Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley in Chaos Walking 2021Image Via Lionsgate
By
Robert Lee III
Published 53 minutes ago
Writing from the Chicagoland area in Illinois, Robert is an avid movie watcher and will take just about any excuse to find time to go to his local movie theaters. Robert graduated from Bradley University with degrees in Journalism and Game Design with a minor in Film Studies. Robert tries his best to keep up with all the latest movie releases, from those released in theaters to those released on streaming. While he doesn't always keep up with the latest TV shows, he makes it a goal to watch nearly every major new release possible. He has been honing his craft and following any and all movie news all his life, leading up to now, where he has a vast knowledge of film and film history. He also logs every movie that he watches on his Letterboxd page, and has hosted a weekly online movie night with his closest friends for over 6 years.
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While sci-fi as a genre has its wide array of exceptionally well crafted and mesmerizing experiences throughout film history, there are also an equal number of notoriously terrible sci-fi films that have been released over the years. However, among the wide array of terrible sci-fi films, Battlefield Earth has stood as the pinnacle and shining example of just how terrible a modern sci-fi film can be. It's over-the-top performances, moronic story, and nausea-inducing camera angles have made it a laughingstock ever since its release in May 2000.
However, over 25 years since the release of Battlefield Earth, there has been a wide array of other notoriously terrible sci-fi films that have rivaled its legacy as one of the worst sci-fi movies of all time. From disastrous franchise films that make a mockery of previous entries to laughably bad low-budget dumpster fires, there is no shortage of exceptionally terrible sci-fi films that have been released in the wake of Battlefield Earth.
10 'Chaos Walking' (2021)
chaos-walking-social
Adapted from a fan-favorite sci-fi novel, Chaos Walking was in development hell since its announcement in 2011, facing several rewrites, reshoots, and a myriad of other constant changes that halted development. When the film finally did end up getting released, the final product wound up being a garbled mess of concepts and confused execution, creating one of the worst dystopian movies that sci-fi has to offer. Not even the likes of prominent stars like Daisy Ridley and Tom Holland were able to save the film from crippling mediocrity.
The premise that managed to work well as a novel simply doesn't translate well to film, with the planet where all thoughts are physically public and heard by all, comes across as more laughable than thought-provoking. It certainly doesn't help that the central performances are deeply unserious, with its myriad of jokes and quirky humor not fitting with the overall story and worldbuilding of the film. The film was quickly forgotten as one of many misfires released in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
9 'Aliens vs Predator: Requiem' (2007)
AVPR: Aliens vs Predator - Requiem publicity stillImage via 20th Century Studios
While both the Alien and Predator franchises have received a wide array of praise as some of the most prominent sci-fi action horror franchises out there, their long-awaited crossover resulted in middling to slightly below average quality in the original Alien vs Predator. However, even this film feels like one of the greatest sci-fi films of all time compared to the disastrously terrible sequel, Alien vs Predator: Requiem. The film amplifies all the worst aspects of the previous film while not retaining any of the positives, acting as one of the most aggravating sci-fi horror films of all time.
While aspects like the uninteresting human characters and underwhelming special effects certainly do a lot to lower the film's quality, the major issue that plagues the entire film is its notoriously terrible lighting. Every single sequence is covered in shadows and darkness, with a massive detriment to nearly every action scene and attempted scare, as a good 70% of the film feels completely incomprehensible due to being too dark. Even if audiences were able to see the film, it would be little more than the same brainless violence that made the last film a disappointment.
8 'Dracula 3000' (2004)
Image via Netflix
The legendary story of Count Dracula has been adapted to film a near countless amount of times, so it certainly makes sense that one would provide a sci-fi space exploration twist on the classic horror story. However, Dracula 3000 does very little to reiterate and evolve the vampire story, actively diminishing the minimizing the impact of its themes to create a highly generic sci-fi horror film that bores much more often than it scares.
The very concept of vampires in space seems like the type of dumb fun excitement that would make for a hilariously dumb fun time, yet Dracula 3000 constantly disappoints in what should be a sure-fire entertaining time. The film has absolutely nothing to offer compared to other vampire films and other sci-fi horror films, simply hoping that the niche of seeing Dracula in the year 3000 would be enough to trick viewers into experiencing its lack of quality.
7 'Cell' (2016)
A still from the 2016 film Cell.Image via Saben Films
With an overwhelming number of Stephen King adaptations released year after year, it's only inevitable that a select few will end up becoming catastrophic failures. However, even among the worst King adaptations out there, Cell is a painfully boring film that completely botches its cast and the inherent concept of a technology-induced apocalypse. The film sees a strange signal being emitted from all cell phones that transforms people into mindless, bloodthirsty creatures, with a select few survivors attempting to fight and survive amidst the chaos.
While many other King films are able to provide insight and deeper strength to the messages and energy of the original story, Cell consistently takes the least interesting and most boring approach to the concept time and time again. Its jarring editing frequently undercuts whatever story and message that the film wants to provide, as it constantly undercuts the core theming of the original novel in order to make the most generic apocalypse story imaginable.
6 'Uglies' (2024)
Joey King as Tally Youngblood in Netflix's Uglies.Image via Netflix
While Uglies presents itself as one of the many blockbuster YA dystopian films of the previous era, its laughably bad premise and even worse execution make it one of the worst Netflix movies of all time. The film takes place in a dystopian future where children are forced to live separately from society until they turn 16 years old and are allowed to undergo plastic surgery to turn them "pretty", acclimating them into society. It's about as surface-level and generic as a YA dystopian film can get, almost feeling like a walking collection of clichés and tropes instead of an actual original film.
It's a case of not only being massively late to the party in terms of YA adaptations, but being so incredibly lazy and inept with its execution that it would be mocked even when these conventions were more acceptable. Uglies has a very simple-minded view of the world and hierarchical power as a whole, not entirely understanding the political essence of dystopian films as a whole, but so desperately wanting to say something it thinks is important.
5 'Artemis Fowl' (2020)
Artemis Fowl, played by Ferdia Shaw, holds a phone to his ear while wearing sunglasses in Artemis Fowl.Image via Disney+
While the original Artemis Fowl books are wildly acclaimed in their own right and do a great job of combining sci-fi and fantasy into a striking and compelling world, Kenneth Branagh's Artemis Fowl is a disastrous adaptation on the level of something like The Last Airbender. The film completely removes any charm that the original story had, with its array of unlikable characters, uninteresting set pieces, and a story that does the absolute minimum with its sprawling world of potential.
While the film was originally slated to be a theatrical release, it was one of many films that were dumped onto streaming during the pandemic. Yet, one can only imagine just how much more hated the film would be if it had received its theatrical release as originally planned, as it's genuinely shocking just how consistently the film fails and falls over itself. Even an array of genuinely talented actors in the supporting cast, like Colin Farrell and Judi Dench, can't save the film from overwhelming disaster.
4 'Atlantic Rim' (2013)
Image via The Asylum
One of the largest and most pervasive constants of garbage cinema in the modern era is that of strange mockbusters, blatant rip-offs of then-popular blockbuster films in a blatant attempt to siphon success from these more popular films. While many of these films are morally and fundamentally terrible and near unwatchable at their core, Atlantic Rim, a laughably bad ripoff of Pacific Rim, goes above and beyond in terms of its lack of quality. The film largely follows the same basic premise as Pacific Rim, following a group of mecha pilots going to fight various monsters that have appeared from the bottom of the ocean.
From a pure, so-bad-it's-good mentality, the concept of a low-budget ripoff kaiju film, at the very least, seems like it would be a hilariously dumb film to laugh at with friends. However, Atlantic Rim proves to be so terrible that it even disappoints in this regard. As such, a minuscule amount of the film is actually set aside for special effects action, with the vast majority of the film being characters talking to each other, either in person or over video calls.
3 '2025: The World Enslaved by a Virus' (2021)
Image via Wesely Bros.
A blatantly transparent piece of attempted propaganda that barely puts in the effort to actually make a cinematic experience out of its virtue-signaling nonsense, 2025: The World Enslaved by a Virus is exactly as terrible as it looks. The dystopian film follows a group of renegade underground Christians who are fighting for their rights in a future where Christianity was made illegal due to the Coronavirus lockdown. Its laughably idiotic story proves to be only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the film's overwhelming problems.
Instead of having any sort of engaging stakes or tension-building moments in the film, The World Enslaved by a Virus manages to create a laughably inept thriller whose amateur filmmaking makes each scene an unintentional laugh riot. This piece of fearmongering propaganda was already poorly aged when it ended up being released, but now that the real-life 2025 is almost coming to a close, one can only hope that this film stays forgotten and in the past.
2 'Bigfoot vs the Illuminati' (2020)
A man in a futuristic space suit talking to Bigfoot on a fiery, desolate planet in 'Bigfoot vs the Illuminati' (2020)
A blatant retooling of free assets and models to create an incredibly lazy and uninteresting animated film whose only call to fame is a goofy title to trick people into watching it, Bigfoot vs the Illuminati confounds the mind with its ineptitude. Nearly every aspect of the film, from its reused assets to its lazy voice acting and nonexistent pacing, makes the film an absolute mess from beginning to end. The film as a whole is emblematic of a new era of laziness in digital filmmaking, showing a sort of last hurrah of deeply lazy filmmaking before being overtaken by generative A.I.
While many people haven't seen this so-bad-it's-good gem, its best moments manage to be some of the most absurdly hilarious moments that modern sci-fi has to offer. From its near incomprehensible story of factions and rebels teaming up with Bigfoot to fight the Illuminati to sexual intercourse resulting in the summoning of ancient Egyptian gods, the film has no limits to its brainless storytelling. Nearly every one of the films by director BC Fourteen uses the same assets and style repeated over and over, so watching any single one of his countless sci-fi disasters is the same as watching them all.
1 'War of the Worlds' (2025)
Ice Cube looks shocked with his mouth open in 2025's War of the WorldsImage via Universal Pictures
While films like 2025: The World Enslaved by a Virus and Bigfoot vs the Illuminati may be worse films from a technical standpoint, War of the Worlds and its complete dismantling of an all-time sci-fi classic made it an instant contender for one of the worst films of all time. The film's attempted usage of the screen-life format to give a real-time portrayal of the iconic alien invasion only manages to create an array of jarring visuals, laughably bad performances, and one of the worst stories in sci-fi history.
The film constantly one-ups itself in terms of its own failure and misunderstanding of the source material, almost as if it's constantly in a battle to salvage its own material and failing to do so at every opportunity. With so many jarring scenes of Ice Cube watching mass destruction with a blank, shocked look on his face, it didn't take long for the film to become a defining new icon of so-bad-it's-good sci-fi. Complete with some jarringly distracting product placement, War of the Worlds is the type of rare, generational disaster in sci-fi that can stand head and toe alongside the likes of Battlefield Earth.
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War of the Worlds
PG-13
Science Fiction
Thriller
Release Date
July 30, 2025
Runtime
91 Minutes
Director
Rich Lee
Writers
Marc Hyman, Kenny Golde, H.G. Wells
Cast
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Ice Cube
Will Radford
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Eva Longoria
NASA Scientist Sandra Salas
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War of the Worlds
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