Going Overboard (1989) User Reviews

Worst. Movie. Ever.

[jeraden · 1/10 · 8 March 2006]

I saw this movie about 5 years ago, and the memory of it still haunts me to this day. I was fully aware at how awful it was supposed to be going into it, so I have only myself to blame. But like most, I didn't believe all the negativity. Being a Sandler fan, it just seemed inconceivable one of his movies could really be that bad. I figured it was just Sandler haters. I couldn't have been more wrong.

What we have here is a comedy that does not contain even 1 second of anything funny. That is actually quite an accomplish. You'd think in a 90 minute comedy, they might have accidentally stumbled upon something even remotely amusing. But no, it's just horrible. It's not "so bad it's good", its just bad. You cannot laugh at how bad it is, you can only cry. You wait patiently for a joke that will at least make you chuckle, but they never come.

Have you seen the movie The Ring? Where the people watch a video tape and die 7 days later? If this movie was on the video tape, people would die instantly, by their own hand, and there would be smile on their face as they realize their agony has ended, and that would be the first smile since they pressed play.

You might be inclined to watch it just to see how bad it is, unable to curb your curiosity. Don't. Please don't. Trust me, I'm doing you a favor. There are 2 types of people in the world, those that think Going Overboard is the worst movie ever made, and those that have not yet seen it.

Yes it really IS that bad!

[loz-1 · 2/10 · 14 April 2003]

Having decided some time ago to collect the films of Billy Bob Thornton (on the strength of class movies like "Sling Blade", "A Simple Plan" and "The Man Who Wasn't There" amongst others), it was inevitable that there would be the odd turkey in there. What I didn't realise however, was that there could be one THIS bad. I'll give you an idea how incredibly poor this film is - the funniest dialogue in it goes like this: "Knock Knock", "Who's there?", "The big stinking man", "The big stinking man who?", "The big stinking man - is YOU!". Yes folks, it really is that bad. Billy Bob is only in it for about two minutes (I guess he needed the work at that time in his career), and the rest of the movie is painful. For some reason though, although it's undeniably awful, I don't hate it. That's probably because I save my ire for any high budget, special effects laden junk like "The Fast and the Furious" and not a "no-budget" flick like this one. 2/10 at a push.

I wanted to punch the TV

[dmj_incorporated-1 · 1/10 · 3 January 2005]

I wanted to punch the TV. Watching it was torture. I hated it. Never watch this movie. The terrorists are annoying. Adam Sandler is annoying. I normally like him but not in this one. I wanted to break the DVD. This is the most irritating film in the world. The comedian he's jealous of is obnoxious. The only remotely funny part is the rocker with the black teeth getting all the girls. It was so irritating I wanted to punch the TV. DO NOT BUY THIS MOVIE UNLESS YOU WANT TO ANNOY SOMEONE. If you even like Adam Sandler a little bit, Don't buy it. It will just make you hate him. Do yourself a favor, if you see it in the store, hide it to put everyone out of danger of buying it. Its a waste of the $1.99 I paid for it.

Couldn't possibly be any worse

[longlox · 1/10 · 20 January 2007]

A friend of mine bought this film for £1, and even then it was grossly overpriced. Despite featuring big names such as Adam Sandler, Billy Bob Thornton and the incredibly talented Burt Young, this film was about as funny as taking a chisel and hammering it straight through your earhole. It uses tired, bottom of the barrel comedic techniques - consistently breaking the fourth wall as Sandler talks to the audience, and seemingly pointless montages of 'hot girls'.

Adam Sandler plays a waiter on a cruise ship who wants to make it as a successful comedian in order to become successful with women. When the ship's resident comedian - the shamelessly named 'Dickie' due to his unfathomable success with the opposite gender - is presumed lost at sea, Sandler's character Shecker gets his big break. Dickie is not dead, he's rather locked in the bathroom, presumably sea sick.

Perhaps from his mouth he just vomited the worst film of all time.

Wow! This was really bad!

[adidasraver · 1/10 · 13 October 2003]

I will start this off by saying I couldn't get all the way through it. I picked it up on a rainy day from WalMart like the rest of the reviewers on this site. I figured there wasn't any way I would regret my purchase. Was I wrong or what? Seriously now, who approved this project? They need to be forced to watch this movie over and over until the end of eternity. That's the only fitting punishment I can think of for releasing something this bad. The shooting reminds me of the movies I used to make for class projects on a big old VHS cam. The acting isnt much better. I think the only difference is that there are a few cool cameos. Yay, who cares... Shecky Moskowitz is unfunny, and the ships comedian is an even bigger loser. That's about as much of the plot as I understood.

Overall it's the worst movie I've ever seen. I own it on DVD and have given it to many co-workers to watch. Each comes back and laughs and says "Wow I didnt think I'd ever say I shut off an Adam Sandler movie 15 minutes in...."

My response is always "Well now you can"

Distributing this film should be a bootable offence...

[k2thab · 1/10 · 9 June 2003]

I can say without a shadow of a doubt that Going Overboard is the single worst film i have ever seen, and yes, I have seen Cujo. Adam Sandler is an abomination as Schecky Moskowitz, a wannabe comedian working on a cruise liner. That's the plot.

That's it! Nothing else in the film makes sense, it's all over the place like a mad man's breakfast, and not in a wacky naked gun kind of way, but more of a frustrating, 'throw both shoes at the t.v' kind of way. even General Noriega makes an appearance, for no reason i can comprehend (it certainly wasn't for humour). Add to the mix Miss Australia, who has the worst Australian Accent i've ever heared, and you have something which i won't call the worst film ever made, because Going overboard doesn't even fit the basic definition of a film. I highly recomend seeing this film, as it will elevate the standing of every bad film you ever see. I guarantee the first thing you'll say after seeing a bad film will be "at least it wasn't as bad as Going Overboard".

If you hate Adam Sandler, you'll hate this movie. If you love Adam Sandler...you'll still hate this movie.

[mattymatt4ever · 3/10 · 31 May 2001]

Even if you're a huge Sandler fan, please don't bother with this extremely disappointing comedy! I bought this movie for $7.99, assuming it has to be at least halfway decent since my man Sandler is in it and because I assumed some women would get naked (judging by the R-rating and scantily-clad women on the cover). Well, there are quite a few scantily-clad women, but none get naked. I'm not sure what point this was in Sandler's career, but I'm guessing it was even before his SNL days. I can be wrong. This is like watching one of his home movies. He might look back at a cheesy movie like this and reminisce about the good ol' times...but we (the audience) are left to dry. This is hardly a "movie"! Sandler does a lot of talking to the camera, and even admits at one point that this is "no-budget" movie (that's right, not a low-budget movie, a NO-budget movie). So our job is pretty much to laugh AT the quirky characters. There is no steady plot, it's like an extended sketch comedy show--but a crude and badly written one. That guy who played the nasty comedian was completely annoying and it was implausible in the first place that he would receive such a mass audience. And Sandler finds his comic inspiration by saying the one classic Henny Youngman line "Take my wife, please" and the audience is on the floor? I'm not even going to TRY to make any logic here. Sure, Sandler's current and recent movies are not known for making a lot of sense (the penguin in "Billy Madison," the midget in "Happy Gilmore's" Happy Place) but the comedy works. This is a strictly amateurish work, and even if you're curious about Adam's early days in film--you still won't be interested. You're better off checking out his start on SNL or maybe his underrated role in "Mixed Nuts." Of course, the Sandman is not the only actor wasted in this thankless vehicle. Billy Bob Thornton also makes a short appearance, Billy Zane ("Titanic") has a supporting role and the great Burt Young (from the "Rocky" movies) has a significant role.

This awful comedy will most probably be collecting dust on the 99-cent rental section of your local video store--and rightfully so.

My score: 3 (out of 10)

A no budget and unfunny film that looks horrible.

[TOMNEL · 1/10 · 18 July 2006]

With Adam Sandler.

This is without a doubt one of the most idiotic films ever made. It's about cruise ship waiter Shecky (Sandler) wanting to be a comedian on the cruise ship. First off, there is not one funny or clever line in the entire movie honestly. It is so unfunny it's pathetic. There is surprisingly not much crude or sexual humor, but the f-word is plentiful. The budget is really low, and that also ruins the film. It takes place on a cruise ship, but it seems they only had money to rent out a small boat and only had money for 10 ship extras, one of which is Billy Bob Thornton. The opening credits are animated reeeeeaally cheaply, and it is just pathetic. I hate this movie and everyone else that sees this will hate it too.

86 mins. rated R for Language.

One of the biggest disaster's of the 80's

[HarlenPepper · 30 July 2002]

0 Stars Out of ****

Going Overboard is one of the worst films I have ever seen. Not only because of the p***-poor camera work and the god-awful acting, but because there is no script. Take for istance, a scene where the ships comedian, Croaker, get's back from lunch. Atleast 20 minutes is spent on him wondering around the ship yelling "What the hell did I eat? Holy god, I think I gotta vomit."

I'm not that big an Adam Sandler fan, and even if I was, I still wouldn't like this. I actualy started to feel sorry for him when I was watching this. The whole cast probaly had to convince themselves that they were making comedic gold. Because if they knew what they were doing, they would have abonned ship.

My grandmother could make a better movie. And she's dead.

A parallel of Sandler's early comedic style

[TartarBat · 1/10 · 2 March 2000]

This early Adam Sandler film could be compared to his life as a comic during the same period in 1989. His character's constant acknowledgement of his hidden comic genius and frustration regarding humorous material seems to come more from Sandler than the script. The film is nothing compared to his blockbuster feature films, such as Big Daddy or even the corny Billy Maddison. Unfortunately, Sandler had not yet found a way to express himself in a consistent, successful and funny manner when this film was made, much like his character. The majority of the film's "jokes" come from Sandler having conversations with himself, usually over his unrecognised comic talent and beating himself up because he's too ugly and can't get women. The film is hard to watch too because it doesn't treat itself like a real film. Sandler talks to the camera and the viewers throughout the film, often referring to the film's low budget or questionable content. The film is ultimately awkward and embarrassing to watch. I immediately wanted to forget I even saw this film after it was over, for fear that if more found out about it, it would ruin Sandler's career. Pass this one up at the video store, I rented it for free and it was still a waste of time.

Paid 10 cents for this movie at a yard sale----I want my money back!

[kfo9494 · 1/10 · 28 January 2014]

I was unaware of this movie when I came across this in VHS format at a yard sale in my area. I saw the young face of Adam Sandler and thought that this my be a lost gem from his early days. In fact it was more like a rock than a gem.

This is a story of gibberish that was so boring that you could not keep up with what was happening on the screen. The situation was utterly ridiculous and the lines were so unfunny I actually felt sad for the actors. Perhaps it was my VCR that made the picture of the film look sloppy but it seemed like it was filmed as a high school project rather than by professional adults.

I was glad when I saw the review of others that I was not alone in panning this film. And with all that said, I still feel cheated out of 10 cents.

great flick

[mruffino-1 · 10/10 · 10 September 2006]

I joined IMDb, solely to comment on this movie, I was sick of reading reviews that bad mouthed this classic. After seeing this movie once, OK, I can see why some people might think its bad. But take it for what it is, they know they have 'no budget' and treat it as such. cameos are excellent dicky diamond is awesome as an obnoxious and perverted comic, sheckys co worker is also hilarious. not to mention spots from burt young and billy zane, the guy who plays the grimy rock star kills it in his role. so many one liners . this is far and away sandlers best film hopefully in the future , this film will receive the credit it deserves and establish itself amongst other cult classics.

I'm not saying this as an Adam Sandler fan, because I'm not.

[willman85 · 7/10 · 19 July 2020]

I know I'm in the minority here, but I didn't hate this movie. It's by no means a great movie, but it's watchable. I didn't find it tedious and a bore to get through. It was dumb and unfunny but I felt intrigued enough by the setting and story and characters to want to see it through to the end. I don't disagree with many of the criticisms this film gets - but I don't think it's as bad and devoid of merit as it's caricatured and regarded to be. The setting of a cruise ship is always alluring and glamorous and seductive and pleasing to the eye - as are the girls. True, more (i.e. something) could have been done with the Miss Universe beauty pageant sideplot; not least because Adam Sandler as an aspiring comedian isn't very interesting ... or even convincing. As a protagonist he doesn't win my sympathy at all (he's just as unfunny and undeserving of stage time as the antagonist comic he replaces). Nonetheless, at least the movie HAS a plot, as stupid and uninspired and bare-bones as it is.

This movie just plain sucked ass...

[Asp333 · 1/10 · 30 June 2005]

I am a HUGE Adam Sandler fan, and one day I was looking at the Cast&Crew selection on one of his DVD's and saw 'Going Overboard' and decided to go out and rent it. So I went out with a few buddies of mine and rented it. We put it on and we were shocked to see an Adam Sandler that didn't hit puberty yet, he looks as if he was 12 when this movie came out. I couldn't even watch 30 minutes of this crap, I didn't laugh, chuckle, or even smirk at this movie, actually the only time I smirked was when I saw how horrid this movie was. I could not believe how hard he tried to make the viewers laugh in this movie...and it didn't work once. Although from seeing the horribly awful camera angles and hearing the disgusting script I realized why I had never heard of this movie,...because it sucks more than anything has ever sucked before. This movie, in my opinion, was the WORST movie EVER made,....EVER!

Going bored

[pastanley · 1/10 · 20 October 2005]

This movie was so bad I couldn't sit through it without doing something else. There was no plot and no point. I was thoroughly bored and for a film about a stand up comedian, I couldn't recall one joke or funny line worthy of the description. Politicians with no charisma speaking technical jargon could not be less entertaining.

So how was this made? Is there no quality control in film? Watching the girls in bikinis was the only distraction during this horrible experience.

It's hard to imagine that Adam Sandler who has become popular and has appeared in fine comedies was able to survive after this kind of exposure. He was not funny in the least in this movie so it proves that the writing is so vital in effective comedy.

Wow...this is painfully unfunny and tedious.

[planktonrules · 1/10 · 3 November 2009]

Considering that Adam Sandler was young and inexperienced, I guess you can't fault him too much for appearing in this terrible film. The amazing thing, however, is that this didn't kill his career once and for all! Why is this film so bad? Well, the biggest problem is that it's supposed to be a comedy but it's amazingly unfunny. The story is about a guy who wants to be a stand-up comedian and features a supposedly professional comic in the film as well--yet there wasn't a single funny line in the film. It was as if they'd asked Mr. Spock or a robot to write the jokes. Additionally, the rest of the film is written so very poorly that there really isn't anything to recommend the story...nothing.

The film is set on a somewhat dilapidated cruise ship. Adam Sandler is a lowly waiter and puts up with lots of abuse from everyone. Frankly, no one is this mistreated on any job and it's hard to find anyone who is a bigger loser than this character. He's just so pathetic that it makes you cringe. At the same time, he looks up to a comic on board the ship that has less charisma and charm than any undertaker! The guy is so obnoxious and untalented that you are left wondering if this guy could get a real job on this planet or only in bad films like this. The answer is actually pretty obvious. I was surprised at this character, actually, as I don't think I've ever heard a character from the 1980s that curses and much or as colorfully as this guy...and yet we are expected to believe he actually gets paid to talk?! As for the rest of the cast, it's mostly a bunch of beauty pageant contestants, though you wonder WHAT sort of pageant this is. That's because some sport sashes that have the names of states or cities and some have sashes with names of countries--but often the women have no accent and look like they can't even spell the names of the countries, let alone having come from there. The best example is the blonde lady who has a typical American accent...and she's Miss Jamaica!? Additionally, the ladies have no charisma or personalities--they are just eye candy--just bodies to jiggle past the screen.

So, we have semi-sexy beauty queens and comedians who are about as funny as hemorrhoids--this is NOT a recipe for a good film! About the only thing even halfway likable is Sandler. He's unfunny but seems like a nice young man...a horribly stereotypically Jewish young man saddled with the awful name "Shecky Moskowitz". Wow, that was subtle!! The only other positive thing I can say about this film is that it makes you forget some of Sandler's other bombs, such as LITTLE NICKY. Oh, and if you are wondering, I did really enjoy many of his films (such as REIGN ON ME, WATERBOY and THE WEDDING SINGER). I just marvel, however, at how indiscriminate he is in his choices of film projects.

Giving a film a 1, for me, is reserved for films such as those of Hershell Gordon Lewis, Ed Wood, Al Adamson, Ted Mikels and the like. I don't give this score out routinely but I do think this film also deserves this score, as it is unlikable, cheap and stupid from start to finish and it's obvious why this film is currently ranked within the 100 worst films of all time on IMDb.

Not worth it.

[rsimmerm · 1/10 · 7 February 2006]

I stole this movie when I was a freshmen in college. I've tried to watch it three times, the second two because friends wanted to see it. "Sweet, Adam Sandler, I've never heard of this movie, but since he's so funny its gotta be funny." Wrong! I can't make myself watch this pile of crap after the dream boxing match/insult war, where burning the guy with a good zinger causes your opponent physical pain. You would think that terrible comedy hurting you is ridiculous, but after watching this you'll know its true. This movie isn't worth the price I paid for it. I've watched a ton of Steven segal movies, and I've even watched Crossroads twice... but I still couldn't watch this.

Please no, no, no, no, no, no

[rancidswan · 28 April 2003]

Warning, this review contains spoilers of the plot - Actually it doesn't contain any such information, as there is nothing which could possibly spoil this film more than the makers already have done.

This film looks like its been filmed on Video8, and doesn't contain any plot/story/humor - it may well be the very worst film I have ever seen [although I'm not sure watching 5 minutes, having a cry and then turning it off constitutes a 'watching']

Instead of watching the film, I'd like to make some suggestions of what you might like to do instead which would be more fun. A) Set fire to yourself B) Remove your fingernails with pliers C) Climb into the gears of some working plant machinery

That is all

We use this film to test the resolve of our staff

[valisk · 1/10 · 23 September 2006]

Shecky, is a god damned legend, make no mistake. Until recently I worked for a UK HiFi & Video retail chain, running their testing department. We would go through many new starters, they would be expected to to learn how to fault find the various detritus that returns as non functional in one way or another from the stores. Now to tortu^^^^^ test the resolve of these new staff members, we would issue them with a copy of Going Overboard. We had hundreds of copies of this film because whenever someone who had bought a particular model of Goodmans DVD player that had this film as a free gift, got round to sending their DVD player back, they never failed to send Shecky back also. Our new staff would be forced to use only Going Overboard to test these machines for faults until they had found a disc or two of their own to test with.

Now, as to why this film is so bad, where do I begin?

Adam Sandler, who can be so, so very funny, as in Happy Gilmore, or the Wedding Singer, must have been having one hell of an off day. The rest of the crew stank, and what is it with Billy Zane? His name crops up in several of the worst movies of all time, and he is a decent actor. Crazy. The production quality is absolute zero.

I would have been inclined to give this a zero if I could, because they didn't even have the guts to call it by it's full name 'The Unsinkable Shecky Moskowitz' on release. Even so it is worth a watch so you can see just how far Sandler has come, and just how low he can go.

A particularly bad comment about a bad movie

[limbic69 · 1/10 · 12 October 2002]

Well, It is a very rare night that I do not finish watching a movie that I set out to watch. This movie is so bad that I could not bring myself to watch all of it. No sane person or more importantly any movie watcher with any taste will even remotely find this movie either likable or watchable. I like many others think Adam Sandler is a great actor at times but inspiration for this movie must have come from deep down in a his bowels rather than his brain. Everything about this movie is bad, from the moment that the viewer sets eyes on it to the moment 30 minutes later that a person is pleading with another family member to put them out of their misery!! If you even think of getting this movie out do the world a favour and donate the cost of the rental to the red cross as you would be going the movie world a true injustice should you support this movie in any form what so ever, o how I wish I had been warned earlier.

Truly, TRULY, AWFUL

[shellemk · 1/10 · 25 May 2003]

I really wish I'd read all these comments before buying this film, but it was a spur of the moment choice. My husband and I enjoy Adam Sandler films so I thought (erroneously) that I couldn't go far wrong with this one, especially as it included Billy Zane and Billy Bob Thornton. I didn't pay much, but it was still too much. We cringed almost all the way through it, all the time thinking "this HAS to get better". It didn't and we'll never get that time back. Please, if you manage to read most of these user comments before buying, do not waste your money or your time on this poor excuse for a film.

Why can't I put a rating of 0...

[heckchri · 1/10 · 2 April 2005]

Worst mistake of my life.

I picked this movie up at Target for $5 because I figured, "Hey, it's Sandler I can get some cheap laughs". I was wrong, completely wrong. Mid-way through the film all three of my friends were asleep and I was still suffering. Worst plot, Worst script, Worst movie I have ever seen. I wanted to hit my head up against a wall for an hour, then I'd stop, and you know why? Because it felt damn good. Upon bashing my head in i stuck that damn movie in the microwave and watched it burn....and that felt better than anything else I've ever done. It took American Psycho, Army of Darkness, and Kill Bill just to get over that crap. I HATE YOU SANDLER FOR ACTUALLY GOING THROUGH WITH THIS AND RUINING A WHOLE DAY OF MY LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hideous. I loved it.

[justin_trevor_lawrence · 10/10 · 8 December 2010]

I remember when I was younger, I could go to the movies, sit down, and say to myself afterward, how in the world did they screw that movie up so badly? That was part of the fun. It takes imagination to seriously destroy a movie. Now everything is a multi-million dollar production, actions stars have learned how to fly, and the line between animation and film has blurred to the point of non-existence. I really wish I could go to the movies and watch ones like this. My children will probably never understand the thrill of low budget cinema. And as far as low budget films go, this one has Adam Sandler, Billy Zane, and Billy Bob Thorton. And they are funny.

Adam Sandler is a cruise ship waiter fishing for laughs sadly he didn't catch any

[mellywoodsmansion · 6/10 · 6 September 2021]

Do you want to comedy telling you all about 1989 and going overboard of the movie for you I think I like this movie it's so weird nonsensical and off the walls that it's strangely kind of works It's not not terrible It isn't as bad as people say it's the really bad I don't know why anyone would give this a positive review the only good part of this movie is the weird guy dressed up as Poseidon overall it's not a bad movie but definitely not a good movie is it just meh.

Couldn't Make It Through 15 Minutes

[Derekwhite9999 · 1/10 · 2 August 2005]

This HAS to be the worst movie I've ever attempted to watch. In the first 15 minutes, there wasn't anything to keep my interest in this movie. I was on vacation at the time, and had plenty of time to devote to a just-for-the-fun-of-it movie. The condo we were staying in had this movie in stock -- they must have got it from the $1 store or something.

If you like Adam Sandler, this is nothing like any other movie he's made. This started with a bad premise and then just got worse. There's nothing even remotely funny in it.

I've watched a lot of movies, including some I didn't care for. But if you decide to waste your time on this movie, don't say I didn't warn you.