''Heaven's Gate'' (theatrical version, 1980) '' destroyed the reputation of director
Michael Cimino and bankrupted film distributor
United Artists, though re-edits of the film have been met with critical reevaluation. The
Western epic ''
Heaven's Gate'', loosely based on the
Johnson County War in 1890s
Wyoming, was plagued by massive cost and time overruns, largely due to director
Michael Cimino's extreme attention to detail. He demanded 50 takes of at least one scene and refused to start shooting for another until a cloud he liked rolled across the sky. It cost over $44 million, but brought in only $3.5 million at the
box office. The original version ran at nearly four hours, but was pulled from release after only one week due to scathing reviews. It later resurfaced in a 149-minute version, but by then the damage was done. The film effectively ended not only the existence of
United Artists as an independent Hollywood studio (its parent firm sold the company to
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where it operated until 2019), but also, largely, Cimino's career; initially considered a director on the rise after directing
The Deer Hunter (which won five Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director), his reputation never recovered after ''Heaven's Gate
. The controversies surrounding Heaven's Gate
s failure are credited for having a role in ending the "auteur period" of the 1970s, with studios subsequently taking control back from directors. After word of his grandiose spending and defiant nature toward studio United Artists got out (detailed in Final Cut
by Steven Bach, a studio executive involved with the film from the beginning), Cimino was awarded the 1980 Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Director, and the film was nominated for four more Razzies, including Worst Picture. In 1999, Time placed the film on a list of the 100 worst ideas of the 20th century, and Rolling Stone ranked it as one of the worst decisions in movie history. Readers of film magazine Empire later voted Heaven's Gate
the sixth-worst film of all time, and Vanity Fair'' included it in its list of the worst films ever made. In fall of 2012, the
New York Film Festival, the venue for its infamous opening, premiered the restored director's cut. In stark contrast,
The Times called the restored version "a modern masterpiece" and its 1980 cut "one of the greatest injustices of cinematic history". The film has also been released on Blu-ray and DVD by the
Criterion Collection.
Manohla Dargis of
The New York Times said that the film "has been called a disaster and a disgrace, yet also anointed a masterpiece." In 2023, the French magazine
Télérama ranked it 17th in its list of the 100 greatest films in the history of cinema, describing the work as "a post-classical, lyrical, and disenchanted Western".
The Apple (1980) The Apple (also called
Star Rock) is a 1980
science fiction musical comedy film written and directed by
Menahem Golan. It stars
Catherine Mary Stewart as a young singer named Bibi, who, in a futuristic 1994, signs to an evil label named Boogalow International Music. It deals with themes of conformity versus rebellion, and makes use of
Biblical allegory, including that of
Adam and Eve and the
rapture. Common criticism from both reviews that appeared in trade publications and major news outlets and the audience were a lack of originality, uninspired music, At the
1980 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards, the film received seven nominations (including Worst Picture) and won two awards: Worst Director (Golan) and Least "Special" Special Effects. Stinkers co-founder Mike Lancaster later selected
The Apple as the worst film he had ever seen.
The Saturday Evening Post listed it as the worst movie musical ever, and critic Tim Brayton described it as "A completely unadulterated bundle of the worst of cinema all spun up into one ball of madness. It cannot be described, and it can barely be experienced." Sean Burns in
Philadelphia Weekly wrote: "
The Apple isn't just the worst disco musical ever made; it could very well be the worst movie ever made, period."
The Apple was included in
Pastes
Bad Movie Diaries column, where critic Kenneth Lowe described it as "without a doubt the most cringe-inducing, the most mortifying, the absolutely most embarrassing feature we've ever watched." It has also been covered by the
How Did This Get Made? podcast and
Flavorwires
Bad Movie Night column and
Mental Floss listed it as one of the "Ten Really Bad Movies that Define 'Bad Movies'".
Inchon (1981) The
war film Inchon, directed by
Terence Young and starring
Laurence Olivier as General
Douglas MacArthur, was meant to depict the
Battle of Inchon during the
Korean War. Producer Mitsuharu Ishii was a senior member of the Japanese branch of the
Unification Church, whose leader,
Sun Myung Moon, claimed he had the film made to show MacArthur's spirituality and connection to God and the Japanese people. Its eventual production cost of $46 million resulted in a $5 million box-office gross, and
The New York Times review written by
Vincent Canby calls the movie "the most expensive B-movie ever".
The Washington Post described
Inchon as "one of the biggest commercial disasters in film history". Every conceivable kind of problem plagued production, including labor issues, the U.S. military withdrawing support due to the film's Unification Church connection, weather and natural disasters, customs difficulties, expensive directorial blunders, and the original director (
Andrew McLaglen) quitting before the start of production. Olivier's performance was criticized, and he was awarded the
1982 Golden Raspberry award for Worst Actor. The film itself took the 1982 Razzies for Worst Picture and Worst Screenplay, and Young's direction earned him a tie for Worst Director of 1982. A number of reviewers at various media outlets described
Inchon as the worst film ever made, including
The Washington Post,
Newsweek,
TV Guide, and the
Canadian Press.
Inchon was later profiled in multiple books on worst in film, including
The Hollywood Hall of Shame by Harry and Michael Medved, and
The Worst Movies of All Time by Michael Sauter. To date,
Inchon has never been released on home video in the United States although it was aired on the church's Good Life TV Network.
Tarzan, the Ape Man (1981) The
adventure film Tarzan, the Ape Man, loosely based on the novel
Tarzan of the Apes by
Edgar Rice Burroughs, stars
Miles O'Keeffe (who would later star in the 1982
Conan the Barbarian knock-off
Ator the Invincible, which
alongside its sequel featured in two episodes of the TV series
Mystery Science Theater 3000) in the
title role and
Bo Derek as his partner
Jane Parker, and is told from Jane's point of view. Despite being a box-office success, critics poorly received it upon its release due to its poor screenplay, bad acting, and unintentional humor.
Leonard Maltin, writing for his
Movie Guide, stated that the film "lacks action, humor and charm", and considered it so bad that it "nearly forced editors of this book to devise a rating lower than BOMB". Writer Thomas S. Hischak described it thus: "Produced and directed without a shred of talent by
John Derek,
Tarzan, the Ape Man often ranks high in the lists of the worst movies ever made." Film critic John Nesbit considered it "my pick for worst film ever", while Matt Brunson of
Creative Loafing wrote, "this cinematic atrocity truly is one of the all-time worsts".
Tarzan, the Ape Man was nominated for six awards at the
2nd Golden Raspberry Awards, winning one for Worst Actress (Bo Derek). It holds a 10% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 20 reviews.
Mommie Dearest (1981) (pictured in
A Place for Lovers, also on this list) regretted her
Razzie-winning portrayal of actress
Joan Crawford in the
camp classic Mommie Dearest, yet it earned a spot at number 41 on
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains.
Mommie Dearest, directed by
Frank Perry, was based on the
memoir of the same name by
Christina Crawford, about her upbringing by
Joan Crawford. It was the first film to sweep the Golden Raspberry Awards nominations, winning a total of five Razzies out of the nine nominations, including "Worst Picture" and Worst Actress (
Faye Dunaway, shared with
Bo Derek). The same organization also named it "Worst Picture of the Decade" in 1989/90, and was nominated for "Worst Drama of Our First 25 Years" in 2004/05. The film is part of the "100 most awful" in
The Official Razzie Movie Guide and Michael Sauter's
The Worst Movies of All Time. It earned, as film critic and TV host
Richard Crouse put it, "some of the nastiest reviews ever". Eric Henderson of
CBS Minneapolis named it at the top of his "Best 'Worst Movies Ever list. Roger Ebert wrote of this film, "I can't imagine who would want to subject themselves to this movie. 'Mommie Dearest' is a painful experience that drones on endlessly, as Joan Crawford's relationship with her daughter, Christina, disintegrates from cruelty through jealousy into pathos." Of the performance of Faye Dunaway,
Variety said "Dunaway does not chew scenery. Dunaway starts neatly at each corner of the set in every scene and swallows it whole, co-stars and all."
Vanity Fair and Rotten Tomatoes subsequently included
Mommie Dearest on their worst film lists. the film was a box-office success, grossing $39 million worldwide on a $5 million budget. It has a 50% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 46 reviews. The site's consensus reads, "
Mommie Dearest certainly doesn't lack for conviction, and neither does Faye Dunaway's legendary performance as a wire-wielding monster; unfortunately, the movie is too campy and undisciplined to transcend guilty pleasure".
Dünyayı Kurtaran Adam (The Man Who Saves the World) (1982) The Turkish science-fiction adventure
Dünyayı Kurtaran Adam (also commonly known as
Turkish Star Wars) was directed by
Çetin İnanç and starred
Cüneyt Arkın. It is notorious for illegally using footage from well-known science fiction films and shows, most notably
Star Wars, along with stealing the music score from films such as
Moonraker and
Raiders of the Lost Ark. The film is also criticized for its nonsensical plot, badly written dialogue, and crude special effects. It is also a fantasy
martial arts film, heavily influenced by 1970s
Hong Kong martial arts films from
Golden Harvest. Jos Kirps of
ArticlesBase called it "The Worst Movie Ever", and stated, "There are many bad sci-fi movies, and for many years movie addicts even considered Ed Wood's
Plan 9 From Outer Space the worst movie of all times. But
Plan 9 is still a pretty good movie when compared to
Dünyayi Kurtaran Adam."
Sabah called it the "world's worst film".
Hürriyet described the film as "sitting on the throne of the king" when compared to other "so bad it's good"
cult films.
Toronto Standard called it a "dollar-store Star Wars" and compared it to the works of Ed Wood. When it became apparent that the film had inspired an enthusiastic international cult, a sequel,
The Son of the Man Who Saved the World (
''Dünyayı Kurtaran Adam'ın Oğlu), was shot in 2006 and featured many returning members of the original cast and crew. The film was included on Time Out
s 40 Best Bad Movies Ever Made list. The appearance of Howard was criticized as being unconvincing due to his poorly functioning mouth and expressionless face. Reviewers also criticized the acting and humor and found the film boring. Dave Kehr of the Chicago Tribune'' said the movie's "crude, often embarrassing, sex jokes" seemed "out of place" with the more innocent aspects of the film. Jay Carr of
The Boston Globe claimed that "They Don't Get Much Worse Than
Howard, Glenn Heath Jr. of
Slant Magazine wrote that it "has a rightful place in the canon of worst films ever", and
TV Guide states it is "one of the worst big-budget movies ever made". It was featured in
Empires poll of the 50 worst films ever made, It received seven
Golden Raspberry Award nominations in 1987 including
Worst Supporting Actor (
Tim Robbins),
Worst Director (Willard Huyck) and
Worst Original Song ("Howard the Duck"). It won four trophies for
Worst Screenplay,
Worst New Star ("the six guys and gals in the duck suit"), Worst Visual Effects, and
Worst Picture, tied with
Under the Cherry Moon. The movie also won a
Stinkers Bad Movie Awards for Worst Picture. The negative reaction to the film took its toll on the cast, who found themselves unable to work on other projects as a result. Over time, the film has remained a source of fascination and developed "a small, but loyal fanbase." Howard the Duck has appeared in several
Marvel Cinematic Universe movies and series beginning in 2014's
Guardians of the Galaxy, in which he was voiced by
Seth Green.
Ishtar (1987) '' director
Elaine May Ishtar was written and directed by
Elaine May and starred
Oscar-winning duo
Warren Beatty and
Dustin Hoffman as an ode to the
Road to... film series featuring
Bing Crosby and
Bob Hope. Beatty and Hoffman star as Rogers and Clarke, two untalented lounge singers who travel to
Morocco in hopes of finding a gig. Due to unanticipated problems with filming in the desert—which resulted in numerous reshoots—the film ran over budget by $30 million. While its final budget cost was $55 million,
Ishtar earned only $14,375,181 at the North American box office, leading
Ishtar to become synonymous with "
box-office flop". It was also subject to harsh reviews from critics. The film was nominated for Worst Picture and Worst Screenplay in the
8th Golden Raspberry Awards, winning one for Worst Director.
The San Jose Mercury News claimed that "Time has not improved this film's reputation as being one of the worst ever made."
Time Out suggested it was "so bad it could have been deliberate", and called it "one of the worst films ever made", while
Ed Morrissey referred to it as "The
Citizen Kane of big-budget, A-list vehicular homicides." It was included in Michael Sauter's
The Worst Movies of All Time book, Rotten Tomatoes placed it amongst "25 Movies So Bad They're Unmissable" and
Richard Roeper included it on his list of the 40 worst films he had seen. The film has since become a cult classic.
Ishtar has seen a minor critical re-evaluation from some critics like
Richard Brody,
Gary Larson, who initially lampooned the movie in
The Far Side, said he regrets writing that cartoon because he based it solely on
Ishtars reputation, and that he enjoyed the film when he later watched it. As of December 2022, it is the only cartoon he has publicly admitted to regretting. Defenders argue that the studio did not back May, resulting in a
public relations disaster before it was released in theaters.
Leonard Part 6, starring (as well as written and produced by)
Bill Cosby, was intended as a parody of spy movies. Leonard Parker, a former
CIA spy, is brought out of retirement to save the world from an evil vegetarian who brainwashes animals to kill people. Rita Kempley at
The Washington Post noted the large number of Coca-Cola product placements and said "The only good thing about Bill Cosby's
Leonard Part 6 is that we didn't have to see Parts 1 through 5." Scott Weinberg at DVD Talk noted the film as "truly one of the worst movies you'll ever see ... movies this bad should be handled with Teflon gloves and a pair of tongs". By 1990, Dennis King of the
Tulsa World wrote that the film had "become synonymous with 'bomb.'"
Total Film and
Vanity Fair subsequently included
Leonard Part 6 on their respective worst film lists. Cosby became the first person to
accept a Golden Raspberry Award, and said "It was the worst movie I ever made – the worst movie anyone ever made".
Nukie (1987) Nukie is a 1987 South African film directed by Sias Odendaal (credited as Sias Odendal) and Michael Pakleppa, and starring
Steve Railsback, Ronald France, and
Glynis Johns. The plot concerns an alien, Nukie, who crash lands on Earth and seeks help from two children to reunite with his brother, Miko, who has been captured by the United States government. The film is considered to be a knock-off of
Steven Spielberg's 1982 film
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Witney Seibold of
/Film writes that "
Nukie is only remarkable for how undeniably terrible it is", noting that it appears on lists of the worst films ever made.
Comic Book Resources note that it is "regarded as one of the worst movies ever made", with critic
Brad Jones selecting
Nukie as the worst film he has ever seen, and
Red Letter Media calling it "Possibly one of the worst films ever made."
Total Film write that it is considered by some to be the "most painful movie ever made"; they listed
Nukie the worst kids movie ever made and one of the worst science-fiction films ever made. The film's co-director, Michael Pakleppa, referred to
Nukie as "the most wrong-gone thing [he had] ever done in [his] life" and feared that the final product was "the worst film on Earth."
The Garbage Pail Kids Movie (1987) The Garbage Pail Kids Movie is a 1987
live-action adaptation of the then-popular
trading card series of the same name, itself a gross-out parody of the then-popular
Cabbage Patch Kids dolls co-created by
Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist
Art Spiegelman. The film is often criticized for its
gross-out humor, nonsensical plot, poor explanations, bad acting, and the unsettling appearance of the Garbage Pail Kids (the title characters are depicted by dwarf actors in low-budget costumes, with poorly functioning mouths and expressionless faces). It has a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. On
Metacritic, the film holds a score of 1, making it tied for the lowest scoring film on the site. Caryn James of
The New York Times said the movie is "too repulsive for children or adults of any age" and is "enough to make you believe in strict and faraway boarding schools". Carlos Coto of the
Sun-Sentinel called it "one of the worst ever made". Internet critic
Doug Walker, best known for the series
Nostalgia Critic, stated in a 2012 video that it was not only the worst film he had ever reviewed as the Nostalgia Critic, but the worst movie he had ever seen overall, deeming that the film served to undermine its own moral. His mother had forbidden him from seeing it as a child, stating, "I, by all the heavenly blessings, thank my mother for stopping me from seeing this movie, because I'm very convinced that this movie would've taken away half my brain."; in 2025, Walker released an updated list of the worst films he had reviewed, with
The Garbage Pail Kids Movie once again taking the top spot. Much of the film's content is said to be inappropriate for children, its intended audience. Throughout the movie, the Garbage Pail Kids steal, get in fights, bite people's toes off, flatulate in people's faces, threaten others with
switchblades, urinate upon themselves, and run over cars. In addition to scatological behavior, the movie has several scenes that feature sexual images, violence, and drinking. Offended parents launched a nationwide protest of the movie that successfully resulted in the movie being withdrawn from circulation. The shortened release contributed to the movie's poor gross of only $1,576,615. It was nominated for three Razzies at the
8th Golden Raspberry Awards: Worst Visual Effects, Worst New Star for the Garbage Pail Kids collectively, and Worst Original Song.
Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 (1987) Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 is the sequel to the 1984 Christmas-themed
slasher film Silent Night, Deadly Night, which faced protests from parent groups and sharp criticism from
At the Movies hosts Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel due to its promotional campaign featuring an ax-wielding
Santa Claus. The film was a financial success despite the controversy, leading producers to enlist
Lee Harry to repurpose its footage for a new project; however, $100,000 was eventually allocated to shoot additional original material. Nearly half of the
Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2s runtime consists of flashbacks to the first film, narrated by Ricky Caldwell (Eric Freeman), the brother of the original film's protagonist, as he recounts events before embarking on his own murderous rampage. Emmett O'Regan of
Comic Book Resources also selected it as the worst movie ever made, and an article in
Paste asserted that: "in terms of filmmaking quality—it's hard to believe that in terms of pure, unadulterated crap, anything could ever surpass it."
Time Out and
Flavorwire later included it on their respective lists of the worst films ever made. David Cornelius of DVD Talk stated, "There's not one aspect of this movie that isn't the Worst Thing Ever."
The Standards
Bad Horror Club noted its status as one of the worst films of all time, commenting: "it's so preposterously badly made, terribly acted and ineptly constructed that it makes for some of the most fun you can ever have watching a movie." Sloane has embraced
Hobgoblins status as one of the worst films of all time, stating that he fears that it will be forgotten if it is removed from IMDb's user-generated bottom 100 list. After seeing the
MST3K episode himself, Sloane was inspired to direct
a sequel, which was released in 2009. In addition to IMDb,
Mac and Me (1988) Mac and Me is about a young boy in a wheelchair who meets and befriends an alien who has crash-landed on Earth. A box-office failure, the film grossed $6,424,112 in the United States on a $13 million budget. It used to have a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, whose critical consensus notes that it is "duly infamous" as both an imitation of
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), and a marketing vehicle for
McDonald's and
Coca-Cola (the filmmakers had admitted a profit-sharing arrangement with the former).
Leonard Maltin described the film as being "more like a TV commercial than a movie", with
The Telegraph reporting that it is "frequently pulled out in 'worst film of all time' arguments". Filmmaker
Morgan Spurlock (responsible for the 2004 Oscar-nominated
Super Size Me) declared it the "worst thing you'll ever see in your entire life", as well as the most egregious example of
product placement in cinema history. The film was also named the worst ever in the
San Francisco Chronicle, as well as by broadcaster
Simon Mayo and writer/producer
Damon Lindelof. Michael Hayden of
GQ India referred to it as "hands down the worst family movie in Hollywood history". The film was nominated for four Razzie Awards including Worst Picture and Worst Screenplay, and won two trophies: Worst Director for
Stewart Raffill (tied with
Blake Edwards for
Sunset) and Worst New Star for
Ronald McDonald in a cameo.
Mac and Me has however
gained a cult following and was featured on the second season of the
Mystery Science Theater 3000 revival (the only Razzie-winning film ever to be riffed in the history of the show).
Things (1989) Things, a 1989 Canadian
low budget,
independent,
shot on video horror
exploitation film, was written and produced by Andrew Jordan & Barry J. Gillis. It cost approximately $35,000 in total to make and marked the mainstream film debut of
porn star Amber Lynn. It was ostensibly made as
homage to horror icons and films, such as
George A. Romero and his
Night of the Living Dead franchise. Adam Symchuk of
Screen Rant writes: "While films like
The Room and
Birdemic seem to be constant contenders for the best 'so bad it's good' movie, [
Things] is the true unheralded champion among many
cinephiles." Likewise, Jeff Kirschner of
Dread Central nominated it as the worst movie ever made and
Will Pfeifer opined that "It's so terrible I can't think of another movie that even comes close." In 2022, RiffTrax concluded that
Things was the worst movie that they had ever spoofed. == 1990s ==