MovieChat Forums > General Discussion > Bad movies you like for the actors alone

Bad movies you like for the actors alone


Are there any movies you realize are a bit shit, but you enjoy them anyway because of the actors or a particular performance? Here's some that come to mind for me:

- Australia (2008): I found it bloated, tonally uneven, and playing to every Australian stereotype in the book, but with a cast that includes Kidman, Jackman and a truckload of local legends like Bryan Brown, Jack Thompson, David Gulpilil, Ben Mendelsohn and Barry Otto I can overlook its excesses and enjoy it for the thrill of seeing all these amazing actors in one film.

- The Hobbit Trilogy (2012-2014): I still maintain that there was absolutely no need to stretch The Hobbit into three films. New Line wanted a new LOTR trilogy and they would get one even if it meant padding each film with overlong sequences that add little to the heart of the story. Even still, Martin Freeman was the absolute embodiment of Bilbo Baggins, pretty much exactly as I had envisaged the character in my head when I first read the book in my early teens. He is very much the equal of Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen and Viggo Mortensen in terms of actors who fit into Middle Earth like a hand in a glove.

- Rhinestone (1984): There is no reason why a musical/comedy/romance film starring Dolly Parton and Sylvester Stallone should work.... and it doesn't. In fact, it's possibly one of the most hair-brained pieces of casting in the history of movies and the trite and try-hard script doesn't do it any favours either. Plus Sly sings, which is as fucking disturbing as you would imagine. I've still seen it numerous times. What can I say, I love them both, and in some ways I thank them for giving us this polished turd of a film. A true guilty pleasure.

Barb Wire (1996): No one seems to know what the hell they are doing in this ridiculous movie and I love it! Pam Anderson on a bike in black leather all shooty and booby with Temuera Morrison fresh off Once Were Warriors trailing behind looking like he just stepped on to the wrong movie set. It is stupid in pretty much every way. Thoroughly recommended.

What are yours?

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"The Good Shepherd" (2006). Overlong film but a great cast that includes Matt Damon, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Angelina Jolie, Alec Baldwin, Billy Crudup, William Hurt and Timothy Hutton.

"The Big Hit" (1998). Absolutely terrible film but Lou Diamond Phillips is a riot in it and Elliot Gould delivers a funny performance.

"Undercover Blues" (1993). Another terrible film but Dennis Quaid is funny it and Stanley Tucci should have been nominated for an Oscar for his performance. Every scene he's in, he's hilarious.

"Death to Smoochy" (2002). Comepltely disappointing film but it's got Edward Norton, Catherine Keener and Robin Williams.

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"Undercover Blues" (1993). Another terrible film but Dennis Quaid is funny it and Stanley Tucci should have been nominated for an Oscar for his performance. Every scene he's in, he's hilarious.


Tucci has a wicked sense of humour in real life, I always enjoy his comedy work. Haven't heard of this one though. I'd like to see it.

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I'll save you the trouble of sitting through a terrible 90 minute movie. Here is 10 minutes worth of Stanley Tucci in that movie. The only context you need is that he is trying to kill Dennis Quaid and Kathleen Turner, but he keeps failing.

https://youtu.be/PwBv2ZSJc5w

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Iron Man 2 for Robert Downey Jr
I don’t consider it really bad but it’s not the first Iron Man which was a gem in the superhero movies.
Still it’s a fun film and RDJ is great in it. I liked the scene where he meets Black Widow for the first time hehe.

MiB international and Thor The dark World
MiB Sure is as silly as you can imagine and The dark world has so many subplots that the film doesn’t know where it wants to go but i love looking at Chris Hemsworth in both movies

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The Room would be nothing without Tommy Wiseau in it!

These days, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves is only watchable because of Alan Rickman.

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Michael Wincott was entertaining in RH as well. Although he ended up playing the same(ish) character in The Three Musketeers not too long after.

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Gleaming the Cube (1989) - I think I only ever watched it because I had a crush on Christian Slater, and watched it not too long ago for probably the same reason



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I will watch anything with christian slater in it.

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Yeah he's so cool in this. Honestly it's like once a month that the thought crosses my mind of adopting his look from this movie and plastering my walls in punk rock posters, and then I remember how old I actually am.

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The Baby of Mâcon (1993) Ralph Fiennes

I wouldn't necessarily call it a bad movie as it's rated 7/10 on IMDb. But nearly every person I've spoken to that has seen this (or TRIED to see it) does not like it at all. I actually like it, for the most part. It is a very complicated to follow narrative and it's very graphic in the sex and gore department. It has 5 layers to it that at times, blend into one another which makes things very confusing. Plus it's main theme is about religious fanaticism and greed. And worst yet, it's told as a 17th century play. But oh my is it sumptuous to watch. The cinematography is gorgeous!!!! The rich reds and gold's of the church settings are so beautiful. But, if you're able to get through it and liked it enough to get through it again, multiple viewings would help to catch more of the details and understand it better. This is a very arty, art house film.

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Nice, April! I looove this movie. Big, big Greenaway fan.

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Wow. You are the ONLY person I've came across that's liked this movie. I guess it's because I've only ever spoken to Ralph Fiennes fans about it they are mostly only interested in his romantic films.

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I haven’t seen this one but I love Peter Greenaway too. The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover is a dead-set masterpiece.

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Absolutely. His whole body of work is so inspiring. One of the great auteur directors.

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Here is a link to the full movie. I like this one MUCH BETTER than the Cook movie. Let us know what you think of it. If you can get through the opening narration, then you should be able to watch the rest ok. The narration is very weird and hard to understand. But basically what he's saying is that the woman and animals are barren, the land is sour, and there's pestilence.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsRwsGzMWdc

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Cool! I even forgot Ralph was in this actually. I count the director, Peter Greenaway, as a very significant influence. Have you seen any of his other work?

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Yes, he's the reason I watched it. I've seen the Cook movie and that's it. Gross, funny, nice colors, the way the people's clothes change color from room to room, very odd director, the end was the best part. I didn't like the animal cruelty in it though. No need for that. And not a movie I'd watch more than once. I'll see if I can find a link for it and post it on it's board.

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Psycho Beach Party - this bizarre, beach-set murder mystery/comedy is pure unadulterated trash and knows it, but it also stars Lauren Ambrose and that alone makes it watchable for me.

Sucker Punch - I don't hate this film as much as everyone else, but I know it's not good. However, I've been a long-time fan of Emily Browning, so there's that.

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I love SP!!!! Very awesome CGI scenes!!!!

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I wouldn't say I love it, but I definitely enjoy it. But I think we're in the minority.

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I'm not a big CGI fan. But in this context, it was awesome. The story in and of itself is just meh. But I loved the "video game" aspect of it. And I'm not even a gamer.

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I surprisingly liked it too.

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Wow, there's more of us than I thought.

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Yeah it's become somewhat of an underdog cult favorite. It's funny though, I've heard so many people start out hemming and hawing about it being a guilty pleasure, "yeah, I know it sucks, but..." until they find out you liked it too, and then they admit how much they're really into it.

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I still stand by the fact it's not a good film. But I did enjoy it and I don't think it deserved the hate it got when it was first released.

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Winter, I think you need to see the Extended Version, which fleshes out the narrative. I watch this for Scott Glenn and Carla Gugino. American Gods has ruined Browning for me. The Blu-ray transfer is quite good, as is the DTS audio.

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I'll def see if I can get my hands on this version. How sad - I've been meaning to check out American Gods for a while now.

Thanks for the recommendation.

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Why Him? (2016)
Bryan Cranston, James Franco, Zoey Dutch, Keegan-Michael Key...
It's not necessarily a bad movie, but I "realize it's a bit shit" :D

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The 3 part Hobbit movie (which is not a trilogy, for reasons I am not going to repeat again) is an abomination. I lack your enthusiasm for Freeman. He’s better suited to gangster roles than he is to stories JRR Tolkien wrote for his grandchildren.

Rhinestone would have made a billion dollars, if only the 2 leads had gotten naked to the waist. In its last scene, it gives a precis of the gestation of rock n’ roll, from country/western to Rockabilly to full-on Chuck Berry ROCK N ROLL. I know no other film that does the same in such a small time frame.

Barb Wire is literally the plot of Casablanca with boobs. That’s a bad thing because . . . ?

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