Good evening all,
I seem to remember that a while back there was a thread started in which we all submitted our choices for the worst movie ever made. If I remember correctly, "Plan 9 From Outer Space" was almost universally selected for that honor. I couldn't have been more resolute in my agreement with that choice. That was until I saw one of tonight's prime time offerings, "The Born Losers." I don't think I've ever seen a more convoluted story line than this one. And talk about bad acting! This one made Ed Wood's offering look like a Cannes Film Festival or Academy Award winner by comparison. I know that there were several "Billy Jack" movies made and I always felt a little out of the loop for having never seen any of them. Shows you how wrong a person can be, doesn't it? Maybe I'm rehashing an old subject, but is TCM really that hard up for biker films to fill one evening's lineup that they've resorted to scheduling trash like this? Doesn't the "C" in TCM stand for "Classic" and not "Crappy?" Anybody care to agree or disagree with me?
As always,
Hollis
The Worst Movie Ever Made?
Re: The Worst Movie Ever Made?
When BILLY JACK became a rage must-see film, the months afterwards begged theaters to bring back BORN LOSER and, if I donated any affection toward "Billy Jack" Tom's way, BORN LOSERS remedied that! I excused that film as a First Time Effort, often claimed "It was better than I could have done." That simple line, however, has a double-edged regret to it - "What if that's not true? What if ANY ol' first time effort could beat THAT film? It IS a strong possibility!" Or the corrolary of "How could I possibly face myself by doing worse than BORN LOSERS?"
I don't think this the worst of all films I've seen, but it is sufficiently unpleasant that I didn't watch it this time, despite a 30+ years absence of seeing it. I remembered enough of it to prevent my interest.
In that regard, this film IS rather unique - I often get curious about films after 30 years of not seeing them. "Was it THAT good/bad? What WAS that character all about? How did it end? What was the plot again?" Usually those questions can spur me to watch it. But not BORN LOSERS.
Maybe you're right. This film certainly has staked a claim in my mind as a worthless-to-watch-again film. Unfortunately, there are tens of thousands of incredibly boring films that fill that dungeon - not just bad ones, but boring uninteresting, Why-Bother? films.
Still, I do have a least-favorite-of-all-time film name in mind. Maybe 2. And BORN LOSERS isn't one of them. Close.
Billy Jack's "career" wouldn't get much better. Frankly, Howard Hesseman's performance is still the only part I'd watch of that entire series.
I don't think this the worst of all films I've seen, but it is sufficiently unpleasant that I didn't watch it this time, despite a 30+ years absence of seeing it. I remembered enough of it to prevent my interest.
In that regard, this film IS rather unique - I often get curious about films after 30 years of not seeing them. "Was it THAT good/bad? What WAS that character all about? How did it end? What was the plot again?" Usually those questions can spur me to watch it. But not BORN LOSERS.
Maybe you're right. This film certainly has staked a claim in my mind as a worthless-to-watch-again film. Unfortunately, there are tens of thousands of incredibly boring films that fill that dungeon - not just bad ones, but boring uninteresting, Why-Bother? films.
Still, I do have a least-favorite-of-all-time film name in mind. Maybe 2. And BORN LOSERS isn't one of them. Close.
Billy Jack's "career" wouldn't get much better. Frankly, Howard Hesseman's performance is still the only part I'd watch of that entire series.
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moira finnie
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Re: The Worst Movie Ever Made?
Wow, I thought I was such a cultural and generational philistine for not seeing the hidden charm of the Billy Jack movies, especially Born Losers. Btw, if you scroll down to the bottom of the main page of the SSO screen, you'll find the Choose the Worst Movie section. Hope we don't go there again, though jeepers, there sure are enough candidates, huh?
Re: The Worst Movie Ever Made?
As Moira pointed out in her earlier thread, Hollis, there are films that are wonderfully bad and then there are films that are horribly bad. Some bad films, while evidencing a high level of ineptitude and bad taste, still manage to entertain and delight as much as any well-made movie out there. Other bad films, however, merely leave the viewer embarrassed for the performers or else bored to tears.
Some wonderfully bad movies:
*the already-listed Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959), as well as other Wood classics such as Glen or Glenda (1953), The Violent Years (1956), and The Sinister Urge (1960)
*Joseph Losey's Boom! (1968)
*Reefer Madness (1936)
*Dwain Esper's movies: Maniac (1934), Sex Madness (1938), Marihuana (1936)
*Hercules (1959)
*Eegah! (1962)
Some horribly bad movies:
*Herschell Gordon Lewis's 2000 Maniacs (1964), which might've made a dandy cult movie had the film's annoying qualities been quelled. Unfortunately much of the film's dialogue is muffled, and what does come through loud and clear is the headache-inducing bluegrass soundtrack which will compel you to view the movie on mute
*Swing Your Lady (1938), one of the most embarrassing comedies ever made
*Cyborg (1989), starring Jean Claude Van-Damme - not unintentionally funny, just yawn-inducing
Some wonderfully bad movies:
*the already-listed Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959), as well as other Wood classics such as Glen or Glenda (1953), The Violent Years (1956), and The Sinister Urge (1960)
*Joseph Losey's Boom! (1968)
*Reefer Madness (1936)
*Dwain Esper's movies: Maniac (1934), Sex Madness (1938), Marihuana (1936)
*Hercules (1959)
*Eegah! (1962)
Some horribly bad movies:
*Herschell Gordon Lewis's 2000 Maniacs (1964), which might've made a dandy cult movie had the film's annoying qualities been quelled. Unfortunately much of the film's dialogue is muffled, and what does come through loud and clear is the headache-inducing bluegrass soundtrack which will compel you to view the movie on mute
*Swing Your Lady (1938), one of the most embarrassing comedies ever made
*Cyborg (1989), starring Jean Claude Van-Damme - not unintentionally funny, just yawn-inducing
Re: The Worst Movie Ever Made?
Ray Dennis Steckler's catalog makes Ed Wood into a paragon of Wellesian standards. But even Steckler's films don't make my worst-ever lists because, well, his Indie efforts seem to be his intentionally uneducated-in-workable-film-techniques - rather than study what works or doesn't in film, he was "doing a Nike" - "just do it". The fact that he never learned is a whole other issue, but there's a whole class of cult audiences who donate positive values to his work. (I label those as the Jonestown Of Film Fans.)