These Movies Should Never Have Been Made
We love sci-fi, but you’ve got to admit that the genre has produced some major doozies. Here, are some of the most cringeworthy sci-fi flicks, ranked according to their IMDB scores.
25. Saturn 3 (1980)
IMDB Rating: 5.1
You’d think that a movie featuring Kirk Douglas, Farrah Fawcett, and Harvey Keitel would be a box office hit, but Saturn 3 was a colossal failure in that regard. The sci-fi movie was to awful that Keitel called it the lowest point of his career.
ITC Entertainment, Saturn 3 (1980)
24. Attack of the Killer Tomatoes! (1978)
IMDB Rating: 4.6
Critics hated this horror spoof, but it gained a cult following and did well at the box office. So well, in fact, that it led to three sequels, a TV series, and a couple video games. Fans love its blatant cheesiness.
Four Square, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (1978)
23. Species II (1998)
IMDB Rating: 4.4
Species II proves that as long as a movie makes money, it can give way to sequels—no matter how cringeworthy it may be. Critics panned Species, but it made enough at the box office to lead to the creation of Species II. The movie would turn out to be the worst addition to a terrible trilogy.
22. Atlas Shrugged: Who Is John Galt? (2014)
IMDB Rating: 4.3
This is the third film in the Atlas Shrugged franchise, but in this case, third time was not the charm. The movies were based on Ayn Rand's novel of the same title, but according to critics, she’d hate this adaptation.
Atlas, Atlas Shrugged Part III: Who Is John Galt? (2014)
21. The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002)
IMDB Rating: 3.9
In this sci-fi comedy, Eddie murphy is joined by stars like Randy Quaid, Rosario Dawson, Luis Guzmán, Pam Grier, and John Cleese. But the brilliant cast wasn’t enough to turn this into a good movie and it's now infamous for being one of the biggest box office bombs ever.
Warner Bros., The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002)
20. The Avengers (1998)
IMDB Rating: 3.8
This satirical spy film is a far cry from the Marvel heroes we’re familiar with. Uma Thurman and Ralph Fiennes star in the movie, and Sean Connery made an appearance, too, but the film still flopped.
Warner Bros., The Avengers (1998)
19. Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)
IMDB Rating: 3.7
While this was the last movie that Christopher Reeves starred in, it was far from good. Even Reeves had little hope for the film’s success and only agreed to act in it after the studio agreed to pay him $6 million. That pay check took up 35% of the movie’s entire budget, and the film was so bad, that Superman didn’t see the big screen again until 2006's Superman Returns, 19 years later.
Warner Bros., Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)
18. Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever (2002)
IMDB Rating: 3.7
In this flop, Antonio Banderas and Lucy Liu team up as secret agents who put their differences aside to hunt a common enemy. The movie was panned for its lack of coherence and exaggerated action scenes. Roger Ebert hated the film so much that he gave it half a star.
Warner Bros., Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever (2002)
17. Piranha II: The Spawning (1981)
IMDB Rating: 3.7
Nowadays James Cameron is known for cinematic masterpieces like Titanic and Avatar, but his directorial debut was anything but pretty. Piranha II: The Spawning was so bad that Cameron tried to get his name removed from the film’s credits.
Columbia, Piranha II: The Spawning (1982)
16. Cabin Fever (2016)
IMDB Rating: 3.7
If a remake is to stand a chance, a lot of time has to pass since the original hit the big screen. 14 years is definitely too early and while Cabin Fever was supposed to a reboot of the 2002 film of the same name, it was an epic failure on all accounts.
15. Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997)
IMDB Rating: 3.6
Based on the popular video game franchise, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation is the second movie in what was meant to be a trilogy. Unfortunately, it was so bad that the third film got nixed. The series didn’t get a reboot till 2021.
Threshold, Mortal Kombat Annihilation (1997)
14. The Omega Code (1999)
IMDB Rating: 3.5
This apocalyptic thriller is centered around the Antichrist, who’s trying to tale over the world with messages deciphered from the Bible. The film got tons of bad reviews but made enough at the box office that it got a sequel.
13. Stranded (2013)
IMDB Rating: 3.5
Starring Christian Slater, Stranded sees a group of astronauts defend themselves against shape-shifting aliens while their stuck in a lunar mining base. The idea was cool enough, but the final product was bombarded with bad reviews for its lack of originality and excitement.
Image Entertainment, Stranded (2013)
12. The Emoji Movie (2017)
IMDB Rating: 3.4
Did anyone really think a movie about emojis would be good? Despite an all-star cast that includes T.J. Miller, James Corden, Anna Faris, Maya Rudolph, Jennifer Coolidge, Jake T. Austin, Sofía Vergara, and Sir Patrick Stewart the movie still wasn’t fun to watch. It did do well at the box office, though.
11. Mac and Me (1988)
IMDB Rating: 3.4
Looking at the movie poster for Mac and Me, you can see that movie is an obvious rip off of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial—and that’s exactly why people disliked it. The blatant product placement for McDonald’s and Coca-Cola was another point of contention. Luckily for Mac and Me, while the film bombed at the box office, it’s since gained a cult following, thanks in part to being spoofed by comedian Paul Rudd.
10. Rollerball (2002)
IMDB Rating: 3.1
This remake of the 1975 movie of the same name missed all the sociopolitical messaging from the first film and focused too much on action. Critics and audiences hated it.
9. Steel (1997)
IMDB Rating: 2.9
Any movie that features Shaquille O'Neal as a superhero is bound to get some laughs. But the reception to Steel was worse than anyone imagined. The movie was a box office flop, earning back only $1.7 million of its $16 million budget.
8. Jiu Jitsu (2020)
IMDB Rating: 2.9
It may have been a bit campy, but the premise of Jiu Jitsu could have made for a cool film. It told the story of jiu jitsu fighters who defend the Earth every six years in a battle against aliens. Unfortunately, though the movie cost $25 to make, it made less than $100,000 at the box office.
7. Andron (2015)
IMDB Rating: 2.7
This dystopian sci-fi flick is a less cool version of the Hunger Games, where a group of young people are through into an arena to fight each other to the death. The only difference here is that the arena is a giant labyrinth, and that small difference does nothing to set Andron apart from its more popular inspiration.
6. Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace (1996)
IMDB Rating: 2.6
The sci-fi action film was a very bad sequel to The Lawnmower Man, which was pretty awful in its own right. Stephen King took the filmmakers of the original movie to court to take his name off the film because it deviated too much from his short story of the same name.
Warner Bros., Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace (1996)
5. Baby Geniuses (1999)
IMDB Rating: 2.6
The filmmakers behind Baby Geniuses thought coming up with a way to digitally make babies mouths move to look like they’re talking was brilliant. Audiences, however, did not agree. Roger Ebert gave the film 1.5 stars and pointed out the main issue: “Babies are cute only when they're being babies. When they're presented as miniature adults […] there is something so fundamentally wrong that our human instincts cry out in protest”.
4. Cosmic Sin (2021)
IMDB Rating: 2.5
Cosmic Sin was so bad that it actually made people question Bruce Willis’ talent as an actor, as even he couldn’t make this into an enjoyable movie. But soon after the film’s release, Willis tragically revealed that he had been suffering from aphasia and had to retire from acting.
3. Battlefield Earth (2000)
IMDB Rating: 2.5
When it comes to terrible sci-fi movies, Battlefield Earth is infamous. It’s based on a novel of the same name by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard and stars John Travolta, another scientologist. Unfortunately, the movie was a disaster all around. First, it was a critical and commercial flop. Then, Franchise Pictures got sued for fraudulently listing the movie’s budget as $75 million even though it was $41 million. The company eventually filed for bankruptcy, canceling Travolta’s plans for a sequel.
Warner Bros., Battlefield Earth (2000)
2. Disaster Movie (2008)
IMDB Rating: 1.9
While the movie is a parody, it was far from funny or entertaining and got obliterated by the critics. Disaster Movie was also Kim Kardashian's feature film debut.
Grosvenor Park, Disaster Movie (2008)
1. Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2 (2004)
IMDB Rating: 1.5
Baby Geniuses was bad, but it still made enough at the box office to inspire a sequel. But the sequel was even worse than the first movie, and in addition to being panned by critics, was also a major box office flop.
