Hailey Watson
15 Movies People Defend Out of Nostalgia, Not Quality
Remember watching certain movies over and over as a kid and thinking they were absolute masterpieces?
Sometimes our memories play tricks on us, making us believe those childhood favorites were way better than they actually were.
Nostalgia is a powerful force that can make us defend films that honestly don’t hold up when we watch them as adults.
This list explores movies that people still champion today, not because they’re genuinely great, but because they remind us of simpler times.
1. The Phantom Menace (1999)
Star Wars fans waited sixteen years for a new movie, and what they got was Jar Jar Binks and midichlorians.
George Lucas tried explaining the Force through science, which completely missed what made the original trilogy magical.
Young Anakin’s storyline drags on forever with podracing sequences that feel like video game cutscenes.
The dialogue is wooden, even from talented actors like Liam Neeson and Natalie Portman.
People defend it because it’s Star Wars, and they remember the excitement of seeing lightsabers on the big screen again.
Strip away that nostalgia, though, and you’re left with a confusing political plot and annoying comic relief that nobody asked for.
2. Batman & Robin (1997)
Arnold Schwarzenegger delivered ice puns as Mr. Freeze while George Clooney wore a batsuit with nipples.
This movie turned the Dark Knight into a neon-colored toy commercial complete with Bat-credit cards.
Director Joel Schumacher admitted he went too far with the campiness.
The acting is over-the-top, the villains are cartoonish, and the plot barely exists between all the costume changes.
Some folks remember it fondly because they were kids who thought the flashy colors and silly jokes were entertaining.
Adult viewers recognize it as the film that almost killed the Batman franchise until Christopher Nolan saved it years later.
3. Dazed and Confused (1993)
Richard Linklater captured 1970s teen culture with an ensemble cast that included future stars like Matthew McConaughey and Ben Affleck.
The movie follows high schoolers through one day of partying, hazing, and cruising around town.
While praised for its authentic dialogue and period details, the film glorifies some pretty troubling behavior.
Freshmen get paddled brutally, underage drinking is shown as harmless fun, and gun violence is treated casually.
Fans who grew up with it remember the killer soundtrack and quotable lines.
Modern audiences might cringe at how the movie treats hazing and substance abuse without any real consequences or commentary.
4. The Garbage Pail Kids Movie (1987)
Based on the controversial trading cards, this film brought the gross-out characters to life using disturbing costumes and puppetry.
It holds a rare zero percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes for good reason.
The plot makes absolutely no sense, jumping between a love story and the Kids causing chaos without any coherent structure.
The humor relies entirely on bodily functions and crude jokes that weren’t funny even in the 80s.
Only people who collected the cards as children defend this disaster, clinging to memories of the card series rather than the actual movie.
Even nostalgic viewers usually admit it’s terrible after attempting a rewatch as adults.
5. Space Jam (1996)
Michael Jordan teamed up with Bugs Bunny and the Looney Tunes gang to save them from alien enslavement through basketball.
Sounds amazing, right?
Well, the actual movie features a paper-thin plot that exists mainly to sell merchandise and sneakers.
The special effects looked cool back then but haven’t aged gracefully at all.
Most of the humor falls flat, and the storyline makes very little sense when you really think about it.
Kids in the 90s absolutely loved it because it combined two beloved icons.
Watching it today reveals awkward pacing, weird character choices, and more product placement than actual storytelling.
6. Mac and Me (1988)
This shameless E.T. ripoff features a wheelchair-using boy who befriends a stranded alien named Mac.
The entire movie exists as a commercial for McDonald’s and Coca-Cola, with products featured constantly throughout.
There’s a bizarre dance sequence in a McDonald’s that goes on forever and has nothing to do with the story.
The alien design is creepy rather than cute, and the plot copies E.T. beat for beat without any originality.
People remember it fondly only because they watched it repeatedly as kids when rental options were limited.
It’s become more famous for being hilariously bad than for any actual entertainment value it provides.
7. Hook (1991)
Steven Spielberg imagined Peter Pan as a grown-up lawyer who forgot his magical past.
Robin Williams stars alongside Dustin Hoffman as Captain Hook in this overly long and surprisingly dull adventure.
The movie drowns in elaborate sets and costumes while forgetting to include an engaging story.
Spielberg himself admitted he wasn’t proud of the film, calling it one of his weaker efforts.
Millennials who watched it as children defend it fiercely because Robin Williams was charming and the idea sounded cool.
Objective viewing reveals pacing problems, annoying child actors, and a bloated runtime that tests patience.
The magical feeling people remember is more about childhood wonder than actual filmmaking quality.
8. The NeverEnding Story III (1994)
This third installment abandoned everything that made the original film special.
Gone was the fantasy world of Fantasia, replaced with a modern-day setting where Bastian uses the book to cause mischief at school.
The Nasties are embarrassing villains who look like rejected Power Rangers enemies.
Jack Black appears in an early role, but even he can’t save this trainwreck from itself.
Only completists who loved the first movie defend this one, and even they struggle to justify it.
The magic, wonder, and emotional depth disappeared completely, leaving behind a cheap direct-to-video quality film that tarnished the franchise’s legacy forever.
9. Jingle All the Way (1996)
Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a workaholic dad desperately searching for a sold-out Turbo Man action figure on Christmas Eve.
What should be a simple comedy turns into an exhausting series of increasingly ridiculous situations.
The satire about consumer culture gets buried under slapstick violence and Arnold’s awkward comic timing.
Sinbad co-stars as a rival dad, and their competition stops being funny pretty quickly.
90s kids remember it as a holiday tradition, but rewatching reveals how mean-spirited and chaotic it actually is.
The ending where Arnold becomes the actual Turbo Man makes zero sense and abandons any pretense of realism the movie had left.
10. Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997)
Following the surprisingly decent first film, this sequel replaced most of the cast and slashed the budget dramatically.
The result is a incomprehensible mess with terrible special effects and fight choreography that looks like a community theater production.
Characters appear and disappear without explanation, and the plot about Outworld merging with Earth makes no sense.
Even fans of the video game franchise struggle to defend this disaster.
People claim to like it purely out of loyalty to the Mortal Kombat brand, not because of any actual quality.
The costumes look cheap, the acting is wooden, and the whole thing feels rushed and incomplete from start to finish.
11. Super Mario Bros. (1993)
Nintendo’s beloved plumber got a live-action adaptation that turned the Mushroom Kingdom into a dystopian parallel dimension ruled by evolved dinosaurs.
Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo tried their best with a script that made absolutely no sense.
The movie shares almost nothing with the video games except character names.
Goombas became weird lizard creatures instead of mushrooms, and the bright, colorful world became a dark, grungy cityscape.
Gamers defend it because it was the first major video game movie, not because it’s actually good.
Even the actors have expressed regret about making it, with Hoskins calling it the worst thing he ever did in his career.
12. Star Wars Holiday Special (1978)
George Lucas wanted to keep Star Wars in the public eye between movies, so he approved this television special that has become legendary for all the wrong reasons.
It features Chewbacca’s family celebrating Life Day with musical numbers and comedy sketches that drag on forever.
Bea Arthur sings to cantina aliens, and Jefferson Starship performs a psychedelic music video.
The plot barely exists, and even the main cast looks embarrassed to be there.
Star Wars fans defend it ironically because it’s so memorably bad.
Lucas himself tried to erase it from existence, refusing to allow official releases, which only made it more of a cult curiosity among nostalgic viewers.
13. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993)
The heroes in a half shell travel back to feudal Japan through a magic scepter in this third theatrical adventure.
What could have been an exciting samurai story becomes a boring slog with cheap sets and rubber costumes that look worse than the previous films.
The time travel plot creates confusing rules that the movie immediately breaks.
The action sequences lack energy, and the humor falls completely flat throughout.
Kids who loved the cartoon and toys defend it simply because it features the Turtles, not because of any filmmaking merit.
Even die-hard fans usually admit this one tested their loyalty to the franchise and marked the end of the original movie series.
14. Kazaam (1996)
Shaquille O’Neal plays a rapping genie who emerges from a boombox to grant wishes to a troubled kid.
The basketball star’s acting abilities were severely tested in this family film that nobody asked for.
The wishes themselves are boring and uninspired, and the villain plot about bootleg music feels tacked on.
Shaq tries hard, but charisma alone can’t save a weak script and poor direction.
People confuse this with Sinbad’s nonexistent genie movie in the Mandela Effect, which is somehow more memorable than Kazaam itself.
Those who defend it are usually remembering Shaq’s popularity in the 90s rather than anything the actual movie accomplished or delivered entertainment-wise.
15. Hocus Pocus (1993)
Three Salem witches return on Halloween night to steal children’s souls and regain their youth.
Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy ham it up as the Sanderson Sisters in this Disney Halloween film that flopped initially but found new life on television.
The tone wobbles awkwardly between scary and silly, never quite finding the right balance.
Some jokes work while others land with a thud, and the teenage romance subplot feels forced.
It became a cult classic purely through repeated TV airings during October, creating nostalgic associations with Halloween traditions.
The movie is more fun than good, relying heavily on the actresses’ performances rather than a strong script or innovative storytelling.
Comments
Loading…