COMIC BOOK MOVIES

Hey there! This is my first thread on this site.
I'm hoping I'm not being redundant and posting a topic of a thread that already exists. (I didn't see one in a quick scan of the first couple pages of the General Movie Forums category.)

So here it is - a thread dedicated to what has become probably the single most popular and lucrative genre of films in recent times. And the irony is that Comic Book-based movies were relatively rare, considered risky in the film business, and / or virtually unheard of just a few decades ago.

So lets discuss your favorites, why you love (or despise) them, what makes a good or bad one, the history, etc.

(And any comic geeks like me who just want to talk about comics - movies or not - are certainly welcome).

Check this thread out. If you like comic book films.


Edit - Sorry every photo is of a cat...apparently.

I'm probably in the minority here, but my favorite superhero movie is still the 1978 version of Superman starring Christopher Reeve. Superman II was great too, but they should have stopped before making the third movie.

I also love The Avengers and the first Iron Man movie, and I'm one of the few people who liked the Fantastic Four movies.

And what about the Daredevil movie ?

I'm upset that they are rebooting the Fantastic Four (FF) movies. The FF movies were like reading the comic the way the Human Torch and the Thing went at it. I'm a comic book collector since 1973

Well, I love the first two Superman movies. They are the two that top my list of favorite superhero movies (with "Superman II" being number one on it).

__________________
I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity - Edgar Allan Poe

One of my favorites is the first two Blade movies.

Oh....and don't forget Constantine.

Hubby, I think they're rebooting The Fantastic Four films to appeal to a younger fan base. They've cast nothing but young people in the four leads. I don't like the way Hollywood thinks, but I guess if the movies hit it big, they won't have to worry about their cast getting old too fast.

I mean, have you seen the guy playing Reed Richards? It's Miles Teller, the baby-faced actor from the Divergent series of films. He's a far cry from Ioan Gruffudd, whom I thought was perfect as Mr. Fantastic. And Michael Chiklis was perfect as Ben Grimm/The Thing. In the new film they've also cast none other than Billy Elliot himself, Jamie Bell, who is very baby-faced. For Sue Storm, they've cast someone I love, Kate Mara, but I still feel she's a bit young. The Human Torch is being played by Michael B. Jordan of Friday Night Lights and Parenthood TV fame. A lot of people have groused about him being played by an African-American actor but I've got no problem with that. The trailer shows that their father is African-American, so Sue Storm is either mixed race or a stepchild. Johnny Storm/The Human Torch is the one character that needs to be young so that's good. But, I don't think they needed to do another origin story. It looks like it's going to be almost a carbon copy of the first film from 2005.

Anyway, here's the trailer. What do you think?

__________________
"Miss Jean Louise, Mr. Arthur Radley."

My problem is how much money and buzz they eat. They are part of a larger trend that plays everything safe. I feel there are too many of them as a movie fan but there is always China, South Korea and India for blockbusters that don't try to please everyone and have more mature themes.

We had a comic book top list held by me truly about a year ago... decent topic though.


Superman: The Movie and Superman 2 are still in my top 100 though, great films


I think the best adaptions though so far are Watchmen, Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy, Guardians Of The Galaxy and 300.
I enjoyed Man Of Steel though, I think I'm one of the few, and even after I hated the idea of it as well.


^ Constantine is fun too.

__________________

I think I'm a part of that few. I didn't mind it at all, which surprised me.

Best or second best superhero movie in my book.

300 and Watchmen are the standouts for me. Every shot is meant to leave behind a strong visual and emotional impression. Here style (the how) is more important than realism.

With Man Of Steel it's more the other way around. It plays like most other movies. I guess the reason for that is due to the immense success of Nolan's Batman and that many viewers find Snyder's non-realism of 300 and Watchmen to be distracting or even downright annoying. It's too bad, because it's precisely the insane emphasis on the visual aspect that turns them into 'experiences' rather than 'movies'.



Alex

Comic fan here for 29 years.

In my opinion, those two movies still haven't been topped. The Burton and Nolan Batmans have come close, but, in my opinion, Superman: The Movie remains the definitive comic book film.

Yes that is a classic masterpiece

I'm not out to start any racial arguments, but I kind of take offense at this seeming obsession today's comic movies have with changing established character's races. And let's face it, it's not just juggling races but making white characters black (you never see the reverse, nor should you).

We live in an age where we should be beyond Affirmative Action, but it seems like Hollywood is obsessed with it when it comes to comic movies.

Now, I've heard the argument that comics (as well as movies) have been dominated by white characters for decades and it's time to make them more inclusive. I couldn't agree more! Load those movies up with black characters and other minority characters, but you don't have to alter established characters to do it. There are lots of black characters in comics that could be utilized and heck, they could just create new characters if their goal is to fulfill quotas and attempt to appease the PC agenda.

My beef isn't really about race - it's about allowing characters to remain as they were created or as they've become known to be. So if they said, "Hey let's have Superman played by a little person so little people can relate to Superman!" I'd say no. I love little people, but Superman is not one. I myself am blond, but do not wish to see Superman become blond. I'm also middle-aged and fat, yet I don't want to see the characters I grew up with portrayed that way either.

I think I'm in the minority in that I don't really mind when they change the characters, as long as the movie is good. But I grew up reading comics like "Archie", "Richie Rich, etc., so I was never obsessed with superheroes the way a lot of people are. I don't really have a clear picture in my mind for some characters.

Yes, I would prefer that the characters stay the same as they've always been, but I'm always willing to give the new versions a chance before I decide that I'm going to hate them. Sometimes they surprise me and the change isn't bad.

Part of my problem is it just seems such an obvious knee-jerk toward Political Correctness. They're doing it for no other reason than they feel they HAVE to appeal to PC dictated demographics and they could care less about the characters or the source material. And to prove that that is so... do they ever make an established black comic character white, native American, Inuit, Asian, Indian, Persian, etc. because it would fit the story better of because maybe a popular Bollywood actor would make a good Luke Cage?

Also, would it bother anyone if they made a Black Panther movie and put a Woody Allen type in the role?
It would bother me. I want my Black Panther to be a black African male who sounds like he's from Africa and built like an Olympic level athlete (despite the fact that I'm a white male from Jersey who's built like a fire plug)!

The examples that you're giving are extreme examples that would never happen, regardless of political correctness, (Superman played by a little person, a Woody Allen type as Black Panther)?

But, (using Fantastic Four as an example), what if they found the perfect actor to play the Human Torch, but the only problem was that the actor is black? Why is it wrong to cast that actor if he would be believable in the role?