Siskel & Ebert: Worst Of 1988 - A Time of Destiny, Hot To Trot, Betrayed, Cocktail, Willow, Vibes

In this episode, Siskel and Ebert talk about the worst films of 1988. These films include: A Time of Destiny, Arthur 2: On the Rocks, Betrayed, Cocktail, Far North, Heartbreak Hotel, Hellbound: Hellraiser II, Hot To Trot, Last Rights, Punchline, Rent-A-Cop, Scrooged, Stealing Home, The Deceivers, Tiger Warsaw, Vibes and Willow.

[@hungwilliam44]

I love these worst of episodes. They're genuinely angry.

[@jimmyconway294]

"I'm tired of seeing epic pictures set in forests with lots of people running around and hitting each other over the head." Amen, Gene. Amen.

[@mjgyrosdude484]

^THIS!

[@keldonmcfarland2969]

"Hot to Trot" was difficult for me to watch back when I was a kid. I was about 8 or 9 when I saw it and even then I knew it was terrible.

[@willyboyw.5771]

More of Cruise playing the same guy in every 80's movie.

[@aswarrivaldi9248]

Betrayed from 1988 shouldn't be on anyone's worst of 1988 List!!

[@littlekingtrashmouth9219]

Exactly. John Mahoney’s monologue is probably the best of the whole movie

[@freemangriffin4953]

I agree - I love Betrayed. It is incredibly well acted and thoughtful. Debra Winger and Tom Berenger are terrific in it.

[@jtown1022]

"...Please yourself, first..." Gene Siskel lol

[@ericwilkinson1899]

Narrator: "he did..."

[@markelijio6012]

Tom Hanks made an excellent comeback with "Big" which earned his first Oscar nomination in 1989. A year later Sally Field has joined an all-star cast in the hit "Steel Magnolias" which earned Julia Roberts' first Oscar nomination in 1990. Ron Howard's "Parenthood" was an box office hit has earned two Oscar nominations and Costa-Gavras' powerful "Music Box" which earned Jessica Lange an Academy Award nomination-both in 1990.

[@raymondm.9954]

Roger certainly knew what it was like to spend a lot of time in a bar. He admitted a couple of decades later that he was an alcoholic and had been saved by Alcoholics Anonymous.

[@davidthieroff9452]

They were too rough on Punchline and Stealing Home. I liked both movies. I sorta liked Hellbound but I can't disagree with their criticisms. It's a bit of a mess. An entertaining mess though.

[@alonsojett]

Thank you for posting these!

[@vintageretro83]

Willow is one of my all time favorites. Warwick Davis is great.

[@Hellraiser0601]

"Please yourself first" - Gene Siskel I do Gene, I surely do.

[@cc2922]

I’m sorry but Scrooged and Willow is great 👍

[@patrickriley674]

I agree. 🙂

[@ricardocantoral7672]

Scrooged is decent.

[@crystalshaw8744]

What really turned me off of Cocktail? Just give me my drink and I dont care how well u guys can catch.

[@freemangriffin4953]

I love Betrayed! It is a great movie! Debra Winger and Tom Berenger are both superb! Disagree on that one 100%! Haven't seen most of the films on this episode.

[@pvthitch]

The Ebersisk!

[@michaelkitchen4174]

sophisticated family's used to watch scrooged and the like instead of traditional holiday films .

[@solidsnake58]

I loved Vibes when I was a kid

[@joesimon2029]

I saw Willow at a local discount theatre and BEGGED my friends "Can we leave?" before it was over.

[@Bruce_Wayne35]

I saw Groundhog Day at a discount theater and I was bored to death. The audio was muffled up, like they needed to clean the audio heads on the projector or something. When I watched it at home, I enjoyed it.

[@reneedennis2011]

The 🐢 has joined the Cabbage Patch Kid!

[@Jabberstax]

I love Cocktail.

[@gridlo]

Wtf Punchline is the worst??

[@bijibadness]

_Willow?_ like, _WILLOW Willow?_ with Tim Curry as the devil? puppets and stuff?? seriously??? huh. well, I didn't know it was regarded so poorly. *shrug!*

[@movieman104]

mac n me is worst film of 98

[@jdtroup198683]

89

[@bobbystclaire]

Actually I like Scrooge with Bill Murray no it wasn't great and I wouldn't recommend pay money for it but yeah and it's on TV watch it it's good for a few last

[@ricardocantoral7672]

I wouldn't call it great either but I think it's good enough for a purchase. Unfortunately, the end of the movie doesn't work at all.

[@matthewbrown2037]

I'm glad Cocktail is on the list, as I really do hate this film. It's a typical over acted, cheesy and over the top movie that was churned out one after the other in the 80's. Plus it features Tom Cruise, who I can't stand anyway, jumped up little turd. I seem to remember this film being a pretty big hit, together with another 80's Tom Cruise film that I also hate, bloody Top Gun! I could never understand what people liked about these films or why Cruise was allowed to become such a huge star? If a film does have him in then I generally won't bother watching it, as I find him so annoying. But of his films I have seen the only one where his character didn't piss me off from start to finish was Rain Man. But, although he was actually pretty good in this film he was overshadowed by Dustin Hoffman. F**k Tom Cruise and his ridiculous religion.

[@stoogefest16]

Trust me when I say that Cruise’s superstar status doesn’t even begin to approach the kind of smug self-aggrandizement that we’ve seen from the likes of Will Smith or other actors whose caliber and public profile have been similarly over inflated. I still think that his meteoric rise through the ranks of showbiz wasn’t exactly the most credible of developments in entertainment media, but he’s not without substantial merits of his own and manages to excel when provided with the right material. I particularly enjoyed his roles in Interview with the Vampire and Collateral because of how iconoclastic they were for him. That being said, much like yourself I’ll always hold him in low estimation for being the poster boy for that cockamamie cult of his, the one that pairs con-artistry with bargain-bin science fiction.

[@characterandconviction9225]

​@@stoogefest16Not to mention his treatment of others, whether going off on a crew member for committing the unforgivable sin of not wearing a mask, lol, or years ago when he attempted to lecture that interviewer regarding psychiatric conditions or whatever.

[@characterandconviction9225]

Definitely a cheese fest

[@lookylookhere71]

I have a feeling Gene would have hated "The Lord of the Rings" movies

[@hungwilliam44]

I'm sure he'd find a way lol.

[@lerm2866]

I guess Second Sight wasn’t the very funny movie made about psychics

[@michaeldownstairs]

I wondered about that too. _Second Sight_ came out in 1989, so probably not what they meant, but I can’t think of any other psychic comedies from 1988 or the year or two just before

[@Truthseeker1515]

Cocktail was a great movie!

[@billnolte8644]

Gene, if you thought Willow was a dwarf, it shows your bias entering the theater (yes, i know he has passed).

[@markytolcher6831]

can't wait for their review of dangerous layersons!