What do arthouse classics, B-movie science fiction, and Adam Sandler comedies have in common? They’ve all received (more than) their fair share of Golden Raspberry Awards nominations. The Golden Raspberry Awards ‘celebrates’ the worst in cinema and, if taken tongue-in-cheek, can make for an amusing perception of cinema. We all love ‘bad’ movies, and our view on what makes movies bad is different from one another and can make for some fiery disagreement. Read below for our thoughts on a number of Golden Raspberry nominated films and see which ‘bad’ films we believe deserve redemption and which the Golden Raspberry Awards may have been right about.

Heaven’s Gate (1980)

Heaven’s Gate has been overshadowed by its reputation as one of the biggest box-office bombs ever. The film was a revisionist Western when the Western was supposedly going out of fashion. It was apparently plagued with tons of production problems, mostly instigated by obsessive director Michael Cimino’s outrageous demands such as to tear down a whole set because he didn’t like how the buildings were spaced out, even though they had been built to his specifications. It is also apparently responsible for killing the auteur driven 70’s as well as its studio United Artists. But the more one reads about the story however, the more the myth doesn’t hold up. For one thing, Heaven’s Gate wasn’t even United Artists’ most expensive picture. It was mainly guilty of being more expensive than originally planned. Also, Westerns were far from dead as the 80’s and even the 90’s would be host to many big budget Westerns such as Silverado, Young Guns, or even Back to the Future III. Even if you made the argument that the general public didn’t have the appetite for big period epics with Marxist leanings, Reds came out just a year later and was a critical and commercial success.

Taking place at the end of the 19th century, Heaven’s Gate focuses on Jim Averill (Kris Kristofferson), an educated man who has been appointed marshal of Johnson County, Wyoming. The country is flooded with immigrants who are being taken brutal advantage of by the cattle barons who want to use the land for their own profit, led by Frank Canton (Sam Waterston). They put out contracts on 125 undesirables, “criminals,” who are really just innocent immigrants who are unfortunately in the way of their progress. Averill finds himself stuck in the middle of this class conflict while at the same time, he is in a love triangle with a bordello madam, Ella Watson (Isabelle Huppert), and Nate Champion (Christopher Walken), an enforcer for the barons.

Cimino is not content telling some mere underdog tale, of the poor vs. the rich, but rather he strives to give as vivid and lush a portrait of American society as possible. To serve this end, this movie is host to some of the most stunning cinematography. Cimino and Vilmos Zsigmond of Deer Hunter and Close Encounters fame love magic hour more than Michael Bay does, making the stunning landscapes, of which there are many, take on a sepia tone, placing them firmly in the land of myth and dreams and infusing this mostly forgotten uprising with romantic tragedy. Cimino also excels at the small moments, namely in his portrayal of the love triangle at the center, which gives the larger conflict between Averill and Champion even greater stakes. Cimino loves examining how masculinity and the entitlement that it entails has shaped the fabric of American society and how its worst excesses could destroy the lives of innocent people, and he never did it better than in Heaven’s Gate. – Eugene Kang

Ishtar (1987)

The Golden Raspberry Awards have a habit of going for low-hanging fruit. It is run by a group of contrarians who would rather buy into the hype of movies with large budgets and gossipy stories about trouble behind the scenes than actually come up with some astute observations about the state of the industry. The people involved in picking these awards are not even required to watch the films they nominate, and it is clear that few, and possibly no one, involved in that organization of hacks watched Ishtar. For decades, the behind-the-scenes stories did overshadow Ishtar. Director Elaine May’s looser directing style inspired by her background in comedy clashed with the conflicting visions of stars Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman, who would not only team up against May but would work at cross purposes with each other. Shooting on location meant that a ballooning budget was inevitable, and cinematographer Vittorio Storaro would also join in the creative clashing.

Recent reevaluation, however, has saved Ishtar from infamy. Now more viewers are seeing it as a lighthearted yet sharp satire about American exceptionalism and mishandling of nearly every conflict in the Middle East, which only makes this film sharper over time. Beatty and Hoffman play the worst musicians in New York, who get the opportunity to become lounge singers at a hotel in Morocco. Through a series of farcical circumstances a la Hope and Crosby (whose comedies were the inspiration for this film), the duo become involved in a plot to overthrow the Emir of Ishtar. Beatty and Hoffman as dumb Americans who are way out of their depth are perfect comedic foils for the mounting absurdity around them, which involves a beautiful spy (played by Isabelle Adjani), a treasure map and a blind camel at one point. Despite the convoluted story, May manages to keep the action brisk and the comedic set pieces are beautifully set up and still hilarious even today. Two critics named Ishtar among their picks for the 2022 Sight and Sound list of the greatest films ever made. That number will only go up in the future. – Eugene Kang

Showgirls (1995)

Sometimes, it’s good to stick to what you’re good at. Paul Verhoeven did not do this when directing the Las Vegas-set Showgirls. Coming off of success in the sci-fi action genre with RoboCop and Total Recall, Paul Verhoeven’s career turned to erotic thriller and drama with the critically-acclaimed Basic Instinct and the not-so-critically-acclaimed Showgirls.

Showgirls follows Nomi Malone (Elizabeth Berkley), a drifter who hitchhikes to Las Vegas and becomes a showgirl. Immediately on arrival, Nomi is treated to a taste of lawlessness as her suitcase is stolen and a taste of danger when crossing paths with misogynistic men around every corner. There’s an air of mystery around Nomi – who is she and why is she keen to become a showgirl? For her dancing, Nomi receives attention from Zack Carey (Kyle MacLachlan), an entertainment director, and Cristal Connors (Gina Gershon), the star showgirl at Stardust Casino. We see that Nomi envies Cristal while Cristal is drawn into Nomi. To some extent, each wants what the other has – Nomi wants to experience Cristal’s success and desirability while Cristal sees in Nomi perhaps a bit of herself when she was younger.

Showgirls is criticized for Berkley’s performance and her career never quite recovered after the film. Despite this, Berkley’s acting isn’t what’s wrong with the film. The mishandling of Nomi’s background and the writing of Nomi’s character leaves much to be desired, and much like the Star Wars prequel actors, Berkley makes the most of what she is given in the script. Showgirls became infamous for its NC-17 rating and Verhoeven becoming the first director to attend and receive awards at the Golden Raspberry Awards in person. While the film can safely be skipped, there’s a better film hidden in Showgirls somewhere and those interested in films with similar themes should seek out The Black Swan and The Neon Demon. – Alex Sitaras

Battlefield Earth (2000)

The Razzie Awards’ Worst Picture of the Decade Battlefield Earth was doomed from the start. Based on the L. Ron Hubbard novel of the same name, the Scientology founder’s story had an uphill battle to get filmed and distributed. It wasn’t until Scientology-convert John Travolta actively contributed to the film’s budget and became a producer that Battlefield Earth gained any traction. Travolta described Hubbard’s novel as “like Pulp Fiction for the year 3000” and “like Star Wars, only better”, and these lofty comparisons maybe inform Battlefield Earth’s pithy attempts at humor and sci-fi design. With a reported budget of $73 million, it’s clear that most of this budget went towards hair & makeup and propping cameras up at an angle. The effects are bad, the lighting is dismal, and the script is laughable. 

Destined for Razzie stardom, Battlefield Earth additionally became a business case study when producer Elie Samaha of Franchise Pictures became embroiled in a lawsuit with Intertainment AG, a distribution company who funded the production of the film. Samaha and Franchise Pictures defrauded Intertainment AG of millions by claiming an inflated budget for Battlefield Earth. Adding fuel to the fire, Samaha was overconfident in the film’s commercial appeal, pointing out that a John Travolta action film has never done less than $35 million domestically. Unfortunately for Samaha, $21.5 million would be the domestic gross for Battlefield Earth and Samaha would be found personally liable for $77 million in damages and Franchise Pictures bankrupted. A disaster, to say the least, and one of the worst films ever released to come from it. – Alex Sitaras

Jack and Jill (2011)

‘What could be funnier than one Adam Sandler? Two Adam Sandlers.’ I imagine the pitch meeting for Jack and Jill went. What wasn’t anticipated in the pitch meeting I would imagine, is the film’s 12 Razzie nominations and record-breaking 10 wins, earning the film a legacy as one of the ‘worst films ever made’. In Jack and Jill, Adam Sandler plays the role of twins Jack and Jill Sadelstein. Yes, Sandler plays both Jack and Jill. The film leans into grotesque and juvenile humor as Sandler portrays Jill as a sweaty, undesirable, and unloved woman, even amidst her family. Jack is horrified at the prospect of Jill’s visit at Thanksgiving extending into Hanukkah and is dismissive of his twin.

At work, Jack is tasked with the responsibility to film a Dunkin’ Donuts commercial with a reluctant Al Pacino, and is stressed and unsure how to make this possible. Luckily for Jack, Pacino becomes interested in Jill and Jack attempts to exploit this opportunity. Jack is mean-spirited through most of Jack and Jill, but the film ultimately leads to a positive message about the bonds and closeness between twins. Released the same year as critically-panned films Just Go With It and the Sandler-produced Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star, Jack and Jill bore the brunt of criticism and Sandler-fatigue. And while the film is far from good, it doesn’t deserve a distinction as one of the worst films made. I’ve seen far worse.. – Alex Sitaras