The 1990s are now far back enough for people to look back on that time in history with fondness, and maybe rose-tinted glasses, too. Perhaps things were simpler and/or better in an era before the internet dominated everyone’s lives, social media started causing untold stress, and a global pandemic decimated many facets of everyday life. The movies of the 1990s, however, can’t be dismissed as only seeming good because of nostalgia, because plenty hold up well as classics and remain engaging, even for those who don’t remember the decade or weren’t yet born.
But then again, not everything from the decade holds up as essential, classic, or even watchable. Every year has its masterpieces, but it’s a yin and yang sort of situation where everything good also comes with something bad. The price to pay for plenty of great movies from 1997, for example, is plenty of bad movies from 1997. And, given it can be just as rewarding to look at the bad (and perhaps the ugly) as it is to look at the good, here are some of the worst from the year in question, ranked below from bad to baddest.
10 ‘An American Werewolf in Paris’
How do you make a sequel to a classic and endlessly wild/memorable horror movie like An American Werewolf in London? The answer is you don’t. You absolutely stay away from trying to recapture that kind of lightning in that unique of a bottle again, especially if you have the “wise” idea to do it 16 years later, at a time when absolutely no one is asking for it.
Unfortunately, those behind greenlighting and creating An American Werewolf in Paris weren’t able to receive such advice, and as such, they went ahead and made An American Werewolf in Paris. It’s not funny, it’s not scary, and even though werewolves are entirely fictional, they still deserve better than to have their species’ name attached to a movie like this.
9 ‘Spawn’
As future entries will show, Spawn was far from the only low-quality superhero movie released in 1997, with it being an exceptionally shaky year for what was then a subgenre. Its popularity nowadays, of course, means that “superhero” is more of a genre overall, and it’s certainly doing better lately than it was in the late 1990s.
It presents a darker take than usual on superhero/comic book movies, leaning into horror more than it does expected genres like sci-fi or action. Unfortunately, plenty of bad jokes and copious amounts of poor special effects tank much of what Spawn’s going for, leaving it as something of a late-1990s relic that will only appeal to a very small group of people nowadays (and probably only a little, at that).
8 ‘The Pest’
It’s hard to think of a less attractive title for a movie than The Pest, at least of all the options that don’t contain profanity or some kind of inherently disgusting language. Can you imagine asking a friend or a partner “Hey, do you want to go see The Pest?” Or imagine walking up to the counter at a cinema and saying, “Two tickets for The Pest, please.”
Back in 1997, no one wanted to imagine doing either of these things, and as a result, The Pestmade back less than half its budget… and its budget was only $8 million. It tries to update The Most Dangerous Game as a dark comedy, but fails at being exciting or humorous. Unsurprisingly, it’s for the best to avoid The Pest.
7 ‘The Postman’
Kevin Costner has directed three feature films so far. His first was 1990’s Dances with Wolves, which earned considerable acclaim and Academy Awards. The third was 2003’s rather underrated Open Range, which, like Dances with Wolves, was also a Western. Almost right between those two movies was his second directorial effort: 1997’s post-apocalyptic adventure film, The Postman.
Maybe it’s fair to say that for Costner, two out of three ain’t bad, but speaking of bad: The Postman. It runs for a seemingly unending 177 minutes (Wolfgang Petersen could only ever dream of making his Story feel so NeverEnding), is surprisingly lackluster from a visual perspective, and contains the line: “You have a gift, Postman.” What more needs to be said?
6 ‘Beverly Hills Ninja’
Of the regrettably few movies Chris Farley starred in before his tragic death late in December 1997, Beverly Hills Ninja is perhaps his least liked, and was also unfortunately his final film released during his lifetime. It sees him playing a man trained as a ninja in Japan after washing ashore as a boy many years earlier.
It’s just a bit sad that the movie doesn’t have much fun to offer, and isn’t particularly compelling as a blend of action and comedy. Beverly Hills Ninja could have some value for those who count themselves as die-hard fans of Farley, but anyone else is probably better off just watching another of his movies instead.
5 ‘Mr. Magoo’
Few actors shone as brightly in comedies (particularly parody movies) as Leslie Nielsen did. Airplane! and The Naked Gun are obviously classics, and a fair few other roles of his gave him a chance to shine and be hilariously/iconically deadpan, but Mr. Magoo is never a movie that gets included among his most celebrated efforts.
It’s a live-action Walt Disney comedy about an old man – the titular Mr. Magoo – who becomes farcically wrapped up in a robbery, only his eyesight is infamously bad. Just about all the jokes revolve around the fact that his eyesight is bad, and he’s close to blind. It doesn’t work all that well in live-action, nor within a feature film, to say the least (the character originated in a series of cartoon shorts).
4 ‘Steel’
As mentioned before, 1997 seemingly wasn’t a good year to release a superhero movie, and this becomes even clearer when looking at Steel. This movie – which stars Shaquille O’Neal – holds the unfortunate record for being the lowest-grossing theatrically released superhero movie of all time, making less than $2 million at the box office (and had a considerably larger budget of $16 million).
It’s fair to say that O’Neal’s a much better basketball player than an actor, because he doesn’t quite carry Steel… but then again, Steel doesn’t give anyone a great deal to work with, and will only work for people who want some ’90s action cheese that’s particularly cheesy; perhaps unbearably so.
3 ‘Speed 2: Cruise Control’
The original Speed from 1994 is widely considered one of the greatest action movies of all time, though its sequel, Speed 2: Cruise Control, is infamously bad. It trades the confined bus setting from the original for an entire cruise liner, with a comparable plot that tries to up the stakes and scope, but doesn’t come close to feeling as satisfying as the first movie.
Though Sandra Bullock returns, Keanu Reeves wisely stayed away, and the film does feel like it’s missing something without him. And though Willem Dafoe can usually be relied on to play a great villain, he’s not given much here, and fails to have the same impact that Dennis Hopper had when he played the villain in the first Speed.
2 ‘Mortal Kombat: Annihilation’
Mortal Kombat: Annihilation was essential in giving video game movies a reputation for more often than not being quite bad. It was a sequel to 1995’s Mortal Kombat, and though that one wasn’t great, it also wasn’t terrible for what it was, and had a certain amount of entertainment value to offer when approached with the right frame of mind.
This sequel pits a bunch of fighters against an evil warlord who seemed to be inspired by a certain Tears for Fears song because he wants to rule the world. Even for an adaptation of a fighting game, there’s shockingly little by way of plot or characters, and not even the action scenes manage to be much fun. It’s undeniably a slog of a film to try and sit through.
1 ‘Batman & Robin’
Of all the iconic superhero characters out there, few have been in as many great movies as Batman. The billionaire vigilante with a tragic past has always been an interesting character whose personality and world are inherently cinematic, though not all big-screen takes on the Caped Crusader have been soaring successes, as Batman & Robin demonstrates quite clearly.
Batman & Robin has its defenders, and has received so much backlash over the years that some may call it over-hated. Indeed, if you want to see the corniest and most intentionally silly take on the character imaginable, this one might have what you’re looking for. But for many, it’s just too much and goes too far, and there are also only so many terrible ice puns that one person can take over the course of 125 minutes.
