Some believe the '80s delivered some of the best and most successful films of all time. This decade has plenty of evidence to back it up. Science fiction had a huge boom, franchises were soaring to new heights, and teen comedies were at their peak. The highest-grossing film of the '80s (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial) earned nearly $800 million. Plenty of other films raked in hundreds of millions of dollars.
Alas, not all films could enjoy that same success. Where production value ratcheted up in the '80s, so did production and marketing costs. Whether due to big-name on-and-off screen talent attached, production delays, or negative reviews, many movies of this decade flopped spectacularly. Check out the biggest box-office flops for each year in the '80s.
10 Heaven’s Gate (1980)
Budget - $44 Million; Box Office - $3.5 Million
Heaven's Gate
- Release Date
- November 19, 1980
- Director
- Michael Cimino
Set in Wyoming during the 1890s, Heaven's Gate is a Western centering on European immigrant farmers fighting to keep their land. Cattle barons believe the immigrants are stealing their cattle. Sheriff James Averill tries to serve as the intermediary, but his attention is splintered when a madam catches his eye. According to the BBC, Heaven's Gate's original budget was a modest $11.6 million. However, director Michael Cimino's vision for this project multiplied that number.
Too Much Directorial Input?
Heaven's Gate's production was plagued with problems from the start. Even brushing the ever-increasing budget aside, this film has an uphill battle ahead of its release. Word of unsafe filming conditions, animal abuse allegations, schedule delays, and Cimino's unrealistic expectations. Unfortunately, the film did not meet the high bar he set. Many critiqued the film's bloated run-time as well as the historical inaccuracies.
9 Honky Tonk Freeway (1981)
Budget - $24 Million; Box Office - $2 Million
Honky Tonk Freeway's weird premise was perhaps just a bit too weird for audiences. The British comedy pokes fun at American politics, setting the film in a fictional Florida town, Ticlaw. Kirby T. Calo is the local mayor, preacher, and hotel and safari park owner. A new interstate is built and doesn't include an off-ramp to draw passersby to Ticlaw. Thus, Kirby and the residents of Ticlaw decide it's up to them to get their town thriving.
One Week, One Chance
This film is a hodgepodge of randomness. A water-skiing elephant named Bubbles? Check. Residents painting the town pink to solve their troubles? Check. Audiences rejecting the film so badly that it only survived a week in theaters? Check again. A few defenders of Honky Tonk Freeway believed American audiences couldn't handle people making fun of them. Others claimed it just wasn't that funny. Either way, it was a certified box office bomb.
8 Inchon (1982)
Budget - $46 Million; Box Office - $5.2 Million
Inchon is a war film centered on the Korean War and more specifically, The Battle of Inchon. It revolves around General Douglas MacArthur's plan to enact an "amphibious landing" (an attack using land, sea, and air) onto hostile land. Some sources place Inchon as a 1981 film, as a special screening was given to Navy veterans in May of that year. However, it was officially released in September of the following year.
An Expensive Blunder
Filmmakers wanted Inchon to make an impact. It did, just not in the way any hoped. It failed to crack $2 million in North America and scraped out a hair over $5 million worldwide. Inchon failed to capture the serious tone it set out for, with flat characters, dull writing, and questionable depictions of the war. Not even the film's star, Laurence Olivier, could rescue this one from its downward trail.
15 Greatest Movies About the Korean War
The Korean War might have been forgotten but it was significant. Today, some of the conflict's tensest moments can be seen in the following films.
7 The King of Comedy (1983)
Budget - $19 Million; Box Office - $2.5 Million
- Release Date
- December 18, 1982
The King of Comedy is the fifth collaborative effort between director Martin Scorsese and actor Robert De Niro. Unfortunately, it's also their least successful project together. Rubert Pupkin (De Niro) is a floundering stand-up comic. He aspires to achieve the success of comedian and talk show host Jerry Langford. Rupert becomes obsessed with Langford which results in stalking and later a kidnapping scheme.
The Wrong Decade
The King of Comedy sank so that nearly forty years later, Baby Reindeer could swim. It had a limited release in Iceland at the end of 1982 and fully premiered to audiences in 1983. Unlike many others on this list, the reviews weren't bad. They found De Niro's character charming and funny and the subject matter intriguing. This perhaps is a case of a film being way ahead of its time. Luckily for fans of Scorsese and De Niro, this was not the end of their creative partnership.
6 The Cotton Club (1984)
Budget - $58 Million; Box Office - $26 Million
Francis Ford Coppola is a legendary filmmaker behind cinematic juggernauts like The Godfather. Sadly, The Cotton Club did not find its audience upon its 1984 release. Based on a book by James Haskins, the movie revolves around the famous Harlem jazz club, The Cotton Club, in the 1930s. Viewers get to know the eclectic bunch that gathers at the club from musicians to dancers to gangsters.
Good Film, Bad Sales
Behind the scenes, The Cotton Club took a while to get going. Coppola was not the first director attached to the project and by the time he signed on, millions had already been spent. Changing production companies and screenwriters continued to balloon the budget. In the end, it recouped less than half of the $58 million spent to get it to theaters. While critics largely enjoyed the movie, and it earned several prestigious award nominations, surely they wished that praise had translated into ticket sales.
5 Enemy Mine (1985)
Budget - $29 Million; Box Office - $12.3 Million
3.5/5
Enemy Mine
During a war between humans and the reptilian Drac race, spaceship pilot Willis Davidge (Dennis Quaid) ends up stranded on an alien world, along with enemy fighter Jeriba Shigan (Louis Gossett Jr.). While both Willis and his Drac counterpart can breathe on the planet, the environment and its creatures are relatively hostile, forcing the two to work together to survive. As time goes by, Willis and Jeriba become unlikely friends, though their unique relationship faces considerable challenges.
- Release Date
- December 20, 1985
- Main Genre
- Sci-Fi
Enemy Mine is a science fiction film based on a novella by Barry B. Longyear. Set in the late twenty-first century, there is an ongoing war between humans and an alien species called Dracs. Will Davidge (played by Dennis Quaid) despises Dracs. One day he's in the middle of a battle with a Drac space pilot named Jareeba Shigan (Louis Gossett Jr.). It ends with both stranded on a planet with the only chance of survival riding on their partnership.
An Expensive Risk
Huge, intricate sets, elaborate CGI and special effects, and detailed costuming make sci-fi films extremely costly. The Los Angeles Times reported the original budget at a reasonable $17 million. By the time everything wrapped, the actual figure hovered closer to $40 million. Unfortunately, even if it stuck to the first figure, it still would've disappointed at the box office with $12 million. A holiday release typically bodes well for films, but Enemy Mine was branded as forgettable and got lost in the shuffle.
The 11 Best Opening Scenes in '80s Sci-Fi Movies
These scenes perfectly introduce the world and characters of iconic '80s sci-fi movies.
4 The Manhattan Project (1986)
Budget - $18 Million; Box Office - $3.9 Million
- Release Date
- June 13, 1986
- Director
- Marshall Brickman
- Cast
- John Lithgow , Richard Council , Robert Schenkkan , Paul Austin , Adrian Sparks , Curt Dempster
- Main Genre
- Sci-Fi
The Manhattan Project is a sci-fi thriller named after a World War II program responsible for the first atomic bomb. Paul Stephens is an incredibly bright high schooler with a love of science. His mother's new boyfriend, John, claims to work for a medical company, but that doesn't sit right with Paul. With the National Science Fair approaching, Paul has the chance to win the competition and expose a fraudulent company.
Bad Timing
This film didn't cause a visceral reaction of disgust from audiences or critics. Rather, most people shrugged and said, "It's fine." The box performance wasn't fine, with just $2 million earned. Perhaps the real-life Chernobyl explosion that occurred two months prior made the events of this film hit too close to home. Or maybe kid genius Paul was a bit too unrelatable for audiences to get behind. Whatever the reason, the theatrical run disappointed everyone involved.
3 Ishtar (1987)
Budget - $51 Million; Box Office - $14.4 Million
Ishtar is a comedy about two singer-songwriters, Chuck Clarke and Lyle Rogers. They are invited to sing in a hotel lounge in Marrakesh, Morocco. They need the money and don't have anyone to stay in their hometowns for, so they accept. But the offer isn't as innocent as it seems. Before they realize it, they're wrapped up in a political dispute involving rebels, the C.I.A., and multiple countries.
Tension On & Off Set
Here is yet another case of a budget getting out of control and not paying off. Originally, Ishtar was capped at just under $28 million. Reports state it leveled out at around $51 million. Discord between producer and actor Warren Beatty and director Elaine May made getting Ishtar to screen a bumpy process. Industry insiders expected it to fail due to the misaligned visions and such was the case. With $14 million at the box office and negative reviews, Ishtar appeared doomed from the start.
2 The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988)
Budget - $46.6 Million; Box Office - $8 Million
- Release Date
- March 10, 1989
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen is the story of a fictional German nobleman during the eighteenth century. The events are told through a series of flashbacks as an older Baron tries to convince an audience at a play about his life that he is the man in question. In his many adventures, Baron is accompanied by a colorful group of friends: an exceptional runner, a skilled shooter, a strongman, and a man with enhanced hearing.
Niche Film with Blockbuster Budget
This production went over budget (surprised?). A $23 million movie transformed into a $46 million. Yet the weirdness of the film should've given clues the audience was niche. While it's beautifully shot, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen was likely never going to be the year's blockbuster. Those who did see the movie overall liked it, but the positive reviews are shadowed by its dismal $8 million box office performance.
1 Pink Cadillac (1989)
Budget - $19 Million; Box Office - $12 Million
Pink Cadillac is an action comedy about a woman named Lou Ann who is on the run with a pink Cadillac full of counterfeit money as her getaway vehicle. She stole it from her white supremacist husband and now the group he's a part of is out to get her. Tommy Nowak is set to capture Lou Ann since she jumped bail but falls for her charm once in her vicinity.
Been There, Seen That
This movie should've been at least a modest success. Clint Eastwood and Bernadette Peters played leads and had good chemistry. The $19 million budget wasn't astronomical. And the plot was predictably safe, which was likely the problem. Even with huge stars attached, nothing screamed to audiences that they must see THIS comedy as opposed to others. While not as much of a loss as others on the list, $12 million at the box office was far short from what those involved were likely hoping for.
Comments
Post a Comment