The John Carter failure got me thinking about other movies that were financial flops, but were still pretty damn good movies. Here's a few that I can think of off the bat. The Thing (1982) Budget: $15,000,000 (estimated) Gross: $19,629,760 (Worldwide) When John Carpenter's The Thing was originally released it was considered a failure for Universal. Yet it's considered one of the best horror movies ever made, and is arguably John Carpenter's best film of his career. This is definitely one of my all-time favorite films. Often imitated, it's excellent atmosphere of paranoia and atmosphere has rarely been matched. Waterworld (1995) Budget: $175,000,000 (estimated) Gross: $264,218,220 (Worldwide) At the time of its release this was lambasted by the critics as one of the biggest Hollywood failures ever. Yet the numbers show that it actually made a small profit. I've always liked this movie. While the story is a rip-off of The Road Warrior but set on the ocean, it's still an entertaining movie with lots of action, humor, and giant set pieces. Beautifully photographed and a lot of fun if you don't take it too seriously. The Postman (1997) Budget: $80,000,000 (estimated) Gross: $17,626,234 (USA) Without a doubt the biggest financial disaster of Kevin Costner's career. But like John Carter, I feel this is another example of a studio mishandling the marketing (i.e. not doing any at all!). For whatever reason the studio did nothing to promote this film and seemed to let it die right from the very beginning. While not a great film, it's still an entertaining movie with a few missteps along the way. The script is a mess and Costner's direction is hit or miss, but the action sequences were well done and the location photography is stunning. Will Patton is also a hoot at General Bethlehem. Not a great movie, but not a terrible movie either. Serenity (2005) Budget: $40,000,000 (estimated) Gross: $38,849,097 (Worldwide) The big film adaptation of the failed TV show Firefly was supposed to launch a new film franchise. Unfortunately, just like how Fox had no idea how to market their little space western TV show and let it die, so did Universal as they seemed to have no clue in how to market this movie to mass audiences. Critics generally liked the movie, but it failed quickly at the box office. While never achieving the epic status that Joss Whedon intended, it was still a fun, action-packed film that captured the spirit of the original TV show.
Can't have a thread about entertaining movies that didn't do so well at the box office without mentioning It's a Wonderful Life.
Here is a list of notable box office bombs. Let's see...most on the list deserved to go down...but these few I thought should've been received better... Cutthroat Island Speed Racer Green Lantern Strange Days Man on the Moon
Battlefield earth isn't even so bad its good, its just bad. I'm looking forward to the hilarity of that 'space prison' movie coming out next month.
Some real fun movies on Paladin's list - Baron Munchhausen, 13th Warrior, Krull, 3000 Miles to Graceland, Scott Pilgrim, Mystery Men... Hell Hudson Hawk has a small cult following. Lots of them fail because of marketing - I'm convinced that John Carter would have done better if they had any idea how to market it.
As an adaptation, You are right, Starship Troopers was terrible and a disgrace. But as a mindless popcorn flick, it was pretty damn entertaining.
You mean Lockout, which should be subtitled "Escape from New York only in Space this time." It almost seems like it could've been an Escape sequel. I'm amused that the main character is not Snake, but Snow.
If it doesn't end with the President booting up a flash drive full of magic secrets, and all that's on it, is an MP3 of "bandstand boogie", then, walk out.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.... I know, I know.... it's an all around horribly bad movie. But it's just so bad, and so overacted that it's great fun to watch... And you get Patrick Stewart, Brad Dourif, Dean Stockwell, Max von Sydow, Leonardo Cimino, and Jose Ferrer all in one movie, and then add in Sting, Kyle MacLachlan, Linda Hunt, and Sean Young. Could you get a more eclectic cast in a movie?
I dunno about this one. I liked it. A lot of my friends liked it. In fact I found it on DVD and snatched it up. However this one takes a bit to enjoy it. It is not necessarily a film for everyone. My son, who generally digs eveything you would expect an evil genius to dig, just couldn't get into this one. Oh and I'd love to have a copy of the map to hang in my living room, but the reproductions I have seen cost $100. So screw that.
