Top 20 Worst Movies of the 1980s

Even the greats flop from time to time. Eddie Murphy may be a comedic genius with a slew of classics under his belt, but not even he could save this. “Best Defense” was confusing from the start, centered around two characters on opposite ends of the world who never interact with one another. The confusing premise was only made worse by the lacking execution, leading to it becoming a commercial and critical failure. Even Murphy himself has admitted that the project was weak, but that the compensation was too good to turn down— with the outcome being so bad that it led to a lull in his otherwise spotless career.

Not all musicals are created equal. Though it had some potential, “The Apple” quickly proved to be all concept and no substance. The film follows a young ingénue as she tries to navigate the music industry after signing to an evil label. It was also infused with several religious references, from Adam and Eve to the Rapture. Though interesting on paper, it proved to be much worse once it was actually created. Everything from the writing to the director’s misunderstanding of the culture was dragged upon release, with some audiences even throwing the complimentary vinyls they’d received at the screen. What made things worse was that the director was convinced he’d made a fantastic movie— and the truth nearly drove him to the brink.

Some sequels are so bad that you can’t help but wonder who thought it would ever work out. The first “Caddyshack” is still beloved today, with a cult following that helped ensure its success. The sequel unfortunately can’t say the same. Unlike the original, it had been given a PG rating, which severely limited the scope of jokes they could make. That was only the tip of the iceberg. Everything from the story to the jokes were done much worse the second time around, and not even a cast stacked with comedic legends could save it. Its director, Harold Ramis[a], even claimed to have snuck out of a viewing in embarrassment— making it clear just what he thought of his attempted follow-up.

With a title like this, how much quality can you really expect? The success of “RoboCop” helped inspire others after it— some much more than others. The most egregious is “Robo Vampire”, a 1988 Hong Kong release with an alarmingly similar plot line to the American film. Unfortunately for the latter, that’s where the similarities between the two end. As if the stilted acting and clunky writing weren’t unfortunate enough, the fight scenes were also inundated with poor special effects, making them unintentionally hilarious. The result was a confusing mess that not even the most staunch movie-lover could defend. Though it’s clear what it’s trying to emulate, it missed the mark entirely.

The 80s were a time of attempted franchises— with plenty of examples that prove why some properties should remain untouched. The first “Jaws” is a masterpiece of filmmaking, which shows in its box office earnings and its lasting legacy. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the sequels. The third in particular— named “Jaws 3-D”— was a resounding disappointment, particularly due to the shoddy attempts at 3-D effects. It also failed to showcase the shark as much as they once did— which, to some, was the entire draw of the series. It was hard to believe that such a movie could have been in the same series as its iconic predecessor— or that it somehow led to another sequel being greenlit.

We’d recommend sticking to the animated version on this one. A film adaptation of Tarzan Of The Apes had been famously produced in 1932– and just under fifty years later, an attempt to remake it failed on just about every level. The film was cursed from the very beginning, with the lead actor’s stunt double suddenly having to take on the titular role following the former’s departure. As if that weren’t messy enough, it also focused heavily on the less-than-platonic relationship between Tarzan and Jane. It ended up coming across more ridiculous than it did sensual. The final scene in particular was so crude that the family of the original author sued the studio, resulting in it being cut down by several minutes.

Not all critically panned sequels came from revered beginnings. Though the original “Teen Wolf” was admittedly silly and campy, the follow-up created just two years later failed to capture any of its charm. The 1987 movie focused on the original protagonist’s cousin, played by Jason Bateman. It was a mess from beginning to end, and filled to the brim with cheesy effects and ridiculous sequences that caused it to drag on even longer. Even though it was a seemingly low bar to clear, they missed the mark entirely— and proved that not even campy films can automatically be turned into a successful series.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. While the follow-up to the 1978 classic wasn’t lacking in terms of music, it failed to bring much more than that. Several plot points from the original were reused in the follow-up, but without any of the charm found in the former. Given the quality of the soundtrack, a sequel could’ve potentially hit it out of the park— but instead, they unfortunately struck out. Michelle Pfeiffer managed to make it out with her blossoming career unscathed, and discussed years later that the movie being so heavily criticized ended up helping her in the long run.

There are some movies with themes so bizarrely offensive that you can’t help but wonder who greenlit them in the first place. “Shanghai Surprise”, with its subplots revolving around opium and brothels, was exactly that. Led by Madonna and Sean Penn, both actors couldn’t do much to save what was essentially a train wreck in film form. Between the similarities to other action movies and its misogynistic material, the whole project was a mess from beginning to end. Considering how stacked the cast and production team were— with a former Beatle even taking on the soundtrack— the picture managed to underutilize them all.

It’s sad when a film attempting to be provocative can’t even succeed at that. The plot of “Bolero” is questionable at best, with it centering around a young woman traveling around the world in search of her first intimate partner. The story ended up being much more ridiculous than they anticipated, but even that wasn’t enough to make it any less dry. Had they fully leaned into the silliness of the plot, it could’ve looped back around to being camp, and even potentially finding a cult following. Instead, it was simply bad, and failed to capture the hearts of even the most forgiving cinephiles.

It was no surprise that William Shatner wanted to direct the next “Star Trek” movie, since his co-star Leonard Nimoy had directed the previous two successful entries. Throughout the production, Shatner’s ego would not let him give up, even if the film was plagued with problems. Creator Gene Roddenberry didn’t like the script, co-stars opposed the premise, and the film went through multiple rewrites and cuts, including a complete revamp of the ending after horrible test screenings. With subpar effects, a bizarre story about searching for God in space, and Razzie awards for Worst Picture, Director, and Actor, it’s easy to see why this entry almost killed the franchise.

Here’s another successful franchise that lost its way; once the “Superman” film rights were passed on to the notoriously low-budget Cannon Films, everyone screamed in unison, “what were they thinking!?” The resultant disasterpiece actually killed this franchise, as the world waited almost 20 years for a reboot. Critics agreed that the film was beyond boring, the effects were cheap looking, and all the actors seemed like they wished they were somewhere else. Christopher Reeve famously predicted to Jon Cryer that the movie was going to be terrible, and lo and behold, Superman himself was right. You didn’t need superpowers to figure that out though.

The follow-up to the now-cult-classic “The Howling” was such a mismatched disaster that audiences and critics were not sure if the studio was playing a joke on them. Barely following the original, the film’s only saving grace was horror legend Christopher Lee’s inclusion, although he later apologized to Joe Dante, the original film’s director, for appearing in this terrible sequel. Despite all this, and having originally been subtitled “Werewolf Bitch”, the horror flick spawned 6 more sequels.

Say what you want about Adam Sandler, but he had some great successes early in his career. This is why the world has chosen to forget his film debut, “Going Overboard.” In this comedy, Sandler plays a crappy struggling comedian on a cruise ship that gets a chance to perform and succeeds after learning about the power of laughter. Then terrorists climb onto the ship to kill Miss Australia, and Sandler’s Shecky saves the day by offering to put them in a movie. This is the actual plot of this film; we are not making this up. So you can understand why it has thankfully fallen into obscurity.

Even established tried-and-true stories aren’t safe. The initial installments of the “Smokey and Bandit” series were well-received and still hold up relatively well in the modern era. The third part goes off the rails completely. For starters, the original star, Burt Reynolds, had been reduced to a mere cameo, with Jerry Reed taking over as the leading man. That was only the beginning of their problems. The running-time was extended thanks to multiple shots from the original works, which only served to remind audiences how much better they were. The lazy execution reflected in the box office, with the third making only seven million compared to the first’s intake of over three hundred million.

We don’t think anyone expected this feature length McDonald’s commercial disguised as an “E.T.” knock-off to be a masterpiece. But did it have to be so criminally mind numbing? It was supposedly aimed at children, but it insulted even their intelligence. The only difference between “Mac and Me” and Spielberg’s classic is that the main character uses a wheelchair, and everyone is brought together at the end by the power of McDonald’s hamburgers…oh and Coca-Cola too. The sci-fi adventure movie was rightfully a box-office disaster, and its planned sequel was thankfully immediately cancelled. At least it’s given Paul Rudd and Conan O'Brien something to joke about.

No, this is not the sixth entry in a franchise, and yes, the entire world was confused by the title. However, that is just the tip of the iceberg of reasons why nobody went to see this comedy. Although denounced by Bill Cosby himself, who practically begged audiences not to see it, the spy-movie parody was actually produced by and starred the comedian. In the comedy, Cosby is supposed to be a James Bond-type of operative, trying to save the world from evil vegetarians by using meat as a weapon. It more than deserved its trio of Razzie awards for Worst Actor, Screenplay, and Picture, and was, for a time, considered to be the worst thing that Bill Cosby ever did.

We still live in a Hollywood that can turn any product into a film, and while sometimes it works, such as with “The Lego Movie,” sometimes it doesn’t. “Battleship,” anyone? And sometimes, you just try to imagine what the pitch meeting for some ideas looked like and if everyone was either asleep or drunk when they greenlit certain things. The Garbage Pail Kids were a brilliant and popular trading card series parodying Cabbage Patch Kids dolls, but its film adaptation turned them into nightmare creatures. With terrible effects that make them unwatchable and gross-out humor that won’t even make children laugh, this film’s cult status is hard to swallow.

While the 1976 remake was a box office success, this “sequel” falls short on every level. How can a “King Kong” movie be so boring? The plot revolves around the scientists that have been keeping Kong alive while he’s in a coma after the monster fell from the Twin Towers. They give him an artificial heart, and find a female Kong to give him a blood transfusion to save his life. Though it’s not meant to be a comedy, “King Kong Lives” is laughable for all the wrong reasons. The 1933 original had better special effects than this!

In a world with Sharknadoes and mutant piranhas, this movie is somehow the most laughable underwater monster movie – well, at least it was in the ‘80s. Another franchise shot dead in the water, this fourth “Jaws” film asks the question that was on everybody’s minds: what if sharks can hold grudges and somehow stalk a family across a country? This boring sequel expects us to believe that this shark wants revenge on the Brody family for killing the original Jaws, and swims from New York to the Bahamas, looking boring and mechanical the whole way. And to think… Michael Caine missed out on accepting his Oscar for “Hannah and Her Sisters” in order to shoot this disaster.


Which 80s film do you think was the biggest disappointment? Let us know in the comments below!




[a]"RAY-miss" https://youtu.be/ybGqEPlOo9c?si=hKn37ThiXB3ZzW4Y