Creating the perfect title for a movie that hints at the plot of the film while creating a sense of excitement and intrigue is a difficult task. A snappy and intriguing movie title is an important aspect of marketing, and a good title can be enough to draw audiences to the theater. From overly lengthy and convoluted movie titles that overexplain the plot to titles that don't make any sense, some examples are so bad they shouldn't have been allowed to happen.
While some zany seemingly bad movie titles perfectly fit the tone of the movie, such as The VelociPastor,truly terrible titles do more harm than good to the movie. It's important to have an eye-catching and memorable title that captures the spirit of the film, which is something quite a few movies have failed to achieve.
10
Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice (2016)
Directed By Zack Snyder
The title of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice isn't the only issue with the movie, but it was a large issue that is heavily linked with the other issues that drag it down. For one, the famed and highly-anticipated fight between Superman and Batman that is referenced in the title is a lackluster conflict caused by a misunderstanding and Lex Luthor's manipulation, which is not what many were expecting. However, this was only part of the problem.
The reasoning behind the controversial tone of Batman v Superman makes sense for the justification behind it but failed to make the DCEU tone clear.
The Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice title led to endless debates over whether the title should have used "v" or "vs", and tacking on the words "Dawn of Justice" is a lazy choice that presumably set up Justice League. Even the screenwriter and director Chris Terrio and Zack Snyder respectively expressed their dislike of the title "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" and proposed alternate titles.
Writers
Michael Chabon, Mark Andrews, Andrew Stanton
Franchise(s)
John Carter
John Carter is a science fiction action movie with adventures between planets and lots of action. However, the title does not reflect that at all. "John Carter" makes the movie sound like a biographical film instead of an action-filled and fun adventure that follows the titular character John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) after he's accidentally transported to Mars, which is known as Barsoom in the film. The movie sees John attempting to stop the civil war brewing between the kingdoms of Barsoom while battling otherworldly creatures.
With no hint of an interplanetary adventure in the movie's title, John Carter cements itself as a bland, vague, and boring title.
With no hint of an interplanetary adventure in the movie's title, John Carter cements itself as a bland, vague, and boring title. An earlier adaption of John Carter based on the same series written by Edgar Rice Burroughs was titled Princess of Mars and released on DVDas John Carter of Mars, both of which were more interesting titles than simply using the name of the titular character and might have helped the movie perform better.
Writers
Blake Snyder, William Osborne, William Davies
In defense of Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot,the title does set the tone of the movie pretty accurately. The buddy cop comedy film revolves around a mother-son duo and follows how the tough cop Sergeant Joseph Andrew Bomowski's (Sylvester Stallone) copes with a visit from his overbearing mother Tutti (Estelle Getty) as she begins interfering with his personal life and job. However, the fact that Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot is an accurate title doesn't make it any good or interesting.
Despite the interesting comedic premise and the popular actors Stallone and Getty starring in the movie, Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot fell flat and received negative reviews. The awkward punctuation and length of the title were not humorous enough to make the action comedy flick feel intriguing or interesting, and it is rightly considered one of the worst titles ever.
7
Precious: Based On The Novel "Push" By Sapphire (2009)
Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire, also known as Precious, is a case of a great movie with a really bad title. As mentioned clearly in the title, the movie is an adaption of the 1996 novel Push by the author Sapphire. The movie was originally titled Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire, also known as Push. However, the title was changed to Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire to avoid confusion with the action movie Push which was released in 2009, the same year as Precious was released.
Thankfully, the critically acclaimed heart-wrenching drama rose above its overly lengthy and explanatory title and was successful at the box office and won two Oscar Awards and one Golden Globe Award. While a shorter title could have done wonders for the marketing of the movie, Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire managed to be a success despite its lengthy title being made fun of.
6
Surfer, Dude (2008)
Directed By S. R. Bindler
Surfer, Dude
Release Date
September 5, 2008
Runtime
88 minutes
Director
S.R. Bindler
Writers
S.R. Bindler, Mark Gustawes, Cory Van Dyke
Surfer, Dude is another accurate yet utterly bland and terrible title that builds no excitement for the movie. In addition, despite only being two words, Surfer, Dude is a confusing title, as it's unclear why the title has a comma between the words "Surfer" and "Dude". Despite the bizarre comma placement, the title is fairly accurate, as the comedy movie is about a laidback surfer Steve Addington (McConaughey) who faces an existential crisis after the waves die down and he's unable to surf for days on end.
McConaughey and Woody Harrelson have had remarkable collaborations, namely True Detective, their third project together. However, their second collaboration, Surfer, Dude marks their worst movie together and is a lackluster experience. The nonsensical title is an accurate representation of the film, as both the movie and title are uninspired, boring, and perplexing.
5
I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer (2006)
Producers
Amanda Lewis, Erik Feig, Jefferson Richard, Nancy Kirhoffer
Cast
Brooke Nevin
Amber Williams
David Paetkau
Colby Patterson
I Know What You Did Last Summer is a chilling and intriguing movie title that forces audiences to question which mysterious person knows the main characters' darkest secrets and is hunting them down.The original title is already lengthy, but it gets worse with the I Know What You Did Last Summer sequels. The second film is titled I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, which is a lazy, unimaginative, and uninventive title for the sequel.
I Know What You Did Last Summer is getting a legacy sequel, but to work, it must ignore the silly supernatural elements introduced in the later films.
However, the worst offender of terrible titles in the franchise is the third movie, I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer. While the second movie's title can be forgiven, the third title takes everything wrong with the sequel's title and makes it even worse. The killer goes from scaring the future victims by stating he knows about their misdeeds to the killer constantly reiterating that he "still" knows and will "always know".
The Bye Bye Man is a horror movie based on an urban legend about the titular figure. The Bye Bye Man is a mysterious figure that causes people to hallucinate and murder others before taking their own lives. While the idea of the Bye Bye Man making people commit violent acts is truly terrifying and an interesting premise for a horror movie, it's impossible to take the villain seriously because of the ridiculous name.
The Bye Bye Man is a title that feels like it was created by a child and the name of the creature and movie takes away any sense of fear.
The Bye Bye Man is a title that feels like it was created by a child and the name of the creature and movie takes away any sense of fear. The Bye Bye Man doesn't sound like the name of a supernatural horror and sounds like the name of a bad horror parody featuring a man who loves to wave goodbye, to the horror and disgust of everyone around him. Horror movies usually need a terrifying villain that will instill fear and terror into the hearts of the audiences, and the name "Bye Bye Man" doesn't help.
When a movie title looks like a typo, it's hard to garner intrigue and interest in the film. Lucky Number Slevin is a title that is needlessly confusing and doesn't give any hints about the film's plot. Similar to John Carter, the title hinges entirely upon the main character's name, who is not already a prominent character in pop culture.
Lucky Number Slevin is an underrated neo-noir movie with an impressive cast, starring Josh Hartnett, Morgan Freeman, Bruce Willis, Lucy Liu, Stanley Tucci, and Ben Kingsley. The movie follows the titular character Slevin Kelevra (Hartnett) who is mistakenly dragged into a war between rival families. While the film is a lot of fun, the title doesn't spark any interest in learning what it is about and it is just an inexplicable play on words.
Excessive Force II: Force on Force breaks the cardinal sin of movie titles, having an excessively long and redundant title. The word "Force" makes up 50 percent of the six-word title. It's just a repetitive and redundant version of a generic action movie title. The movie is a sequel to the 1993 film Excessive Force, which only justifies the first half of the title and makes the second half even more bizarre.
Movie sequels have a lot to live up to in maintaining the original’s legacy. Which makes these stupid title choices even more perplexing.
Excessive Force II: Force on Force is a revenge-driven action movie that follows Agent Harly Cordell (Stacie Randall) as she hunts down her ex-boyfriend who betrayed her and became a criminal after almost killing her. However, the title Excessive Force II: Force on Forcedoesn't hint at a high-stakes revenge story and instead sounds like the title of a movie revolving around the life of police officers.
1
The Englishman Who Went Up A Hill But Came Down A Mountain (1995)
Directed By Christopher Monger
The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill but Came Down a Mountain may not be the longest movie title ever, but it is a shockingly lengthy title that is perplexing and strange. The romantic comedy movie is based on the novel of the same name written by Christopher Monger. It follows two English cartographers Reginald Anson (Hugh Grant) and George Garrad (Ian McNeice) who travel to a small village in Wales and discover the "mountain" is not tall enough to be classified as a mountain and is instead a hill.
The movie title makes sense in terms of the plot, but at first glance, the title is confusing, lengthy, and nonsensical. Bizarrely, The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill but Came Down a Mountain is a title that gives away the movie's entire plot, but still doesn't make any sense.
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