When an actor has been around for as many decades asHarrison Ford, having a few missteps becomes forgivable, if not perhaps even inevitable. Not every movie can be as good asBlade Runner(or its sequel),Raiders of the Lost Ark,Star Wars, orThe Empire Strikes Back. Ford’s been a prominent part of many classics, and that’s what should be stressed before more negative territory gets waded into.
But, yeah, that negative territory is still there,because he’s been in quite a few bad movies, and some of the worst are outlined below. A few of these he’s only in briefly, sure, and a couple are probably more classifiable as “very disappointing” rather than “truly awful/offensive,” but what are you gonna do (other than avoid these if you’re in the mood towatch a great Harrison Ford movie)?
8’Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny' (2023)
Directed by James Mangold
Some people will tell you thatThe Kingdom of the Crystal Skullis the worstIndiana Jonesmovie, but those people are wrong, since it’s actuallyThe Dial of Destiny. Yes, that 2008 film was very much inferior to the original threeIndiana Jonesmovies, but at least it still came alive in certain sequences,thanks toSteven Spielbergstill being the director, and most of the stuff people are divided on is relegated to the second half of the movie.
WithThe Dial of Destiny, it’s honestly pretty bad all the way through, with the film not even being merciful enough to have a decent first half, or just a couple of good action sequences. It’s a dreary slog of a movie,Ford is far too old to be a commanding physical presence (sorry), and most of the supporting cast members are some combination of forgettable and underutilized. It’s such a dreary and disappointing film, and avery weak finalIndiana Jonesfilmfor Ford to star in.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
7’Captain America: Brave New World' (2025)
Directed by Julius Onah
Not content with roping Harrison Ford into a badIndiana JonesandStar Warsmovie (the latter will be gotten to, in due course), Disney also gave him a role in one of the weakest MCU movies to date:Captain America: Brave New World. In Ford’s defense, he’s not the reason the film is bad, and he’s also taking over a role that was originally played by the lateWilliam Hurt… but yeah,film still bad. Film not good. Film forgettable. Smash film. Grrrgh.
Forgettable despite only coming out a few months ago, at the time of writing, and already feeling like such a nothing addition to the ever-expanding MCU. The whole franchise could still get back on track between now and the next twoAvengersmovies, or maybe get back on track with thoseAvengersmovies, butcrafting more entries likeBrave New Worldwould not be the way to do it.
Captain America: Brave New World
6’Hollywood Homicide' (2003)
Directed by Ron Shelton
Speaking of forgettable movies starring Harrison Ford, here’s… uh… hang on. Forgot what was going to go in…this – ah, yeah,Hollywood Homicide. This film, it’s one that came out in, um… 2003, yeah, the year that… what was it… what… yep,Hollywood Homicidecame out.The name of the film. The year of the film’s release, 2003. Wow, Hollywood… Holly…Hollywood Homicide, right?How about that movie?
Does a movie exist if no one remembers it, or wants to remember it? Plenty of lost films are known about, and are mourned, but still probably get more talked about than the film that’s being discussed here. That one, you know. What’s the – yes,Hollywood Homicide. That one.It’s got… action? It’s a comedy? Who cares. You don’t. What is this?What year is this?
Hollywood Homicide
5’Cowboys & Aliens' (2011)
Directed by Jon Favreau
If there’s one nice thing to be said aboutCowboys & Aliens, it’s thatthe cast is pretty strong, since alongside Ford, it stars the likes ofDaniel Craig,Olivia Wilde,Sam Rockwell,Paul Dano,Keith Carradine,Walton Goggins, andAbigail Spencer. Unfortunately, they’re all wasted on a high-concept premise (just look at the title, for crying out loud) with a low amount of entertainment value.
Maybe there was an attempt at doing something bold with Cowboys & Aliens, but the execution leaves so much to be desired.
There’s a lone stranger who comes wandering into a town, which is usual stuff for a Western, but then the whole “forming a group to take on a threat” thing ismade weirder and not very Western-y because that threat is extraterrestrial in nature. Guess there was an attempt at doing something bold withCowboys & Aliens, but the execution leaves so much to be desired. It all feels like a bit of a waste of time and talent, in the end.
Cowboys & Aliens
4’Paranoia' (2013)
Directed by Robert Luketic
Paranoiais another pretty much forgotten Harrison Ford movie, and maybe that’s for the best. If anyone does remember it, it’s pretty safe to assume such memories aren’t fond ones, since this movie fails across the board. It’s about a boss at a big company getting a younger/newer worker there to spy on the boss’s old mentor, which is probably supposed to be tense and exciting, but such intentions can only take a movie so far.
In defense of Ford, no one else here can do much with the materialParanoiaprovides; not even the similarly legendaryGary Oldman. It’s an immensely sleepy and lazy film,certainly not functioning well as a thriller, and hardly functioning as a drama, either. It’s just flat, notreally all that paranoia-inducing, and similarly forgettable to that other Harrison Ford movie released 10 years earlier thanParanoia… you know… whatever that one was called.
3’The Expendables 3' (2014)
Directed by Patrick Hughes
Watching throughall theExpendablesmoviesis a bit of a slog, since even though the second one has some moments of fun, the others are all some level of disappointing. None disappoint to quite the same extent asThe Expendables 3, though,which doesn’t even have the decency to feel explosive, hard-edged, or gutsy with its action, since the whole thing is toned down to a PG-13 rating.
It’s a baffling decision, because you can’t even enjoy mindlessly bloody action when the action totally lacks weight and/or blood. They throw Harrison Ford into this one haphazardly, too, but that’s what all the movies do, to some extent. It’sjust a parade of older action movie starswho’ve all been in much better things before (and usually after, too), and it’s a bit sad to watch, really. Except for that second movie. That one’s honestly (and weirdly) not bad.
The Expendables 3
2’The Star Wars Holiday Special' (1978)
Directed by Steve Binder
Okay, sure,it’s a TV movie, but come on, how can you not mentionThe Star Wars Holiday Specialwhenever it’s relevant to talk about bad movies? This absoluteoddity of a Christmas filmcame out just one year after the originalStar Warsmovie, and felt like it might well have come dangerously close to killing the whole series before it even got a chance to really start.
Well, it could’ve, if you treat it as canon andnotsome kind of hallucination or fever dreamLuke had after drinking too much green milk or something. Everyone here knows they’re in something awful, though Harrison Ford elevates the whole not wanting to be there thing to an entirely new level. It looks like he’s screaming internally for every second he’s on-screen, which might be funny or kind of sad to watch, depending on your point of view.
The Star Wars Holiday Special
1’Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker' (2019)
Directed by J.J. Abrams
Just asThe Star Wars Holiday Specialcould be disqualified from a ranking like this for being a TV movie, maybeStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalkershould also be disqualified, since Harrison Ford’s role in it is ultimately small, and limited to one scene. Also, for as terrible as the movie is, that scene with a surprise return of sorts for Han Solo is not as bad as most other scenes. Also also,The Rise of Skywalkeris probably stronger on a technical front thanThe Star Wars Holiday Special, admittedly.
But this is spite. This is not rational.The Rise of Skywalkerhasalready been kicked over enough, and this is kicking in when it’s already down, but it feels good. The kicking started years ago. The kicking will not stop.The kicking will not be televised. That’s all.
