In keeping with our tradition of writing movie lists to cause controversy, we have the most boring films of all time. It seems that Hollywood is more concerned these days with pumping out a lot of films rather than creating quality. Here are the 10 most boring movies – if you disagree or have your own most boring film, tell us in the comments!
10. You’ve Got Mail
The owner of a large bookstore chain starts putting the owner of a small local bookstore out of business. Meanwhile they have been corresponding over the internet without knowing who either of them are. They can’t stand each other in person but over the internet they are very attracted. He finds out who she is but she doesn’t know. He starts to like her more but she still hates him. He has to fix it.
9. Legends of the Fall
Colonel Wlliam Ludlow (Anthony Hopkins) and his 3 sons (Samuel, Tristan and Alfred) live in the Rocky Mountains of Montana, USA, at the beginning of the 20th century. When Samuel brings with him his fiancé Susanna, the fellowship of the 3 brothers is about to be broken. The eldest son, Alfred (Aidan Quinn), falls in love with Susanna, and she falls in love with Tristan (Brad Pitt).
8. AI
In this futuristic fairy tale, “David”, a highly-advanced robotic boy, hopes to become a real boy so that he can win back the affection of the human mother who abandoned him. Like Pinocchio, he goes on a long journey (a long and BORING journey) hoping to find his “Blue Fairy,” who can make his dreams come true.
7. Vanilla Sky
David Aames takes all he has for granted; his wealth, his inherited publishing company, his good looks – his relationships. Especially his relationships. It catches up to him when a friend/sometimes sex-partner can’t see their relationship the way he sees it. From that point, the movie takes a Lynchian twist that ultimately and literally pulls us into Aames’ tortured psyche. Stars Scientology dullard Tom Cruise.
6. The English Patient
The mind-numbingly dull story of a Hungarian mapmaker and his dying memories of the romance that tragically alters his life. Burned horribly in a fiery plane crash while crossing the Sahara Desert during WWII, he is tended to by a Canadian nurse with ghosts of her own and haunted by a thief seeking answers for a crime from his past.
5. The Black Dahlia
The Black Dahlia is set in 1940s Los Angeles. Two cops, Bucky Bleichert and his partner, Lee Blanchard, investigate the death of Elizabeth Short, a young woman found brutally murdered. Bucky soon realizes that his girlfriend had ties to the deceased, and soon after that, he begins uncovering corruption and conspiracy within the police department.
4. Ripley’s Game
Tom Ripley – cool, urbane, wealthy, and murderous – lives in a villa in the Veneto with Terry, his harpsichord-playing girlfriend. A former business associate from Berlin’s underworld pays a call asking Ripley’s help in killing a rival. Ripley – ever a student of human nature – initiates a game to turn a mild and innocent local picture framer into a hit man. Luckily for you all, I could not find a video clip of this movie; therefore I have selected a photo of grass growing, which is about as interesting as this film and as talented as its main actor, John Malkovich.
3. Even Cowgirls Get The Blues
Sissy Hankshaw is born with enormous thumbs that help her hitchhiking through the US from a young age. She becomes a model in advertising and her NY agent ‘the Countess’ sends her to his ranch in CA to shoot a commercial, set against the background of mating whooping cranes. There, she befriends Bonanza Jellybean, one of the cowgirls at the beauty- ranch. A boring film from a director I like a lot – Gus Van Sant.
2. Safe
Carol, a typical upper middle-class housewife, begins to complain of vague symptoms of illness. She “doesn’t feel right,” has unexplained headaches, congestion, a dry cough, nosebleeds, vomiting, and trouble breathing. Her family doctor treats her concerns dismissively and suggests a psychiatrist. Eventually, an allergist tells her that she has Environmental Illness. Her body is rebelling against the overload that her immune system has to deal with, as she is continually exposed to all of the chemicals that we inhale, ingest, and absorb daily.
1. Gerry
Sadly, a second film by Van Sant makes the list: A friendship between two twenty-something men is tested to its very limits when they go on a hike in a desert and forget to bring any water or food with them. This is basically a film of Matt Damon and Casey Affleck (Ben’s brother and the better actor of the two) walking around. Incredibly dull. The only good thing is the cinematography which is quite stunning in parts.
Some plot text taken from IMDB





















How about "Lost in Translation" hahahaha there are cultural differences between the US and Japan hahahaha. I walked out on this one.
I pity you, Vesselman. So, whaddaya think a good movie is? Die Hard 4?
If you thought Lost in Translation was boring, I’d probably think you were boring.
I thought vanilla sky was a good movie, I like it a lot. I think I might go home and watch it tonight after work.
bandits should be on the list lol
When I saw this list I thought Vanilla Sky would have to be on it. I actually gave up on that movie the first time I watched it, as it just bored me to sleep.
You’ve left me wondering where the Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is. That movie was devoid of any interesting content whatsoever (and no, I don’t live for violence and carnage, I just thought it was damn poor).
LOTR is actually a masterpiece! The best novel ever was reputedly inadaptable, but Peter Jackson, while removing A LOT of the book's material (or else the movie would have lasted for 100 hours!), remained true to its spirit and achieved an impressive rendition.
ya dude that’s retarded. the whole LOTR series was bomb
gerry wasn’t that boring. like when gerry got rock marooned and gerry built him a dirt mattress. or when gerry gerried the rondezvous. (side note: it’s not really that they forgot water, so much as they got lost trying to find the thing. i don’t think they thought they needed water in the first place. my own opinion.)
AI wasn’t THAT bad…Vanilla sky? Excuse my Spanglish but Hell si. I couldn’t bring myself to watch more than 30 minutes.
oh gawd i thought AI was absolutely terrible. what a waste of time IMHO.
Aguirra, Wrath of God. A Werner Herzog movie, with Klaus Kinski. “Conquistadores in the Amazon” sounded interesting. Instead, it’s minimal dialog and even more minimal action. A lot of the movie features them ‘floating down the river, being bored’.
Which is what I was when I watched it.
Of course, if you are immune to the characters' inner life, you'll find this movie boring. Too bad for you, you don't know what you're missing! This is actually one of Kinski's most interesting roles alongside Nosferatu (also by Herzog). Go watch a Ben Affleck afflicted flick, moron!
Vanilla Sky is a bad,awful,disgusting,and more adjetives of an excellent espanish movie
coincidentally, i just rented and watched Black Dahlia, hoping it would be alot like LA Confidential.
it wasnt. i dont know if i’d call it boring, but it was slow-paced. the ending was interesting, tho.
and not about her at all if u know the story
Maybe I wasn’t in the mood to see it and even though it had terrific cinematography I thought Out of Africa was pretty boring. Maybe because I saw it after it won the Academy Award I was expecting something a little more exciting. it was the same with the English Patient which is already on the list.
By the way it’s not like I need action for it to be a good movie. I actually perfer movies that are not advertised as action movies for instance I loved Ordinary People (also an academy award winner).
My personal “most boring” of all time was “The Good Mother”.
Here’s its tagline… “Can a court determine how we should live, how we should love, how we should raise our children? Now Anna must prove that she is the Good Mother.”
I was 18 at the time on a date. The last place a teenaged boy would want to be. I started snoring half way throug it. I think my date was just as bored.
Blogball: I’m with ya on Out of Africa. My wife loves it an she still makes me watch it w/ her every now and then. Zzzzzz.
I think AI has to be the most over-hyped movie ever. I didn’t even make it to the end. I thought I saw the end, and then it went on longer, so I shut it off. I didn’t think Vanilla Sky was that bad, some parts were slow, but overall the movie was watchable and I know several people who claim it as one of their favorite movie. I have never actually made it through You’ve Got Mail either. My girlfriend tried to get me to watch it three times before giving up and accepting the fact that I simply could not stay awake through it.
Also the most boring movie I have ever had the displeasure of trying to watch was probably The Good Shepard
What no March Of The Penguins? lol
Master and Commander was also pretty boring, not to mention 13 Days.
I win with this one, kids: ED, with Matt Leblanc is, hands down, the most God-awfully boring movie this human race has ever had a hand in creating. I actually walked out of the theater. Something I had never, nor have since, done. Rotten to the core. I am the winner. Check it out in clips if you don’t believe me. I’m a bit bitter, by the way.
Remains of the Day.
ding ding ding ding! We have a winner…
Grand list, now to see the ones I haven’t just to see if I agree with them as well,,,
also
French Lieutenants Women
Bonfire of the Vanities
Wall Street (I know, lots love it)
Great list! I just love the picture chosen for Ripley’s Game – a very good choice! AI was truely painful to watch, especially when you think you’re at the end and it just keeps going and going!!
Here’s one I thought was insanely boring to watch: Leo. Shows me for watching a movie only because it had a Fiennes brother in it! Won’t make that mistake again.
THANK YOU!! I’ve seriously never understood why most women are soo obsessed with Legends of the Fall and The English Patient.
I understand there are “hot guys” etc but honestly they are both such a snore!
I admit I am a fan of most chick flicks but those movies.. yeacchh!
Oh btw… I cracked up when I saw the picture of grass…
You can’t just call a movie boring and not give any reasons, let alone 10 of them. Why not give reasons for calling them boring? I thought You’ve Got Mail was all right.
I'm 100% with you about the reasons. I'm 100% NOT with you about You've Got Mail. I had a crush on Meg Ryan when I was a kid, but since When Harry Met Sally, all she's done were painfully boring romcoms.
Seraphim Falls. Sounds awesome, right? No. Sucked. Hard. Nothing happens. It’s like 2 hours of absolutely nothing. At least in like, Open Range, they had that big gunfight at the end. I don’t even really like westerns all that much but I figured it’d be good. Worst movie ever.
I agree Butterfly, I never understood it either. Also Gossford Park, it was soooo slow.
Just because you don't have the brains to understand a movie doesn't mean it's boring! It was actually very clever and funny, like pretty much everything written by Kaufman. Jeez, you must hate David Lynch! Speaking of him, I never understood Mulholland Drive yet it is one of my favorite movies…
alisia: Good call on Gosford Park…
I thought of another one too: Being John Malkovich… I know some of you will probably crucify me for this one, but I found it soo overrated and I LOVE John Cusack!
Where the hell are my nails?!
YOU’VE GOT MAIL, LEGENDS OF THE FALL and ENGLISH PATIENT are actually very nice movies, not boring at all, just simply all love stories with fine actors and no “Schwartzeneger” plot… Too bad you made this choice, I just meant to recommend your site to my friends.
Well I wouldn't recommend YOU to my friends, judging by your tastes…
The Ice Harvest was pretty boring. o.O Good list though, definately more interesting than the movies themselves.
bluesbrother: That’s fully a matter of opinion. Maybe your friends will agree and maybe they won’t.
Vanilla Sky irritated me so massively because I saw Abres Los Ojos first and that is an excellent film…… How can you screw up the same story?!
Answer: Tom Cruise. I would certainly recommend watching Abres Los Ojos to make up for Vanilla Sky!
And thanks for the heads-up about The Black Dahlia; I’m a true crime nut so was just about to buy this. Think I’ll spend my monies on something more worthwhile….
Couldn't have said it better.
About The Black Dahlia: buy the book, it's way better than the film – which is not bad in itself, but could have been so much more! However, adapting Ellis is a tough job, I'm still amazed at what they managed to achieve with LA Confidential…
“Vanilla sky” is boring, but the original, “Open your eyes” is very interesting.
“I am a guy and I actually liked “Legends of the Fall.” The others on the list are right on, though. Especially “The English Patient.” God, what an awful movie.
Beauty is in the eyes of beholder. This is why no one veture to give a picture in his or her imagination of heaven while thousand uf us can describe hell in detail and even in vivid colors.
A1 really bored me on its later part.
oppps!!! venture, sorry!
Gerry was on last night on one of the Encore stations! Is that what prompted this list? The scene of them trudging through the desert was soooo painstaking.
I usually find Sophia Coppalla films dark and boring, like “Lost in Translation”. Most boring film for me was Lawrence of Arabia. I can just turn to the National Geographic channel if I want to watch 4 hours of desert shots.
How about the blair witch trial (1)… the first time was somewhat ingaging, but have you tried to watch it a second time.
Castaway.
3 hours of Tom Hanks talking to a volleyball….
i have a few boring movies of my own,
the blair witch project
titanic
the godfather III
casino(it sure as hell is no goodfellas)
jet li’s the one
the wedding planner
gone in 60 second(way too corny)
poetic justice
these are just to name a few.
THE FREAKING THIN RED LINE!!! Yikes!! wake me up when one of the cowardly desserters gets shot, OK?
Eyes Wide Shut
Lady in the Water
Attack of the Clones
Jeez I could go on and on, but that would get boring, just like the turds I’ve mentioned.
Thankfully only one I’ve seen is AI, which def. belongs here.
Agree with stugy on good shepherd, could be sold as
a cure for insomnia
I’d add “the ice storm”, only movie i’ve ever walked out on.
I agree with your list.
Butterfly-the reason is because you saw part of Brad Pitts butt.
Didn’t make it through Casanova.
Also Syriana (sp), with Clooney I didn’t make it past the 15 minute mark.
date movie and epic movie too
Citizen Kane
Gone With the Wind
Generally, I like classic movies, but these 2 bored me to tears.
Orson Welles did an amazing job filming that movie especially for that time era it was well made.
Cube Zero, has to be the worst of that series, it was the greatest theatre nap I ever got. And am I the only one who liked Vanilla Sky? Sorry for not knowing about the original, I’ll see it soon enough. AI was alright but i had to be in the mood to get past the first 20 minutes. As for the rest, Saw It Coming, never did nor wanted to see any of them. Thank god.
Nope, Cube 2 is definitely the worst. Or how to turn a nice little low-budget sci-fi movie into a cosmic joke. Cube Zero was partly a remake of the original and, while it is different, at least it tries to convey the same oppressive atmosphere. And I love the design of the rooms, way better than in the original in which, if you pay attention, you can see what is supposed to be solid metallic walls shake with the vibration of one actor's movements!
many of them are really good movies!
bucslim: I did consider thin red line and eyes wide shut (which I actually don’t mind all that much) – if the list were bigger at least one of them would be on it.
geez i knew black dahlia would be on here!
they made it look so good on the commercial then i rented it and i couldnt make a half hour…I shut it off and just watched spongebob :]
…And everyone knows that Spongebob is the masterpiece of masterpieces! Some people just have a sad life.
Sarah: I am sorry to say I watched the entire thing – talk about dull!
you forgot one deathly boring film: ‘the english man who climbed up a hill and came down a mountain’
HOW IS OUT OF AFRICA NOT ON HERE?!
Hahaha sorry for the all caps I just thought that was the most boring movie I’ve ever seen.
I’m glad a couple of people on here have already mentioned that they don’t like it too. It should be at least an honorable mention lol.
I thought Jonothan Livingston’s seagull was bad… Don’t know if anyone else has seen it but my friend said it was “inspiring”… I’m not sure if more came of the movie but all I saw was a seagull flying around while a voice narrated his journey before I fell asleep. *yawn*
I thought it was inspiring when I was a kid, saw it again as an adult and one word came to mind: ridiculous (not boring). But this kind of films is essential to a child's education, especially nowadays when the absolute void serves as children's entertainment – yeah, I'm talking about you, Spongebob!
Anyway, the problem with such philosophical tales is that they don't translate well on screen, especially Jonathan Livingston seagull with its psychedelic descriptions of the pure joy of flying. Now that the technology has improved, it could very well make a better movie now, but at the time the special FX were way too cheap.
But every responsible parent HAS to show it to their kids or, even better, read them the book: at least the book didn't fail the test of time and is still one of the most enjoyable philosophical tales I've ever read.
I fell asleep in the movie theatre during “Catch me if you can.” Such a shame, I am usually all over Leonardo DiCaprio flicks.
Nothing by Sophia Coppola? On oversight, surely?
I thought you’d put “Lost in Translation” on here for sure. I’m glad you didn’t, because it’s one of my favorite movies. It’s just popular these days to bash it cause people have such short attention… what? There’s a cat outside my house ^____^
Lost in translation I enjoyed though living in Japan helps you pick notice alot more.
One that I am surprised that was not mentioned was The Others. Its an hour of who opened the door. Thank you for mentioning attack of the clones. Saw it on video and fell asleep. an half saw it once or twice on TV.
I was so hoping Vanilla sky would be as good as Almost Famous. I guess was dreaming that one….or was I?
eyes wide shut and lady in the water.
wtf is eyes wide shut about.. who knows
Dick shoes… as in "shoes made of dicks?" Sounds fun!
Ooh. I thought of another boring movie. One I shut off in the middle. The Black Stallion. The book is fascinating, because there’s all this inner dialog.
The movie…needed a narrator. I remember twenty minutes dedicated to music as we saw:
Boy and horse on beach. Boy on beach. Horse on beach. Boy and horse in water. Boy in water. Horse in water. Boy and horse running on beach. Horse running on beach. Boy watching horse running on beach…
I don’t care how “breakthrough” or amazing it’s supposed to be…”2001: A Space Odyssey” bored me to death. I somehow sat through the whole thing…and yes, I understood it, and yes it’s still incredibly boring.
Then go watch Transformers, you mindless speck of a donkey's turd! Or maybe The Phantom Menace, that should suit you. And please don't pretend you understood the film, you're only making a fool of yourself: the end is actually impossible to understand if you haven't read the book.
2001 is the best movie of the most important filmmaker in cinema history, period.
By the way, can you just name ONE other sci-fi flick in which you don't hear a sound when the camera is in space? Good luck with that!
Mate, its called opinion. Everyone is entitled to it. Films that are meant to be "breakthroughs" such as 2001 can often be unappealing to viewers due people finding overused abstract material to make films appear intelligent or psychedellic, quite a bore. I assume, bfg666, that you are one of these people who loves "Avatar" simply because it was made by James Cameron and was over-hyped for long before its release?
Anyway, I also did not paticularly enjoy 2001 as much as many other films, however, I, like many others who agree with me, do appreciate what this film has achieved and people with bigoted ideologies like yours who try to condem anyone who disagrees with your view with immature and retarded remarks such as "donkey's turd", well, it doesnt really give others the perception of your intelligence you'd hoped to portray just because you 'love' and 'understood the film because you've read the book'.
Be courteous and more open to others' views
Much Love