Best "So Bad They're Good Movies," according to AI

Rev. Powell · July 27, 2025, 10:02:41 AM

I queried CoPilot to make a list. (Made sure it cited sources). Here's what it came up with. Comments? (I notice there seems to be a Marky Mark bias here.)

This is a genre that thrives on glorious misfires, earnest incompetence, and the kind of cinematic chaos that turns failure into cult legend. Here's a ranked list of 25 iconic "so bad they're good" movies, based on aggregated picks from Screen Rant, Lifehacker, Forbes, Collider, and Marie Claire:

🎬 Top 25 "So Bad They're Good" Movies
| Rank | Title | Year | Notable Traits |
| 1 | The Room | 2003 | The gold standard of unintentional comedy |
| 2 | Birdemic: Shock and Terror | 2010 | CGI birds, eco-preaching, and zero pacing |
| 3 | Samurai Cop | 1991 | Wig continuity, awkward edits, and glorious action |
| 4 | Miami Connection | 1987 | Ninjas, synth rock, and friendship anthems |
| 5 | Plan 9 from Outer Space | 1959 | Ed Wood's magnum opus of confusion |
| 6 | Troll 2 | 1990 | "You can't p**s on hospitality!" |
| 7 | Battlefield Earth | 2000 | Dutch angles, Scientology vibes, and Travolta's hair |
| 8 | Batman & Robin | 1997 | Bat-nipples, ice puns, and neon chaos |
| 9 | Jupiter Ascending | 2015 | Space royalty, dog-men, and whisper-screaming villains |
| 10 | The Happening | 2008 | Killer plants and Wahlberg's confused expressions |
| 11 | The Wicker Man (remake) | 2006 | "Not the bees!" and bear suit punches |
| 12 | Howard the Duck | 1986 | Duck-human romance and Lucas-produced weirdness |
| 13 | Showgirls | 1995 | Camp, glitter, and pool sex physics |
| 14 | Cool Cat Saves the Kids | 2015 | Anti-bullying PSA turned surreal fever dream |
| 15 | Sleepwalkers | 1992 | Incestuous cat vampires and corn cob murder |
| 16 | Skidoo | 1968 | LSD, Groucho Marx as "God," and Harry Nilsson singing credits |
| 17 | Cats | 2019 | CGI fur, uncanny valley, and digital...anatomy |
| 18 | Fear | 1996 | Wahlberg's Ferris wheel moment and Lifetime-level escalation |
| 19 | Glen or Glenda | 1953 | Ed Wood's autobiographical cross-dressing epic |
| 20 | Manos: The Hands of Fate | 1966 | Made on a bet, MST3K immortalized it |
| 21 | Con Air | 1997 | Cage's mullet, Malkovich's villainy, and airborne chaos |
| 22 | Anaconda | 1997 | Voight's accent, fake snakes, and J.Lo's terror face |
| 23 | Deep Blue Sea | 1999 | Smart sharks and Samuel L. Jackson's surprise exit |
| 24 | Face/Off | 1997 | Cage and Travolta swapping faces and scenery chewing |
| 25 | Sharknado | 2013 | Self-aware absurdity and flying sharks |

If you want, I can sort these by genre, streaming availability, or even make a printable checklist for your next movie night. Want to go deeper into any of these cinematic disasters?

claws · July 27, 2025, 10:22:02 AM

Rev. Powell · July 27, 2025, 10:32:07 AM

Quote from: claws on July 27, 2025, 10:22:02 AMCool Cat Saves the Kid

Quote from: claws on July 27, 2025, 10:22:02 AMNever seen:

Jupiter Ascending | 2015
The Happening | 2008
Cool Cat Saves the Kids | 2015
Skidoo | 1968
Cats | 2019
Fear | 1996

First time seeing these titles in a bad movie list:

Cool Cat Saves the Kids | 2015
Fear | 1996
Sleepwalkers | 1992
Con Air | 1997
Deep Blue Sea | 1999
Face/Off | 1997

Deep Blue Sea is more ridiculous than bad in my opinion.
Sleepwalkers' CGI morphing already looked corny back then. Is the film bad? Well, sure, but not on a level of The Room or Troll 2.

Other than that this is a solid list.

One of my colleagues reviewed "Cool Cat Saves the Kids" and it does sound insane. I believe you can find it free on YouTube (legitimately uploaded by the director, who's made a series of "Cool Cat" movies.)

"Skidoo" is great (Jackie Gleason takes LSD, Groucho Marx smokes banana peels and plays a character named "God", Carol Channing strips to her underwear and sings).

"Cats" is just painful IMO.

I haven't seen it but I can't imagine "Face/Off" belongs on this kind of list. I'd replace it with "Robot Monster."

bob · July 27, 2025, 10:43:54 AM

Quote from: Rev. Powell on July 27, 2025, 10:02:41 AMI queried CoPilot to make a list. (Made sure it cited sources). Here's what it came up with. Comments? (I notice there seems to be a Marky Mark bias here.)

This is a genre that thrives on glorious misfires, earnest incompetence, and the kind of cinematic chaos that turns failure into cult legend. Here's a ranked list of 25 iconic "so bad they're good" movies, based on aggregated picks from Screen Rant, Lifehacker, Forbes, Collider, and Marie Claire:

🎬 Top 25 "So Bad They're Good" Movies
| Rank | Title | Year | Notable Traits |
| 1 | The Room | 2003 | The gold standard of unintentional comedy |
| 2 | Birdemic: Shock and Terror | 2010 | CGI birds, eco-preaching, and zero pacing |
| 3 | Samurai Cop | 1991 | Wig continuity, awkward edits, and glorious action |
| 4 | Miami Connection | 1987 | Ninjas, synth rock, and friendship anthems |
| 5 | Plan 9 from Outer Space | 1959 | Ed Wood's magnum opus of confusion |
| 6 | Troll 2 | 1990 | "You can't p**s on hospitality!" |
| 7 | Battlefield Earth | 2000 | Dutch angles, Scientology vibes, and Travolta's hair |
| 8 | Batman & Robin | 1997 | Bat-nipples, ice puns, and neon chaos |
| 9 | Jupiter Ascending | 2015 | Space royalty, dog-men, and whisper-screaming villains |
| 10 | The Happening | 2008 | Killer plants and Wahlberg's confused expressions |
| 11 | The Wicker Man (remake) | 2006 | "Not the bees!" and bear suit punches |
| 12 | Howard the Duck | 1986 | Duck-human romance and Lucas-produced weirdness |
| 13 | Showgirls | 1995 | Camp, glitter, and pool sex physics |
| 14 | Cool Cat Saves the Kids | 2015 | Anti-bullying PSA turned surreal fever dream |
| 15 | Sleepwalkers | 1992 | Incestuous cat vampires and corn cob murder |
| 16 | Skidoo | 1968 | LSD, Groucho Marx as "God," and Harry Nilsson singing credits |
| 17 | Cats | 2019 | CGI fur, uncanny valley, and digital...anatomy |
| 18 | Fear | 1996 | Wahlberg's Ferris wheel moment and Lifetime-level escalation |
| 19 | Glen or Glenda | 1953 | Ed Wood's autobiographical cross-dressing epic |
| 20 | Manos: The Hands of Fate | 1966 | Made on a bet, MST3K immortalized it |
| 21 | Con Air | 1997 | Cage's mullet, Malkovich's villainy, and airborne chaos |
| 22 | Anaconda | 1997 | Voight's accent, fake snakes, and J.Lo's terror face |
| 23 | Deep Blue Sea | 1999 | Smart sharks and Samuel L. Jackson's surprise exit |
| 24 | Face/Off | 1997 | Cage and Travolta swapping faces and scenery chewing |
| 25 | Sharknado | 2013 | Self-aware absurdity and flying sharks |

If you want, I can sort these by genre, streaming availability, or even make a printable checklist for your next movie night. Want to go deeper into any of these cinematic disasters?

I've never seen Cats, Maimi Connection, Cool Cat Saves the Kids, Jupiter Ascending, Anaconda, Fear, Deep Blue Sea, Skidoo, Sleepwalkers, Deep Blue Sea or the Wickerman remake

I loath Batman and Robin, The Happening, Howard the Duck, Battlefield Earth and Face/Off

Showgirls are Manos are ok

I legitimately really like Con Air

in a so-bad they're good level I love The Room, Birdemic: Shock and Terror, Troll 2, Sharknado, Samurai Cop, Glen or Glenda, Plan 9 from Outer Space

Rev. Powell · July 27, 2025, 11:52:27 AM

Haven't seen "Con-Air" but I'm surprised to find it on a list like this. I'd replace it with something like "Mac and Me."

Trevor · July 27, 2025, 12:47:12 PM

Quote from: Rev. Powell on July 27, 2025, 10:32:07 AM
Quote from: claws on July 27, 2025, 10:22:02 AMCool Cat Saves the Kid
Quote from: claws on July 27, 2025, 10:22:02 AMNever seen:

Jupiter Ascending | 2015
The Happening | 2008
Cool Cat Saves the Kids | 2015
Skidoo | 1968
Cats | 2019
Fear | 1996

First time seeing these titles in a bad movie list:

Cool Cat Saves the Kids | 2015
Fear | 1996
Sleepwalkers | 1992
Con Air | 1997
Deep Blue Sea | 1999
Face/Off | 1997

Deep Blue Sea is more ridiculous than bad in my opinion.
Sleepwalkers' CGI morphing already looked corny back then. Is the film bad? Well, sure, but not on a level of The Room or Troll 2.

Other than that this is a solid list.

Carol Channing strips to her underwear and sings).

Well, at least it wasn't me stripping to my undies and singing 😳😉😉😉

LordGraal · July 27, 2025, 03:37:16 PM

I have a massive aversion to AI. It's being used as just another control and money making tool.

Particularly as Starcrash isn't on the list.

M.10rda · July 27, 2025, 09:06:11 PM

I really dislike CON AIR and think it's absurdly bad, for a big-bidget movie w/ a lot of good actors and an often good screenwriter, Scott Rosenberg, who had just written what is probably the best Tarantino screenplay not written by Tarantino (THINGS TO DO IN DENVER WHEN YOU'RE DEAD) and must've had a hard time turning down a paycheck to write "Cliches on a Plane". I know people love their self-consciously (?) bad Nic Cage performances and him playing Forrest Gump as an action hero probably gets my vote for his "most Bad" performance, so I'm not surprised people find it "Good" in spite of it being very Bad. But I pretty much detest it.

I watched FACE-OFF once on the big screen when it came out and unironically loved it. I took a girl to see it again later that summer and - it didn't hold up. It's pretty implausible and overwrought. But Travolta (who was still flying on post-PULP FICTION/GET SHORTY petrol) is spectacularly entertaining. Cage, again, is... well, he's better than he is in CON AIR.

GLEN OR GLENDA, sigh. I'd be okay w/ PLAN 9 remaining on these lists forever but I'd be very happy to see GLEN OR GLENDA retired from them. Serious film - also Great film.

Just my opinion, of course.

claws · July 27, 2025, 09:32:14 PM

For comparison, ChatGPT gave me this list of good bad movies last year: https://www.badmovies.org/forum/index.php?topic=159755.0

zombie no.one · July 29, 2025, 04:39:31 AM

Quote from: M.10rda on July 27, 2025, 09:06:11 PMI watched FACE-OFF once on the big screen when it came out and unironically loved it. I took a girl to see it again later that summer and - it didn't hold up. It's pretty implausible and overwrought. But Travolta (who was still flying on post-PULP FICTION/GET SHORTY petrol) is spectacularly entertaining. Cage, again, is... well, he's better than he is in CON AIR.

I agree, was massively entertained on first watch... re-watched not too long ago and found it a bit heavy going.

thing is, it fully knows how overblown and ridiculous it is, which imo should disqualify it from this list.

Quote from: LordGraal on July 27, 2025, 03:37:16 PMI have a massive aversion to AI. It's being used as just another control and money making tool.

I really don't like when its write-ups try to adopt a kind of jokey / friendly / vaguely irreverant style.

I want totally deadpan emotionless prose from my sentient digital overlord.