Episode 1482 Talkback - Top Five Comic Book Movies (Redux)

Adam_Murdough

We've done it once before (in Episode 25!), but it was SO long ago, and the genre has expanded SO much, and the assortment of participating Geeks is SO different, we thought we'd try it again: it's Comic Geek Speak's Top Five Comic Book Movies, take two! We'll supply the discussion, digression, declamation, and sprawling cinematic sidebars on our favorite comic-book-based films; you supply the popcorn! (2:02:11)

Listen here.

fredzilla

Tom King: 0-2 on CGS openers (2014 season). Which might sound bad, but since the last episode was so much fun, this is actually a great sign. Looking forward to listening to this.

Matt

If I was there Raimi's first Spider-man movie would've been on my list. Though I disagree with what you think of Superman (1978), Spider-man did that for me. To the point where the new series of movies feel like a cheap imitation.

I agree with Chris, TDKR was a masterful movie. It further showed why this realistic take was brilliant. Even though I'd never want to see it in the comic books, the whole journey was amazing. Chris, if you enjoy the ending scene, listen to the song 'Rise' from the soundtrack; a masterpiece. The emotion the ending montage generates for me is amazing.

M

i_am_scifi

In no particular order:

1. Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World
2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
3. Avengers
4. X-Men: Days of Future Past
5. The Nolan Batman Trilogy

Honorable Mentions: Iron Man, X2: X-Men United, Spider-Man 2, The Amazing Spider-Man, Ghost World, Road To Perdition

Greg

I'm not so sure I could come up with a top five, I don't often go out of my way to rewatch movies once I've seen them on the big screen and often watch them only once or twice at home. Even with Avengers being so good, I've only seen it two or three times since it was released on blu-ray/dvd.

Avengers would be my number one but I have no clue what two through five would be.

Matt

In no particular order:

Avengers
Winter Soldier
Nolan's Dark Knight saga (has both defined & turned me off to any other live-action interpretations)
Spider-man (again, this movie & the sequel have turned me off to other interpretations)
(Tie) The Wolverine & X-Men: DOFP

M

beng5007

Top Five:

The Dark Knight Trilogy
Superman 2
Spiderman 2
X:Men First Class
Batman (Burton)

matchkitJOHN

I think I am going to listen to ep 25 before this to see what the lists were then.

mguy1977

Top 5:

1. Superman The Movie
2. Superman II
3. Batman '89
4. Superman Returns
5. Superman III

Matthew

fredzilla

I think I'll agree with many of the lists in the episode (only about half way through listening), but I have a feeling many of the films are going to be from the big two--which they should be, because they're great films, but I'm going to go a little more outside the "mainstream."

(No particular order)
Hellboy
Hellboy II
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Daredevil (Directors Cut)
Dick Tracy

Edit: And just as I posted this The Shadow and Mystery Men get mentioned! Also, as much as I want to see the most recent films, I'll most have to wait for the DVD.

Mr_Cosmic

No particular order:

The Dark Knight
Superman The Movie
Winter Soldier
Iron Man
Avengers

If you ask me in August I'm sure GotG will be on that list.

Thor_El

My Top 5:

1. Thor
2. Thor 2: The Dark World
3. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
4. The Avengers
5. The Incredibles

Chris, we share a love for the Thor character and mythos, and as such I unapologetically and unabashedly put those movies on the top of my lists any time a discussion of superhero movies comes up. I waited my entire life... My. Entire. Life. to see Thor done justice on the silver screen and I am thankful that it finally happened. When we saw Asgard for the first time (and you can verify this with my wife) I was very nearly brought to tears.

dubbat138

In no kind of order

American Splendor
Ghost World
Sin City
Watchmen
Captain America Winter Soldier

luckymustard

Dark Knight Trilogy is #1 for me.

Those three in order from favorite to least are:

1. Dark Knight
2. Dark Knight Rises
3. Batman Begins

Then after that, in no particular order:

Superman 1 & 2
Avengers
Watchmen
Captain America: Winter Soldier
Batman (1989)

Great episode guys! Gonna revisit any other top 5s?

dubbat138

Crap forgot History of Violence on my list. Replace Watchmen with it.

rebis

I'm very happy that Mystery Men made it on one of the lists.
Another movie in the same vein as Mystery Men is The Specials. That movie has a great cast. Very underrated and under appreciated.
Road to Perdition is a great choice.
The Incredables.
And I'll finish with The Batman (1966).

Brack

My picks would be:

Mind Game
One Piece - Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island
Akira
Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World
A History of Violence

playdohsrepublic

Wow. This episode made me feel like such a negative nancy. I wanted to scream criticisms about movies that made the top 5's that I unequivocally disliked (one in particular). But the spirit of things I'll list my top 5 instead:

In no particular order, and subject to change based on my mood:

Spider-man 2
Batman '89
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Iron Man
Dredd

(Other movies that could be in there, Avengers, cap 1, Spider-Man, x-men first class, tank girl, the list could go on.)

Matt

playdohsrepublic said:

Wow. This episode made me feel like such a negative nancy. I wanted to scream criticisms about movies that made the top 5's that I unequivocally disliked (one in particular). But the spirit of things I'll list my top 5 instead:

In no particular order, and subject to change based on my mood:

Spider-man 2
Batman '89
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Iron Man
Dredd

(Other movies that could be in there, Avengers, cap 1, Spider-Man, x-men first class, tank girl, the list could go on.)

I don't think there can be Top 5 lists without dislikes & criticisms of other's choices. That's a given.

M

TheOriginalGMan

Mystery Men
300
Watchmen
Batman (1966)
Captain America: The First Avenger

JDick

Why are people here listing Nolan's DK trilogy as one movie?

Matt

JDick said:

Why are people here listing Nolan's DK trilogy as one movie?

The same reason I enjoy Star Wars as a great movie, but prefer Empire Strikes Back as my favorite chapter in the entire Star Wars saga.

M.

MacGillicutty

In no particular order:

Avengers
Winter Soldier
Dark Knight
Hellboy and/or Hellboy 2
Superman

LibraryBoy

My precisely ordered Top 5, at least as it stands at this very second:

1. Batman (1966)
2. Superman: The Movie
3. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
4. Avengers
5. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Honorable Mentions (in no order):
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
Iron Man
Captain America: The First Avenger
Superman 2
Superman 3 (yes, really)
X-Men: First Class
X2
The Amazing Spider-Man
Spider-Man
The Adventures of Captain Marvel
American Splendor
Popeye
Flash Gordon

kiwijase

I liked Tom Kings inclusion of Doctor Strangelove. It was a nice left field contribution that got me thinking about Creepshow, another EC inspired movie. Written by Stephen King and directed by George A. Romero, this 1982 film perfectly captures the spirit of the original comics. Highly recommended.

Lance

I am so surprised no one mentioned The Rocketeer. Though it no way matched the comic's story, it does capture the heart of the comic. I can watch that movie everytime it is shown on TV. I think even Dave Stevens was really pleased with the final film.

Matt

Lance said:

I am so surprised no one mentioned The Rocketeer. Though it no way matched the comic's story, it does capture the heart of the comic. I can watch that movie everytime it is shown on TV. I think even Dave Stevens was really pleased with the final film.

It tops my list of pulp character movies, followed by The Phantom.

M

JDick

Matt said:

JDick said:

Why are people here listing Nolan's DK trilogy as one movie?

The same reason I enjoy Star Wars as a great movie, but prefer Empire Strikes Back as my favorite chapter in the entire Star Wars saga.

M.

But those Star Wars movies are not one big movie and I don't understand your answer. You could call the original Lord of the Rings Trilogy one movie. They were filmed together and the end was known at the outset. You could call Kill Bill Vol 1 and 2 one movie. You could even call the Matrix 2 and 3 one movie.
The Dark Knight Trilogy, while great, was not plotted together and Rises certainly wasn't conceived at the same time as Begins and therefore, to me, cannot be called one movie.

bralinator

Another fun episode guys! It was also quite fun to go back and listen to Episode 25 from May 27, 2005 which featured a similar discussion with Jamie D, Shane, Scott Powers, Rios and Deemer along with a Los Comic Geekos español cross-over. The comic book movies discussion begins around 29:00 minutes in with the LCG crew giving their top 3 comic movies and then the CGS crew responds around 44:00 minutes in with their picks.

Now, here we are 9 years later and only a few of those films remain in my top selections.

My Top 5 Comic Book Movies:
1. The Avengers
2. Captain America: Winter Soldier
3. Superman I
4. Spider-Man 2
5. The Dark Knight

Alternates:
Iron Man
X-Men: DoFP
X-Men: United
Captain America: First Avenger
Thor

Honorable Mentions:
Creepshow
300
Men In Black
Dredd
Flash Gordon (excellent selection by Eberle - just bought the "Savior of the Universe edition DVD on ebay after listening to this episode)

No disrespect meant to Danielle or Los Comic Geekos, but I presumed from the title that these lists would just cover motion pictures based on comic books, comic strips, or comic book properties that preceded the films. So as much as I love the Incredibles and regard Boom! Studios' comic book sequel, I'm not in the camp that would qualify it as a "comic book movie". I wouldn't have included Unbreakable either. Both are super-hero movies yes, but no more of a comic book movie than Road to Perdition, A History of Violence or Sin City were super-hero movies. (btw I think Sin City is possibly the best translation from comic page to film in the entire bunch.)

It was also mentioned there may be a sequel in the works, and according to this link, there is an Incredibles 2 in development (as of March 2014) with Brad Bird at the helm.

Matt

JDick said:

Matt said:

JDick said:

Why are people here listing Nolan's DK trilogy as one movie?

The same reason I enjoy Star Wars as a great movie, but prefer Empire Strikes Back as my favorite chapter in the entire Star Wars saga.

M.

But those Star Wars movies are not one big movie and I don't understand your answer. You could call the original Lord of the Rings Trilogy one movie. They were filmed together and the end was known at the outset. You could call Kill Bill Vol 1 and 2 one movie. You could even call the Matrix 2 and 3 one movie.
The Dark Knight Trilogy, while great, was not plotted together and Rises certainly wasn't conceived at the same time as Begins and therefore, to me, cannot be called one movie.

Star Wars is the name of the saga.

TDK trilogy has a beginning, middle, & end to the story. You don't have to see it as 1 story, but its how I perceive it.

M

JDick

So you consider the SW prequels part of this great movie?
I assumed when you said Star Wars you meant a New Hope. Sorry.