Every new movie creates at least some expectations before it releases. When it actually drops, we either love it or hate it anywhere on the scale of 1 to 10, and from there on, it carries that legacy forward. Some movies are too insignificant to form an opinion and dissolve into oblivion. Some movies cross the regular benchmark for being bad (or sometimes they are just too controversial or big flops) and enter the “so bad that they are good” category. Some of these even end up getting their own cult fan following.
And then there are some movies that struck such a phenomenally wrong nerve that they enter the most dishonorable corner of our collective audience psyche. These movies are not only bad for the sake of being bad. They disappoint us on another level. We don’t just feel disappointed, we feel deceived.
On the cinematic level, these movies may not always be as bad as the reputation they earn, but it’s that weird “deceptive” angle that makes us hate them more than usual. A story with no spine and headless direction, or the bizarre performances that downright cringe you; reasons can be anything; the bottom line is that these movies become exemplary failures. They are remembered for their baffling creative choices, tonal disasters, and just plain clueless filmmaking.
Let’s dive into the ranking of these 11 films that we love to hate.
11 Most Hated Films of All Time
11. Howard the Duck (1986)
Written by: Willard Huyck, Gloria Katz | Directed by: Willard Huyck
Let’s just say, there were a few duck coops on the farm–edgy, kid-friendly, campy, satirical, monster tale–and all Howard the Duck had to do was choose one and settle in. It couldn’t decide, so it sat outside and was jumped on by the big bad wolf called Disaster. That’s literally the problem with this film. Like that wasn’t enough, it managed to incorporate bizarre humor, awkward special effects, uncomfortable tone, and outlandish costumes. Oh, and yes, also some creepy juvenile sexual innuendo. Whatever the end product was, the audience couldn’t decide who it was for, and the movie has remained in limbo ever since.
10. Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999)
Written by: George Lucas | Directed by: George Lucas
When your brand is as big as Star Wars, you can’t afford to play fast and loose or gamble on things you aren’t 100% sure about. If you do, even the slightest mistakes and misfires are seen through the magnifying glass and blown out of proportion. The Phantom Menace is one of the perfect examples. With every Star Wars return, fans expect fireworks. That’s what they did in 1999, and what did they get in return? Stiff pacing, a performance-crushing script, and the oh-so-famous weirdness of Jar Jar Binks. Jar Jar has since become the poster child of Star Wars’ franchise misstep.
Hardcore fans and those who are doggedly sympathetic to the franchise defend the film’s ambition—a point that, in my opinion, holds no water because “ambition” is written into the soul of this franchise; there is nothing noteworthy about it. Today, this movie is mostly remembered as a big mood-killer that dragged a majestic space opera to the level of a cheap cartoon flick.
9. The Godfather: Part III (1990)
Written by: Mario Puzo, Francis Ford Coppola | Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola
This is another, perhaps even brighter, example of a big franchise misstep. This is one of the rare trilogies where the first two films are considered to be the pinnacle of filmmaking, and the poor third child is derided just as viciously. Even the most die-hard fans of The Godfather series (which is basically everyone) just love to hate the third installment.
The complaints about the movie centered on its sluggish narrative, strange tonal shifts, and, most importantly, misguided casting, especially that of Sofia Coppola. Aside from her awkward acting, her casting also earned the movie the dark badge of nepotism. It seems the audience can overlook it, as long as it’s not at the cost of something they consider divine. But even without her, the movie feels completely out of sync with its predecessors. Many deem it as the franchise’s sloppy afterthought rather than a legitimate finale.
8. Showgirls (1995)
Written by: Joe Eszterhas | Directed by: Paul Verhoeven
Showgirls was meant to be a gritty satire on fame, but ended up being a single point where absurd plot, unintentionally hilarious performances, chaotic tone, and exaggerated sexuality came together to make a camp travesty of a movie. It was also criticized for its excessively ornate dialogue, which created an absolutely unintended comedic effect. If the movie was trying to be edgy, it was a sad attempt because it landed exactly in the opposite direction—brazenly absurd and foolish.
7. Suicide Squad (2016)
Written by: David Ayer | Directed by: David Ayer
The movie, with its impressive cast, aggressive marketing campaign that perfectly created hype, and, of course, the appeal of the eccentric characters, sounded like a “worth-the-wait” deal. But then it was released. Right from its first screening, it became obvious that the pre-release bubble was all the movie had to offer. Its narrative was in shambles, its tone was inconsistent, and its editing made no sense. In a movie full of villains, not one could stand straight as a memorable one. Jared Leto’s pretentious (or cringey) behind-the-scenes attempts to “get into the character” filled gossip columns for a while, and then that’s it.
The film emphasised more on the borrowed pop soundtracks and songs than putting in more effort into a coherent plot and well-developed characters. The result? Let’s just say, Suicide Squad was indeed a suicide mission from the beginning.
6. The Cat in the Hat (2003)
Written by: Alec Berg, David Mandel, Jeff Schaffer | Directed by: Bo Welch
The Cat in the Hat is infamous for being a phenomenal misstep. It went into production, aiming to be an eccentric family fun-watch, but came out as an unfunny, pointless, and sometimes downright disturbing and inappropriate adult humor. The adorably whimsical spirit of Dr. Seuss, whose book the movie is based on, was completely lost on the makers, and instead, we got a creepy cat by Mike Myers. The production design was especially slammed for being too garish and distracting from the narrative. All in all, the film was a traumatic experience, not only for the audience but for Dr. Seuss’ estate as well. It must be. Why else would they ban all future live-action adaptations of the series?
5. Son of the Mask (2005)
Written by: Lance Khazei | Directed by: Lawrence Guterman
A movie immortalized by Jim Carrey’s insane physical comedy (which practically established his brand) was followed up 10 years later by Son of the Mask. Despite Jim Carrey not being involved, it’s fair to say the audience expected at least some magic. What they got instead was an abrasive, soulless jumble that replaced the original movie’s charm and witty physical comedy with deafening noise, visual clutter, and whatever ugly, frantic thing it was they referred to as CGI. The critics panned it, the audience trashed it, and despite all the venting, what lingered on was the unconvincing, hyper-expressive baby’s weirdness that kept reminding us what a gigantic tragedy it was.
4. Batman and Robin (1997)
Written by: Akiva Goldsman | Directed by: Joel Schumacher
You would think telling a story of one of the most solemn superheroes with one of the most refined actors and one of the most capable directors would leave no chance for a mishap. Think again, think Batman and Robin. It literally turned Gotham into a circus or a toy commercial. With its gaudy costumes (I mean, the Batsuit had prominent nipples pointing out), banal one-liners, cartoon-like fights, neon overload, and flagrant branding, critics rightly assessed that this was where the superhero movies lost their dignity. The negative impact of the movie was such that it killed the live-action franchise for a good eight-year period.
3. The Last Airbender (2010)
Written by: M. Night Shyamalan | Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan
Again, this is a case of false hope. People assumed a fine cinematic experience from someone who made The Sixth Sense, Signs, and Unbreakable. It was based on Nickelodeon’s beloved animated series, so that was another advantage. Sadly, all this was met with an incoherent plot, outdated and clunky exposition, lethargic fight choreography, and uninspired, rigid acting. The movie also attracted major backlash because of its tone-deaf whitewashing of the lead characters.
2. Jack and Jill (2011)
Written by: Adam Sandler, Steve Koren | Directed by: Dennis Dugan
The film was nominated for every single category at the Golden Raspberry Awards. If that’s not telling about how bad the movie was, then I don’t know what is. Adam Sandler isn’t exactly known for profound comedies, but he is entertaining. He has given some decent classics, such as Fifty First Dates, Happy Gilmore, Punch Drunk Love, and Click. He has also given some massy comedies that were not a hit with the critics, but the audience liked them anyway; Don’t Mess With the Zohan, for instance.
Jack and Jill, however, is another story. It is lazy, unfunny, and engages in repetitive gags that never land. As if Sandler’s drag performance as Jill wasn’t cringey enough, the makers somehow managed to bring in the behemoth, like Al Pacino, in a bizarre subplot and extracted a cringey performance from him as well. The movie has effectively ended as the punchline of Sandler’s filmography.
1. Gigli (2003)
Written by: Martin Brest | Directed by: Martin Brest
Gigli holds many distinctions–an ultimate flop, a confusing and slack plot, awkward tone, bizarre and pseudo-philosophical dialogue, a complete lack of chemistry between the leads (in addition to neither of them having a particularly good moment in the acting department), awkward tone, and uncertainty regarding the film’s genre. The movie delivered wrong emotions in the wrong places. Things were made worse with strange, uneven pacing and, all in all, a complete lack of focus. It was sprinkled with many baffling scenes that left the audience confused as to what exactly was expected of them; “it’s turkey time; gobble gobble,” for example.
Upon its release, Gigli dominated headlines for being a star-powered disaster, and to date, it remains the go-to reference for everything that you should avoid in filmmaking.
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