Hollywood’s biggest flops ever

In time for the goofiest of holidays, we present the 10 most overhyped movie flops of all time

By Sean Nelson

You can't judge a movie's quality by its box-office take. Then again, you can't judge it by the hype explosion that precedes it either: It seems that if studios spend enough on advertising, viral marketing and other sneaky techniques, even the most terrible cinematic dreck can be foisted onto the public consciousness as a "much-anticipated event." But every so often, the media blitz backfires, the loud advance trumpeting ends in a barely audible squawk, and an overhyped movie simply fizzles and is instantly forgotten. Except by us. Here are our picks for movies that received the biggest buildup for the smallest returns -- the ones that caused Hollywood to yell "April Fool!" to the world and quickly change the subject.

"King Kong" (1976, 1986, 2005)
"The Matrix: Reloaded" and "The Matrix: Revolutions" (2003)
"The Golden Compass" (2007)
"The Postman" (1997)
"Star Wars" Episodes 1-3 (1999, 2002, 2005)
"Howard the Duck" (1986)
"Cleopatra" (1963)
"Batman & Robin" (1997)
Special Award: M. Night Shyamalan (1999-present)

http://movies.sympatico.msn.ca/features/article.aspx?cp-documentid=472179

He really rips some of those movies. Of the Star Wars prequels he says...

Technically, "The Phantom Menace," "Attack of the Clones" and "Revenge of the Sith" were all big moneymaking hits. But at what cost? The unstoppable "Star Wars" marketing machine and a generation's worth of anticipation meant that everyone was curious, but as each subsequent film revealed the depths of mediocrity to which George Lucas' vision had sunk, showing up at the theater every few years began to feel like volunteering to have your hopes and dreams sucked out of you. Even the original trilogy was retroactively damaged by these lousy, unimaginative films. Way to kill the force, dude.

He's right on that one.

I liked Unbreakable and Signs was okay. The Village was pretty bad though.

What about Ishtar ??

I would have thought it would have been in the top 3 worst films of all times.

"...an overhyped movie simply fizzles and is instantly forgotten." --Sean Nelson

It's hard to see exactly what point Sean is trying to make here. Most of his examples are movies that were, indeed, highly anticipated and then not nearly so well liked by critics, but most of them were enormous box-office hits. And I doubt that any of them is exactly "forgotten." It sounds more like he just listed a group of films that he didn't particularly like or films he resented attracting such big public followings.

Or maybe it's all an April Fool's Day joke.

John

I liked the Postman and Waterworld

Quote:
It sounds more like he just listed a group of films that he didn't particularly like or films he resented attracting such big public followings.

Agreed.

Quote:
I liked the Postman and Waterworld

Damn! I was going to post the same thing.

"I pity the FOOL who thinks SWEPT AWAY was a Flop... Impressed? You should see my thighs."


"I need to find Uwe Boll for HUDSON HAWK 2... It's gonna be great!"


[Post edited by xplaytendo on Apr 1, 2008]

You did not like The Postman!

[Post edited by spoonard on Apr 1, 2008]

Quote:
You did not like The Postman!

I know I didn't! Long, boring and a waste of $8.

Ishtar and Howard the Duck rank a solid one and two in the perpetual cheese machine...

I will give honorable mention to Mystery Men

I agree Mystery men!

Godzilla?! A.I.(I loved it but flop)Yeah Star Wars,that hurt...Beatiful to look at,terrible to watch.(although it is better if you watch it in a different language,with the sound blasting,and an ice cold one in hand!!! can you say "cult classic trilogy!"

I love Mystery Men AND Howard The Duck.

That Battlefield Earth movie with John Travolta...and by flops you mean, they flopped on the box office...or else you call them disappointments, like 300 or Beowulf...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._box_office_bombs

Enough said.

Surprising looking over that list, but the films that were considered critically good that were flops:

Hart's War
Almost Famous
The Iron Giant
Zodiac
Grindhouse
Once Upon a Time in America

[Post edited by Tim Raynor on Apr 1, 2008]

Here's another list Tim...

> FYI - LIST of Box Office Bombs - includes original production costs, and domestic grosses [additional money earned from overseas distribution not included]

-JIMI (the Voodoo Child)

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FYI - LIST of Box Office Bombs - includes original production costs, and domestic grosses [additional money earned from overseas distribution not included]

Yeah Love, that one's is pretty close to the Wikipukia's list, and I was surprised to see a lot of people's favorite, "Fight Club".

"Try looking at me STRAIGHT IN THE EYES & tell me that I'm a FLOP... my EYES are UP HERE, Mongo!

Hey Xplaytendo... don't forget the forthcoming (4/15) 3-disc Blu-ray MARIAH CAREY concert set - $19.95 pre-order on Amazon... IF you're a fan.

-JIMI (the Voodoo Child)