John Travoltais a talented, versatile performer who has turned in many great performances across a host of genres. However, his career has nevertheless been a rollercoaster of highs and lows, from iconic roles in classics likePulp FictionandSaturday Night Feverto notorious flops that left audiences scratching their heads. Despite his undeniable charisma,Travolta’s filmography contains a surprising number of missteps that have become infamous over the years. These movies, often hampered by poor scripts, questionable direction, or miscasting, amount to baffling detours and missed opportunities for the actor.
Some of these films have gained a cult following for their unintentional comedy, while others are simply bewildering. What’s fascinating about these misfires is that they reveal the risks Travolta has been willing to take, even if they didn’t always pay off. From sci-fi disasters to ill-advised comedies and thrillers, here are ten of the star’s most notorious projects.
15’Old Dogs' (2009)
Appeared as Charlie
“Scat happens, man.” This dud focuses on a pair of businessman pals who wind up having to look after 7-year-old twins. Travolta plays Charlie, a womanizing, smooth-talking bachelor who, along with his best friend Dan (Robin Williams), is thrown into this absurd parenting situation. It’s a solid theme, one that could have given the film emotional weight, butany sincerity it might have achieved is undermined by the reliance on lowbrow humorand a lack of good jokes.
Plus, Travolta’s chemistry with Williams feels off, maybe due to the movie’s muddled tone. Instead of playing to the strengths of its stars,Old Dogsburies themunder a pile of embarrassing antics. There’s a ton of tired slapstick and cringe-inducing gags, like a botched golf game and a ridiculous sequence involving facial paralysis. The flick tries to distract from these shortcomings with an endless parade of cameos, includingMatt Dillon,Seth Green,Bernie Mac,Justin Long,Dax Shepard,Luis Guzmán, and evenAnn-Margret, but it doesn’t work.
14’Shout' (1991)
Appeared as Jack Cabe
“My name is Alan, and I love you.“Shoutis a misguided attempt at a rebellious coming-of-age drama, one of the shakier films from the doldrum years beforePulp Fictionrevitalized Travolta’s career. He appears as Jack Cabe, a mysterious music teacher who brings the forbidden sounds of rock to a rigid Texas boarding school. The problem is, Travolta feels completely disconnected from the role. He seems flat here and frankly bored (as are we).
It’s hard to blame him. The script is weak, riddled with clichés and predictable conflicts, and Travolta’s character is never given much depth beyond being the stereotypical “cool outsider.” On top of that,Shoututterly fails as a 1950s period piece, displaying a complete disregard for historical accuracy or authenticity. The result is an odd, uninspired hybrid ofFootlooseandDead Poets Societyminus the entertainment value. It’s no surprise that this movie bombed, bringing in just$3.5m against a budget of $11m.
13’Life on the Line' (2015)
Appeared as Beau Ginner
“You know things aren’t always as perfect as they seem.” Travoltachews major scenery on thisone as Beau Ginner, a grizzled lineman. He’s one of four lineworkers who must fight for their lives after a storm hits while they’re servicing the electrical grid.Life on the Lineis meant to be a drama, butthe poor writing and over-the-top performances turn it into an unintentional comedy.
This is ‘Nicolas Cageat his worst’ levels of hamminess. Travolta’s forced Southern accent and gruff demeanor come off as more of a caricature. The emotional beats are painfully obvious, with Travolta delivering overwrought speeches and staring solemnly into the distance. Then there are the distractingly bad facial hair prosthetics, which inadvertently become the focal point of several scenes. For all these reasons,Life on the Lineholds an impressively abysmal0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. What were the cast and crew thinking?
Life on the Line
12’Eyes of an Angel' (1991)
Appeared as Bobby
“I got my good points.” This tepid crime drama was only released in Europe in 1991, but was given a direct-to-video release in the U.S. in 1994 to capitalize on the success ofPulp Fiction. Perhaps it shouldn’t have.Eyes of an Angelsees Travolta playing Bobby, a down-on-his-luck single father trying to escape a criminal underworld, but his performance is so lifeless and disconnected that it’s hard to care about his struggle. The film hinges on the relationship between Bobby, his daughter, and an abandoned fighting dog, yet the emotional connection never feels real.
Once again,Travolta sleepwalks through the role, delivering lines with an almost robotic detachment. On top of that, the baddies are cartoonish, the stakes never feel high, and the entire production has the look and feel of a low-budget TV movie. It’s kind of surprising that this movie is as bad as it is, given that heavy hitters worked on it;Michael Douglasexecutive produced andRandy Edelman(Dragonheart,The Mask) handled the music.
Eyes of an Angel
11’Chains of Gold' (1990)
Appeared as Scott Barnes
“The only way to quit something is to just quit.” Scott Barnes (Travolta) is a former social worker turned street vigilante. After a boy he’s helping goes missing, Barnes sets out to find him, bringing up against a vicious crack-dealing gang.What follows isa terrible action thrillerthat oscillates between by-the-numbers and absurd, like one scene where Barnes is thrown into an elevator pit infested with alligators. By the final act, any semblance of realism is abandoned entirely.
The main problem is that Travolta’s transformation from concerned mentor to action hero is unconvincing. This undrcuts so much of the drama and tension. It doesn’t help that the the villains are generic gangsters with no real menace or that the plot has the narrative depth of aGTAcutscene. Even worse is the attempt at social commentary, which comes off as heavy-handed and ill-fitting. All told,Chains of Goldis yet another forgettable relic from Travolta’s pre-Pulp Fictionslump.
Chains of Gold
10’Lucky Numbers' (2000)
Appeared as Russ Richards
“If I don’t get that money, I’m dead!” Travolta leads thisNora Ephronblack comedy as Russ Richards, a local weatherman who is on a desperate hunt for cash after his business ventures flop. With mounting debts and a criminally greedy sidekick (Lisa Kudrow), he devises a scheme to rig the state lottery. However, their heist quickly spirals out of control, bringing unintended chaos and comic consequences. While Ephron’s direction brings some charm toLucky Numbers, the film’s tone swings wildly, leaving audiences unsure whether to root for or laugh at the hapless characters.
The script barely rises above B-tier sitcom levels, with brazen product placement, many tone-deaf conversations, and scenes that are suspended awkwardly between silly and serious. On the acting side,Travolta’s performance here is lackluster, utterly overshadowed by Kudrow’s madcap antics. For all these reasons,Lucky Numberswas widely disliked, bringing in just$10.9m against a $63m budget.
Lucky Numbers
9’Gotti' (2018)
Appeared as John Gotti
“There are two ways to make money in this world: you earn it, or you take it.” In this one, Travolta takes on the role of infamous New York mob bossJohn Gotti. The film traces Gotti’s life over several decades, chronicling his crimes, his family’s struggles, and his complicated legacy. The movie attempts to portray Gotti as both a ruthless criminal and a family man, but the result is decidedly uneven. Fatally, Travolta’s heavily made-up portrayal of the man fails to capture the gravity or menace one might expect in a mob drama.
Travolta challengesNicolas Cage at his zaniest here, resulting in a performance that feels cartoonish and over-the-top. Indeed,the acting is shoddy across the board, with most of the actors chewing the scenery and dropping their accents mid-sentence. Kelly Preston, in particular, is amateurish and unbelievable. The cast is not helped by the script, which veers between mobster clichés and Gotti hagiography.
8’Staying Alive' (1983)
Appeared as Tony Manero
“I’m gonna dance my way to the top.“Staying Alivepicks up whereSaturday Night Feverleft off, following Tony Manero (Travolta) as he pursues his dream of becoming a Broadway dancer. Now living in Manhattan, Tony struggles to make it in the competitive world of theater, finding himself torn between his old love, Jackie (Cynthia Rhodes), and his new obsession, Laura (Finola Hughes), a fellow dancer. There was potential here, but the movie squandered it all, abandoning the energy and realism that made the first movie a cultural touchstone.
DirectorSylver Stallone’s storytelling is glossy and overproduced (this was clearly a vanity project for him), brought down further by a melodramatic script and subpar choreography. The music is largely forgettable and the performers seem less committed. Story-wise, the film falls short in terms of character development, with Tony showing little growth since the first film. InSaturday Night Fever, he was understandably immature.Here, he’s just annoying.
Staying Alive
7’The Experts' (1989)
Appeared as Travis
“They just don’t get it, man.” InThe Experts, Travolta is Travis, a hip New Yorker who, along with his friend Wendell (Arye Gross), is unwittingly recruited by the KGB to bring American culture to a fake town in Russia designed to train Soviet spies. The two friends, oblivious to the setup, think they’re working on a new club venture, only to find themselves tangled in Cold War shenanigans. The premise is okay, attempting to play on culture clash and espionage tropes, but the execution is lame and the jokes fall flat.
The plot starts out wacky and degenerates into complete lunacy, amplified by the cheesy dialogue and cringe-inducing dance numbers. The attempt at political satire is also laughable, serving up a series of cliches and stereotypes. Consequently, The Experts is simply boring, and littered with elements that would have been passé in 1989 and are beyond dated now. Unsurprisingly, the movie was a thermonuclear box office bomb, grossing just$169,000 against a budget of at least $13m.
The Experts
6’Perfect' (1985)
Appeared as Adam Lawrence
“Don’t you want to feel perfect?” Adam Lawrence (Travolta) is a Rolling Stone reporter who dives into the world of fitness clubs for a story on health fads and modern relationships. There, he meets aerobics instructor Jessie (played by Jamie Lee Curtis). Sparks soon fly as they navigate the pressures of fame, fitness, and personal ambition.Perfecttries to examine the 1980s fitness craze with a blend of romance and social commentary, but its shallow script and airbrushed presentation undermine any attempt at depth or critique.
Once again,this is a movie muddled between tones and vibes, unsure whether it’s a romance, a satire, or a drama. Travolta’s charm feels out of place in a film that struggles to take itself seriously, while Curtis’s performance is earnest but constrained by the shaky screenplay. And then there are the aerobics scenes, meant to be steamy and exciting but actually just unintentionally funny. There’s a whole of leotard shots here but not much actual story.
