the worst film ever made is Demi Moore's version of The Scarlet Letter". Bustles Sadie Trombetta wrote that the film "has earned an almost permanent spot on every 'Worst Movie of All Time' list", while author Libby Fischer Hellmann noted that it is "widely cited as the worst film adaptation ever made". Film4 offered scant praise, calling it "dodgy but oddly entertaining". Based on 38 reviews collected by aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 13% approval rating, with an average score of 3.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "The Scarlet Letter strays far from its classic source material to tell a story that strains for steamy sensuality and leaves the audience red with unintentional laughter." In response to the criticism, and to the modified narrative, Moore said that the story the filmmakers were trying to tell differed out of necessity since the book "is very dense and not cinematic". She noted the original story might be better suited to a miniseries on television, and that the story presented in this film needed a different ending, one that did not lose "the ultimate message of Hester Prynne" that its makers were trying to convey. Asked by critic Peter Travers in 2011 to name the few films in his catalogue that he would take to a desert island, Oldman named The Scarlet Letter among his four choices. He conceded Travers's assertion that the film was "hammered" by reviewers, but argued, "There's some good work in there." See also List of films considered the worst The Scarlet Letter – the original novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne References Notes Citations External links San Francisco Chronicle review Reading Hawthorne in a gender-biased academy (refers to this film version) 1995 films 1995 romantic drama films American romantic drama films American Western (genre) films 1995 Western (genre) films Films directed by Roland Joffé Films based on The Scarlet Letter Films produced by Andrew G. Vajna Films shot in Nova Scotia Films shot in Vancouver Cinergi Pictures films Hollywood Pictures films Films scored by John Barry (composer) Films with screenplays by Douglas Day Stewart Golden Raspberry Award winning films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films