worst movie you've ever seen?

[rtil]

someone asked me this and i actually had to think about this for a few minutes. there's funny because it's bad (movies like the room and birdemic), and then there's so bad it's not even funny.

two movies for me it was almost a tie. and that is "the happening" and "the last airbender", both of which happened to be directed by none other than m night shamalamadingdong. but i'm going to have to give the prize to the last airbender - not only is it a terrible film that is void of any emotion and depth, but it also is a complete insult to the source material and its fans, all the while managing to rip off everyone who saw it for not just the cost of the ticket, but also the cost of the 3d glasses which i'm pretty sure they forgot to add any actual 3d effects to the final cut - simply making the theatrical release even more colorless and muddy than it already was.

for those of you who haven't seen the movie.. pleae don't. in case you haven't seen it, here's just a taste of the colossal pile of shit this movie was:
Everything Wrong With The Last Airbender In 4 Minutes Or Less
this scene below is probably the best blunder in the whole film and had the audience in stitches..i still think the vfx team forgot to add something besides a random tiny rock slowly floating around while those earthbenders are doing some stupid dance, and then nobody noticed in post that the scene wasn't done or just said 'fuck it' cuz they already knew how horrible it was going to be
The Last AirBender Movie "FireBender VS EarthBender"

so. what's the worst movie you've ever seen?

[bd648]

Let me think. Out of the movies i have actually seen i think "Knowing" was pathetic.
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/knowing/ i mean really. i dont know if i was supposed to take it seriously but i just couldnt.
[spoiler]its.... pathetic. spoiler is at the end of the movie what happens? fucking abrahamic angels turn out to be aliens and kidnap little kids to make them into adam and eve or some such shit. its.... stupid. they take a fuckin rabbit too.[/spoiler]
also cage as a professor. not a good role.

[bd648]

Jason X

for 3/4ths of a second i thought that was some sort of exploitation film about Malcolm X.

[Gilthwixt]

I would say Airbender was the most disappointing movie I've seen but my expectations were already low going in. You could already tell it was going to be bad from the trailers when the characters didn't even pronounce each others names right and, for whatever reason, the brown people are white and the east asian people are brown.

I seriously didn't get what kind of pseudo-religious message/theme they were going with in Knowing. So it's the apocalypse, and the main characters' two kids go on to become the next adam and eve, but they're both white so where will the other races come from, oh it's because god/the aliens assumedly saved one pair of children from every race because you see other spaceships? Except that makes no fucking sense. Oh and Tree of Life, just because.

[Alta Don]

I actually saw Plan 9 from Outer Space for the first time like a few days ago but that movie was incredibly entertaining. But terrible movies I can't tolerate would probably be Epic Movie & Boi-Dome.

[zwimmy]

the happening

[Lambdanaut]

The Happening was hilarious

[sev]

TLA

i hate to be a copycat here but that was the only movie i'd ever known was bad but willfully went and saw anyway, and it did not disappoint me (as in, it met the bad quota)

[Flash]

faust (by alexander sokurov) isn't the worst movie i've ever seen, but it's the one that was most difficult for me to watch. fucking hated the experience of it. and russian ark is another movie by the same director which bored me to pieces, although with faust at least i felt like there were some things to appreciate and understand, whereas russian ark is a 96-minute museum tour filmed in a single shot. extended shots can make or break a movie depending on how they're used, and with russian ark it absolutely broke it because it was just a way to show off

[dilly]

birdemic obviously, but as far as like, fully funded movies, the happening tops the list

[redmongoose]

be more specific

[Sheepy]

Actually, checking my twitter feed recently pointed out that someone from SA did a frontpage review of Pinata: Survival Island, a super bad "horror" movie I saw on TV a couple years back.

There's a scene where the pinata demon statue guy thing rips one of the male victims balls off and shows them to him and his girlfriend. That was funny.

[Kött]

I'm not sure if this is a very productive discussion... I haven't seen avatar, neither a lot of the animated series, nor the live action movie but I guess I do get your point... I'm pretty sure that mostly adaptations would fit into the category of worst movie ever, not because they are inherently bad but because they might not live up to our expectations by illustrating characters in completely different ways than we know or imagining them, turning the plot upside down or dramatically change the conclusion. Fidelity is a very important factor to many people who are acquainted with the respective original...
But then again, our personal choice for the worst movie ever would be highly subjective and depends on our different personal interests.

In regards to non-adaptations, it simply depends on our repertoire... It's easy to point out certain movies such as Epic Movie as the worst ones ever, simply because they are popular despite their rather negative reputation. But then again, what makes them so much worse than other less popular films? The fact that they had a way higher budget but didn't utilize it properly? The fact that they tried and failed to be funny, thrilling or dramatic? Hell, I know a ton of these, but usually I am most disappointed when I initially had high expectations.

I didn't find the Room (for instance) as a whole bad enough to constantly entertain me... Having watched the compiled versions of horrible scenes on youtube probably already gave away the funniest bits and even for movies which might be so bad that they are funny, these highlights are all you need. I freaking love these crappily made African Kung Fu/Action film trailers such as Who Killed Captain Alex and if I got my hands on one of these, I would probably watch the whole thing. Nonetheless, I am pretty certain that it would be the same for these kinds of movies: I would simply get bored throughout the film because other than the highlights, which I already know, they simply aren't cringeworthy enough to sincerely entertain me.

Other than that, I see little sense in discussing something that we can collectively deem bad... No one will go ahead and watch a movie for how bad it is if it's not even remotely entertaining for that particular fact... and unless you hate something with passion for being an adaptation that simply insults/defiles the source material, it wouldn't even make sense for you to mention or justify your choice.

Ultimately, all I can say is that I have probably seen a lot of awful movies in my life, but I usually quickly forget about them. If something is 'so bad that you actually cannot get it out of your head', you should ask yourself in what other way that particular film fascinates you enough to keep it in your mind...

[Lambdanaut]

On the "Birdemic" note. James Nguyen is the worst director ever. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1343100/

[RichChap]

The Room - Roof Scene : "Oh Hi Mark"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQ4KzClb1C4

The Room - Drug Dealer Scene]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjTseHtgb0o

The room by Tommy Wiseau is terrible but pretty entertaining as a result much like Plan 9 from Outer Space.

CNN Official Interview: Tommy Wiseau & Greg Sestero on 'The Room'

Ive watched "The Island" and "AI" which I both found to be incredibly disappointing, and are definitely on my list for worst movies, although I've heard some people say they actually enjoyed those movies. 

[rtil]

I see little sense in discussing something that we can collectively deem bad... No one will go ahead and watch a movie for how bad it is if it's not even remotely entertaining for that particular fact... and unless you hate something with passion for being an adaptation that simply insults/defiles the source material, it wouldn't even make sense for you to mention or justify your choice.

i am not looking for a collective opinion, your approval, or what merits your qualifications of a "productive discussion". i am asking the question "what's the worst movie you've ever seen?" out of curiosity. it is amusing to look back on bad films we have seen and explore why they are bad.

you don't appear to understand why i picked "the last airbender" as the worst film i've ever seen - perhaps you didn't completely read or comprehend what i wrote. i'll reiterate in simpler terms for you. i chose it over "the happening" because not only is it a bad film on every level, but it is an adaptation of an original story that breaks almost every rule about adapting a story, thereby making the entire film a pointless endeavor. it is a bad and confusing film to both those who are unfamiliar and familiar with the "avatar" universe. so it fails on an entirely new level that "the happening" could not. does that make sense?

despite your opinion, many films and series adapted from novels have been widely well received by fans and newcomers alike. but "the last airbender" is not based off of a novel - it is based off of an animated series. people already know what the characters are supposed to look like, act like and sound like. m night shaymalan poorly cast every single character, and even got some of the ethnicities wrong albeit in the same settings. he had more material to work off of than normal, but still got it all wrong. one could call it a "re-imagining", but if you've actually seen the film you can tell it's just a poor adaptation of the original.

you don't have to be a fan of avatar to "hate" the last airbender. critics soundingly panned the film.

Ultimately, all I can say is that I have probably seen a lot of awful movies in my life, but I usually quickly forget about them. If something is 'so bad that you actually cannot get it out of your head', you should ask yourself in what other way that particular film fascinates you enough to keep it in your mind...

this is an easy question to answer. what you are speaking of are forgettable films. forgettable films are typically mediocre films - nothing stands out while you watch them, and so  you tend to forget you had seen them not too long after. a forgettable film couldn't be the worst movie you've ever seen because you forgot about it. truly bad films are unforgettable because of how outstandingly bad they are. that is why they are remembered. people laugh at them in the theaters, people laugh at them on the internet. they are made examples of in what not to do in movies. they become infamous. they end careers. they break box office all time low records. a genuinely bad film is not forgotten... how you could think this i do not know.

[Highway Soda]

The room by Tommy Wiseau is terrible but pretty entertaining as a result much like Plan 9 from Outer Space.

CNN Official Interview: Tommy Wiseau & Greg Sestero on 'The Room'

I will agree with you. Yeah, The Room was a pretty crappy movie but it was definitely somewhat entertaining.

I have not yet seen The Last Airbender though.

[Kött]

i am not looking for a collective opinion, your approval, or what merits your qualifications of a "productive discussion". i am asking the question "what's the worst movie you've ever seen?" out of curiosity. it is amusing to look back on bad films we have seen and explore why they are bad.

My point was more based on the fact that the last favorite movies thread lies back more than half a decade. Bad movies are bad due to bad elements i.e. in terms of acting, story and execution. No rocket science. If something's bad in an entertaining way (thread-of-bad-ishly bad), discussing or sharing it serves a certain purpose. Same goes for films that the majority of us already knows and hates with passion... but it's simply more of a shitfest circlejerk... not that there's anything wrong with having one of these every once in a while... but certainly not as interesting as discussing the positive factors that fascinate us about a film of the flaws of a generally good movie. It's just that there are a ton of really critical reviews even on most really popular movies. But pointing out why something bad is bad is just like pissing in an ocean of piss.

you don't appear to understand why i picked "the last airbender" as the worst film i've ever seen - perhaps you didn't completely read or comprehend what i wrote. i'll reiterate in simpler terms for you. i chose it over "the happening" because not only is it a bad film on every level, but it is an adaptation of an original story that breaks almost every rule about adapting a story, thereby making the entire film a pointless endeavor. it is a bad and confusing film to both those who are unfamiliar and familiar with the "avatar" universe. so it fails on an entirely new level that "the happening" could not. does that make sense?

Maybe I expressed myself too complicated or ambiguously because that is basically what I said plus the argument that even those who are unfamiliar with the franchise will be confused and consider it bad. Which might be true but my point was that the ones who are not acquainted with the source material will never be as critical about it as the ones who are (and thus have certain expectations). One of the easiest ways to upset an audience is to make a bad adaptation; especially if it is considered canonical by the creators or certain other groups. Watching a bad movie is one thing, but watching a movie that takes a story that you like and completely ruins it is more likely to become subject of your hatred than any non-adaptation ever could.

despite your opinion, many films and series adapted from novels have been widely well received by fans and newcomers alike. but "the last airbender" is not based off of a novel - it is based off of an animated series. people already know what the characters are supposed to look like, act like and sound like. m night shaymalan poorly cast every single character, and even got some of the ethnicities wrong albeit in the same settings. he had more material to work off of than normal, but still got it all wrong. one could call it a "re-imagining", but if you've actually seen the film you can tell it's just a poor adaptation of the original.

You misunderstood me there... as a matter of fact, I am reading a book on the theory of adaptation at the moment in order to prepare for my BA-thesis and what I wanted to express was simply that many people usually put too much emphasis on fidelity rather than other aspects of an adaptation.
Adaptation as a process, on the other hand, always involves translation and reformatting, and just as there is no literal translation, it is impossible for a literal adaptation to exist. Of course there are a lot of great novel to film adaptations! I would be the last person on earth to deny that. But no matter how great a film is, you will always find people who think very source oriented in their approaches to criticize an adaptation and the study of the field has suffered from that very phenomenon.
Forest Gump might be a good example... I have never even read the book but I love the movie, and yet, I have come across people who told me that they were retrospectively disappointed of the movie after having read the novel.
I don't think I would disagree with you in regards to the Last Airbender being a bad movie and a horrible adaptation... in fact I actually tried to agree with you in my previous post despite only having seen trailers of the film and bits and pieces of the series. But my point was merely that this particular movie had an especially strong impact on you since you seem to have enjoyed the source material or are more acquainted with it than the average visitor of the live-action adaptation.

Ultimately, all I can say is that I have probably seen a lot of awful movies in my life, but I usually quickly forget about them. If something is 'so bad that you actually cannot get it out of your head', you should ask yourself in what other way that particular film fascinates you enough to keep it in your mind...

this is an easy question to answer. what you are speaking of are forgettable films. forgettable films are typically mediocre films - nothing stands out while you watch them, and so  you tend to forget you had seen them not too long after. a forgettable film couldn't be the worst movie you've ever seen because you forgot about it. truly bad films are unforgettable because of how outstandingly bad they are. that is why they are remembered. people laugh at them in the theaters, people laugh at them on the internet. they are made examples of in what not to do in movies. they become infamous. they end careers. they break box office all time low records. a genuinely bad film is not forgotten... how you could think this i do not know.

I dunno... I usually don't spend money (visit the cinema) to watch films that have a generally bad reputation and whenever something that's on tv or on my hard drive bores me to death or simply doesn't appeal to me, I just drop it. Well, there are a bunch of really horrible animes that I finished; either because I expected them to get better at a certain point or... well yeah... sometimes it's just to confirm how horribly bad they are in order to tell someone how much of a horrible pleb-tier taste he has and how bad his recommendations suck major ass. But I guess that's more of a personal factor...
I agree that the mediocre ones are the most forgettable ones... but I rarely finish any show or film that is beyond/worse than mediocre.

...well, sometimes you do get curious and want to see how exactly the worst of the worst looks like... according to MAL, one of the worst Anime OVAs to date is Mars of Destruction, which disappointed me a bit because despite being bad it was not bad enough to entertain me with its badness. It just felt like a very boring pilot, created as generic as possible, using the cheapest animation techniques possible and recycling non-copyrighted classics as background music. And yet, it was more forgettable than any mediocre show that I had seen before...
I simply fail to see the point of pointing out the flaws of something that is full of them... It's like going on Deviantart and bashing 14 year old girls for their horribly disfigured and anorexic renditions of male Naruto characters engaging in homoerotic activities. The kind of stuff Sinitron would to in between his masturbation sessions to get this feeling of domination and superiority and feel less miserable about himself for masturbating to hentai. But at least that kind of shit evokes a reaction and might actually insult in some kind of entertainment.

[Necronomitr0n]

I need to get laid

[rtil]

I simply fail to see the point of pointing out the flaws of something that is full of them... It's like going on Deviantart and bashing 14 year old girls for their horribly disfigured and anorexic renditions of male Naruto characters engaging in homoerotic activities. The kind of stuff Sinitron would to in between his masturbation sessions to get this feeling of domination and superiority and feel less miserable about himself for masturbating to hentai. But at least that kind of shit evokes a reaction and might actually insult in some kind of entertainment.

i completely disagree with you on this one.

it's easy to see why a child with little experience in art would draw something bad. to expect greatness out of them is foolish, and bashing them for it is cruel.

on the other hand - a successful director with millions of dollars, major studio backing and the talents of people from all throughout the film industry with excellent source material create a complete disaster. it does beg the question, why? these questions can be explored and they should be. bad films are analyzed for why they are bad because they become learning experiences for everyone on what not to do. and it tends to go deeper than the obviously bad things on the surface. everyone wants to know what the hell went wrong. how could such a great idea for a film get completely fucked up? it's somewhat fascinating.

have you seen the redlettermedia star wars I-III reviews? the guy talks about each one for over an hour, and honestly the reviews are more entertaining than the films themselves.

there's a culture around bad movies, and there's a reason why. they can be entertaining if we make them.