10 Best So-Bad-They’re-Good Sci-Fi Movies of the ’90s, Ranked

Watching a bad movie doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to be a bad experience. Sometimes, a film hits the perfect blend of terrible and goofy or campy so that it becomes a genuinely enjoyable experience to view. This wonderful brand of filmmaking is commonly called so-bad-its-good, and it’s an important part of the cinematic landscape. After all, there’s a level of respect to being able to make a film so bad that it’s actually enjoyable.

The ’90s produced great sci-fi movies. While the decade delivered some of the best movies in the seminal genre, it also spat out some of the absolute worst. In fact, there are so many bad sci-fi films from the ’90s that it would be impossible to wrangle them up. Alas, a few stand out above the rest as so terribly bad that they just so happen to be an enjoyable watch. These questionable sci-fi gems of the ’90s are admittedly bad yet undeniably entertaining, enduring as so-bad-they’re-good classics of cinema.

10 ‘The Island of Dr. Moreau’ (1996)

Directed by Richard Stanley & John Frankenheimer

When Val Kilmer and Marlon Brando get stuck in the tropics together on an island populated by half-human beasts, what could go wrong? Apparently, a lot. The Island of Dr. Moreau is an absolute disaster of a film. It’s so bad that, in 1997, it was nominated for four Razzie awards, with Brando winning Worst Supporting Actor.

The Island of Dr. Moreau is one of those films that has the perfect blend of an absurd premise, lackluster script, ridiculous performances, and an overall goofy tone. Yet, it is bizarrely enjoyable, largely thanks to its deranged plot and the hammy performances from a woefully miscast ensemble. It is an incredible contender for the best of so-bad-its-good movies. The Island of Dr. Moreau is the perfect film for a night with friends looking to make fun of a movie.

9 ‘Multiplicity’ (1996)

Directed by Harold Ramis

Spider-Man: Homecoming isn’t the first time Michael Keaton has portrayed a down-on-his-luck construction worker. In Multiplicity, Keaton plays Doug Kinney, a man who seems to never have enough time. Attempting to control his life, he agrees to be cloned by a scientist, but his clones develop unique personalities, bringing more chaos into his life.

Multiplicity
‘s plot is quite weak and a lot of the humor feels very forced.

Multiplicity has some defense on its side in the vein that it’s supposed to be a comedy. Alas, much of the comedy comes from places it was never supposed to. While intended laughs can be found from the ever-talented Keaton, unintended ones can be located in the film’s ridiculous script and overall goofy premise. The plot is quite weak, and a lot of the humor feels very forced, making people laugh because it’s trying too hard, not because it’s funny.

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8 ‘Virtuosity’ (1995)

Directed by Brett Leonard

Two-time Oscar winner Denzel Washington has an incredible slew of films on his resume, but Virtuosity is not one of them. The film follows Washington’s character, Parker Barnes, a former cop who, after being arrested for killing the man who killed his family, is selected to test out a virtual reality program where he must hunt down a character built after all the worst criminals in the world, SID 6.7 (Russell Crowe). But when SID 6.7 breaks out of the game, it’s up to Barnes to take him down.

If the synopsis doesn’t make it obvious enough, the film’s plot is downright wacky and ridiculous. Still, Virtuosity remains entertaining almost thirty years later through its hilariously horrendous CGI and pre-stardom Russell Crowe bringing all the ham when portraying SID 6.7. Crowe, specifically, is a hoot and a holler, and his chemistry with a stoic Washington makes the film worth a watch.

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7 ‘Steel’ (1997)

Directed by Kenneth Johnson

Although the Steel character is portrayed and adapted borderline perfectly in the hit series Superman & Lois, the same cannot be said about none other than Shaquille O’Neal‘s rendition of DC Comics’s metal-clad hero. O’Neal plays a military scientist who must armor himself and become the superhero Steel when a frightening weapon is stolen and put on the streets.

When it comes to bad superhero movies (of which there are quite a few), Steel ranks among the top offenders. Poor O’Neal gets a lot of flack when it comes to this film, with many aiming at his acting abilities. However, O’Neal’s acting is also one of the best parts of this misguided mess. If O’Neal’s questionable acting prowess isn’t enough to satisfy a viewer, the ridiculous superhero tropes and standard terrible writing are enough to warrant a watch.

6 ‘Highlander II: The Quickening’ (1991)

Directed by Russell Mulcahy

When most people hear that there was a second Highlander film, the common question is whether the series needed it in the first place.With an upcoming reboot starring Henry Cavill, fans and some audience members who may have never seen the films before may find themselves returning to the series for a reminder. But the only thing they’ll find with its sequel, Highlander II: The Quickening, is pain. Hilarious pain.

Fun fact: the sequel to Highlander was so bad that director Russell Mulcahy bailed on the premiere. The film has a reputation as one of the worst sci-fi efforts of all time, but there is joy in its misfortunes. The film’s dubious quality has cemented it in the so-bad-its-good realm because viewers simply can’t help but admire how genuinely terrible the film is. There seems to be no good aspect worth noting other than the laughs one will get from the terrible motion picture before them.

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5 ‘Double Dragon’ (1994)

Directed by James Yukich

Before video game movies found their footing recently with hits such as Sonic the Hedgehog and The Super Mario Bros. Movie, they had a hard time at the box office and with critics. One of the worst offenders was 1994’s Double Dragon, based on the beat ’em up video game of the same name. Double Dragon wasn’t interested in following the premise of the game, a common downfall for most poorly received video game movies.

If someone has seen the 1993 Super Mario Bros. movie, they’d understand exactly why some of the costumes and characters in Double Dragon are absurdly bad. The hilarious character from the games, Abobo, is a prosthetic abomination so obnoxious it rivals that of the Super Mario Bros. adaption of the Goombas. Double Dragon feels so wacky and unlike the source material that some can’t help but wonder if the filmmakers had actually ever researched the games. It’s mind-numbingly bad; Abobo is enough for a whole movie’s worth of laughs.

4 ‘Anaconda’ (1997)

Directed by Luis Llosa

When a film crew is taken hostage by a hunter who plans to capture a fabled anaconda that could make him a fortune, chaos ensues. Anaconda stars the likes of Jon Voight, Jennifer Lopez, Owen Wilson, and Ice Cube. If that insanely unlikely cast isn’t enough to convince someone to give the film a go, they should picture legendary actor Voight jumping from a sitting position to choke out a woman with his thighs.

Voight hits home run after home run with the so-bad-its-good crowd, thanks to a laughable accent that makes almost every line laughter-worthy. Not to mention the ever-hilarious Ice Cube, who seems to be the only other actor aware of the kind of film he’s in. Anaconda is a surefire hit for all those looking for an unserious action adventure full of ’90s chaos. It’s entertaining, unexpected, and gloriously over-the-top, even if “quality” isn’t exactly a synonym for it.

3 ‘Suburban Commando’ (1991)

Directed by Burt Kennedy

It doesn’t get much better than the legendary Hulk Hogan playing a bombastic space-vigilante who tries to acclimate to life on Earth and its many virtues. Hogan’s movies are notorious for being bad, but Suburban Commando is easily the best fit in the so-bad-its-good category. It’s got some of the funniest one-liners, and Hogan himself is downright hilarious to watch act after transitioning from wrestling.

Many consider Hogan to be a funny character as a person already, so seeing him attempt to embody a space vigilante trying to learn how to skateboard is a promise for deranged entertainment. Indeed, the plot, dialogue and acting are less than noteworthy. At the end of the day, the main actors and the premise themselves are enough to warrant watching this train wreck of a film, a misguided but amusing detour into space lunacy.

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2 ‘Escape From L.A.’ (1996)

Directed by John Carpenter

After the first film in the franchise, Escape From New York, opened to massive success, director John Carpenter returned to helm the sequel, Escape From L.A. Unfortunately, upon its release in 1996, Escape From L.A. did not receive the same reactions; in fact, it gained quite the opposite.

Escape From L.A.‘s CGI and green screen sequences are horrifically bad, even by 1996’s standards (which isn’t a high bar.) The film possesses all the typical offenders of what audiences know as a standard so-bad-its-good action flick. How can one go wrong with a film that features Kurt Russell‘s character, Snake, chasing after a runaway car by surfboarding down a parallel trench? That scene itself is worth some praise, making Escape From L.A. an underrated yet still mortifying entry into the sci-fi action territory.

1 ‘Starship Troopers’ (1997)

Directed by Paul Verhoeven

As if any other movie could be the best so-bad-its-good sci-fi mess. Starship Troopers is known worldwide as the ultimate example of a so-bad-its-good film. Set in a world where humans are waging war against a race of alien bugs, the plot follows a group of soldiers traveling to alien planets to take the fight to them. What follows are some of the funniest Sci-Fi goofs in film history.

One could consider lightning in a bottle, having created something that simply cannot be recreated. Starship Troopers defined a generation of so-bad-its-good and helped define the category as a whole. It’s wholly absurd, and it knows that it is akin to a cheesy high school drama with its love triangles disguised as a space opera. The results in one of the funniest films of all time, both when it intends to be and when it doesn’t.

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