What's your favorite period comic book movie?

[horacethegrey]

Note the word period. Meaning an era of history in the past of our world.

To qualify as a period film, a comicbook film must:

1) Be based on a comicbook property(duh).

2) The story must take place in the past. If there are sections set it in the present or future, they shouldn't be the main focus.

3) The film must be made years after the historical period it's trying to portray. So film serials made in the 40's starring superheroes set in WW2 don't count, since they're of the same time period.

So my favorite would have to be:

X-Men First Class - While I thought Days of Future Past was the better film, I thought First Class captured the look and feel of the swinging 60's era better. Plus, it was genius to mix in the X-Men's coming out party with that of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Other period comicbook movies I can think of:

X-Men Days of Future Past

300

Captain America: The First Avenger - Gotta love that Peggy Carter. t:

The Rocketeer - The film that got Joe Johnston the directing gig for Captain America.

The Shadow - Okay, technically it was a pulp novel series and radio drama first. But the Shadow did have a comic series before his 1994 film.

Road to Perdition - I thought this was a bad adaptation to be honest. I wish they'd kept the over the top violence of the graphic novel.

Watchmen


I'm sure I've forgotten some others. Please post more if you can.

 

[TeeKay]

I think you've just about covered everything here lol

 

[horacethegrey]

Wait. I found others. And all of them involve Alan Moore.

From Hell - Never watched it And I doubt it'll match the brilliance of Moore's graphic novel.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen - So bad it made Sean Connery retire.

Hercules - Alan Moore was pretty pissed when his good friend Steve Moore (no relation) didn't receive credit, since this film is based on his comic series Hercules The Thracian Wars.

 

[Rowsdower!]

Watchmen, followed by X-Men: FC.

 

[CyclopsWasRight]

1. X-Men First Class
2. Watchmen
3. X-Men Days of Future Past
4. Sin City (kind of a cheat but it's noir)
5. Captain America
6. Rocketeer
7. The Phantom
8. From Hell
9. Road To Perdition

 

[horacethegrey]

1. X-Men First Class
2. Watchmen
3 X-Men Days of Future Past
4. Sin City (kind of a cheat but it's noir)
5. Rocketeer
6. Captain America
7. The Phantom
8. From Hell
9. Rocketeer
10. Road To Perdition

You ranked Rocketeer two times.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

Oooohhhh between DOFP and Watchmen for me, I give the nod slightly to DOFP, but love both.

Watchmen has a better DC as well.

 

[Mjölnir]

X-Men: First Class.

 

[Last Of Krypton]

Watchmen

[YT]aVUDdQS2UxA[/YT]

 

[horacethegrey]

Watchmen

[YT]aVUDdQS2UxA[/YT]

I'm not a big fan of Snyder's Watchmen, but I have to admit that sequence was brilliant.

But one thing that bugs me is the Comedian shooting JFK. Is that something that was hinted at in the book? It's been awhile since I've read Watchmen.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

The Shadow
Road to Perdition
The Rocketeer
The Phantom (I think it counts, cars look like antiquated)

 

[horacethegrey]

The Phantom (I think it counts, cars look like antiquated)

Well The Phantom is a long running comic strip. So yeah, it definitely counts.

The movie though, I found immensely boring. But it does have a young Catherine Zeta Jones before she hit it big. t: Apologies btw for not including it earlier, as I completely forgot it existed.

 

[CyclopsWasRight]

It's a guilty pleasure of mine

 

[OcStat]

I really liked From Hell, though I'm sure the graphic novel (which I haven't read) is better. Goes without saying for adaptations of Moore's work.

Road to Perdition would probably be my favorite of the list, I didn't even know that was based on a comic when I first saw it.

Days of Future Past would be a runner-up, though First Class plays up the time period more than it's sequel.

 

[See Cap Run]

I just thought of another one: I know it's terrible, but the majority of it takes ace in the 1980's I believe: X-Men Borigins: Wolverine.

Anyway, my top 3 period films are Captain America: The First Avenger, X-Men First Class and DOFP.

 

[HaplessHenchman]

Captain America: TFA

 

[CyclopsWasRight]

I'd love a Spider-Man 2099 or Noir movie.

 

[smallville fan]

Captain America

 

[The Batman]

X-Men: First Class, easily.

 

[Shikamaru]

Easily DOFP due to Xavier's character arc. It's not just brilliant in the context of his character, but also perfect for the period it's set in.

After WWII, there was a sense of almost-complete optimism and joy which overtook the USA. That's how the "ideal" image of the 1950's came to be. Then by the 1960's, we start seeing that image begin to break down by all the tragedies that occur. That includes the struggles of the Civil Rights era (something First Class was strongly about), the assassination of figures like JFK, MLK Jr. and Malcolm X, Cold War tension being at an all time high, the disaster that was Vietnam and the list goes on. By the time Watergate occurs in 70's, the optimism and conformity brought forth by the 50's is pretty much gone. This is also when our pop culture and overall media begin to take more of a darker tone and start becoming more of how we know them today, but I digress.

Thus 1973's Xavier isn't just interesting in the context of the X-Men, but also essentially the embodiment of exactly how that young generation felt during that same time period. When you think about it, DOFP is primarily the story of a man who managed to get back on his feet in an era where so many couldn't...and the fact he can't literally do that only adds to the emotion and complexity of it all.

 

[C. Lee]

Captain America: the First Avenger
The Shadow
The Phantom
The Rocketeer
Watchmen
XMen First Class
XMen Days of Future Past

 

[CyclopsWasRight]

Easily DOFP due to Xavier's character arc. It's not just brilliant in the context of his character, but also perfect for the period it's set in.

After WWII, there was a sense of almost-complete optimism and joy which overtook the USA. That's how the "ideal" image of the 1950's came to be. Then by the 1960's, we start seeing that image begin to break down by all the tragedies that occur. That includes the struggles of the Civil Rights era (something First Class was strongly about), the assassination of figures like JFK, MLK Jr. and Malcolm X, Cold War tension being at an all time high, the disaster that was Vietnam and the list goes on. By the time Watergate occurs in 70's, the optimism and conformity brought forth by the 50's is pretty much gone. This is also when our pop culture and overall media begin to take more of a darker tone and start becoming more of how we know them today, but I digress.

Thus 1973's Xavier isn't just interesting in the context of the X-Men, but also essentially the embodiment of exactly how that young generation felt during that same time period. When you think about it, DOFP is primarily the story of a man who managed to get back on his feet in an era where so many couldn't...and the fact he can't literally do that only adds to the emotion and complexity of it all.

Great post. Love it when themes shine through in movies

 

[horacethegrey]

Easily DOFP due to Xavier's character arc. It's not just brilliant in the context of his character, but also perfect for the period it's set in.

After WWII, there was a sense of almost-complete optimism and joy which overtook the USA. That's how the "ideal" image of the 1950's came to be. Then by the 1960's, we start seeing that image begin to break down by all the tragedies that occur. That includes the struggles of the Civil Rights era (something First Class was strongly about), the assassination of figures like JFK, MLK Jr. and Malcolm X, Cold War tension being at an all time high, the disaster that was Vietnam and the list goes on. By the time Watergate occurs in 70's, the optimism and conformity brought forth by the 50's is pretty much gone. This is also when our pop culture and overall media begin to take more of a darker tone and start becoming more of how we know them today, but I digress.

Thus 1973's Xavier isn't just interesting in the context of the X-Men, but also essentially the embodiment of exactly how that young generation felt during that same time period. When you think about it, DOFP is primarily the story of a man who managed to get back on his feet in an era where so many couldn't...and the fact he can't literally do that only adds to the emotion and complexity of it all.

This post I like it!

 

[jokesonm3]

300 for me!

 

[Quasimod0]

1. Easily CA: The First Avenger- I love this film. Feels like a classic Indiana Jones type of adventure, starring my favorite hero. With a very believable romance, and tons of heart.
2. The Rocketeer
3. X-Men: DoFP
4. X-Men: First Class