10 Worst Period Movies, Ranked

Period movies have captured the hearts of many through the years, whether or not it is an epic historic fiction or a swoonworthy romantic story. Maybe the intrigue comes from wanting to flee fashionable life. Certainly, one can have enjoyable hiding in historical past because it introduces us to a special time- a time when society was overruled by social fake pas and lavish costumes. After all, that is an oversimplification.

However the place most attribute their love for interval items to movies like Pride & Prejudice and Gladiator, not each film can emulate their successes. Between poorly written scripts, wacky casting decisions, and comical manufacturing executions – there are some interval items that may’t even be saved by their historic settings. These are a number of the worst.

10 ‘W.E.’ (2012)

Directed by Madonna

Caught in her personal poisonous marriage as a 1998 housewife, Wally Winthrop (Abbie Cornish) takes consolation within the notorious love story between King Edward VIII (James D’Arcy) and Wallis Simpson (Andrea Riseborough). However upon additional analysis, Wally quickly realizes that the royal relationship is not as good because it appears, permitting herself to seek out the braveness to hunt out her personal happiness.

With a fascinating historic romance, a gifted group of actors, and a wildly inventive legend on the helm of this mission – one can solely surprise the way it all went incorrect? Effectively, between the clunky dialogue, the infinite quantities of monitoring photographs, and the whole mismanagement of the paralleling storylines, there’s a lot to select from. Certain, props may be given to the manufacturing high quality and Riseborough’s stand-out performance; sadly, a lot of that’s principally overshadowed by the messy melodrama of all of it.

9 ‘Iron Masks’ (2019)

Directed by Oleg Stepchenko

Set within the 1700s, cartographer Jonathan Inexperienced (Jason Flemyng) units off on his mission to map out the Far East territories of the Russian Empire. However alongside the best way, he quickly will get entangled inside a variety of fantastical adventures that embody supernatural dragon scrolls, a mystical wizard, and Captain Hook himself.

Shut your eyes and picture a movie that has something and all the pieces you could possibly ever need. Apparently, that turned a actuality for the creatives of Iron Masks – and never in a great way. Certainly, this movie may be very messy and might’t precisely pinpoint what it needs to be. If something, it is a B-grade action-flick, with some A-list solid members, that is horribly weighed down by D-grade writing and performances. Maybe the one enjoyable factor is how audiences acquired to see Jackie Chan and Arnold Schwarzenegger (and even Charles Dance) go toe-to-toe with each other. It might be extremely goofy, nevertheless it’s a cross-over of icons we by no means knew we would have liked to see.

8 ‘The Scarlet Letter’ (1995)

Directed by Roland Joffé

In seventeenth century New England, younger Hester Prynne (Demi Moore) awaits the arrival of her older husband. However upon establishing a brand new independence, she begins to forge new bonds, together with one with the highly regarded Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale (Gary Oldman). Ultimately, the 2 interact in a sinful, passionate affair after Hester’s husband is presumed useless. However when a toddler is conceived and Hester refuses to call the daddy, she is humiliated by her Puritan group, who label her an adultress.

With such revered supply materials and a star-studded solid, it is stunning to see just how bad The Scarlet Letter came to be. Followers of the novel have been outraged as to how the script basically mirrored a skeleton of the unique narrative, because it was not a gripping story of morality and guilt, however one which prioritized voyeuristic sensuality and cringey melodrama. How icky. No surprise it was up for quite a few Razzie Awards.

The Scarlet Letter (1995)

Launch Date

October 13, 1995

Director

Roland Joffe

Runtime

135 Minutes

Writers

Douglas Day Stewart

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7 ‘The Final Legion’ (2007)

Directed by Doug Lefler

After the autumn of Rome, its final emperor, the 12-year-old Romulus Augustus (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), is ready to escape his jail in Capri, because of the assistance of his sensible instructor, Ambrosinus (Ben Kingsley), a loyal Commander, Aurelius (Colin Firth), in addition to a fierce warrior named Mira (Aishwarya Rai). Collectively, the group set off on a journey to Britannia the place they have to battle the evil Vortygn (Harry Van Gorkum).

Historical past buffs look away as a result of The Final Legion is something however a seemingly correct retelling of the collapse of the Roman Empire. Certain, anachronistic variations may be enjoyable and beloved – however that is provided that it is executed effectively. For some weird motive, this film messily mish-mashes Roman historical past with the Arthurian legend. The writing is clunky, the plots are ridiculous, and the extremely respectable solid is criminally wasted on laughable scenes. What a disgrace.

The Final Legion

Launch Date

April 19, 2007

Director

Doug Lefler

Runtime

102

Writers

Jez Butterworth , Tom Butterworth , Carlo Carlei , Peter Rader , Valerio Manfredi

6 ‘The Scorpion King’ (2002)

Directed by Chuck Russell

Set in a time earlier than the pyramids, Mathayus (Dwayne Johnson) is employed by the leaders of the free individuals to assassinate the tyrannical King Memnon (Steven Model) and his fortune-telling sorceress, Cassandra (Kelly Hu). However this process proves to be rather more tough than anticipated. Now, aligned with some sudden allies, Mathayus not solely faces a frightening mission, however a stunning new future.

Let’s be actual, the place most completely adore The Mummy Returns, there is no denying how goofy the introduction to the Scorpion King was. Maybe it was the shockingly bad CGI or the mere shock of Johnson’s look – however both method, turning this character right into a spin-off story was an attention-grabbing option to say the least. Certain, the premise might have been intriguing, however the execution of The Scorpion King struggles to hit the marks of an epic blockbuster. From its tacky line deliveries to oddly depicted struggle sequences, this can be a film that’s so unhealthy that it is good.

5 ‘Pompeii’ (2014)

Directed by W.S. Anderson

In 79 A.D., Milo (Equipment Harrington), a slave-turned-gladiator, falls in love and catches the attention of Cassia (Emily Browning). Sadly for him, she’s the daughter of a rich service provider who’s additionally betrothed to a corrupt Roman senator. However when Mount Vesuvius abruptly erupts, Milo finds himself in a race towards time as he should struggle his method out to avoid wasting his beloved as Pompeii crumbles round them.

Disaster movies aren’t all doomed to fail. Certainly, regardless of the likeliness of them leaning into the melodrama, there are some that come out unscathed. Sadly, Pompeii was not one in every of them. Fairly than delivering an action-filled epic or an emotionally-charged tragedy, audiences have been met with uninspired clichés that have been comparatively boring and very laughable. Oh the potential this movie had. Maybe that is one other “it’s so bad it’s good” movie.

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4 ‘Alexander’ (2004)

Directed by Oliver Stone

An iconic determine of historical past, Alexander the Nice (Colin Farrell) was a relentless conqueror who amassed the best empire the world ever witnessed. This film trails this wild journey from his childhood to his ascension to the throne, in addition to his sudden demise on the younger age of 32.

With how a lot this film has been meme-ed through the years, it is secure to say that it’s not effectively regarded. Even Farrell himself cringes upon reflection, and we won’t precisely blame him. From the wish-washy accents to the hilariously bleached wigs to the general messy script, Alexander lacks any sense of coherency. Not even its epic scope can reserve it, though appreciation may be given to its campiness (and the truth that the movie has been re-released three extra instances).

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3 ‘Gotti’ (2018)

Directed by Kevin Connolly

Raised on the streets of New York, John Gotti (John Travolta) climbs the ranks of the felony Gamboni household till he lastly reaches the top, because the syndicates’ boss. However his lavish lifetime of crime takes a sudden sharp flip when he is struck with a number of tragedies, authorized trials, and hard-hitting felony convictions.

Biopics and the crime style often go hand-in-hand, with most movies discovering their very own area of interest viewers. Sadly, Gotti struggled in all regards by giving viewers an unnecessarily convoluted story that superficially skimmed the lifetime of one of many world’s most infamous mobsters. The enriching plot-points have been proper there, and but, the creatives determined to craft a sluggish story that solely acquired worse because the timeline turned extra disjointed. Certainly, this film was so badly acquired, it nonetheless stays to be one of many few movies with a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Gotti

Launch Date

June 14, 2018

Runtime

112 Minutes

Writers

Lem Dobbs , Leo Rossi

2 ‘The Conqueror’ (1956)

Directed by Dick Powell

Mongolian warlord, Temujin (John Wayne), falls in love with Bortai (Susan Hayward), the daughter of the Tartar chief, and abducts her. This initiates a battle between enemy armies, which oddly results in Bortai reciprocating emotions of affection. In the meantime, Temujin suspects a traitor in his combine and strives to root them out earlier than he can overcome the Tartars.

Casting Wayne as Ghengis Khan ought to already function a sign of this movie’s lack of caliber – which is ironic provided that he lobbied hard to get the role. However do not let the large scope idiot you. The Conqueror falls brief at each alternative. Between the lackluster performances to the laughable writing decisions, it is onerous to think about how this was marketed as a tension-filled historic epic. What’s even worse is that the making of this film allegedly led to an epidemic of cancer diagnoses inside the solid and crew, because of the filming areas being round nuclear take a look at websites. Yikes.

The Conqueror

Launch Date

March 28, 1956

Director

Dick Powell

Runtime

111 minutes

Solid

John Wayne , Susan Hayward , Pedro Armendáriz , Agnes Moorehead

Writers

Oscar Millard

1 ‘Meet the Spartans’ (2008)

Directed by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer

Spartan King Leonidas (Sean Maguire) leads his 13 ragtag warriors in a battle towards an enormous military, despatched by Xerxes (Ken Davitian) – the evil Persian King. With nothing however leather-based chaps and break dancing expertise, this group should band collectively to struggle for his or her land’s freedom. Sure – that is principally Z-grade 300.

The classic parody movie. This can be a style that has stood the take a look at of time. Nonetheless, it is secure to say that the 2000s was an period that created its personal sub-genre because of the minds of Friedberg and Seltzer. Meet the Spartans was one in every of their enormous industrial successes, although, like most of their different movies, it was broadly criticized the world over. From the gratuitous humor to the scatological gags, this film managed to pack-in each offensive -ism recognized to humankind. Frankly, it isn’t even painfully humorous. It is simply painful.

Subsequent: 10 Best Period Movies With Great Acting, Ranked