Not every cinematic masterpiece gets the recognition it deserves right away. Join us as we explore beloved cult classics that initially bombed at the box office during the 1980s. From sci-fi adventures to dark fantasies, these films proved that sometimes audiences just need time to appreciate true greatness.
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00:00Okay, you people sit tight, hold the fort, and keep the home fires burning, and if we're
00:04not back by dawn, call the president.
00:08Welcome to Miss Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the best 80s box office
00:13bombs that have since garnered a passionate fan base.
00:17Minor spoilers ahead.
00:18See you later, Band-Aid breath.
00:2610 Dragonslayer Fantasy is tricky to pull off, but one fantasy
00:41film that should have gotten more love is this one, directed by Matthew Robbins.
00:46Dragonslayer is set in a medieval fantasy kingdom that sacrifices a virgin by lottery to a ferocious
00:53dragon.
01:05It's up to young wizard apprentice Galen and Valerian, a young girl disguised as a man,
01:10to end the dragon's reign of terror.
01:13Although critics were impressed by the special effects and dark themes, audiences were not
01:18as enthused.
01:19In time, however, it became a cult film, proving that a really good sword and sorcery flick is
01:25always appreciated.
01:309.
01:43Big Trouble in Little China
01:45You ready, Jack?
01:47I was born ready.
01:50It's martial arts and John Carpenter.
01:53What else could you possibly need?
01:55This fantasy action film may have had a tough time at the box office, but Big Trouble in
02:00Little China is a wild adventure from start to finish.
02:04The film follows two friends, truck driver Jack Burton and Wang Chi, as they descend into
02:09Chinatown's underworld to rescue Wang Chi's fiancée.
02:13There they must contend with gangs, fierce warriors, and ancient curses.
02:26Although Carpenter was disappointed in the low box office reception and mixed reviews, Big
02:31Trouble eventually found new life on TV and home video.
02:34The result is a fun, quirky film with undoubtedly woosia influences.
02:56Sometimes great films can be ruined by poor editing.
02:59That's the case with this Italian-American gangster film directed by Sergio Leone.
03:03The movie follows the rise of two Jewish-American mobsters, David Noodles Aronson and Maximilian
03:09Berkovitz.
03:11Based on a novel by Harry Gray, it's an epic tale of friendship, crime, love, and betrayal.
03:16Nobody's gonna love you the way I loved you.
03:20While the original almost four-hour-long version that premiered at Cannes received raves, an
03:25edited-down two-hour-plus version released in regular theaters was a complete flop.
03:30It'd be a shame to see a lifetime of work go to waste.
03:34Some of the violence proved so controversial, these scenes were censored.
03:38But epics are epics, and Leone's operatic Once Upon a Time proves that some stories need
03:45the extra length.
03:47Number 7 – The Black Cauldron Disney's failures are rarely this mind-boggling
04:03or risky.
04:05Based on the novels by Lloyd Alexander, the film follows young Tarin as he attempts to stop
04:10the evil horned king from conquering the world by taking possession of the titular Black Cauldron,
04:16full of ancient magic.
04:18Tarin succeeds with the help of his friends and Gurgi, a creature who sacrifices himself
04:23to defeat the cauldron.
04:34The film's darkness and lurid scene scared children when it came out, making this a hard
04:39sell to audiences.
04:40Still, the movie's beautiful animation, as well as its rich and charming rendition of
04:45Welsh mythology, is a clear winner.
05:00Number 6 – The Monster Squad
05:13With Count Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, and the mummy teaming up, how did this film
05:19flop?
05:20This horror comedy follows a group of kids as they try to stop Count Dracula and his fellow
05:24monsters from taking over the world.
05:37The kids eventually get their hands on a magical amulet, which opens a portal through which the
05:41monsters are safely cast into limbo.
05:44Unfortunately, audiences felt the Ghostbusters for kids vibes were unwarranted, and it underperformed
05:51the box office.
05:52In hindsight, however, the monster-versus-monster aspect of the film is loads of fun and is just
05:58as good as any 80s tween adventure.
06:01Where you going, Rhodey?
06:02I'm in the goddamn club, aren't I?
06:04Number 5 – Highlander
06:06I've been alive for four and a half centuries, and I cannot die.
06:13Well, everybody's got their problems.
06:17We can now see how this unique premise may have gotten lost in translation.
06:22Highlander follows Scottish Highlander Connor McCloud, who discovers he is part of a race
06:26of immortals after surviving a deathly duel.
06:30Trained by Ramirez, a Spanish-Egyptian swordsman played by Sean Connery, McCloud must fight against
06:35the Kurgan, a fellow immortal in a gathering in New York City in 1985.
06:52While the film charmed European audiences, U.S. audiences found it incomprehensible due
06:57to its dense lore.
06:59Most people now praise Highlander's excellent fight scenes, good performances, and epic score.
07:04I have something to say.
07:07It's better to burn out than to fade away.
07:10Number 4 – Heathers
07:12Greetings and salutations.
07:17You a Heather?
07:19Step into this candy store.
07:21Before Clueless and Mean Girls, there was Heathers.
07:25This teen film follows Veronica Sawyer as she gets involved with a clique of Mean Girls,
07:30all named Heather.
07:31Damn.
07:32It's your turn, Heather.
07:34Now, Heather, it's Heather's turn.
07:38Heather?
07:39Unlike the cheery teen comedies of the time, Heather's is a dark take on high school, as
07:48Veronica's quest for revenge against Heather Chandler ends in her death.
07:52What follows is even more black comedy, as Veronica and her boyfriend accomplice JD obtain a high
07:58body count.
08:00Perhaps all that blood and gore was too much for American audiences, for the film bombed
08:05at the box office.
08:06Heathers eventually found recognition and appreciation, even becoming adapted into a popular stage musical
08:13by the same name.
08:14Veronica, you look like hell.
08:17Yeah, I just got back.
08:20Number 3 – The Thing
08:22I don't know what the hell's in there, but it's weird and pissed off, whatever it is.
08:27Yet another John Carpenter-directed misfire that proved to have staying power.
08:32It's hard to believe this seminal sci-fi horror classic did so poorly with audiences and critics
08:37at the time.
08:38I don't know who to trust.
08:40I don't know what you mean, Blair.
08:44Based on the novella, which had already been filmed in the 1950s, The Thing concerns a chameleon-like
08:50alien creature that wreaks havoc at a base in Antarctica.
08:54American pilot R.J.
08:55McCready leads the hunt for this creature, eventually destroying both it and the station.
09:00The Thing's dark themes and ambiguous ending were unfortunately not to audiences' tastes.
09:06Having to compete with Steven Spielberg's classic E.T. The Extraterrestrial was also
09:11tough.
09:12Today, it's considered one of the most influential horror films of all time.
09:16Now that's no small thing.
09:19Number 2 – Blade Runner
09:25I've had people walk out of me before, but not when I was being so charming.
09:32Science fiction can be a tricky genre.
09:34Even so, Blade Runner may be the best sci-fi film to have bombed in the theaters.
09:39Directed by Ridley Scott, the film follows the titular Blade Runner, Rick Decker, whose
09:45job is to terminate replicants, humanoid androids gone rogue.
09:49Replicants are like any other machine.
09:51They're either a benefit or a hazard.
09:53If they're a benefit, it's not my problem.
09:56A foundational cyberpunk work, Blade Runner delves into themes about the nature of humanity,
10:02morality and dystopian bureaucracies.
10:05The film received mixed critical reviews for its slow pacing and lack of action, although
10:10its cinematography was praised.
10:12Blade Runner nevertheless won a slew of awards and is now considered one of the greatest films
10:17in its genre.
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10:51Number 1.
10:52Brazil
10:53It doesn't seem possible that such an arthouse dystopian film could have been conceived by
11:05Terry Gilliam of Monty Python fame, but he is indeed responsible for the satirical film
11:11about a bureaucratic authoritarian government.
11:13The movie follows dissatisfied government employee Sam Lowry, who tries to escape his polluted,
11:19brutal future world through daydreams.
11:20A minor bureaucratic error sets off a chain of events that leads to Sam's arrest.
11:25Don't fight it, son.
11:28Confess quickly.
11:30If you hold out too long, you could jeopardize your credit rating.
11:34Interrogated unto insanity, Sam disappears into his pleasant fantasies, accompanied by the
11:41beautiful strains of Ari Barroso's classic Aquarela du Brasil.
11:46Darkly funny and serious at turns, the film could not please general audiences with its
11:51downer ending.
11:52But Gilliam's vision of totalitarian reality versus idealistic fantasy is more relevant
11:57than ever.
11:59In transit, got the wrong man.
12:00I got the right man.
12:02The wrong man must deliver to me as the right man.
12:04I accepted him on good faith as the right man.
12:07Was I wrong?
12:08Which other 80s box office bomb turned firework made you want to soar the skies?
12:13Let us know in the comments down below.
12:15Do you agree with our picks?
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