4. Forest Whitaker - Battlefield Earth
Battlefield Earth is almost the definition of a terrible movie. But let's give credit where it's due: it's better than the book. Admittedly, that's a pretty low bar, but can you imagine if it was actually worse? Still, that didn't stop the film's screenwriter from calling it the "suckiest movie ever" and stating that "comparing it to a train wreck isn't really fair to train wrecks" in a New York Post apology. Putting aside the actual awfulness of the source material, the fact that it was originally a million-page (my estimate after trying to read it) novel written by the founder of Scientology should have given at least some people a bit of hesitation. After all, you never saw Martin Luther or Paul (first Pope, kind of) peddling perennial bargain-rack fiction. It turned out pretty much as everyone expected, further raising the question of why Forest Whitaker, who would go on to a brilliant performance in The Last King of Scotland, agreed to play John Travolta's mega-tall (with platform boots) alien sidekick. I'm case you're wondering why Travolta himself didn't make the list as well, it's simple: the '80s and early '90s pretty much proved there's no such thing as a movie beneath him.