Harrison Ford’s 10 worst movies of all time

‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’ (Steven Spielberg, 2008)

Despite The Last Crusade literally ending with the title hero riding off into the sunset, spending almost 20 years in development hell did nothing to dampen Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, and Ford’s enthusiasm to get another Indiana Jones adventure off the ground. When they eventually did, it would be an understatement to suggest that Kingdom of the Crystal Skull proved mighty polarizing.

While the franchise was obligated to move with the times and evolve in order to remain relevant, the original trilogy’s focus on tangible set pieces and practical effects was sacrificed in the name of questionably rendered gophers, armies of ants, visitors from outer space, and Shia LaBeouf swinging from vines. Needless to say, even mentioning Indy’s fourth outing out loud remains more than enough to generate responses that range from the defensive to the distraught a decade and a half on.

‘Extraordinary Measures’ (Tom Vaughn, 2010)

Ford’s undeniable star power, screen presence and natural charisma has often seen his merits as a dramatic actor go unheralded, and he does the best he can with Tom Vaughn’s overwrought and cloying medical drama as eccentric boundary-pushing scientist Robert Stonehill.

Even with Brendan Fraser proving a more than capable sparring partner as the career-driven businessman shaken to his core by the revelation his two youngest children have been stricken with a fatal affliction, the battle of underdogs versus corporate America in an effort to try and save their lives comes across as overly heavily-handed and borderline emotionally manipulative.

‘The Possessed’ (John Sacret Young, 1977)

Many people probably don’t realise that Star Wars wasn’t Ford’s only credit in 1977, although it’s easy to see why the made-for-television movie The Possessed was largely forgotten in the wake of his star-making performance as Han Solo in George Lucas’ cultural phenomenon.

Ford lends support as teacher Paul Winjam in a ridiculous supernatural horror that sees a priest-turned-exorcist plunged into a battle against Satanic forces with their eye on taking over an all-girls high school. Evidently made to capitalise on the success of The Exorcist several years prior, the actor, fortunately, isn’t forced to shoulder the burden as the third-billed member of the ensemble.

‘Cowboys & Aliens’ (Jon Favreau, 2011)

The entirely self-explanatory blockbuster was marketed as a high-concept delight, one that effectively sold itself on the premise of Iron Man director Jon Favreau following up the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s game-changing first instalment with a big-budget fantasy that paired up James Bond and Indiana Jones to battle intergalactic adversaries in the Old West.

Based on the title alone – never mind an esteemed supporting cast that also numbered Paul Dano, Sam Rockwell, Olivia Wilde, Clancy Brown, Walton Goggins, and many more besides – Cowboys & Aliens seemed destined to deliver big, dumb fun of the highest order. Instead, the lukewarm end result was a critical dud and box office disappointment that proved to be exponentially less than the sum of its esteemed parts.

‘Six Days, Seven Nights’ (Ivan Reitman, 1998)

Ford may have generated strong chemistry with co-star Anne Heche in Ghostbusters director Ivan Reitman’s old-fashioned adventure that found the latter’s magazine editor stranded on a deserted island with the former’s curmudgeonly pilot, but the formulaic romantically-tinged and comedically-inclined movie was found lacking in almost every other area.

Predictable to a fault, there are no surprises to be found as the bickering odd couple slowly find themselves developing feelings for each other in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds, with the sun-kissed rom-com with action and thriller elements unable to elevate itself above mediocrity despite the best efforts of its two leads.

‘Hollywood Homicide’ (Ron Shelton, 2003)

Having been positioned as Hollywood’s next major star-in-waiting, partnering up with a certifiable icon for an action-packed romp was always on the cards for Josh Hartnett’s rise at the turn of the 21st century. Unfortunately, the lacklustre quality of Hollywood Homicide was the least of his concerns when he was paired with Ford as a rookie cop and grizzled veteran tasked to solve the murder of a music mogul.

The two famously failed to get along during filming, with Hartnett going so far as to describe his opposite number as “the bane of my existence”. Naturally, their thinly veiled disdain for each other shone through on screen, with the forgettable frolic through Tinseltown’s seedy underbelly failing to catch fire among either critics or crowds.

It’s not the first time Ford has failed to connect with a Hollywood heartthrob. He famously struggled to find common ground with Brad Pitt for a movie that can also be considered one of Ford’s worst, The Devil’s Own, but at least that picture had the star power to back up the flimsy script.

‘Crossing Over’ (Wayne Kramer, 2009)

Wayne Kramer’s The Cooler and Running Scared has done a stellar job of raising his profile as one of the hard-boiled crime thriller’s most exciting new voices, so expectations were naturally high when he recruited Ford, Ray Liotta, Ashley Judd, and Cliff Curtis among others for his third directorial effort Crossing Over.

Ford’s immigration enforcement officer, Max Brogan, spends his days seeing the struggle of those attempting to cross the border into the United States, with the narrative taking a non-linear approach as it intertwines the stories of its significant players that stretch the limits of plausibility. Packed with coincidences that shatter credulity and far too on-the-nose with its messaging, Crossing Over aimed for Traffic but wound up as Crash instead.

A particularly poignant movie in 2025, the movie could have been a deeply poignant movie, but it fails to deliver on the sentiment. What could have been so good became a truly awkward encounter, which loses everything it promises in the first few minutes of action.

‘Firewall’ (Richard Loncraine, 2006)

Intense, nail-biting thrillers are an arena in which Ford has excelled over the years, but any sense of excitement or propulsion was found almost completely absent when the twist-heavy and increasingly preposterous Firewall tied itself in knots in 2006.

Paul Bettany gives solid scenery-chewing as the latest antagonist to enter the “Kidnapping Harrison Ford’s Family Is a Bad Idea” subgenre, with the leading man’s security expert-driven to ludicrous lengths in order to try and save his wife and children. Taking itself too seriously to be a guilty pleasure and nowhere near self-aware enough to embrace its own convolution, Firewall instead fizzles out in a hail of cliché.

Internet-based movies were becoming more and more prevalent at the time, yet somehow this movie felt out of touch by the time it was released. Hacker movies are, by and large, terrible, but this one might take the win for worst ever.

‘Random Hearts’ (Sydney Pollack, 1999)

Another substandard romance predicated on a plane crash in a bizarre recurring theme of Ford’s most notable failures, Random Hearts focuses on the connection between his military officer and Kristin Scott Thomas’ politician in the aftermath of an aerial disaster that killed their respective spouses.

The twist is that his wife and her husband were on course to meet at the same address, travelling under spousal secrecy, forcing the investigation to probe into their personal and professional lives in order to unravel a leadenly-paced and navel-gazing mystery that fails to come anywhere close to making the most of its intriguing premise.

The usually wonderful Scott Thomas is probably the best thing about the movie but as it falls down from courtroom thriller into schlocky romance, the validity of the premise feels worse and worse. Infidieltiy can make a tasty subject for a movie, but in this case, it tastes of white bread without the butter.

‘Paranoia’ (Robert Luketic, 2013)

Pitting Ford opposite Gary Oldman in a legal thriller reads as a recipe for something that’s at the very least watchable, but a critical drubbing and dismal performance at the box office made it abundantly clear that Paranoia is anything but.

The two heavyweights are admittedly relegated to supporting roles, with Liam Hemsworth anchoring the story as a tech employee cajoled by Oldman’s boss to indulge in corporate espionage at the expense of Ford’s rival. The two veterans never give off the impression that they’re showing up for any other reason than an easy payday, though, while the youngest Hemsworth struggles with an undercooked script and unoriginal plotting in a formulaic hybrid of techno, business, and legal thriller that would have felt outdated even during the subgenre’s 1990s heyday in mainstream Hollywood.

Another tech movie. Ford should have learned his lesson and, despite a more than admirable performance from Oldman, this legal thriller is only memorable for its vision of Ford without the hair. Awkward and ugly in equal measure, the movie loses its slick sense of self within a few minutes as the script twists into an escape plot.