CFE's 100 Comic Book Movie Countdown

[Mutagen]

It's obvious the choices are going to differ from yours, there's over a hundred of them.

Keep in mind this is CFE's thread, if you don't agree with it, then make your own thread. Why argue? You know you're not going to change his mind, he's been planning this for a long time.

 

[SurfDUI]

You know you're not going to change his mind

Nobody tryin to change nothin-
He's doin a great job-the back and forth is out of respect for the effort and the fact that I've sat through all of them already.

So chill.

 

[Mutagen]

Just remember, if one rank is wrong, they all need to be changed...

 

[CFE]

#83

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993)

[YT]9RY8CNUGOLw[/YT]

Written and Directed by ... Stuart Gillard
Based on the Comic Book Characters Created by ... Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird

Mark Caso ... Leonardo
Matt Hill ... Raphael
Jim Raposa ... Donatello
David Fraser ... Michaelangelo
Brian Tochi ... Leonardo (voice)
Tim Kelleher ... Raphael (voice)
Corey Feldman ... Donatello (voice)
Robbie Rist ... Michaelangelo (voice)
Elias Koteas ... Casey Jones
Paige Turco ... April O'Neil
Stuart Wilson ... Walker
Sab Shimono ... Lord Norinaga
Vivian Wu ... Mitsu
Henry Hayashi ... Kenshin
John Aylward ... Niles
Travis A. Moon ... Yoshi
Tracy Patrick Conklin ... Sam
Edmund Stone ... Dave
Jeff Kawasugi ... Murata

The turtles find themselves transported back in time to feudal Japan.

----------------------------------------------

By the time 1993 rolled around, the bulk of the "Ninja Turtles" fad had more or less died, replaced by both a temporary love affair with certain "Power Rangers" and a far longer-lasting fascination with The "Simpsons."

As a direct result, the budget allocated by Golden Harvest to the third "Turtles" film was a mere fraction of that allotted to the first film. This is most obvious in the turtles themselves. Sure, they are still portrayed by men in suits, and those suits are still maintained by the Henson workshop, but the overall tone of the turtles' skin and the motion of their mouths indicates that Golden Harvest told the Henson workshop that they just wanted something passable. Given that the first film was dedicated to Jim because it was one of the last things he worked on before he died, this is quite the sad let-down.

Another major problem is in the tone of the story. While the 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' will never be confused with the likes of 'RoboCop,' the first film went back to the roots of the original Eastman and Laird comic book and depicted a world that was, for all intents, rather dark. There was a bare hint that being a 5'6" turtle with consciousness was not all it was cracked up to be, unlike the utopia implied by the afternoon cartoon series. There was acrimony, grief, rage, and a million other things that children's entertainment seems to believe we cannot really handle. That was what turned the initial "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" into Golden Harvest's big breakaway hit in the first place.

'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III,' also known as 'Turtles In Time,' picks up with the turtles milling around their sewer hideout with Splinter (who now looks like a shag carpet with eyes). When April shows up with a bunch of items she found at a garage sale, she happens upon an ancient artifact that transports her back in time to feudal Japan. The turtles, in their usual confused weird-species adolescent fervour, take it upon themselves to go back and rescue her, because we all know how an adolescent turtle would go all bug-eyed at the thought of rescuing a woman who looks anything like Paige Turco (maybe if she hadn't gotten a haircut, since she looked AWESOME in 'TMNT II.')

This movie has so much potential to make-up for the flaws of the second film but failed on a massive scale. Directed this time by Stuart Gillard.

Almost everyone who played the turtles in the previous films has changed except for Mark Caso from the second who returns as Leonardo and the ever loyal Brian Tochi as the voice of Leonardo, Corey Feldman returns as the voice of Donatello.

But the awesome aspect of 'TMNT III' is the pleasantly surprising return of Elias Koteas as the ever lovable Casey Jones, arguably the breakout performance of the original film.

He gets to jump back in here, but any chances of seeing the 'Wayne Gretsky on steroids' swinging sporting goods gets dashed as the character he is best known for spends most of his time eating pizza, watching over a bunch of Japanese soldiers who changed places in time with the turtles (don't ask), and sharing conversation with the shag carpet that Splinter turned into.

But since Jones is left in the present, Koteas gets to pull double duty with a character called Whit, one of the Englishmen in the past. Not too bad, but Whit isn't an effective character to begin with and could have been omitted with ease. Honestly, his 15 minutes of screentime as Casey is far more entertaining then the 45 minutes to an hour he runs around as Whit.

Now you might be asking why isn't this lower...well aside from the return of Casey Jones, we've also got some still fairly decent action. For four stunt men lumbering around in rubber suits (AND Samurai Armor) it's still not bad.

There are moments when it gets bad enough to be funny. The problem is that there are just not enough such moments to justify this film for all but the most hardcore 'Ninja Turtles' fans. And since the most serious fans would all be at least twenty years old by now, well, let us just say this film has its work cut out for it pleasing even THAT audience.

----------------------------------------------

 

[boydston_14]

Ugh... the only TMNT film that I dislike... good countdown so far. Can't wait to see what's on the menu for tomorrow.

 

[CFE]

#82

The Crow: Salvation (2000)

Spoiler

WARNING: Some Mild Violence

Spoiler

Spoiler

You've been sufficiently warned:

Spoiler

[YT]ujuHGn_NE00[/YT]

Directed by ... Bharat Nalluri
Written by ... Chip Johannessen
Based on the Comic Book Character Created by ... James O'Barr

Eric Mabius ... Alex Corvis / The Crow
Kirsten Dunst ... Erin Randall
Fred Ward ... The Captain
Jodi Lyn O'Keefe ... Lauren Randall
William Atherton ... Nathan Randall
K.C. Clyde ... Brad
Bruce McCarthy ... Madden
Debbie Fan ... Barbara Chen
Gabrielle Woods ... Old Woman
Dale Midkiff ... Vincent Erlich
David Stevens ... Tommy Leonard
Grant Shaud ... Peter Walsh
Bill Mondy ... Phillip Dutton
Walter Goggins ... Stan Robbers
Britt Leary ... Stacey

Alex Corvis returns to the world of the living to solve the murder of his girlfriend; a murder that he himself was wrongly accused of.

----------------------------------------------

Everyone keeps saying that the powers that be learned their lesson after 'City of Angels.' All I gotta say is...Are you blind? This film rips off the original film even more than the first sequel! Would it kill them to give us something new? A female crow? Another time period? Something other than a young male out hunting thugs...y'know it just might work to have variety, if they insist on pumping these out at all.

But I will always stand by my firm belief that 'The Crow' as put to film should've, for lack of a better term, died with Brandon Lee.

That said let's take a closer look at 2000's "The Crow: Salvation."

Lauren Randall (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe) was brutally murdered by being raped and stabbed 53 times. Her boyfriend, Alex Corvis (Eric Mabius), is wrongfully accused and is sentenced to die by way of electrocution. Alex claimed that he was innocent, and that a man with strange markings on his arm is the real killer. Regardless, on Alex's twenty-first birthday, he is electrocuted. But due to lightning striking the prison, Alex receives more of a harsh death. It doesn't help that the man with the scar on his arm watched. The Crow brings Alex back from the dead to bring justice upon those who have killed Lauren and to find the scarred man. Since he was electrocuted, Alex's face is horribly burned.

The men who did him wrong are Vincent Erlich (Dale Midkiff), Phillip Dutton (Bill Mondy), Stan Robbers (Walt Goggins), and Martin Toomey (Tim DeKay), all of whom are corrupted police officers. As Alex begins to kill the guilty, he proves his innocence to Lauren's sister Erin (Kirsten Dunst), who's deeply distraught over her sister's death. Erin's father Nathan (William Atherton) is also having trouble coping. As Alex is unleashing carnage upon the police officers, The Captain (Fred Ward) becomes extremely interested in Alex and the legendary Crow. Alex gets more than he bargained for, however, when his actions causes Erin to be in fatal danger.

The violence is of course bloody/gory, as is expected in these 'Crow' films. This time however, as opposed to 'City of Angels,' it actually feels justified like the first time with Eric. Plus, it's always good to see crooked police officers get theirs when death is knocking on the door.

Alex uses his healing powers more often than his predecessors, either from the actual need to heal or just to be playful. A common occurrence in all three 'Crow' movies seems to be that each hero is shot repeatedly by several people, which undoubtedly proves their short-lived immortality. Alex, unlike Ashe from the second film, has fun with his victims while he tortures/kills them. It's a better follow-up to the first film.

Now it's a wonder why a 3rd film is, in my opinion, better than the 2nd film.

Remember how I talked about 'City of Angels' being slow and tedious?

Well 'Salvation' raises the bar by bringing back some sense of energy. Certainly not on the level of the original film, but it's still kinetic and I appreciate that very much.

The acting was decent, but nothing mind-blowing. Eric Mabius seemed to have more fun doing the action scenes than the deep/heart-felt scenes (trust me, it shows).

Kirsten Dunst, surprisingly, is both pretty and gives a fairly convincing performance. Why she couldn't utilize this technique for the 'Spider-Man' films is beyond me...

Everyone else isn't terribly boeding well in their roles. Sorry to make yet another comparison to the first film, but what made the first film stand-out is that the villains had depth and each one was unique. In both Crow sequels, the villains are introduced and then they face off with The Crow. And what?

Zero depth. Just all typical "tough" villains that try too hard to be considered evil/brutal. Why couldn't these guys take a page out of the book of Michael Wincott? Now HE was freaking awesome!

While it's certainly no masterpiece, 'The Crow: Salvation' pulls its weight and manages to be tolerable. Even enjoyable in some aspects.

Ultimately I'd be one to tell you to just ignore the three 'Crow' sequels...and forever live under the impression that the only 'Crow' film that was made starred Brandon Lee and was directed by Alex Proyas.

But if you insist on putting yourself through these, and you haven't yet...skip over 'City of Angels' and see this first. It'll make the transition a little less jarring.


----------------------------------------------

 

[Spider-ManHero12]

^^ Great points. I mean, the second one was pretty good, but that's about it. NONE and I mean NONE top the first one.

 

[The Sarge]

I heard that his facial burns act as the make-up.
Is that true? Ho the hell can you burn your face like that? In an Electric Chair no less?

 

[CFE]

His face is burnt entirely...then he peels the flesh in such a way that the scars left behind just happen to be in the design of the Crow make up.

 

[Spider-Fan]

I actually think this movie was okay. I do agree that they should have done something different with The Crow after the first film. Another time period would have been an awesome idea, though the goth crowd these films cater too may have been upset by that.

 

[Changeling]

This thread is amazing! Keep 'em coming

 

[Spider-ManHero12]

His face is burnt entirely...then he peels the flesh in such a way that the scars left behind just happen to be in the design of the Crow make up.

Tbh, I was never fond of that.

 

[Kahoot]

I sort of enjoyed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III as well.

You do have to ask why they added time travel into the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles trilogy.

 

[CFE]

#81

Swamp Thing (1982)

[YT]1guw6lMPuuk[/YT]

Written and Directed by ... Wes Craven
Based on the DC Character Created by ... Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson

Dick Durock ... Swamp Thing
Ray Wise ... Doctor Alec Holland
Louis Jourdan ... Dr. Anton Arcane
Adrienne Barbeau ... Alice Cable
David Hess ... Ferret
Nicholas Worth ... Bruno
Don Knight ... Harry Ritter
Al Ruban ... Charlie
Ben Bates ... Arcane Monster
Nannette Brown ... Dr. Linda Holland
Reggie Batts ... Jude
Mimi Meyer-Craven ... Arcane's Secretary
Karen Price ... Karen

After a violent incident with a special chemical, a research scientist is turned into a swamp plant monster.

----------------------------------------------

Wes Craven's original take on DC's "Swamp Thing" reminded me of 1950s science-fiction/horror films with its primitive dialogue, hokey action scenes and laughable makeup for the monsters. Needless to say, after being treated to 27 years of continuously improving special-effects since this was made, the effects feel more and more dated and awful as we go along.

What makes this more enticing to watch than the '50s films, however, rest in the beautiful swamp photography, the even more beautiful body of Adrienne Barbeau and a relentless story that moves at a breakneck pace. Barbeau, as she was prone to do in her prime, appears to only be a part of this to show off her massive chest. However, it's pretty harmless; tame in fact compared to the horror movies of those last 27 years...also regarding gore and profanity. It's also pretty tame for a Wes Craven-directed film.

Swamp Thing starts with special Government agent Alice Cable (Adrienne Barbeau) landing in the swampy Florida everglades where she is assigned to protect brilliant scientist Dr. Alec Holland (Ray Wise) & his research in which he is trying to combine animal & plant DNA to create a new species for vague reasons that really didn't sound that plausible to me.

Unfortunately for Alec, evil rival scientist Dr. Anton Arcane (Louis Jordan) wants his discoveries & launches an attack on Alec's lab in which Linda (Nannette Brown) his sister is killed & he is set on fire but while engulfed in flames manages to make it to the swamp & jump in... Arcane & his men steal Alec's research & leave, however unknown to them agent Cable survived the ambush & retains some of Alec's notes. Arcane needs these to complete the formula & concentrates all his efforts on locating Cable. However, she suddenly has a protector...a green "Swamp Thing" that lives within the swamp & possesses great strength...

Written & directed by Wes Craven, I was ultimately disappointed with "Swamp Thing." It's still fun and all...but ugh...

At best it's watchable while at worst it's an embarrassing mess. The script is based on the DC Comic books by Len Wein & Bernie Wrightson, and I WILL say that the film itself feels like a comic book. It features a mutated superhero with special powers, over-the-top character's and situations and a black & white, good vs evil storyline where there's no middle ground here; either your good or your evil. I must admit that at least it moves along at a decent pace so it never became boring or dull & I quite liked the snappy one-liner comic book type dialogue. I didn't expect any mindless exposition apart from the absolute minimum, and that paid off.

I found the story somewhat dull & repetitive while huge chunks of the original "Swamp Thing" comic mythology have been changed, Cable was apparently a male in the comics while Arcane was an ageing magician rather than a mad French scientist. There really isn't much more to say about "Swamp Thing," I have to say Barbeau makes for a good female lead & it has a nice comic book vibe running throughout it but apart from that there is very little here to shout about. On a basic level it's watchable but it's also one of Craven's poorest films.

Director Craven gives the film a nice colourful, overblown comic book feel & it has a nice style about it. Some of the editing wipes & techniques are pretty cool as well but that's hardly enough to save it. Now on to the special effects which are far from special, the swamp thing himself is just about passable but it's fairly obvious that it's just a stuntman in a green rubber suit. I'll give credit where credit's due and say that the depiction of the Swamp Thing in the 1989 follow up was superior.

Then there's the Arcane monster at the end, which has to be one of the most pathetic looking creatures I've ever seen. Again it's a guy in a rubber suit, this time with a dogs head that looks so cheap...the jaw never moves & it's eyes look like painted ping pong balls. It really is a sorry looking creation. There's not as much gore as I would've expected from Craven. The action scenes are tolerable, despite mostly being made up of goons flying through the air in slow motion. Sounds like a gag Troma would overuse...OOPS!

With a supposed budget of about $3,000,000 it's comes as a surprise that "Swamp Thing" has some terrible effects & isn't of a grander spectacle.

The score by Harry Manfredini sounds just like every other score he's ever composed. The swamp locations look OK while the acting really isn't up to much apart from Barbeau & French villain Louis Jordan who deserves better than this. David Hess from 'The Last House on the Left' (1972) turns up but is predictably awful.

Anyone who has read the early "Swamp Thing" comics by Len Wein, David Michelinie and Marty Pasko (not to mention later writers Alan Moore, Rick Veitch and others) will likely agree that a lot was lost in translating the epic tale of Alec Holland from the printed page to the big screen. Matt Cable became a woman...Arcane became a much younger man with a different backstory and a different motivation...Abby Arcane is missing entirely...and so forth. On every level, the comic books that spawned this movie are far superior.

But the film is still a fun (if childish and goofy) watch in its own right.

----------------------------------------------

 

[Kahoot]

I'm sure I've seen Swamp Thing but it was a life time ago.

 

[david icke]

I have watched many a crappy cb movie just because it's a cb movie, but I have this on dvd and did not get past the 25min mark, I just felt like spending the time on a decent one that night. I do plan on getting around to it someday though. I remember seeing that movie poster in the comics at the time and thinking that it looked great and why wasn't it released in the UK(maybe it was and I didn't know about it), but it wasn't until I got the dvd that I saw the real Swamp thing of the movie on the cover and realised possibly why it was not more widely released.

 

[Mutagen]

I have only seen the sequel, myself.

 

[CFE]

#80

Batman & Robin (1997)

[YT]ZlsZqPS42Rk[/YT]

Directed by ... Joel Schumacher
Written by ... Akiva Goldsman
Based on the DC Comics Character Created by ... Bob Kane and Bill Finger

Arnold Schwarzenegger ... Mr. Freeze / Dr. Victor Fries
George Clooney ... Batman / Bruce Wayne
Chris O'Donnell ... Robin / Dick Grayson
Uma Thurman ... Poison Ivy / Dr. Pamela Isley
Alicia Silverstone ... Batgirl / Barbara Wilson
Michael Gough ... Alfred Pennyworth
Pat Hingle ... Commissioner James Gordon
John Glover ... Dr. Jason Woodrue
Elle Macpherson ... Julie Madison
Vivica A. Fox ... Ms. B. Haven
Vendela K. Thomessen ... Nora Fries
Elizabeth Sanders ... Gossip Gerty
Jeep Swenson ... Bane
Joe Sabatino ... Frosty
Michael Reid MacKay ... Antonio Diego
Eric Lloyd ... Young Bruce Wayne
Jon Simmons ... Young Alfred Pennyworth
Jesse Ventura ... Arkham Asylum Guard
Ralf Moeller ... Arkham Asylum Guard
Coolio ... Banker
Nicky Katt ... Spike

Batman & Robin struggle to keep their alliance together as they attempt to stop Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy from freezing Gotham City and enslaving her with animal plant hybrids.

----------------------------------------------

Most people, especially fans of the earlier Batman films, hated this movie.

I didn't. Well...not as much anyway....

In fact, although it's my least favorite of the 6 contemporary live action films in the series, I still found this refreshing in its cartoon-ish innocence. After all, the character DOES have a rather large fanbase made up of young children. So what's so unforgivable about making it light-hearted just once? I'll admit I find the darker more hard edged Batman to be more to my liking, but does every single work that involves Batman have to be dark and brooding all the time? I don't think so. But unfortunately, most people and fans aren't as tolerant about the subject.

I kept away from this film as long as I could for two reasons. One, because I honestly feel it's not the worst Comic Book Movie ever made...and Two...to prove that point. It's arguable for some of the previous films I've reviewed I'll admit. But I really don't think you can sit there and tell me 'Batman & Robin' is worse than 'Howard the Duck,' 'Steel' or 'Catwoman.'

"Batman & Robin"s visual effects, courtesy of 'Star Wars' alum and legend John Dykstra are miles ahead of 'Howard the Duck' ... The acting, while not Oscar worthy, is above and beyond the performances found in 'Steel.' And at least Batman is still Bruce Wayne, unlike the title character of 'Catwoman.'

Anyway, we'll move on to the film itself.

Gotham City is in the grip of a new enemy: Mr Freeze (Arnold Schwarzenegger). A former Nobel-Winning scientist thrown into despair when his wife starts dying, an accident in a science lab has turned him into a super-villain intent on turning the city into a massive block of ice. But he's about to find a new ally in the shape of the beautiful, sexy Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman), also a former scientist killed after discovering a secret she wasn't supposed to. Her plan is simply to callously illiminate man-kind so her floral kindred can make the world theirs. Of course, the caped crusader and his side-kick must stop this, but as Robin struggles to mature to find the strength and restraint to be Batman's ally, can the two work together in time to make an effective partnership against evil...

Easily the most critically mauled movie of the Batman franchise, the final part in the old series is again directed by Joel Schumacher and continues with the trend established by 'Batman Forever' to be a lighter, more family-friendly turn. I see nothing wrong with that. The Studio dictated the tone of the film...and Schumacher was just doing his job.

If I had to place blame on one creative force outside of the studio...I'd put it more on Akiva Goldsman than Joel. Because the film DOES suffer from a heightened sense of the same problems that 'Forever' had...problems originated in the script:

The story is ultimately lame, the dialogue clunky and the tone basically has the continuous texture of a loud, garish, overly-colourful nightmare production. But again, in my personal opinion, it's not all bad. You just have to dig a little to find the good stuff.

And the good stuff resides in an engaging sub-plot concerning Alfred (played by the always welcome Michael Gough). His deterioration into illness and the arrival of his niece (Alicia Silverstone) allow us to take refreshing breaths from all of the big, dumb American Movie action occuring around us. Alfred's quieter scenes with Bruce are also compelling.

Alfred: "Death and Chance stole your parents. But rather than become a victim, you have done everything in your power to control the fates. For what is Batman...if not an effort to master the chaos that sweeps our world. An attempt to control death itself.

Bruce: "But I can't, can I?"

Alfred: "None of us can..."

Still today, that's one of my favorite exchanges in the original film series.

The film is also helped (very mildly though) by some fairly good performances.

George Clooney has a genuine presence as Batman (and a better one as Bruce Wayne) and Thurman has a genuinely sexy presence to her as Poison Ivy (appearing in some figure hugging sexy suits and pouts that certainly raise the innuendo a degree or two for a PG movie.) as well as giving a good turn as a nasty, well-spoken b**ch with a genuine contempt for humanity.

As for Schwarzenegger, he looks cool (I'm sorry I couldn't help it...) in his Mr Freeze costume, but he's really at his bad-acting worst in terms of his performance here. Then again, I've never considered Arnold in contention for Oscar, so...meh. Chris O'Donnell is as hopeless as ever and thankfully faded into oblivion shortly after this movie was made. The same fate, it would appear though, fell to Silverstone, who didn't deserve it as much, but her role as Barbara Wilson (Who are you and what've you done with Barbara Gordon!?) a.k.a. Batgirl here is pretty pointless and a rather tacky marketing gimmick aimed at keeping the franchise going longer (which failed).

The sets are big and bold and pretty decent...and the visual effects work very well. Sure, having Batman and Robin surf through the sky as a rocket explodes over Gotham is a bit...much...but at least it looks cool. And a big factor of comic books is having stuff look cool. I wouldn't trade that for decent storytelling, but the kid in me gets a kick out of it now and then.

And I'm just gonna say...right now...that to date, including 'Batman Begins' ... Joel Schumacher's depiction of Arkham Asylum is still, to me, the best live action representation of that location to date. His Gothic Citadel of an Asylum kicks the crap out of Nolan's uniformed Arkham any day of the week. But anyway...

Some of the gags in the script and aspects of the production fall flat, and I'm sure you all know them by heart...Bat Credit Card, Green Lightning and Flames, Rubber Lips, R. Kelly's "Gotham City," Cod Pieces, Snow-Meiser, Lobotimized Bane, Reverse Robin, Nipples, Polar Bear Slippers, Taco Bell, Gorilla Suits, Coolio (COOLIO!!!???)...and so on and so on....

A complete farce...but it's a fun farce to watch.

----------------------------------------------

 

[TruerToTheCore]

B&R is in parts amazing.

 

[Kahoot]

How is Batman & Robin or Supergirl worse than Superman 3 or 4?

 

[CFE]

"Superman 4" IS worse than "Batman & Robin" and "Supergirl" ... and "Superman 3" is a guilty pleasure. More on that later.

 

[Kahoot]

Oh sorry I forgot you had put up Superman 4 already. I think ever movie or at least ever 10 you sould post a list of the movies so far.

 

[I Am The Knight]

There's nothing wrong with light hearted Bats...But you gotta make it enjoyable. GOOD. Isn't that what the Brave & The Bold is doing? B&R is....Say it with me now...Fawking A.W.F.U.L. I don't care that it looks nice (?) it nearly lobotomized an entire generation of fans, for god's sakes.

 

[CFE]

If you check the first post, I do just that by grouping them in 10s...

 

[The Sarge]

I'm kind of surprised Tank girl is so low on the list. Every girl I know seems to LOVE that movie.
I found it tolerable enough. Not great, but I'd personally would have put it above anything reviewed so far.