TMC
06-18-2004, 01:41 AM
www.triotv.com
http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/feature.jsp?V=3&SV=2&id=122244
So what is a flop? What does it take to make it onto this, our Top Ten all-time suckfest? In a business in which most films fail to make money, or even fail to get the thumbs up from jaded critics, noble failures do not count. No, to be a true flop, we decided a film had to fail in every sense of the word. There may have been worse films out there in your opinion, but each film here has inflicted lasting damage on all concerned with it. Financiers have not just lost but gone bust, and the trickle of punters duped into seeing it haven't left quietly, but run screaming from the cinema pinching their noses at the god-awful smell. And while you ponder over these turkeys that 'ain't just for Christmas', remember it's not a definitive list. There's bound to be another gem, coming along soon to a cinema near you (Gigli, anyone?).
Town And Country (2000) (http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/feature.jsp?id=122244&page=2)
With a negative cost of $85 million (that's the cost of the actual film before the studio starts shelling out for prints and advertising) and only $6.7 million taken after a month at the cinemas, T&C is reported to be, officially, the biggest flop of all time (with only 8% of its total cost recouped). Starring Warren Beatty as a man who cheats on his wife on their wedding anniversary, propelling him into a series of mishaps as he tries to resolve his mid-life crisis, this sex 'romp' struck a chord with US audiences - a jangling unpleasant note that kept them away in droves. Will film critics ever throw light on the word 'romp' historically being a presage of doom? It's the kind of word that suggests a lighthearted farce that was jolly good fun to shoot, but is actually not funny enough to be a comedy or weighty enough to be a drama.
T&C may have started with good intentions but its three year production hints at the kind of script problems, edits and re-shoots that suggest a film in crisis. "A little idea that looked good on paper, didn't work on the set, and only got worse the more money and talent was thrown at it", read a review in Entertainment Weekly. This turkey will have done nothing for the career of Warren 'Ishtar' Beatty, who is now associated with not just one, but two of the biggest movie flops of all time.
Psychedelic Cop (2002) (http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/feature.jsp?id=122244&page=3)
The story of an undercover policeman who finds he has a split personality. Didn't get to hear of it? Not that surprising as it was made in Hong Kong. Problem is, the Chinese didn't get to hear of it either. The film has made history as one of the biggest flops of all time by attracting fewer than 10 viewers. According to reports, it took a total of £26 at the box office. The South China Morning Post stated the movie was given a one-week run at a cinema in the Fanling district of the city, then given a 'limited' release on video (presumably to an audience of friends and relatives). The second worst-performing movie in Hong Kong was 2002's Colour Of Pain. Made by casino owner Stanley Ho, who bankrolled the project for his daughter Josie who starred in it, the film took £150 over a two-week run.
Heaven's Gate (1980) (http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/feature.jsp?id=122244&page=4)
Heaven's Gate nearly falls into the noble failure category. Riding the wave of Oscar success for The Deer Hunter (1978), director Michael Cimino insisted on creative control for an epic Western depicting the bleak struggle between wealthy landowners and impoverished farmers.
Cimino shot entirely on location, the sets were incredibly authentic and the message was post-imperialist, a visionary stance so soon after the debacle of Vietnam. Kris Kristofferson and Christopher Walken shone respectively as the idealistic lawman and hired gun, but the cost of the location shoot climbed to an unprecedented $36 million. When Cimino finally screened his first 219 minute cut to United Artists, the studio panicked - they had a elliptical, impressionistic art house film on their hands, with no real stars.
The critics had a field day, lambasting Cimino for his self-indulgence. United Artists pulled the picture, re-releasing it five months later and 70 minutes shorter. It bombed again. Today, Heaven's Gate may be regarded as a flawed cult classic, but it came at an incredible price. Cimino never really worked again; the Western virtually disappeared as a genre in the 1980s; United Artists, the studio founded by Chaplin and Mary Pickford, went bust. Perhaps worst of all, an entire generation of directors like Coppola and Scorsese were forced from the driving seat as Hollywood no longer agreed to bankroll risky big budget material.
The Postman (1997) (http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/feature.jsp?id=122244&page=5)
In 1990 Kevin Costner made Dances With Wolves in the face of overwhelming scorn, cynicism and plain indifference. It went on to win seven Oscars. He then made Waterworld in the face of overwhelming scorn, cynicism etc, and the film eventually went on to make a profit. Then came The Postman. After the box office dream team of Ron Howard and Tom Hanks passed on the project, Costner became determined to realise David Brin's fantasy post-apocalyptic novel into a modern day epic that spoke to the present.
With Eric 'Forrest Gump' Roth and Brian 'LA Confidential' Helgeland writing, things looked good. On paper The Postman was about epic, noble themes, the founding of nations, the strength of community in the face of oppression, how ideals can become larger than the man who invented them. But, as the joke went at the time, it got lost in the post. Costner mugged vaingloriously to camera, the film was long, vague and boring and, inexcusably for the writers, the dialogue a shambles. Post civil war America in Escape From New York was a brutal and believable place. In The Postman it was laughable.
Stars like Travolta have rubberballed back from worse but Costner, perhaps because his previous commercial successes seemed to be linked to critical acclaim, has never fully recovered from this one huge flop.
Shanghai Surprise (1985) (http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/feature.jsp?id=122244&page=6)
Two years ago Sean Penn was making a film called I Am Sam, in which he plays a ******** man fighting to keep custody of his seven year old daughter. The production company tried to clear a number of Beatles tracks to be used on the soundtrack, but in the final film they are all covers. Why? Because in 1985 Penn made Shanghai Surprise and the production outfit was Handmade Films, run by one George Harrison.
Back then everything had looked so good. Penn was said to be the best up and coming screen actor in Hollywood. Madonna was already becoming the biggest female pop diva the world had ever seen. And to top it all, the frenzy of tabloid speculation over their recent marriage had reached every corner of the globe. Released on New Year's day 1986, with a risible plot and zero on-screen chemistry between the newly weds, the real surprise came for Shanghai when it was instantly nominated as worst film of the 80s.
The film-makers had hoped Madonna would be taken seriously as an actor; no one considered it would take considerable acting experience to eclipse the kind of megastar baggage which accompanied her. With new husband Guy Ritchie's Swept Away going straight to video this year, it sounds as if the lessons of Shanghai have not been learned.
The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen (1988) (http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/feature.jsp?id=122244&page=7)
The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen is a Terry Gilliam film through and through. On the screen are fabulous sets, sumptuous visuals and fantastic creatures from the far-flung reaches of our subconscious. Off the screen, the story is just as exciting.
Filming began in Rome, where language difficulties and stifling heat soon translated into serious delay. The movie's completion guarantor intervened, and sued Gilliam for fraud. Further legal nightmares followed when a rival producer sued Gilliam's team for taking the re-make rights to the original 1942 German film of the same name. The production moved to Spain, but was still so dogged by delay that the guarantor finally shut the film down. Filming eventually resumed in England, with Gilliam still attached, but by now the budget had reached $45 million. The total US gross takings were $8 million.
Despite the production pressures, Munchausen is directed with a light and witty touch, but assembled terribly badly. The story takes too long to get going and when it does we are sometimes unclear about who is who or why we should care. Gilliam went on to make The Fisher King and his career briefly revived. But when it came to making his long cherished Don Quixote, the Munchausen experience came back to haunt him. Disaster followed disaster and even with Johnny Depp attached the film could not be saved. Gilliam is still reportedly looking for finance to resurrect the project.
Showgirls (1995) (http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/feature.jsp?id=122244&page=8)
"There are not enough synonyms for the word bad in the English language to allow an adequate description of Showgirls. This is, beyond doubt and without reservation, the worst movie I have ever seen". This opinion, gleaned at random from the internet is not untypical. Director Paul 'RoboCop' Verhoeven and writer Joe 'Basic Instinct' Esterhas claimed at the time it was a satire on the American dream. Everyone else, including presumably the backers, thought it was a great way to exploit the then new phenomenon of pole dancing on the big screen.
Populated with repugnant characters, absent of any real moral focus and featuring a fair amount of senseless violence, Showgirls failed in even its most basic objective by being totally untittilating. It still holds the record (13 nominations, 9 awards) for 'success' at the Razzies, or Raspberries, the unofficial Hollywood awards ceremony for each year's worst movies, including the not-so-coveted Worst Picture of The Decade award.
Cutthroat Island (1995) (http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/feature.jsp?id=122244&page=9)
Cutthroat Island was one of those films that should have died in pre-production, but somehow it limped onto the screen. After Michelle Pfeiffer pulled out, director Renny 'Cliffhanger' Harlin cast his wife Geena Davies as the female lead and went looking for a male star with some box office clout.
Harlin wanted to be the next Ridley Scott and he wanted his wife to be on the Hollywood A-list. Cutthroat Island was to be the ticket. Harlin cast around for a star and found Michael Douglas. Douglas agreed to board, as long as his part matched that of Geena Davis in importance and they start shooting immediately to fit in with his schedule. Harlin agreed and went scouting for locations, settling on Malta and Thailand, some 5000 miles apart. He built two life-sized galleons, perhaps the best decision of the movie since they were to provide the most (only) spectacular set pieces in the film.
With a budget already bloated from the scramble to get the sets ready and the logistics of co-ordinating construction on two different continents, Douglas discovered the script was becoming a vehicle for Davis, and pulled out. When Davis heard this, incredibly, she wanted out too but found herself bound to the project in a watertight contract. Desperate to keep his wife happy, Harlin scoured Hollywood for a new male lead. By the time every A-list actor had slammed the door, Harlin started on the B-List. Weeks later Matthew Modine came on board.
In the meantime all the stuff Harlin should have been doing: supervising construction, script changes, and crewing, went unattended. When he did arrive on set, he hated the sets and found the script 'unusable'. Nevertheless, shooting got underway. A cameraman fell off a crane and broke his leg. Pipes burst and raw sewage spewed into the tank where the actors were supposed to be working. Harlin fired a camera operator after a row and a dozen crew followed in support. And so it went on.
While some blockbusters benefit from negative publicity, Cutthroat Island sank. Occasionally spectacular effects were rendered meaningless by cue-card acting, laughable continuity errors and an appallingly clichéd script. "The film is too stupidly smutty for children and too cartoonish for any sane adult", wrote the New York Times. The $65 million budget had leapt to $115 million. To his credit, some of that was Harlin's own. The film was pulled from the cinemas after a month, making back a mere $10m. Carolco, the production company who had made the Rambo series, Terminator II and Total Recall, went bankrupt.
Hudson Hawk (1991) (http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/feature.jsp?id=122244&page=10)
"Oh come on, it's not that bad, honestly, it's not. You should go back and watch it again, I'm telling you", said Angie McDowell about Husdon Hawk, the 1991 flop in which she starred with Bruce Willis. We have, and to quote Barry in High Fidelity, "it sucks ass".
Silly coincidences, cartoon acting, unfunny jokes, unconvincing action scenes and zero chemistry - all the prerequisites of a 24-carat stinker can be ticked off as Willis plays a cat burglar who steals priceless da Vinci artefacts from around the world. In well structured movies, the plot gets more and more involving. Hawk on the other hand has the hallmark of a 'swimming trunks floating on the surface' belly-flop: a plot that, just when you think it can't get any worse, does. The film lost $47 million.
Incredibly Willis bounced back, probably due to the fact that he simply deadpanned his way out of trouble and refused to take the whole thing seriously. Comedy as the old saying goes, 'is a serious business'.
Battlefield Earth (2000) (http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/feature.jsp?id=122244&page=11)
Winner of the Golden Raspberry for worst film of the year, Battlefield Earth is so bad, it's just bad.
Combining an out-of-date visual style, ragtag special effects and silly dialogue, watching it was a "quite miserable experience", according to the LA Times. The New York Times was even more categorical. "It may still be a little too early to pass judgement, but the chances are good that BE will gain the reputation of being the worst film of the new century". Describing Travolta's pantomine alien the reviewer writes, "he threw his head back and let loose stage laughter that would hurt the ears of the bad guy in the worst trash series. Next to this, the eye-rolling clumsiness of his number in 'Broken Arrow' seems to be a miracle of nuance and understatement".
How is it possible to blow $90 million in such an amateurish manner? Travolta, described by some as the unofficial spokesman for the self-help religion Scientology, had been trying to get finance for a film of the novel written by the movement's founder, Ron Hubbard, for years. When every studio door slammed, he turned to outsiders (a Lebanese producer and a German backer) and waived his fee. Critics immediately suggested the movie was made in order to recruit new members, something Travolta flatly denied. In fact, only die-hard conspiracists could find any parallels between the film's plot and the religion's aims, but when it was revealed that the merchandising was controlled by a Scientology website and not the distributor, as is normal practice (did they want the e-mail addresses?), the idea never went away.
In reality, the timing of its release probably did more damage than anything. The film would have been smothered in an average month, but it came out at the same time as Gladiator. Travolta, who raised a few eyebrows when he said it was a cult movie, still claims he is thrilled with the picture and predicts a sequel...
http://entertainment.msn.com/news/article.aspx?news=131054
10. "Howard the Duck" (1986, Universal)
Budget: $37 million
U.S. Box Office: $16 million
The Plot: Based on Steve Gerber's '70s Marvel comic-book character and executive produced by George Lucas, this charmless, pun-filled fowl-fest centers on a smart-aleck quacker from another planet who's accidentally beamed into Cleveland, where he hooks up with punk rocker Lea Thompson, battles various villains using "quack-fu," and saves the planet.
Turkey Trivia: Lucas reportedly spent $2 million on the duck suit, in which eight separate actors waddled their way into film infamy. "Howard" also contained one of the most disturbing seduction scenes ever: After Thompson's character discovers a condom in the birdman's wallet, she coos, "You think I might find love in the animal kingdom?" Ew.
What the Critics Said: "The movie is too scuzzy to beguile children, too infantile to appeal to adults ..." -- Richard Corliss, Time
The Aftermath: Lucas escaped unharmed from the debacle, but director/co-writer William Huyck wasn't so lucky. Despite co-writing credits on "American Graffiti" and "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom," his career was effectively over. Meanwhile, Universal head Frank Price quit shortly after the film was released. Variety reported the news thusly: '''Duck' Cooks Price's Goose.''
9. "Hudson Hawk" (1991, Columbia TriStar)
Budget: $60 million-plus
U.S. Box Office: $17.2 million
The Plot: A reformed cat burglar (Bruce Willis, who also co-wrote) is blackmailed into stealing priceless Leonardo da Vinci artifacts. The heist flick features Willis and fellow thief Danny Aiello warbling ditties such as "Swingin' on the Star," which might explain this piece of dialogue: "I'll torture you so long, you'll think it's a career."
Turkey Trivia: Before a single frame of film had been shot, TriStar shelled out a cool million to construct da Vinci's gold machine, the film's first big sight gag. And once filming was completed, more moolah was reportedly needed to digitally buff up Willis' fading hairline.
What the Critics Said: "A movie this unspeakably awful can make an audience a little crazy. You want to throw things, yell at the actors, beg them to stop. But the film drags on, digging horrible memories into the brain ..." Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
The Aftermath: "Hudson" swept the 1991 Golden Razzies, "winning" Worst Picture, Worst Screenplay, and Worst Director for Michael Lehmann, whose career was heavily dinged. Willis, whose vanity project this was, survived several more bombs (e.g., "The Last Boy Scout," "Striking Distance," "Hart's War") and is still going strong.
8. "Ishtar" (1987, Columbia)
Budget: $55 million
U.S. Box Office: $12.7 million
The Plot: Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman insult the memory of the Bob Hope-Bing Crosby "Road" movies in this Elaine May-directed desert-set tale of two supremely untalented singer-songwriters who land a Moroccan gig but make a pit stop in the fictional kingdom of Ishtar. Soon, they're embroiled in an extremely volatile Middle East political situation, which, if possible, is even less funny now than it was then.
Turkey Trivia: Notorious perfectionist May spent months editing the film, reportedly turning in a print only when the studio threatened legal action.
What the Critics Said: "This movie is a long, dry slog. It's not funny, it's not smart and it's interesting only in the way a traffic accident is interesting." -- Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
The Aftermath: The stars, who pocketed a then-impressive $5.5 million apiece, emerged relatively unscathed from what was billed as the most expensive comedy ever made. Hoffman won an Oscar the following year for "Rain Man," but May never directed again, preferring to stay behind the scenes as a writer (e.g., "Primary Colors," "The Birdcage"). The film's title is now synonymous with movie bombs: Kevin Costner's gill-filled "Waterworld" was infamously dubbed "Fishtar," although at least that movie eventually broke even.
7. "Inchon" (1981)/"Battlefield Earth" (2000, Warner Bros. Pictures)
Budget: $50 million/$73 million
U.S. Box Office: $1.9 million/$21.5 million
The Plot: A truly dire moment in the Laurence Olivier oeuvre, "Inchon" finds the famed thespian committing multiple dramatic atrocities as he channels Gen. Douglas MacArthur in this failed Korean War epic. In "Battlefield Earth," it's the year 3000 and humans are slaves. In the campiest performance this side of a Judy Garland imitator, John Travolta plays a dreadlocked, platform-shoed 7-foot alien baddie named Terl, who was "groomed from birth to conquer galaxies." Too bad he wasn't groomed to conquer the box office.
Turkey Trivia: We've paired these turkeys together because of their spiritual connections. Namely, "Inchon" was produced by Rev. Sun Myung Moon (he of the mass marriages) and his Reunification Church, while "Battlefield Earth" was based on a novel by L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of the Church of Scientology. Travolta, a vocal proponent of the religion, was instrumental in getting the film made.
What the Critics Said: "The worst movie ever made." -- Multiple reviewers on "Inchon"
"A million monkeys with a million crayons would be hard-pressed in a million years to create anything as cretinous as 'Battlefield Earth.'" -- Rita Kempley, Washington Post
The Aftermath: "Inchon" was quickly pulled from theaters, and Moon has thankfully shied away from making more movies. As for "Battlefield Earth," Travolta had no remorse, even though the film collected seven Razzies, tying the record haul of "Showgirls." "The bottom line is that I feel really good about it," said the unrepentant star, who has threatened to make a sequel. Yeah, good luck with that. Travolta subsequently bombed in follow-up fare such as "Domestic Disturbance" and "Basic."
6. "Cleopatra" (1963, 20th Century Fox)
Budget: $44 million ($259 million today)
U.S. Box Office: $26 million ($153 million today)
The Plot: Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton begin an adulterous on-set affair that turns into a worldwide media sensation. Oh, the plot of the movie. Once billed as the most expensive film of all time (and might still be champion), this Joseph Mankiewicz-directed historical costume epic stars Taylor as Cleopatra and Burton as Marc Anthony. There are some truly amazing sets and a cast of thousands (literally).
Turkey Trivia: Four years in the making, "Cleopatra" went through seven writers, two directors (Mankiewicz finished it, reportedly with the help of some stress-relieving uppers and downers), and the near-death of its leading lady (Taylor came down with meningitis and had an emergency tracheotomy, delaying production for months). The actress received an unheard-of million-dollar payday to essay the Queen of the Nile, a fee that reportedly ballooned to $7 million with all the overtime. A four-hour version debuted to tepid critical response in New York in June of 1963.
What the Critics Said: "A monumental mouse." -- Judith Crist, New York Herald Tribune
The Aftermath: Though "Cleopatra" was the highest-grossing movie of 1963 and was nominated for nine Oscars (it won four), it wasn't enough to rescue 20th Century Fox, which was fighting to survive. To save money, the studio shut down for four months, forcing 2,000 people out of work, and sold off its expansive back lot. The era of extravagant historical epics was over, and Mankiewicz's career suffered the consequences. Oh, and Taylor and Burton married and divorced ... twice.
http://entertainment.msn.com/movies/article.aspx?news=131067
5. "Heaven's Gate" (1980, United Artists)
Budget: $44 million
U.S. Box Office: $3 million
The Plot: If you can untangle the epic plot, give yourself a prize. This much we know: Michael Cimino directed this Western based on the 19th-century Johnson County wars. It stars Kris Kristofferson, Christopher Walken, John Hurt, Sam Waterston and Isabelle Huppert. Beyond that, you're on your own.
Turkey Trivia: The film's original budget of $11.5 million ballooned as the out-of-control and unsupervised Cimino shot and reshot.
The egomaniacal auteur, whose contract stipulated that the film be no longer than three hours, ended up shooting 1.5 million feet of film, enough for several feature-length movies. The original cut, which debuted in New York, clocked in at nearly four hours and was eviscerated by critics.
What the Critics Said: "An unqualified disaster." --Vincent Canby, the New York Times
The Aftermath: The massive failure of "Heaven's Gate" forced the fire sale of United Artists to MGM. It also helped usher in a new era of corporate bean-counting, marking the end of a decade of groundbreaking cinema. Cimino, who had earned so much good will (not to mention a Best Director Oscar) for "Deer Hunter," became persona non grata in Tinseltown and was reduced to making lousy movies ("Desperate Hours," "Year of the Dragon") with a post-fame Mickey Rourke.
4. "The Postman" (1997, Warner Bros.)
Budget: $80 million to $100 million
U.S. Box Office: $17.6 million
The Plot: In a post-apocalyptic future, a Shakespeare-quoting mail carrier (Costner, who also directed) leads mankind to rebel against its oppressors. A grateful nation repays the messiah-like postal worker by erecting a massive statue in his image. Is it any wonder audiences guffawed at the riotously earnest trailer, which contained such clunkers as, "I don't think we ever really understood what letters meant to us until they were gone."
Turkey Trivia: In addition to putting three of his kids in the three-hour-plus movie, Costner took a page from Bruce Willis' handbook and showed off his vocal skills (or lack thereof) by dueting with Amy Grant on Lovin' Spoonful's "You Didn't Have To Be So Nice" over the closing credits. We're guessing the six people who actually sat through the credits weren't impressed.
What the Critics Said: "Goofy and gee-whiz when it isn't being post-apocalyptic glum, it is such an earnest hodgepodge that only by imagining 'Mad Max' directed by Frank Capra can you get even an inkling of what it's like." -- Kenneth Turan, the Los Angeles Times
The Aftermath: Costner's post-"Dances With Wolves" directorial follow-up seriously cramped Warner Bros. earnings in 1997 and swept the Razzies, winning Worst Picture, Worst Actor, Worst Director, Worst Screenplay and Worst Song. Onetime golden boy Costner continued to make bad choices, including such duds as "3000 Miles to Graceland" and "Dragonfly."
3. "Town & Country" (2001, New Line)
Budget: $85 million to $90 million
U.S. Box Office: $6.7 million
The Plot: Peter Chelsom, who previously helmed the Sharon Stone dud "The Mighty," directs this middle-aged sex comedy starring Warren Beatty and Garry Shandling as very married men caught cheating on their wives (Diane Keaton and Goldie Hawn).
Turkey Trivia: If the words "middle-aged sex comedy" weren't enough to scare off audiences, then the long-term bad buzz probably was. Three years in the making, "Town" went into production without a script, a surefire recipe for disaster. Soon, its original $40 million budget was spiraling as the flick went through rewrite after rewrite, with Chelsom reportedly shooting a Cimino-worthy 1.3 million feet of film. The studio, which had bumped the film's release date a whopping 13 times, made a last-ditch attempt to reach its target market — women over 25 — by running a rare profanity-filled "red band" trailer before R-rated movies. It didn't work.
What the Critics Said: "It is one of the most chaotic and puerile movies ever made, full of tasteless adultery and some downright offensive vulgarity ... It is awful to see talented stars without a clue as to who they are supposed to be portraying or what they are supposed to be doing." -- Liz Smith, the New York Post
The Aftermath: Chelsom, who's currently directing Jennifer Lopez and Richard Gere in "Shall We Dance," remains bitter about the experience, telling the Post, "Warren insisted on dozens of script changes and reshoots. He now wants to pretend that he was just one of many actors following directions like everyone else. It's ridiculous and insulting." Beatty, who dropped out of Quentin Tarantino's upcoming "Kill Bill," hasn't made a movie since "Town & Country."
2. "Cutthroat Island" (1995, MGM/Carolco)
Budget: $100 million-plus
U.S. Box Office: $9.9 million
The Plot: A swashbuckling Geena Davis hits the high seas opposite Matthew Modine in a pirate movie directed by Renny Harlin. 'Nuff said.
Turkey Trivia: Michael Douglas was originally tapped to play the male lead, but jumped ship after Davis' role was bulked up by hubby Harlin. Keanu Reeves, Liam Neeson, Jeff Bridges, Ralph Fiennes, Charlie Sheen and Michael Keaton all reportedly turned down the role before Modine signed on. Among the little extras that helped push the original $65 million budget past the $100 million mark: Harlin commissioned — at a million bucks each — working replicas of battle-ready 17th-century ships.
What the Critics Said: "'Cutthroat Island' is a bloated, jokey production whose motto, no doubt tattooed on the back of some poor assistant director's neck, could well be, 'When in doubt, blow something up.'" -- Kenneth Turan, the Los Angeles Times
The Aftermath: "Cutthroat" failed to shiver anyone's timbers: It was yanked from theaters after a mere two-week run. Carolco, the company that financed the dead-in-the-water movie, went down with the ship. A year later, Davis and Harlin re-teamed for "The Long Kiss Goodnight," which also failed to ignite the box office. A year after that, the couple split up.
1. "The Adventures of Pluto Nash" (2002, Warner Bros.)
Budget: $90 million to $100 million
U.S. Box Office: $4.4 million
The Plot: Eddie Murphy is a suave nightclub owner tussling with the mob. Oh yeah, it's the year 2087, and his bar is on the moon.
Turkey Trivia: "Nash," which had been in development since 1980, sat on the shelf for two years before crash-landing in theaters. Murphy refused to promote it, though we can hardly blame him. What could he say about a movie whose trailer begins, "Somewhere between Earth and Uranus, you'll find Pluto Nash"?
What the Critics Said: "Eddie Murphy delivers his lines with that weirdly relaxed, fake-enthusiastic bonhomie that telegraphs, just below the surface, a what-am-I-doing-here? bafflement desperate enough to match Elvis Presley's in his worst bombs." -- Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
The Aftermath: "Pluto" took in a paltry $2.2 million in its opening weekend, with Variety's Peter Bart declaring it "Instant Ishtar" and adding that its opening "seemed more like a boycott than a bow." Murphy followed up with back-to-back bombs "I Spy" and "Showtime" before retreating to the safety of the kiddie genre, where he hit with "Daddy Day Care."
List of movies that have been considered the worst ever (http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/list%20of%20movies%20that%20have%20been%20considered%20the%20worst%20ever)
Box office bomb (http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/box%20office%20bomb)
http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/feature.jsp?V=3&SV=2&id=122244
So what is a flop? What does it take to make it onto this, our Top Ten all-time suckfest? In a business in which most films fail to make money, or even fail to get the thumbs up from jaded critics, noble failures do not count. No, to be a true flop, we decided a film had to fail in every sense of the word. There may have been worse films out there in your opinion, but each film here has inflicted lasting damage on all concerned with it. Financiers have not just lost but gone bust, and the trickle of punters duped into seeing it haven't left quietly, but run screaming from the cinema pinching their noses at the god-awful smell. And while you ponder over these turkeys that 'ain't just for Christmas', remember it's not a definitive list. There's bound to be another gem, coming along soon to a cinema near you (Gigli, anyone?).
Town And Country (2000) (http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/feature.jsp?id=122244&page=2)
With a negative cost of $85 million (that's the cost of the actual film before the studio starts shelling out for prints and advertising) and only $6.7 million taken after a month at the cinemas, T&C is reported to be, officially, the biggest flop of all time (with only 8% of its total cost recouped). Starring Warren Beatty as a man who cheats on his wife on their wedding anniversary, propelling him into a series of mishaps as he tries to resolve his mid-life crisis, this sex 'romp' struck a chord with US audiences - a jangling unpleasant note that kept them away in droves. Will film critics ever throw light on the word 'romp' historically being a presage of doom? It's the kind of word that suggests a lighthearted farce that was jolly good fun to shoot, but is actually not funny enough to be a comedy or weighty enough to be a drama.
T&C may have started with good intentions but its three year production hints at the kind of script problems, edits and re-shoots that suggest a film in crisis. "A little idea that looked good on paper, didn't work on the set, and only got worse the more money and talent was thrown at it", read a review in Entertainment Weekly. This turkey will have done nothing for the career of Warren 'Ishtar' Beatty, who is now associated with not just one, but two of the biggest movie flops of all time.
Psychedelic Cop (2002) (http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/feature.jsp?id=122244&page=3)
The story of an undercover policeman who finds he has a split personality. Didn't get to hear of it? Not that surprising as it was made in Hong Kong. Problem is, the Chinese didn't get to hear of it either. The film has made history as one of the biggest flops of all time by attracting fewer than 10 viewers. According to reports, it took a total of £26 at the box office. The South China Morning Post stated the movie was given a one-week run at a cinema in the Fanling district of the city, then given a 'limited' release on video (presumably to an audience of friends and relatives). The second worst-performing movie in Hong Kong was 2002's Colour Of Pain. Made by casino owner Stanley Ho, who bankrolled the project for his daughter Josie who starred in it, the film took £150 over a two-week run.
Heaven's Gate (1980) (http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/feature.jsp?id=122244&page=4)
Heaven's Gate nearly falls into the noble failure category. Riding the wave of Oscar success for The Deer Hunter (1978), director Michael Cimino insisted on creative control for an epic Western depicting the bleak struggle between wealthy landowners and impoverished farmers.
Cimino shot entirely on location, the sets were incredibly authentic and the message was post-imperialist, a visionary stance so soon after the debacle of Vietnam. Kris Kristofferson and Christopher Walken shone respectively as the idealistic lawman and hired gun, but the cost of the location shoot climbed to an unprecedented $36 million. When Cimino finally screened his first 219 minute cut to United Artists, the studio panicked - they had a elliptical, impressionistic art house film on their hands, with no real stars.
The critics had a field day, lambasting Cimino for his self-indulgence. United Artists pulled the picture, re-releasing it five months later and 70 minutes shorter. It bombed again. Today, Heaven's Gate may be regarded as a flawed cult classic, but it came at an incredible price. Cimino never really worked again; the Western virtually disappeared as a genre in the 1980s; United Artists, the studio founded by Chaplin and Mary Pickford, went bust. Perhaps worst of all, an entire generation of directors like Coppola and Scorsese were forced from the driving seat as Hollywood no longer agreed to bankroll risky big budget material.
The Postman (1997) (http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/feature.jsp?id=122244&page=5)
In 1990 Kevin Costner made Dances With Wolves in the face of overwhelming scorn, cynicism and plain indifference. It went on to win seven Oscars. He then made Waterworld in the face of overwhelming scorn, cynicism etc, and the film eventually went on to make a profit. Then came The Postman. After the box office dream team of Ron Howard and Tom Hanks passed on the project, Costner became determined to realise David Brin's fantasy post-apocalyptic novel into a modern day epic that spoke to the present.
With Eric 'Forrest Gump' Roth and Brian 'LA Confidential' Helgeland writing, things looked good. On paper The Postman was about epic, noble themes, the founding of nations, the strength of community in the face of oppression, how ideals can become larger than the man who invented them. But, as the joke went at the time, it got lost in the post. Costner mugged vaingloriously to camera, the film was long, vague and boring and, inexcusably for the writers, the dialogue a shambles. Post civil war America in Escape From New York was a brutal and believable place. In The Postman it was laughable.
Stars like Travolta have rubberballed back from worse but Costner, perhaps because his previous commercial successes seemed to be linked to critical acclaim, has never fully recovered from this one huge flop.
Shanghai Surprise (1985) (http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/feature.jsp?id=122244&page=6)
Two years ago Sean Penn was making a film called I Am Sam, in which he plays a ******** man fighting to keep custody of his seven year old daughter. The production company tried to clear a number of Beatles tracks to be used on the soundtrack, but in the final film they are all covers. Why? Because in 1985 Penn made Shanghai Surprise and the production outfit was Handmade Films, run by one George Harrison.
Back then everything had looked so good. Penn was said to be the best up and coming screen actor in Hollywood. Madonna was already becoming the biggest female pop diva the world had ever seen. And to top it all, the frenzy of tabloid speculation over their recent marriage had reached every corner of the globe. Released on New Year's day 1986, with a risible plot and zero on-screen chemistry between the newly weds, the real surprise came for Shanghai when it was instantly nominated as worst film of the 80s.
The film-makers had hoped Madonna would be taken seriously as an actor; no one considered it would take considerable acting experience to eclipse the kind of megastar baggage which accompanied her. With new husband Guy Ritchie's Swept Away going straight to video this year, it sounds as if the lessons of Shanghai have not been learned.
The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen (1988) (http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/feature.jsp?id=122244&page=7)
The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen is a Terry Gilliam film through and through. On the screen are fabulous sets, sumptuous visuals and fantastic creatures from the far-flung reaches of our subconscious. Off the screen, the story is just as exciting.
Filming began in Rome, where language difficulties and stifling heat soon translated into serious delay. The movie's completion guarantor intervened, and sued Gilliam for fraud. Further legal nightmares followed when a rival producer sued Gilliam's team for taking the re-make rights to the original 1942 German film of the same name. The production moved to Spain, but was still so dogged by delay that the guarantor finally shut the film down. Filming eventually resumed in England, with Gilliam still attached, but by now the budget had reached $45 million. The total US gross takings were $8 million.
Despite the production pressures, Munchausen is directed with a light and witty touch, but assembled terribly badly. The story takes too long to get going and when it does we are sometimes unclear about who is who or why we should care. Gilliam went on to make The Fisher King and his career briefly revived. But when it came to making his long cherished Don Quixote, the Munchausen experience came back to haunt him. Disaster followed disaster and even with Johnny Depp attached the film could not be saved. Gilliam is still reportedly looking for finance to resurrect the project.
Showgirls (1995) (http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/feature.jsp?id=122244&page=8)
"There are not enough synonyms for the word bad in the English language to allow an adequate description of Showgirls. This is, beyond doubt and without reservation, the worst movie I have ever seen". This opinion, gleaned at random from the internet is not untypical. Director Paul 'RoboCop' Verhoeven and writer Joe 'Basic Instinct' Esterhas claimed at the time it was a satire on the American dream. Everyone else, including presumably the backers, thought it was a great way to exploit the then new phenomenon of pole dancing on the big screen.
Populated with repugnant characters, absent of any real moral focus and featuring a fair amount of senseless violence, Showgirls failed in even its most basic objective by being totally untittilating. It still holds the record (13 nominations, 9 awards) for 'success' at the Razzies, or Raspberries, the unofficial Hollywood awards ceremony for each year's worst movies, including the not-so-coveted Worst Picture of The Decade award.
Cutthroat Island (1995) (http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/feature.jsp?id=122244&page=9)
Cutthroat Island was one of those films that should have died in pre-production, but somehow it limped onto the screen. After Michelle Pfeiffer pulled out, director Renny 'Cliffhanger' Harlin cast his wife Geena Davies as the female lead and went looking for a male star with some box office clout.
Harlin wanted to be the next Ridley Scott and he wanted his wife to be on the Hollywood A-list. Cutthroat Island was to be the ticket. Harlin cast around for a star and found Michael Douglas. Douglas agreed to board, as long as his part matched that of Geena Davis in importance and they start shooting immediately to fit in with his schedule. Harlin agreed and went scouting for locations, settling on Malta and Thailand, some 5000 miles apart. He built two life-sized galleons, perhaps the best decision of the movie since they were to provide the most (only) spectacular set pieces in the film.
With a budget already bloated from the scramble to get the sets ready and the logistics of co-ordinating construction on two different continents, Douglas discovered the script was becoming a vehicle for Davis, and pulled out. When Davis heard this, incredibly, she wanted out too but found herself bound to the project in a watertight contract. Desperate to keep his wife happy, Harlin scoured Hollywood for a new male lead. By the time every A-list actor had slammed the door, Harlin started on the B-List. Weeks later Matthew Modine came on board.
In the meantime all the stuff Harlin should have been doing: supervising construction, script changes, and crewing, went unattended. When he did arrive on set, he hated the sets and found the script 'unusable'. Nevertheless, shooting got underway. A cameraman fell off a crane and broke his leg. Pipes burst and raw sewage spewed into the tank where the actors were supposed to be working. Harlin fired a camera operator after a row and a dozen crew followed in support. And so it went on.
While some blockbusters benefit from negative publicity, Cutthroat Island sank. Occasionally spectacular effects were rendered meaningless by cue-card acting, laughable continuity errors and an appallingly clichéd script. "The film is too stupidly smutty for children and too cartoonish for any sane adult", wrote the New York Times. The $65 million budget had leapt to $115 million. To his credit, some of that was Harlin's own. The film was pulled from the cinemas after a month, making back a mere $10m. Carolco, the production company who had made the Rambo series, Terminator II and Total Recall, went bankrupt.
Hudson Hawk (1991) (http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/feature.jsp?id=122244&page=10)
"Oh come on, it's not that bad, honestly, it's not. You should go back and watch it again, I'm telling you", said Angie McDowell about Husdon Hawk, the 1991 flop in which she starred with Bruce Willis. We have, and to quote Barry in High Fidelity, "it sucks ass".
Silly coincidences, cartoon acting, unfunny jokes, unconvincing action scenes and zero chemistry - all the prerequisites of a 24-carat stinker can be ticked off as Willis plays a cat burglar who steals priceless da Vinci artefacts from around the world. In well structured movies, the plot gets more and more involving. Hawk on the other hand has the hallmark of a 'swimming trunks floating on the surface' belly-flop: a plot that, just when you think it can't get any worse, does. The film lost $47 million.
Incredibly Willis bounced back, probably due to the fact that he simply deadpanned his way out of trouble and refused to take the whole thing seriously. Comedy as the old saying goes, 'is a serious business'.
Battlefield Earth (2000) (http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/feature.jsp?id=122244&page=11)
Winner of the Golden Raspberry for worst film of the year, Battlefield Earth is so bad, it's just bad.
Combining an out-of-date visual style, ragtag special effects and silly dialogue, watching it was a "quite miserable experience", according to the LA Times. The New York Times was even more categorical. "It may still be a little too early to pass judgement, but the chances are good that BE will gain the reputation of being the worst film of the new century". Describing Travolta's pantomine alien the reviewer writes, "he threw his head back and let loose stage laughter that would hurt the ears of the bad guy in the worst trash series. Next to this, the eye-rolling clumsiness of his number in 'Broken Arrow' seems to be a miracle of nuance and understatement".
How is it possible to blow $90 million in such an amateurish manner? Travolta, described by some as the unofficial spokesman for the self-help religion Scientology, had been trying to get finance for a film of the novel written by the movement's founder, Ron Hubbard, for years. When every studio door slammed, he turned to outsiders (a Lebanese producer and a German backer) and waived his fee. Critics immediately suggested the movie was made in order to recruit new members, something Travolta flatly denied. In fact, only die-hard conspiracists could find any parallels between the film's plot and the religion's aims, but when it was revealed that the merchandising was controlled by a Scientology website and not the distributor, as is normal practice (did they want the e-mail addresses?), the idea never went away.
In reality, the timing of its release probably did more damage than anything. The film would have been smothered in an average month, but it came out at the same time as Gladiator. Travolta, who raised a few eyebrows when he said it was a cult movie, still claims he is thrilled with the picture and predicts a sequel...
http://entertainment.msn.com/news/article.aspx?news=131054
10. "Howard the Duck" (1986, Universal)
Budget: $37 million
U.S. Box Office: $16 million
The Plot: Based on Steve Gerber's '70s Marvel comic-book character and executive produced by George Lucas, this charmless, pun-filled fowl-fest centers on a smart-aleck quacker from another planet who's accidentally beamed into Cleveland, where he hooks up with punk rocker Lea Thompson, battles various villains using "quack-fu," and saves the planet.
Turkey Trivia: Lucas reportedly spent $2 million on the duck suit, in which eight separate actors waddled their way into film infamy. "Howard" also contained one of the most disturbing seduction scenes ever: After Thompson's character discovers a condom in the birdman's wallet, she coos, "You think I might find love in the animal kingdom?" Ew.
What the Critics Said: "The movie is too scuzzy to beguile children, too infantile to appeal to adults ..." -- Richard Corliss, Time
The Aftermath: Lucas escaped unharmed from the debacle, but director/co-writer William Huyck wasn't so lucky. Despite co-writing credits on "American Graffiti" and "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom," his career was effectively over. Meanwhile, Universal head Frank Price quit shortly after the film was released. Variety reported the news thusly: '''Duck' Cooks Price's Goose.''
9. "Hudson Hawk" (1991, Columbia TriStar)
Budget: $60 million-plus
U.S. Box Office: $17.2 million
The Plot: A reformed cat burglar (Bruce Willis, who also co-wrote) is blackmailed into stealing priceless Leonardo da Vinci artifacts. The heist flick features Willis and fellow thief Danny Aiello warbling ditties such as "Swingin' on the Star," which might explain this piece of dialogue: "I'll torture you so long, you'll think it's a career."
Turkey Trivia: Before a single frame of film had been shot, TriStar shelled out a cool million to construct da Vinci's gold machine, the film's first big sight gag. And once filming was completed, more moolah was reportedly needed to digitally buff up Willis' fading hairline.
What the Critics Said: "A movie this unspeakably awful can make an audience a little crazy. You want to throw things, yell at the actors, beg them to stop. But the film drags on, digging horrible memories into the brain ..." Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
The Aftermath: "Hudson" swept the 1991 Golden Razzies, "winning" Worst Picture, Worst Screenplay, and Worst Director for Michael Lehmann, whose career was heavily dinged. Willis, whose vanity project this was, survived several more bombs (e.g., "The Last Boy Scout," "Striking Distance," "Hart's War") and is still going strong.
8. "Ishtar" (1987, Columbia)
Budget: $55 million
U.S. Box Office: $12.7 million
The Plot: Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman insult the memory of the Bob Hope-Bing Crosby "Road" movies in this Elaine May-directed desert-set tale of two supremely untalented singer-songwriters who land a Moroccan gig but make a pit stop in the fictional kingdom of Ishtar. Soon, they're embroiled in an extremely volatile Middle East political situation, which, if possible, is even less funny now than it was then.
Turkey Trivia: Notorious perfectionist May spent months editing the film, reportedly turning in a print only when the studio threatened legal action.
What the Critics Said: "This movie is a long, dry slog. It's not funny, it's not smart and it's interesting only in the way a traffic accident is interesting." -- Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
The Aftermath: The stars, who pocketed a then-impressive $5.5 million apiece, emerged relatively unscathed from what was billed as the most expensive comedy ever made. Hoffman won an Oscar the following year for "Rain Man," but May never directed again, preferring to stay behind the scenes as a writer (e.g., "Primary Colors," "The Birdcage"). The film's title is now synonymous with movie bombs: Kevin Costner's gill-filled "Waterworld" was infamously dubbed "Fishtar," although at least that movie eventually broke even.
7. "Inchon" (1981)/"Battlefield Earth" (2000, Warner Bros. Pictures)
Budget: $50 million/$73 million
U.S. Box Office: $1.9 million/$21.5 million
The Plot: A truly dire moment in the Laurence Olivier oeuvre, "Inchon" finds the famed thespian committing multiple dramatic atrocities as he channels Gen. Douglas MacArthur in this failed Korean War epic. In "Battlefield Earth," it's the year 3000 and humans are slaves. In the campiest performance this side of a Judy Garland imitator, John Travolta plays a dreadlocked, platform-shoed 7-foot alien baddie named Terl, who was "groomed from birth to conquer galaxies." Too bad he wasn't groomed to conquer the box office.
Turkey Trivia: We've paired these turkeys together because of their spiritual connections. Namely, "Inchon" was produced by Rev. Sun Myung Moon (he of the mass marriages) and his Reunification Church, while "Battlefield Earth" was based on a novel by L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of the Church of Scientology. Travolta, a vocal proponent of the religion, was instrumental in getting the film made.
What the Critics Said: "The worst movie ever made." -- Multiple reviewers on "Inchon"
"A million monkeys with a million crayons would be hard-pressed in a million years to create anything as cretinous as 'Battlefield Earth.'" -- Rita Kempley, Washington Post
The Aftermath: "Inchon" was quickly pulled from theaters, and Moon has thankfully shied away from making more movies. As for "Battlefield Earth," Travolta had no remorse, even though the film collected seven Razzies, tying the record haul of "Showgirls." "The bottom line is that I feel really good about it," said the unrepentant star, who has threatened to make a sequel. Yeah, good luck with that. Travolta subsequently bombed in follow-up fare such as "Domestic Disturbance" and "Basic."
6. "Cleopatra" (1963, 20th Century Fox)
Budget: $44 million ($259 million today)
U.S. Box Office: $26 million ($153 million today)
The Plot: Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton begin an adulterous on-set affair that turns into a worldwide media sensation. Oh, the plot of the movie. Once billed as the most expensive film of all time (and might still be champion), this Joseph Mankiewicz-directed historical costume epic stars Taylor as Cleopatra and Burton as Marc Anthony. There are some truly amazing sets and a cast of thousands (literally).
Turkey Trivia: Four years in the making, "Cleopatra" went through seven writers, two directors (Mankiewicz finished it, reportedly with the help of some stress-relieving uppers and downers), and the near-death of its leading lady (Taylor came down with meningitis and had an emergency tracheotomy, delaying production for months). The actress received an unheard-of million-dollar payday to essay the Queen of the Nile, a fee that reportedly ballooned to $7 million with all the overtime. A four-hour version debuted to tepid critical response in New York in June of 1963.
What the Critics Said: "A monumental mouse." -- Judith Crist, New York Herald Tribune
The Aftermath: Though "Cleopatra" was the highest-grossing movie of 1963 and was nominated for nine Oscars (it won four), it wasn't enough to rescue 20th Century Fox, which was fighting to survive. To save money, the studio shut down for four months, forcing 2,000 people out of work, and sold off its expansive back lot. The era of extravagant historical epics was over, and Mankiewicz's career suffered the consequences. Oh, and Taylor and Burton married and divorced ... twice.
http://entertainment.msn.com/movies/article.aspx?news=131067
5. "Heaven's Gate" (1980, United Artists)
Budget: $44 million
U.S. Box Office: $3 million
The Plot: If you can untangle the epic plot, give yourself a prize. This much we know: Michael Cimino directed this Western based on the 19th-century Johnson County wars. It stars Kris Kristofferson, Christopher Walken, John Hurt, Sam Waterston and Isabelle Huppert. Beyond that, you're on your own.
Turkey Trivia: The film's original budget of $11.5 million ballooned as the out-of-control and unsupervised Cimino shot and reshot.
The egomaniacal auteur, whose contract stipulated that the film be no longer than three hours, ended up shooting 1.5 million feet of film, enough for several feature-length movies. The original cut, which debuted in New York, clocked in at nearly four hours and was eviscerated by critics.
What the Critics Said: "An unqualified disaster." --Vincent Canby, the New York Times
The Aftermath: The massive failure of "Heaven's Gate" forced the fire sale of United Artists to MGM. It also helped usher in a new era of corporate bean-counting, marking the end of a decade of groundbreaking cinema. Cimino, who had earned so much good will (not to mention a Best Director Oscar) for "Deer Hunter," became persona non grata in Tinseltown and was reduced to making lousy movies ("Desperate Hours," "Year of the Dragon") with a post-fame Mickey Rourke.
4. "The Postman" (1997, Warner Bros.)
Budget: $80 million to $100 million
U.S. Box Office: $17.6 million
The Plot: In a post-apocalyptic future, a Shakespeare-quoting mail carrier (Costner, who also directed) leads mankind to rebel against its oppressors. A grateful nation repays the messiah-like postal worker by erecting a massive statue in his image. Is it any wonder audiences guffawed at the riotously earnest trailer, which contained such clunkers as, "I don't think we ever really understood what letters meant to us until they were gone."
Turkey Trivia: In addition to putting three of his kids in the three-hour-plus movie, Costner took a page from Bruce Willis' handbook and showed off his vocal skills (or lack thereof) by dueting with Amy Grant on Lovin' Spoonful's "You Didn't Have To Be So Nice" over the closing credits. We're guessing the six people who actually sat through the credits weren't impressed.
What the Critics Said: "Goofy and gee-whiz when it isn't being post-apocalyptic glum, it is such an earnest hodgepodge that only by imagining 'Mad Max' directed by Frank Capra can you get even an inkling of what it's like." -- Kenneth Turan, the Los Angeles Times
The Aftermath: Costner's post-"Dances With Wolves" directorial follow-up seriously cramped Warner Bros. earnings in 1997 and swept the Razzies, winning Worst Picture, Worst Actor, Worst Director, Worst Screenplay and Worst Song. Onetime golden boy Costner continued to make bad choices, including such duds as "3000 Miles to Graceland" and "Dragonfly."
3. "Town & Country" (2001, New Line)
Budget: $85 million to $90 million
U.S. Box Office: $6.7 million
The Plot: Peter Chelsom, who previously helmed the Sharon Stone dud "The Mighty," directs this middle-aged sex comedy starring Warren Beatty and Garry Shandling as very married men caught cheating on their wives (Diane Keaton and Goldie Hawn).
Turkey Trivia: If the words "middle-aged sex comedy" weren't enough to scare off audiences, then the long-term bad buzz probably was. Three years in the making, "Town" went into production without a script, a surefire recipe for disaster. Soon, its original $40 million budget was spiraling as the flick went through rewrite after rewrite, with Chelsom reportedly shooting a Cimino-worthy 1.3 million feet of film. The studio, which had bumped the film's release date a whopping 13 times, made a last-ditch attempt to reach its target market — women over 25 — by running a rare profanity-filled "red band" trailer before R-rated movies. It didn't work.
What the Critics Said: "It is one of the most chaotic and puerile movies ever made, full of tasteless adultery and some downright offensive vulgarity ... It is awful to see talented stars without a clue as to who they are supposed to be portraying or what they are supposed to be doing." -- Liz Smith, the New York Post
The Aftermath: Chelsom, who's currently directing Jennifer Lopez and Richard Gere in "Shall We Dance," remains bitter about the experience, telling the Post, "Warren insisted on dozens of script changes and reshoots. He now wants to pretend that he was just one of many actors following directions like everyone else. It's ridiculous and insulting." Beatty, who dropped out of Quentin Tarantino's upcoming "Kill Bill," hasn't made a movie since "Town & Country."
2. "Cutthroat Island" (1995, MGM/Carolco)
Budget: $100 million-plus
U.S. Box Office: $9.9 million
The Plot: A swashbuckling Geena Davis hits the high seas opposite Matthew Modine in a pirate movie directed by Renny Harlin. 'Nuff said.
Turkey Trivia: Michael Douglas was originally tapped to play the male lead, but jumped ship after Davis' role was bulked up by hubby Harlin. Keanu Reeves, Liam Neeson, Jeff Bridges, Ralph Fiennes, Charlie Sheen and Michael Keaton all reportedly turned down the role before Modine signed on. Among the little extras that helped push the original $65 million budget past the $100 million mark: Harlin commissioned — at a million bucks each — working replicas of battle-ready 17th-century ships.
What the Critics Said: "'Cutthroat Island' is a bloated, jokey production whose motto, no doubt tattooed on the back of some poor assistant director's neck, could well be, 'When in doubt, blow something up.'" -- Kenneth Turan, the Los Angeles Times
The Aftermath: "Cutthroat" failed to shiver anyone's timbers: It was yanked from theaters after a mere two-week run. Carolco, the company that financed the dead-in-the-water movie, went down with the ship. A year later, Davis and Harlin re-teamed for "The Long Kiss Goodnight," which also failed to ignite the box office. A year after that, the couple split up.
1. "The Adventures of Pluto Nash" (2002, Warner Bros.)
Budget: $90 million to $100 million
U.S. Box Office: $4.4 million
The Plot: Eddie Murphy is a suave nightclub owner tussling with the mob. Oh yeah, it's the year 2087, and his bar is on the moon.
Turkey Trivia: "Nash," which had been in development since 1980, sat on the shelf for two years before crash-landing in theaters. Murphy refused to promote it, though we can hardly blame him. What could he say about a movie whose trailer begins, "Somewhere between Earth and Uranus, you'll find Pluto Nash"?
What the Critics Said: "Eddie Murphy delivers his lines with that weirdly relaxed, fake-enthusiastic bonhomie that telegraphs, just below the surface, a what-am-I-doing-here? bafflement desperate enough to match Elvis Presley's in his worst bombs." -- Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
The Aftermath: "Pluto" took in a paltry $2.2 million in its opening weekend, with Variety's Peter Bart declaring it "Instant Ishtar" and adding that its opening "seemed more like a boycott than a bow." Murphy followed up with back-to-back bombs "I Spy" and "Showtime" before retreating to the safety of the kiddie genre, where he hit with "Daddy Day Care."
List of movies that have been considered the worst ever (http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/list%20of%20movies%20that%20have%20been%20considered%20the%20worst%20ever)
Box office bomb (http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/box%20office%20bomb)