Worst movies by your favorite directors?

Barry Sonnenfeld - Men in Black 2

Perhaps a light weight choice in many a person's opinion, yet I truly felt that after the first film had closed that a near indominatible series of films could have and should have followed. Not since or before the first Men in Black had a film thrilled audiences or made them laugh like the original Ghostbusters. Barry Sonnenfeld has since fallen from grace worse than Mr. Glass down a flight of stairs, but everything prior to the first Men in Black was from good-to-great in quality (sans the Michael J. Fox rom-com). And the original shooting draft of the script, with the WTC centerpiece still intact, received raves from both Will Smith and Drew McWeeny (Moriarty of AICN). Perhaps the story's unfortunate dependency on two buildings that would later fall victim to an attack worse than Pearl Harbor is the real culprit... or Barry Fanaro's rewrite. Either way, the film turned out to be one of the worst, most phoned-in and commercially-driven sequels I have ever seen.

Brian De Palma - Phantom of the Paradise

To be honest, I haven't seen it, so I probably should refrain from even posting this. I do know that Brian has definitely made some fowl films in his directorial career, and most people say this is even worse than Bonfire of the Vanities. And to clarify, I'm a huge fan of Blow Out, The Untouchables, Scarface, and Carlito's Way, among some of his other great films.

Steven Spielberg - The Lost World

Aside from the dinosaur poaching scene, the rest of the film was thoroughly disappointing and worst of all, boring. This is coming from someone who was a giant fan of the first one as a kid (3rd Grade specifically when it released).

Stanley Donen's Saturn 3 and Amityville 3-d, which was directed by the guy who did the original Dr. Doolittle with Rex Harrison, are also both huge failures from otherwise accomplished directors, even though I'm not exactly crazy for their successes (screw me, I'm just not a giant fan of Singing in the Rain nor Charade, though I admittedly haven't sat down to watch either one beginning-to-end).

dude, Phantom of the Paradise is kick ass, probably one of his best, classic 'till the end...

David Lynch - Mullholland Drive: okay okay, best non-rated-x lesbian scene ever, but just fucking horible over all...
Hal Hartley - No Such Thing: albeit maybe a bit experimental, doesn't hold a candle to his earlier stuff...
James Cameron - for that fucking boat movie...
Roman Polanski - The Ninth Gate: okay wtf, worst ending ever, maybe like one scene was polanski worthy, the rest was a crap sandwich...
Ridley Scott - 1492: yeah, i had forgotten about it too...
George Lucas - EPI, only to be outdone by EPII...
Danny Boyle - The Beach: lame lame lame, Carlisle's cool though...
Wes Craven - Music of the Heart: what... the.. fuck...

Spielberg -- I've got a soft spot for 1941, so I'd have to go with Always. Just an absolutely pointless remake that evaporates from your mind so quickly a lot of people forget he even made it.

My two favorite directors don't actually have any flicks that are genuinely bad.

Peter Jackson--Meet the Feebles

Joel and Ethan Coen--The Man Who Wasn't There

As for Spielberg, I'd probably go with Amistad. 1941, The Lost World and Hook were all bad, but at least they were all moderately fun in parts. Amistad was just pretentious, emotionally pandering, and hard to sit through.

John Woo - Broken Arrow/M:I-2

Spielberg- "Hook". I can't quite put my finger on why this is worse than "Always" or "Amistad". Maybe because it was not only poorly made, but also derivitive of his own work. It just looks like Spielberg is masturbating all over the screen. And Julia Roberts was horribly miscast. Was Meg Ryan busy?

Wes Craven- "Scream 3" with "Hills Have Eyes 2" pulling up a close second. Empty sequel rehash.

George Romero- "Bruiser" A failed effort to say the least. It could have been good, I just don't think it was properly realised.

Sam Raimi- "The Gift" What a shallow exercise. It seems good for awhile until you realize it is just going nowhere. I hate climaxes that spontaneously occur on their own, rendering all that went before pointless.

The Cohen Brothers- "The Hudsucker Proxy" I just can't make it through this movie. I could care less what happens to the characters or where the story is going. Thus, all the eccentric Cohen Bros. nonsense is rendered annoying.

Terry Gilliam-The Fisher King. I hate to admit to this choice, because it's his most real-life drama film and it makes me sound like some fanboy who gets mad when my favorite director does non-genre work. But I really think this movie is pompous and heavy-handed in the extreme: the overwrought Joseph Campbell-isms, Robin Williams as a Holy Fool, the fireworks at the end--it just feels like it's trying SO HARD to be a great movie.

Steven Spielberg's "Hook" is awful on so many levels. Horrid story, miscast actors, terrible pacing. I cannot fathom how the man who directed "Jaws", "Raiders of the Lost Ark", and "Schlinder's List" was actually involved in that dreck.

Ridley Scott's - "Gladiator" - The most over-rated movie of the last decade. Scott has created some stunning films over his career (BlackHawk Down, Alien, Blade Runner), but Gladiator is just plain mediocre. A poor script, a villian completely unequal in charisma and character to his hero, it just falls flat. Vapid shit.

David Lynch - Wild At Heart: It just seems to be trying too hard to be a David Lynch film

Howard Hawks - Song is Born: Close call between it and Rio Lobo and Land of the Pharohs. BUt Rio Lobo is passable entertainment and Pharohs is his only widescreen film. Song is Born is just an unfunny remake of one of his best films, Ball of Fire

Why does 'Hook' suck?

How about turning Never-Never land into a skateboard park and multi-coloured goo. How about the lifeless performance of Robin Williams and non-charisma of Julia Roberts. Hoskins and Hoffman are fine -worthy of the Barrie novel, but the film drags and lacks the spirit, wonder, and thrills of the novel or hell even the Disney cartoon.

As for Gladiator, like I said before, its okay, but hardly deserving the kudos it recieved from critics and fans. Best picture my ass. Its Ridley's weakest film. Technically well put together as are almost all of Scott's flicks, but John Logan's script is dull, unoriginal, and dialouge is mediocre, the supporting cast is forgettable, and the best scene in the movie is the first one. We is never a good sign.

Trust me, in 30 years people we still be talking about "Alien", "Blade Runner", and possibly "BlackHawk Down", but "Gladiator" will have long been forgotten.

Some nice choices so far but I disagree with these...

Gladiator - I love this film so i'm biased. Someone to Watch Over Me would be my choice for worst Scott film.

The Gift - Good movie not great. I love Blanchett, Keanu and Ribisi in this as well. For Love of the Game is his worst.

Broken Arrow - Never got the hate for this one. Its a really fun thrill ride in my opinion. Woo's worst remains MI:2 all the way.

Titanic - I understand how hyped it was and all but its still one heck of a film.

Ghosts of Mars - Carpenter treaded the same stuff in AOP13 and did it better there. Yeah the villains suck ass but Cube and Henstridge are terrific. Worst Carpenter film overall is easily Vampires although Escape from LA was pretty terrible as well.

I'd say John McTiernan's worst directorial effort has been Nomads. A truly weird flick Brosnan was pretty hilarious in it as well.

If Spielbergs worst isn't Hook it most was certainly The Lost World.

George Romero- Season of the Witch

Dario Argento- The Stendhal Syndrome

Bob Clark- Baby Geniuses

Wes Craven- Last House on the Left

David Cronenberg- Existenz

Andrew Davis- Collateral Damage

Takashi Miike- City of Lost Souls

Clint Eastwood- The Bullshit of Madison County

Howard Hawks- Rio Lobo

Mark Lester- Roller Boogie

Don Siegel- Madigan

George P Cosmatos- The Shadow Conspiracy

John Flynn- Lock Up

Sam Raimi- For Love of the Game

John Woo- Once a Thief

Kirk Wong- The Big Hit

Michael Winner- The Nightcomers

Paul Verhoeven- Showgirls

Ringo Lam- Full Contact

John Carpenter has not done any bad films

I'm curious; what makes Collateral Damage worse than Chain Reaction in your mind?

eXistenZ?

eXistenZ?

Well... I suppose if you're absoloutely determined to include David Cronenberg on a list like this, you've got to pick something.

Frankly, I don't think he's earned a place here, yet.

...

Heh exactly.

Ridley Scott - Legend

Tim Burton - Planet of the Apes

Steven Spielberg - Lost World

James Cameron - Piranha Part Two

The Wachowski - Reloaded

Robert Zemeckis - Death Becomes Her

Richard Donner - Maverick

Brian De Palma - Mission To Mars

I have to admit, the new director's cut version of Legend, with the original score, worked for me alot more than the theatrical release.

Now for a few of my own:

David Fincher - Panic Room

Rob Reiner - The Story of Us

Ron Howard/George Lucas - Willow

I'm not trying to bust yer chops here, Shigemichi;
Collateral Damage is an unexciting and poorly timed revenge thriller, but it knows what it's about. Chain Reaction is trying to be a smart, pseudo-Hitchcocky innocent-man-in-over-his-head thriller, but it mainly just alternates between being dull and confusing...

Seconded. The only movie of his that even vaguely meets the bar of these others is probably his little-seen drag-racing exploitation flick Fast Company, which came about because (due to financial considerations within the Canadian film industry of the time) it was pretty much the only film he could get.

actually, you're right about Chain Reaction being worse (MUCH worse) than CD. I had forgotten that Andy Davis did that one.

My wife loves this movie, and I remember it being pretty funny.

My least enjoyable Zemeckis movies were Cast Away and What Lies Beneath, but a lot of that hate has to do with the spoilerific trailers.

Woody- You obviously haven't seen "Curse of the Jade Scorpion" yet.

Soderbergh- To quote the Simpsons, "Whaaaaaa-!?"
Perhaps you haven't seen "Full Frontal" yet, either.

The Coen brothers: Barton Fink. I'm still recovering.

Gonna have to agree with Bunny on this one, but you listed a lot of my more liked features from those directors. Seriously, were you just trying to start a fight?

My Least Favs:
Ridley Scott - 1492

Spielbergo - Hook

Gilliam - Brazil (maybe I only saw the US version, but what the fuck is this movie about?)

Fincher - Panic Room (though I still kinda like this one, it's just his worst one)

Zemeckis - Death Becomes Her

Michael Bay - Pearl Harbor

Ron Howard - The Grinch (I am really pissed this may have helped the Cat in the Hat get green lit)

Cameron - Titanic (Fuck this movie and its 3-D documentary, he needs to make a new film)

Kevin Smith - Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (Once again, I like this film but it is his worst)

Most of my other favorite directors I haven't seen enough of their films to really give a solid opinion on.

The rest of your list I don't really have a quibble with, but this suggestion officially qualifies as CRAZY TALK.

Hell, even if you don't appreciate the genius of this movie, you can't tell me it's a lesser film than Gangs of NY or Bringing Out the Dead.

Gladiator
Ghosts of Mars
Spider-man
Fellowship of the Ring
Everything Spielberg did after Schindler's List
Rollerball (remake)
Scream 3
Double Team (would've been GREAT without Rodman) Knock-off
Matrix Reloaded

Spielberg - Hook, Always...I loved Hook when I was younger but no its just such a car-crash of a film, and not a good one like '1942' is either - its just bad, and he admits it as well...

By the way, why all the hate for 'The Lost World'? It's fantastic, it gave us what Godzilla could've but didn't - mainly death and destruction (though maybe less destruction) - but, as much as I love the bearded one - I cannot get over that black girl being in it, and it isn't because she's black, it's just there's no need for her to be there and please don't mention the 'Gymnast' scene.

Ridley Scott - Gladiator, 1492, Someone To Watch Over Me...All bad films, and although I enjoyed Gladiator a lot when I saw it and went and got the DVD when it came out, watching it a second time I didn't like it as much, then months later I gave it another go and turned it off and traded it to a friend - I just found it boring to be frank, yes the fighting is nice and Mr Pheonix (can't spell his first name) was very good in the film. But as for everything else...it just bored me.

De Palma - Untouchables, Mission To Mars...Ok, Untouchables I could never get into really, It certainly isn't a bad film by any means but I just didn't like it, despite the fact that I'm a Costner fan (sometimes)...Mission To Mars needs no explanation.

Sam Mendes - American Beauty...He's a fantastic director and as was the case with Gladiator, the second viewing was the worst and I just can't see why to be honest, I loved it the first time then watched it again some months later and just thought to myself "Im not enjoying this". Though again, It's by no means a 'bad' film - I just don't enjoy it.

James Cameron - Titanic, PARTS of T2...Titanic is extremely boring, a love story when there didn't need to be one - I would've much rather seen him make something along the lines of 'A Night To Remember' rather than the '2 and a half hour love fest with a sinking ship at the end' route, and not even Billy Zane could save it, I mean how bad does your film has to be to not even have Billy Zane save it for you...As for T2 - yes great action and all that, but some of the stuff with John Conner and Ahnuld ruined it for me, It did when I was younger and it does now, I mean I get the point of it all - It just ruins the pacing for me.

Sam Raimi - For the love of the game...obvious reasons, and despite the presence of Costner, It just sucks.

McTiernan - Rollerball...A choice that needs no explanation.

Steven Soderbergh- Full Frontal is a mind-numbing, infuriatingly pretentious piece of crap. Its even more strange when you consider how unlike that Sodebergh seems to be in real life and with his career. I love the guy, but this one needs to sink very fast from consciousness.

John Woo- Broken Arrow is terrible. I mean, even "M:I-2" had doves, slow-mo, and a hint of the Woo feeling. "Broken Arrow" could have been directed by anyone, and that's just stupid when the director is John Woo.

Francis Ford Coppola- Jack?? Holy hell. This was when I think we all started hoping that he would just quit and let his early work continue to age well. "The Rainmaker" is pretty good, but coming from someone like Coppola, just not enough. I hold out hope that "Megalopolis" will be his return to greatness, but the fact that I have to look at "Jack" on his filmography is pretty sad.

Martin Scorsese- Cape Fear would be an okay film if it wasn't directed by Martin Scorsese. But fair or not, when you get a Deniro reunion, and it turns into this pretty standard horror/thriller I think we all expect a bit more. All of his other films, great or not, at least feel like the work of an artist. This one feels like that artist killing time.

Chris Columbus did not direct Baby's Day Out.

While I think King of Comedy by itself completely disproves your claim that Scorsese isn't suited for comedy, I'm also not convinced by your claim that comedy is precisely what this movie "wants to be". A marvellously deadpan, sometimes painful work of comedy it is, to be sure, but it's also a far better work of serious filmmaking than either Bringing Out the Dead or the seriously lousy Gangs of NY.

I think The King of Comedy is unquestionably one of Scorsese's best movies.

Really, despite the frequent (but often uncomfortable) instances of hilarity, it's not terribly different to Taxi Driver in some respects-- both movies revolve around slightly unhinged misfits trying to impose their warped, confused dreams and desires onto a world of rigid, unyielding power structures that deny them entry at every turn. The end of King of Comedy, with its heightened, almost televised sense of "reality", even mimics Taxi Driver's ambiguous idealized ending: does Rupert actually end up becoming "The King" he always dreamed of being? Or has he, perhaps like the taxi driver, just finally lost all sense of himself and his reality?

Best thing Jerry Lewis has ever done too, for sure. A wonderfully unflattering self-portrait.