Sadly true. Although having given it a proper rewatch a year or two ago, I did find some aspects of the attempt rather endearing. It was still a clusterfuck, but you could tell that there was at least some earnest and honest effort given by some of the writers, cast, and even the visual effects department.

Unfortunately the studio was a bit too greedy while expecting more and immediate results than were reasonable given the scope of the story they were working with.