Face it, we’ve all judged a movie by its poster. Perhaps even before seeing its trailer, you may pass by an upcoming film’s poster while exiting a movie theater or reading buzz in your Twitter feed. It gets your hopes up with a promising tagline or visual evocation of genre conventions. And the effect is no accident – the industry spends big bucks on this sort of advertising knowing full-well that a good poster can trick audiences into screens.
For the following ten films, audiences are left wishing such memorable, admirable creativity evident in their posters would have been at least somewhat present in the equally paper-thin movies themselves. These films go to show that movies don’t simply get better over the years (with titles from recent years to decades ago making the list), nor simply from having a higher budget. Sometimes, bad films are just a pretty promotional display that should have never turned into multiple frames.
10. Showgirls (1995)
Showgirls’ provocative poster, like its titular subject, should have viewers aching to see beyond its teasers. However, considering the film’s 14% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and seven nominations for 1995 Golden Raspberry awards, viewers hardly have their dollar bills out to throw at this movie. The final movie is a disappointment, but it keeps cult viewers coming back nonetheless. Its supporters have commended the movie as admirably daring, and its poster certainly speaks to that quality. The screenplay quality is as skimpy as the poster’s showgirl, the onscreen romance as blank and flat as the black poster background. Though the poster is a creative use of space and an enticing attention-grabber, Showgirls’ curtains are better left closed.
We are currently seeking Film contributors on WhatCulture. To find out more about the perks of being a Film contributor, click here.
24 Comments
I agree max payne was awful
The Phantom Menace Anakin/Darth Vader shadow photo. Looked like a haunting origins tale and it was, in all the wrong ways.
THIS! The Episode I teaser poster remains undoubtedly one of the greatest one-sheets ever produced… a single incredibly evocative image that harkens back yet promises much ahead, shows a picture of innocence yet foreshadowing the darker and more tragic future… wish the final film had lived up to the potential of that poster!
I’m ashamed to say the poster for Shrooms almost won me over. Almost.
Maybe it’s just me, but I never judge a movie based on its poster. I tend to view posters as separate entities that are only meant to remind you of who is in the film and when it’s coming.
the last airbender just awful
Here’s an idea for a follow-up column: teaser/advance vs. final release posters. Some that spring to mind:
Apollo 13: the teaser showed the spacecraft outlined and smoking over the moon, but the final just showed Tom Hanks’ face.
Star Trek – Generations: the teaser showed the Enterprise D superimposed over the Trek logo; the final needlessly added Shatner and Stewart’s faces along with a tagline.
Star Wars: Original issue vs. Special Editions.
Have to agree with you on “Volcano,” even though it’s one of my favorite cheesy movies just because it proves that Tommy Lee Jones can remain slack jawed through anything.
how about happy birthday to me´s poster? the guy having his throat impaled by a kebab was nearly the coolest thing about the whole movie, and that scene wasnt even in it! talk about dishonest advertising!
@ the Superman comment: not epic? the man held up a plummetting plane and carried an island into space…sure, its a bad movie, but that seems pretty much an astronomical feat
well…the max payne one is just the game cover….so…yea
Point of interest, Superman Returns was generally well received by critics and took in $404,000,000. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not arguing that it couldn’t have been better, but to call it terrible is a drastic overstatement as well.
It would have been hard to make a better film then ‘Superman Returns’. It’s pretty damned awesome, and hits all the right notes. While I love Superman The Movie and Superman II more for nostalgia reasons, in terms of storytelling Superman Returns is the superior film to those two.
Who would expect a movie with Lindsey Logan to be good, nice movie poster or not?
Okay I’ll admit that “2012″ could have been a better movie, but hating on Poseidon with no legit evidence? Even though the movie had some parts where suspending disbelief was necessary, Poseidon was amazing. I will never know everyone, today, feel the need to insult remakes, even when they are great movies. If you can’t watch a remake without comparing it to the original, don’t insult it later on. “The Amazing Spider-man” was a lot better than the first movie in the trilogy before it. Also, “A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)” was hella better than the original one. Freddy is seeking revenge on people who killed him. He’s not going to be cracking cheesy jokes. The new one realized that, making Freddy more serious, and also realized that sex does not need to be included in a good horror film.
“The Amazing Spider-man was a lot better than the first movie”… Umm, no. Spidey’s moves and behavior were more spideresque but that’s about it. Regardless of the major plot holes, poor characterization, abysmally stupid behavior of supposedly smart people and so on, this movie’s biggest flaw was undoubtedly Peter Parker. Garfield might play a rather believable modern teen (if you’re able to get past his most unnerving st-st-stuttering, that is) but he’s in no way the Peter from the Amazing comics. And for a movie titled Amazing, that’s a major failure. Whatever one may think about Maguire’s acting abilities, at least Sam Raimi nailed Peter.
Yeah the first spider man series was way better than the most recent one. It seems they were targeting high school kids in the latest one. I thought the guy that did Clark Kent was perfect. Super Man returns was a good movie. I think this writer doesn’t know what is going on.
Please don’t defend Superman Returns… it’s awful. It made some money by capitalizing on a title from our childhood, and managed (years later with bigger budgets and better special effects than the originals) to be outshined by those old pieces of crap. The saddest part is that Kevin Spacey, who is an inspired casting choice for Luthor, never gets a chance to really shine in this campy screenplay. I mean it’s not Gene Hackman, did he still have to get the incompetent cronies?
Everything about your comment is foolish, starting with your claim that Superman Returns (an EXCELLENT film) is ‘awful’. You also foolish called the classic original films ‘pieces of crap’ thus destroying any and all credibility you might have had. And there was nothing in the least bit ‘campy’ about Superman Returns.
Sorry, but your comments are a complete failure.
Who ever got tricked and expected an M. Night Shama…whatever movie to be good should be shot. I remember going to the movies and seeing the trailer for devil and everybody seemed interested even me. As soon as his name showed up on the screen there was a resounding sigh of disappointment. I don’t mean just a few people but the audience as a whole. It was almost in unison.
Well, his first two movies were great and Signs was not so bad, so though his subsequent works were drastic creative failures, somewhere in a corner of my mind I’m still hoping that he’ll get a hold of himself and go back to what he used to be.
I Loved Superman returns. It’s in my top 5. The first 2 Batman movies, the first Ironman, Avengers and Superman returns.
There’s a problem with your list: Superman Returns wasn’t terrible. It was excellent. It was the best movie released in 2006, and one of the best superhero films of the last decade.
I can’t believe all the people defending Superman Returns! He’s the man of steel, undeniably bad ass, and has a wide array of various other powers besides his obvious strength and invulnerability. They showed little to none of that in the film. Like somebody has already said, the most action-y the movie got was him catching a plane and then flying an island to outer space.. Wow.. Snoozeville… Where were the great fight scenes, the multitude of abilities, and where was the the suspense keeping you on the edge of your seat? There wasn’t.. The only thing that looked cool in this whole film was the crystal Lex had when it hit the water. I LOVE (nearly) ALL of the superhero films within the last 13 years since Marvel’s reboot of X-Men. I like a lot of the films even before then, but this was by far one of the absolute worst superhero movies made in recent past.
In round sunglasses and goggles famous brand Ray Ban
provides diversity and class, you can check the absolute variety of round
sunglasses in this iconic sunglasses brand. Mother-to-be Beyonce looked fabulous in the daring Michael Kors number for the Tory Burch party.
Alessandra Ambrosio and Ashton Kutcher get cozy in a sultry campaign for Brazilian
clothing label Colcci.