Good Movies That Won Razzie Awards

For more than 40 years, the Golden Raspberry Awards — better known as “The Razzies” — have been given out the weekend of the Academy Awards to the worst movies of the year.

Or at least that’s how they’re supposed to work. In practice, Razzie voters (at last public count, according to the Razzies’ website, there were over 1100 of them “from 49 US States and two dozen foreign countries”) are even less reliable as the Oscars. At times, the Razzies — which are chosen by anyone who’s willing to pay the Razzies $40 — have had very peculiar ideas about what constitutes a “bad” movie or the “worst” acting of the year. Their taste is so suspect, in fact, that no less than The Criterion Channel recently launched a collection of streaming selections honored with Razzies through the years.

So just how “bad” are these bad movie awards? See for yourself. Below, I’ve picked ten good movies that all share the dubious distinction of winning Razzie Awards. A few actually won multiple prizes. One won five!

Bear in mind: This list doesn’t even include good (or great!) movies that were nominated for Razzies but didn’t win. If it did, it could have featured such “awful” movies as Michael Mann’s Thief, the original Conan the Barbarian, Batman Returns, Happy Gilmore, and The Shining. (Stanley Kubrick nominated for Worst Director? Wait, is Stephen King in the only person who votes on the Razzies? That might explain some of this.)

The impetus behind the Golden Raspberry Awards, it seems to me, is to keep Hollywood honest; to push filmmakers to always try to do better. This list was inspired by that same impulse for the Razzies. When you see some of their winners through the years, you’ll understand why.