The worst movie Michael Caine ever made: “It’s bad”

Posted On May 13, 2025May 13, 2025

Britain has produced some of the greatest actors of all time, with Michael Caine joining the ranks of such other stars as Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, Richard Burton, Laurence Olivier and Tilda Swinton. Caine, however, remains one of the most pertinent, having dominated British and American cinema for the majority of the 20th century, working with some of the industry’s greatest filmmakers in the process. 

To enjoy a truly great career in the acting world is to push yourself into doing uncomfortable things. For Caine, a working-class lad, that meant treading the boards and training himself in the craft of acting, then, once he’d gained some notoriety in England, jumping across the pond and trying his hand at cracking America.

While many old Hollywood icons tend to fade in popularity, Caine has done anything but, becoming an influential figure for many modern movie lovers, largely thanks to his regular collaborations with Christopher Nolan. Working with the director eight times since 2005, Caine is best known for his role as the butler Alfred from the Dark Knight trilogy, where he thrived alongside Christian Bale and Morgan Freeman. 

Yet, older audiences have long celebrated Caine for a variety of classic roles, from his Oscar-winning turn in the 1986 Woody Allen movie Hannah and Her Sisters to his mesmerising performance in the iconic British classic Educating Rita from 1983. Rising to fame throughout the 1960s, Caine has been a constant staple of British culture, elevating the performances of his young acting peers for generations.

While Caine’s career is comparatively clean, it certainly isn’t immaculate. The stains of some truly awful movies have found their way to tarnish his reputation, if only slightly. Despite his rightful status as one of the greatest actors of all time, however, Caine is as fallible as any other performer and isn’t shy to point out some of his worst movies. 

Back in 2007, during an interview with GQ, the actor admitted one of his few career potholes. “The worst movie I ever did was Jaws 4,” he told the publication, “I was only in it for five minutes, but it’s bad. But then again, I was in Hollywood and was asked to be in a movie by the man who had just done Towering Inferno with Steve McQueen and Paul Newman. How was I to know?”. 

To be a part of a franchise has changed in recent years. The domination of the Marvel Cinematic Universe meant joining such a fandom-driven spectacle was likely good for your career, but clearly tagging your name onto the list of the Jaws 4 cast wasn’t the way to go, and Caine clearly regretted taking on the picture.

Continuing, he added that he only chose to do the role as his former agent Dennis Selinger “said he wanted a new house and that was that”, with the actor never being afraid to admit that he takes on some movies for a simple paycheque. 

Widely thought to be the worst movie in the curious Jaws franchise, Jaws: The Revenge of 1987 is also the last in the series to date. Totally different from the smart, intense horror flick original that Steven Spielberg had released to critical acclaim back in 1975, The Revenge was a laughable follow-up which suggested that the titular shark had a personal vendetta against a particular family.

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