Blockbusters, by association, have the right to be stupid, dumb, ridiculous, or - if needs be - downright preposterous. But boring? Uh-uh. If there's one thing that a blockbuster should never be, it's boring. It takes a special kind of filmmaker to render such inherently exciting components such as "explosions" and "more explosions" as tedious, after all. And yet, across the span of cinema, many have managed to do so. Yes, there is something innately oxymoronic about the term "boring blockbuster," but that is the reality we face. Sitting down to an awful blockbuster is one thing, then, but forking over your cash to find yourself yawning your way through a movie that cost 200 million dollars to render on the big screen... well, that's another matter entirely. You can at least understand it when a hefty blockbuster turns out bad, but even the worst offenders are at least somewhat entertaining to sit through once - especially if they're so tragic that you can just sit back, switch off your brain and enjoy the train wreck as it unfolds before your eyes. But boring is unforgivable - especially when blockbusters, for all intents and purposes, are supposed to be - above all - entertaining in a very broad and accessible way. Here, then, are 10 blockbusters that it was hard to stay awake for. Blockbusters that - despite their huge budgets, excellent source material or the talented filmmakers that were involved in making them - somehow succeeded in just a single capacity: as sure-fire cures for insomnia. Unless you're in desperate need of a nap, avoid the following flicks...
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
