The Big Picture
- ‘Ringmaster’ was a bland and boring movie that failed to capture the appeal of the controversial talk show host, Jerry Springer.
- ‘Species II’ was a sleazy and uncomfortable horror movie that lacked genuine entertainment value, even for fans of twisted films.
- ‘Godzilla’ (1998) was a poorly made and disrespectful adaptation of the iconic monster, with bland human characters and an overall lazy approach.
To be fair, the 1990s was a pretty good time to be a fan of cinema. Blockbusters were the biggest they’d ever been, independent cinema had never been so exciting or groundbreaking, and groundbreaking technological developments led to viewers seeing things on screen they’d never seen before. Each year of the 1990s saw its fair share of great movies released, and 1998 was no exception.
Yet when it comes to 1998, not all movies were winners, because like everything in life, you have to take the good with the bad. Unsurprisingly, there was a good deal of bad on at the movies during 1998, as the following titles demonstrate. These ones weren’t exactly winners by any means, but might prove nostalgic and/or fun for those approaching them with the right mindset. They’re ranked below, starting with the bad and ending with the worst.
10 ‘Ringmaster’
Jerry Springer will always be best known for the controversial TV show that was named after him: Jerry Springer. Airing nearly 5,000 episodes between 1991 and 2018, it was a talk show that focused on getting feuding individuals on stage, with such interactions often resulting in loud verbal arguments and – occasionally – violent conflict.
It’s worth giving that rundown about the show because Ringmaster is a movie that sees Springer effectively playing himself: a talk show host dealing with outrageous situations and heated conflicts. For as popular as the show somehow was, few people seemed to gravitate towards a fictionalized take on the show, with it being safe to say that Ringmaster was bland, boring, and rightly forgotten for being overall uninteresting.
9 ‘Species II’
The first Species movie came out in 1995, and though it’s not exactly seen as a classic, it’s generally considered to be a somewhat tolerable mash-up of science fiction and horror. Species II was not as well-received, but certainly didn’t kill the series, given there was a Species III in 2004 and a fourth movie called Species: The Awakening in 2007.
The plot of Species II essentially sees a man slowly turning into an alien, with him generally wreaking gruesome havoc as he sets out to create human/alien hybrid children. It’s as sleazy, gory, and intentionally gross as you might expect, but it’s probably too uncomfortable and awkward to get any genuine entertainment out of, even for those who don’t mind their horror movies getting a bit twisted.
8 ‘I Still Know What You Did Last Summer’
After the breakout success of 1997’s I Know What You Did Last Summer, it’s pretty apparent that those behind it wanted to rush out a sequel. As such, 1998 saw the release of the somewhat humorously-titled I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, a movie which is basically the cinematic equivalent of saying: “Second verse, same as the first.”
Those desperate for this specific brand of teen horror movie might still find things to get (potentially guilty) pleasure from in I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, but most other people should probably steer clear. And, in fairness, it’s better than the belated third movie, 2006’s I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer, which might well have been a series killer.
7 ‘Dennis the Menace Strikes Again!’
Apparently, in 1998, people were asking for a sequel to 1993’s Dennis the Menace, and so Dennis the Menace Strikes Again! was born. Like the first, it follows a child who’s more of an agent of chaos and destruction than Damien from The Omen, with this being a feature-length movie about said kid pulling pranks and annoying older people.
To Dennis the Menace Strikes Again!’s credit, it has a somewhat impressive cast of actors playing those older people, including Don Rickles, George Kennedy, and Betty White. Also, everyone’s favorite 1990s comedian Carrot Top is in this. Remember the name. He’ll show up again, and be even more grating (carrot pun!) there.
6 ‘Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World’
The story of Pocahontas has been a popular one to adapt into film, most notably with Terrence Malick’s 2005 movie The New World and of course the 1995 animated Disney film, Pocahontas. Even though that latter film wasn’t great, it still got the direct-to-video sequel treatment, as many animated Disney films from the 1990s seemed to get.
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The result was Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World, which doesn’t even have the same quality of animation or music that made the 1995 Pocahontas film at least watchable in parts. These direct-to-video movies feel like cheap cash-grabs at best, and when the cheap cash-grab is for what’s already one of the weaker Disney films of its time, you know it should be avoided even more than normal.
5 ‘3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain’
Believe it or not, there are actually four movies in the 3 Ninjas series. The first three were all released between 1992 and 1994, with the quadrilogy ultimately being completed in 1998 with the release of 3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain. Even though the series was never particularly great, it’s impossible to say that in this case, they saved the best for last.
It’s largely set at the Mega Mountain theme park, and involves an army of ninjas invading the place and holding its owners for ransom. The only ones who can stop such a dastardly army are several kids, and also Hulk Hogan as a washed-up TV star. Don’t watch it. There’s no way to make something like this sound good. Please, spare yourselves.
4 ‘The Avengers’
Not to be mixed up with the superhero movies with which it shares a name, 1998’s The Avengers is a comedic spy/action movie based on a British TV series of the same name that aired in the 1960s. The plot is all pretty standard for films of this kind, revolving around an antagonist who wants to rule the world, with the heroes fighting to prevent that from happening at all costs.
It should be fun, but it simply isn’t, and instead feels like a tonal mess that can’t find success when it comes to being funny, exciting, or action-packed. It’s even more disappointing considering the talent of its cast, with noteworthy actors here including the likes of Ralph Fiennes, Uma Thurman, Sean Connery, and Jim Broadbent.
3 ‘Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror’
The Children of the Corn series is one of the most ridiculously long in horror movie history, with 11 films released between 1984 and 2020. Even more surprisingly, none of them are considered particularly good by any means, with the first perhaps being passable at best, and the subsequent sequels often proving to be limp, forgettable, or even amateurish.
When it comes to the ridiculously titled Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror, the plot is pretty generic for the series, centering on a new group of young people getting lost in a rural town and then targeted by murderous children in a cult. It bounces between being boring and stupid, but luckily, it didn’t seem to kill the careers of some surprisingly noteworthy stars who appeared here, like David Carradine and Eva Mendes.
2 ‘Chairman of the Board’
Orange you glad to see another Carrot Top appearance on this list? He wasn’t content with being in just one of the worst movies of 1998 – Dennis the Menace Strikes Again! – and instead just had to be in two. Chairman of the Board is arguably the worst of the two, too, and one where he plays the starring role.
It’s an obnoxious, loud, and tedious comedy, following a slack surfer who inherits a large company from a billionaire after he passes away. Almost no jokes land, and it’s the kind of comedy where you can generally see the jokes coming from a mile away, inevitably ensuring that most viewers subjected to this will themselves become Chairman of the Bored.
1 ‘Godzilla’
Within the entire Godzilla franchise – which is made up of almost 40 movies – 1998’s Godzilla might well be the worst. It was the first solely American-produced film to feature the titular monster, as in the past, the Japanese films had simply been re-dubbed, sometimes re-edited, and occasionally given new scenes for American/English-speaking viewers.
The film presents a strong argument for not letting Hollywood take control of Godzilla again (though thankfully, more recent American films containing the king of the monsters have been better). 1998’s Godzilla is instead an absolute joke, misunderstanding what makes the monster at its center cool or interesting, all the while having human characters who are boring at best, and truly annoying at worst. It’s bland, lazy, and maybe even disrespectful. It’s not stupid in a fun way, like some of the goofier old Godzilla movies could be. It’s just poorly made all around, and arguably stands as a cinematic nadir for the year 1998.
