Too Good for This Movie!

AndyC · January 02, 2008, 04:27:14 PM

The "worst Christmas movies" article turned out very well
http://www.almaguinregion.com/almaguin/article/57936

So, I have another question for another piece I'm planning. I need examples of talented, respected actors and actresses who have appeared in a movie that was far beneath them.

This is actually tougher than it sounds. This does not include early roles by as-yet-unestablished stars (eg. Hercules in New York), nor does it include washed-up actors taking what they can get (Bela Lugosi), nor any good actor who comfortably jumps between big movies and cheesy ones. What I want is something like Christopher Plummer showing up in Star Crash, a really good actor in a really bad - uncharacteristically bad - movie. Something that makes you say "What the hell is he doing in this thing?"

Other than that, they can be of any era, any gender, any style of acting. They just have to be well-known, and their role in the crappy movie must be fairly significant.

How much of a list can we compile?

RCMerchant · January 02, 2008, 04:38:26 PM

I know Cameron Mitchell has been in a lotta ultra-low budget stuff...but he appeared in the XXX-rated DIXIE RAY-SUPERSTAR back in the 70's. Thankfully...he kept his clothes on.

LilCerberus · January 02, 2008, 04:39:20 PM

I haven't seen the "complete Works" of Christopher Lee, at least not yet, but "The Return of Captain Invincable" was simply terrible, filled with amaturish editing techniques & poorly executed jokes.

RapscallionJones · January 02, 2008, 04:41:02 PM

This took no thought at all.

Raoul Julia as Bison in Street Fighter 2.

It's not like the guy's career was sliding downward so what the hell was he doing in that movie? And to add insult to injury, it turned out to be his swan song!

What a shame.

AndyC · January 02, 2008, 04:53:45 PM

Well, actually Julia knew he was dying of cancer by the time he did Street Fighter. The way I heard it, he was just looking for the paycheque at that point, to set his family up as comfortably as possible. On the bright side, he did manage to squeeze in one role after that, so he didn't finish with Bison. Mind you, he was pretty badly deteriorated by that time, so it was not very pretty.

Justy · January 02, 2008, 07:38:43 PM

Uma Thurma... as a hot Poison Ivy... in a bad, bad, Batman and Robin.

Robert DeNiro in how many...

Mr. DS · January 02, 2008, 08:26:19 PM

A few I can think of off hand.
Robert Patrick - Double Dragon
James Earl Jones - Blood Tide, Excorcist 2
Robert Vaughn - Zombie 5

HappyGilmore · January 02, 2008, 08:49:42 PM

Leslie Nielsen in 2001: A Space Travesty
Kevin Costner in Waterworld (Not a big fan or anything, but still)
Jeff Daniels and Michael Richards in Trial and Error
Will Smith in Wild Wild West

TheDope · January 02, 2008, 10:41:45 PM

Ah well then...

Anthony Hopkins in Freejack
Jeremy Irons in Dungeons & Dragons

Those are the two that really stand out for me, and with good reason....

Justy · January 02, 2008, 10:50:22 PM

Quote from: HappyGilmore on January 02, 2008, 08:49:42 PM

Will Smith in Wild Wild West

I generally *like* Will Smith movies, but he was horribly miscast as James West. The movie itself probably would have fared better, at least in my estimation, if a more James West-like character actor was cast as James West. Jackie Chan doesn't star as Wilt Chamberlain, Keira Knightley doesn't star as Guenivere (er... scratch that), you get my point.

Justy · January 02, 2008, 11:00:05 PM

Quote from: TheGreatWhiteDope on January 02, 2008, 10:41:45 PM
Ah well then...

Anthony Hopkins in Freejack
Jeremy Irons in Dungeons & Dragons

Those are the two that really stand out for me, and with good reason....

Ugh...

Dungeons & Dragons... when is that one going to be added to Andrew's web of shame. I still shower trying to wash the bad feelings away. Never before had I walked out of a cinema generally p**sed off. That movie was so bad in so many ways. I had such high hopes that the movie could have started a little D&D Brand for movies to be released under. Unfortunately they decided to insert their stupid "DM created" world and campaign with barely anything recognizable to a gamer. Such a waste of the actual talent they assembled and the CGI they had to play with.

indianasmith · January 02, 2008, 11:14:40 PM

No one has mentioned Sean Connery in HIGHLANDER II? or . . . (shudder) ZARDOZ???

BTM · January 03, 2008, 01:34:27 AM

Quote from: AndyC on January 02, 2008, 04:27:14 PM
How much of a list can we compile?

How about Cuba Gooding in... well, pretty much every film he's been in since Pearl Harbor?

Rip Torn in Freddy Got Fingered?

RCMerchant · January 03, 2008, 06:41:35 AM

Quote from: indianasmith on January 02, 2008, 11:14:40 PM
No one has mentioned Sean Connery in HIGHLANDER II? or . . . (shudder) ZARDOZ???

Actually,ZARDOZ was thought of as a serious,big time innovative type of film on it's intial release in the 70's,....it also bombed out pretty badly.

AndyC · January 03, 2008, 09:19:38 AM

Quote from: Justy on January 02, 2008, 10:50:22 PM
Quote from: HappyGilmore on January 02, 2008, 08:49:42 PM
I generally *like* Will Smith movies, but he was horribly miscast as James West.

Yeah, that one stretched my suspension of disbelief a bit too much. Blazing Saddles was a more accurate depiction of the reception a black lawman would have gotten in the old west.

Still, for me, the biggest problem was that the movie's big surprises were given away in the trailer. Hard to get into the story when you're waiting for the spider.