Badmovies.org Forum

In this website the main theme is, of course, good "bad" movies. In other words movies that even if bad from rational point of view (stupid cast choices, stupid scripts...) in some ways keep you entertained well.

In this topic, however, I would like to ask you if you feel that a "good" movie is actually bad, in other words movie that SHOULD be good, but failed to entertain you at all.

As rule of thumb, a "good" movie is something on the lines:
- 7 or more digits of dollar of budget;
- has at least two famous, at the moment of shooting, actors;
- received great reviews from the critics;
...

For me the worst example is Signs [2002], it has Mel Gibson and the budget was a fairly good 72M$ and critics like it...
When I saw it I could not enjoy it at all. The plot makes no sense, the character ad unsympathetic and the aliens are completely idiots...

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

I don't hate it but always thought this was just "meh." I'm in the minority as I prefer Temple of Doom over Last Crusade.

The Transformers movies are big budget action flicks that started off fair and went steadily down hill.

Signs.  An alien race that's sole weakness is water comes to a planet that's like 70% Water.

Makes sense.

Cocktail. Tom Cruise was the huge star of the moment but he's woefully miscast. It comes off like an American Psycho prequel

if we're talking big budget + 'A List' cast + widespread critical acclaim,  then in my opinion there are 2 that really stand out for me: Heat and Shawshank Redemption

Also, Swimfan the stalker girl is way hotter than the guys girlfriend. I kept thinking whats the problem here

TREE OF LIFE and GRAVITY, for the same reason - I found them pandering and emotionally empty.


OK, I'll bite. What didn't you like about HEAT? Aside from the subplot with Pacino's stepdaughter that didn't have any bearing on the main story I thought it was really good.

GANGS OF NEW YORK and LAND OF THE LOST. :hatred:

"don't look now" donald sutherland and julie christie, 74, i think.
TERRIBLE movie! NOT scary in the least, completely nonsensical script,terrifically wooden acting and the kiss of death,a TRULY POINTLESS ENDING!
and this tripe was nominated for 8 BAFTA awards and actually WON 1!

Super Bad  Didn't find it funny at all.

Napoleon Dynamite  Maybe it doesn't fit the mentioned criteria for a good movie, but I found it unfunny and really annoying.  Textbook example of why its nearly impossible to make a "cult" movie on purpose.

The Kick-@$$ movies.  I know a lot of people like them, but they are basically a giant middle finger to comic book fans/ superhero movies.   

I found it non believable and self indulgent. The opening heist scene + getaway is laughable to me, with Pacino arriving and turning Colombo instantly, and yet that opening is possibly the highlight of the whole thing. Not a Pacino fan in any movie he's done, find him one of the hammiest actors. Too long and pointless subplots that go on forever.  Goodfellas and Casino are 2 of my all time fav movies, Heat just falls flat for me. It seems more like one massive long tv cop show episode than a movie.  I have friends who love it but I can't get into it

Another one that baffles me: The Butterfly Effect (2004)

Critics hated it, but it was loved by the audience (amazing 7.7/10 IMDb rating). This is a pretty bad movie in a good movie disguise.

I thought Dark City was laughable. all the leads were miscast, the plot was rehashed Twilight Zone and the whole tone was corny. I haven't seen it seince it came out maybe I'll watch it again.


Also, they aren't bad but Kids, Thirteen, and Do The Right Thing are really just glorified exploitation movies. Snobsploitation I call it, when critics love movies like that

See I found CASINO really self-indulgent, although I didn't hate it. How much a person likes HEAT does hinge quite a bit on how high their tolerance levels for Pacino are, so I can see your point there.

Never saw KIDS, and barely remember THIRTEEN, but I agree with you on DO THE RIGHT THING. It's certainly not CRASH-level bad or anything but it really felt like Lee was patting himself on the back just for pointing out that race issues exist, and he didn't present any possible solutions or even open up much of a dialogue. And it really didn't help that he cast himself in the lead.

heh, strange... I'm normally the first to switch off when I think a film gets self indulgent but I find Casino gripping all the way through and have seen it multiple times. and I'm a big fan of Don't Look Now, mentioned above too. each to their own and all that  :smile:

Manos: The Hands of Fate

Critics loved it and it's star power made box office gold inevitable, but I thought it failed on EVERY level

that's right, I said it

Star Trek: Into Darkness

So much.

I didn't see it, it is really so bad?

As Akiratub put it: "Into Darkness was like having someone shout in your face for over two hours."

Thread on it: http://www.badmovies.org/forum/index.php/topic,142114.msg515116.html (http://www.badmovies.org/forum/index.php/topic,142114.msg515116.html)

Some friends of mine say something similar, it was good I skipped it at the cinema. I did not like the previous movie too much either. Maybe I am too square, but the cast was too young. The original Kirk was already a genius, but that the new one actually become captain in two years is beyond being a genius, is ridiculous.

I also disliked the Kobayashi Maru interpretation. From the TOS (where the scene is unseen) I always thought Kirk studied the system and did some subtle alteration in order to win and hopefully not getting caught. Here it looks only an arrogant prick stating "I cheated, so I won. Cool me." like the idiots who cheat in the online games spoiling the fun of everyone and feeling cool. While they are only idiots.

To me, the Star Trek revamp was too much like Star Wars, more action-oriented and less thoughtful and reflective. I prefer Star Trek to be like Star Trek.

For me the "The Dark Knight" falls in this category. It seems everyone loved it, the critics and the viewers... Instead I found it "meh," a soul-less movie.

What I loved of "Batman Begins" is that he message of the movie is: --look, with this story Batman almost makes sense.

In the sequel, everything is thrown out the window. The Joker has no story, makes no sense, and it is essentially all-powerful. But not because he's presented as extremely clever or manipulative... just he is.
A good example is in the prison, he planted a bomb in the guy. The bomb explodes and EVERYONE a part of the Joker and the victim he wanted die. Even the door opens! WHAT?!??

Dent, the second bad guy, should be a tragic hero becoming evil. He is also badly made, his fall is too fast and too melodramatic. At the end he fails to be sympathetic at all; I even wondered if he was useful to the movie as a whole.

And Batman, what the hell... sure he is a brooding hero. But in the movie it seems a whiner instead. To make things worse, the movie message seems to be: fighting crime is bad as criminals also have the right to do what they do. Or they become desperate.. poor them.

So, we got a boring all-powerful bad guy... how can possibly batman wins? Lets give him a totally preposterous technological device to see everything through walls. Of course it is too powerful to make another sequel, so lets destroy it at the end in name of some broken moral issue.

Sure the fighting scenes are nice and there are some nice things, but still I cannot comprehend why so many people love this movie.

The problem with Nolan's films to me is Batman in them feels a bit too much like Iron Man. The newer Star Wars films also feel a bit too much like Star Trek to me.

This may rub people on here the wrong way, but I really didn't like Inception. I just didn't enjoy it. I even watched it 4 times to see if I was missing something, but no.

I kinda agree with you about Inception. Even I kinda liked it, I think it is overrated; it is just "mmn... cute".
Definitely not mind provoking, it seems the director wanted to make the story clear as possible: for example every "dream level" has a different color and style and most of the tension is lost just remembering that.. well, it is all a dream.