Top 10 Movies That Aren't As Good As You Remember Them

When it comes to stoner comedies,they’ve been done far better than “Dude, Where’s My Car?” in the years since its release. . . and the years prior for that matter. That’s right, this dreadfully dumb story of a crazy night out, a lost car and a nerdy sci-fi cult is, maybe unsurprisingly, not very good. “Dude, Where’s My Car?” looks and feels like a bad TV film, full of jokes that either haven’t aged well or were never funny in the first place. Not even the comedic charm of Seann WilliamScott and Ashton Kutcher could save this mess of a movie. Trust us, you’re better off watching “Pineapple Express” or “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle.”

Written and directed by Zach Braff, this romantic comedy-drama was actually a surprise hit at Sundance and went on to earn cult status. With a Grammy-winning soundtrack, its hipster appeal and a story inspired by Braff’s own life, “Garden State” didn’t make waves at the box office, but critics and audiences were still all about it. Unfortunately, upon re-watch, you’re likely to become aware of how it actually comes off: not only does the film seem to take itself way too seriously, but it tries way too hard to be quirky. Meanwhile, Natalie Portman’s character has been retroactively labeled as a Manic Pixie Dream Girl, a female stock character that’s empty and only in the film to help out the - usually - male protagonist.

It’s appropriate Universal decided to drop Casper’s “Friendly Ghost” moniker for the title of this film, because it’s probably a whole lot more depressing than you remember. Yep: this live-action / CGI adaptation of a classic children’s comic strip decided to dive into Casper’s backstory, showing all the kids watching that Casper was once a child, just like them, but then he died. How many parents definitely weren’t ready to have that conversation on their way out of the theater? Better yet, the film ends with Casper being given a human form once again - only to have it torn away from him. Hasn’t this kid been through enough?!

Everyone remembers how strikingly awful “Batman and Robin” is, but what many don’t recall is that “Batman Forever” is almost as bad. Jim Carrey and Tommy Lee Jones play The Riddler and Two-Face with obnoxious excess, while a bored-looking Val Kilmer steps in for the role of Batman previously played by Michael Keaton. The film shares most of the terrible flaws of “Batman and Robin,” but to a lesser degree, meaning it isn’t even much fun to watch. But hey, on the bright side, the movie did give us an insane music video for Seal’s “Kiss From A Rose,” for some strange reason.

“American Beauty’ garnered massive critical acclaim upon its debut, winning five Academy Awards in 2000, including Best Picture. Looking back two decades years later, the film has not stood the test of time, and critics and audiences have mostly come to agree that the drama was overrated. At times unsettling and hard to watch, and other times undeniably pretentious, “American Beauty” is far clumsier than it first got credit for, with even director Sam Mendes admitting in later interviews that he understood some of the backlash to the film in the years following its release.

Look, we love Robin Williams. This 1997 Disney remake was clearly meant to be a wacky comedic vehicle for the actor, who was at the top of his Hollywood game during this stretch of his career. Unfortunately, that hot streak didn’t translate to this scientific disaster of a film, even though we may not have noticed when we were kids. The plot of “Flubber” is about as thin as can be, which would be okay if the movie was funny...which it isn’t. “Flubber” amounts to dangling a shiny set of keys in front of a child, except switch out the keys for a sentient wad of green slime.

You might have fond memories of “The Boondock Saints,” but let us ask you: when’s the last time you actually sat down and watched it? The movie is so self-serious that it soon becomes hard not to laugh, but all the actual jokes in the film seem to fall flat. The only redeeming quality of “The Boondock Saints” is Willem Dafoe, who decided to push his performance to wild levels of comedic self-awareness. The action thriller often feels like it revels in its excessive violence and gore, but doesn’t actually have anything to say beyond how “cool” it all is. We’d be content with leaving this film in the past.

Getting excited for the Lebron James-led “Space Jam” sequel set for 2021? Well, not so fast. Looking back, if you strip away all the nostalgia behind “Space Jam,” the sports film feels more like cheap corporate brand synergy rather than a genuine and artist-driven live action / animated movie, with wooden acting from Michael Jordan, disappointing writing of the classic characters and lazy animation compared to the standards set by the original Looney Tunes. Despite being pleasing enough on the surface to win over countless children, the film feels rushed and like a fraction of what it could have been. But who knows? Maybe Lebron James will be able to right the ship this time around.

Remember when everyone was talking about the technical and cinematic masterpiece that was James Cameron’s “Avatar?” The movie shattered so many box office records! It has to be good, right? Nope. Featuring a story that’s already been told time and time again, exhausting visual effects that overcrowd the screen rather than adding to the film and a general lack of anything to get excited about, it’s hard to believe this is the same epic sci-fi everyone was pining for at the end of the 2000s. With two sequels having already been filmed as of the end of the 2010s, it looks like we’re in for more “Avatar” in the 2020s whether anyone’s asking for it or not.

Before we reveal our top pick, here are a few dishonorable mentions.

“Jingle All the Way” (1997)

“Independence Day” (1996)

“Cats & Dogs” (2001)

It might be hard to believe this looking back, but when “Mortal Kombat” was released in theaters in 1995, the video game adaptation was relatively warmly received by both critics and fans (at least for a video game adaptation). We have to admit, we have no idea what those people were thinking. “Mortal Kombat” is one of the standard-bearers of bad video game movies, with an almost-non-existent plot stringing together cheesy fighting sequences with disappointing choreography, horrendous line delivery and special effects that looked dated even by 1995 standards. It might be fun for fans of the classic fighting game to see these characters brought to life, but the “Mortal Kombat” franchise deserves better than this.