2. Batman and Robin (1997)
It was 1997. It’s been two years since Batman Forever, a decidedly new take on the caped crusader, with its bright colors and flashy costumes, over-the-top dramatics, and great cast. News starts to break that the next Batman movie is already in the works. Written by Akiva Goldsman, at the time known for writing The Client, and directed by Joel Schumacher, the director of The Client, the movie was showing some early promise. Then the casting news started to drop.
George Clooney would be donning the cape and cowl. Chris O’Donnell would appear again as Robin. Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl, plus a number of big names filling other roles. Then the villains were announced. Uma Thurman would be playing Poison Ivy, a comic favorite who had a real chance at being something special in a movie. Plus, Uma was coming off a great run of flicks. Pulp Fiction was only 3 years old, Beautiful Girls, The Truth About Cats and Dogs. All good stuff. Then came Freeze. Mr. Freeze was a character that seemed to make perfect sense in a Batman movie. With the style of movies being made at the time, you could make a great representation of Victor Fries, and use the blossoming technology to create amazing freezing effects. But who would be the perfect actor to own such an awesome opportunity. Who else. Arnold Schwarzenegger. People were a little surprised.
From the outset, this movie was a dud. It was immediately called out for its very un-Batman like stylings. Mr. Freeze became very cartoony, Poison Ivy was almost a gimmick character, Alicia Silverstone was a poor choice in a bad role. The story left a lot to desired. Focusing on the tension between Batman and Robin, while fitting in a pair of grandiose villains was a challenge, and it was not successful. For a budget of $125,000,000 Batman & Robin is an obvious choice for one of the worst superhero movies of all times. Some of the greatest actors of our time (who really weren’t acting at all in this) couldn’t save this misfire. Also, Bat-Nipples.
1. Steel (1997)
So you are sitting in a production meeting at Warner Bros. You are talking about trying to cash in on some of the Batman success with new characters, and new names, and generally trying to think of what’s the next big thing. The guy in the back corner pipes up,”uhhhh Hey! I gotta idea.”
Naturally, everyone is interested, as there haven’t been any ideas yet that sounded good.
“What if we took a lesser known DC comic and turned it into a movie with a lead actor that most of the US loves!”
What a great idea! Right? No.
“I was thinking we could make a movie using the Steel character.” Great. Who would play Steel?
“Shaq.”
What. The. F###?
This movie was a disaster from the get go. Shaq was trying to launch an acting career and this was the perfect vehicle. Minus maybe Shaq-Fu the movie. Remember that one?
Terrible effects (even for the time). Don’t even call what this movie has acting.
At the end of the day, this was a chance to grab money from Shaq fans. Don’t watch it.