15 Sci Fi Movies With Awful Reviews That Are Actually Worth Watching

The sci-fi movies on this list are not all great works of art. They're not all "secretly great," not all misunderstood masterpieces, and they're certainly not all even "good." Some are! Some are merely fun. Some are bad but instructively so, movies whose bad-ness is thought-provoking. Some are even so bad, they circle back around to being incredibly entertaining.

Is "bad-ness" a lack of competence, or one of taste? As C.S. Lewis once wrote, labeling something negatively is an easy way out. "The distinction [between highbrow and lowbrow] is certainly used to allow us the satisfaction of despising certain authors and readers without imposing on us the labour of showing that they are bad," he wrote. He was talking about books, but his point still stands.

I steadfastly believe that it's worthwhile to watch "bad" movies. I believe we can learn a lot from them about our taste, about what works and what doesn't, and about why we consider some things "good" and some things "bad." Plus, it can often simply be more fun to release a movie from the expectation that it has to be great. Sometimes, all a movie needs to be worthwhile is a handful of intriguing ideas, or a handful of memorable images, even if the puzzle pieces don't seem to fit together. The movies on this list all got awful reviews and were recommended by less than half of critics surveyed by Rotten Tomatoes, but they're all worth watching anyway.

Often, enjoying a movie is all about your mindset going in. Not every movie is going to be a masterpiece, and that's okay; it's all about setting your expectations at a reasonable level and being willing to meet the movie where it is.

That's the case with "Moonfall," Roland Emmerich's 2022 disaster film that asks what would happen if the moon were to fall to Earth. Also, "Moonfall" asks, what if the moon is haunted by an alien entity, and it's up to Patrick Wilson and Halle Berry to fight the A.I.? What more could you need to know?

"Moonfall" delivers on exactly the promise of that premise. It's thoroughly silly, but that's the fun of it. Emmerich isn't exactly a highbrow director; he's the guy whose movies you go to when you want to see famous landmarks turned to rubble. "Moonfall" does just that, crafting memorable disaster sequences out of the changing tides and the "gravity wave" caused by the moon's descent. Wilson and Berry are great, too, taking the material just seriously enough that we're willing to go along with them, but they know exactly what kind of movie they're in and aren't afraid to have fun, either.

The 2008 remake of "The Day The Earth Stood Still" is admittedly bad, not least of all because it's just kind of boring. It especially suffers in comparison to the 1951 original, which is a towering masterpiece of science fiction. Whereas that movie is a brilliant exercise in telling a massive-seeming story with a low budget, the 2008 film expands the scope (multiple UFOs!) and throws a bunch of dodgy CGI at the problem.

Still, for all its flaws, this version of "The Day The Earth Stood Still" contains several worthwhile ideas. First, Keanu Reeves makes for a solid alien; he's an actor with a curiously flat affect, which he puts to good use. Second, there's the new thematic underpinning. While the original movie was steeped in Cold War anxieties about mutually assured nuclear destruction, the updated version has to do with the oncoming climate emergency. "The tragedy is, they know what's going to become of them," James Hong's character Mr. Wu mourns. In 2008, it felt like we might still have time to change. I'm not sure we do anymore.

There's even one great idea in "The Day The Earth Stood Still." Reflecting the quasi-benevolent nature of the aliens, the film subverts traditional disaster movie sequence. When the ships first arrive, iconic landmarks like The Empire State Building are not obliterated but are instead bathed in a purifying, glowing light. It's a striking image that nearly justifies the entire endeavor.

In "Knowing," Nicolas Cage plays a man named John who becomes gripped by the certainty that a mysterious string of numbers from a time capsule predicts the date, location, and body count of massive tragedies. After he bears witness to a disaster on the list, John realizes that the numbers also predict something terrible on the horizon: nothing less than the end of the world.

The film arrived after a quick succession of critical flops starring Cage, including "The Wicker Man," "National Treasure: Book of Secrets," "Ghost Rider," and "Next." In other words, audiences weren't particularly receptive to seeing him in yet another big-budget, high-concept sci-fi thriller, and "Knowing" was written off. That's a shame, because this is easily the best of that bunch. Cage is exactly the right star for a film as boldly over-the-top as this one is, because he takes the material seriously, providing the perfect audience anchor as the world around him spins out of control.

I love a movie that takes big swings, and "Knowing" is just swing after swing. Sure, not all of them connect, but when they do, it can be electrifying. In particular, there's an early plane crash sequence shot to look like one take. John witnesses the tragedy and then dashes into the wreckage to save who he can, and the film leans in to the utter horror of a disaster like that. It's thrilling and overwhelming, and it's not even the most memorable sequence in the film.

The "Leprechaun" series was never particularly good, even if the first one did star Jennifer Aniston. Impressively, though, the franchise was able to sustain itself by reinventing the wheel each time. In the third one, the Leprechaun (Warwick Davis) goes to Las Vegas. In "Leprechaun 4," he's in space, and in later films, he'd infamously visit "the Hood." (He'd go "Back 2 Tha Hood" in Part 6.) His detour into space makes perhaps the least amount of sense — if any of these movies can be said to make sense — but it's also one of the most fun. There's a space princess (Rebecca Carlton), a mad scientist with half a body (Guy Siner), and a growth ray. What more do you need?

Would you believe me if I told you that "Leprechaun 4: In Space" is a queer text? How about if I told you the Leprechaun boards a spaceship by hiding out in a Marine's genitals, emerging only when he gets aroused? (It's as gross as you're imagining.) How about if I told you that he puppets a different Marine, and he decides to dress the guy in drag and have him dance for his fellow soldiers?

We'll leave it at that; this is either the kind of movie you vibe with, or you don't. It's supremely stupid, to be clear, and shamelessly so. Also, if this sounds like your thing, you should know that the Leprechaun has a lightsaber!

Speaking of slashers that sent their villains to space, we'd be remiss not to mention "Jason X." The 10th entry in the "Friday the 13th" franchise finds a cryogenically frozen Jason Voorhees taken aboard a spaceship in the year 2455. Once he's resurrected, the Crystal Lake killer stalks and slaughters a bunch of teenagers, just as we love to see him do.

Sure, it's clunky, but there's an undeniable sense of fun here. I'm on record saying that Kane Hodder is the best Jason Voorhees, and the "Jason X" character design highlights all the best things about Hodder's portrayal of the character. Jason's iconic hockey mask is given a futuristic, chrome-plated upgrade, and the film understands that Jason is at his scariest when he's massive and lumbering.

Helpfully, "Jason X" also features some of the best kills in the entire franchise. One, involving a vat of liquid nitrogen and a shattered face, features some gnarly practical effects. Another sequence restages the iconic sleeping bag kill from "Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood," giving it a comedic update in a holodeck of sorts that returns Jason to Camp Crystal Lake. There are androids and zero-gravity fights, and the whole thing feels like a kid coming up with a new story by combining action figures from different play sets. Great movie, certainly not. Fun time, though? Absolutely.

In "Species," a group of scientists create a human/alien hybrid by following mysterious instructions beamed down from space. They name her Sil (Natasha Henstridge), and she matures quickly. After escaping from the lab, she sets about trying to find a mate. In other words, "Species" is mostly an excuse to put a too-beautiful woman in a number of situations where she needs to get naked. One can easily imagine the excitement from the studio execs. Watching this movie feels like a glimpse into the unchecked id of the 90s, like "Species" was made at the last possible moment "Species" could have been made, before the culture evolved past movies like this.

That being said, there's something fascinating going on here. This is a movie about the abject horror of unchecked female sexuality, imagining a terrifying world where the woman is the sexually-forward one. What's more, she's not just a woman; she's a phallic woman in the Freudian sense, transforming into an alien that has worm-like protuberances used to penetrate the men she's involved with. Oh, the horror!

There's enough to genuinely recommend, too. The movie boasts a cast that includes Ben Kingsley, Michael Madsen, Forest Whitaker, and even a young, pre-"Dawson's Creek" Michelle Williams. Although the CGI is lacking, undercutting the effectiveness of the ending, Sil's alien form was designed by H. R. Giger of "Alien" fame. You could do a lot worse! (Like, say, any of the "Species" sequels.)

"After Earth" stars Will Smith and his son Jaden as Cypher and Kitai Rage, a father-son team who crash-land on a desolate Earth. Generations ago, the planet was abandoned to the ravages of climate change; the animals left behind have continued to evolve, and the most dangerous ones are able to smell fear. Kitai's journey across the wilderness takes up most of the film, following the youngster as he desperately tries to find an emergency beacon that will get them rescued.

The movie isn't great, but I maintain that M. Night Shyamalan is one of the best directors in the business; no one moves a camera the way he does. He went through a rough patch, but everything from "The Visit" onward has been a thoroughly-entertaining course correction. With that in mind, it's worth revisiting a "failure" like this to see what works and doesn't; it helps us appreciate the good films more.

Will Smith is a much more capable actor than his son, but the movie sidelines Cypher at the wreckage and focuses mostly on the kid. It's Shyamalan, though, so there are some impressive visuals, and he maintains a grasp on the same basic concepts of suspense and action that power his best films. The failures are largely the fault of the budget; Shyamalan is at his best when he's telling a contained, high-concept story, and he struggles to expand his scope into something this epic. Still, it's worthwhile to watch him try.

Ariana Greenblatt had a great 2023. In addition to starring in "Barbie" and "Ahsoka," she was in "65," a sorely underrated sci-fi action flick led by Adam Driver. He plays a man named Mills from the planet Somaris; on a space expedition, he crash-lands on a planet he doesn't know to be Earth. It's a prehistoric Earth, in fact, where dinosaurs still rule the jungle. Mills thinks he's the only person who survived the crash, but he soon realizes that a young girl named Koa (Greenblatt) made it, too. If they have any hope of being rescued, they need to traverse the dangerous terrain to reach an escape pod atop a mountain.

"65" is a simple film, featuring a very clear, linear narrative: Mills and Koa need to reach a spot on a map, but there are dangerous obstacles in their way. It feels derivative, admittedly, and a little safe.

Nevertheless, the movie is very well-executed for what it is. It's the kind of movie that knows what it's setting out to do, and it doesn't try to do anything more. The dinosaur sequences don't disappoint, thankfully, and neither do the film's two leads. Koa is mostly nonverbal, especially at first, and Greenblatt does an excellent job portraying her dawning horror at their situation without using words. Adam Driver is, of course, Adam Driver, always reliable, and "65" is a worthwhile watch for him, if nothing else.

"Replicas" is, by a considerable margin, the worst film on this list. The story barely makes sense, the special effects are dreadful, and Keanu Reeves has maybe never been worse. And yet, there's an undeniable charm to the whole thing. It's like a movie made by someone who's only heard films described, like all the pieces are there but were assembled by someone who is only vaguely aware of concepts like "story arc" and "character development."

The movie is about a man named William (Reeves) whose family is killed in a tragic car accident. Luckily, William is a scientist who has coincidentally been working on technology that allows him to upload a deceased person's consciousness into a synthetic brain. To absolutely nobody's surprise, he decides to revive his dead family, leading to tragic results. Alice Eve, John Ortiz, and Thomas Middleditch also star, and hardly any of them fare better than Reeves does.

"Replicas" is a badfilm classic waiting to be discovered. It's the kind of movie that begs for a midnight screening with an audience who knows all the funny things to shout at the screen. By the time the movie reaches its feverish climax, featuring a CGI robot with effects so bad they appear to be stop-motion, it's hard not to be carried away by the delirium on display.

Many of the movies on this list are, admittedly, "bad." They're all still worth watching, but I wouldn't necessarily call them all "secretly good." That's emphatically not the case with "Underwater," which is just a straight-up great movie.

Intriguingly, "Underwater" is a movie without a first act. We join mechanical engineer Norah Price (Kristen Stewart) in media res, slightly before an earthquake damages the deep-water research site where she's stationed. From that moment on, we're off to the races. Alongside a cast that includes Vincent Cassel, John Gallagher Jr., and Jessica Henwick, Stewart's character must cross the depths of the ocean floor to reach safety. That's especially dangerous because the underwater station isn't just coming apart at the seams thanks to an earthquake. This is a creature-feature, and there's something out there in the water.

What starts as a thriller eventually becomes something more akin to cosmic horror, and it's incredible to witness the way director William Eubank continuously dials up the suspense. This is not a movie for anyone who deals with claustrophobia; the darkness and pressure at the bottom of the ocean are suffocating thanks to numerous shots that take us inside Norah's helmet. It's all powered by a bravura performance from Stewart, who manages to convey the brawny physicality of her character as much as her utter terror. With many of the other films on this list, I can understand the complaints. With "Underwater," I'm confident stating that the critics got it wrong.

"Jupiter Ascending" is another film you need to meet where it is. This is a movie where Mila Kunis can control bees. Channing Tatum has elf ears and is half-dog, and he has anti-gravity boots that let him essentially roller-skate on thin air. (These, of course, make up for the wings he had surgically removed.) You'll also find Eddie Redmayne giving what's either the best or worst performance of his career, depending on who you ask. He's operatic and ridiculous, and it's much easier (and more fun!) to believe him in this role than it is to watch his over-mannered acting in prestige films like "The Danish Girl" and "The Theory of Everything." You're either willing to get on board, or you're not.

Mainstream audiences weren't sure what to do with The Wachowskis after "The Matrix" series ended. This time around, they made a big, bold, earnest epic about destiny and desire. Kunis's character, Jupiter Jones, learns that she's the genetic recurrence of the ruler of the universe. Jupiter is a Russian immigrant who cleans toilets for a living, and there's something subversive in handing her the Chosen One narrative typically played out by men. She also falls for Tatum's Caine Wise, a "lycantant" soldier, and their love story influences the fate of many worlds. If you're not willing to buy in, that's fine, but "Jupiter Ascending" looks gorgeous and its biggest crime is feeling too much. Surely there's an audience for that.

If "Replicas" is easily the worst movie on this list and "Underwater" the best, "Event Horizon" is somewhere near the top. Understandably, audiences sometimes feel tricked when a movie starts out one way and becomes something altogether different. If you go into "Event Horizon" expecting that transition, though, you may find yourself appreciating the film's atmospheric descent into madness.

The movie is about a group of astronauts sent to rendezvous with a ship they once thought lost. Instead, they find evidence that the crew of the Event Horizon went mad, perhaps driven to ruin by an evil entity that managed to make its way aboard the ship. This is basically a haunted house movie set in space. Is it an alien, or perhaps a demon? Did they travel through some kind of wormhole, or was it a portal to hell?  A talented cast that includes Laurence Fishburne, Sam Neill, Jason Isaacs, and Joely Richardson help sell the movie's slow slide from sci-fi to horror.

Sometimes, all a movie needs in order to justify its existence is an indelible, unforgettable image, and by the end, "Event Horizon" has several. A lot of the gory bits are downright brutal, making "Event Horizon" a must-see for a certain kind of horror fan who revels in bloody insanity like this. Thanks to a rushed production schedule, a quick edit, and missing footage, one even gets the sense that the movie itself is going insane alongside its characters.

The "Mystery Science Theater 3000" episode that parodied "The Brain That Wouldn't Die" is a classic, to the point where still people refer to the film's title character as "Jan in the Pan." It's a silly movie about a woman (Virginia Leith) whose scientist husband refuses to let her die after a car accident. Instead, he keeps her head alive thanks to a clever bit of machinery. She spends the movie as just a head on a table, a silly-looking effect that's quite clearly just an actress with her head through a hole. No wonder people made jokes.

I would argue that the original film, without all the condescending "MST3K" voiceover, is worth a watch on its own. It's a platonic ideal example of the low-budget B-movie, a kind of film slapped together on the cheap and made to play alongside another movie. There are long digressions to pad the runtime that add up to little more than an excuse to photograph scantily-clad women, and most of the film's dramatic heft comes from a few people in a few rooms talking. In other words, one might even say that "The Brain That Wouldn't Die" represents an entire lost art form, because we just don't make films this way anymore. Low-budget movies are still around, of course, especially in the streaming age, but if we want to understand where we're going, it might be helpful to know where we've been.

Occasionally, through no fault of its own, a film receives bad reviews simply because of when it's released. That's the case with "Project Almanac," a found-footage movie that hit way too late in the found-footage cycle of the early 2010s to make much of an impact. Whereas the majority of found-footage movies are horror films, "Project Almanac" applies the filming style to a sci-fi story about a high school kid named Jonny (David Raskin) who discovers time machine blueprints among his scientist father's belongings. Found footage seemed played-out at the time, and "Project Almanac" got a critical drubbing as a result.

There's a lot to enjoy about the movie, however, especially for found-footage fans. (We exist!) The cast is all likable, including Amy Landecker and "Single Drunk Female" star Sofia Black-D'Elia. It's also interesting to watch a sci-fi found footage film try to answer the two most common questions that plague similar horror movies: why did they keep filming, and how did all of this footage end up in our hands? Those questions turn out to be the key to the whole timeline-twisting endeavor; for a time-travel movie, its internal logic is impressively consistent, and the found footage form is precisely what lets us track the temporal comings and goings. Though it may feel like it adds up to less than the sum of its parts, those individual parts still make this a time travel trip worth taking.

"Mortal Engines" is a sci-fi fantasy set in the future, after a nuclear war has destroyed much of the earth. In order to survive, the world's major cities went mobile, restructuring themselves into gigantic, towering vehicles that can chase each other across the desert. That's right: cities on wheels!

"Mortal Engines" is big, brawny, ridiculous, and imbued with a genuine sense of adventure. Some of it admittedly feels derivative, but it's hard to care when there's this much spirit, and when it seems like everyone is having this much fun. Hera Hilmar plays Hester Shaw, a young woman desperate to get aboard London to seek revenge. Robert Sheehan is Tom Natsworthy, a rogue who decides to help Hester. Hugo Weaving plays the incredibly-named Thaddeus Valentine, London's evil overlord, and a few years before breaking out on "Bridgerton," Regé-Jean Page was a revolutionary named Captain Khora. Oh, and they're being pursued by a Terminator-esque villain called Shrike, voiced by Stephen Lang.

The film's worldbuilding is its biggest draw. Though the movie is based on a book series by Philip Reeve, it never feels weighted down by its source material like many other YA adaptations do. Thanks to some jaw-dropping special effects, each of the film's environments are gorgeous, and it's exciting to learn about each new detail rather than a chore. It's a shame the movie did so poorly that we'll likely never get a sequel, because this world had a lot more to offer.