These Are The Worst Films Of All Time, According To Rotten Tomatoes
Bad Art
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and it’s certainly the case for these films, critics crushed them even if there are a few people who like them. Still, there are a few movies that are objectively bad.
No matter what elements these films had that would have made them good, there’s something or another that also makes them undeniably bad. These movies are considered the worst you can watch today.
Jaws: The Revenge
Universal Pictures
The fourth installment in the Jaws franchise, Jaws: Revenge, is also the last installment to no one’s surprise. The film was centered around Ellen Brody, now widowed, being hunted down by a great white that’s looking for payback, going so far as to follow them to the Bahamas.
Production was rushed and the film was made over only nine months. The film got a score of 0% on Rotten Tomatoes and Roger Elbert even said, “it is not simply a bad movie, but also a stupid and incompetent one.”
Mac And Me
Orion Pictures
In 1988, Mac and Me was released in theaters. The plot revolves around an alien that befriends a boy in a wheelchair and together they try to find Mac’s family.
Critics rip the movie apart for borrowing a lot of elements from E.T the Extra-Terrestrial. People also didn’t appreciate it’s obvious product placement like McDonald’s and Coca-Cola. The film is considered to be one of the worst ever released.
Bolero
Canon Film Distributors
Bolera featured Bo Derek when she was just emerging as a popular actress. Her husband wrote and directed the film about a 23-year-old who after graduating from college searches for a lover.
All in all the film was nominated for nine Golden Raspberry Awards, nine! Among these nominations were worst actress, worst picture, worst director, and worst screenplay.
Return To The Blue Lagoon
Columbia Pictures
This sequel to The Blue Lagoon starred Brian Krause and Milla Jovovich. It was based on The Garden of Wrath and revolves around two children trapped on an island.
As they grow up, the two become attracted to one another and they end up falling in love. Rotten Tomatoes stated, “Despite its lush tropical scenery and attractive leads, Return to the Blue Lagoon is as ridiculous as its predecessor, and lacks the prurience and unintentional laughs that might make it a guilty pleasure.”
Madhouse
Orion Pictures
Madhouse is about a TV reporter and a stockbroker living the Californian dream. But when unwelcome guests arrive their entire world gets changed. The film stars John Larroquette and Kristie Alley.
Together they manage to rid the house of the guests and everything is fine after that. Michael Wilminton, an LA Times critic said, “grabs you by the lapels and tries to shake the laughs out of you.”
Dream A Little Dream
Vestron Pictures
Dream A Little Dream revolves around an old couple who get put in the bodies of teenagers. People were excited about the film as it had the ‘two Coreys’ but the film was anything but.
It only made $2,5 million on its debut weekend and dropped by more than 50% the following weekend.
The Slugger’s Wife
Columbia Pictures
Rebecca De Mornay and Michael O’Keefe starred in The Slugger’s Wife which revolves around a baseball player that falls for a singer whose life is different from this.
Neil Simon wrote for the film and that would mean that it would be a great film, right? Critics and audiences alike were not impressed. TV Guide said, “one of the most disappointing, least credible films about baseball in recent memory.”
Staying Alive
Paramount Pictures
How well do you think a film starring John Travolta and directed by Sylvester Stallone would be? Stallone collaborated with the producer and writer for Saturday Night Fever, Robert Stigwood.
The film is a sequel to Saturday Night Fever and did have commercial success despite it being torn apart by critics, saying that it was the worst sequel ever created.
Police Academy 4
Warner Bros.
Police Academy returned with Citizens on Patrol, being the third sequel in the franchise. The characters from the other films are now the ones training a new batch of recruits. It’s still one of the worst-rated films in the franchise.
It scored 0% on Rotten Tomatoes and to make it more clear on how they felt they stated that the film was “utterly, completely, thoroughly and astonishingly unfunny.”
Precious Cargo
Lionsgate
Even Bruce Willis couldn’t save this film. Precious Cargo revolves around a man who gets a crime boss to steal diamonds from a rival mob all for a woman.
It got 0% on Rotten Tomatoes and Peter Sobczynski, a critic, stated, “You will be hard-pressed to remember anything about it even only a few minutes after watching it, which should come as a relief to everyone involved with its production.”
Highlander II
Interstar
Even though the original Highlander film wasn’t anything to write home about, not doing well critically or commercially, they decided to make a sequel anyway. However, people claimed that the sequel managed to get rid of everything that made the original bearable in the first place.
Released in 1991 and starring Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery, the film was described by Rotten Tomatoes as “hilariously incomprehensible […] Almost hilarious in its badness.” Surprisingly, however, the film grossed more at the box office than the original.
Pinocchio
Medusa Distribuzione
In 1997, Roberto Benigni made a name for himself starring in the film Life is Beautiful which went on to win Best Actor, Best Foreign Language Film, and Best Score at the Oscars. The film put Benigni on the map, leaving many excited about his future career as an actor.
However, things took a turn for the worst when Benigni starred in the live-action Pinocchio in 2002. The English-dubbed version was panned by critics with the film being called “an oddity that will be avoided by millions of people” by The New York Times.
The Bad News Bears Go To Japan
Paramount Pictures
Sequels don’t always have to be far worse than the original film, but that’s exactly what happened with The Bad News Bears Go to Japan. The third film in the Bad News Bears trilogy, the movie takes the team to test their skills across the Pacific Ocean.
Described by Rotten Tomatoes as “horrendous” and receiving a 0%, even members of the cast knew that the film was terrible. Jackie Earle Haley, who plays Kelly Leak in all three films even called it “the worst movie ever made.”
Dark Tide
Wrekin Hill Entertainment
In 2012, Halle Berry mistakenly starred in Dark Tide, which follows a marine biologist struggling to stay in business after a few of her crew are eaten by sharks. Scarred from her experience, she refuses to go back in the water until she takes an offer from a millionaire for one last dive.
Earning a 0%, critics weren’t shy to share their opinion either. One commented that “no amount of breathtaking cinematography can save Dark Tide from its poor plot and dire dialogue.” Looks like it’s risky business to make a shark movie these days.
American Anthem
Columbia Pictures
When an Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast plays the role of a gymnast in the film, you’d figure that it would vastly improve the movie. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen at all in American Anthem, when gold medalist Mitchell Gaylord played Steve Tevere, an ex-football star who gives up gymnastics to work as a motorcycle mechanic.
The film turned out to be a disaster, scoring a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes, and Gaylord earning a Razzie for his performance. At least in 2007, he was named the seventh-best US gymnast of all time.
Gotti
Vertical Entertainment
Released in 2018 and starring John Travolta, Gotti is a biographical film about the New York City mobster John Gotti. Overall, the film was a commercial and critical blunder, grossing just $6 million against its production budget of $10 million.
The film was criticized for its choppy editing, resulting in the movie being described as sloppy and boring. Some critics have even suggested that Travolta should have never taken the doomed role in the first place. The film was nominated for six Razzies, including Worst Picture and Worst Actor.
The Ridiculous 6
Netflix
It’s no secret that Adam Sandler’s films have taken a turn for the worse in recent years, and one of the best examples of this is The Ridiculous 6. The film follows six strangers coming together in the Wild West after discovering they have the same father and wanting to find him.
Rotten Tomatoes called the movie “a lazy and offensive attempt at a film,” stirring controversy over their depiction of the Apache culture. Released on Netflix in 2015, the film was surprisingly viewed more in 30 days than any other Netflix release, but that didn’t save it from the critics.
Bucky Larson: Born To Be A Star
Sony Pictures
Produced by Happy Madison Productions, Bucky Larson: Born to be a Star follows a small-town bag boy named Bucky Larson who discovers his parents were famous adult film stars in the 70s. He decides to move to California to follow in his parent’s footsteps to be the next big star.
All 35 critics that reported on the film gave it terrible reviews with one noting that it is a “severely misguided and inept comedy incapable of even telling its single joke properly.” Critic Matt Singer went so far as to say that the movie was “soul-crushing.”
Fred: The Movie
Lionsgate
Lucas Cruikshank started out as a YouTube phenomenon. He was so popular, in fact, that Nickelodeon made an entire movie surrounding his character Internet personality, Fred. The film tells the story of Fred who is infatuated with his neighbor Judy, and when she moves away, he embarks on a journey to go find her and sing a duet together.
The film earned a deserving 0% on Rotten Tomatoes with critics and audiences finding the film extraordinarily annoying. One critic even paired it with the highly controversial A Serbian Film as his least favorite viewing experience of the year.
The Garbage Pail Kids Movie
Atlantic
Released in 1987, The Garbage Pail Kids Movie is a live-action film adaptation of the trading cards series. The film features seven of the Garbage Pail Kids who befriend a regular boy and try to assimilate into human society. The film was a box office bomb, earning just $1.6 million compared to it’s $1 million budget.
With a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes, there was also an almost unanimous agreement among critics that it was easily one of the worst movies ever made. Caryn James from The New York Times claimed the film was “too repulsive for children or adults of any age.”
The Master Of Disguise
Columbia Pictures/MovieStillsDB
After his time on Saturday Night Live, comedian Dana Carvey broke out in some leading film roles. Although he was well-liked during his early days, The Master of Disguise was the beginning of his downfall. The film is about a goofy waiter who must defeat a criminal mastermind with his inherited powers of disguise.
The Master of Disguise received a one percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes with most critics giving it bad reviews for a juvenile tone and witless jokes. The only thing audiences thought had some merit were the special effects makeup and costumes.
Daddy Day Camp
TriStar Pictures/MovieStillsDB
Directed by former child star Fred Savage, Daddy Day Camp is a sequel to the successful Eddie Murphy family comedy Daddy Day Care. In the sequel all the actors have been replaced, with the story being set at a summer camp. Replacing Eddie Murphy with Cuba Gooding Jr. was just the first hit this film took.
Daddy Day Camp scored a measly one percent on Rotten Tomatoes for dozens of reasons. One of the biggest failings of the movie was that it relied too heavily on unsightly bodily functions and cheap gags that were used for comedic effect.
Jack And Jill
Columbia Pictures/MovieStillsDB
Adam Sandler has made numerous movies over the last few decades. Some have been massive box office hits, while others majorly flopped. One that audiences probably want to forget is 2011’s Jack and Jill. Even with an all-star cast of Al Pacino, Katie Holmes, and Sandler, this film completely missed the mark.
It received a three percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes with completely negative reviews from critics. Brian Gill from Mad About Movies Podcast stated, “I’m not saying we should take Pacino’s Oscar away from him because of this movie. I’m just saying that’s a conversation I’m willing to have.”
Return Of The Living Dead II
Lorimar Motion Pictures/MovieStillsDB
The Return of the Living Dead had a total of four sequels with the second part receiving a zero percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. This zombie comedy film was actually a minor box office success, but critics thought the story was too tongue-in-cheek and seemed like a repeat of the previous film.
The Return of the Living Dead II starred Michael Kenworthy, Marsha Dietlein, Dana Ashbrook, and more in a plot about a zombie outbreak in Louisville, Kentucky. The curious teenagers discovered barrels that were used to revive zombies and must deal with the consequences.