Least Favorite Movies of the 70's

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Favorite Movies of the 70’s 

Probably not going to gain many snob points with this list.

11. The Hobbit

1977

D: Jules Bass, Arthur Rankin, Jr.

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It has a very distinctive art style, but it could have been much better.  Those obnoxious songs certainly didn’t help.

 

10. A Clockwork Orange

1971

D: Stanley Kubrick

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I would consider this a masterpiece, but I can’t get past the gratuitous and utterly overdone raunchiness.  Many things in this movie look like they’re lewd just for the sake of being lewd, and that time-elapsed three-way scene looks like something out of a Happy Madison movie.

 

9. The Lord of the Rings

1978

D: Ralph Bakshi

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Some good animation, but it isn’t too well-executed.  It’s much shorter and less detailed than the Peter Jackson version, but it seems longer because it’s not as a watchable.

8. Superman

1978

D: Richard Donner

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Another good movie ruined by a terrible ending.

7. Fritz the Cat

1972

D: Ralph Bakshi

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As a fan of animation and anthropomorphism, I think this movie had so much potential to be a smart and mature entry in an underappreciated subgenre.  It had a lot of strengths, but it was ruined by its unrelenting and unnecessary raunchiness, which is made even worse because it involves cartoon animals.  I think Marzgurl hit the nail on the head when she said this movie has nudity just for the sake of having nudity.

 

6. Nashville

1975

D: Robert Altman

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Being from Nashville, I would like to have at least one fun movie about my hometown.  Instead we get this, Percy Jackson and Trash Humpers.  It’s one of those dry comedies like Lost in Translation and Bottle Rocket that are so dry they apparently forgot to put jokes in it.  The only part of it I found funny was the scene in which a pretentious reporter is in a field of idling school buses and she can’t decide if she wants to make a positive or negative metaphor based on their yellow color.  I also liked a scene which prominently displayed St. Henry’s Church (my grade school alma mater).  Oddly enough, the movie doesn’t seem particularly flattering toward the town; it focuses on petty rivalries, political corruption and an assassination.  One character even makes the ultimate insult by musing about how he’d like to go back to Detroit. 

 

5. Jaws 2

1978

D: Jeannot Szwarc

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It was made by the same director as Supergirl, which is surprising because it’s so much more competent than that movie, but not so surprising because they were both very boring movies.  The final takedown of the shark was pretty cool, though.

 

4. Annie Hall

1977

D: Woody Allen

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The first five or ten minutes are hilarious, but it quickly devolves into dull romcom dreck.  It’s largely credited with influencing the romantic comedy formula, which is reason enough to hate it.  I don’t care if anyone would think me a lowbrow fanboy for saying this movie stole the Oscar from Star Wars, but that’s what it did.  It stole the Oscar from Star Wars.

 

3. Dawn of the Dead

1978

D: George A. Romero

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I’m probably a contrarian when it comes to zombie movies.  I have some respect for Night of the Living Dead for its originality and influence, but it’s not my thing.  I’ve never found the subgenre particularly appealing, and the only serious example of it I like is 28 Days Later.  I didn’t understand why people treat this as a seminal horror movie when I find the serious aspects underwhelming.  There are so many moments of seemingly intentional camp in it.  I also dislike the Zack Snyder remake, although I imagine I would hate it even more if I liked the original.  I haven’t seen Day of the Dead, though, so I may modify my opinion.

2. Moonraker

1979

D: Lewis Gilbert

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A pathetic attempt by the Moore-era Bond to cash in on the success of Star Wars.  When I first saw it, I thought it was hilariously bad.  However, a more recent viewing simply made it seem dull and mediocre.

1. The Star Wars Holiday Special

1978

D: Steve Binder, David Acomba

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Aside from Nelvana’s animated sequence and maybe the Bea Arthur sketch, this is one of the most unwatchable and bafflingly bad movies I have ever seen.  I don’t blame Lucas for wanting to forget this.  The prequels, though flawed, cannot possibly be compared to this garbage. 

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Favorite Movies of the 70's

Least Favorite Movies of the 80's

<< 1970’s  1990 >>

Favorite Movies of 1989

Now for my least favorite movies from my favorite decade for movies.  We as a society are pretty good at purging bad movies from our collective memory.  I listed a bunch of forgotten bad movies from the 90's that I only know of because I was there.  The 80's probably had its share of crap, but no one ever talks about it.  As a result, many of the movies on the following lists are going to be beloved movies I disagree with people about.

16. All Dogs Go to Heaven

1989

D: Don Bluth

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Don’t get me wrong, I love Don Bluth when he’s at the top of his game.  He was a huge influence on my tastes.  Secret of NIMH and Land Before Time, two of my favorite animated movies, were criminally underrated and they’re a standard by which others should be judged.  ADGtH is to Don Bluth what Signs was to M. Night Shyamalan; it had the director’s stylistic strengths, but it’s where things started to get stupid.  It boasted excellent animation, Don Bluth nightmare fuel, a likable protagonist and a good premise.  I won’t deny the movie’s strengths as a potential masterpiece (Nostalgia Chick does a great positive review of it)  Unfortunately, its tone was ruined by idiotic scenes like the laser attack, the Big-Lipped Alligator Moment and some terrible songs (and yet Don Bluth fans think Titan AE is a terrible movie for some reason).  I don’t know what extent to which this was forced on Bluth, but it wrecks the film for me.

15. An American Tail

1986

D: Don Bluth

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Like ADGH, It has its strengths, but too many silly moments (such as the stupidity of the Cossack Cats) ruin the experience for me.

14. Firefox

1982

D: Clint Eastwood

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Another boring eye-candy 80’s movies.  The movie is dull and terribly paced, but I love the design and effects of the titular plane.  Kenneth Colley (Admiral Piett) and Ronald Lacey (Toht) also help make it a nostalgic 80’s movie for me.  It’s another love/hate movie for me, which is why it’s on the other list.

13. Conan the Destroyer  

1984

D: Richard Fleischer

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A girl’s virginity is entrusted to Arnold Schwarzenegger and Wilt Chamberlain.  It has some good scenery and effects, but its cheesiness and lack of violence prevent it from being a worthy sequel.

 

12. The Black Cauldron

1985

D: Ted Berman, Richard Rich

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Disney’s attempt to make a Don Bluth movie.  Great animation and atmosphere don’t make up for the lame characterizations.  The hero is so weak the sword has to do all the fighting for him.

 

11. G.I. Joe: The Movie

1987

D: Don Jurwich

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The movie retcons the entire premise of the show.  Say what you will about the live-action movies.  They were still better than this.

10. Superman II

1980

D: Richard Donner

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Terence Stamp is great, and the movie is entertaining.  However, it ruins itself the same way the last one did.  I already complained about this cop-out in the first movie, but it’s even worse in Superman II.  Superman and Lois just had an understanding where she promises to keep his secret identity intact.  This would have been a great ending which would have resulted in the characters maturing organically.  Instead of trusting her Superman kisses her memory away.  Afterwards Superman enjoys Lois’ imposed ignorance, because we’re all just toys in his game, right?  The Donner cut is worse because he turns back time again, this time negating the whole damn movie.  It’s funny how both the producers and the director thought that the mature and intelligent ending wasn’t an option, because we had to have that “endearing” dynamic between Clark and a suspicious but hapless Lois.

9. The Company of Wolves

1984

D: Neil Jordan

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Has some good visuals, but it is poorly paced and not very watchable.

8. Scanners

1981

D: David Cronenberg

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The head-exploding scene is indeed thrilling, but part of me doubts that most people have even bothered trying to sit through the rest of the movie.

 

7. Wolfen

1981

D: Michael Wadleigh

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Well-directed, but it was one of the most anticlimactic movies I have ever seen.  We thought we were going to see werewolves, but instead we got wolves who were social justice warriors.

 

6. A Nightmare on Elm Street

1984

D: Wes Craven

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I’m willing to bet that most of the people from my generation venerate this movie because they saw it when they were four, and it scared the crap out of them.  I saw it in my early 20’s and I wasn’t too impressed.

 

5. Jaws 3D

1983

D: Joe Alves

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While I do like some of the cheesy visuals, it’s pretty stupid.  I still found it more watchable than Jaws 2.

4. Short Circuit

1986

D: John Badham

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Only good if you watched it when you were a kid and it has nostalgic value for you.  Also, I wouldn’t by any food from that hippie woman who lets wild animals run free in the same area she makes her organic food.

3. They Live

1988

D: John Carpenter

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There’s a healthy questioning of reality, and then there’s a movie that panders to the delusions of the type of schizophrenics who cause mass shootings…and liberals.  I can’t exactly get behind a movie whose “hero” slaughters any member of a race he sees as an oppressor.  This movie has almost all the disturbing implications of The Matrix without any of the style or fun.  No wonder Slavoj Zizek likes this movie.  Also, depicting movie critics who didn’t like your previous movies as evil aliens isn’t exactly professional writing.  The one thing this movie has going for it is the iconic fight scene between Rowdy Roddy Piper and Keith David.

2. Spaceballs

1987

D: Mel Brooks

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Many movies that we think of as classics had lukewarm critical reception upon their release.  This is a rare instance where I actually side with movie critics’ assessment of the movie over its cult status.  The jokes are mostly lame puns, double-entendres and painfully obvious pop-cultural references (Get it?  They’re making fun of how much merchandising Star Wars has!)  The only parts of the movie I found consistently funny were Rick Moranis and John Candy, just because were naturally funny actors

1. Supergirl

1984

D: Jeannot Szwarc

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While moments of it are hilariously inept, the movie was very slowly paced and painful to sit through.  I did find it kind of funny how the villainess’ friend was apparently the school secretary.

<< 1970’s  1990 >>

Favorite Movies of 1989

Least Favorite Movies of 1990

<< 1980's  1991 >>

Favorite Movies of 1990

Oh goodness, they’re all 2 movies.

3. RoboCop 2

D: Irvin Kershner

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Its ham-fisted satire lacks the naturally tongue-in-cheek tone of the original, and its story isn’t very good, but I like this movie for its violence and cyberpunk visuals.  I know, it’s also on my favorites list.  I guess I have a love-hate relationship with this movie.

 

2. Troll 2

D: Claudio Fragasso

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Best Bad Movie, which is an informative documentary about Troll 2, seems to confirm that the motivations behind making this movie were indeed horribly earnest.  This is odd, because it doesn’t really seem like a genuinely bad movie so much as intentionally funny camp in the vein of Army of Darkness and Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.  There are so many moments in this movie that have to be intentional jokes.  It’s just inconceivable to me that they’re not.  Oh, well.    

1. Die Hard 2: Die Harder

D: Renny Harlin

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I stand by my belief that this is the most underwhelming of the series, and that includes A Good Day to Die Hard, which at least has a great chase scene to show for it.  And don’t get me started about the ceramic Glocks…

<< 1980's  1991 >>

Favorite Movies of 1990