All of the films listed here were major bombs at the box office. Many films fail at the box office due to bad marketing, bad timing, or any number of problems not related to the quality of the movie itself. Despite that, they are all excellent films and well worth watching. Many thanks to TheAlchemyst for suggesting this topic on the List Universe Forums.
10. The Cotton Club 1984, Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Coppola’s jazz age musical crime drama was about the famed late 1920s Prohibition Era Harlem nightclub and gangsters of various ethnic groups (Irish, Jewish, Italian) in competition with each other in Harlem. It also followed a secondary plot line regarding the musical dance team of Sandman and Clay Williams (Gregory and Maurice Hines), who worked in the Cotton Club — with black entertainers performing for rich white clients. The film was lukewarmly received at the box-office and by critics, and recouped only half of its privately-financed budget (paid for by brothers Fred and Ed Doumani of Las Vegas). This is a film that is either loved or hated, but well worth seeing for a glimpse of the roaring 20s.
9. Alexander 2004, Oliver Stone
Alexander, the King of Macedonia and one of the greatest military leaders in the history of warfare, conquers much of the known world. Why should you see it despite it being such a massive bomb? Two words: Angelina Jolie. Okay, her accent is weird, but you can just turn off the sound! But more seriously: Stone has, in my humble opinion, crafted a great film that will be appreciated by those with an open mind and patience. I have always had a high tolerance for long movies, and I think many films would be better if they were willing to add another half-hour. It is unfortunate that many people skipped this film because of the portrayal of the relationship between Alexander and Hephaistion – the world is obviously not ready for Classical morals in mainstream movies.
8. Titan AE 2000, Don Bluth
This bomb is about a young man who learns that he has to find a hidden Earth ship before an enemy alien species does in order to secure the survival of humanity. The animation by far is a turning point in the world of animated features. From the start, you can tell the animation is exceptional. Extra time was taken to make the characters lifelike, as well as the environments they are in, the coordinating of colors, and even the shadows from a tree on the character’s faces. It’s unbelievable. And the 2D animation mixes so well with the 3D animation – it just adds to the thrill of the movie. The scenes in the movie are exceptional.
7. Intolerance 1916, D.W. Griffith
Director D.W. Griffith’s expensive, most ambitious silent epic film masterpiece overtook his earlier The Birth of a Nation (1915), which was the previous record-holder of “most expensive film” (at $110,000). Both films were milestones and landmarks in cinematic history – and regarded as two of the greatest films of the silent era. This film was financed using the profits of Griffith’s earlier film. Unlike Birth, however, Intolerance – with an astronomical budget of almost $2 million, became the first multi-million dollar box-office ‘bomb’ in film history.
6. Of Unknown Origin 1983, George P. Cosmatos
A man who recently completed rebuilding a townhouse becomes obsessed with a rat infestation until it becomes an interspecies duel. Of Unknown Origin is an overlooked gem of a little movie. Not really a horror film, except that something does indeed go bump in the night, and often too. No, this is more of a psychological drama and Peter Weller bangs one out of the park with his performance as the yuppie forced to go to war with a rat. The movie gets down right primitive and to the point, and it’s all Peter Weller and some excellent rat photography.
5. Manderlay 2005, Lars von Trier
In 1933, after leaving Dogville, while traveling with her father (Willem Dafoe) and his gangsters to the south of USA, Grace Margaret Mulligan (Bryce Dallas Howard) sees a slave ready to be punished in a property called Manderlay. Manderlay’s high points are that it is deeply philosophical but at the same time highly coherent and accessible. It asks important and necessary questions about the nature of freedom and democracy. Such questions, and the discussion which this film makes possible, are urgently needed in the light of such unsolved dilemmas as Iraq, the philosophical basis for the removal of Saddam Hussein, the introduction of western-style democracy to countries like Iraq (or even Afghanistan).
4. Sahara 2005, Breck Eisner
Master explorer Dirk Pitt goes on the adventure of a lifetime of seeking out a lost Civil War battleship known as the “Ship of Death” in the deserts of West Africa while helping a UN doctor being hounded by a ruthless dictator. Bring on Dirk Pitt! Here is a movie that wants to have fun, the cast wants to have fun. The audience ends up having fun. Steve Zahn is hilarious. Matthew McConaughey handles the limited demands of his role quite well. Penelope Cruz brings her ever-present charm and beauty to a role which is notable for being one of the few action-adventure roles written for a female that is not obnoxious in recent memory. You can’t take your eyes off William H. Macy whenever he is on screen in ANY movie. He’s that good.
3. Once Upon a Time in America 1984, Sergio Leone
A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to Brooklyn over 30 years later, where he once again must confront the ghosts and regrets of his old life. I can really recommend this movie to everyone, but especially to people who like the gangster genre. When you want to see the movie, you better be sure that you will have the time for it. This isn’t a movie that is finished after 90 minutes. You’ll have to be able to stay focused during 3 hours and 47 minutes, which will certainly not be easy during the first 20 to 30 minutes. Some scenes at the beginning only make sense when you have seen the end of the movie. But when you are able to stay focused, you’ll find this one of the best movies you’ve ever seen.
2. Equilibrium 2002, Kurt Wimmer
In a Fascist future where all forms of feeling are illegal, a man in charge of enforcing the law rises to overthrow the system. If you are a fan of such books as Brave New World, 1984, The Giver, or This Perfect Day or movies like the Matrix and Logan’s Run–Equilibrium is just the movie for you. In addition to a terrifying plot set in our very own future, the movie has mind-blowing action sequences that are choreographed beautifully (but not obviously) and shot brilliantly and spectacular acting on the part of Christian Bale. I hate predictable movies and this one is anything but…there are so many twists and turns, you’ll be on the edge of your seat with suspense the majority of the time.
1. Duck Soup 1933, Leo McCarey
At the time of its release, this short feature film was a commercial failure at the box-office, although actual statistics about its monetary take are unavailable. American audiences in the early 1930s were put off by the cynical and scathing attitudes toward war, politics and nationhood displayed in the film. Although most critics have rated this absurdly funny film as one of the Marx Brothers’ best comedies, it was also considered a very subversive political satire (and banned in Italy by Mussolini). Groucho headlined as Freedonia’s prime minister Rufus T. Firefly who went to war because he was called an ‘upstart’ by the ambassador of the neighboring Sylvania.
Steve; if you like Titan AE you really should try the 1981 release Heavy Metal, wonderful animation for the time, great tunes, cool fantasy. I watch it every chance I get…actually it could be on this list, it was panned by the critics, did lackluster box office but has developed somewhat of a cult following..
I’ve never seen or heard of any of these except for Sahara and it was okay…
Yah Titan AE was a great movie with a great plot, with superb animation. I have seen it multiple times and its always good even with todays insane animation/CGI.
Last Action Hero should be on here
Mystery Men…died at the box office but was one of the funniest spoof ever made
dave – mystery men is one of my favourite movies
Technically a bomb is Mallrats. It only grossed 1/3 of its budget. Granted, not Kevin Smith’s best, but definately a must see.
Alexander was plain HORRIBLE.
Looking through Wikipedia’s list of U.S box office bombs, I also found “The World’s Fastest Indian”. I caught it on video and didn’t think it was that bad. Also, “Nothing but Trouble” bombed, I loved that flick! You can’t go wrong with John Candy, Chevy Chase, and Dan Aykroyd!
Sahara is easily one of the worst movies i have ever seen.
lol about the last action hero suggestion
after i saw it, i didnt see another movie for months i was so traumatized.
thank God Schindlers List came along to restore my faith in cinema
I didn’t check to see if someone had written this, but Donnie Darko? I heard that was a bomb, and it’s a great movie.
By the way, Duck Soup is awesome.
Fans of this list should check out Nathan Rabin’s ‘My Year of Flops’ over at the Onion’s AV Club. He dissects 104 movie flops and determines just how bad (or secretly good) they were, and why.
i love Equilibrium! I thought it was a great movie. I just couldn’t think of the name for the longest time until i met my boyfriend and i was describing the movie to him and he instantly knew what it was because he’s been a Christian Bale fan since he was a kid. (Christian Bale was a child actor for those who didnt know.)
Citizen Kane
/I win.
I think that Running Scared should be on this list for sure.
Equilibrium is gun ***** at its finest.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show deserves at least a mention…unless you don’t consider it a bomb in the first place.
I own Equilibrium and it’s a bomb ass movie. Reminds me a little of a the novel Brave New World. It’s like Kung-Fu meets the Matrix/V for Vendetta.
i’m glad you included manderlay on this list.
i think lars von trier is a brilliant film maker, and i think his films raise very important questions for the audience to consider.
Duck Soup is probably the best movie the Marx Brothers ever made. I really like Titan A.E. It was one of my first DVD purchases and easily one of the best values in terms of extras for the price. Intolerance was good, but looong.
Agree on Sahara and Cotton Club (plus, you get to see Mr. Munster without his makeup!). Titan AE is good, but Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within was much better, and w/ mindblowing graphics.
Why do so many people hate Sahara? Losers…
Anyway; where is Waterworld on this list???
Duck Soup, Titan AE, and Alexander are all great movies if you ask me. I’m not terribly surprised Intolerance was a flop though, considering Griffith kind of smeared his own name with The Birth of A Nation. Even then not many people liked movies that sympathized with the KKK, or the folk who made them.
Equilibrium was a masterpiece, I loved it. Sahara wasn’t too bad, worth a few laughs at least. Alexander on the other hand sucked. Bad.
wha about the boondock saints , should of been huge from the start
I still find it hard to believe Duck Soup got such a bad reaction on release, it really is one of the finest comedies. It’s a lot fresher and infinitely more original than many modern comedy films too.
My parents main (only) criticism of Alexander was that it portrayed Alexander as straight when he actually wasn’t. They never saw the movie, but the trailer showed him kissing a chick.
What is the point of being ‘first’ to post if that is all you’ve got to say? To me, it seems a shortcut to telling everyone “Yes, I am a very sad moron”.
Anyway, with that off my chest, can I add that Manderlay is a dire film. I agree with one of the previous posters that Waterworld is better than its critics suggest.
Equilibrium is brilliant. Another film not on the list I would definitely recommend you watch is “The Game” with Sean Penn and Michael Douglas
I totally agree with Sahara and Equilibrium. Sahara is pure escapism for the alpha male wannabe in all of us while Equilibrium is a Matrix meets Welles.
Alexander was rubbish. I wasnt concerned about the relationship between two men but how badly it was made. It portray Alexander the Great as a lucky wimp.
Here’s a should of made the list: OFFICE SPACE
I always thought Last Action Hero got a bum rap too. But I appreciate the fact that a lot of people didn’t ‘get’ it. I like it because Arnold at the time was this giga-watt superstar in the business and he was trying to make fun of himself here. There aren’t a whole lot of actors in Hollywood willing to take that chance.
More recently Grindhouse was a major disappointment at the box office. I thought it was excellent film making and an absolute blast. And in thirty years of going to the movies, I’ve never seen a reaction like I saw at the end of Death Proof. All three times I saw the movie in the theater the audience stood up and cheered.
Hudson Hawk was, I admit, a Bruce Willis mug fest. It’s difficult to get through this movie without at least once shouting at the screen for him to cut it out, but it’s also got some fun moments to it. In a dumb schlocky sort of way. The appreciation for “it’s so bad it’s good” is a very fine line with some people. But again, in some sense, Willis is doing what Arnold did, trying to show people he’s not such a tight ass.
I like this list, there’s some movies in here I haven’t seen but will make an effort to see what some folks are talking about. I’ve seen Alexander though and I won’t be making that mistake again. Bloated, pretentious, and full of douchebaggery are terms that come to mind. Ever since Oliver Stone made Born on the Fourth of July with that nutbag Tom Cruise, Stone has been trying to shove his bull***** down our throats because he seemingly has all the answers. He’s made some movies since then that are sometimes compelling to be sure, but all with the same kind of narcissistic hogwash that’s difficult for me to swallow.
Box office bombs meant that they sucked total ass right? I hope so cause a lot of these movies I have never even heard of.
Sahara was a great movie. It had good action, some humor, a decent story, and Steve Zahn. What else do you need to make a movie enjoyable??
No, it doesn’t necessarily mean they ‘sucked total ass.’ It can mean a lot of things, like the studio didn’t get behind it for whatever reason, a national critic didn’t like it, possibly some other blockbuster film was in the theater at the same time frame, or early audiences didn’t like it. There’s a 100 reasons a film doesn’t do well at the box office, but Duck Soup doesn’t suck ass, it kicks it.
Alexander was a complete waste of time. I don’t know how I sat through it.
Equilibrium on the other hand is amazing. The action is fantastic but the subtle scenes have more intensity in them.
Jaws. Its influence was short-lived, but massive. The country canceled its vacation plans that summer.
bucslim; “narcissistic hogwash” equally describes Tom Cruise.
good phrase, lots of “art” movies are that too. I liked Last Action Hero, I didn’t hate Alexander, but 1/2 naked men with pecs is always ok. I think the point of Hudson Hawk is that gawd awful crap it tolerable because of Bruce Willis. There are worse things than 90 minutes of Bruce one-liners and punch-outs.
Equilibrium was ok, but it was just another version of Fahrenheit 451 … not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I just thought it worth mentioning …
I also enjoyed Alexander and never quite understood why it bombed.
Mom, there’s always going to be some total schlocky crap that some people will enjoy even though the rest of us are gagging. One man’s Red Skelton is another man’s Da Vinci. I abhorred Magnolia, but I recognize that a lot of people, critics and listverse readers liked it.
Maybe it’s just Tom Cruise. Dunno, I’ll get back to you on that.
bucslim; maybe Magnolia tries too hard, and explains what you’re supposed to find?
i haven’t seen magnolia. immediate review about it was terrible. listverse is the only place where i have run across several people who like it. perhaps i should look into it.
afterall, LV is how i discovered old boy, now one of my favs.
Mom, I honestly don’t remember much about the movie itself. I normally try to view something with an open mind and since it was about 50-50 like/dislike from the critics I thought I’d give it a shot. I know there were some great performances, like the aforementioned Thetan hater, and it was beautifully shot, I just didn’t like it. It was too pretentious for me, so after one viewing I pretty much trashed it and moved on.
Disc, don’t stop with Oldboy, you’ve got to see the two other related movies, Sympathy of Lady Vengence and Sympathy for Mr. Vengence. They are killer, especially Lady.
buc: are they from the same director?
i’ve never heard of either one of them.
Yes, Chan Wook Park – it’s called the revenge trilogy. He’s made a lot of movies from South Korea. if you get the chance, you’ll want to watch those and another great film called JSA – Joint Security Area.
They are every bit as entertaining and thought provoking as Oldboy. Lady Sympathy is my favorite.
Alexander deserved to bomb. The editing was atrocious and the story almost impossible to track.
I do think “Last Action Hero” should be on the list. Perhaps the self-deprecating humour was lost on the audience but it is a brilliant satire of the action movie’s implausibilities and exaggerations.
I’ll defind Equilibrium’s place on the list too. The “gun kata” was the best synthesis of Hong Kong martial arts and western gun fights I’ve seen. As for one of its basic themes, well, how are the sales of psychotropic drugs to children doing these days in the USA? They’re on the up (both for depression and attention deficit disorder) in the UK. Recalcitrant teenager? Not after your parents drug you.
Alexander was terrible, truly terrible
Equilibrium – GREAT movie!!! Love the action scenes too. I was suprised when this bombed!!!
Titan AE – it came out when my kids were in highscool and were into that sort of sci-fi stuff. For a family night, my hubby and I took them to it. I have to say that my hubby and I loved it more than the kids!!!
Great List!!
*gasp* Somebody’s heard of Titan A.E!!!
I love that movie!
Like, for sure, I remember watching that when I was younger,
I still have the soundtrack.
(Oh, and yeah, Last Action Hero should so be on this list!)
I would have put Heavens Gate on the list. It undoubtably suffered from lack of editing but is still a beautiful epic. And if I’m not mistaken is actually (or was until recently) the biggest financial bomb in Hollywood history.
I worked in a movie theater when “Once Upon A Time In America” came out and the endless loop of the trailer being played made it absolutely impossible for me to watch that film.
Years later I finally watched it, and yes it’s very good. One reason it bombed is people expect the plot to be handed to them (present company excluded…) and since this is a film you must focus on -
Also – Duck Soup is hands down the most funny film ever – perhaps even over Holy Grail – the “mirror” scene, the alarm clock scene, everything – even the street vendor with the ‘slow burn’ and everything else. Absurdist genius.
“Peaaaanuts – to you”
i liked titan a.e. as well as alexander and sahara.. and i need to see equilibrium just havnt had the chance yet
Ah, Titan A.E was amazing…although I hated Alexander.
Titan AE was okay…
Glad to see that you DID NOT include Troy on your list.
It would have been awesome if they had included the gods/goddesses.
I always thought waterworld was a better than the credit it got.
The Last Boy Scout – ok, it’s a buddy movie, but I never get tired of watching it.
“This is the ’90s. You don’t just go around punching people. You have to say something cool first.”
‘Once Upon a Time in America’ is a great movie. It gets a lot of play on cable channels throughout each year and I always watch at least some of it. It is tedious like no other but a good choice here. I liked ‘Cotton Club’ and I thought ‘Alexander’ was epic. Christians vs. Muslims, back in the day when war was REALLY hell.