The 1990s are far enough away that people can look back on this time in history with fondness and perhaps rose-colored glasses. Perhaps things were simpler and/or better in an era before the Internet dominated everyone’s lives, social media began to cause untold stress, and a global pandemic wiped out many aspects of daily life. However, films from the 1990s shouldn’t be discounted as seeming good just because of nostalgia, because many of them hold up well as classics and remain appealing even to those who don’t remember the decade or weren’t born yet.
But then again, not everything from the decade can be considered important, classic or even watchable. Every year produces its own masterpieces, but this is a kind of yin and yang situation, when everything good is accompanied by something bad. The price you pay for a lot of great 1997 movies is a lot of bad 1997 movies. And, given that the bad (and maybe the ugly) can be just as satisfying to look at as the good, here are some of the worst of the year in question, ranked from bad to worst.
10 “An American Werewolf in Paris”
How to make a sequel to a classic and endlessly wild/memorable horror film like American Werewolf in London? Answer: no. Absolutely avoid trying to catch such lightning again in this unique bottle, especially if you have the “wise” idea of doing it 16 years later, at a time when absolutely no one is asking for it.
Unfortunately, those behind the green light and creation American Werewolf in Paris couldn’t get that advice, so they went ahead and did American Werewolf in Paris. It’s not funny, it’s not scary, and while werewolves are completely fictional, they still deserve better than to have their species’ name attached to a movie like this.
9 ‘Generate’
As future entries will show, Generate was far from the only subpar superhero film released in 1997, as it was an exceptionally shaky year for what was then considered the subgenre. Its popularity these days, of course, means that “superhero” is more of a genre in general, and it’s certainly doing better lately than it did in the late 1990s.
It presents a darker than usual take on superhero and comic book films, leaning more towards horror than expected genres such as science fiction or action. Unfortunately, a lot of bad jokes and a lot of bad special effects hide much of what Spawn moving on, leaving it as something of a relic from the late 1990s that will only appeal to a very small group of people these days (and probably only a small group).
8 “Pest”
It’s hard to think of a less attractive title for a film than Pest, at least of all the options that do not contain profanity or any inherently disgusting language. Can you imagine asking a friend or partner, “Hey, want to go watch?” PestOr imagine walking up to the box office at a movie theater and saying, “Two tickets for PestPlease.”
In 1997, no one could have imagined that they could do any of this, and as a result Pestmade back less than half of its budget… and its budget was only $8 million. It’s trying to update The most dangerous game like a dark comedy, but fails to be exciting or humorous. No wonder it’s best to avoid Pest.
7 ‘Postman’
Kevin Costner So far he has directed three feature films. His first was in the 1990s. Dances with Wolves, which received widespread acclaim and an Academy Award. The third one was quite underrated in 2003. Open rangewhich, like Dances with Wolves, was also a Western. Almost in between these two films was his second directorial effort: the 1997 post-apocalyptic adventure film. Postman.
It might be fair to say that two out of three isn’t bad for Costner, but when it comes to the bad: Postman. It lasts a seemingly endless 177 minutes (Wolfgang Petersen could only dream of making it Story feel like that Endless), is surprisingly lackluster from a visual standpoint and contains the line: “You have a gift, postman.” What more needs to be said?
6 “Beverly Hills Ninja”
Of the unfortunately few films Chris Farley starred before his tragic death at the end of December 1997. Beverly Hills Ninja it was perhaps his least loved and was unfortunately his last film released during his lifetime. In it, he plays a man trained as a ninja in Japan who washed ashore as a boy many years ago.
It’s just a little sad that the film isn’t particularly enjoyable or particularly interesting as a mixture of action and comedy. Beverly Hills Ninja may have some value for those who consider themselves die-hard Farley fans, but anyone else would probably be better off just watching his other film instead.
5 ‘Mister. Magu’
Few actors have shone so brightly in comedies (especially in parody films) as Leslie Nielsen did. Airplane! And Naked gun are obviously classics, and a few more of his roles gave him a chance to shine and be funny/iconic deadpan, but Mr Magu was never a film that ranked among his most famous works.
It’s a Walt Disney live-action comedy about an old man - the titular Mr. Magoo - who farcically becomes involved in a robbery, only he has terribly bad eyesight. Almost all the jokes revolve around the fact that he has poor eyesight and is close to blindness. This doesn’t work very well in either a live-action movie or a feature film, to say the least (the character originated in a series of cartoon shorts).
4 ‘Steel’
As mentioned earlier, 1997 didn’t seem to be the best year to release a superhero movie, and this becomes even clearer when you look at Steel. This movie - what stars Shaquille O’Neal — holds the dismal record of being the highest-grossing theatrically released superhero film of all time, grossing less than $2 million at the box office (and having a significantly larger budget of $16 million).
It’s fair to say that O’Neal is a much better basketball player than he is an actor, because he can’t quite Steel…but then again, Steel doesn’t give anyone much to work with and is only suitable for people who want a particularly cheesy ’90s action movie; perhaps it is unbearable.
3 “Speed 2: Cruise Control”
Original Speed 1994’s is widely considered one of the greatest action films of all time, although its sequel Speed 2: Cruise control, this is shamefully bad. It replaces the limited bus from the original with an entire cruise ship, with a comparable plot that tries to up the stakes and scope, but doesn’t come close to being as satisfying as the first film.
Although Sandra Bullock returns, Keanu Reeves wisely stayed out of the picture, and the film really feels like something is missing without him. And although Willem Dafoe he can usually be relied upon as a great villain, here he isn’t given much and can’t make the same impact as Dennis Hopper was when he played the villain in the first Speed.
2 “Mortal Kombat: Annihilation”
Mortal Kombat: Annihilation was important in making video game movies more often considered to be quite bad. It was a sequel to the 1995 film. Mortal Kombatand while it wasn’t great, it also wasn’t terrible for what it was and had some entertainment value if approached with the right mindset.
In this sequel, a group of fighters battle an evil warlord who appears to have been inspired by Tears of fear song because he wants to rule the world. Even for a fighting game adaptation, there’s shockingly little plot or character, and even the fight scenes fail to be particularly enjoyable. This is undoubtedly a tedious film to try and endure.
1 “Batman and Robin”
Of all the iconic superhero characters, few have appeared in as many great films as Batman. The billionaire vigilante with a tragic past has always been an interesting character whose personality and world are inherently cinematic, although not all screen versions of the Caped Crusader have been huge successes, e.g. Batman and Robin demonstrates quite clearly.
Batman and Robin has its defenders and has generated such backlash over the years that some may call it overly hateful. Really, if you want to see the most corny and intentionally stupid take on a character imaginable, this might have what you’re looking for. But for many, this is too much and goes too far, and there aren’t many terrible ice puns that one person can make in 125 minutes.
Source: Collider
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