50 Most Hated Movies Ever Made
Hell hath no fury like a fanboy scorned
Swept Away (2002)
The Movie: Guy Ritchie's wedding present to new wife Madonna - ditch the gangsters, and remake an Italian romantic drama on a Pacific island.
Why It Was Hated: Madonna's acting career has long inspired derision, so when she managed to bring down the reputation of Britain's hot talent, the knives were out even though the film never got a UK cinema release.
Typical Online Review: "I'm still fuzzy on why the director of Snatch and Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels took it upon himself to cast his then wife and a barely audible Italian man in a barely intelligible remake of an already shitty movie. Besides the fact that this film is in no way romantic, culturally relevant, or socially acceptable, the original source material is intercut with these strange dream sequences best described as the deleted parts of Madonna's later music videos." Spencer S, Rotten Tomatoes
Epic Movie (2007)
The Movie: One of the many genre spoofs concocted by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer over the past decade. To be honest, we could have picked any of 'em.
Why It Was Hated: The Friedberg/Seltzer parodies are universally reviled but this one - because it targeted fanboy faves like Harry Potter and X-Men - gets particular stick.
Typical Online Review: "A comedy is supposed to make you laugh right? I mean, isn't that the basic criteria? Well, this tragic piece of garbage failed to even present a single good joke. It's so lame, stupid and badly timed that it almost put my little brother to tears." Mike S, Rotten Tomatoes
Clash Of The Titans (2010)
The Movie: Remake of the 1981 swords 'n' sandals fantasy epic, with Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion replaced with CGI and Sam Worthington lopping Medusa heads.
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Why It Was Hated: Regardless of the usual (lack of) quality to be expected from cashing-in on a fanboy favourite, this earned extra venom for its appalling post-conversion 3D.
Typical Online Review: "Was there any tension? Action? Was there a soul? Nope none of it. For example in the original Perseus had to find the pond where the Pegasus would drink from. He had to get the invisisble cloak and the lasso. He had to not only capture the flying horse of beauty , he also had to tame it. It was amazing and breath taking. In this version , he just stumbles into a field of Pegasus , that are Zeus most pride possession and walks up to it and that is all there is. That is the kind of story telling this writers come up with." Samfilms, JoBlo
A Nightmare On Elm Street (2010)
The Movie: Michael Bay-produced remake of the Wes Craven classic, with Jackie Earle Haley donning Robert Englund's razor-blade gloves.
Why It Was Hated: The very words 'Michael Bay horror remake' can trigger a Pavlovian response amongst fanboys, but this one scored worse than most for ditching the dark humour of Englund's portrayal for a dour, brutal reimaging.
Typical Online Review: "It's amazing to me that filmakers can't summon up competent remakes of old horror films. Given the source material, and the advancements in special effects, a remake of "A Nightmare On Elm Street", should have been a slam dunk. Instead, it was a miserable, and often boring, disaster." Jason S, Rotten Tomatoes
The Matrix Reloaded / The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
The Movies: Cheating slightly, but it's too hard to call between the Wachowski brothers' two sequels, which added bad raves and philosophical talk to the original's action-renewing template.
Why They Were Hated: Reloaded confused everybody by splicing car chases with white-haired non-explainer The Architect; Revolutions simply bored.
Typical Online Review: "My vote would probably be Matrix Reloaded. Never have I been let down so much by a sequel. Matrix Revolutions was even worse. I'll never watch those abominations ever again." joeblow, avsforum.com
Godzilla (1998)
The Movie: Roland Emmerich followed up Independence Day by bringing Japan's marauding monster to the streets of New York... where it promptly gets lost.
Why It Was Hated: After widespread praise for its innovative teaser campaign, movie fans felt particularly short-changed by the lack of logic or imagination in the finished product.
Typical Online Review: "This movie proves several things: there is no sure thing in life, many very stupid people work in Hollywood, and plot does matter." Michael Lyle, IMDb
Van Helsing (2004)
The Movie: Stephen Sommers graduates from The Mummy to doing the rest of the old classics at the same time , as Hugh Jackman's monster hunter goes after Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster and the Wolfman.
Why It Was Hated: A barometer of bad modern blockbusters, Sommers was ridiculed for throwing way too many elements at the screen amidst slapdash CGI.
Typical Online Review: "Five minutes into this film I was already squirming in my seat. I've never walked out of a movie before, I think it's foolish to judge a film unless you have seen it in its entirety. Van Helsing almost had me running for the door. Many people have pointed out that this was only intended as a summer blockbuster, a no brainer with big SFX, lots of one liners and plenty of merchandising possibilities. That's no excuse for this pile of poo.." Simon McMahon, IMDb
The Spirit (2008)
The Movie: Having cut his teeth in movies with Sin City , comic book legend Frank Miller had a go at one of his key influences, Will Eisner's 1940s newspaper strip.
Why It Was Hated: The Miller-ised movie brought kinky costumes and grotesque black comedy to the fore, but lacked the panache that a true filmmaker might have brought.
Typical Online Review: "Thought this might be good from the previews. Boy was I wrong! Honestly, do yourself a favor and stay away from this movie. No plot, horrible humor and immensely terrible acting. We almost walked out, but were waiting for a glimmer of hope. Movie ended and nothing happened. I'd rather stare at a burning candle for two hours..." cali, Lotus Talk
Crash (2005)
The Movie: Paul Haggis' Altman-esque study of racial tension in multi-cultural Los Angeles was the big winner at the Oscars, upsetting a form book that had seen Brokeback Mountain win at every other ceremony.
Why It Was Hated: The Oscar triumph gave fresh impetus to voices who had criticised Haggis' film for its repetitive structure and manipulative button-pushing of political correctness.
Typical Online Review: "But even worse than that, the racism theme was so over-the-top, stab-you-in-the-head obvious. Is this what passes for great dialogue these days? Characters overtly proclaiming their racist stereotypes and then acting upon them? After 10 minutes I was screaming: 'OK, you're all racists ot racist stereotypes, I get it!'" Ramsey, Democratic Underground
Sucker Punch (2011)
The Movie: Zack Snyder's first big-screen original - a loopy fantasy of fetishwear, mental illness and massive action scenes.
Why It Was Hated: Snyder said it was a satire of fanboy misogyny - but most bloggers reckoned it was misogyny pure and simple. With random, boring action.
Typical Online Review: "i didnt get it- she was like dancing and they never showed it....and then shes fighting shit creatures and shit and wtf idk i fucking hated this movie" Vieda Boss, 'I Hate Sucker Punch' Facebook group