With recent Jonah Hex comic book movie coming out (I might see it since it looks pretty interesting), I started thinking about comic book movies. There are a bunch of good ones out there, like The Dark Knight and my all time favorite Dick Tracy. However, for every good comic book adaption, there are at least 3 bad films. Maybe its the acting, the its a poor adaption, its not interesting, or it could be a number of any other flaws that bog the movie down. So, let's get to it, what are some of the worst comic books movies out there that you have seen?
I've already went off on a rage on The Spirit in a movie review, so I won't talk about it, but instead mention two films that are often ignored. The first one being the first Hulk film in the 2000s. Remember that? No? I don't blame you. I remember seeing this film when I was younger and while I thought it had some decent effects, I just remembered I couldn't get into it. I don't seem to remember any villian from it in particular that really stood out. Though I say the biggest problem for it was that it wasn't memorable at all, just really 'meh'.
The other film is Son of the Mask. The Mask is more or less based off a comic book series, so in return, I say the sequel is also a comic book movie in some sense. I think we all know why it blows, but same reasons that I had a problem with the first Hulk also apply here with it being unremarkable. Also, it just was not funny at all! Reeeeaaaaalllllyyyy not funny.
Elektra was boring as hell. Other than that, the ones I watched were all OK. The best one was definitely V for Vendetta.
Both Fantastic Four movies and Daredevil spring to mind. Both the Fantastic Four movies were pretty cheesey and not very well acted, at least the second one had Jessica Alba and pretty visuals. As for the Daredevil I remember it being pretty boring and I didn't think Ben Affleck was very good as him either.
Electra and the first Fantastic 4 movie. Boring as hell both of them.
The best in my opinion was V for Venteta, the Mask and Spiderman 1 and 2 was pretty cool.
~George
Man-Thing
Return of the Swamp Thing
Batman Forever - Batman & Robin
Spawn
"Catwoman" also stands out as being particularly awful.
Bimbos in Time- BOOOOORING!!!!!
In the 70's there was a Dr. Strange tv movie that was pretty bad. The SFX were actually ok by 70's standards but they just didn't get anything else right. There was a bit of amusing 70's New Age psychobabble that's a tiny bit entertaining and Jessica Walters from Arrested Development plays the main villain, Morgan le Fay, but otherwise it was a big disappointment. You can marvel at it's suck-ti-tude for free at Youtube.
I know there is a new animated Dr. Strange that came out around 2007 but I haven't seen that yet. There are also reports that Guillermo del Toro is interested in making a live action Dr. Strange movie.
Since I hate most of them, that's a tough question. I'll definately cite Fantastic Four, The Hulk, and Catwoman as particularly horrid.
Anyone that mentions any of the Hulks or Fantastic Four obviously hasn't seen enough superhero movies to really chime in.
You want bad?
Catwoman
Man-Thing
Howard the Duck
Steel
Barbwire
Generation X
Archie to Riverdale and back again
Lady Death
any of the Crow movies after the 1st one
Quote from: Chainsaw midget on June 16, 2010, 10:29:14 AM
Anyone that mentions any of the Hulks or Fantastic Four obviously hasn't seen enough superhero movies to really chime in.
You want bad?
Catwoman
Man-Thing
Howard the Duck
Steel
Barbwire
Generation X
Archie to Riverdale and back again
Lady Death
any of the Crow movies after the 1st one
I'd happily forgotten about Steel, Howard the Duck, Man-Thing and Barbed Wire. Those weren't just bad, they were
offensively bad. I haven't seen the rest but I can imagine how screwed up they are. I think they were made at a time when studios were churning out movies just to establish the rights.
Quote from: Hammock Rider on June 16, 2010, 10:36:33 AM
Quote from: Chainsaw midget on June 16, 2010, 10:29:14 AM
Anyone that mentions any of the Hulks or Fantastic Four obviously hasn't seen enough superhero movies to really chime in.
You want bad?
Catwoman
Man-Thing
Howard the Duck
Steel
Barbwire
Generation X
Archie to Riverdale and back again
Lady Death
any of the Crow movies after the 1st one
I'd happily forgotten about Steel, Howard the Duck, Man-Thing and Barbed Wire. Those weren't just bad, they were offensively bad. I haven't seen the rest but I can imagine how screwed up they are. I think they were made at a time when studios were churning out movies just to establish the rights.
Funny thing is, I would rather watch Howard the Duck than either of the Hulks. The Hulks were CGI-laden cookie-cutter comic book genre movies and I hate them mainly because of that. Howard the Duck was not a genre movie because it was way before the comic book movie saturation, and besides, it's a godawful movie that stands head and shoulders above the rest and is entertainingly bad for reasons that the Hulks will never be. So, it's all subjective I guess.
The CAPTAIN AMERICA movie from the 1980s with Matt Salenger is dreadful (but it's a fun bad movie to watch). I remember seeing a poster of Captain America's shield that said "Coming Soon" hanging in the lobby of a local cinema. A week or two later the poster was gone, the movie never came to the theater, and it was on video shortly thereafter. I rented it and it was putrid . . . but I will buy it if it gets a DVD release.
There was also a made-for-television WONDER WOMAN movie starring Cathy Lee Crosby and Ricardo Montalban that was pretty bad. It was made a few years before the Lynda Carter series.
Quote from: The Burgomaster on June 16, 2010, 12:43:12 PM
There was also a made-for-television WONDER WOMAN movie starring Cathy Lee Crosby and Ricardo Montalban that was pretty bad. It was made a few years before the Lynda Carter series.
Whoa whoa whoa! There was a Wonder Woman movie?! Great! Now I have to see this to believe it!
There were also two incredibly cheesy (but fun IMO) Captain America films starring Reb Brown!!! The second Captain America II: Death Too Soon actually had Christopher Lee in it?! They put together several Spider-Man TV movies from the old cheesy 70s Spider-Man live action series. Bad comic books movies: Hard to beat Batman & Robin in terms of the big budget ones.
I heard rumors that someone wanted to make a movie of The Sandman. If that were to happen, I'd officially just hand in my resignation. No more being part of the human race anymore. That being said, I'd have to say Ghost Rider was probably one of the most awful things I've ever seen.
Quote from: InformationGeek on June 16, 2010, 12:48:39 PM
Quote from: The Burgomaster on June 16, 2010, 12:43:12 PM
There was also a made-for-television WONDER WOMAN movie starring Cathy Lee Crosby and Ricardo Montalban that was pretty bad. It was made a few years before the Lynda Carter series.
Whoa whoa whoa! There was a Wonder Woman movie?! Great! Now I have to see this to believe it!
Don't get too excited . . . they invented a different costume (nothing like the one in the comic book) for her for the movie. In fact, the whole things bears little resemblance to the comic book. You can watch it on YouTube. Here's the intro:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMJrPUFZ2xQ
Worst thing about The Spirit? There could have been a GREAT Spirit movie; Brad Bird was trying to get the rights to it for years, but it kept falling through. Miller's movie wasn't even The Spirit, it was Sin City, Jr.
I didn't mind the Fantastic 4 movies, guess I'm in the minority there. I thought they were just average.
Worst I've seen? Probably Catwoman and The Crow sequels (although I didn't mind "Salvation"). Spawn was pretty awful but I liked Leguizamo as Clown.
Not the worst but the biggest disappointments: XMen 3, Spiderman 3 and Wolverine.
Quote from: xJaseSFx on June 16, 2010, 01:11:09 PM
Bad comic books movies: Hard to beat Batman & Robin in terms of the big budget ones.
I found the Shcumacher (no clue how you spell that) Batman movies to be far better made and over all entertaining than the Nolan Batman movies. They felt like nice big budget versions of the old Adam West show.
How could we forget the Video game turned into comic turned into movie that id DOOM?
Quote from: Bull on June 17, 2010, 10:51:41 AM
How could we forget the Video game turned into comic turned into movie that id DOOM?
The name speaks for itself.
Ghost rider...What a steaming pile of crap. :lookingup:
The first Hulk movie was bad...BAD. The angier he gets, the bigger he gets? Uhm...no. The second one did it more accurately and he didn't look as cheesy bright green, which was nice. Plus he actually had an identifiable villain (though obviously slightly altered in movie form) in Abomination.
Daredevil was bad too, but I think it was more with just how they tried to do it. Maybe the reboot will do better, or maybe not.
The Batman and Robin movie was bad because of the insane amount of bad puns used throughout the movie. "Okay everybody, CHILL!" "You're not putting me in the cooler!" "What killed the dinosaurs? The ICE AGE!" *groan*
Catwoman I refuse to see as it was easy to tell it would be bad from the get go.
Seriously though, most of the more recent isn't the worst I'd say. A lot of the early Marvel movies before Blade deserve that honor really. The already mentioned Dr. Strange, the Captain America movies, the Dolph Lundgren Punisher movie...
Personally, I think "Daredevil" is wonderful - I watch it repeatedly for Colin Farrell and Michael Clarke Duncan's wonderfully unrestrained cheesy performances. I mean, I really enjoy it - it's like real "Camp" as opposed to someone doing camp on purpose. I must have watched the scene in the bar where Farrell kills a man with paperclips over 40 times. Ditto the scene where he kills the old woman on the airplane with a peanut. This is ART!! Man, aren't we all here for poo like that?? I think "Daredevil" is a highly entertaining film & treasure my copy of it. So there . . .
Howard the Duck, on the other hand, is one of the few films I paid full price to see in the theatre & then walked out on -
peter johnson/denny i'm irish, but i'm not a leprechaun, if you wanna fight then let's get it on . . . crane . . .
I prefer the Dolph Lundgren Punisher movie to the one with Thopmas Jane and Travolta. that was VERY painful to watch.
Quote from: Neville on June 18, 2010, 02:05:22 AM
I prefer the Dolph Lundgren Punisher movie to the one with Thopmas Jane and Travolta. that was VERY painful to watch.
I like the Thomas Jane Punisher movie, but I enjoy the Dolph Lundgren version much more.
Let's not forget the Incredible Hulk TV films either: The Incredible Hulk Returns, The Trial of the Incredible Hulk and Death of the Incredible Hulk. There was a cheesy version of Thor in Returns and a cheesy version of Daredevil in Trial yet you know I think I actually preferred these old TV series inspired films over the 2003 Hulk film anyday and I might even like them better than the not half-bad The Incredible Hulk film from 2008. There was also a TV film version of the Justice League that was pretty bad but enjoyable in terms of cheesiness factor.
1984's SHEENA: QUEEN OF THE JUNGLE with ex-Charlie's Angel Tanya Roberts and Soap's Ted Wass is one of the funniest bad movies around.
Quote from: Neville on June 18, 2010, 02:05:22 AM
I prefer the Dolph Lundgren Punisher movie to the one with Thopmas Jane and Travolta. that was VERY painful to watch.
I thought I was the only one! :cheers:
The only thing I like about the Jane version is the little song the one hitman performs in the diner. And yet, all my guy friends keep trying to persuade me that the movie is awesome.
Quote from: MST3KFan on June 17, 2010, 08:59:34 PM
The first Hulk movie was bad...BAD. The angier he gets, the bigger he gets? Uhm...no.
Hate to say it, but that's something that's been used in the comics quite a bit. The movie was a tad more prominent with it, true, but it's not something they made up.
JONAH HEX is on the perimeter of this category.
Almost forgot Constantine.
They get the character's look wrong, the title of the movie wrong, his personality wrong, his origins and motivation wrong, his nationality wrong, make him into a second rate action hero, and on top of all of that, the whole thing was just plain boring.
Quote from: Flick James on June 16, 2010, 10:46:54 AM
Quote from: Hammock Rider on June 16, 2010, 10:36:33 AM
Quote from: Chainsaw midget on June 16, 2010, 10:29:14 AM
Anyone that mentions any of the Hulks or Fantastic Four obviously hasn't seen enough superhero movies to really chime in.
You want bad?
Catwoman
Man-Thing
Howard the Duck
Steel
Barbwire
Generation X
Archie to Riverdale and back again
Lady Death
any of the Crow movies after the 1st one
I'd happily forgotten about Steel, Howard the Duck, Man-Thing and Barbed Wire. Those weren't just bad, they were offensively bad. I haven't seen the rest but I can imagine how screwed up they are. I think they were made at a time when studios were churning out movies just to establish the rights.
Funny thing is, I would rather watch Howard the Duck than either of the Hulks. The Hulks were CGI-laden cookie-cutter comic book genre movies and I hate them mainly because of that. Howard the Duck was not a genre movie because it was way before the comic book movie saturation, and besides, it's a godawful movie that stands head and shoulders above the rest and is entertainingly bad for reasons that the Hulks will never be. So, it's all subjective I guess.
This thread inspired me to watch some H the D online and on further review I feel I agree with you Flick James. The fact that they acted those scenes talking to a real guy wearing a real duck suit instead of talking to a blank green screen makes the movie more fun. That scene where Leah Thompson was in bed with Howard, how did she keep a striaght face? You really don't wonder "How did they do that" so much with CGI.
i think we have a consensus on Catwoman as a huge disappointment
also will have to say Daredevil
and also "300" was disappointing, i liked the effects, but it was too uber-macho. now keep in mind i like looking at men, but while watching i kept thinking--this was made by a gay man, a person who has embraced spartan culture a little too much, and lo and behold when i saw the extras i found my suspicion correct
a lot mentioned the Hulk which I didn't hate, but i got a early ripped copy where in some scenes the cgi wasn't finished--particularly in the desert scene and suddenly you can see hulk's butt (no cgi shorts) so I always wondered how the "finished" one would be (other bad cgi moments too)
and someone mentioned that they would hate to see sandman made--i'd love to see this made. yes there is a 80-90% chance that it would be terrible. but what if it beats the odds-- like "sin city" and turns out great? or maybe if they made a drawn version.
SUPERMAN IV THE QUEST FOR PEACE, after the first two movies were great the third blah and this one absolutly dreadful
Quote from: Chainsaw midget on June 16, 2010, 10:29:14 AM
Anyone that mentions any of the Hulks or Fantastic Four obviously hasn't seen enough superhero movies to really chime in.
You want bad?
Catwoman
Man-Thing
Howard the Duck
Steel
Barbwire
Generation X
Archie to Riverdale and back again
Lady Death
any of the Crow movies after the 1st one
For a moment you had me thinking therewas a live action version of Lady Death. I take it you refer to the animated one.
More on topic, there was a Flash movie somewhere in the 80s, more of a pilot for a TV series. It made me decide that maybe I didn't need to see every comic book adaptation.
Has anybody already mentioned that awful tv movie about the Justice League of America ?
I must be one of the few who likes Howard the Duck. I saw it in the theatre when I was a kid and I liked it so much I begged my mom until she let me go back and watch it again. I thought Howard was hilarious.
Now that I am older I can appreciate it for being cheesy.
Quote from: Bmeansgood on June 24, 2010, 10:17:11 PM
I must be one of the few who likes Howard the Duck. I saw it in the theatre when I was a kid and I liked it so much I begged my mom until she let me go back and watch it again. I thought Howard was hilarious.
Now that I am older I can appreciate it for being cheesy.
It was one of my favorite movies when I was little. I still like it now, though not nearly as much.
(http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/uncyclopedia/images/6/65/Howard_the_Duck_zombie.jpg)
Also, Howard the Duck ate Ash from the Evil Dead movies in Army of Darkness VS Evil Dead. Yeah.
It's an "alternate" version of Ash that got that treatment though.
Quote from: Chainsaw midget on June 21, 2010, 09:09:54 AM
Almost forgot Constantine.
They get the character's look wrong, the title of the movie wrong, his personality wrong, his origins and motivation wrong, his nationality wrong, make him into a second rate action hero, and on top of all of that, the whole thing was just plain boring.
So true.
They weren't even trying !
I repeat - Daredevil is wonderful!! Why so much hate for this film? It holds up as well as anything else out there now - I never did get why this film in particular earns so much wrath -
peter johnson/denny leprechaun
Quote from: peter johnson on June 27, 2010, 12:46:46 AM
I repeat - Daredevil is wonderful!! Why so much hate for this film? It holds up as well as anything else out there now - I never did get why this film in particular earns so much wrath -
peter johnson/denny leprechaun
Only the director's cut is great. I can see why the version that made it to theaters wasn't as well liked.