Since 1980, UCLA film grads and industry veterans John J. B. Wilson and Mo Murphy have honored the very worst in cinema with the Razzie Awards. Here’s a look back to the worst pictures of the last four decades.
“Can’t Stop the Music” (1980) The Golden Raspberry Awards got their start by recognizing this musical comedy, a justly mocked quasi-biopic of the Village People. Rotten Tomatoes score: 8%
“Mommie Dearest” (1981) Faye Dunaway goes full camp as Joan Crawford in a docudrama whose comedy was often unintentional. Rotten Tomatoes score: 53%
“Inchon” (1982) This bloated, over-budget Korean war film starring Laurence Olivier as Gen. Douglas MacArthur was an epic turkey. Rotten Tomatoes score: 0%
“The Lonely Lady” (1983) Pia Zadora followed her mysterious (and widely mocked in retrospect) Golden Globe win for “Butterfly” with this adaptation of a trashy Harold Robbins novel about a schoolgirl/wannabe screenwriter. Rotten Tomatoes score: 0%
“Bolero” (1984) Bo Derek ditches her “10” cornrows to play a British finishing school grad who embarks on a world tour to find the right guy to strip her of her virginity. Rotten Tomatoes score: 0%
“Rambo: First Blood Part II” (1985) Sylvester Stallone revives his much-lampooned Reagan-era superhero as a Vietnam vet who returns to action to help free American POWs, pretty much single-handedly. Rotten Tomatoes score: 34%
TIE: “Howard the Duck” and “Under the Cherry Moon” (1986) The Razzies took a whack at two misfires, one about the watered-down comic-book character Howard the Duck (Rotten Tomato score: 13%); and the other Prince’s self-indulgent musical follow-up to “Purple Rain” (RT score: 34%).
“Leonard Part 6” (1987) At the height of his “Cosby Show” fame, Bill Cosby starred in this big-screen misfire of a spy spoof. Rotten Tomatoes score: 9%
“Cocktail” (1988) Razzies love to take big stars down a peg, as when Tom Cruise followed “Top Gun” with this risible romantic drama about a hotshot bartender. Rotten Tomatoes score: 5%
“Star Trek V: The Final Frontier” (1989) The lowest-ranked of all the “Star Trek” films is this intergalactic train wreck that also marked the directing debut of William Shatner. Rotten Tomatoes score: 22%
TIE: “The Adventures of Ford Fairlane” and “Ghosts Can’t Do It” (1990) Andrew Dice Clay’s movie debut as a “rock ‘n’ roll detective” proved a lemon (Rotten Tomatoes score: 22%); while Bo Derek’s fantasy rom-com is probably best remembered for a Donald Trump cameo that earned the future POTUS the Razzie for Worst Supporting Actor (no RT score).
“Hudson Hawk” (1991) Bruce Willis made his first splash at the Razzies with this big-budget flop about a thief who’s forced to pull one last heist. Rotten Tomatoes score: 26%
“Shining Through” (1992) Roger Ebert called this WWII-set drama, starring Melanie Griffith as a fluent German speaker who goes to work for a lawyer (Michael Douglas) who’s secretly in the OSS, “such an insult to the intelligence.” Rotten Tomatoes score: 44%
“Indecent Proposal” (1993) Filmgoers mostly rejected Adrian Lyne’s melodrama, about a billionaire (Robert Redford) who offers $1 million to a cash-strapped couple (Demi Moore and Woody Harrelson) if the wife will sleep with him. Rotten Tomatoes score: 35%
“Color of Night” (1994) Bruce Willis found his way back into the Razzie winners circle for this tawdry erotic thriller. Rotten Tomatoes score: 21%
“Showgirls” (1995) Paul Verhoeven’s notorious bomb about an aspiring Vegas dancer has developed a so-bad-it’s-fun reputation as a cult classic. Rotten Tomatoes score: 22%
“Striptease” (1996) Demi Moore returns! This time as an exotic dancer at a bar called the Eager Beaver in a laughably bad thriller. Rotten Tomatoes score: 12%
“The Postman” (1997) Kevin Costner’s sophomore directing effort — after Oscar winner “Dances With Wolves” — is a post-apocalyptic thriller and mega-flop. Rotten Tomatoes score: 9%
“An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn” (1998) This would-be Hollywood send-up follows a director named Alan Smithee — the name that directors slap on movies they disown. But the production was such a mess that real-life director Arthur Hiller opted to remove his name from this turkey. Rotten Tomatoes score: 8%
“Wild Wild West” (1999) Will Smith followed back-to-back hits “Independence Day,” “Men in Black” and “Enemy of the People” with this big-budget bomb. Rotten Tomatoes score: 17%
“Battlefield Earth” (2000) Xenu help us! This notorious box office bomb, based on a sci-fi novel by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, starred A-list Scientologist John Travolta — who also sunk millions of his own into the project. Rotten Tomatoes score: 3%
“Freddy Got Fingered” (2001) MTV alum Tom Green directed and starred in a gross-out comedy that failed to generate much in box office grosses — though it did find a second life on DVD. Rotten Tomatoes score: 11%
“Swept Away” (2002) Guy Ritchie directed then-wife Madonna in this water-logged rom-com — that washed up with a total of five Razzies. Rotten Tomatoes score: 5%
“Gigli” (2003) Another starry big-screen romance (starring then real-life couple Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez) failed spectacularly. Even the title became a late-night punchline. Rotten Tomatoes score: 6%
“Catwoman” (2004) Halle Berry accepted her Worst Actress Razzie in person, clutching her Oscar for “Monster’s Ball,” and thanked the film’s studio, Warner Bros.: “Thank you for putting me in a piece of s—, god-awful movie.” Rotten Tomatoes score: 9%
“Dirty Love” (2005) Jenny McCarthy took her toilet humor to the big screen in this critical and commercial dud. Rotten Tomatoes score: 7%
“Basic Instinct 2” (2006) Sometimes the second time isn’t the charm with Sharon Stone’s long-delayed sequel to her hit erotic thriller. Rotten Tomatoes score: 7%
“I Know Who Killed Me” (2007) Since she played twins in this lame serial killer thriller, Lindsay Lohan was awarded two Razzie Awards as Worst Actress — in addition to the film picking up Worst Picture. Rotten Tomatoes score: 7%
“The Love Guru” (2008) “Austin Powers” star Mike Myers later joked about this stumble, in reference to Sony pulling “The Interview” over threats from North Korea: “If you really want to put a bomb in a theater, do what I did: Put in ‘The Love Guru.’” Rotten Tomatoes score: 14%
“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” (2009) Michael Bay’s “Transformers” franchise has never been a critical darling, but the second film in the series took a major drubbing. Rotten Tomatoes score: 19%
“The Last Airbender” (2010) M. Night Shyamalan’s live-action version of the beloved Nickelodeon animated series drew the enmity of fans — and even the show’s original creators. Rotten Tomatoes score: 5%
“Jack and Jill” (2011) The Adam Sandler comedy picked up Razzie nominations in all 10 categories — including the star as both Worst Actor and Worst Actress — and swept every single one. Rotten Tomatoes score: 3%
“The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2” (2012) The final film in the insanely popular teen fantasy-romance franchise picked up seven Razzie Awards, including Worst Picture. Rotten Tomatoes score: 49%
“Movie 43” (2013) The R-rated anthology comedy, loaded with 14 sketches trying to out-shock each other, was dubbed “the ‘Citizen Kane’ of awful” by Richard Roeper. Rotten Tomatoes score: 4%
“Saving Christmas” (2014) Kirk Cameron’s faith-based comedy got a lump of coal from critics, with the New York Times calling the star’s performance “so forced you half-expect the camera to pull back to reveal hostage takers.” Rotten Tomatoes score: 0%
TIE: “Fantastic Four” and “Fifty Shades of Grey” (2015) Josh Trank’s reboot of the Marvel comic-book series was an epic misfire (Rotten Tomatoes score: 9%); and the first adaptation of E.L. James’ erotic trilogy went over like a wet blanket with critics (RT: 25%).
“Hillary’s America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party” (2016) Dinesh D’Souza’s film was billed as a nonfiction takedown of Democrat Hillary Clinton, but critics were quick to find fault. Rotten Tomatoes score: 4%
“The Emoji Movie” (2017) TheWrap’s Alonso Duralde summed up the response to this animated dud as “a soul-crushing disaster because it lacks humor, wit, ideas, visual style, compelling performances, a point of view or any other distinguishing characteristic that would make it anything but a complete waste of your time.” Rotten Tomatoes score: 8%
“Holmes & Watson” (2018) Sony unleashed this Will Ferrell stink-bomb on Christmas Day without critics’ previews, forcing reviewers to give up their holidays to see what TheWrap’s Alonso Duralde called a “singularly awful” comedy. Rotten Tomatoes score: 10%
“Cats” (2019) Universal coughed up a hairball with his big-screen adaptation of the Andrew Lloyd Webber stage musical — which also won Razzies for director Tom Hooper, screenplay and supporting players James Corden and Rebel Wilson. Rotten Tomatoes score: 20%
“Absolute Proof” (2020) MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell’s infomercial-style film repeating false and discredited claims about voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election earned Worst Picture and Worst Actor. In addition, Rudy Giuliani was named Worst Supporting Actor for his cameo in “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.”
“Diana: The Musical” (2021)
Netflix’s streaming version of the short-lived Broadway musical about the late Princess Diana scored “top” honors, along with Worst Actress Jeanna de Waal and Worst Supporting Actress Judy Kaye (who doubled as both Queen Elizabeth and Barbara Cartland). The film was also recognized for bad directing and screenplay.
