Filmmaking aims to produce movies worth watching that age well while making profits and hoping to please the critics, with the Rotten Tomatoes aggregations making that so much more important now. While it’s almost impossible to please film critics, there have been occasions where movies unanimously received excellent reviews from critics. In the same way, it’s common to find low-ranking movies, irrespective of the budget or quality of the cast.
Rotten Tomatoes, one of the world’s top review aggregator websites for film and television, rates movies and TV shows on its Tomatometer and Audience Score. With the site rating movies in percentages, its Tomatometer is judged by its selection of critics and their reviews. So far, only 43 movies have received a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. To help get the top 10 films with 0% rating, the total number of reviews resulting in the rating is taken into account. Here are the 10 top films with 0% ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, with at least 40 critic reviews.
10. Jaws: The Revenge (1987)
Jaws: The Revenge proves that franchise filmmakers need to know when to draw the line and call it quits. For good reasons, the movie became the last film in the Jaws franchise. When Stephen Spielberg began the franchise with his critical and commercial hit, Jaws (1975), he probably never envisioned it would have a sequel that has a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 41 critic reviews.
Unlike Jaws and Jaws 2, which took around two years to produce, Joseph Sargent’s sequel, The Revenge, was made in less than nine months. Commercially, it was also the lowest-grossing film in the franchise, earning $51.9 million on a $23 million budget. In comparison, Jaws (1975), with a budget of $9 million, grossed $476.5 million, while Jaws 2 (1978) grossed $208 million on a production budget of $20 million.
9. Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever (2002)
On this list, Wych Kaosayananda’s Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever is the worst film ever made. With 119 critic reviews, it has the highest number of critic reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, with an aggregated 0% rating. Surprisingly, it starred two top action genre actors, Antonio Banderas and Lucy Liu. Commercially, it bombed at the Box Office, grossing only $20.2 million on a $70 million budget.
8. Pinocchio (2002)
When Roberto Benigni chose to direct and play the titular character in Pinocchio in the movie adaptation of Carlo Collodi’s 1883 The Adventures of Pinocchio novel, he probably had hoped its English-dubbed version would have relative success internationally. With actor Breckin Meyer playing Pinocchio in the English dub, the movie has a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 55 critics.
7. National Lampoon’s Gold Diggers (2003)
Riding on the back of National Lampoon’s successes over the years (although unrelated), Gary Preisler never expected his attempt at black comedy would turn out so badly. National Lampoon’s Gold Diggers (2003) failed to succeed by any standard of measure, commercially or with critics. 44 independent critic reviews gave its 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Even American Pie‘s actor, Chris Owen, could do little to plant a smile on any critic’s face.
6. Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2 (2004)
When film directors ignore critics’ film reviews and jump at a chance for a sequel, movies like Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2 (2004) are made. Although its predecessor narrowly missed Rotten Tomatoes’ 0% rating, earning 2%, Bob Clark’s Baby Geniuses 2 was the perfect candidate for the list. The movie earned a nomination for Worst Picture at the 25th Golden Raspberry Awards, as well as flopped at the Box Office. It only managed to earn $9.4 million from its $20 million budget.
5. One Missed Call (2008)
One Missed Call was 2008’s worst-reviewed movie as the only film in the year with a 0% rating from 81 Rotten Tomatoes critic reviews. Although the supernatural horror movie was co-produced by the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, and Germany, it failed to garner praise from critics and most audiences. However, it did moderately at the Box Office, earning $48.5 million on a $20 million budget.
4. A Thousand Words (2012)
Even a bankable actor like Eddie Murphy couldn’t help save Brian Robbins’ comedy-drama A Thousand Words. With 59 critic reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, the movie’s plot fails to impress any of them. Even with Kerry Washington and a total production budget of $40 million, it failed to register with movie audiences, as it only grossed $22 million.
3. Left Behind (2014)
The 2014 apocalyptic thriller Left Behind was a classic for a large number of Christian genre audiences. The movie also did moderately at the box office. The movie was based on Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins’ 1995 novel Left Behind. However, 70 Rotten Tomatoes critics’ reviews gave it a 0% rating, making it the only 2014 movie with that rating.
2. Gotti (2018)
Hollywood has shown time and again that it has a cult following for mob movies, with several box office hits in the genre. However, Gotti was not only ranked as one of the two worst-reviewed movies of 2018 but also a Box Office bomb. John Travolta portraying New York City mobster John Gotti in this Kevin Connolly biographical crime film only helped bring in $6.4 million, even on its small budget of $10 million. The movie has 59 critics’ reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.
1. The Last Days of American Crime (2020)
2020 was the last time a movie received a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. That year, three movies made the list, with The Last Days of American Crime having the highest number of critics’ reviews at 43. Many critics blamed the movie’s release timing for its bad reception. With its plot heavy on violence and police brutality, its release during George Floyd’s protests did little to help its rating. To date, it still has a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
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