Summary
If there are awards for good movies, such as the Oscars or the Golden Globes, then there has to be an equivalent for bad movies. These would bethe Golden Raspberry Awards, also known as the Razzies, and they’ve recognized and “awarded” bad movies since the event was founded in 1981.
Just like books or video games, a person could say there’s really no such thing as a good or bad movie, and plenty of Worst Picture winners are also fan favorites. What makes a movie good or bad is a matter of opinion, and sometimes a popular character, unique directing style or design,or familiar soundtrackmakes a bad movie a good one.
Lest we forget the brave deeds of John Rambo, who died at the end of the book on which the first movie was based — but in the land of movies, he lived on to make several more. Few are more loved and hated thanRambo 2, which is a satire of itself starting with the title.
The red bandana and black tank topbecame iconic symbolsof the character that carried the Rambo franchise into several more movies, but the Razzies aren’t about popular appeal. Instead, they saw a movie that shamelessly subverted the anti-war message of the first movie and instead glorified violence. Watching it now, it’s easy to recognize it as Cold War propaganda, but a lot of kids were going out for Halloween in the 1980s dressed as Rambo and still have fond memories of this film.
The quirky silliness ofHudson Hawkwas also a point of contention among fans and critics, but even the actors seem to be in on the joke, so it works on some level. Action-comedy was trending at the time, and this movie used a lot of slapstick and exaggerated sound effects to mimic a cartoon or comic, and it did not work for everyone.
The casting is one of the things that makes the movie a fun watch, and in an ironic way, it belongs on the Razzies list because it’s a story about good bad guys.Bruce Willis playsa safe-cracker who uses low-tech solutions to solve modern problems. Examples include using a musical number to coordinate the movements of his team instead of something complicated like a digital timer, which gives a potential viewer an idea of why this movie didn’t really work — or maybe that’s why it did.
1988’sCocktailwas intended to be a romantic comedy-drama, and it just happens to be none of those things, but for those who have ever tended bar or lived through the era of “flair,” this movie is an interesting piece of history. It’s also an interesting list of trendy vacation spots from the 1980s that were famous for their nightlife and drinking culture.
The actual storyline, however, is so painfully 1980s, and this is where it earns the Razzie. It’s likeDirty Dancingbut without the great acting and compelling storyline — and a heavy dose of sarcasm.Cocktailcontains every embarrassing trope that ever existed and includes (but is not limited to) the former soldier, various drunken flings, a real personwith the name Brian Flanagan, and the estranged pregnant girlfriend who secretly happens to be rich.
Showgirlsis one of the least controversial of the Razzie winners. Paul Verhoeven, who is for the most part a brilliant director who gave audiencesmovies likeRoboCop, even showed up in person to accept the award just to prove he was a good sport.
Even people who haven’t seenShowgirlsknow what it’s about because of the publicity it got for its explicit sexual nature and hyperbolic depictions of workplace drama. Viewed as a satire (an area in which Paul Verhoeven excels), the movie makes a lot more sense, and it seems that another misunderstood Verhoeven movie,Starship Troopers,suffered a similar fate at the hands of public opinion — because people simply took it too seriously.
The acting is bad, the script is bad, but the story is based on an interesting concept —and Tom Petty is here, playing himself in the post-Aspocolytic hellscape that is the former United States.The Postmanalso has a big budget and looks great, despite other aspects being so cringe, and given the scope and cast, it might be an even worse version ofWaterworld.
It all starts when a drifter and con man, played by Kevin Costner, finds a long-dead postal carrier and an abandoned bag of mail. He senses a grift that might help him get into some of the fortified human encampments where he can find food, shelter, and other valuables, so he dons the uniform, picks up the mail, dubs himself the Postman and puts the plan into effect.
The plan works better than he expects, and the formerly demoralized American people rally around a restored federal government. It’s a great idea but goes awry because of the lack of chemistry between the actors and a derivative script that can’tdecide betweenMad MaxorTerminatorfor what it wants to be.
At least the gigantic steampunk spider that missed beingin Nicolas Cage’sSupermanmovie got its 15 minutes of fame thanks toWild Wild West. It’s one of the more watchable movies on this list, mostly thanks to stars Will Smith and Kevin Kline as the leading characters, with Kline also playing President Ulysses S. Grant. It starts in a good place but eventually goes off the rails with crazy stuff like, well, gigantic robotic spiders.
Wild Wild Westhas some fans among steampunk and Western aficionados, and the high price tag that ensured its commercial failure was well-spent on some unique special effects, but ironically, this is also how the movie failed. By the time the third act rolls around, the novelty had worn off, and the steampunk tech was just silly.
In another entry that surprised nobody,Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honeyis an interesting example of what can happen when copyright lapses on a popular IP. It’s a more recent winner, and one that might just be too obvious because anyone who sees this movie isn’t exactly expecting Oscar bait.
Making a horror moviewith popular kids characterslike Winnie-the-Pooh is a cynical money-grab in the first place, but this isn’t exactly a big studio taking advantage of fans. This is an independent slasher film that is intended to be the introduction to a whole satirical franchise that’s already been dubbed “The Twisted Childhood Universe.” Some might find this distasteful, even offensive, but there are plenty of fans lining up for the screams and gore of this classic horror movie — despite its Razzie “win.”
