10 Worst Fantasy Movies of the 1990s, Ranked

Fantasy is one of the oldest movie genres. Since the days of Georges Méliès and Alice Guy-Blaché in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, these movies of magic, fictional worlds, and otherworldly creatures have been among the most popular in the medium. As film became a storytelling art form, fantasy was already a well-established genre for it to illustrate its narratives in the most enchanting ways.

Not all fantasy movies are perfect, though—or even good. Particularly in the 1990s, numerous fantasy films that are, to be kind, quite abysmal, were released. From video game adaptations like Super Mario Bros. to disappointing sequels like Highlander II: The Quickening, the ’90s’ worst fantasy movies prove that even the most popular genres are perfectly capable of producing truly embarrassing cultural products.

10 ‘North’ (1994)

Directed by Rob Reiner

During the late ’80s and early ’90s, Rob Reiner, of Stand by Me and The Princess Bride fame, was riding on a long streak of great successes that have aged like fine wine. Then, he made North, and it was all downhill from there. It’s the story of a young boy (played by 11-year-old Elijah Wood) who, tired of his parents’ neglect, leaves home and travels the world in search of new parents.

North
is saccharine, unfunny, and all over the place.

One of the movies that legendary film critic Roger Ebert hated the most, North is saccharine, unfunny, and all over the place. Reiner gets ambitious with the amount of wannabe-amusing fluff that he throws into the movie, but none of these ambitions ever truly land. Instead, this fable ends up feeling unbearably mindless and meandering, two things that fantasy films should never allow themselves to be.

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9 ‘Highlander III: The Sorcerer’ (1994)

Directed by Andrew Morahan

With the first Highlander movie being one of the most iconic fantasy films of the 1980s, it’s a decently-sized surprise that its sequels are so awful. Highlander III: The Sorcerer, also called Highlander III: The Return, sees Connor MacLeod, deceived into believing that he had won the Prize, awakening from a peaceful life when an immortal magician comes out of his grave seeking the Highlander.

Though it’s slightly better than its predecessor, Highlander III looks, sounds, and feels horribly cheap. It has a pair of delightfully ridiculous performances in Christopher Lambert‘s and Mario Van Peebles‘s, but for anyone who doesn’t enjoy so-bad-they’re-good films, watching this threequel would be torture. Lifeless and full of tired clichés, it’s a disgrace to the Highlander name.

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8 ‘Super Mario Bros.’ (1993)

Directed by Annabel Jankel and Rocky Morton

It wasn’t until relatively recently that some notable video game adaptations on the big and small screens started seeing some level of success and praise. Before the 2010s, these kinds of movies had a pretty bad name—and it was in no small measure thanks to Super Mario Bros. It’s a weird cyberpunk adventure where two Brooklyn plumbers travel to another dimension to rescue Princess Daisy from the evil dictator King Koopa, and stop him from taking over the world.

Though time has been pretty kind to the film, giving it a niche cult following and a few avid defenders, it’s still pretty darned bad. It bastardizes the source material in the most surreal ways, the story makes no sense, and the abundance of flashy effects hardly masks the film’s lack of substance. Directors Annabel Jankel and Rocky Morton take some interesting risks that occasionally pay off, but the movie’s erratic tone and narrative far outweigh those good moments.

Super Mario Bros. is currently not available to stream, rent, or purchase in the U.S.

7 ‘Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie’ (1997)

Directed by David Winning and Shuki Levy

When it comes to classic childhood television, every generation tends to look back at their own favorite version of the Power Rangers most fondly. However, the franchise has proved on several occasions that it isn’t infallible, and one such occasion was in 1997, when Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie came out. It sees the titular team enhanced with turbo powers to stop an alien who’s threatening to destroy Earth.

The movie feels more like an excruciatingly overlong episode than an actual film, and that never works in its favor. Though it has some of the most powerful Power Rangers, Turbo is very hard to recommend to anyone that’s not a die-hard fan of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. It’s silly, poorly choreographed, annoyingly misguided, and a pretty terrible action fantasy movie overall.

6 ‘Highlander II: The Quickening’ (1991)

Directed by Russell Mulcahy

Highlander III may be bad, but as far as terrible sequels go, there aren’t many more infamous than Highlander II: The Quickening. This swashbuckler takes place in the future, where Highlander Connor MacLeod must prevent the destruction of the planet under an anti-ozone shield. It’s one of the worst movies of the 20th century; goofy, cheesy, and unimaginative.

On paper, the idea of taking this world and story in entirely different directions sounds okay, but when it’s executed this shoddily, fans are left wishing there had only been one Highlander film (and, as far as they’re concerned, there was). Though a guilty pleasure for many, The Quickening is a trainwreck that all fantasy fans should check out at least once, if only to see how bad the genre can truly be. Sean Connery deserved a better movie.

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5 ‘Beowulf’ (1999)

Directed by Graham Baker

The Old English epic poem Beowulf has been adapted on several occasions, both on the big screen and outside of it, but never as disastrously as in 1999’s film of the same name. Set in a besieged land, it’s the story of the titular character, who must battle against the hideous creature Grendel and his vengeance-seeking mother.

The trashy tone doesn’t complement the story in the slightest, but the writing is the real villain of this story.

Starring Christopher Lambert of HIghlander infamy, Beowulf is similar to the source material in nothing but name. The visuals are horrid and the trashy tone doesn’t complement the story in the slightest, but the writing is the real villain of this story. While many low-budget movies are able to find clever workarounds to make their cheapness an asset, Beowulf does just the opposite. Having nothing of substance to work with, Graham Baker directed a picture that doesn’t work and isn’t the least bit interested in working.

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4 ‘The NeverEnding Story III’ (1994)

Directed bby Peter MacDonald

The haunting The NeverEnding Story is one of the most traumatizing childhood classics of not just the ’80s, but perhaps all time. Its sequels, on the other hand, are much less good, with The NeverEnding Story III being particularly ludicrous in its badness. Its story follows a young boy who must restore order when a group of bullies steal the magic book that acts as a portal between Earth and the imaginary world of Fantasia.

For Jack Black completionists who want to see him in his fourth-ever feature film role, NeverEnding Story III is, quite tragically, a somewhat obligatory watch. Anyone else, though, is better off investing their time on something more fun and worthwhile. Like watching paint dry. Potty jokes galore, a vapid plot, and an alarming lack of Fantasia due to budget limitations make this threequel a terrible waste of time.

The NeverEnding Story III is currently not available to stream, rent, or purchase in the U.S.

3 ‘Kazaam’ (1996)

Directed by Paul Michael Glaser

Anyone familiar with Shaquille O’Neal‘s name will know him as one of the most legendary basketball players in the sport’s history. They are much less likely to know him as an actor, but that’s precisely what Shaq tried to become in the ’90s. The world is much worse for it. What audiences got as a result of the athlete’s dreams of Hollywood stardom was Kazaam, a family comedy where a troubled kid accidentally releases a three-wish-granting genie.

Kazaam is the kind of film so bad that it simply must be seen to be believed. Shaq is worse at acting than he was at scoring 3-pointers, and this movie stands as an unfortunate testament to that fact. The film is nothing more than a poor concoction of grating clichés and dated messages, too violent to appeal to children but too atrocious to appeal to anyone with a more developed frontal lobe.

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2 ‘Mortal Kombat: Annihilation’ (1997)

Directed by John R. Leonetti

Bad ’90s video game adaptations strike back! In fact, if it was long believed that it was impossible to make a good movie out of a video game, that was largely the fault of one of the worst films of all time: Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. It’s about a group of martial arts warriors who only have six days to save the Earth from an extraterrestrial invasion.

Annihilation somehow fails both at being an okay action movie and at being a satisfying sequel to a film that was already, to be honest, not great. Unwatchably pointless action, unbelievably ugly visuals and effects, and some of the most shallow writing that the Seventh Art has ever seen all contribute to make this absolute disaster of an adaptation as infamous as it is, still over a quarter-century after its release.

1 ‘Troll 2’ (1990)

Directed by Claudio Fragasso

The Italian horror comedy (at least it feels like a comedy) Troll 2 is not a sequel to Troll, nor does it feature any trolls. Yes, it’s as goofy as it sounds. It’s about a vacationing family who discover that the entire town they’re visiting is inhabited by goblins disguised as humans, who want to eat them. Bad though it may be (and it certainly is unbelievably bad), Troll 2 is also one of the most hilarious movies ever made.

Wooden acting, a spectacularly dumb script, some of the worst cinematography ever, and direction so silly that it’s ensured the movie’s timeless cult appeal all make Troll 2 the single worst fantasy movie of the 1990s. It’s a must-see for fans of movies so bad they’re good, but that doesn’t detract from the fact that it’s the extremely rare kind of film where not a single element is done well.

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