MovieChat Forums > The Dead Pool (1988) Discussion > so bad it's good

so bad it's good

posted 18 years ago by wjdygert
8 replies | jump to latest

i've seen this movie about five times over the past few weeks on amc. i don't think that i'll ever tire of watching it. it's a perfect storm of badness. anyway, my question is: if a movie is so bad that it's good, does it warrant a rating of 10 or 1? the dead pool isn't good in the way that sideways or a clockwork orange is, but it's certainly good in its own right. any thoughts?

and if you don't respond to this, 'you know what that means: you're *beep* out of luck'. sorry. couldn't resist. :)

[–] joekiddlouischama 18 years ago

I kind of agree. I easily consider The Dead Pool the worst film in the Harry Callahan series, but its parodic elements are amusing, mildly intelligent, and good for a lot of a laughs.

I don't think that The Dead Pool is "a perfect storm of badness," though. For that kind of laughably terrible film, see the Sly Stallone vehicle Cobra (George P. Cosmatos, 1986).

[–] c-huddleston 18 years ago

Don't get me started on Cobra.

I agree about the Dead Pool having parodic elements - the way Harry seems to be invincible, the poor (deliberately so?) choice of catchphrase, and the wearing out of his younger partner on a jog are all reminiscent of later John Wayne movies where he became the same kind of character. I think it was The Undefeated where his catchphrase was "Windage and Elevation", and McQ and Brannigan also portrayed the invincible cop - with Wayne as Brannigan more or less infallible compared to the Scotland Yard boys, as well as the toughest tough guy around.

In some ways it feels less of an Eastwood movie and more of a tribute to John Wayne!

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] c-huddleston 18 years ago

Absolutely, Cougar!

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] DoubleDeuce 18 years ago

The way you're describing this movie in a lot of ways throughout the thread sounds like it would fall under the "awesomely bad" genre. I don't think this quite qualifies, but "awesomely bad" constitutes such horrific quality yet such an incredible amount of entertainment value that despite the fact that it's a weak, or bad, film, it's still good in the sense that you are gonna watch everytime it comes on tv. Kind of like the trainwreck mentality- not pleasant yet I can't look away. ie, Roadhouse, PointBreak, Bill and Ted, Red Dawn, Cobra, etc.

"Good. Bad. I'm the guy with the gun."

[–] Harvestmoonman13 16 years ago

So true with red dawn...I think that is such a stupid movie yet everytime I see it on...I don't change the channel...why don't I change the channel? Why!?

[–] dirtyharry16 17 years ago

Great action film. Again, The Dead Pool has merits in its own right...I just hope you're not watching it just for laughs. That's taking it the wrong way.