10 Worst Sci-Fi Movies of All Time, According to Richard Roeper

When renowned film critic Gene Siskel unexpectedly passed away in 2000, Roger Ebert knew exactly who he wanted to join him on their popular movie review show. He selected Richard Roeper, a longtime friend he’d first met in the 1980s while they both worked at the Chicago Sun-Times. By then, Roeper had earned a strong reputation as a film critic, almost matching Ebert’s level of respect. So, when Roeper replaced Siskel, it felt natural, and the show became known as Ebert & Roeper.

Richard Roeper hosted a show for eight years before pursuing other projects. In 2025, after 39 years as a film critic for the Sun-Times, he started writing for RogerEbert.com, the website created by his friend and fellow critic, Roger Ebert. Roeper enjoys all kinds of movies, especially good science fiction, but he’s also seen plenty of bad ones. Here are his picks for the ten worst sci-fi films.

Roeper Gave a Thumbs Down to The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

While generally considered a fantasy film, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring initially received mixed reactions from critics. In 2001, during a discussion on At the Movies with Roger Ebert, Richard Roeper actually gave the movie a negative review. Ebert, though he enjoyed the film, was surprised by Roeper’s dislike and noted that the movie adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s book seemed to lose some of the original’s innocence.

Roeper found The Fellowship of the Ring visually stunning, praising its sets and special effects, but he wasn’t captivated by the story. He thought it suffered from having too many characters and overly long, mystical monologues, and felt the three-hour runtime was excessive and repetitive. He did enjoy The Two Towers, though, saying it took until halfway through the second film for him to really care about what happened to the characters. However, his negative impression of Fellowship remained unchanged.

The Transformers Sequels Gave Roeper a Migraine

When Michael Bay’s Transformers came out in 2007, critic Richard Roeper cautiously recommended it, noting it was initially fun to see classic ’80s toys brought to life with impressive special effects. But like many reviewers, he found the sequels less appealing. He described 2009’s Revenge of the Fallen as a headache-inducing experience, and 2011’s Dark of the Moon as only marginally better.

Roeper strongly criticized Dark of the Moon, calling it terrible and complaining that it was a never-ending series of overly dramatic action scenes with characters he found impossible to care about. He hoped the next Transformers movie would focus more on making the human characters relatable and bring some enthusiasm to the storytelling. Unfortunately, his hopes weren’t met. He later described 2014’s Age of Extinction as dull and 2023’s Rise of the Beasts as boring, draining, and forgettable.

Jupiter Ascending Achieved a Rare Zero-Star Review

Since 1999’s The Matrix, the Wachowskis have become known for making films that often strongly divide audiences. Their latest movie was different, though – it didn’t create a split opinion. Sadly, that’s because nearly everyone, including critic Roeper, considered it a complete failure. In a review giving the film zero stars, Roeper said he was “morally offended” by the Wachowskis’ confusing movie, describing its story as chaotic, messy, and without making sense.

When film critic Roeper summarized the movie on the radio, he could barely contain his laughter. He made the Wachowskis’ story – about a Russian cleaning woman discovering she’s actually a galactic princess and the Earth’s rightful owner – sound utterly absurd. And honestly, it is a pretty ridiculous premise, even though it’s easy to make anything sound silly when you focus on the details.

Dreamcatcher Had Incredible Pedigree, But Still Went In the Toilet

The 2003 film Dreamcatcher was a sci-fi horror movie with a strong creative team. It was based on a story by Stephen King, directed by Lawrence Kasdan, and co-written by William Goldman, a highly respected screenwriter known for films like All the President’s Men. The movie featured a talented cast, including Morgan Freeman as a military leader and Thomas Jane, Jason Lee, Timothy Olyphant, and Damian Lewis as a group of friends who have telepathic powers. They encounter a dangerous alien creature during a hunting trip.

Film critic Roeper famously compared the movie Dreamcatcher to Death to Smoochy, implying it was a similarly disastrous project despite having a talented cast. He considered this a harsh criticism. Dreamcatcher is now well-known for a particularly bizarre scene: a three-foot alien worm emerging from a toilet to attack actor Lee, who was then popular for his comedic roles in Kevin Smith films.

Roeper Found The Electric State To Be Boring, Preachy, and Irresponsibly Expensive

As a film fan, I completely agree with Roeper about those Netflix ‘mockbusters’ – there’s been so much stuff clogging up the service lately that just isn’t good. But he says there’s one from March 2025 that really takes the cake. It’s funny, because he used to be a big fan of the Russo brothers! He genuinely thought they delivered some of the best movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and he even praised Cherry as a really strong, realistic film. However, with The Gray Man and especially The Electric State, he felt like they’d completely lost the magic, and his patience ran out.

While watching the film, Roeper felt the directors were trying to warn audiences about the dangers of artificial intelligence and virtual reality, but these ideas were lost in uninspired visuals and a reliance on special effects. The actors also suffered from having very simple, undeveloped characters. What bothered Roeper most was the film’s massive $320 million budget. In his review for the Chicago Sun-Times, he wrote that the money could have been better spent giving ten talented filmmakers $32 million each, or even taking a chance on 100 up-and-coming directors with $3.2 million apiece to see what they could create.

Roeper Had a Change of Heart About Men in Black II After his Initial Review

In a 2002 review for At the Movies, Roeper enjoyed the sci-fi comedy sequel, especially since he loved the original. He thought stars Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith delivered great performances again. While acknowledging the movie largely followed the same plot as the first one, he found it to be a fast-paced and fun ride, packed with action, humor, and creative alien elements, earning it a positive, though not enthusiastic, recommendation.

Roger Ebert was surprised by Roeper’s positive review, believing the movie was uninspired and simply recycled elements from the first film. Most critics agreed, criticizing its brief 88-minute runtime and lack of depth. Roeper himself later admitted he regretted giving Men in Black II a positive ‘thumbs up’ rating.

Splice Irritated the Hell Out of Roeper, Even If He Gave It Props For Trying

Vincenzo Natali’s 2010 sci-fi horror film, Splice, received mostly positive reviews when it came out, and many critics noted its similarities to the disturbing and often sexually charged work of David Cronenberg. This comparison was accurate; Natali’s story about two scientists (Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley) creating a human-animal hybrid named Dren explores similar themes and is intentionally designed to be unsettling for viewers.

Despite its cult following, critic Roeper didn’t enjoy Splice. While he recognized the director’s ambition, he found the film incredibly frustrating because the characters repeatedly made illogical choices just to move the plot forward. He felt it became increasingly silly, even for a thriller aiming for absurdity, and ultimately called the ending ‘howlingly ridiculous.’ In the end, he admitted, ‘I kinda hated Splice.’

Southland Tales’ Ultra-Ambitious, Trippy Sci-fi Dystopia Left Roeper Cold

Film critic Roger Roeper famously described Richard Kelly’s follow-up to Donnie Darko, the 2006 film Southland Tales, as “Two hours and twenty-four minutes of abstract crap.” Kelly had gained attention with Donnie Darko as a promising and original director, so expectations were high for his next project. However, the resulting 144-minute film – a bizarre story set in a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles with an action star suffering from amnesia, an adult film actress, a police officer, and his twin brother who’s a Marxist revolutionary – was far from what anyone anticipated.

Kelly’s ambitious film, Southland Tales, ultimately fell short of its goals, attempting too much and succeeding at very little. While packed with ideas, the movie became a confusing mess, according to critic Roeper. It was so bizarre and nonsensical that even Justin Timberlake, one of the film’s stars, admitted in 2011 he still didn’t understand the plot.

Roeper Wanted Rebel Moon To Be Over Almost As Soon As It Began

Film critic reactions to Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire have been harsh, with one describing it as unoriginal and messy. The critic actually hoped the film was a parody of Star Wars while watching the opening scene, because if it wasn’t, he feared it would be a slow, visually-heavy, and predictable story filled with clichés and drawn-out flashbacks.

During the movie’s lengthy 134-minute runtime, the critic quickly became frustrated. What usually takes around 30 minutes in action or heist films – bringing the team together – stretched on and on. This meant a lot of time with largely unremarkable characters traveling to various planets, all of which looked unconvincing due to poor CGI and the director’s dull, blurry visuals. By the end, Roeper felt that the idea of watching any more of the film was more daunting than enjoyable.

In Roeper’s Opinion, Battlefield Earth Was the Second-Worst Motion Picture of the 2000s

John Travolta’s film Battlefield Earth, adapted from a novel by L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, is often cited as one of the worst movies of all time. Critics heavily panned it when it came out in 2000, and it continues to be a low point in Travolta’s career. Even considering some of his other less successful films, Battlefield Earth is still considered his most flawed and poorly made project.

Film critic Roeper ranked Battlefield Earth as the second-worst movie of the 2000s, only surpassed by Lindsay Lohan’s I Know Who Killed Me. While he was concerned that John Travolta used his fame to promote Scientology, Roeper primarily believed the film was simply bad. He described it as a “laughably silly” sci-fi movie and called Travolta’s performance the worst of his career, criticizing his accent as “embarrassing” and poking fun at the character’s dreadlocks. He also noted that the rest of the cast, including Forest Whitaker, appeared deeply uncomfortable. Ultimately, Roeper argued that Travolta hadn’t created Star Wars for a new generation, but instead a modern version of the notoriously bad Plan 9 From Outer Space.

2026-01-11 05:40