worst HF film

Kveto from Prague · Post by **Kveto from Prague** » Tue December 30th, 2008, 12:37 pm

whats your least favourite film that would fit into HF?

for me it is no doubt "300". that film made me sick in that some people might think "this is how it was". it was like MTVs version of history.

a close second would be robin hood: prince of theives. i know it was based on a legend but it was so glaringly modern and poor overall that it turned me off completely. and kevin cosners accent.

Rowan · Post by **Rowan** » Tue December 30th, 2008, 1:47 pm

I don't consider "300" to be anything other than a film based on a graphic novel because that's all that it was ever claimed to be.

For me it would have to be The Other Boleyn Girl.

Volgadon · Post by **Volgadon** » Tue December 30th, 2008, 2:04 pm

Yeah but isn't the graphic novel HF?

Belili · Post by **Belili** » Wed January 7th, 2009, 12:25 pm

[quote=""Volgadon""]Yeah but isn't the graphic novel HF?[/quote]

Yeah, it is. I consider 300 HF. And teh suck. I have more of a problem with the xenophobia and the political overtones than the inaccuracies, though. What really made me mad were the inaccuracies made to serve the political undertones (Spartans valued freedom? Really? I wonder why they had 10 slaves for every one Spartan?).

So I hate it epically, but I can't say that I hated watching it as much as Pearl Harbor, which was a mega-fail on all levels. At least 300 is okay to watch on mute.

Leo62 · Post by **Leo62** » Wed January 7th, 2009, 12:50 pm

Gotta agree with all the nominations so far. 300 I found not just bad but downright offensive. It's the first time in 20 years that I've actually walked out of a movie. Pearl Harbor - can't believe I payed good money to see that! Though there were some wonderful so-bad-its-funny moments. I particularly enjoyed the sequence when Ben Affleck joined the RAF and seemed to be using the grounds of an Edwardian country house as his airstrip...

I guess I'll also reluctantly nominate Beckett. This was reissued on DVD recently and I bought it eagerly cos I remember seeing it years ago and liking it. It has not dated well. It's based on a play by Jean Anouilh from the 50's and it was obvious that he was really making a point about French collaboration in WW2 (with about as much subtlety as a sledgehammer).

Belili · Post by **Belili** » Wed January 7th, 2009, 1:04 pm

[quote=""Leo62""]Gotta agree with all the nominations so far. 300 I found not just bad but downright offensive.[/quote]

Yeah, the graphic novel is like that, too. 300 is what made me stop being a Frank Miller fan. (I also read comics, and yes, I actually took a gander at the graphic novel after seeing the movie just to see if Miller's work was as racist as the movie. It is. He gets no more of my money, ever.)

Even when you separate the inaccuracy and xenophobia, the story still sucks. Bad. The narration is awful, the inner conflict is trite and they hammer you over the head with it, and the characters are wooden and shallow.

Come to think of it, I revise my earlier statement. 300 is probably the worst historical film ever. It's not often that I'm offended by political and racial slander, flagrant, constant historical inaccuracy, AND horrible fiction writing - all within the same film.

Pearl Harbor still sucks. I thought Elizabeth: the Golden Age was awful in all ways. And I really enjoyed the first one. The Thin Red Line put me to sleep, as did The Other Boleyn Girl - but I just consider those mediocre. They didn't make me want to stab out my eyeballs with a screwdriver.

donroc · Post by **donroc** » Wed January 7th, 2009, 1:24 pm

Bad history can make for good entertainment if one is uneducated in the subject or is able to suspend disbelief:

As I have listed on other threads:

The Santa Fe Trail, Charge of the Light Brigade, and I suppose all other WB films starring Errol Flynn. Their other virtue was to impel me to read the history after seeing the films as a boy.

Gladiator

Volgadon · Post by **Volgadon** » Wed January 7th, 2009, 2:26 pm

Haven't seen 300 as I am actually avoiding that one. The John Wayne Genghis Khan movie and the recent Musketeer were dreadful, but I don't really have a nomination for THE worst. The John Wayne movie nearly succeeded in putting me off Mongol history at a time when I was obsessed with it. Plus there is that ridiculous 'dance of the 7 veils' scene, what is she wearing? Strips of duct tape?

sweetpotatoboy · Post by **sweetpotatoboy** » Wed January 7th, 2009, 3:55 pm

I don't know about worst, but the 1972 "Pope Joan" movie was dull as dishwater and I couldn't stick with it. A shame as I loved the recent novel on her, on which the forthcoming movie is based.

And the 2003 BBC adaptation of The Other Boleyn Girl was also very dull to me and I didn't finish watching it. Haven't seen the movie version yet.

chuck · Post by **chuck** » Wed January 7th, 2009, 4:25 pm

"Braveheart".....Still rises to the top of the worst HF film.....so bad....Mel Gibson's extensions, kilts, blue paint, so OTT and on and on and on......