Action movies continue to be some of the most acclaimed and popular genres out there, providing exhilarating choreography and battles that make the most out of the medium of film. The genre has only grown in prominence more and more as both highly acclaimed franchises and dedicated indie filmmakers continue to push the barrier of what is possible with action filmmaking. However, for every highly entertaining and beloved action movie that has been released, there are also a handful of infamous duds that completely miss the mark.
Whether it be films that tried and failed to capitalize on the concepts and action trends of their era, low-budget disasters that are riddled with flaws, or egregious adaptations that actively sour the source material, there are a wide variety of different terrible action movies out there. Many of these films are often in conversation as some of the worst movies of all time, with jarring and confusing action that managed to annoy and aggravate much more than entertain.
10
‘Catwoman’ (2004)
Directed by Pitof
While there have been a wide array of different misfires among adaptations of DC characters to film, Catwoman stands out among the rest as easily the worst DC movie of all time. The film perpetuates all the worst trends of comic book movies of the era, substituting thematic resonance and interesting characters for sleazy sex appeal and lackluster visual effects. It stung especially for audiences of the era considering that Halle Berry had just proven herself as a capable actor a few years prior with her Oscar-winning performance in Monster’s Ball.
The action in the film is laughably lackluster, primarily using jarring CGI in replacement for actual choreography that makes the film feel like a tech demo for 3D graphics. It doesn’t help matters that the film actively misrepresents the strengths of Catwoman as a character, rewriting her to remove her agency and giving her less depth than when she was a side character in Batman Returns. The film proved to be so bad that it actively killed the possibility of female-led superhero movies for over a decade.
9
‘Borderlands’ (2024)
Directed by Eli Roth
While video game movies have seen an unexpected spike in quality with faithful, fan-favorite films like Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Five Nights at Freddy’s, Borderlands proves that video game adaptations still have the potential to be unmitigated disasters. The ironic part is that this film doesn’t stray too far away from the original video game series in terms of style and humor, yet this style proves to be much more painful and annoying in the context of a feature-length film.
Even for longtime fans of the franchise, painfully lackluster casting choices like having Kevin Hart as the hardened soldier Roland showed from the very beginning that the film was going to focus less on action and more on unfunny gags. It certainly doesn’t help matters that Eli Roth’s biggest strengths as a director are not in the action genre, as the scenes prove to be increasingly basic and formulaic in their approach, with the film as a whole actively going against his strengths.
Borderlands
- Release Date
-
August 9, 2024
8
‘The King of Fighters’ (2009)
Directed by Gordon Chan
While there was an undeniable legacy and strength from the video game franchise that The King of Fighters was adapting to film, this adaptation destroys what minimal story was in the games to create a confusing, convoluted mess. While the film had an all-star cast of exceptional martial artists and stunt workers from across the world, the film diminishes the strengths of its cast by focusing more on unappealing slow motion and jarring visual effects.
The film joins the long line of terrible adaptations of fighting games to film, focused more on throwing as many notable characters on-screen as opposed to telling a cohesive or compelling narrative. Even with the characters that it used, it manages to completely misrepresent the personality of beloved fan favorites, such as turning Terry Bogard into a stern FBI agent and overall removing the charm and likability of most of the cast. While not as notorious as other more infamous examples, the film easily deserves a spot among the worst video game movies.
The King of Fighters
- Release Date
-
August 26, 2010
7
‘Sniper: Special Ops’ (2016)
Directed by Fred Olen Ray
One of many painfully dull ego-driven projects from the latter half of Steven Seagal‘s career, Sniper: Special Ops shows that whatever charm and capabilities the actor once had as an action star have been completely lost to time. While the film attempts to follow in the footsteps of other top-notch war films in following the hardened strengths of a sniper at the peak of their abilities, the film’s lack of action and thrills proves to only make Seagal look worse as an action star.
Seagal does about the laziest and minimal amount of work possible for a supposed leading role, barely even moving an inch for the majority of the film as he stays seated in a singular spot. He isn’t even sniping and in the heat of battle while he’s sitting down, only being in the heat of action at the beginning of the film before literally taking the back seat to the actual story. If you’ve seen one modern Seagal movie, you’ve seen them all, yet Sniper: Special Ops manages to go above and beyond in terms of its lack of quality or care.
Sniper: Special Ops
- Release Date
-
April 3, 2016
6
‘Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever’ (2002)
Directed by Wych Kaosayananda
Often in conversation as not just one of the worst action movies, but one of the overall worst movies of all time, Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever boggles the mind with its complete lack of pacing or care. The film proves that there is more to the art of action filmmaking than simply throwing explosions and action on the screen at every second, as it doesn’t take long before the entire film becomes a monotonous slog. When the film isn’t aggravating the audience with its lackluster action, it’s finding ways to bore and disinterest them with a story that is simultaneously confusing and boring.
While the concept of a film that shows explosions and action first and worries about the story later at the very least, seems like it would make for a fun, so-bad-it’s-good experience, the reality is much more monotonous and repetitious in its execution. Antonio Banderas and Lucy Liu have both proven themselves as effective action stars before and since the film, yet this film gives them no chemistry and nothing to work with as it pushes them from setpiece to setpiece with no rhyme or reason.
5
‘Steel’ (1997)
Directed by Kenneth Johnson
A consistent trend that will seemingly always play a role in Hollywood films, despite rarely ever resulting in an actual quality film, is the use of non-actor celebrities as the selling point of a blockbuster, with few being as notoriously terrible as Steel featuring Shaquille O’Neal. Based on the underappreciated DC hero, the film directly ignores its source material in able to make a by-the-numbers action comedy fueled entirely by the charisma and star power of Shaq.
While he may make for an undeniable star on the court, Shaq’s abilities as an action star are far from up to snuff to be a leading man in an action blockbuster, with the entire film crumbling around him as a result. From the laughably bad superhero suit to the misaligned focus on humor and unfunny comedy as opposed to actual action, it’s hard to find inherent positives present within Steel. The film effectively destroyed any chances of the character being adapted to film again, as he still hasn’t appeared in a film since this disastrous adaptation.
Steel
- Release Date
-
August 15, 1997
- Runtime
-
97 Minutes
4
‘The Last Airbender’ (2010)
Directed by M. Night Shyamalan
One of the most widely hated blockbuster films of all time, M. Night Shyamalan‘s live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender removes any of the charm or wit from the original animated series to create an underwhelming slog of a film. The film seems to have an active disdain towards the original source material, a shock considering how much of a masterpiece the series is considered, ranging from minimizing the spectacle of bending to even mispronouncing characters’ names.
Even if the series were fully gracious towards the original series, the film’s destructive pacing and overabundance of exposition dumps over actual character moments remove any agency or entertainment from the film. Shyamalan’s signature quirky style and offbeat writing style work well in the confines of his original horror films, but as an adaptation of a beloved animated series, his style directly takes away from the story and comes across as annoying. As far as adaptations of beloved original properties are concerned, The Last Airbender is among the most egregious and painful of all time.
The Last Airbender
- Release Date
-
June 30, 2010
3
‘Dragonball Evolution’ (2009)
Directed by James Wong
Few action anime series are as influential and iconic as Dragon Ball, yet the film’s poorly conceived American live-action adaptation, Dragonball Evolution, served to go against all the good graces of the original franchise. Nearly every quirk and intricacy that made the original series a fan favorite for generations is completely removed, replacing it with an array of clichés and tropes that give the film no agency or originality to call its own. No fan of the original series wanted to see Goku as a generic high school student with the personality of a plank of wood.
It hurts especially more considering that the overarching Dragon Ball franchise features some of the most exciting and electrifying action sequences in animation history, making this lackluster live-action travesty all the more disappointing by comparison. It’s miraculous to see a Hollywood film actively making all the wrong choices to make a film that seems made from its very core to make as many people angry as possible. The film managed to be so terrible that Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama cited the film’s low quality as the reason that he came back to the franchise and continued the story with Dragon Ball Super.
Dragonball Evolution
- Release Date
-
March 12, 2009
2
‘Samurai Cop’ (1991)
Directed by Amir Shervan
When it comes to campy, over-the-top, and so-bad-it’s-good action B-movies, none can hold a candle to the unbridled chaos and absurdity of Samurai Cop. The absurdly ridiculous premise of the LAPD turning to a deadly Caucasian Yakuza as their last-ditch effort to take down Japanese organized crime rings in LA managed to be just as moronic and hilarious as it sounds. While its minuscule budget often gets in the way of making it an actual quality film, it certainly doesn’t get in the way of its monumental entertainment value.
Samurai Cop is a film whose enjoyment value manages to increase more and more the worse and dumber that the film gets, going above and beyond to create a glorious display of amateur cinema. Nearly everything is done wrong when it comes to the execution of Samurai Cop, as it constantly falls over itself in terms of the editing and continuity of its own story. This undeniable lack of quality has made the film a cult classic since its release and widely beloved for all the wrong reasons.
Samurai Cop
- Release Date
-
November 30, 1991
1
‘Atlantic Rim’ (2013)
Directed by Jared Cohn
Few films are as morally bankrupt as the notorious “mockbuster”, a subgenre of films dedicated to copying and pretending to be a low-budget version of the latest blockbuster to syphon profits and attention. Many action movies have seen mockbusters over the years from infamous mockbuster studio The Asylum, ranging from Transformers with “Transmorphers” to Top Gun: Maverick with “Top Gunner”. While there are many to choose from as the worst of the worst, few are as simultaneously blatant with their copying and disappointing with their potential as the Pacific Rim ripoff, Atlantic Rim.
Even with the understanding that Atlantic Rim is nothing more than a low-budget ripoff of a high-budget blockbuster, the concept of an over-the-top low-budget kaiju film sounds like the ultimate so-bad-it’s-good experience. However, The Asylum’s signature filmmaking style proves to be much worse than simply a low-budget version of the original film, but doing everything it can to waste time and get the minimum runtime while using the least amount of money. This results in only a minute of terrible CGI kaiju action and the vast majority of the film is characters talking to each other through cockpits. It takes an especially terrible film to find a way to disappoint even as a so-bad-it’s-good movie.
