What superhero films effected you on a personal level?

[Kyle]

We all know superhero movies can pack a literally powerful punch. But, what superhero film/s wound up meaning more to you than that and why?

As an orphan/adoptee, I always felt alone while growing up because there was no one else "like me." I was a "new beginning" which is beyond scary. My history is a lot like Superman's - orphan sent away from a war torn foreign country and adopted by a loving adoptive family in the United States where I was given a better home. Although I love the life and family I have, I really miss my biological parents a lot. It's really existential and hard to explain but, even though I never met them they are really important to who I am. It's a loss that I saw superheroes going through, it's what made me a comic book fan as a kid. Not their powers. Not the cool toys. Not the action. That they were - like me, and they made it which is really inspiring.

With that in mind:

1) The Amazing Spider-Man 2

This film just beautifully captures a lot of what I've been through emotionally. Webb and Garfield spoke in interviews about doing heavy research into the psychology of orphans and adoptees, including mentioning a text that I really related to 'The Primal Wound,' and it showed. Some scenes like the Aunt May and Peter talking about his parents are really awkward for me to watch because I've lived that and there are several moments like that throughout the whole film. I also loved how Peter and Harry bond over feelings of abandonment, I've similarly made friends with guys from similar backgrounds and have had conversations like the one Peter and Harry have below; plus replace a brief case with just a birth certificate with barely anything at all on it. The whole film spoke to the reason why I've always been drawn to superhero stories - here are guys like me making it through and fighting the good fight.

2) The Man Of Steel

I largely gave the reason for above. It just plays out as a perfect orphan/adoptee movie. Ironically my parents were also afraid that I might not live long for a remarkably similar reason that Martha gives in the scene where they talk about Clark finding his parents. Superman has always meant a lot to me as a foreign adoptee, I love how this film centered around it. Even the smaller details have depth to them that I'm unsure if those who haven't had a similar experience can grasp onto and see such is the message that Zod delivers (stating it that way because most whenever I bring up this subtext to this scene admit to never having thought of it that way before), it's one thing for general audiences but becomes something really poignant and almost like a dagger to the heart when as an foreign adoptee my worst fear is being different, literally not one of "you" despite my best efforts of fitting in (this whole scene basically plays out as a very real nightmare for me):

3) The Dark Knight Rises

While I like Batman Begins the best, the Dark Knight Rises is a very close second largely because of how much I personally related to it. Coincidentally I was also a background actor in one of these scenes which I find remarkably coincidental - the first superhero film to dive into the subject, I somehow wound up in. Blake says it perfectly of why Batman is so cool. He's one of us and that's really inspiring and growing up - you need that.
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What superhero films have effected you on a personal level?

 

[Flint Marko]

The first Spider-man film.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

Superman the Movie.

Watched it when I was a little and it pretty much made me a superhero fan for life.

Thanks in no small part to Reeve's incredible performance and William's powerful score.

 

[the last son]

Man of steel kicked off my interest to get into the gym. I saw cavill on the muscle and fitness cover and have kept the gym as an interest ever since.

 

[pr0xyt0xin]

Every Spider-Man film has been a really great experience for me.

Spider-Man (2002) my dad took me and my brother out of school to see it in theaters the first week it was out. Might have been that friday. Can't remember exactly.

Spider-Man 2 (2004) my first midnight showing (with dad and bro again) also first time I ever tried dippin dots lol.

Spider-Man 3 (2007) saw this the night i met my high school sweetheart. big group of friends, we laughed at the movie and spider-man wasn't the first thing on my mind that night, but he was still there part of my life.

Amazing Spider-Man (2012) Saw the midnight showing with my little sister (her first). Still my current favorite Spidey flick. Convinced me to join SHH.

Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) Saw the midnight showing with my little sister (now a tradition, and a feat considering we live in different states). Dressed up as Spider-Man. Everyone wanted pictures. Had a blast.

Now I'm going to continue that tradition and see Civil War with my sister and brother when it releases next weekend. Might dress up again. Pretty stoked.

 

[Greens]

Batman '89 definitely helped shape my personal interests.

 

[akfj]

Batman Begins. I could relate with the whole feeling lost/depressed and trying to find meaning. But, really I find the whole trilogy inspiring.

 

[GENERAL RAAM582]

Spider-Man 2002 and a little bit of X-Men 2000 are why I'm here today.

 

[Squaremaster316]

Batman Begins: No origin story has ever gotten me as invested with a character's plight as Bale's Bruce.

Dark Knight: The death of Rachel. It was the most shocking, unexpected character death I've ever seen in the genre. A ballsy move to kill off the non-superpowered female supporting character/love interest. Superman almost beat it to the punch 30 years earlier, but that copout ending...urgh.

Dark Knight Rises, especially the stadium collapse and Bruce escaping the pit.

 

[Lantern Venom]

Blade- I've loved comics since the 70s, but I rarely liked any of the adaptations of those characters on TV or in films. When Blade came along, I finally saw a great comic book story put on the silver screen. The tone was unflinchingly dark, the action was top notch, and the acting was stellar. That was a cathartic moment for me since I finally had a CB adaptation that I adored the same way that other people liked the Superman Quadrilogy or the Incredible Hulk TV show.

The Avengers- This is still one of my top 2 movies in any genre, and remains the closest-to-perfect CB film that I've ever seen. It gave me much the same feeling that I had when I was a kid watching SW:ANH in it's original theatrical run. Only this time, I was an adult with a much greater appreciation of seeing something that I once thought was impossible.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

Blade- I've loved comics since the 70s, but I rarely liked any of the adaptations of those characters on TV or in films. When Blade came along, I finally saw a great comic book story put on the silver screen. The tone was unflinching dark, the action was top notch, and the acting was stellar. That was a cathartic moment for me since I finally had a CB adaptation that I adored the same way that other people liked the Superman Quadrilogy or the Incredible Hulk TV show.

The Avengers- This is still one of my top 2 movies in any genre, and remains the closest-to-perfect CB film that I've ever seen. It gave me much the same feeling that I had when I was a kid watching SW:ANH in it's originally theatrical run. Only this time, I was an adult with a much greater appreciation of seeing something that I once thought was impossible.

I agree with these also.

 

[Victarion]

TDK gave me President Obama.

 

[Ms. Marvel]

I remember that thread.

 

[OutOfBoose]

1) Batman Returns.
It was my very first comic book film, so it kinda opened a whole new world for me. Both of comics and films based on comics. Though at that time we didn't have any US comic books on sale, so I started to hunt for Japanese manga. And my first American comic book ever was Gen13.

2) The Dark Knight Rises.
I guess I just come from a country, where a guy, who stood on the roof of an armored vehicle, twice in 100 years caused collapse of my country and brought a lot of grief to people. Also, the film had Catwoman in it, so it kinda ties it to Batman Returns.

3) Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
I don't think I can put it into words at the moment, because I need more time to process it... So for now I'll leave it as is.

 

[psylockolussus]

X2 - it changed my life... got me into X-Men so hard and eventually comic-book films! I was so stoked for X3, that it led me discovering SuperHeroHype!

X-Men: Days of Future Past - one of my most anticipated films ever! That ending with the original cast was soooooooo good

 

[Tg11]

Definitely for me would be Captain America: Winter Soldier and also Thor (2011)

 

[DA_Champion]

Man of Steel really elevated my knowledge and understanding o literature. It is due to my misunderstanding of the public reception to MoS that I joined the hype (for example) and started gobbling up lots and lots of reviews on various sites. I started reviewing movies, shows, books, and documentaries for fun and posting them on facebook. I quite liked the movie, and I wanted to know why others did not.

I went on a tear, ordered/bought and read the Death and Life of Superman Omnibus (~1,000 pages), Birthright, All-Star, the Lois and Clark TV show, the JL and JLU animated series, and several DCAU movies. I got into heated debates on this site and others that nearly led to my being banned.

I think I learned a lot.

 

[DarkKnight]

Man of Steel.
I was bullied as a child, made fun of due to several different reasons. One, I was over weight. Two, I grew up pretty much poor, didn't have the "cool" name brand clothes and shoes etc. to name a couple. So I was treated as an outsider, especially considering that It was a new school that I had recently moved to.
My parents raised me to be respectful to even those that were disrespectful to me. So I was, it was hard, but I did. My father always told me to never start or initiate a fight, but If I found myself in one to stand my ground and defend myself.
I had a few altercations, one really sticks out where a bully had me pinned against a brick wall and he and two of his friends were hitting me. I balled up my fist and one punch to his nose knocked him out. his friends left me alone and never another issue out of any of them again. After that I found myself in a few other altercations but was able to get out of most of them with just words. In high school had one of the biggest know jerks/bullies in my face picking on me (by this time I was fit, big into sports etc.)
I looked him in the eye and said "I'm not taking your crap and if you are going to do something do it now and lets get it over with" at which he backed up and said we were cool and that was the end of that.

When I watched MOS, I was choked up on several scenes, I really felt immersed in Clarks struggles with the bullies and him trying to talk sense with Zod. Was such a touching movie for me personally.

 

[DA_Champion]

Yes, MoS has a theme of failing to overcome bullying through means other than violence, I relate to that as well. On the schoolgound, violence is often the only way left after all other options have been explored and exhausted.

 

[hopefuldreamer]

Man of Steel

When I was little, I didn't have a dad around, but I think in my mind Superman was like a father figure.

This man with conviction, confidence, integrity, strength... but warmth, gentleness, kindness, compassion. I watched him, I read him, I played him in make believe games, I wrote about him classes.

He means the world to me.

Then later in my adult life, when I've been struggling with depression, he's always been there to catch me... to keep me from completely falling into despair.

You know why?

Because his stories fill me with hope. They lift my spirits. And I always felt they could be relied upon to cheer me up (or in the case of depression, soften the pain a little) by being, in some ways predictable.

And then I watched MOS.

And I watched Superman spend his childhood unhappy and alone. I watched his father believe so little of human nature that he tells his son he should let a bus full of children die before revealing his secret. That he should let his own father die. And then... he actually does.

I watched Clark Kent wandering the earth, lost and purposeless. Living a life with no joy. I watched him get outed and forced with much hesitation to reveal himself, before being captured and tortured by his native race because he wasn't down with genocide. I watched him tell his tragedy to a reporter, and I watched him fall in love with her - because she was the only friend he'd ever had.

Finally, he had to battle the last of his people, while innocents die around them... because of them. And when it all comes to an end, and it's down to just him and Zod, he kills him. He violently snaps his neck, with a crack that echoes throughout the room, in front of small children... and it breaks him. That decision makes him fall to his knees in utter defeat and anguish. It feels like he lost.

Right then, I died a little inside.

Honestly, I don't remember much about the rest of the movie on my first viewing. I was crying too much. I couldn't even see. I couldn't think about anything but that moment.

The whole movie had been flooding me with this sense of disappointment and sadness, but that moment was like I'd been punched through the heart,

The one thing that I could always count on to lift my spirits, my go to comfort food, my hope, my light, my hero... Zack Snyder took him and shook his spirit around like a rabid dog with a rat between it's teeth.

Now... I know I'm being very dramatic

But that's how much it effected me. That's how I felt. Totally and utterly heart broken.

No superhero film had or has ever since, effected me so much.

It took me a while to get over it... and I still can't watch it without wincing

 

[Mandon Knight]

So many of them have left a part of them elves with me for a personal or effective reason but above all is Superman The Movie (1978).

Purely from being a Superman fan as a child and seeing it in the cinema as a four year old and having it define my love of the genre, watching it with my dad, it made me want to be the film maker I am today.

It defined our genre, laid down the template for other films to follow. Without it, we would not have any of the films we have today.

Its pure cinema magic, I can watch it time & again and I get the same feeling of awe & magic from it, those opening titles.

It is as a 'personal' favourite, not from a de-constructive point of view, my favourite film, for what it means to me and the memories it holds for me.

I think the character of Superman chimes with me very much, his values, what he strives for. I've not had the easiest of lives for various reasons and I think the strength, grit, resolve demonstrated by the character gives one hope to never give up, never give up and believe in having the faith to see the path you choose.

Man of Steel gave us this ideal too, albeit, in a different way to Reeve's Superman, many of the scenes in MoS left me tearful and particuarly, the scene with Clark as a young boy running the garden with the cape around his neck, having his father look on.

 

[JtheDreamer]

I'm rather unaffected on a personal level by CBM's. Only time was seeing the Avengers when I won tix to the fan screening. Felt like a kid again being enveloped in all that hype/excitement.

 

[superhero]

my all time favorite movie is the 1990 original teeange mutnat ninja turtles! it was dark & gritty!! i loved it! it was the first super hero movie i was excited about when i was an kid! i watched it all the time!! i also like to add spider-man is my faovirte super hero!! i do enjoy the amazing spider-man 1!! but my top spider-man is the ones with toby macquarie spider-man 1 2.& even 3 even though people didn't like it!! i also liked the christian bales batman movies!! i also like man of steel!! i really like the justice league Anmited movies coming out last couple years!! i also like x-men!! shoot i guess you can say i have almost every super hero movie to date!! i also even enjoy the 1980's he-man & master of the universe!! i was big he-man fan back when i was an kid!! i know it didn't do that well but i brought it on blu ray few years ago!!

 

[WolfCypher]

The Dark Night

Usually good movies are just that to me...good movies. I always feel like the odd-one in a audience when I'm watching a really good movie or a really funny movie surrounded by others. Everyone else is gasping, laughing, applauding, really getting and giving off high levels of vibes, and I can never get that into the films. Even movies I loooooved, like the 1st Avengers, where everyone in my auditorium are acting like they're on a roller coaster, I can never get that excited or blown away, and I'll walk out of the movie loving it as much as them.

Nolan's 2nd Batflick was the 1st time it finally clicked in me. I felt that rush. I was on the edge of my seat when the Joker truck chase happened, I gasped and smiled and was awed when the Bat-bike did that 180 on the wall at the end of the truck chase, I felt an adrenaline high during the Batman/Joker interrogation, and I was genuinely nervous when everyone was trying to get to Harvey and Rachel before they were blown up.

And never before had I went to a showing of any movie more than once. I went to see TDK four times in one week, twice were in the same day and that third time was the next day.

So TDK made me feel things movies never had before.

 

[Batmannerism]

Superman the Movie.

Watched it when I was a little and it pretty much made me a superhero fan for life.

Thanks in no small part to Reeve's incredible performance and William's powerful score.

Wow dude, usually I totally disagree with stuff you say -nothing personal, just difference of opinion.

BUT this time we are totally on the same page. I walked out of that movie feeling like I could fly. Superman the movie may look a bit hokey to today's kids but seeing it as a child for the first time back in 78 was a deeply moving experience.

Believe it or not I felt a similar thing at the end of Man of Steel, which was an emotional movie for me.

At the end of Batman v Superman I was emotional too.... bitterly and deeply disappointed, but let's not talk about that.


I was pretty emotional during Spider Man ( Raimi's first one) as that is still my fave Spidey film.

Hmmmm.....I certainly felt chills during the opening scene of Watchmen and the credits, because it was like Moore's twisted version of 1985 had really come to life on the screen.

Anyway, nothing comes close to that rush at the end of Superman the movie.

Hell, even now decades later, when I watch that final scene where Reeve smiles at the audience before flying off into the sunrise....I get a little choked up - partially because it brings back childhood memories but also because of the great fondness I had for Reeve and how he really brought Superman to life, and of course the tragedy that befell him and his bravery A Superman in real life too.