These Three Forgotten DC Comics Movies Are Tied For The Worst Rotten Tomatoes Score

Jeannot Szwarc's "Supergirl" (1984), Kenneth Johnson's "Steel" (1997), and Pitof's "Catwoman" (2004) are often cited as being among the worst superhero movies ever made, and are certainly the most reviled of the films to be based on DC Comics. Anyone who has seen all three movies might have trouble arguing against their bad reputation. Critics hated these films, as illustrated by their matching 8% approval ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. "Supergirl's" 8% was based on 37 reviews, "Steel's" on 25, and "Catwoman's" on 196. 

Thanks to the last almost-20 solid years of superhero dominance at the box office, many pundits, fanboys, and journalists have looked back over the history of superhero movies often, seeking the genre's origins, noting its major turning points, and putting pins in its biggest hits and bombs. We live in a world wherein millions of people have seen Oley Sassone's 1994 version of "The Fantastic Four," and that film was never officially released to the public. In the superhero genre, there's hardly such a thing as an obscurity anymore. 

"Supergirl," "Steel," and "Catwoman" are all notorious in their own ways, and each one infamously bombed. "Supergirl" was nominated for two Razzies, "Steel" for one, and "Catwoman" for seven. Halle Berry was very sporting about the Razzies, and actually picked up her award in person when she "won" Worst Actress. It also "won" Worst Picture, Worst Director, and Worst Screenplay. They are the lowest-rated movies to be based on DC Comics, and are nearly the lowest-rated comic book movies on all of Rotten Tomatoes. They are only beaten by "Son of the Mask" (6%), "Zoom" (5%), and "Max Payne" (0%). 

Let's take a quick glance at these movies and see why they have the reputation they do. 

Jeannot Szwarc's "Supergirl" is a spinoff of the hit "Superman" feature films that were big hits in the late '70s and early '80s. Even the less-popular "Superman III" was a hit in 1983 (making over $80 million on a $39 million budget), so a "Supergirl" movie seemed like a logical extension. The only common character between the "Superman" and "Supergirl" was Jimmy Olsen, played by Marc McClure. Everything else was new. 

"Supergirl" is wildly strange, however. Superman's cousin Kara (Helen Slater) lives in Argo City, a Kryptonian metropolis that somehow escaped the destruction of Krypton by slipping into a miniature pocket dimension. The city is powered by a glowing magical ball, about the size of a softball, called the Omegahedron, which can only be handled by wizards and witches. Zaltar (Peter O'Toole) plays with the widget when he's bored. When Kara mishandles Omegahedron, it gets sucked through a portal and lands on Earth, forcing her to go there to retrieve it. For no explicable reason, she arrives on Earth being born out of a lake, already in a superhero costume. 

Slater may be the title hero, but the real show belongs to Faye Dunaway, playing an aspiring witch named Selena. She finds the Omegahedron, groks what it is immediately, and aims to become the world's most powerful sorceress with it. Supergirl, meanwhile, hides out among the humans disguised as a boarding school student. Too much of "Supergirl" is devoted to the heroine learning the fineries of an all-girls school. She and Selena will end up competing for the affections of a handsome, dumb bohunk name Ethan (Hart Bochner). 

"Supergirl" doesn't possess the same broad sense of heroic adventure as the "Superman" movies, which is probably why it wasn't a hit, but, golly, it's an amazing film for camp value. Dunaway gives an amazingly over-the-top performance, throwing bolts of magic at her bitter boyfriend (Peter Cook) and put-upon girlfriend (Brenda Vaccaro). 

"Steel" was an odd character to lead a feature film, as he wasn't hugely popular, even at the time. Steel emerged during the infamous Death of Superman story from 1993. Superman was killed in the comics, an event so momentous that it was covered by national news services. After the publication of "Superman" #75, wherein the Man of Steel was really most sincerely dead, DC Comics introduced four new potential replacements for the character. It seemed as if DC was giving each new Superman a soft launch and would stick with whichever one sold the best. 

One of the four was John Henry Irons, a brilliant engineer who built a high-powered suit of head-to-toe armor that gave him Superman-like powers. He put a Superman logo on his chest, donned a red cape, and wielded a mighty hammer. He went by Steel. The "Steel" movie strayed from its Superman connection, turning John Henry Irons (Shaquille O'Neal) into a weapons designer who accidentally injures a colleague. It takes the bulk of the film for him to get over his guilt and to recognize that his experimental weapons are being used for crime. Shaquille O'Neal, an athlete, isn't much of an actor, and the script sucks. The superhero armor he builds looks awful. No one likes this one. 

Some, however, like Pitof's "Catwoman," a movie that introduces a new version of the famed Batman villain in the form of Halle Berry. Berry plays Patience Phillips, a makeup technician who is murdered by her evil boss (Sharon Stone) when she discovers a secret to make makeup toxic and addictive. Magical cats (!) bring her back to life, and she is infused with catlike powers. She makes a bizarrely sexy outfit and takes to the streets with a whip to stop evildoers and wicked makeup execs. The strained "girl power" narrative makes the film worse, not better, although Berry is wholly committed to the film's silliness. "Catwoman" is bad, yes, but it's at least an entertaining bad.