Bringing a film to life is tough work, and naturally, various things can go wrong while making one. Inevitably, many films with difficult productions end up with a less-than-satisfying final result. Most things need to go right for a film to effectively “work,” and it’s fair to expect that most films that don’t end up working probably aren’t worth your time and/or hard-earned money.
That being said, there are benefits to watching movies that aren’t generally considered “good.“They can help you appreciate great films more, they can serve as “so bad they’re good,” or they can be failures in ways that are interesting to watch. Not every poorly reviewed movie is unwatchable or boring, and there’s an argument to be made that the following 10 films - despite all featuring Rotten Tomatoes scores under 10% - are actually worth watching.
10’Jack and Jill' (2011)
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 3%
Adam Sandleris a talented actorwho’s shown his acting chops - both serious and comedic - in a handful of great movies throughout his career. Not included among those great movies isJack and Jill, though, which sees Sandler playing both title characters: an everyday man, Jack, and his obnoxious twin sister, Jill, who threatens to derail his life when she makes her way back into it.
It misses so much comedy-wise that it might actually serve as a solid anti-comedy.For masochistic fans of bad comedy, it’s kind of awe-inspiring how lazy most ofJack and Jill’s jokes are, which of course makes it all the more surprising when you get the rare joke that actually works. Most come courtesy ofAl Pacino, whose extended cameo as himself is easily the film’s bright spot, thanks to its sheer absurdity and Pacino’s bombastic performance.
Jack and Jill
Rent on Apple TV
9’Movie 43' (2013)
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 4%
No matter how inconsistent sketch comedy movies might be, none look as bad asMovie 43. At least with most movies that are made up of various skits, you’re able to expect a handful to be funny… butMovie 43features 14 comedic short films overall, and honestly, none of them are particularly funny.
There’s a ton of talent involved, too, when it comes to the directors, writers, and actors who worked on these various sketches. The behind-the-scenes story of how this absolute mess of a movie came to be is far more interesting than the film itself, but of course, it’s a story best appreciated once you’ve endured - or at least tried to endure - one of the worst comedies in recent memory.It’s quite wild thatMovie 43even exists, which can make it genuinely intriguing, even if it’s a difficult film to actually finish.
8’Left Behind' (2014)
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 0%
Nicolas Cagehas had a very inconsistent career, as he’s appeared in numerous great movies and just as many bad ones throughout his almost 40 years in the business. Still,Left Behindmight be the worst of all, which is really saying something, as it’s a post-apocalyptic science-fiction movie that doesn’t work at all.
The premise is interesting, at least. It kicks off with a mass disappearance of millions of people worldwide in a possible religious rapture, with those “left behind” on Earth forced to deal with the chaos that ensues.However,Left Behindis unfortunately just too inept to be a genuinely exciting sci-fi/thriller, but holds value for being so bad it’s good in parts, earning a cautious recommendation for its unintentional humor alone… though viewers should be prepared for some boring moments throughout.
Left Behind
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7’Pinocchio' (2002)
There have been plenty of film adaptations ofPinocchiothroughout film history, but none have been as poorly received asRoberto Benigni’stake on the classic story in 2002. Benigni produced, wrote, directed, and - most bizarrely of all - starred in the film’s title role as a puppet who longs to be a real boy… despite Benigni being 50 years old at the time of its release.
Its baffling creative choices render it unsuccessful as a family film, but it ends up working as an accidental horror film because of how uncanny it is. For those who find the idea of a strangely energetic middle-aged man playing Pinocchio unsettling, this might well work as an unexpectedly good choice to put on for a solid dose of unnerving horror. Those who wanta goodPinocchiomoviemight be better off sticking to the 2022Guillermo del Toroversion while also avoiding theRobert Zemeckis-directed take on the character from the same year.
Watch on Hoopla
6’Jaws: The Revenge' (1987)
Jaws: The Revengeis the fourth film in a series that probably shouldn’t have ever been a series at all, even if the first sequel toJawsis generally thought of as decent. You can feelJaws: The Revengestruggle to sustain its ridiculous story for every minute of its runtime, and it makes for an interesting - albeit frustrating - watch.
Essentially, it’s the shark who wants revenge, and it travels a ridiculously far distance to target Ellen Brody and her family.Jaws: The Revengemakes for a truly silly and clunky movie, but at least the stupider moments are entertaining.The movie is only 90 minutes long, andMichael Caineis in it. Sure, it’s far froma great Michael Caine movie, but he’s fun here as always, andCaine’s comments onJaws: The Revengeare also quite amusing, making him overall one of the few potentially redeeming factors of the film.
Jaws: The Revenge
5'88 Minutes' (2007)
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 5%
A crash course in how not to make an action-thriller,88 Minutesis unbelievably inept. It stars one of the all-time greats,Al Pacino, and features what sounds like a decent premise: a forensic psychiatrist is tormented and hunted by a mysterious serial killer, who tells Pacino’s character that he has less than 90 minutes to live (hence the title).
It even takes place in almost exact real-time, which you think would keep the pacing consistently tight and exciting, but the execution is completely off. Almost nothing about88 Minutesworks, so really, it holds value if you want to learn how not to write a thriller, and/or find humor in movies that fundamentally don’t work on just about every front.Al Pacino has been in countless great moviesthroughout his lengthy and accomplished career, but88 Minutesreally can’t be counted as one of them.
88 minutes
4’Battlefield Earth' (2000)
A notorious box office disaster that likely hurt the careers of most involved,Battlefield Earthis one of the most bizarre and outwardlybad science fiction movies of all time. It tells a messy story about the human race being enslaved by a supposedly advanced alien race, features shoddy special effects, and presents most of its shots using nauseating Dutch angles.
Thankfully, it’s the kind of bad that’s funny more often than not. Stretches of the film may prove challenging, and you do really feel every single one of its 117 minutes… however, it’s worth it for the hilarious dialogue andJohn Travolta’s scenery-devouring performance as the film’s main villain.Battlefield Earthis considered one of the worst movies of the 21st century so far for good reason, and that makes it arguably one of the best of the best when it comes to so-bad-they’re-good movies.
Battlefield Earth
3’Sir Billi' (2012)
It might be a shame that this ended up beingthe last role of the legendarySean Connery: voicing the main character in a strange CGI-animated family film about a vet’s adventures with a group of talking animals, and that said last role ended up getting a0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
But isSir Billireally that bad? Honestly, not really. Is it good? Also not really, but it’s kind of fascinating, and rather than being called “so bad it’s good,” it might deserve to be labeled “so bizarre it’s good.” The humor is weird, the animation is often uncanny and creepy, and the whole vibe is just bizarre and even surreal.As far as poorly-made animated family movies go,Sir Billiis probably one of the “best,“and the bizarreness of its mere existence at all can be amusing, despite - or maybe because of - how off it all feels.
Watch on Vudu
2’Mac and Me' (1988)
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 7%
Mac and Meis probably one of the best-known notoriously bad family films. It’s seen by most as a fairly blatant rip-off of 1982’sE.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, which is one of the main reasons for its paltry7% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
And citing it as a lesser version ofE.T.is a fair assessment, asMac and Mealso features a story about an alien who befriends a young American boy after being separated from its own family.Still, it’s worth watching for the bragging rights of being able to say you survivedMac and Me, as well as for the fact that no matter what, it will make you appreciate the classicE.T.even more. Those who want a good mash-up of science fiction and family-friendly coming-of-age narratives might want to stick withE.T., butMac and Meis a movie that makes for an amusing contrast.
Mac and Me
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1’Gotti' (2018)
Gotti’s0% rating on Rotten Tomatoesis notorious and even something of a meme. It even became part of the film’s marketing, where it wore the 0% rating as an odd badge of pride, suggesting that reviewers were biased and didn’t know what they were talking about, and that everyday viewers would in turn be more receptive.
Truthfully, it probably just has zero positive reviews from critics because it’s really bad. It’s another messy film that stands as a shining example of how not to tackle a particular genre; in this case, the crime film. It’s poorly assembled, badly paced, and doesn’t exactly feature strong acting… yet does thankfully end up being bad enough to cross over into the realm of so bad it’s good.Gottiis not a good crime movie or a well-made biographical film by any means, but it is a fascinating train wreck of a film.
