Fiasco: A History of Hollywood's Iconic Flops

by James Robert Parish

Book Overview

In Fiasco, longtime industry insider and acclaimed Hollywood historian James Robert Parish goes behind the scenes to tell the stories of 15 of the most spectacular movie megaflops of the past 50 years, including Cleopatra, The Cotton Club, Shanghai Surprise, Last Action Hero, and Waterworld. He recounts, in every gory detail, how enormous hubris, unbridled ambition, artistic hauteur, and bad business sense on the parts of Tinsel Town wheeler-dealers...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0470098295
• ISBN13: 9780470098295
• Release Date: February 2007
• Publisher: Trade Paper Press
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.3" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Murdered: Who Killed 14 Films?

Ever wonder why some of those Hollywood extravaganzas touted in advance as "sure-fire hits" turn into abysmal flops? James Robert Parish's new book "Fiasco: A History of Hollywood's Iconic Flops" details why. Parish turns his keen eye and strong writing style on how over-paid, egotistical stars, meddling studio execs, directors whose vision has the opaque clarity of a tennis ball, and just plain "bad-timing" can sink a strongly anticipated film faster than the Titanic went down. In Fiasco, Parish has chosen fourteen Titanics to muse upon. Yes, Cleopatra, The Cotton Club, Ishtar and Battlefield Earth are included, along with some you may have missed, like The Wild Party - a thorough miss by the usually highly regarded Merchant-Ivory duo - and Shanghai Surprise, another Madonna film crucifixion, accompanied in her writhing agony by then-hubby Sean Penn. Don't misunderstand me; Parish words are written more in sorrow than in anger. He truly loves Hollywood, as his many other books attest. But Parish does not like the film colony's big messes, and he rakes all the partners in these fourteen disasters over the coals for their participation in foisting such abominations off on the public. Good for him! Parish is an excellent writer, and there are juicy tidbits in almost every sentence: lots of behind the scenes drama; warning signs ignored; egos stroked when they should have been squashed. Personally, I've seen all fourteen of these films and I already knew each one was a disaster. Some of them are legendary, so it was hard not to be aware of them. But I never knew the "back-story" on any of the films: exactly what made it mis-fire so badly. Viewing most of these films is like arriving at the scene of a murder; you can see the victim, but have no clue as to who committed the murder and what was the motive. Thanks to Parish's Fiasco, you not only discover the murderers - the slaughter of all of these films was assisted by more than one person, rest assured - you also understand their motives, which were misguided in all cases. Another excellent book by James Robert Parish. Fun to read; informative; well-written; and actually a bit sad, given that all the mistakes could have been so easily avoided.

The Price of Hubris

The great screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky once said, "You start out to make a great movie. Then you settle for a good movie. Then you just want to get it finished." That's what happened to almost every cinematic disaster chronicled in "Fiasco." James Robert Parish, who is known for his fine attention to detail, reveals the tortuous path taken by fifteen of Hollywood's iconic flops-from concept to crash landing. He reveals story after story of egos gone wild, scripts meddled with until they morphed into morass, money thrown haphazard into the rat holes of hopeless projects Parish knows his stuff, and his lively writing style makes for a fascinating read as he digs into the downward spiral of film after film, from "Cleopatra" to "The Postman." He tells the tale of how "Ishtar" became perhaps the most reviled film in Hollywood history (which could also be said about John Travolta's "Battlefield Earth,") how the nearly-pornographic "Showgirls" came to be an embarrassment to all who had anything to do with it, and how a real-life murder tainted "The Cotton Club." "Fiasco" is an engaging chronicle of Hollywood's runaway hubris. It should be required reading for anyone with aspirations to get into-or smart enough to stay out of the movie business.

A Must Read

James Robert Parish's FIASCO is a breezy, fact-filled look at some of Hollywood's biggest boxoffice flops over the past few decades. The reasons for the failure of these movies are many but essentially come down to super-sized egos be it producers, directors or stars. The book's timely publication is pertinent since 2005 was a year in which the most lauded movies were small budget wonders like Brokeback Mountain, Capote, and Good Night and Good Luck. Every movie lover should read it.

Detailing the Flops

Fifteen big buget movie failures are detailed in this well researched and entertaining volume. It covers the era after the collapse of the big studios and starts with CLEOPATRA in 1963 and closes with TOWN AND COUNTRY in 2001. Each film gets its own detailed chapter and there is also a filmography and a very interesting list of box-office disappointments between the years 1960-2004. This is a very good and informative book. I would have liked the author's view of HEAVEN'S GATE, although it has already been covered by others.

Everyone Loves a Fiasco

Is there anyone on earth who knows more about Hollywood - past and present - than James Robert Parish? Through dozens of books spanning more than three decades, Mr. Parish has recorded both the good and the bad of moviedom. Now, with Fiasco, he adds the ugly. Fifteen of the worst film disasters of the last fifty years (with an additional "worst of the worst" appendix briefly listing many more) . Films not only blatantly awful, but those - like "Cleopatra" - that quite deservedly brought down the high and mighty studio folk who made them. With his usual thorough and excellent research, Mr. Parish illustrates step-by-step how all fifteen of these monumental turkeys were conceived, developed, green lighted, and shot. He recounts the insufferable arrogance and ego that almost inevitably predicted such calamitous results. And because he does it with deft humor and incisive analysis - poking holes in the hot-air balloons of studio execs and stars - it's the most outrageously fun book I've read in a very long time. With not a few dollops of schaedenfreude. I can't wait for Fiasco 2, the Sequel.