazi trying to sabotage their laboratory. It is truly one of the more bizarre movies Hollywood ever made. I saw it on the Late, Late Show one night when I was more insomniac than usual. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-science-fiction-movie-ever/33742.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-science-fiction-movie-ever/33742.md?page=4)