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A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935)
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Shake Hands With the Devil (1959)
Wednesday July 13, 2016
The Least-Popular Box-Office Smash of All Time
Putting together a post on Steven Spielberg's ubiquity in the 100 highest-grossing domestic films of all time (adjusted for inflation), I often resorted to IMDb to check who directed which box office smash. “Twister,” for example. No clue. (Turns out: Jan de Bont. OK.)
Then I began to notice the IMDb ratings for these films.
Then I began to wonder which had the lowest rating.
In other words, what is the least popular (by IMDb rating) most popular (by adjusted $$) movie ever made? For which movie did we have the greatest buyer's remorse?
Most, to be sure, are still beloved by IMDb users. Two of the top 100 movies are in the nines (“The Godfather,” “Dark Knight”), 33 are in the eights, 51 in the sevens. The average is 7.66. Nothing to sneeze at.
But there are 14 movies with IMDb rankings lower than 7.0. Here they are, from least shitty to most shitty:
$$ Rank | Movie | Adjusted Gross | Year | IMDb |
37 | Love Story | $600,584,100 | 1970 | 6.9 |
39 | Independence Day | $594,326,900 | 1996 | 6.9 |
56 | The Towering Inferno | $526,603,200 | 1974 | 6.9 |
70 | Smokey and the Bandit | $487,626,500 | 1977 | 6.9 |
92 | Mrs. Doubtfire | $452,032,000 | 1993 | 6.9 |
97 | Duel in the Sun | $437,755,100 | 1946 | 6.9 |
47 | The Robe | $561,600,000 | 1953 | 6.8 |
49 | Around the World in 80 Days | $554,400,000 | 1956 | 6.8 |
60 | The Greatest Show on Earth | $514,800,000 | 1952 | 6.7 |
91 | Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones | $458,759,500 | 2002 | 6.7 |
45 | Airport | $567,234,800 | 1970 | 6.6 |
18 | Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace | $774,877,600 | 1999 | 6.5 |
81 | Twister | $469,224,100 | 1996 | 6.3 |
84 | Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen | $462,470,000 | 2009 | 6.0 |
This makes me truly happy. I remember how I recoiled and thrashed around in the summer of ‘09 when that idiot “Transformers” movie was raking it in at the box office. How I wished revenge on its viewers. How one post was simply titled “Die, Die, Die!” Turns out many agree with me.
Which of these would you watch again? I don’t think I‘ve ever seen “Towering Inferno” so that would be on my list. Ditto “Duel in the Sun.” I have fond memories of “Smokey and the Bandit” but haven’t seen it since it was in movie theaters. How quaint is “Airport” now? Has anyone put together an “Airport”/“Airplane” double feature? And if you could spoof one of the movies on this list, a la “Airplane,” which would you choose?