Ranking the most notoriously terrible films ever made involves looking at critical panning, audience groans, and box-office disasters. From Ed Wood's classics to modern flops, these movies have earned their infamy through poor execution and unforgettable missteps. Vote to rank them by how bad they truly are.
What counts: Worst means lowest critical scores, biggest financial losses, and lasting reputation for awfulness; figures are approximate round numbers
▲ Rising
Ed Wood's alien invasion epic became the gold standard for cinematic incompetence with its visible strings and mismatched footage. The signature moment is the pie-plate UFOs wobbling across the sky while actors trip over tombstones. It earns the top spot by turning zero-budget ambition into decades of mockery.
Year: 1959IMDB Rating: 3.9/10RT Score: 67 %Budget: $60,000Gross: $1,000,000
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▲ Rising
Halle Berry's solo outing turned a comic icon into a leather-clad mess with zero stakes or charm. The infamous alley cat transformation scene sealed its fate as a punchline. It earns its place through sheer disconnect from audience expectations.
Year: 2004IMDB Rating: 3.4/10RT Score: 9 %Budget: $100,000,000Gross: $82,000,000
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▲ Rising
A film about goblins turning people into plants became an instant punchline for its title lie and green makeup effects. The dinner scene where a boy refuses to eat his family stands out as peak absurdity. Its reputation grew from word-of-mouth screenings showing how every frame misses the mark.
Year: 1990IMDB Rating: 2.9/10RT Score: 6 %Budget: $500,000Gross: $300,000
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▲ Rising
John Travolta's Scientology passion project delivered endless Dutch angles and purple-tinted sets that screamed expensive failure. The mining slave revolt scenes highlighted how little anyone understood the source novel. It ranks high for squandering a huge budget on pure confusion.
Year: 2000IMDB Rating: 2.5/10RT Score: 3 %Budget: $75,000,000Gross: $30,000,000
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▲ Rising
Tommy Wiseau's passion project spiraled into legend through its nonsensical plot and wooden performances. The rooftop scenes with endless football tossing became the defining image of unintended comedy. It tops many lists for how thoroughly it fails at basic storytelling.
Year: 2003IMDB Rating: 3.7/10RT Score: 34 %Budget: $6,000,000Gross: $5,500,000
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▲ Rising
The Bennifer vehicle collapsed under tabloid hype and a script that never found its tone. The infamous 'Gobble, gobble' scene became shorthand for career-ending dialogue. It lands here for combining massive marketing with total creative collapse.
Year: 2003IMDB Rating: 2.6/10RT Score: 6 %Budget: $75,000,000Gross: $7,260,000
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An all-star cast delivered a sketch film so tonally inconsistent it felt like a dare gone wrong. The segment with the leprechaun became the emblem of its mean-spirited failures. It ranks for proving star power cannot save a project with no point.
Year: 2013IMDB Rating: 4.3/10RT Score: 5 %Budget: $6,000,000Gross: $32,000,000
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Adam Sandler's dual role as siblings became a byword for lazy comedy and product placement overload. The Dunkin' Donuts musical number summed up the film's desperate energy. It earns its spot through sheer volume of groan-worthy moments.
Year: 2011IMDB Rating: 3.3/10RT Score: 3 %Budget: $79,000,000Gross: $149,000,000
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Sony's attempt to cash in on app culture produced a soulless product placement parade. The inside-phone world never justified its existence beyond marketing. It earns its place as peak cynical animation.
Year: 2017IMDB Rating: 3.3/10RT Score: 6 %Budget: $50,000,000Gross: $217,000,000
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Michael Bay's fifth entry descended into plot soup with ancient knights and endless explosions. The robot Shakespeare scene captured how far the series had drifted from coherence. It ranks for exhausting audiences with diminishing returns.
Year: 2017IMDB Rating: 5.2/10RT Score: 15 %Budget: $217,000,000Gross: $605,000,000
added by IJRin 2 rankings
▲ Rising
Josh Trank's grim reboot tried to be serious but delivered lifeless origin story beats. The final act body horror twist arrived too late to save the film. It earns its spot through total lack of joy or spectacle.
Year: 2015IMDB Rating: 4.3/10RT Score: 9 %Budget: $120,000,000Gross: $168,000,000
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Hollywood's live-action take on the anime classic ignored source material so thoroughly it alienated fans instantly. The spirit bomb scene became a meme for its cheap execution. It earns its spot for cultural misfire.
Year: 2009IMDB Rating: 2.5/10RT Score: 14 %Budget: $30,000,000Gross: $9,300,000
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▲ Rising
The sequel replaced the bus with a cruise ship and lost all momentum in the process. The villain's hacking plot felt like a step backward in tension. It ranks for proving lightning rarely strikes twice.
Year: 1997IMDB Rating: 4/10RT Score: 4 %Budget: $160,000,000Gross: $164,000,000
added by IJRin 2 rankings
Mike Myers returned as a self-help guru in a film that felt like rejected 90s sketch material. The elephant scene became shorthand for career miscalculation. It earns its spot through total lack of timing or charm.
Year: 2008IMDB Rating: 3.8/10RT Score: 14 %Budget: $62,000,000Gross: $32,000,000
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The sequel doubled down on talking babies fighting Nazis in a plot that defied all logic. The laser-shooting infant scenes sealed its reputation as bottom-tier family fare. It ranks for making the original look competent.
Year: 2004IMDB Rating: 1.9/10RT Score: 0 %Budget: $20,000,000Gross: $9,000,000
added by IJRin 2 rankings
Uwe Boll's video game adaptation featured Christian Slater fighting creatures in a plot nobody followed. The night vision scenes summed up its cheap production values. It ranks for representing the worst of game-to-film efforts.
Year: 2005IMDB Rating: 2.4/10RT Score: 1 %Budget: $20,000,000Gross: $10,000,000
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George Lucas produced this bizarre adaptation that mixed live-action duck suits with cosmic stakes nobody bought. The duck's cigar-smoking bar scene remains a low point in effects history. It ranks for wasting a beloved comic on pure tonal whiplash.
Year: 1986IMDB Rating: 4.7/10RT Score: 15 %Budget: $37,000,000Gross: $16,000,000
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M. Night Shyamalan's adaptation flattened a beloved animated series into wooden exposition and awkward bending effects. The opening narration set the tone for a film that explained instead of showed. It earns its place by betraying a passionate fanbase.
Year: 2010IMDB Rating: 4.1/10RT Score: 5 %Budget: $150,000,000Gross: $320,000,000
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A supermarket shelf come to life with celebrity-voiced food mascots delivered animation so cheap it looked unfinished. The villain's plan involving expired products summed up the creative bankruptcy. It ranks for pure visual assault.
Year: 2012IMDB Rating: 1.6/10RT Score: —Budget: $65,000,000Gross: $73,000
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▼ Falling
Joel Schumacher's neon-soaked sequel leaned so hard into camp it broke the franchise for years. Mr. Freeze's ice puns became the enduring symbol of excess. It ranks high for nearly killing a billion-dollar brand.
Year: 1997IMDB Rating: 3.8/10RT Score: 11 %Budget: $125,000,000Gross: $238,000,000
added by IJRin 3 rankings
The fourth entry sent the Brody family to the Bahamas where the shark inexplicably followed them. The finale with the exploding shark became legendary for its absurdity. It earns its place by tarnishing a classic franchise.
Year: 1987IMDB Rating: 3/10RT Score: 0 %Budget: $23,000,000Gross: $52,000,000
added by IJRin 2 rankings
▼ Falling
Nicolas Cage's remake replaced horror with unintentional comedy through bear suits and 'Not the bees!' The final confrontation became an instant meme. It ranks for turning a cult classic into a punchline.
Year: 2006IMDB Rating: 3.8/10RT Score: 15 %Budget: $40,000,000Gross: $39,000,000
added by IJRin 2 rankings
The fantasy adaptation delivered wooden acting and effects that looked like early CGI demos. The dragon-riding finale highlighted how little the film understood the game. It earns its spot as a cautionary tale for game adaptations.
Year: 2000IMDB Rating: 4.1/10RT Score: 9 %Budget: $15,000,000Gross: $34,000,000
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▼ Falling
The finale leaned into vampire CGI babies and fight scenes that felt like video game cutscenes. The final twist ending became the emblem of franchise fatigue. It ranks for stretching thin source material to its limit.
Year: 2012IMDB Rating: 5.5/10RT Score: 49 %Budget: $120,000,000Gross: $830,000,000
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▼ Falling
Eddie Murphy's sci-fi comedy landed in theaters with almost no marketing and even less laughs. The moon casino setting never found its tone or audience. It earns its place as a forgotten studio write-off.
Year: 2002IMDB Rating: 3.9/10RT Score: 4 %Budget: $100,000,000Gross: $7,200,000
added by IJR
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Wild that Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959) is winning this. Scroll down — the real answer is further down the board.
The criteria line matters here. Read it before you vote or you're arguing about a different list.
Voted, but this order is going to look very different in a month once more people find it.