Many action movies follow the blockbuster formula to the letter, but this doesn't mean that they are all unremarkable repetitions of the same tedious tropes. Some of them explicitly shy away from the expectations of violence to deliver worlds that are considerably more realistic, for which deviation they tend to experience financial setbacks.
This isn't to say that the presence of blood, guts, and glory automatically devalues a movie, with Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) being solid proof. However, action cinema doesn't necessarily obtain the box office numbers that one would assume, even if they are endearing to critics.
10 Annihilation (2018)
Alex Garland's Annihilation is a convoluted story about an alien infestation known as the "Shimmer", which the main protagonists are forced to pass through in their journey.
Psychologically riveting as it was, the film barely scraped by with $43 million while spending approximately $10 million more on development and marketing. Regardless, many reviewers greatly appreciated the emotional complexity of Annihilation, calling it a "masterpiece" and "a bracing brain teaser."
9 Warrior (2011)
The tale of two MMA brothers, played by Joel Edgerton and Tom Hardy, was showered with praise when it was released, directed largely at Hardy's brilliant performance and the nervous tension skillfully generated by the screenplay.
Critics writing for The New Yorker and The New York Times were especially enchanted by Warrior's "cathartic" conclusion. Sadly, the movie lost around $2 million at the box office, permanently marking it as a box office bomb.
8 Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
As a prequel to the Star Wars franchise, Solo: A Star Wars Story followed the adventures of Han Solo with his two besties, Lando and Chewbacca. It cost $275 million, numbering it among the costliest movies ever produced, but grossed only $393 million at the end (becoming the only flop in the beloved franchise.)
The narrative garnered decent appreciation, mainly for Donald Glover's role as Lando Calrissian, but also for the soundtrack, imagery, and combat scenes.
7 Big Trouble In Little China (1986)
John Carpenter had always wanted to direct a film about martial arts, a dream that resolved itself with Big Trouble in Little China. Even with its hilarious plot and subversive storyline, its financial outcome was disastrous, losing between $8 million and $13 million.
Interestingly, Big Trouble in Little China was not immediately applauded for its refreshing take on the genre, which apparently convinced John Carpenter to take a break from mainstream cinema. Current critics have reassessed it though, giving it the kudos it so greatly deserves.
6 Flags Of Our Fathers (2006)
Clint Eastwood rarely makes a weak film, given his monumental achievements as actor, writer, and director. Flags of our Fathers, however, was a monumental disaster, obtaining a measly $66 million against a production budget of $90 million.
The story is based on a novel discussing the Iwo Jima battle preceding the iconic flag-hoisting photograph, and was generally lauded as a "searing a powerful work." In fact, Clint Eastwood picked up a nomination for Best Director at the Golden Globes for his work on this movie.
5 Sorcerer (1977)
This action thriller movie by William Friedkin is based on the famous book, Le Salaire de la peur (written by French author, Georges Arnaud in 1950.) The narrative was not really popular when it came out, leading to an enormous deficit of $12 million, but was simultaneously derided by the critics of the time.
Nonetheless, present-day reviewers deem Sorcerer to be an "overlooked masterpiece", with Robert C. Cumbow revealing that his initial assessment had been embarrassingly mistaken.
4 Deepwater Horizon (2016)
Peter Berg's Deepwater Horizon is the cinematic version of the real-life Gulf of Mexico oil spill (and borrows a large section of its plot from Deepwater Horizon's Final Hours, a 2010 article that appeared in The New York Times.)
It was received warmly by both critics and film academies — snapping up two Oscar and one BAFTA nominations. In terms of audience reaction, this movie was nothing less than a bomb, having spent $110 million and earned only $122 million.
3 Blow Out (1981)
Blow Out by Brian de Palma has John Travolta in the lead role of a lowly film worker who accidentally gets caught up in a secret plot to assassinate one of the major candidates for the upcoming presidential elections. The movie was not screened widely, which explains why it incurred a loss of $4.2 million.
As a sign of its worth, Pauline Kael, one of the hardest film critics to please, comparing Blow Out with the Godfather trilogy. Further, Quentin Tarantino employed a few soundtracks from Blow Out in his half of Grindhouse (2007), Death Proof.
2 Children Of Men (2006)
Alfonso Cuarón's Children of Men is a horrifyingly accurate depiction of the future the world may be heading towards. The lack of reproductive success has led to worsening immigrant conditions and civil wars, but there is still a faint glimmer of hope for humanity.
Children of Men might have lost $6 million at the box office, but it is unanimously believed to be one of the finest accomplishments in cinematic history, with many critics listing it as one of their favorite films.
1 Heaven's Gate (1980)
The making of Heaven's Gate was riddled with production issues from the very outset, for instance, the expansion of its production budget from $11 million to $44 million.
Another big problem was the fact that United Artists overedited the movie, a cut that is now called "one of the greatest injustices" in Hollywood. Heaven's Gate made a miserable $3.5 million, however; its theatrical runtime only lasting two weeks before being pulled by the producers.
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