Now, I am willing to concede that Batman and Robin is a very disappointing movie, and one that was clearly ill-conceived, but to call it the worst movie ever to me indicates a profound lack of perspective on the part of the readership of Empire Magazine, or rather the vocal voting segment which voted overwhelmingly for it as the worst movie ever (it got nearly 3 times as many votes as the second place entry on the list).
But the fact that Spiderman III was number 50 on the list really tells you exactly what kind of list we are dealing with here. As one astute commenter noted, eight of the films on the list received 3 star ratings from Empire, and 22 had 2 star ratings. That to me indicates that either Empire Magazine's rating standards are remarkably lax, or the people voting on the poll have don't really have a clue as to what really constitutes a good or bad movie objectively speaking.
The whole exercise reeks of fanboyism, because I notice that there are a lot of disappointing superhero movies on the list. Yes, there are bad superhero movies, but proportionally, the most recent efforts aren't the worst movies ever made.
And that is another thing: the list really skews towards movies from the last 15 years or so. Is that an indication that movies really are a lot worse than they used to be or that the audience that Empire is polling is somewhat ignorant of film in general.
Put it this way, I really dislike Battlefield Earth, but even I am willing to concede that it isn't even in the top 5 of the worst movies ever made. Don't get me wrong, there are some really appalling movies on the list, but overall, it is a really biased list, and not merely in a way that makes me say "I disagree with that selection or placement" but rather one that makes me say "that is just wrong," which is never a great place to start.
Part of me is reminded of every list of bad video games I've ever seen which inevitably ends with E.T. at number one. It is a predictable response that lacks any editorial flair, because I am willing to bet money that in most cases, the person making the list has never played that game. I mean, the above list shows the same lack of interest... they were all convenient choices.
Now I've made quite a few lists in my time for my blog, but I have never really made a worst-of list, because I know it is far more difficult thing to do than something that recounts the things that I've enjoyed. Nevertheless, I can certainly tell a good list from a bad one, and the Empire Magazine list is really bad and sort of joyless, especially compared with some of the other lists out there.
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