Empire Magazine's "50 Worst Movies Ever"
by colm-hearne365 | created - 28 Jan 2012 | updated - 04 Oct 2015 | PublicPlease leave comments.
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1. Batman & Robin (1997)
PG-13 | 125 min | Action, Sci-Fi
Batman and Robin try to keep their relationship together even as they must stop Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy from freezing Gotham City.
Director: Joel Schumacher | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Clooney, Chris O'Donnell, Uma Thurman
Votes: 268,112 | Gross: $107.33M
Why it's on the list: Gaining nearly three times as many votes as the next entry, this was a runaway loser. From the neon design to the overblown script to the infamous Batnipples, it's become a byword for franchise-killing and bad movie-making.
Redeeming feature: A good half of the population would argue for Alicia Silverstone's arse in the Batgirl suit; the rest for George Clooney in a tux.
2. Battlefield Earth (2000)
PG-13 | 117 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
It's the year 3000 A.D., and the Earth is lost to the alien race of Psychlos. Humanity is enslaved by these gold-thirsty tyrants, who are unaware that their 'man-animals' are about to ignite the rebellion of a lifetime.
Director: Roger Christian | Stars: John Travolta, Forest Whitaker, Barry Pepper, Kim Coates
Votes: 83,090 | Gross: $21.47M
3. The Love Guru (2008)
PG-13 | 87 min | Comedy, Romance, Sport
Pitka, an American raised outside of his country by gurus, returns to the States in order to break into the self-help business. His first challenge is to settle the romantic troubles and subsequent professional skid of a star hockey player whose wife left him for a rival athlete.
Director: Marco Schnabel | Stars: Mike Myers, Jessica Alba, Romany Malco, Jessica Simpson
Votes: 54,973 | Gross: $32.24M
4. Raise the Titanic (1980)
PG | 115 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
Once they said God himself couldn't sink her. Then they said no man on Earth could reach her. But an underwater research agency, headed by Admiral James Sandecker, is assigned the job of finding the doomed ship in her North Atlantic grave.
Director: Jerry Jameson | Stars: Jason Robards, Richard Jordan, David Selby, Anne Archer
Votes: 5,438 | Gross: $14.82M
5. Epic Movie (2007)
PG-13 | 86 min | Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy
A spoof on previous years' epic movies (The Da Vinci Code (2006), The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) + 20 more), TV series, music videos and celebs. 4 orphans are on an epic adventure.
Directors: Jason Friedberg, Aaron Seltzer | Stars: Kal Penn, Jennifer Coolidge, Fred Willard, Adam Campbell
Votes: 109,540 | Gross: $39.74M
6. Heaven's Gate (1980)
R | 219 min | Adventure, Drama, Western
During the Johnson County War in 1890 Wyoming, a sheriff born into wealth does his best to protect immigrant farmers from rich cattle interests.
Director: Michael Cimino | Stars: Kris Kristofferson, Christopher Walken, John Hurt, Sam Waterston
Votes: 17,147 | Gross: $3.48M
7. Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989)
R | 100 min | Drama
A sexually repressed woman's husband is having an affair with her sister. The arrival of a visitor with a rather unusual fetish changes everything.
Director: Steven Soderbergh | Stars: James Spader, Andie MacDowell, Peter Gallagher, Laura San Giacomo
Votes: 59,451 | Gross: $24.74M
8. The Happening (2008)
R | 91 min | Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi
A science teacher, his wife, and a young girl struggle to survive a plague that causes those infected to commit suicide.
Director: M. Night Shyamalan | Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, John Leguizamo, Ashlyn Sanchez
Votes: 216,480 | Gross: $64.51M
9. Highlander II: The Quickening (1991)
R | 91 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
In the future, Highlander Connor MacLeod must prevent the destruction of Earth under an anti-ozone shield.
Director: Russell Mulcahy | Stars: Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery, Virginia Madsen, Michael Ironside
Votes: 48,095 | Gross: $15.56M
10. The Room (2003)
R | 99 min | Drama
In San Francisco, an amiable banker's seemingly perfect life is turned upside down when his deceitful fiancée embarks on an affair with his best friend.
Director: Tommy Wiseau | Stars: Tommy Wiseau, Juliette Danielle, Greg Sestero, Philip Haldiman
Votes: 95,007 | Gross: $0.22M
11. Meet the Spartans (2008)
PG-13 | 87 min | Comedy, Fantasy
A spoof of 300 (2006) and many other movies, TV series/shows/commercials, video games and celebrities. King Leonidas of Sparta and his army of 12 go to war against Xerxes of Persia to fight to the death for Sparta's freedom.
Directors: Jason Friedberg, Aaron Seltzer | Stars: Sean Maguire, Kevin Sorbo, Carmen Electra, Ken Davitian
Votes: 111,545 | Gross: $38.23M
12. Norbit (2007)
PG-13 | 102 min | Comedy, Romance
A mild-mannered guy, who is married to a monstrous woman, meets the woman of his dreams, and schemes to find a way to be with her.
Director: Brian Robbins | Stars: Eddie Murphy, Thandiwe Newton, Terry Crews, Clifton Powell
Votes: 79,765 | Gross: $95.67M
13. The Avengers (1998)
PG-13 | 89 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Two British Agents team up to stop Sir August de Wynter from destroying the world with a weather-changing machine.
Director: Jeremiah S. Chechik | Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Uma Thurman, Sean Connery, Patrick Macnee
Votes: 45,420 | Gross: $23.32M
14. Disaster Movie (2008)
PG-13 | 87 min | Comedy, Sci-Fi
Over the course of one evening, an unsuspecting group of twenty-somethings find themselves bombarded by a series of natural disasters and catastrophic events.
Directors: Jason Friedberg, Aaron Seltzer | Stars: Carmen Electra, Vanessa Lachey, Nicole Parker, Matt Lanter
Votes: 94,540 | Gross: $14.19M
15. Catwoman (2004)
PG-13 | 104 min | Action, Crime, Fantasy
A shy woman, endowed with the speed, reflexes, and senses of a cat, walks a thin line between criminal and hero, even as a detective doggedly pursues her, fascinated by both of her personas.
Director: Pitof | Stars: Halle Berry, Sharon Stone, Benjamin Bratt, Lambert Wilson
Votes: 125,797 | Gross: $40.20M
16. Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957)
Not Rated | 79 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
Evil aliens attack Earth and set their terrible "Plan 9" into action. As the aliens resurrect the dead of the Earth, the lives of the living are in danger.
Director: Edward D. Wood Jr. | Stars: Gregory Walcott, Tom Keene, Mona McKinnon, Duke Moore
Votes: 40,406
Why it's on the list?: Possibly the most entertaining movie on this entire list, Ed Wood's masterpiece mixes nonsensical dialogue, stock footage, dreadful effects and short recycled clips of star Bela Lugosi, who died during filmmaking, used with scant regard for narrative coherence. Still, there's an exuberance and ambition to it that most of the films here can only dream of.
Redeeming feature: If you've seen the Tim Burton film Ed Wood, you'll probably feel all warm and cosy about even the most demented bits. In fact, it now has mostly positive reviews by those who have always seen it as a hilarious / avant garde cult movie rather than an incoherent disaster.
17. White Chicks (2004)
PG-13 | 109 min | Comedy, Crime
Two disgraced FBI agents go way undercover in an effort to protect hotel heiresses the Wilson sisters from a kidnapping plot.
Director: Keenen Ivory Wayans | Stars: Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Busy Philipps, Maitland Ward
Votes: 163,168 | Gross: $70.83M
18. Dreamcatcher (2003)
R | 134 min | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi
Friends on a camping trip discover that the town they're vacationing in is being plagued in an unusual fashion by parasitic aliens from outer space.
Director: Lawrence Kasdan | Stars: Morgan Freeman, Thomas Jane, Jason Lee, Damian Lewis
Votes: 96,465 | Gross: $33.72M
19. Gigli (2003)
R | 121 min | Comedy, Crime, Romance
Larry Gigli is assigned by a crime boss to kidnap the brother of a prominent district attorney. A beautiful woman known only as Ricki is sent to stay with him to make sure he doesn't mess up the job.
Director: Martin Brest | Stars: Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez, Justin Bartha, Terry Camilleri
Votes: 50,718 | Gross: $6.07M
20. Swept Away (2002)
R | 89 min | Comedy, Romance
A snooty socialite is stranded on a Mediterranean island with a communist sailor.
Director: Guy Ritchie | Stars: Madonna, Adriano Giannini, Bruce Greenwood, Elizabeth Banks
Votes: 17,871 | Gross: $0.01M
21. Alone in the Dark (2005)
R | 96 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
A detective of the paranormal slowly unravels mysterious events with deadly results.
Director: Uwe Boll | Stars: Christian Slater, Tara Reid, Stephen Dorff, Frank C. Turner
Votes: 47,004 | Gross: $5.18M
22. Jaws: The Revenge (1987)
PG-13 | 89 min | Adventure, Horror, Thriller
Chief Brody's widow believes that her family is deliberately being targeted by another shark in search of revenge.
Director: Joseph Sargent | Stars: Lorraine Gary, Lance Guest, Mario Van Peebles, Karen Young
Votes: 49,555 | Gross: $20.76M
Why it's on the list: To steal from Dennis Pennis, this is a C-movie in every sense of the word. Alongside a shonky script and hoary dream sequences, it's got a replica Great White so rubbery you could lop it into tiny pieces and stick it on your pencil, several glaring continuity errors, and a confused-looking Michael Caine in desperate need of a new agent. Oh, and a shark eating an plane.
Redeeming feature: It's got a shark eating an plane.
23. Freddy Got Fingered (2001)
R | 87 min | Comedy
An unemployed cartoonist moves back in with his parents and younger brother Freddy. When his parents demand he leave, he begins to spread rumors that his father is sexually abusing Freddy.
Director: Tom Green | Stars: Tom Green, Rip Torn, Marisa Coughlan, Eddie Kaye Thomas
Votes: 51,364 | Gross: $14.25M
24. Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997)
PG-13 | 121 min | Action, Adventure, Crime
A computer hacker breaks into the computer system of the Seabourn Legend cruise liner and sets it speeding on a collision course into a gigantic oil tanker.
Director: Jan de Bont | Stars: Sandra Bullock, Jason Patric, Willem Dafoe, Temuera Morrison
Votes: 85,964 | Gross: $48.61M
25. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)
PG-13 | 149 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Sam Witwicky leaves the Autobots behind for a normal life. But when his mind is filled with cryptic symbols, the Decepticons target him and he is dragged back into the Transformers' war.
Director: Michael Bay | Stars: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson
Votes: 428,453 | Gross: $402.11M
Why it's on the list: Another sequel that sees a massive drop-off in quality from its more tightly-plotted predecessor - and the first Transformers was no masterpiece - this is a rare case where improvements in special effects put filmmaking back, with the more intricate robots proving impossible to tell apart in a fight - apart from the racist and sexist stereotypes, anyway. A nonsensical plot, skewed tone and tin ear for cultural sensitivity combine to make it the silliest film of 2009.
Redeeming feature: John Turturro, who appeared to be in a different movie from everyone else - again. And Optimus Prime's scenes are totally worth watching. Also, ka-BOOM!
26. Glitter (2001)
PG-13 | 104 min | Drama, Music, Romance
A young singer dates a disc jockey who helps her get into the music business, but their relationship become complicated as she ascends to super stardom.
Director: Vondie Curtis-Hall | Stars: Mariah Carey, Eric Benét, Max Beesley, Da Brat
Votes: 24,089 | Gross: $4.27M
27. Street Fighter (1994)
PG-13 | 102 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
In the midst of a civil war in South East Asia, a general intensifies the climate of violence by kidnapping 63 UN delegates. To free the hostages, a colonel leads a group of fighters, who will have to use all their skills to be successful.
Director: Steven E. de Souza | Stars: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Raul Julia, Ming-Na Wen, Damian Chapa
Votes: 75,295 | Gross: $33.42M
28. The Sweetest Thing (2002)
R | 84 min | Comedy, Romance
Christina Walters spent years avoiding men, then suddenly met her perfect match while hanging with her best friends, Courtney and Jane. When she finds out that he has left town, she and Courtney set out on a trip.
Director: Roger Kumble | Stars: Cameron Diaz, Thomas Jane, Christina Applegate, Lillian Adams
Votes: 62,449 | Gross: $24.72M
29. Southland Tales (2006)
R | 145 min | Comedy, Drama, Mystery
During a three-day heat wave just before a huge 4th of July celebration, an action star stricken with amnesia meets up with a porn star who is developing her own reality TV project, and a policeman who holds the key to a vast conspiracy.
Director: Richard Kelly | Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Seann William Scott, Carlos Amezcua
Votes: 40,629 | Gross: $0.28M
30. Scary Movie (2000)
R | 88 min | Comedy
A year after disposing of the body of a man they accidentally killed, a group of dumb teenagers are stalked by a bumbling serial killer.
Director: Keenen Ivory Wayans | Stars: Anna Faris, Jon Abrahams, Marlon Wayans, Carmen Electra
Votes: 286,663 | Gross: $157.02M
31. The Pink Panther 2 (2009)
PG | 92 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
Insp. Jacques Clouseau teams up with a squad of International detectives who are just as bumbling as he is. Their mission: Stop a globe-trotting thief who specializes in stealing historical artifacts.
Director: Harald Zwart | Stars: Steve Martin, Jean Reno, Emily Mortimer, Andy Garcia
Votes: 48,216 | Gross: $35.92M
32. The Spirit (2008)
PG-13 | 103 min | Action, Crime, Fantasy
Rookie cop Denny Colt returns from the beyond as The Spirit, a hero whose mission is to fight against the bad forces in Central City.
Director: Frank Miller | Stars: Gabriel Macht, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Jaime King
Votes: 62,839 | Gross: $19.78M
33. Ultraviolet (2006)
PG-13 | 88 min | Action, Sci-Fi
A beautiful haemophage infected with a virus that gives her superhuman powers has to protect a boy in a futuristic world, who is thought to be carrying antigens that would destroy all hæmophages.
Director: Kurt Wimmer | Stars: Milla Jovovich, Cameron Bright, Nick Chinlund, Sebastien Andrieu
Votes: 84,083 | Gross: $18.50M
34. I Know Who Killed Me (2007)
R | 105 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A young woman who was missing reappears, but she claims to be someone else entirely.
Director: Chris Sivertson | Stars: Lindsay Lohan, Julia Ormond, Neal McDonough, Bonnie Aarons
Votes: 30,885 | Gross: $7.50M
35. House of the Dead (2003)
R | 90 min | Action, Adventure, Horror
A group of college students travels to a mysterious island to attend a rave, which is soon taken over by bloodthirsty zombies.
Director: Uwe Boll | Stars: Jonathan Cherry, Tyron Leitso, Clint Howard, Ona Grauer
Votes: 38,557 | Gross: $10.25M
36. Eragon (2006)
PG | 104 min | Action, Adventure, Family
In his homeland of Alagaesia, a farm boy happens upon a dragon's egg -- a discovery that leads him on a predestined journey where he realizes he's the one person who can defend his home against an evil king.
Director: Stefen Fangmeier | Stars: Ed Speleers, Sienna Guillory, Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich
Votes: 130,475 | Gross: $75.03M
37. Max Payne (2008)
PG-13 | 100 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Coming together to solve a series of murders in New York City are a police detective and an assassin, who will be hunted by the police, the mob, and a ruthless corporation.
Director: John Moore | Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis, Beau Bridges, Ludacris
Votes: 130,174 | Gross: $40.69M
38. Son of the Mask (2005)
PG | 94 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy
Tim Avery, an aspiring cartoonist, finds himself in a predicament when his dog stumbles upon the mask of Loki. Then after conceiving an infant son "born of the mask", he discovers just how looney child raising can be.
Director: Lawrence Guterman | Stars: Jamie Kennedy, Traylor Howard, Alan Cumming, Liam Falconer
Votes: 59,318 | Gross: $17.02M
39. Dungeons & Dragons (2000)
PG-13 | 107 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Profion, a tyrant, attempts to overthrow a peaceful kingdom ruled by a tough empress.
Director: Courtney Solomon | Stars: Justin Whalin, Jeremy Irons, Zoe McLellan, Bruce Payne
Votes: 36,267 | Gross: $15.22M
40. Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)
PG | 90 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
The Man of Steel crusades for nuclear disarmament and meets Lex Luthor's latest creation, Nuclear Man.
Director: Sidney J. Furie | Stars: Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, Margot Kidder, Jackie Cooper
Votes: 52,722 | Gross: $15.68M
41. Van Helsing (2004)
PG-13 | 131 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
The famed monster hunter is sent to Transylvania to stop Count Dracula, who is using Dr. Frankenstein's research and a werewolf for nefarious purposes.
Director: Stephen Sommers | Stars: Hugh Jackman, Kate Beckinsale, Richard Roxburgh, Shuler Hensley
Votes: 284,544 | Gross: $120.18M
42. Parting Shots (1998)
99 min | Comedy, Crime, Romance
When the doctors tell Harry Sterndale to get his affairs in order, he does just that - with a vengeance. With nothing to lose, Harry is out to give everyone who ever "done him wrong" something to remember him by: exactly what they deserve.
Director: Michael Winner | Stars: Chris Rea, Felicity Kendal, John Cleese, Bob Hoskins
Votes: 1,077
43. Year One (2009)
PG-13 | 97 min | Comedy
After being banished from their tribe, two hunter-gatherers encounter Biblical characters and eventually wind up in the city of Sodom.
Director: Harold Ramis | Stars: Jack Black, Michael Cera, Olivia Wilde, Oliver Platt
Votes: 103,661 | Gross: $43.34M
44. The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
R | 129 min | Action, Sci-Fi
The human city of Zion defends itself against the massive invasion of the machines as Neo fights to end the war at another front while also opposing the rogue Agent Smith.
Directors: Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving
Votes: 543,477 | Gross: $139.31M
45. Blade: Trinity (2004)
R | 113 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
Blade, now a wanted man by the FBI, must join forces with the Nightstalkers to face his most challenging enemy yet: Dracula.
Director: David S. Goyer | Stars: Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson, Parker Posey, Ryan Reynolds
Votes: 188,299 | Gross: $52.41M
46. Howard the Duck (1986)
PG | 110 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
A sarcastic humanoid duck is pulled from his homeworld to Earth where he must stop an alien invasion with the help of a nerdy scientist and a struggling female rock singer.
Director: Willard Huyck | Stars: Lea Thompson, Jeffrey Jones, Tim Robbins, Ed Gale
Votes: 50,741 | Gross: $16.30M
47. Soul Plane (2004)
R | 86 min | Comedy
Things get raucously funny aboard the maiden flight of a black-owned airline, thanks to some last-minute passenger additions.
Director: Jessy Terrero | Stars: Dwayne Adway, Snoop Dogg, Tom Arnold, Kevin Hart
Votes: 24,554 | Gross: $13.92M
48. Town & Country (2001)
R | 104 min | Comedy, Romance
Two loving middle aged couples get caught in a series of marital misadventures over reasons of fidelity.
Director: Peter Chelsom | Stars: Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, Nastassja Kinski, Goldie Hawn
Votes: 5,252 | Gross: $6.72M
49. Showgirls (1995)
NC-17 | 128 min | Drama
A mysterious young drifter who calls herself Nomi Malone hitches a ride to Las Vegas, Nevada, and begins working as a strip club dancer, and sets about clawing her way to the top of the Vegas showgirls.
Director: Paul Verhoeven | Stars: Elizabeth Berkley, Kyle MacLachlan, Gina Gershon, Glenn Plummer
Votes: 74,630 | Gross: $20.30M
50. Spider-Man 3 (2007)
PG-13 | 139 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A strange black entity from another world bonds with Peter Parker and causes inner turmoil as he contends with new villains, temptations, and revenge.
Director: Sam Raimi | Stars: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Topher Grace, Thomas Haden Church
Votes: 637,473 | Gross: $336.53M
Who's responsible?: Director/writer Sam Raimi, co-writing brother Ivan and screenwriter Alvin Sargent, an unholy alliance of studio suits and Venom fans, including producer Avi Arad.
Why it's on the list: The one where Spidey went dark, we got three villains for the price of one as a lump of unexplained space goo drives Peter Parker to the eyeliner drawer. Three villains might've been a good thing had they not trampled all over each other's screentime and narrative coherence. Audiences lapped it up - it remains Sony Picture's biggest grossing movie - but with Sam Raimi at the helm and a small army of FX gurus on board, it could and should have been so much more.
Redeeming feature: J.K. Simmons chewing up Peter, and the screen, with his trademark gusto.
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