Bad movies are released every year and if you have the misfortune of paying to see one, that movie probably deserves the hate coming its way. No one wants to waste their hard-earned money on terrible movies (unless of course you’re one of the millions of people still forking over cash to see the latest Transformers abomination), so studios really shouldn’t be surprised when there is a backlash against their shoddy product. There have also been a number of movies released over the years that, for whatever reason, have become the proverbial punching bags of internet movie sites. Some of these movies (2004’s Catwoman, for instance) are well-suited for this sort of disdain but a number of these movies don’t deserve the hate they seem to get from all directions. While none of the following 12 movies would ever be confused with being high art, they have enough redeeming qualities so as to make them unworthy of the scorn they receive.
12. Waterworld (1995)
Waterworld is regarded as one of the most expensive mistakes in cinema, a film with a bloated budget that failed to recoup its costs and also failed to make any meaningful impression on critics and audiences alike. Still, as a piece of entertainment, Waterworld isn’t half bad and contains some really interesting concepts that few films before or since have tackled. Conceptually, Waterworld is actually quite interesting, as its vision of a world engulfed by endless oceans is very different take on the usual post apocalyptic formula that also serves as a prescient, if over-exaggerated warning of the dangers of runaway climate change.
Really though, it’s the little things that keep Waterworld afloat: Kevin Costner is way too overly serious in his role as a half-man/half-guppy, but it’s hard to deny that idea of some humans evolving for life on the sea is an interesting concept. The way that the world’s inhabitants have built a mythology around “Dryland” and obsess over trinkets from the old Earth is also a nice touch. Plus, it’s hard to hate any film that features the late Dennis Hopper as an eye patch-wearing pirate commanding an army of mercenaries zipping around on jet-skis.
https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/m/waterworld/ Source: Rotten Tomatoes