What motivates people to watch BAD films?? (1 Viewer)

[Chris Lynch]

I know what motivates people to see bad films. Their girlfriends!
No, seriously, my girl was a fan of the novel Battlefield Earth , so of course she wanted to see the movie automatically. On purpose I stayed away from reviews, cause I think sometimes Science Fiction doesn't get a fair shake, but I could hear faint murmurings about it being a bad movie anyway. Well, I watched it, and while I didn't LOVE it, I did enjoy myself, for much the same reasons as PhilipG.

Let's take the case of Battlefield Earth. I thought the trailer was good, it had a decent enough cast (inc. John Travolta & Forest Whitaker)... ...I happened to enjoy BE as a piece of unassuming pulp sci-fi.

I sometimes give a movie a chance, because I realize, as some of you do also, that from time to time critics, the media, the consumer public, etc., like to find a whipping post in a movie or actor and just beat it down till it wimpers and oozes its pathetic death throes. Sometimes, they deserve it (maybe not to that extent), sometimes IMO they don't deserve it. So I'll see it anyway. Maybe BE isn't great, but who expected it to be? And who saw it? I've actually talked a few friends into watching it, and they enjoyed it as well (or at least they said "It wasn't that bad. Not as bad as I thought it was gonna be...). They stayed away from it before, because of word of mouth. And some of them had made fun of it before even seeing it. I called them on that.
Oh, I think it was mentioned earlier, I heard that not a single shot in BE was level, the director did it on purpose to convey some sense of something. (I've seen it, I can make fun of it.)
BTW, my girlfriend doesn't usually drag me to bad movies. I have a rare gift, in that she likes the same kind of movies I do, I think it has been 5 years since I saw a romantic movie theatrically. She made me go see the deplorable Mission to Mars but thankfully, she hated it worse than I did.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

I would pay good money to see Mariah Carey and Britney Spears doing hard core porn (heck, I'd buy the DVD). But beyond that, no thanks.

There's an interesting dichotomy that goes on in my head (well, interesting to me; the rest of you can just move on to the next post). If it's a bad big budget Hollywood schlockfest, e.g. Wild Wild West, I can safely skip it, knowing that it's a soulless attempt to sell tie-in toys. However, if it's a bad low-budget effort (especially exploitation), I'm all over it like lawyers at a train wreck. Maybe it's the fascination of knowing that these people probably lost their homes (and their parents' homes) committing their whole lives and risking everything to making something that they thought was good, but they were very, very wrong. Or maybe it's just the fascination of wondering why exactly people kept giving Doris Wishman money (though not much money) to make movies. Or maybe it's just the earnestness that's often on display through all the ineptitude.

Weird.

 

[Josh_Hill]

Posted by: Michael Perez

Mariah Carey, Angelina Jolie, NSYNC, ... Just to name a few of the reasons why some people want to watch these films.

Take that back! Angelina can act, the others cant.

 

[Kenneth]

Considering how many "Bad" movies I actually enjoyed I sometimes just have to roll the dice. At the risk of being permanently banned from the movies subforum, here are a few "Bad" movies I enjoyed
The Postman - I passed on this in the theaters after it was so thoroughly trashed by the critics, however, I actually enjoyed the movie on DVD. Although a tad pretentious (okay a lot ) I still found it to be an interesting entry in the post appocalyptic sci fi genre.
Red Planet - Again, I passed in the theater and actually found the DVD to be very enjoyable. Not a masterpiece but entertaining, to me.
Dude, Where's My Car - Okay, this is the one that should get me exiled What can I say? Was it a stupid movie? Most certainly. Did it have any socially redeeming value? Not by a long shot. Did I actually enjoy this critter? I plead the 5th
Kenneth

 

[ikiru]

How do you know its a bad movie until you watch it? Well, you say, just listen to the critics and friends that have seen the movie. Are you going to let critics and friends dictate which movies you watch or dont watch? I know plenty of people that didnt like Gone with the Wind. Does that make it a bad movie...I think not.

It just all comes down to the basic principle... "Items of taste ought not be debated"

-ikiru

 

[Terrell]

Also You can look at a 2 minute trailer and say, "The only way such and such film can not suck is if those 2 minutes are not in the film"

WOW! Brian, you're the only person I know of that can judge a two hour film from a 2 minute trailer.

 

[Shawn C]

The Postman - I passed on this in the theaters after it was so thoroughly trashed by the critics, however, I actually enjoyed the movie on DVD. Although a tad pretentious (okay a lot ) I still found it to be an interesting entry in the post appocalyptic sci fi genre.

I'm with you on "The Postman". I think alot of people went into that movie assuming that it was stupid just because it was apparently about "a Postman". I enjoyed the movie alot and it's NOT as bad as alot of people say it is.

 

[JoeDelan]

Why do we see the bad movies? Most of the time it's cause my girlfriend dragged me to see it...

Though, I did go see Wing Commander when it came out...NOT to see the SW-TPM Trailer...I was gonna leave but after paying $5 for the movie and $8 for the Popcorn and Soda, I WAS STAYING DAMMIT! Did I regret it? It could have been worse I guess...It could have been Glitter(No I did NOT see it nor will i EVER see it)

THat being said, I did pay $5.50 to see Bio-Dome...And I did that alone...Well, there goes my Theory...

Why do we see bad movies? Just cause...That is why.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

My approach to this is that I know I do not have time to watch the vast majority of films that are released. Therefore, I will usually pass on a film that gets universally blasted by the critics and online members unless (1) it explores a topic or theme that I have a lot of interest in, or (2) I really like one of the actors or the director.

I ended up watching Pearl Harbor (interest in WWII), The Grinch (loved the original animated featurette), and Armageddon (usually like Bruce Willis action flicks) for these reasons. I figure that they may not be as bad as everyone says -- I was wrong on the three above, they were all bad.

I passed on movies such as Wild Wild West and Battlefield Earth because I could not think of a reason to see them in spite of the horrible reviews. I may never know if these films are as bad as most people claim, but I can live with that. I miss a lot of good films, too, due to lack of available time.

 

[Rob Willey]

Unless you're a critic who gets paid to watch all films, good or bad, there's only one word to describe it: masochism.
Then again, that might describe critics too.
Rob

 

[DaveF]

You must understand, that the average movie-going fan, which is practically 95% of the people that see films, go to have fun and escape for two hours. They don't post on movie forums such as this. They don't take movies as seriously as we do.

I don't think that's accurate. In this group we have:

- Esteemed Owner, Ron Epstein, who regularly reviews, and recommends, movies like "Driven", "Fast and the Furious". Both of which are considered horrible by many people.

- A roving band of "Starship Troopers" who consider this movie to be intelligent social commentary. Many critiques, and myself, view it as just bad, B-movie schlock.

- Many lovers of "The Grinch", which was in the list of "Bad Movies" starting this thread.

- People who buy bad movies like "The Haunting" just to exercise their subwoofer.

One man's trash is another's treasure. I love the "Earnest Goes to ..." movies (Jim Varney, at his campiest). But those are masterpieces :p)

 

[Terrell]

Yep! It's accurate. Although I did get a kick out of your post.

 

[Scott Weinberg]

I'm confused. On that list of "bad" films, you list American Pie 2. I distinctly remembered you giving it a lengthy, glowing, great review, so I did a search to be sure, and sure enough you gave it 4 stars!

Good point, Tino! We can chalk that discrepancy up to a few things.
1. I saw AP2 again recently, and although it did make me laugh in several spots, it's most assuredly not a GOOD movie. (Going by things that generally make a GOOD film: acting, direction, etc.)
2. The website I write for does not allow for "half" stars, and I seem to remember feeling that AP2 would definitely earned a 3.5 from me.
3. That massive list I wrote up is not comprised solely of films that I consider AWFUL. Just bad, very bad or only somewhat recommendable. I'd say that AP2 falls firmly into the last category.
4. I have a policy of never re-editing my reviews after seeing the movie again. I like to keep them rooted in the mindset I had after first seeing the film. If I wrote a review for AP2 today, I'd give it 3 out of 5 stars, as I think it's a muddled middle-of-the-road money-grabber sequel...except for the simple fact that it made me laugh a handful of times. It's tough to really bash a bad flick if it makes you giggle.
I'm certainly not backpedaling, but I'd definitely call AP2 a "bad movie" that I would still recommend to comedy fans. (I felt the same way about several movies on that list, particularly American Outlaws and Bubble Boy.)
Hope that clears up my confused ravings.

 

[Seth Paxton]

Also You can look at a 2 minute trailer and say, "The only way such and such film can not suck is if those 2 minutes are not in the film"

Brian, now that cracked me up.
I gotta start using that one.

 

[Seth Paxton]

Kenneth, I also didn't hate Dude.
Of course I think it's a pretty bad movie, yet I still like the characters and think there was something there that could have been really funny. So somehow when I watch it I make it better in my head than it really is I guess.
But I'd never argue with anyone who hated it.
Shibby.

 

[David Rogers]

On the Ebert note, I'd agree with that. I used to review for a DVD Website, but ultimately quit because writing assine little reviews on the three obscure catalog discs that've come out that week got quite quite quite old.

Movies are fun when you watch the ones you want. When you're required to watch them all you begin to realise how many really bad films there are. Studios crank out lots of product, most of it not good.

 

[Ross Williams]

I love bad films! I can't tell you exactly why, it all depends on the film. No matter how badly a film has been trashed by critics or audiences, I'll never let that dictate whether I'm going to see it or not. It all comes down to if it interests me in one way or another.

For a recent example, it'd be damn hard to find a positive review for Pootie Tang, but I went out and rented it last week for one reason, I like Chris Rock. And you know what, I actually found the movie to be funny, entertaining and even slightly original.

I was one of the few people to actually see Battlefield Earth in the theaters. The #1 reason I saw it was because of the scathing reviews. I just had to see it for myself, I couldn't go another day without knowing what was so bad about it. It was awful of course, but it didn't stop me from enjoying it, the unitentional comedy kept me fully entertained.

But it didn't pass over into that fabled category of "So bad, it's good". This is by far my favorite reason to see bad movies, the hope that somehow a filmmaker has gone that extra mile and turned out a piece of shit so shiny that it glows. These films ride a fine line between being good and being bad. To your average film-goer something like Army of Darkness is a pile of crap. The plot-line is insipid, the acting hammy, the effects cheesy, but to those with the right film viewing glasses it's a classic.

The largest group of bad movies I enjoy are the explotation flicks. You know, the type of films that Troma turns out. If it's heaped with an extra serving of violence or nudity I'm much more apt to watch it.

The majority of the bad movies I enjoy are low budget fare. For some reason the more money they throw at a bad movie the worse it gets. It just falls further and further into that "It's so bad, its bad" hole. Having somewhat competent actors and director, with a budget, doesn't lend itself to inovation, and therefore becomes bland. Bland is much worse than bad.

I'll watch 10 Battlefield Earth sequels before another America's Sweethearts!

 

[JoeDelan]

Well, I think we all like bad movies that were made to be bad...And there are varying degrees of bad...

Alot of the Troma(Toxic Avenger, Class of Nuke'em high, Tromeo and Juliet) stuff I LOVE cause it is just SO bad.

heck, You want a bad movie people love? Look at Rocky Horror Picture Show...Terrible Movie but a Cult Classic...

Then there are the bad movies that are REALLY bad, Jack Frost(Horror Version), Wing Commander, Just about any movie with David Arquette(Ready To Rumble, See Spot run).

So I think the first thing we need to do is just define "bad"...Once that is done, then we can get an understanding of why...

 

[Bjorn Olav Nyberg]

So I think the first thing we need to do is just define "bad"...

There's another discussion we'll never see the end of
Because even if we could find a common definition, personal taste will still apply when we try to use it in real life...

 

[Neil Joseph]

I just finished watching The Fast And The Furious but judging from the reviews I read prior, I wa expecting it to be along the lines of Vertical Limit which I enjoyed a lot. Some people trashed them both but others wrote favourable reviews. I was disappointed to discover I did not like TFATF at all. It did not give me the adrenaline rush that Vertical Limit did.