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Just wondering what you think the worst movie directed by a great director is.
My list
Steven Spielberg - Hook. For me this is the only movie by Spielberg that disappointed me, Robin Williams was flat as an older Peter Pan, The sets look like set, it just seemed uninspired
Martin Scorsese - Kundan. Easy choice for me, this was dull, boring, and the subject matter was bland, I'm sure Scorsese had a reason to make this, but I have no clue why.
Ridley Scott - A good year. Like Kundun, this was more boring that any other Ridley Scott Movie, I think Ridley and Russel got board and felt like shooting a movie, it looked great, but was as exciting as watching golf.
Robert Zemeckis - Back to the Future part II. I loved the first and third, but this one meandered so much, it was too confusing for it's own good.
Stanley Kubrick - Barry Lyndon. The sets and costumes were great, but it was waaaaaay too long and Ryan O Neil is not a good lead, it's not a bad film but it is Kubrick's worst.
William Friedkin - The Guardian. This was awful, how on god's green earth could the director of the Exorcist and the french connection make such a horrible B movie, it wasn't even funny in a B movie sort of way, just boring and not scary.
Sam Peckinpah - The Osterman Weekend. Caught this at my mum's when I was house sitting, Still don't know why she owns this, I didn't get it at all, had to wait over an hour and a half to get to the Peckinpah shootout, until then it is a confusing mess.
Quentin Tarantino - Death Proof (Grindhouse). So much potential. Kurt Russel stole the show and the chase scene was awesome but that's about it. This was by far Tarantino's most pretentious film, even worse than The Man From Hollywood (Four Rooms). I can't count on my fingers how many times Tarantino name-dropped Vanishing Point, among others. We get it. Death Proof was inspired by Vanishing Point. Shut up already! Also, lame characters. The days of Jules and the Vega brothers are over. These girls were annoying as hell and their dialogue was horrendous and, even worse, boring. Even Stuntman Mike got ruined by bad writing. Tarantino's losing it IMO.
George Romero - The Crazies. - Boring. I can't believe this came from the same guy who did Dawn of the Dead and Creepshow. Not scary. Not thrilling. Not "crazy." Just a bunch of really lame political commentary and guys in hazmat suits running around shooting people who really don't look that crazy at all. Some consider this an underrated classic. It's not. Just pretentious and boring.
Takashi Miike - Visitor Q. - Miike is a movie god, plain and simple. Still, I never got this one, classic or not. Dark comedy? Sure. Just not that funny. Shocking? Of course, it's Miike. Still, shock isn't everything. There was some social commentary going on here as well but I don't think it did much for this one. And Japan's "no pubes" law was weird and random here. So was the film being shot on video. I might check this out again someday. Like I said, didn't get it but still, as of now, I think it's his worst film.
John Carpenter - Ghosts of Mars. - Lame. Not scary and the action falls flat. I also don't buy people walking around on Mars with oxygen-producing glasses (?) and nothing else. I think that defies several laws of physics. Enough to overthrow suspension of disbelief anyway. Bad acting as well. Not that either Ice Cube or Jason Stathem are Marlon Brando clones but these performances were bad, even for them. Carpenter should stick to horror. If not, stick to Snake Plisskin. That's what he's good at.
Robert Rodriguez - Spy Kids 2. Only because I haven't seen Spy Kids 3 and Sharkboy and Lavagirl just yet. Seriously, RR should stay away from kids' movies. His ideas are just wacky and stupid. Also, he puts good actors in bad roles. Steve Buscemi is a given as the token mad scientist but what's more unforgivable is Antonia Banderas as the dad. Even if you don't care for his acting, he's always top notch under RR's direction but here, he's just downplayed. RR works best with shoot-em-up. Every great director deserves to branch out but kids' movies just aren't RR's thing.
I loved Godfather III. If Coppola has a bad movie, it's obviously Jack. It's not funny enough to be a comedy, but its not dramatic enough to be a drama. It's sort of in this grey area between genres. The movie's main problem is that it can't make up it's mind what it wants to be.
I can't believe no one has mentioned Martin Scorsese yet. Gangs of New York. I hated this movie. It was long and boring, way too dramatic for its own good and Daniel Day Lewis' performance was so good that it made everyone else look so flat and wooden, especially Cameron Diaz. These historical epics have never been up my alley, and if the great Scorsese can't make one work for me, then I guess no one can. Also give a special mention to Raging Bull. I know everyone loves this movie and it's considered among the best of all time, but I really didn't like it at all.
I have to disagree with Barry Lyndon because Eyes Wide Shut is Kubrick's worst movie. I think this title is too long (just like the movie) - remove the Wide and that about describes the experience. Not even an orgy can save this movie.
Other Directors
James Cameron - Piranha II - Yes he did make this movie. And yes, it was about flying carnivorous fish. But it bit the big one.
Tim Burton - Planet of the Apes - I couldn't figure out what the hell he was thinking when he made this movie, and even if I could figure it out - I'm not sure I want to know. This film made a confusing mess of an excellent premise.
Sorry, I love Evil Dead, but the third one was too focues on being goofy that it is rather weak. It's cheesy, but not in the charming low budget way that the previous two were. Rather it's kind of plays like a Goosebumps episode for adults.
David Cronenberg - Crash. The cover of the DVD said "sex and car crashes" Whoa mama, that sounded like my type of movie, but it was soooooo boring, the sex was, well, not erotic at all, it was not even attractive, and Holly Hunter needs to buy a razor, or a weedwacker, lots of work needs to be done.
John Carpenter - The Village of the damned. This is by far his worst and most dull film, little white haired kids with glowing eyes that make old drunks fall off ladders. This moved at a snails pace and had not a single scare, a very boring film.
Jonathan Demme - Beloved. How does the director of the silence of the lambs and Philadelphia make such a long boring confusing film. This was hard to sit through, boring to watch, after 2 hrs I turned it off, just total garbage.
Let's not forget the mother of all movie turds, Coppola's The Godfather III.
I pretend this one never happened.
Haha, couldn't agree more. For me, Sofia's acting basically ruined that movie. As somebody mentioned on IMDB: Even a sock puppet would have done a better job.
Robert Zemeckis - What Lies Beneath. The last two Back to the Future movies weren't all that great, but this one takes the cake in my opinion.
Too long, overly complicated plot and just not as scary as it could have been. There were things that were good about it, it's not exactly a bad film, Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford do what they can, but they're not enough to make up for all the movie's other faults. I spose Zemeckis had to do something while Tom Hanks was losing all the weight for Cast Away. Still doesn't quite explain what Zemeckis was thinking with this one, though. One of the few smudges on his resume.
Gus Van Sant's - Gerry. Straight from the WTF were they thinking category. This movie was so bad I had to keep watching it to see if it could possibly maintain such a God-awful standard until the end, and by Christ it did. What the hell was Matt Damon doing in it?
Van Sant then followed it up with the pointless 'Elephant'.
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Great director's worst movie
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