As we anticipate the movie event of the year, July 21’s Barbie/Oppenheimer showdown which will inevitably have us sporting a screen-accurate recreation of Margot Robbie’s cowgirl Barbie costume, its easy to forget a simple fact of cinema – not every theatrical experience is a good one.

Earlier this week, Redditor u/girlcalledmaria took to the platform with a bold inquiry, asking the patrons of r/AskReddit to recount the worst movies they saw in theaters.

“If you have ever walked out of a cinema because the film was so bad, what one was it?” 

The answer was a resounding yes, attracting tales of movie-theater woe spanning decades and generations.

“Oh, I remember vividly. It was Battlefield Earth,” reminisced u/Ahlq802. “The shot angles kept being tilted this way and that for no reason and I started tilting my head so that things would be level. Then my friend joined in. Then we simultaneously were like “Are we going to cramp our necks for THIS?” And walked out.”

In the case of u/holyshit-i-wanna-die, stepping out wasn’t exactly their choice.

“My parents took me and my sister to see a cool-looking superhero movie when we were kids. That movie was Watchmen,” they continued, of the film, which they later dubbed one of their “favorite movies.” “My parents pulled us out after the big blue penis scene.”

But it’s not just giant dicks that left patrons heading for the theater doors – for r/KMeech1969, one actor – namely, Amy Schumer – was enough to clear the theater.

“I guess this technically counts but when I went to see Deadpool 2, the cinema accidentally put the wrong film on and played some Amy Schumer film instead,” they wrote. “Everyone in the screen thought it was some meta Deadpool joke and out of nowhere he’d appear and shoot Amy Schumer so we were all waiting on that.”

Roughly 10 minutes later, the audience learned Deadpool would not be making a triumphant appearance.  

“The staff came into the screen and explained that they had put the wrong film on and couldn’t undo it because of their tight schedule etc but we would all get a refund and were welcome to stay and watch the rest of the Amy Schumer film,” they recalled. “Everyone left.”

Amid these tales of movie walkouts, one story of holding your ground stood out to us.

“In 2006 I was turning 14 and was obsessed with Pirates of the Caribbean. My mom threw a pirates-themed birthday party where my friends and I were meant to go to see Dead Man's Chest, which was still in theaters in August when the party was. We dressed up for it and everything,” recalled u/fraxiiinus.

Upon realizing the theater was full, they opted for the “next PG-13 rated movie available,” one that just so happened to be Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.

“So a gaggle of 14-year-old girls dressed as pirates walked into this theatre to a bunch of weird looks, but we sat down with our popcorn as normal,” they explained. “The next hour-and-a-half-ish saw the moms be horrified at the crass nature of the film and keep asking if we wanted to leave. The answer was a HELL NO from the whole group. That movie proceeded to be the basis of our inside jokes for the next 4 years. To this day it's one of our collective favorite grade school memories, even if my mother continues to be embarrassed by it.”