No one expects Shakespeare from a Transformers movie. We all innately understand that a sequel to an already mediocre film will probably be bad; it will certainly not be a candidate for cinematic immortality. (At least not the good kind.) As the lights go down and the credits start to roll, we set our expectations accordingly.

As bad as a Transformers sequel might be (and very often is), those kinds of projects are never as disappointing as a bad sequel to a great movie. There really might not be a more infuriating experience in the world of cinema than a truly terrible sequel to a truly epic film. Not only is it a waste of time, money, potential, and creative energy, it retroactively diminishes a little bit of what that earlier picture special. Sometimes it even makes you second-guess your opinion about the previous movie. Was it really that good if it led to something this unholy awful?

Case in point: The 15 titles on the list below, all abysmal films that were inspired by absolute classics. They are ranked from least repulsive to the most putrid, taking into consideration not only the overall quality of the sequel, but also the widest gap between original masterpiece and dismal disasterpiece. Again, The Concorde… Airport ’79 was pretty awful, but when the bar for this property was set by the first Airport, it doesn’t feel that wildly of place. (Probably most of you haven’t seen any of the Airport movies, so just trust me on this one. They’re all pretty crummy.)

See if you agree with our picks below…

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