With this week's 3D re-release of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, it feels like a good time to look back at some of the biggest disappointments ever to hit cinemas. The films that we waited years for, and the ones that failed to deliver on such lofty expectations. Are they the worst movies ever released? That's debatable. They are however the most crushing disappointments in the history of cinema...
5. WatchmenThe most critically revered graphic novel ever released was transformed into one of the most reviled adaptations of the 21st century. Director Zack Snyder’s soulless imagining of Alan Moore’s seminal work was plagued by questionable casting (Malin Akerman, Matthew Goode) and cartoonish production design that had the look of dimly lit soundstages.
After nearly two decades in development, the property passed through the hands of directors like Terry Gilliam and Paul Greengrass before Zack Snyder delivered a very literal and uninspired dud, practically smothered by his obsessive compulsive devotion to translating every panel in the most literal way possible.
The Aftermath:
Snyder followed the disappointing Watchmen with the practically unwatchable Sucker Punch. He returns to the comic adaptations with 2013's Man of Steel, which will no doubt feature time manipulation FX.
4. The Godfather: Part IIIA film so disappointing that its existence has been all but expunged from the collective consciousness. The third chapter of the Godfather saga was released to baffled audiences and critics. Never has a cinematic lineage been so sullied. The first two are still considered to be unimpeachable classics... the third is viewed like a failed experiment that is better left forgotten. It's hard to tell where exactly it all went wrong.
The Aftermath:Francis Ford Coppola's career trajectory was derailed and never quite recovered. After The Godfather: Part III, we got Bram Stoker's Dracula, Jack, The Rainmaker, Youth Without Youth, Tetro, and Twixt. Not exactly the kind of quality you'd expect from the guy who brought us The Godfather, The Conversation, The Godfather: Part II and Apocalypse Now.
3. Spider-Man 3The first Spider-Man was a massive hit that launched the rebirth of the comic book movie. The second film was able to build on the success of the first and deliver what many consider to be the best comic book adaptation ever made. Many expected Sam Raimi's third take on the character to further improve on the formula. Nope. Instead audiences were treated to lazy scriptwriting, a myriad of new and undeveloped characters, and Peter Parker disco dancing. There are very few examples of movies where you can actually feel the creative forces behind a film putting their hands up in the air and throwing in the towel.It was well documented that Raimi wasn't thrilled by the studio's insistence on including Venom as a villain. And none of the cast were good enough actors to convince the audience that they were doing the movie for anything other than a paycheck. The result was a truly terrible movie that ended up killing Raimi's take on the franchise.
The Aftermath:
Sam Raimi drifted away from big budget blockbusters before taking the on reins for Oz: The Great and Powerful starring James Franco. As for Spider-Man, Sony has handed the franchise over to director Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer) with a big budget relaunch - The Amazing Spider-Man - this summer.
2. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal SkullThere had been talk of a fourth Indiana Jones film as far back as 1992, but the project never seemed to get off the ground. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg could never quite find the time or the right story to settle on. Eventually the stars aligned and, after countless stalls, the fourth Indiana Jones film was put into production. To reward fans for their patience ,they got a tired story, Shia Labeouf leading an army of monkeys, and an aged Indiana Jones who seemed more likely to yell at kids to get off his lawn than save the world from impending doom.The film's only lasting legacy was the creation of a new expression for creative bankruptcy: Nuking the Fridge.
The Aftermath:
Eventually Spielberg admitted to the film's fatal failings. Apparently neither he nor Lucas were discouraged and are planning a fifth installment. Based on the development time between the third and the fourth installment, I’m guessing this one will star the reanimated corpse of Harrison Ford.
1. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom MenaceNo film had higher expectations. No film has ever been so disappointing. So soul crushing. Ever since the first Star Wars revealed itself to be 'Episode 4', movie fans were hopeful that one day George Lucas would return to a galaxy far far away and tell the story of how Darth Vader came to be. George Lucas had spent almost two decades reinventing how movies are made. From special FX to sound design, no one person has contributed more to the techniques of filmmaking. And yet, with all the tools in the toolbox, he delivered a technically proficient but utterly ridiculous move. There's so much bad that it's difficult to find where to start. You don't even need to go into detail to convey just how heinous this film is. You can merely say 'WIZARD!' or the name Jar Jar Binks and film fans will rightfully roll their eyes.It's amazing to see a movie that is such a technical marvel and yet feels as though it was assembled by a nine-year-old with attention deficit disorder. It's not that it's bad, it's how bad it is. George Lucas managed to murder the inner child of so many film fans. Critics were generally ambivalent. Deep down they knew it was awful, but no one wanted to cast the first stone. No one wanted to raze and burn a pop culture phenomenon, no matter how well deserved, and to this day it's difficult to find a review that describes the film as anything other than average.
The Aftermath:
George Lucas made two more Star Wars prequels and continued his foray into computer generated circle jerking. This weekend audiences will get to suffer through the sorrow in 3D.
January 2013 Update: Due to the intense debate raised by this list, Anghus has now written a follow-up article, Return of the Five Most Disappointing Films of All Time.
What's your most disappointing film of all time? Let us know in the comments below...
Anghus Houvouras
Your review of the watchmen was the worst I have ever seen...Ask every comic geek, and they will tell you watchmen was the one of the best comic adaptions ever!! Certainly not Spiderman 2?!?!? Are you serious?? Watchmen even has a better matascore, you sir do not deserve to critique movies..
ReplyDeleteMost of these I'd agree with however, I thought Watchmen was great, not sure how being so faithful to the source material is viewed as a fault.(Also note I've hate the rest of Snyder's work) I'd add to this list all Pirates of the Caribbean sequels, and Inception which had the promise of a psychological thought provoking thriller but was little more than an action film combined with a couple philosophical ideas Nolan likely learned in highschool.
ReplyDeleteI actually agree with Watchmen being a disappointing film. It's not enough for Snyder to just make a 'panel-by-panel' adaptation. If you don't understand the source material, then the movie suffers. And I don't think Snyder got Watchmen. So yes, Spider-Man 2 is a better comic book movie (says this "comic book geek" (I loathe that term)).
ReplyDeleteI actually re-watched Episode I at the weekend and and just forgotten how awfully soul crushing that movie is. So, so bad. It's incredible to think how bad it really is. However, watching Episode II directly after it, I'm not sure which one I hate more...
Other disappointing films on my list? The Twilight Zone Movie ranks pretty highly for me. Being a massive fan of the TV show, the movie just doesn't live up to the expectations set. Such a wasted opportunity.
I've actually just taken out Red State from my DVD player. After all the hype and ballyhoo on Twitter from Smith fans I was really eager to watch it. But it just turned out to be "meh". Maybe it needs a second watch, I don't know.
I enjoyed Watchmen a lot, but considering it's based on the greatest comic book series ever, I'd not say it lives up to that. Probably makes my top five comic book adaptations though.
ReplyDeleteThe rest of the list I agree, all hugely disappointing. The Phantom Menace particularly so. I remember kidding myself in the cinema that it was tolerable, which was probably down to nostalgia, but even though my expectations had been lowered after waiting about three months for it to arrive in the UK, it was still a massive let down overall.
Inception, I don't think it quite lived up to the hype, good film but I wouldn't put it in Nolan's top five personally. And must say I quite enjoyed Red State.
Well I think you know my views on Nolan's Batflicks, so I would put Inception high on list of his work. Probably just under Memento.
ReplyDeleteThe thing with Watchman is that it's not a bad film, it's just not a patch on the book. But I don't think any adaptation would be as good as the book is. I suppose Alan Moore was right all those years ago - it's an unfilmable film.
I actually went to see Phantom Menace in the cinema 3 times (2 of which I paid for) because like you, I tolerated it because I was a Star Wars apologist. And the third time I went was just to see the wookies and the E.Ts in the Senate.
lots of watchmen love out there apparently. i got a lot of 'are you out of your f-ing mind' emails from people. i think the whole problem i had was Snyder didn't bring anything new to the material. The best comic adaptations are the ones that use the source material as inspiration and give it their own spin. Watchmen is a panel for panel adaptation that seems almost afraid of doing anything different. It's too beholden to the graphic novel. It felt like i was watching a motion comic with some really bad casting choices.
ReplyDeleteI would have preferred a more grounded Paul Greengrass version. That would have been epic. Maybe Gilliam could have made the gonzo work. After twenty years of development we got a very stylized interpretation with nothing new or interesting added.
boo.
As for 'asking every comic geek', i'd rather not. They often have shite taste in film.
i thought Red State was painful. It was like watching someone's first film. Someone who never made a movie and crammed it with rookie mistakes. It's just bad. Baffling.
ReplyDeleteWatchmen was a great film... since when was it most of the reviled adaptations of the 21st Century? Snyder did a great job with the source material. It evidently sounds like your personal opinion rather than a popular one. "Cartoonish production design".. that sounds like a film based on a Comic Book (which this is). Believe it or not, not many people outside of comic book fans were familar with the Watchmen series (or graphic novel as most people state it as now) in the first place unlike Spider-Man, Indiana Jones, The GodFather & Star Wars. I can't really disagree with your other choices though.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it was a case of Snyder bringing 'something new' to the source material. If he had done that, the fans would have been up in arms and out for blood. He made the smart move with its look, but he just didn't *get* the source material.
ReplyDeleteOr, as I said earlier, Moore had it right when he said the book was unfilmable.
While I have agreed with your list, this is a statement I just cannot agree with.
ReplyDeleteClerks looks like someone's first movie. Red State is *by far* the best looking and well directed movie that Smith has ever done. The performances are excellent (Parks and Goodman really brining their A game) and the whole feel of the movie is really good. I just think for me the plot was weak and there wasn't really enough to carry it through to its fairly anti-climactic ending.
But those were my first thoughts. Having now slept on Red State, I think I may have been wrong in my negative estimations of the movie. I really do think I need to give it a second watch.
I enjoyed The Watchmen. I feel like that film just shows you most fanboys can never be pleased. You re-interpret an idea, you didn't keep the spirit of the comic. You go panel by panel from the graphic novel, you didn't make it your own.
ReplyDeleteThat's because there is a balance that most directors don't get. Raimi for example made 2 excellent Spider-Man movies by keeping them close enough to the comics, but feeling like their own movies. In fact, I think a lot of the recent Marvel movies (Iron Man, Thor, Captain America etc) have all fallen into that category.
ReplyDeleteMy complaint with Watchmen was not that he went panel-by-panel, he just went panel-by-panel and missed the point.
I really enjoyed Red State, but that may have been because my expectations from Kevin Smith had been lowered so much with his recent films. Kind of the opposite to this article. I would however have preferred his original ending.
ReplyDeleteHey come on now, Zack and Miri was great. And so was Clerks II.
ReplyDeleteCop Out we don't talk about...
Terrible views, all of these films were great and btw spiderman 4 wasn't stopped bec. of Spiderman 3's quality, Sam Rami said he couldn't make a good film in the allotted time the studio wanted so HE gave up.
ReplyDeleteAng Lee's Hulk I think is mine. Spiderman 3 comes damn close though.
ReplyDeleteI find it really hard to believe that anyone thinks these 5 are more disappointing than Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes, Batman and Robin, The Last Airbender. What about Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. That followed the most financially successful of the series, and the one that reached the broadest audience, and Final Frontier flat out sucked on every level. These are much worse films that had less hype, but still were huge let downs to massive amounts of fans of the franchises.
ReplyDeleteEvery one of these 5 on the list are considered disappointing only based on hype. Had Phantom Menace, Crystal Skull or Spider-Man 3 been the only movies in their franchises on release, meaning had they not been following successful movies, people would have enjoyed them a lot more and not had a lot to complain about. I know that every person I know who saw Phantom Menace who had never seen the other Star Wars absolutely loved it. Are these 5 perfect, no, but the negative reactions always come from comparisons to stronger earlier entries in their franchises. Negative reactions to Watchmen only seem to be related to the change in the ending of the film. Godfather 3 was a little too dull, but again suffers from following 2 perfect earlier movies. Had it been the only Godfather movie ever made it would be much more appreciated. That goes for all of these.
This is clearly the most insipid, useless article ever posted to the internet.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations fool, you've achieved a new low in western culture.
The bottom feeding bar has been set.
And this is clearly the most insipid, useless comment ever posted on this article. Congratulations to you too.
ReplyDelete2001 "Planet of the Apes"! As a huge fan of the original franchise I was so happy that it seemed 20th Century Fox finally pulled their head out and realized they were sitting on a potential reboot goldmine. What a unwatchable bore this Marky Mark starring turd was! Thank the gods for "Rise of the Planet of The Apes" last year which was so surprisingly NOT disappointing! Can't wait to see the follow up, hope it's not disappointing. I'd add the horrible "Quantum of Solace" to the list as well after such a terrific James Bond reboot with "Casino Royale".
ReplyDeleteYes, the Tim Burton remake was a huge disappointment. Rise of the Planet of the Apes went some way to making amends, and I remember reading about Rupert Wyatt's ideas for a Full Metal Jacket-inspired sequel that would see the apes undergoing training before going in to battle against the humans - now that's something I'd like to see!
ReplyDeleteYes, the Tim Burton remake was a huge disappointment. Rise of the Planet of the Apes went some way to making amends, and I remember reading about Rupert Wyatt's ideas for a Full Metal Jacket-inspired sequel that would see the apes undergoing training before going in to battle against the humans - now that's something I'd like to see!
ReplyDeleteummm no, maybe the most disappointing films in the 40 years, but there are many more disappointing films, um Superman IV, Star Trek V, Star Trek Nemesis, Supergirl, As far as Indiana Jones movies are concerned, Temple of Doom is far far far worse the Crystal Skull, and speaking of Skulls, what about Masters of the Universe. My Point is don't just take popularity into account when deciding stuff. Thanx
ReplyDeletei skipped watchmen, cos i was pretty bored by comic book adaptations the point it was made. i'd prefer if people made their own stuff instead of adapting and re-adapting comics for movies, so i wan't comment on that one... as for the rest, i agree - they all should be there (though a top 5 is a bit unfair to all the rest screwed up saga's out there), but I'd put Indiana Jones IV in top spot! not only it was utterly dreadful, and ruined my favorite childhood movie hero, but it had Shia as the successor to Harrison Ford in the franchise, which almost made me cry! Phantom Menace was only a poor film (as were episodes II and III), but this goes up there with the worst ever for me! South Park was 100% right about it, and how i felt after seeing it..
ReplyDeletemy top 5 would be more like this
1. Indiana Jones IV
2. SW - Phantom Menace (and episodes 2 and 3)
3. Pirates of the Caribbean 2 (and 3, and, i'm guessing 4)
4. Batman and Robin (and Batmen forever)
5. Alien - Resurrection
you are kidding. watchmen was a triumph. snyder did and unbelievable job and most of the comic world agrees that it is a brilliant adaptation. for peopel saying he brought nothing new.. god get real you jealous losers. superman returns didn't make this list? wow..
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's a matter of Snyder "getting" Watchmen -- he himself agreed that it wouldn't translate to the screen as well as anyone would have liked, and he was set on doing the best job possible rather than having a studio grind it out -- your mileage may vary on whether he succeeded.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is, Watchmen was a delicate balancing act in the comics medium, and the sacrifices necessary to transition to film disrupted that. About half the story's protagonists -- the unmasked ones, mind -- were all but dropped from the narrative, and as a result the climax lost most of its impact. Some of the faults were unnecessary -- Osterman, Veidt, and Juspeczyk being miscast or under acted/directed being big ones -- but Jeffrey Dean Morgan nailed a character who'd be very easy to get wrong, and the raw story device used for the ending is arguably superior to the original (speaking personally, relying on psychics seemed to undercut the themes surrounding Osterman's characterization). I don't view it as a bad movie, but I do view it as a disappointment, as noble misfires often are.
Hi Andrew, I agree that Jeffrey Dean Morgan nailed the Comedian, he's probably my favourite thing about the movie. Or possibly the soundtrack.
ReplyDeleteI've never really read much Green Lantern, but I did think the movie was criticised a bit too much. Although it probably won't happen, a sequel does have potential, especially if they drop Blake Lively from the cast.
hard to argue Ang Lee's Hulk of Superman Returns. It's amazing how many of these are geek properties.
ReplyDeleteThe lost world Jurassic park smashed my heart into a million pieces.
ReplyDeleteX-men: First Class is by far the most dissapointing movie ever, in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteThis was a terrible list. Some were bad, but "BIGGEST", only star wars and maybe indiana jones fits the bill. Watchmen was a great film, and spider man 3 wasnt good, but wasnt terrible either considering none of that trilogy were all that great. Godfather part 3 wasnt horrible either, still better then 95% of films today.
ReplyDeleteSome switches should be made, with movies like Pirates 2,3,4 - Matrix 2,3 - Last Airbender - Battle Los Angeles - Batman and Robin - Battlefield Earth - etc etc etc
Alien 3 such a crash after the phenomenal Aliens. I wish it had never been made...
ReplyDeleteGood call on Alien 3. I was hugely disappointed by it too. Especially the lack of Hicks and Newt.
ReplyDeleteI would have to throw The Matrix Revolutions in this category. Wanted to leave the theater halfway thru. I mean fucking seriously, donating the middle act to Tank's replacement's girlfriend? Terrible conclusion movie.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree with you!
ReplyDeletethis list is silly, resident evil was the most dissapointing film ever
ReplyDeleteThe Avengers should be in it.Everyone was exited to finally see Marvel's Justice League on the big screen, and it turned out to be an average film.Though like Star Wars Episode 1, no one wants to talk about how boring and cliche it was.
ReplyDelete"Many consider" Spider-Man 2 to be the best comic book adaptation ever made? You sound like Fox News there, citing vague sources for your own opinion. :) Sorry to say it like that, but I don't know anyone that thinks Spider-Man 2 was the best comic book movie ever made, not when it's stacked up against quality movies like X2, the Batman Begins trilogy, Avengers, and Kick-Ass.
ReplyDeleteSuperman Returns is right up there with Phantom Menace.
ReplyDeleteIncredible Hulk was worse.
ReplyDeleteIncredible Hulk was worse than Ang Lee's Hulk.
ReplyDeleteI liked Battlefield Earth...it's a classic! LOL
ReplyDeleteCouldn't disagree more...First Class is the best X-Men movie, IMO.
ReplyDeleteJust because you don't know anyone who thinks that, doesn't mean there aren't people out there who think that. For a long time, Spider-Man 2 and X2 were generally considered to be the best superhero movies and I'm sure there are people out there who'd still put them top, even though neither of them has aged well in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteThis article was written in February before The Dark Knight Rises and The Avengers were released - only complete fanboys would have declared them the best superhero movie before they'd even seen either of them. And Kick-Ass? Seriously?? It's good, but the best? Not even top five...
Hulk wouldn't have been too bad if it wasn't for the fact the Hulk himself is so appallingly bad in it.
ReplyDeleteI really don't think anyone was holding out much hope for Resident Evil to be a classic, especially with Paul W.S. Anderson directing it.
ReplyDeleteBattlefield Earth.
ReplyDeleteOne of the Best SciFi books Ive ever read. And I read the book first.
But one of the worst movies ever made.
Watchmen is one of the best movies I ever saw, who's the shithead that wrote this article? Hang him, hang him high.
ReplyDeleteAlien 3 was the most dissapointing film of all time, all theses movies were at least watchable
ReplyDeleteApparently the only people in the world who liked Watchmen are really pissed off that you called it out for being a boring piece of shit. I agree with all 5 of these picks, although I might replace Spiderman 3 with X Men 3 only because I didn't expect Spiderman 3 to deilver. Other movies worthy of consideration: Superman Returns, Prometheus, Dark Knight Rises, Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes, Peter Jackson's King Kong, and so and so forth.
ReplyDeleteYou should be ashamed of putting this article up!
ReplyDeleteAs people doesn't seem to understand why The Phantom Menace is so bad, I guess you need to have it explained to you:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxKtZmQgxrI
I actually don't have as big of a problem with Alien 3 as others do. The main thing I didn't like about it is it ruins the ending of Aliens because afterall Ripley didn't save Newt.
ReplyDeletewatchmen is a good movie not something ima get at blockbuster when im roaming thru the 99 cent section but i did see u described sucker punch as "practically unwatchable" r u kidding me?? maybe u didnt understand the movie maybe u were a lil to high for that one idk... godfather3 ok spiderman3 was horrible idk how somebody manages to ruin Venom crushed my soul. indiana jones whatever but...BUT.... Phantom Menace as ur number 1??? are u 50 idk man but to me Darth Mual is one of the most kickass baddass villians of all times and in my mind wouldnt of killed him off until episode 3. idk man maybe u should rethink ur life plans movie critic is not ur thing....
ReplyDeletewhr is planet of the apes hea!!!! most disappointin muvi :| o.O~
ReplyDeleteAm I the only person in the world who like The Phantom Menace? In fact, it's my favorite Star Wars movie.
ReplyDeleteI loved Tetro.
ReplyDeleteI'm probably the only person who didn't hate The fourth Indiana Jones. Yes, it's the worst of the four. But the only aspect, which I felt they screwed up in, was the story, and how it played out in the end with the whole "aliens" thing. Guess who wrote the story? Yea, that's right! George Lucas: the GENIUS behind The Phantom Menace (that was sarcastic). Otherwise, it was a fun movie, great performances. Great to see the whole cast back. People expected too much. Do you really think it'll be better than the other three?
ReplyDeletestar trek v is not a bad movie. It is much better than phantom menace
ReplyDeleteYou lost all my respect for your post when you called it "Marvel's Justice League". It just makes it sound like you're the kind of person who wouldn't have liked it to start with (because you make it sound like its something you couldn't have respected for not being a Justice League movie) so why say bad of it as if it had a chance in your mind to start with.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the author of this post is full of crap. If he wants to whine about Syder's Watchmen fine, it's his list. However, that line about Watchmen being "reviled" is simply a lie. It was a modest box office success, it was certified "fresh" on rotten tomatoes and got a lukewarm reaction from fans. A mixed reaction, sure; but not overwhelmingly negative like this idiot is claiming. A writer loses credibility when they can't support their opinions without lying about what everyone ELSEs reaction was.
ReplyDelete100% Agree about Watchmen. All these people loving Watchmen are just feeling the residual awesomeness of the source material, Snyder did a horrible job adapting it.
ReplyDeleteThe writer of this Article is a moron. He puts these movies in the top 5 worst films ever and leaves out every Harry Potter movie and Twilight movie? for example.
ReplyDeleteIn fact I could name a few hundred "worst movies ever" that have come out of the arse of America in the last 10 years.
An article such as this needs to be written by people whom are un-biased in all meanings of the word. Not someone whom has pre-conceived ideas about what is good or what is bad...they are inciting that EVERYONE hates these films, or at least should hate them. That's not the way to write anything, unless perhaps your last name is Hitler or Stalin.
They say take a pinch of salt with things some people say...There isn't enough salt on this Earth to cover this bullshit.
Actually, it's you who is a moron. This isn't a top five worst films ever article - it's the most disappointing... if you'd bothered to read the title and the first paragraph, you'd have seen that. As for your second paragraph, again you've kind of completely missed the point. It's all about preconceived ideas and expectations. I suggest you start reading things properly.
ReplyDeleteAnd if you think Harry Potter and Twilight are really the worst films ever made, or that only America can make a crap movie, you need to go away and expand what is obviously a severely limited knowledge of film.
Seriously, you nailed this. Although, I was far more disappointed in either SW Episode 2 or 3 than I was with Episode 1...pod racing did a lot for my 12 year old self : )
ReplyDeletethe jla is the best of the best im sorry but DC will always be better then Marvel
ReplyDeleteyour 100% superman returns was an epic failure i was very pissed when superman lifted an island compleatly made of krytonite. thumbs down BOOOOOOOOO
ReplyDeletestar wars not star trek learn your sci-fi dumb dumb
ReplyDeletei like the first star wars i only hated the kid who played anikin he could not act his way out of a bag, but other than that it was a good movie
ReplyDeletei agree with 2345 but i feel harry potter and the twilight movies should be band all over the world
ReplyDeleteWhat about yours then? heheh we can go on and on and on... Congratulations!
ReplyDeletehe's responding to the question above
ReplyDeleteI wasn't upset with aliens in the end because I understood where they were coming from.
ReplyDeleteLucas, for this movies, looks for inspiration in the period movies.
Star wars is basically modern recreation of 30ies Science fiction serials, like Flash Gordon. Old Indy movies were modern recreation of 30ies pulp adventures in the unknown, New Indy movie was, from the start it was announced as modern recreation of 50ies science fiction adventure movie.
and that's exactly what it was.
Matrix2 anybody?!
ReplyDeleteIn the past decade there is a handful of highly anticipated films, that turned out to be extremely disappointing.
ReplyDeleteIve seen The Godfather 3 about 3 times now, and I enjoy it every time. In no way it has the qualities of the first two. But in no way it is a bad film.
The Watchmen was also a very cool movie. My only problem with it, was that it was way too long.
The third Spiderman was also not that bad. The last Matrix movie was worse.
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace best star wars movie I know (- -')
ReplyDeleteReally? I hated every movie in this list
ReplyDeleteyes
ReplyDeletei think the point of the entire article is the disappointment based on the previous success of a franchise, source material and hype..although I'm not as down on Watchmen as the writer I couldn't agree more about the other 4...truly aweful films
ReplyDeleteResident Evil was a film about zombies being killed by scantily clad women...pretty much lived up to the hype :p
ReplyDeleteyeh he really over acted that angry green rage monster lol
ReplyDeleteooo burn lol
ReplyDeleteno, just no! comic book movie must have got lost in translation as make the screen look like a really stupid comic book
ReplyDeletePersonal top 3 most disappointing
ReplyDelete1. Star Wars E1
2. Star Wars E2
3. Star Wars E3
Who knew, Darth Vader (one of the coolest badies ever) is, in fact, an annoying child followed by a whining, pompus, pouting, spoilt, irritating looser. If I found out he was my father I'd go insane and become the Joker to....
this article only proves that anyone with a psydonym, a primadonna attitude and sucked at journalism in college can still be famous for 15 minutes...
ReplyDeleteGod help you. That's all I can say. God help you.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to settle for crap that's fine but don't tell us we should too.
ReplyDeleteStill hope for you then 'Harvey'...
ReplyDeleteI can agree with all of the above with acception to watchmen, as it was an amazing film, and it may not of been a huge hit, but it was very well done,and paved the way for making comic adaptions dark and gritty instead of your average dull superhero movies
ReplyDeleteHere we go again, more Star Wars prequel bashing. About time you got off this band wagon now. Fact; they are better than the original trilogy.
ReplyDeleteYou forgot the number one: SUPERMAN RETURNS
ReplyDeleteP.S. Watchmen was GREAT!
you're not alone, my Padawan; liked it i did, all of them i liked. And of, mitochondria, what is wrong with the word, i ask.
ReplyDeleteone word... punctuation
ReplyDeleteI agree with all save Watchmen, which I thought was a fantastic send up of the graphic novel, the latter, as a genre, being always tough to bring to the big screen - witness the sad fate of so many. While folks may choose to argue about casting, I thought it came off well, with Haley and Wilson leading the bunch, while Nixon, Robert Wisden, was better playing that enigma than those Hollywood heavies who played Nixon in big budget capers, like Frank Langella or Alf Landon. I'd give it a four! By the time Phantom Menace hit the screens I think Lucas was all tuned into his Skywalker sound and digital imaging work and his movie directing and producing business had gone to pot - I thank the Lord I never suffered through a full theater showing in a packed house full of Star Wars nuts, 300 feet from the necessary rooms. At least with TiVo, you can hit pause, watch Gladiator or Lola Rinnt, and come back to Episode 1 after the latest iteration of the Stupor Bowl. I never dared spark up a Camel while watching Lucas' comeback films because the punch lines are as dry as a Death Valley woodpile and the acting is as wooden as Charlie McCarthy's left leg. I can't believe that Spielberg is thinking of casting Harrison Ford in some upcoming magnum opus, maybe an Indiana Jones deal. But I was sorta shocked when I read he'll be 76 when the film's released. C'mon. Where's the pasture gate?
ReplyDeleteThe Hulk, when playing himself, in this, we can now agree, despicable movie, overdresses to the point of a Busby Berkley girl being plunked down in the huge Siberian city of Tomsk in her show costume in a snowstorm in mid-January. Unlike The Hulk, she carries Amex Blue, and quickly hurries into Malenkov's Furriers on Lenina Street to purchase a coat and soon picks up a winter wardrobe. The Hulk, as long as he remains The Hulk, will remain uncouth, poorly dressed, and a victim of the weather, while his determined ugliness deters friendships of all types except for the animals he feeds from the proceeds of his shake down racket, which he practices on the local commie stooges.
ReplyDeleteThis dude is undeserving of my opinion because he is a bad writer with absurd thoughts he likely stole from the section on Fandango.com.
ReplyDeletecomments*
ReplyDeletewhy is cirque du freak not on here?
ReplyDeleteDune. I was at an opening with a theatre full of Dune fans, and people were breaking out laughing at serious scenes. When you make obsessive book fans hate a genre movie, there's no hope. Literally everything good from the books was missing, and Sting was goofy. I wish I could erase the experience from my memory, all these years later.
ReplyDeleteYou left out Nolans Batman movies
ReplyDeleteThe up-votes say otherwise.
ReplyDeleteI love Phantom Menace, it's great, even though Revenge Of The Sith is the one that actually ties about everything together.
ReplyDeleteMichael Bay's "Transformers" was just awful - although "Revenge of the Fallen" did manage to up the stakes in unwatchability to a whole new level. And why everyone got so jazzed up about Megan Fox, I'll never know...
ReplyDeleteThis list sucks. A lot of these were really good movies. Want a disappointment? The first Dungeons & Dragons movie. I wanted to see the people responsible kneecapped with a .22. How is it possible to screw up a movie that badly? They could have simply filmed people actually playing D&D and it would have been better. Built in fan base of millions of people and they blew the whole thing out their cinematic ass. The entire crew should be banned from Hollywood and forced to work at Taco Bell for the rest of their lives. It was that bad. Basketcase 5 was better.
ReplyDeleteI think the author was just too lazy to find a fifth movie to blame so he picked that one. I thought Watchmen was great. It had a great opening box office though the fanboys certainly cried about it enough. I read the graphic novel. The movie was mostly faithful to it. But like you said, and like I say about movies like Priest, Constantine and The Walking Dead, the general public knows nothing about their comic origins so they don't really care about how faithful it is to the original source.
ReplyDeleteYep out of all 6 movies the phantom menace was the best. The old ones with luke and han solo were the worst. Anyone who thinks otherwise is wrong.
ReplyDeleteYeah i cant argue that phantom menace had terrible parts, jar jar, roger roger, anakin bumbling his way into destroying an entire ship. If you removed the parts that were terrible you would have a much shorter movie. But everyone loved Darth Maul... And he isnt dead.
ReplyDeleteWatchmen was great though. Problem is you get people like this article writer who have ADD and cant handle plots and backstories.
Spiderman 3's naturally should have had Venom as the enemy. He is his alltime nemesis. But having 3 badguys in one movie was just dumb. Should have stuck with only venom. And no emo dancing crap.
How, or better yet, in what world is Watchmen worst than Avatar: The Last Air Bender??? It is one of the worst films made in this past decade, from casting, adaptation, acting, i mean... What isn't wrong with the damn movie? Shame, watchmen isn't as bad as you make it out to be...and OBVIOUSLY Man of Steel will end up with some time manipulation FX. How else you effectively capture the essence of superman and the fact that he does things at speed of light? Bad review is bad.
ReplyDeleteRorschach is one of the most memorable characters I have ever seen in a movie. I still youtube Rorschach to see his magic. The rest of the movie was okay and certainly not horrible not horrible.
ReplyDeleteSpiderman 3, Indy 4 and Phantom Menace are the only three on this list that I've managed to see, and personally Spiderman 3 is the only one I agreed on. I wasn't crazy about Indy 4, but it wasn't quite that bad in my opinion, though I didn't love Shia LeBouf; if you ask me, he really should stick to hanging out with people like Megan Fox and Optimus Prime. I also wasn't crazy about an aging Indy, though I couldn't see anyone but Harrison playing Indy. I honestly loved Phantom Menace, and I had grown up with the original trilogy. I thought it was a good prequel, and personally I thought it was a nice way to introduce Vader's history. But all in all, I thought Spidy #3 was horrible. Many of my friends had agreed with me that it was the worst super hero movie we had ever seen and had completely ruined the rest of the series; the acting wasn't that great, and the storyline was certainly nowhere near the caliber of one and two. That would have definitely gone first on my list, and Indy 4 and Phantom Menace are far from the worst on my list.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right. I can't even...ughhh, I feel the same way, bro. Clone Wars was my favorite though. I mean, it's like some sort of masterpiece. Episodes 4, 5 and 6 are boring and probably not even known.
ReplyDeleteIndiana Jones 4 was weak, granted, and I never saw Godfather III because I never saw any of them because I didn't care for the franchise. But to list Phantom Menace, Spidey 3, and Watchmen on this list? You are indeed retarded.
ReplyDeletelearn to read before u insult dumb dumb
ReplyDeleteWatchmen Ultimate Cut = favourite movie of the decade. Typically enough, comic fanboys are going to have a problem with it.
ReplyDeleteHighlander 2 was not only the biggest disappointment of all time, but quite possibly the worst movie ever made.
ReplyDeleteUnwatchable sucker punch? Is he gay? Did he see how hot those women were!?!?!?
ReplyDeleteStar Wars Episode 1? No such thing, everyone knows there were only ever three Star Wars movies made back in the 70s and 80s. Nice try though, had me going there for a minute.
ReplyDeleteCrushingly disappointing, so much so that I've blocked everything about it from memory, except the fact that MacLeod and Ramirez get blown away in a car, the immortals are all aliens, and it shits all over Highlander's story.
ReplyDeleteI always scroll down to the comments section with hopes that people are already addressing glaring issues with an article. I am glad I wasn't disappointed and The Watchmen were rightfully defended.
ReplyDeleteim not sure what a psydonym is.
ReplyDeleteSuperman Returns. I still don't know how the director of The Usual Suspects and X-Men made such a boring movie
ReplyDeleteTo echo the sentiment of most of the other posters, Watchmen was a decent movie. Almost like a gritty version of the Incredibles, with aging super heroes and psychopaths. I was not too familiar with the comic (X-men comic fan myself), but I thought the movie was good. Two of the worst movies in history not included are Batman and Robin and In the. That the normally typecast but fairly solid Jason Statham could star in such an abomination as In the Name of the King was hugely disappointing. Batman and Robin was just terrible. Star Wars has surely earned its place at #1, however.
ReplyDeletei saw Watchmen when it came out. I had never heard of this comic book franchise before so i went it there with a clean slate. I found the movie very boring. i guess you have to be a fan of it in the source material in the first place to say it was a good movie.
ReplyDeleteYou don't need to be a fan of Watchmen to find it awesome. I found it that way even when I didn't even knew about the existencie of the COmic book. After I saw the movie, I read the comic, and found it's almost the same thing, but reduced in lenght... Well, I think it's a matter of likes and dis-likes.
ReplyDeleteDude plz Eat Dog Shitt... These all movies were blockbuster except WATHCMEN..... So plz dont give a shitty review again .....
ReplyDeleteWatchmen is an effing masterpiece compared to the rest of this list. What about Wolverine? Prometheus? X-Men Last Stand?
ReplyDeleteIt's not at all hard to tell exactly where The Godfather III went wrong: Robert Duvall isn't in it, and Sofia Coppola is.
ReplyDeleteThis an awful article... Watchmen and Sucker Punch are amazing movies.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I thought exactly! I admit not reading the comic book beforehand but I always point to Watchmen as the example of what comic movies should be like. Sincere, emotional, gritty, confronted social issues of the time, and it had a great ending (which they could have easily screwed up). Especially if you compare it with most comic book movies, there is no comparison.
ReplyDeleteThis list is laughably absurd. Not just because one can easily, with almost no effort at all, find 40 more disappointing films than these, but because of the blatant dishonesty the author employs. Watchmen is widely considered to be one of the best comics-to-film adaptations yet released. Only the Alan Moore fanboys were upset about it and that was because Moore was upset (and to be fair he pretty well stated up front that he was going to hate the movie no matter who made it and how good it was because he was against ANY movie being made of Watchmen).
ReplyDeleteWatchmen is far from a perfect movie and the comic book was not a perfect comic book either. The movie actually improved the most criticized element of the comic: the ending.
Even worse, while Spider-man 3 was a terrible film, to say it is any worse than Spider-man 2 is just plain STUPID! Spider-man (the first one) was actually the worst of the bunch! They literally stole the script from another bad movie (1989's Batman) and switched the names around (Batman = Spider-man, Joker = Green Goblin) while keeping the same exact plot and pacing, events etc.
Star Wars: Episode One was disappointing mainly because of Jar Jar Binks but it is not worse than the original Star Wars film by any stretch of the imagination! The original became a huge hit because of the special effects (revolutionary at the time) but it was a bad movie otherwise and would have went down in history as such if not for those effects. I could do a detailed breakdown of why this is but this is probably not the place for it. The stormtrooper hitting his head on teh door frame is pretty good indication of the quality of the film overall.
One word: Cleopatra
ReplyDeleteIt is a slower paced movie that is for sure, but it has to be when you think of the message it is trying to send. Every character is a representation of the human mind. Some are Extremes like Rorschach and the Comedian while some are hybrids like Ozzy and Night Owl. Not everyone sees these examples and therefore don't really understand the statement the film and comic makes. There is a large difference in a boring movie and a bad movie. The King's Speech was super boring but it was technically great and the acting was fantastic. The Expendables was exciting but a piece of garbage technically and the acting was terrible. I guess it all comes down to how you understand films and what you look for in them.
ReplyDeleteYou're a moron. Sorry, but Watchmen was so far from being reviled it's not even funny; it was, and remains, one of the most brilliant comic book adaptations out there for anyone with more than two brain cells. Seriously, you've compiled one of the most pathetic lists of all time.
ReplyDeleteWatchmen is one of the greatest films of the century. But I agree with Star Wars and Indiana Jones.
ReplyDeleteWatchmen was a great movie, if you think its a dissapoinment then u r a dissapointment to human beings for your poor judgement.
ReplyDeletehe s clearly trolling
ReplyDeleteAnghus, I cannot possibly commend you enough on this. You've taken my thoughts about every single one of these films and expressed them so much better and more accurately than I ever could. You have impeccable taste. (X-Men The Last Stand is another one of the most disappointing films ever in my opinion.)
ReplyDeleteI feel like you need to see a film made before 1990.
ReplyDeletei dont agree at all- the first 3 star wars were quite simple but they had awesome characters which saved the pretty straigh-foward story : "heres the empire, here's the rebels, FIGH".That's it.The the last 3 ones didnt have so many awesome characters, but they had a much complex story with political issues, betrayals- when you put policy in the story it's obvious you're not gonna get so many actions scenes and jedi's lightsabers fights.So what?It doesn't mean it's bad it's just different.It's a different side of the same story, that's it.People who analize the last 3 movies in the same way as the first 3 are making a huge mistake, they're forgetting that star wars involves a lot of different "cultures",planets, galaxies- it's so rich and full of possibilities it doesn't have to be centered in just luke's jedi- awesome-fights or the spoiled-independent-princess Leia or the badass Han Solo...
ReplyDeleteIt just makes me sad how people just cannot appreciate the whole thing.I'm not saying those movies are perfect but there are not THAT bad , not at all.
Watchmen's had a ton of problems, but the biggest of all was that it was a superhero movie. Which means the director missed the point entirely.
ReplyDelete-I still don't harbor the disappointment many had for Episode 1. Truth be told, I'm not a Star Wars fan, so there was no attachment for me there. What I watched, was just a disposable, fun
space saga that honestly, seemed no different to me quality-wise than the other ones. I can't see the difference between why Ewoks aren't as lame as Gungans. Why Qui Gon isn't as cool as Obi Wan. and why no one appreciates the badassery of Darth Maul.
dont agree whit any
ReplyDeleteThis article is so wrong about Watchmen, plus it wasn't a disappointment as it did garner considerable critical acclaim.
ReplyDeletei really hated the watchmen movie compared to the book, the hype was to big, but sucker punch was amazing and i hate the fact that people dont like it, JUST because they cant understand the storyline
ReplyDeleteWatchmen? I could not possibly disagree more. That movie was terrific and I don't think it should be anywhere near this list. No, they didn't cram in everything from the book. Big surprise.
ReplyDeleteBut other than that you're pretty spot on. Episode I is without a doubt the most disappointing movie of all time.
Watchmen was a great movie. It was brilliantly done and even the slight alteration in the plot worked remarkably well. Indeed, Watchmen is so much better than "The Avengers" that the two aren't even in the same universe.
ReplyDeleteUhmmm, no we understand the 'storyline' just fine. It's just an awful movie. Snyder overreached with a half-baked project and trusted the visuals to carry a film that never should have been made. He took practically everything geeks love, crammed it into one film and somehow made it all boring. "Sucker Punch" is an awful film. One of the worst ever made.
ReplyDeleteI could not possibly disagree more about "Watchmen". The director's cut is fucking amazing. You need to rip that title off this list and replace it with "Transformers" based on the credit sequence alone.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. I am a fan of Snyder, but Sucker Punch is atrocious.
ReplyDeleteyeah terrible list. Spider-man 3 was pretty good. And the phantom menace wasn't meant to be amazing. If you saw how george lucas wrote the movies he had the whole story already wrote when he released episode 4. It was meant to build up to star wars 2 and 3. Terrible job on you.
ReplyDeleteYou ended your sentence without a period. The irony...
ReplyDeleteThe Phantom Menace wasn't meant to be amazing? Do you even realise how silly that comment is? Do you honestly think they intentionally made an average movie, so we'd like Episodes II and III more?
ReplyDeleteHe didn't have "the whole story" wrote when he wrote Episode IV (which wasn't even Episode IV at the time). He had a rough outline for a wider story, which didn't include Jar Jar, or Naboo, or Trade Routes, or Padme, or Qui-Gon, or pod racing, or Trade Federations, or Battle Droids... It didn't have Yoda, or Ewoks, or a second Death Star, or Luke and Leia being twins, or Darth Vader being Luke's father either. You should really know all this if you're going to accuse people of terrible jobs.
All of the Star Wars drafts are available. If you can show me an outline for Episodes I - III from the mid-70s, I'd love to read it.
i do love the idea of declaring "this film is not supposed to be amazing." Michael Bay should have that appear on a title card before every one of his films.
ReplyDeleteYou're criticism has no credibility if you think Watchmen was a bad movie. Watch the ultimate cut version and review it again.
ReplyDeletei think you inspired me. I need to do a blow by blow Watchmen review. Explain myself a little more eloquently. TO THE COMPUTER!
ReplyDeleteWATCHMEN DISAPPOINTING???
ReplyDeleteNo, the last Spiderman film was disappointing, the Total Recall remake was disapointing.
The only gripe I have of Watchmen was no alien squid. That would have been cool.
As someone who hated Watchmen, I would have to disagree. I thought some of the strongest moments were scenes he translated directly from the comic, (think of Rorschachs prison scene --even though his voice was totally wrong-it was supposed to be a monotone not Christian bales Batman voice) I guess what I am saying is I thought it had some sublime moments but overall I thought Snyder missed the point of the graphic novel.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all your choices. I would have included The Lost World Jurassic Park. No movie hurt me more than that.
ReplyDeletePROMETHEUS !!!! So disappointing. I still vomit in my mouth thinking about it.
ReplyDeleteTerrible list. Watchmen, very good. I can think of a hundred worse movies than that. Blues Brothers 2000 was worse than anything on that list.
ReplyDeleteWatchmen is an awesome film.
ReplyDeleteYour list is a fail.
star trek v is not a bad movie ? sorry but i believe it to be truly dreadful, the 5 on the list have some sort of redeeming qualities - yes even phantom menace - but star trek v, what on earth can you like about kirks attempts to meet god ?
ReplyDeleteThe Yosemite scenes were fun, but that's about it.
ReplyDeleteYou can't refute someone's opinion with your own opinion.
ReplyDeleteHow can you not care for something you've never seen?
ReplyDeleteI may have some disagreements with the author, but one thing I do know, is that financial success in no way, shape, or form automatically translates into quality.
ReplyDeleteWhat's funny is that Frank Herbert liked that it was consistent with his novel, and managed to get most of his politics in it.
ReplyDeleteI liked the prequels. However, not one of them touches The Empire Strikes Back. To say that was the best Star Wars movie is cliche at this point, or so I thought.
ReplyDeleteIt's the guy's opinion. We all have one.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely LOVE the very first Star Wars movie (A New Hope). I was 7 years old when it was released, and I was hooked. However, you could pick that movie apart just like Phantom Menace. Just like Phantom, it has bad dialogue, some logic fails, some flat acting, etc. All Phantom needed was just a tad bit more emotional umph, and it would be just as much a classic as the first.
ReplyDeleteLook I know it's the in thing to bash Phantom Menace but come on it wasn't like it was Batman & Robin. While it definitely wasn't a great film it was bad either it was good, just not great when you compare it to the originals. The light saber duels were pretty great though even in comparison to the first trilogy. The bad came from the horrible casting of Anakin Skywalker and wasting a pretty cool villain in Darth Maul.
ReplyDeleteOn the basis of you nominating one of modern cinema's greatest achievements as one of the most dissapointing movies of all time, Anghus Houvouras you have been nominated for the international fuck-knuckle awards. https://www.facebook.com/events/585130211498686/permalink/585161624828878/?notif_t=like
ReplyDeletestar wars 1 wasnt really that bad.
ReplyDeleteWatchman was the Shit! Nobody could of made that movie better, and it stands alone. It is quite far from disappointing... This article is blatantly stupid and wrong...
ReplyDeleteI guess I'm part of the minority that thought the WATCHMEN movie sucked royally. I was a big fan of the comics, though I was only 18 when I got around to reading them. I saw the film in theatres when I was 25 and was thoroughly disappointed. So much gets lost in the translation between comic book to movie in all of these adaptations, and even though the WATCHMEN movie was more thought-provoking and dark than what we're used to from the genre, it didn't come within an inch of measuring up to the comics. It took the very basic elements of the story and just made it look prettier and more modern. Thing is, WATCHMEN was written in the 80's and was a comic book. Comic books get away with a lot of dorky crap (stiff dialogue, costumes, etc) that live-action films just can't pull off without being really cheesy. And having been written so long ago, and the fact that Snyder literally went word-for-word, panel-by-panel, the script was often cartoony and out-of-touch. Just my two cents, though.
ReplyDeleteThey also went for a safer, less weird, comic-book-appropriate ending in exchange for one that "audiences would actually believe". It's a movie about people with superpowers. Who's looking for plausibility?
ReplyDeleteFirst, i'd like to thank your mom.....
ReplyDeleteWatchmen was a great movie. And the ending made more sense in the movie than in the comics. As far as casting, Ackerman nailed the Silk Spectre. It doesn't matter anyway....Snyder went above and beyond to please Alan Moore and he is a dick anyway. And the panel by panel shots are what made the movie great for the old farts and people who never read the comics. Grow up and go outside and throw a football and quit being emo comic critic.
ReplyDeleteIm sorry but The Watchmen was a great movie. It is one of the most faithful adaptations of a comic book story I've seen. It actually got me to read the story and I really love it.
ReplyDeleteWatchmen was fantastic. The others, however, are spot-on.
ReplyDeleteI never even saw the 3rd Spidey movie, and saw Godfather 3 so long ago that can't say much except that well, it wasn't unforgettable :P agree with the other 3 wholeheartedly though. One that I would've added to the list is Dark Knight. Batman Begins rocked my socks and DK Rises was decent too, but boy did DK blow, despite Ledger's legendary portrayal of the Joker.
ReplyDeleteI'm a huge fan of the original trilogy, grew up with them and nothing new out of that franchise will ever top them...but I actually thought Revenge of the Sith was pretty good, so dark...but yeah the 2 previous prequels sucked donkey scrotum.
ReplyDeleteWhere is Green Lantern?! that was the worst adaptation EVER
ReplyDeleteWatchmen is a sick movie, you just lost all credibility. Best comic movie ever made in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteWTF? Watchmen was a terrific film. Soulless? There was more soul in Rorschach alone than in every Marvel movie combined.
ReplyDeleteId watch the Watchmen movie 3 times in a row instead of watch chris nolans batman triology ( i only liked Batman Begins the other 2 failed to interest or impress me)
ReplyDeleteI never really liked star wars but id say 1-3 were awful I can at least watch and enjoy parts 4,5,and 6.
Other than Harrison Ford and his ex girlfriend from Raiders of the Lost Ark there was absolutley nothing good about Indy 4 and shia lebouf made the movie 20 times worse than it really was
You forgot the "Bale" Batman movies. Awful. Watchmen sucked too.
ReplyDeleteHow can a film not be disappointing without hype? A film gets hyped, based on past efforts or just general buzz - if it doesn't live upto that hype - it's DISAPPOINTING.
ReplyDeleteFact is, Godfather III, The Phantom Menace, Spider-man 3, The fourth Indiana Jones... they DID follow hugely successful films that set a precedent - and not only did they not live upto that, they tanked far below those estimations to the point that they can be considered massively disappointing - hence they are on this list (I can't speak for The Watchmen, haven't seen it).
Not a chance. Alien 3 made them horror movies again. Terrific movie.
ReplyDeleteWatchmen doesn't deserve to be anywhere near this list. I can't imagine being that cynical and difficult to please.
ReplyDeleteI think why starwars the prequels were hated so much is because we didnt get that same amazement factor when we saw the original 3 when we were young. We were all hoping for that WOW factor that nostalgia makes us feel when we look back into the past and were blown away by starwars 6,7 and 8. The fact is, if you take Starwars 1,2 and 3 at face value without comparing them to the original 3, they are quite good movies. They are entertaining and if you really look at it, the light saber battles are a million times better. If you look at the original 3 the lightsaber battles are very limited, yes even the one in empire strikes back...I mean nothing will ever replace that thrill I got when I saw all these movies back in the 70's and 80's for the first time, and the effect they have had on my life. But we cant compare the new movies to the old ones, your trying to compare your child hood hero with the guy who is just wearing a costume and has a cape, essentially they are the same guy, but one has a deep emotional connection while the other.. well.. is just a guy wearing pantyhose over his undies.
ReplyDeletePeople went to see Star Wars just for the special effects? A bad movie otherwise? You sir, are a moron.
ReplyDeleteWatchmen was dissappointing? I thought it was possibly the best super hero movie I'd ever seen (and I've seen a lot of them). This is kind of like the guy who's read Lord of the Rings 5 times and thinks Peter Jackson needs to apologize to Tolkien's family b/c the movie didn't mention Tom Bombadillo.
ReplyDeleteHere, you know what was disaapointing? The first Dungeons & Dragons movie. Go talk to ANY D&D fan over 30 years old and they'll tell you that the creator of that movie should be drawn and quartered.
ReplyDeleteWatchmen was amazing.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. It was dark but the movie itself was great. I think it went over a lot of people's heads because the characters had a lot of depth that wasn't fully explored and left the feeling incompleteness. The Comedian and Rorschach characters were the best...
ReplyDeletenope. not that kind of guy. Barely got through LOTR once and have no recollection of who Tom Bombadillo is. More of a movie guy than a book guy.
ReplyDeleteThis list is OK and I completely agree with Godfather Part 3, Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace (the redlettermedia/Mr Plinkett reviews pretty much knock it out of the park with why it and the other prequels were bad), and Indiana Jones 4. I personally didn't mind Indy 4 or TPM probably because they were all my first of the franchises and I grew up with them. I do see why people hugely dislike them (even worst that they both come from George Lucas) but now that Disney owns Lucasfilm (who honestly bought it for a 5th of how much it's truly worth) we can ignore and look past those films now.
ReplyDeletePersonally I felt let down by The Dark Knight Rises. It should've just ended Nolan's Batman franchise, but instead it left the door open for another Batman, Bane wasn't the main mastermind behind everything, Batman lives happily ever after with Catwoman, and for no reason at all put Robin in it.
I wonder what your 12 hour epic film saga is like.
ReplyDeleteWatchmen as well as 300 was a bit rough but it is still one of the best adaptations so far, I really look forward to The Man Of Steel.
ReplyDeleteI mean: "the most disappointing films of all times"??? Dude, are you on crack or something?
Oh gods! How can you say Watchmen sucked? Screw the whining of the fanboys. The graphic novel was groundbreaking. The film captured the story perfectly, but not exactly. As a 'fanboy' I didn't mind the changes at all. No sequel though, please.
ReplyDeleteStar Wars prequels? Ugh. Mr Lucas is a still technical wizard, but keep him away from producing or directing please.