Disney can most definitely put on a good show, but it was only recently that thanks to owning Star Wars and Marvel, two of the biggest action movie franchises ever, that they’ve actually been able to make extremely popular action movies. Unfortunately, some of their action movies just haven’t been that great. Sometimes when you gamble, you just can’t win. Here’s the top five Disney action movie failures of all-time.
1. The Black Hole
This 1979 attempt to capitalize on the Star Wars’ phenomenon was years before they finally decided to just buy Star Wars. With an all-star cast, this high-concept adventure set in outer space was surprisingly grim. Costing the company twenty-six million dollars, including marketing, it was Disney’s most expensive movie to date. Unfortunately, the turnover didn’t make them much money and was quickly forgotten among the company’s massive library.
2. Condorman
In this 1981 superhero adventure, Disney’s first, a comic book creator must take on the persona of his character, Condorman, in order to thwart an evil Soviet conspiracy. Siskel & Ebert declared it the worst movie of the year and to be fair, it did lose the company ten million dollars, which was an astronomical amount back then. Disney now owns a billion dollar movie industry in the superhero genre, but don’t look for any remakes of the Condorman anytime soon. However, the movie is great for a good laugh! You just got to love those dramatic early eighties movies!
3. Dragonslayer
1981 must have been the year for bad movies. Nonetheless, Dragonslayer had incredible visual effects. In fact, this movie features one of the best rendition’s of a dragon ever, but despite the impressive dragon and clever story, this movie actually lost money. Disney co-produced this one with Paramount, spending about eighteen million dollars on production. However, the movie only made about fourteen million, a big upset, but considering it was the encore to Superman II and Raiders of the Lost Ark, it’s no surprise. Eventually, Dragonslayer did acquire a substantial cult following, however.
4. Tron
Tron, from 1982, was before it’s time in visual effects, taking the audience inside a computer program world. It was immediately criticized because of it’s strange, albeit unique plot line. This Disney failure only grossed thirty-three million in revenue, making it, in the studio’s eyes, a financial disappointment. Like Dragonslayer, Tron also acquired a cult following. Years later, this led to an eventual attempt at a sequel with a big budget, which also failed. It’s definitely somewhere on the list of Disney’s Duds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHiyYSuveJ4
5. The Black Cauldron
This 1985 Disney film was their first animated movie to receive a PG rating. The company put a ton of money into this fantasy epic and it was Disney’s first ever animation to use CG imagery. In fact, at the time, it was the most expensive animated movie ever made. Adapted from the celebrated fantasy novel by Lloyd Alexander, the film cost forty-four million dollars to make, but only brought home twenty-one million from theaters. It was such a legitimate failure that Disney’s animation department almost went bankrupt. As a matter of fact, Disney waited until the 1990s to even put the film on home video.
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