By Jonathan Klotz | Published 7 seconds ago Sci-fi fans have become used to disappointment. Some years, it can feel like every highly anticipated sci-fi movie falls right on its face, but no matter how you feel about the upcoming Avatar: Fire and Ash or the ambitious Mickey 17, 2025 doesn’t compare to the worst year for sci-fi blockbusters: 1998. It may have been a year of change for pop culture with the rise of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, dovetailing perfectly with MTV and a new wave of pop stars, but 1998is the year that gave us both Armageddon and Deep Impact, and that’s its high point. 1998’s Dueling Asteroid Movies Became Punchlines The two dueling meteor impact films were hits. Armageddon made over half a billion dollars at the box office, but even the most diehard defenders of each film will admit they aren’t great. Bruce Willis in 1998’s Armageddon By embracing its absurd premise of training oil workers ot be astronauts, Armageddon has become a bad movie podcast staple. Deep Impact is technically a better film, but it’s not as much fun, and made only a fraction of the box office and cultural impact of its Hollywood twin. Those two films, movies that have become punchlines, are among the best of 1998. 1998’s Sci-Fi Remakes Top Worst Ever Lists Outside of those two hits, 1998 was a year that also included two disastrous remakes: Mighty Joe Young and Godzilla . The 1998 Roland Emmerich Godzilla was a financial giant hit, earning over $370 million, but the catch is that it was front-loaded, with audiences dropping off fast each week as poor word of mouth spread. There’s debate today if it’s really Godzilla in the film, given the creature’s very different size, look, and clutch of raptor-inspired eggs left in Madison Square Garden. Matthew Broderick in 1998’s Godzilla Godzilla grabbed the headlines and remains at the top of every website’s “worst remake” listicles, which isn’t what studios want to hear, but at least it’s remembered. Disney’s Mighty Joe Young modernized the 1949 film about a gentle 15-foot-tall gorilla with Charlize Theron and Bill Paxton , but in a year filled with VFX blockbusters, the throwback film was forgotten. Except by Disney’s accountants, who noted that the film lost $50 million at the box office before marketing costs were added, making it a huge misfire during the studio’s hottest period. Even Star Trek And The X-Files Couldn’t Save 1998 Between dueling asteroid films and a pair of monster mash remakes, 1998’s headlining sci-fi films are remembered as some of the worst of all time, but even the lower-budget films failed to make an impression. Kurt Russell’s Soldier was such a generic sci-fi supersoldier film that not even Jason Isaacs’ manic villain could turn it into a cult classic. Sphere was a high-profile A-list disaster, and Lost in Space jettisoned everything that made the original series a hit. Patrick Stewart as Captain Picard in Star Trek: Insurrection Blockbusters and B-movies brought down the sci-fi genre in 1998, but don’t forget, this year also saw the arrival of The X-Files in theaters and the Star Trek : The Next Generation crew’s follow-up to First Contact. The X-Files was fantastic and tied into the upcoming season of the series, giving the show a new audience that helped carry it through even the lackluster final season. On the other hand, Star Trek: Insurrection was an extra-long episode of the show, which is either good or bad depending on your point of view, but it’s the equivalent of a filler episode. Related: Star Trek Just Killed Its Last Hope For a Successful New Movie The Best Sci-Fi Movie Of 1998 Was Ignored As you can tell, 1998 was chock full of sci-fi releases, especially compared to the tiny drizzle of genre films we’ve grown to expect in recent years. From blockbusters to television heading to the big screen, there was a lot to choose from, but the best of the year came from the most unexpected places. Dark City , a twisting sci-fi mystery caught in the shadow of The Matrix, a year later, but well worth your time to watch today, and The Faculty, a high-school alien invasion that’s a who’s who of 90s teen stars, prove that there’s always an audience for well-crafted original sci-fi. Find out how Dark City was overlooked and then revived by hitting play! 1998 is better than recent years with the sheer quantity of sci-fi films released, but there’s nothing that holds up to 2024’s Dune: Part Two or 2023’s Godzilla Minus One . In fact, most of the films are regarded as some of the worst (or best, if you enjoy bad movies) of all time, and they were all released during the same eight-month period. More sci-fi isn’t always better. Related Topics: Source: https://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/ent/scifi/worst-sci-fi-year.html