17 Bad Movies With Great Casts

Sometimes, even a bunch of great actors can't save a crappy movie.

By: Premiere.com Staff
02/23/2009 12:10 pm

Be Cool (2005)

Cast Highlights: John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Vince Vaughn, Harvey Keitel, Danny DeVito, James Woods, Dwayne "I will forever be The Rock to most people" Johnson

What Went Wrong: The sequel to Get Shorty is one of the worst movies ever made. It’s full of overpriced superstars in a piece of work that's thoroughly generic, embarrassingly stupid and actually a fitting metaphor for the sad state of the music industry.

Dreamcatcher (2003)

Cast Highlights: Morgan Freeman, Thomas Jane, Jason Lee, Timothy Olyphant, Tom Sizemore

What Went Wrong: It's still a little weird to watch Morgan Freeman play the bad guy, but we're plenty comfortable sitting through less-than-stellar adaptations of Stephen King stories. The performances weren't even that bad, but there's a cap on how good a movie that liberally uses the phrase "Shit weasel" and has an awful-looking CGI alien can actually be.

The Contender (2002)

Cast Highlights: Gary Oldman, Joan Allen, Jeff Bridges, Christian Slater, Sam Elliot, Mariel Hemingway

What Went Wrong: While it's not offensively bad, the only thing this film really did exceptionally well was inspire hilariously tedious and ridiculous debates on the IMDB message boards. Plus, the ending is a huge cop out.

Death to Smoochy (2002)

Cast Highlights: Robin Williams, Ed Norton, Danny DeVito, Jon Stewart, Catherine Keener, Vincent Schiavelli

What Went Wrong: Who wants to watch a huge, over-stuffed, annoying and unfunny dinosaur for a whole movie? Yeah, we're talking about Robin Williams. Plus, it's a little sad to watch Ed Norton go from a bad ass in Fight Club to this in just a few years.

The Brothers Grimm (2005)

Cast Highlights: Matt Damon, Heath Ledger, Jonathan Pryce, Lena Headey (from Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles)

What Went Wrong: Terry Gilliam set out to make an action movie that was as funny as it was exciting. What we got were special effects reminiscent of a "make your own music video" booth at the county fair and humor just a few clicks above Epic Movie.

The Last Castle (2001)

Cast Highlights: Robert Redford, James Gandolfini, Mark Ruffalo, Steve Burton, Delroy Lindo

What Went Wrong: Redford just seemed too old for the role and Gandolfini's overacting could make Bruce Campbell cover his eyes and blush with shame. At least it was a little better than The Mexican.

Mission to Mars (2000)

Cast Highlights: Gary Sinise, Tim Robbins, Don Cheadle, Jerry O'Connell, Kim Delaney, Connie Nielson

What Went Wrong: We're not quite sure there's enough science in it to qualify Mission to Mars as sci-fi, but there are plenty of silly plot twists and terrible music to solidify it's crappiness. The huge face on Mars didn't help things, either.

Pleasantville (1998)

Cast Highlights: Tobey Maguire, Reese Witherspoon, William H. Macy, Joan Allen, Jeff Daniels, Don Knotts, Jane Kaczmarek

What Went Wrong: With Spider-Man 3 and Four Christmases still relatively fresh in our minds, it's a little difficult to even consider Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon highlights, but Pleasantville is slow, preachy and as sappy as a pancake breakfast in the middle of a Vermont forest.

Four Rooms (1995)

Cast Highlights: Madonna, Tim Roth, Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Marisa Tomei, Bruce Willis

What Went Wrong: It's actually more like four kind of lame mini-movies that combine into one genuinely bad feature film. Plus, it set the stage for Grindhouse which is a few great cast-members from landing on this list.

Million Dollar Hotel (2000)

Cast Highlights: Milla Jovovich, Mel Gibson, Jimmy Smits, Jeremy Davies, Ellen Cleghorne

What Went Wrong: Famous people love U2's ultra-helpful front man Bono, so they always seem to be jumping on-board whenever he has a crappy idea and this movie he produced is no exception. One look at those huge glasses and that snazzy, be-dazzled hat probably had Mel and Milla turning into putty.

Bonfire of the Vanities (1990)

Cast Highlights: Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis, Melanie Griffith, Kim Cattrall, Morgan Freeman, F. Murray Abraham

What Went Wrong: The second appearance on this list by a Brian De Palma movie is an even worse offense than Mission to Mars. It's hard enough to criticize a movie with Tom Hanks and Morgan Freeman, let alone both of them. But Brian D did it by making a movie that was so bad it inspired a 500-page book called “The Devil’s Candy: The Anatomy of a Hollywood Fiasco.”

Bobby (2006)

Cast Highlights: Anthony Hopkins, Helen Hunt, Joshua Jackson, Heather Graham, Laurence Fishburne, Shia LaBeouf, William H. Macy, Emilio Estevez, Demi Moore, Freddy Rodriguez, Martin Sheen, Sharon Stone, Elijah Wood

What Went Wrong: Even with names like Nick Cannon, Ashton Kutcher and Lindsay Lohan on the call sheet, the amount of A-list firepower listed above should have made this thing killer. Hell, that cast should have been able to pull off a Uwe Boll movie. Unfortunately, the DVD cover perfectly explains the problem with the movie. Too many stars crammed into a small space with a boring background.

Ocean's Twelve (2004)

Cast Highlights: Brad Pitt, Catherine Zeta-Jones, George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Andy Garcia, Casey Affleck, Don Cheadle, Matt Damon, Carl Reiner, Elliot Gould, Vincent Cassel, Eddie Izzard

What Went Wrong: Ocean's 11 and Thirteen were both fun Vegas heist movies, but something happened in the middle that made Twelve unwatchable. Matt Damon actually improved his performance a little, but the rest of the boy's club seemed content with a paid vacation in Europe.

Troy (2004)

Cast Highlights: Brad Pitt, Brendan Gleeson, Orlando Bloom, Eric Bana, Sean Bean, Peter O'Toole

What Went Wrong: In this case, star power only partially ruined the movie. If they were sticking to the story, (SPOILER ALERT) Achilles should have died much earlier. But, it being a cheesy Hollywood epic they refused to kill a half-naked Brad Pitt until the end. That turned out to be one of the more glaring mistakes at the head of a full-on battalion of screw-ups.

Alexander (2004)

Cast Highlights: Colin Farrell, Angelina Jolie, Val Kilmer, Anthony Hopkins, Jared Leto, Rosario Dawson

What Went Wrong: There are a lot of sexy names on that list, both male and female, but it didn’t stop this so-called "historical epic" from being as boring as a middle school history lesson. Oliver Stone, who can usually twist history around and make it entertaining, wouldn’t let it go, either. He released no less than three different versions on DVD before accepting it was an unsalvageable piece of crap.

Suicide Kings (1997)

Cast Highlights: Christopher Walken, Denis Leary, Sean Patrick Flanery, Jay Mohr, Jeremy Sisto

What Went Wrong: The prospect of Denis Leary and Christopher Walken in a gangster movie is a promising one, but Suicide Kings earned its place as a bargain DVD bin staple with a story that's tired, bland and has a total dearth of Christopher Walken's dancing.

Judgment Night (1993)

Cast Highlights: Emilio Estevez, Cuba Gooding Jr, Denis Leary, Jeremy Piven, Stephen Dorff

What Went Wrong: It's like the serious, early-90s counterpart to Pineapple Express: Some regular guys witness a murder and spend the rest of the movie trying to save their own asses. Maybe it would be more fun watching Judgment Night on weed, but if you're sober, you'll probably respond with a hearty "meh." And that's only if you can actually find it on DVD.

Well, our work might be done but we're sure there are more out there. Please send us you favorite bad movies with great casts so we can add it to the list.

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Comments

Join the discussion!
messed up
on June 11, 2009
troy pleasant ville alexander dream catcher (probly in my top ten movies and oceans twelve were great u guys r retards
Suicide Kings!!!!
on May 13, 2009
Whoever put Suicide Kings on the list needs to quit his job and go chase on coming traffic. It has nothing to do with the fact that it was a poor movie. The story was GREAT! It had twists and turns, clever humor, perfect cast and good flow. If you ask anyone on the street if they have heard of this movie they will most likely say no. The reason is that when this movie came out the was little to no promotion. I have showed this movie to all of my friends and EVERY one of them has liked it. To the point that they all have gone out and bought the dvd. You so called critics are so full of crap, you wouldn't know a good movie if it swam up and bit you in the butt! Boon Dock Saints is another movie that would fit in with the Suicide Kings. You people think that just because a movie doesn't do good in the box office or in dvd sales it automatically sucks. Well you know what? YOU SUCK!
Suicide Kings
on May 13, 2009
Whoever put Suicide Kings on the list needs to quit his job and go chase on coming traffic. It has nothing to do with the fact that it was a poor movie. The story was GREAT! It had twists and turns, clever humor, perfect cast and good flow. If you ask anyone on the street if they have heard of this movie they will most likely say no. The reason is that when this movie came out the was little to no promotion. I have showed this movie to all of my friends and EVERY one of them has liked it. To the point that they all have gone out and bought the dvd. You so called critics are so full of crap, you wouldn't know a good movie if it swam up and bit you in the butt! Boon Dock Saints is another movie that would fit in with the Suicide Kings. You people think that just because a movie doesn't do good in the box office or in dvd sales it automatically sucks. Well you know what? YOU SUCK!
Pleasantville? Four Rooms?
on May 8, 2009
Have the writer of this article even seen these movies? Both were great! Try to get a new job my friend!
Pleasantville?
on May 5, 2009
Its currently rated at 7.5 on the imdb with 43000 votes. So I'm not the only one who thinks it is pretty good.
Um.. Yeah...
on March 18, 2009
I thought Death to Smoochy was hilarious and I enjoyed Pleasantville, Troy and Be Cool. They may not be Oscar winners, but a lot of the movies on this list are worth a watch in my book. There are far worse out there that should have been leaps and bounds above some of these... like Battlefield Earth and Burn After Reading
what about "The Betsy"
on March 3, 2009
I admit i haven't seen it in a long time. But I believe the general consensus is that it's not a good movie, although it had larry Olivier, Tommy Lee Jones, Robert Duvall,Jane Alexander, Joseph wiseman, and Edward Herrman in it's cast.
What about ....
on March 3, 2009
I'm surprised to see that "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" isn't on that list. Cast: Donald Sutherland Stephen Root Hilary Swank Ben Affleck David Arquette
Be Cool?
on February 27, 2009
Yeah, I feel sorry for the people that didn't enjoy Be Cool. Sure it's not the best movie in the world, but there are plenty of laughs from Vaughn and the Rock to keep it off of this list. Want a horrible movie with an overpriced cast, try the remake of the Stepford Wives.
I Liked Ocean's Twelve
on February 27, 2009
Ocean's Thirteen was unbearable and ridiculous. I actually enjoyed Ocean's Twelve much better
ARE YOU KIDDING ME WITH THIS??
on February 26, 2009
Bobby, Troy, Pleasentville and Suicide Kings do not belong on this list. Are you kidding me?? Have you completelY forgetten about: The Invasion, Mars Attacks, Batman and Robin, Gigli?? And one of the worst movies I've ever seen: The Happening!!
Good list!
on February 25, 2009
Yet not 100% "agreeable": i dont agree with "pleasantville"and "brothers grimm", which, for me, in one hand, if they are not the best films ever made, yet dont deserve to be in this list! The rest of it...just perfect!PArticularly with Troy and Alexander, 2 lessons on "how to spend money on pitty films!"
Hey...
on February 25, 2009
I liked Four Rooms! I think it was pretty well done. Everything else...screw it. If they make another Ocean's movie I think we should have the right to euthanize the screen writer for the betterment of man kind.
Earl
on February 25, 2009
Someone mentioned Masked And Anonymous, and rightly so. Terrible, muddled satire/social commentary. I love Dylan, but his performance here is one of the most lifeless ever captured on film. Heaps of utterly pointless cameos don't help...Val Kilmer and Cheech Marin are the worst. Best was Ed Harris' quick bit in black face. I'm sticking up for Judgment Night and The Contender. Night was suspenseful, and Denis Leary is one hell of a bad guy. Contender was ultimately too right-bashing, but brilliantly acted. Bridges and Allen both snagged Oscar nominations. Be Cool...The Rock was very funny, but nothing else worked.
17 craptastic crappiness
on February 24, 2009
crap
I Agree With Majority
on February 24, 2009
But I did love Dreamcatcher. ;)
Are you Kidding me?
on February 24, 2009
The Last Castle and Four Rooms do not deserve to be on this list. Even Troy is better then 95% of the crap out there today. To each his own I suppose.
Wrong
on February 24, 2009
Some of these movies were good ones, you're opinion is just that...an opinion.
Gigli!!!
on February 23, 2009
Gigli!!!
Article photos
on February 23, 2009
Wouldn't it have been useful to consistently use images that contained as many stars as possible? I mean, most of these images had no more than 3 people in them! I'm sure even the promotional posters for the movies show off their rich cast of characters.
LOL WUT
on February 23, 2009
What kind of shwag dope is the author of this article smoking? Four Rooms and Judgement Night are both fuckwin.
What about: Masked and Anonymous?
on February 23, 2009
Good actors: John Goodman, Jeff Bridges, Penélope Cruz, Mickey Rourke and Bob Dylan with his music. Terrible mess of a film. Good soundtrack however, that seems to have had very little to do with the movie. Thank god. Always thought it one of the worse misuse of good actors out there. -Sixbears
Dungeon Siege
on February 23, 2009
That should of been number one.
Say what? Four Rooms is hilarious!
on February 23, 2009
And I also laughed my ass off at Dwayne Johnson in "Be Cool." Gotta agree with the rest of the list though.
Death To Smoochy
on February 23, 2009
You're off your rocker if you think that movie was bad. If anything, it's grossly underrated.
17 Bad Movies With Great Casts
on February 23, 2009
Suicide Kings!!!!!???!!!! are you guys on crack? Suicide kings is a great movie with one Leary's best performances! It has almost every Walkanism known to man! Whats not to love?
good list, but two mistakes
on February 23, 2009
pleasantville and suicide kings have aged well. troy is a good popcorn movie. and i remember judgement night fondly from my childhood, even though i bet it's a hugely epic piece of crap. be cool is the worst all-time though
One other Mars movie that fits this category
on February 23, 2009
Where's Mars Attacks? It sucked huge, but starred so many A-listers: Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Annette Benning, Pierce Brosnan, Danny Devito, Michael J Fox, Natalie Portman, Sarah Jessica Parker.
Don't agree on most
on February 23, 2009
Everyone's entitled to their opinion but some movies up there were pretty damn good! Yes, including Death to Smoochy!
Hey
on February 23, 2009
I liked Pleasantville. Shut the hell up.
no way
on February 23, 2009
four rooms is a damn great movie
Fail
on February 23, 2009
Who's the moron that thinks Be Cool is a bad movie? It's one of the funniest and most quotable movies of all time. I refuse to read the rest of the article after seeing that.
Wow
on February 23, 2009
LOL< excellent picks dude, well done! RT www.anonymity.eu.tc

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