Ian Youngs
Culture reporter
Universal Pictures/Prime Video
The whole film shows either Ice Cube’s computer screen or his face as seen on the monitor’s camera
Film critics have delivered a verdict: the new version of War of the Worlds – which stars Ice Cube as a man who must save humanity from an alien invasion without leaving his desk – is bad.
But how bad? Is it just “the worst possible adaptation of HG Wells’s work”? Is it “one of the worst movies of the decade so far”? Or might it actually be “one of the worst movies ever made”?
When the reviews started coming in this week, the internet soon took delight in the film’s 0% critic score on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes.
While some gleefully joined in the mauling, others were attracted to the Prime Video film like moths to a flame.
“I feel like I have to watch this now,” wrote The White Lotus actor Patrick Schwarzenegger, who, as the son of Arnold, has perhaps encountered the odd low-ranking movie.
He’s not the only person to feel the lure of a film with savage reviews – some terrible movies have built cult followings for being so bad they’re good.
‘Verges on parody’
Lon Harris, executive producer of the This Week in Startups podcast, stoked the conversation this week when he posted: “Dipping below like 5% on Rotten Tomatoes has basically the same appeal to me as breaking 90%.
“That’s some[thing] I need to experience right there.”
A film with a rock bottom rating is bound to be interesting, Harris tells BBC News.
“A very low score indicates universal agreement. This movie is bad. Now I want to know more… Why does everyone agree? Suddenly, I’m intrigued.
“I watch a lot of movies, there’s so much content coming out, and most of it is bland and forgettable.”
Harris was intrigued enough to watch War of the Worlds, and it duly lived down to his expectations.
“It’s very silly, Ice Cube’s solo performance just reacting to things on his laptop screen verges at times on parody and frequently made me laugh, and there’s a whole subplot involving Amazon drone deliveries that’s so on-the-nose it’s almost unbelievable that they included it,” he says.
It’s not a subtle film. Ice Cube’s government surveillance agent must save both the world and his family from afar, as he watches the alien invasion unfold on his computer screen, a set-up explained by the fact it was made during the pandemic.
It had been sitting on the shelf ever since – until now.
Harris adds: “There’s a charm to watching a movie that’s not slick and polished like most other films you see, where you can sort of see the artists’ hands at work trying their best to cover for their budget issues and production setbacks.
“That’s more interesting than just ‘another alien invasion movie’ to me.”
After its initial battering, one critic has now taken pity on War of the Worlds, having enjoyed watching it.
“Is this movie really that bad?” wrote Entertainment Weekly’s Jordan Hoffman on Thursday.
“The answer is… absolutely not. It’s certainly stupid, but it’s also a great deal of fun.”
That write-up, which concluded that the “movie is a mess, but an uproarious one”, was deemed positive by Rotten Tomatoes so has nudged the film’s Tomatometer score up from 0% to the giddy heights of 4% at the time of writing.
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Samurai Cop is famously bad but built up such a fanbase that it got a sequel 24 years later
Truly atrocious movies are preferable to those that are simply forgettable, according to Timon Singh, who set up the Bristol Bad Film Club a decade ago.
“I’ve seen films where the shot is not even in focus, the crew are walking into frame, the actor’s wig has fallen off – and it’s still an incredibly entertaining film,” he says.
Blockbusters can be “bloated” and “boring”, he adds, plucking out 2017’s Transformers: The Last Knight as an example.
“In comparison, Samurai Cop is technically a terrible film, but it’s 90 minutes of pure enjoyable terrible acting, awful fight scenes, and once you’ve seen it, you’re never going to forget it.
“Whereas you’ll probably forget Transformers: The Last Knight while you’re watching it.”
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Tommy Wiseau wrote, directed and starred in The Room, which still gets regular screenings
Other films to have gained cult followings include 2003’s The Room, once described as “a trash masterpiece” by the Daily Beast.
However, The Room, made by “bad film auteur” Tommy Wiseau, is perversely enjoyable enough to have a relatively respectable 24% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Katharine Coldiron, author of Junk Film: Why Bad Movies Matter, says it’s better to watch a film-maker like Wiseau try hard and fall short, rather than someone going through the motions.
“When a film is earnestly made, and it fails, that’s terrific to watch,” she says.
She says her favourite terrible film is 1983’s Staying Alive, the sequel to disco classic Saturday Night Fever, directed by Sylvester Stallone, which was critically panned despite commercial success.
“All but one of the characters is a sociopath, so the movie works on almost no levels. I love to put it on and yell at it.”
The worst films ever (maybe)
Rotten Tomatoes has its own list of the worst films of all time.
It’s skewed to movies from the past 25 years, because those have the most online reviews, and is of course subject to the flaws of the RT scores.
But here are its top five, all of which have 0% critic ratings.
1. Ballistic: Ecks vs Sever (2002)
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Lucy Liu played Sever and Antonio Banderas was Jeremiah Ecks
A cliché-crammed moody action thriller, slated for it script, acting and fight sequences.
Starring: Lucy Liu is unconvincing as a sort-of-superhero and Antonio Banderas is a grizzled ex-FBI agent.
Sample review: “An ungainly mess, submerged in mayhem, occasionally surfacing for cliches.” Roger Ebert
2. One Missed Call (2008)
A insipid and ridiculous (but competent) remake of a Japanese horror film about teenage friends who get voicemail messages sent by their future selves at their moments of death.
Starring: A random assortment including Shannyn Sossamon, who went on to join US band Warpaint; Meagan Good, now actor Jonathan Majors’ wife; comedian Margaret Cho; future Modern Family star Ariel Winter; and Ray Wise from Twin Peaks.
Sample review: “A brow-furrowing blend of child abuse and adult trauma.” New York Times
3. Left Behind (2014)
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Nicolas Cage played the pilot of a plane on which dozens of passengers disappeared into thin air
A mixture of Hallmark-style schmaltz, Biblical-themed supernatural mystery and aeroplane disaster drama. And not in a good way.
Starring: Nicolas Cage stuck in his post-Oscar-winning rut.
Sample review: “Left Behind takes the end of the world and turns it not into a nightmare, but a nice long nap.” Washington Post
4. A Thousand Words (2012)
A motormouth book agent mustn’t speak, otherwise a magical tree will die, and so will he. For some reason.
Starring: Eddie Murphy being over-the-top and underwhelming at the same time.
Sample review: “Remember Eddie Murphy? He used to be hilarious.” Movieline
5. Gotti (2018)
This mob misfire was criticised for, among many other things, its sympathetic portrayal of real-life crime boss John Gotti.
Starring: John Travolta showed he’s no Marlon Brando. His wife Kelly Preston played Gotti’s wife.
Sample review: “I’d rather wake up next to a severed horse head than ever watch Gotti again.” New York Post