Quintet is a film directed by Robert Altman that’s based in the future after an ice age hits the earth. Quintet is considered one of the worst films of all times by many critics and viewers alike. The film follows a man named Essex who ventures back to the city his brother lives in with his pregnant wife. It all starts off well with a warm welcome but when he leaves for firewood his brother, wife and everyone else in the residence are killed by an explosion. As Essex searches for the purpose of his brother’s death he finds it’s because of the game “Quintet” that almost everyone plays either as a pastime or to gamble. The game is so influential that there are “tournaments” that involve a list of names where people compete to kill each other, mimicking the game of Quintet. In the game there is a total of six players but in the beginning one gets set out to decide the order of “killing” between players and is called the judge. In these tournaments the judge is the man who runs a casino and always gives names out but never plays himself. He claims that the game is all that people have left and when asked what the reward is he stats “the thrill of coming so close to death and living” and saying it’s gives life purpose.

The main discussion that critics have about the film is that it is awful and should not have been made. Many talk about how it pains them to watch and think about the film, just as Filmsnobs says, “Just thinking about it makes me think that I’m insane. And it’s worse than it sounds.” They continue to talk about all of the mechanics of the film and how poorly executed they are. With many opinions of negativity there is still one, Hamish Ford, who says, “Altman’s much discussed and influential style is worthy of ongoing sustained attention when it comes to both image and sound.” Ford defends Altman with this statement by putting out that he had good ideas that just may not have had the follow through they needed in order to be successful.

With all of the hate towards Quintet and the claim that it is the worst film ever, I was expecting a lot less from the film. While watching I was able to appreciate some aspects of the film and how everything was interconnected by the game of Quintet, and how it was almost a philosophy for some rather than a game. I can see why many people would say that it is horrible, between the Vaseline on the lenses to add the frosted over look, to having dogs almost everywhere consuming corpses, and finally saying that the city has five million people but seeing no more that twenty in an area really throws off the viewer of how many people are truly in this city. However, these flaws aren’t movie breaking considering that the plot is actually thought out but not played through in the best manner. The viewer has to pay a rather decent amount of attention to all of the little things that people talk about because the plot becomes apparent that it is about the game with the title of the film along with when they play they talk about the “kill order” decided by the judge. It only becomes a little convoluted when St. Christopher talks about the five stages of live but how there is a sixth all in reference to the game of Quintet and it’s 5 sides and 6 man the judge. To say that the film is the worst ever is wrong, but rather a film that had potential but was made in a poor manner.