Ranking Comic Book Movies

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by Super55, Jul 24, 2012.

  1. Super55

    Super55 Ensign Red Shirt

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    After seeing the Dark Knight Rises, I decided to do a quick ranking of all the comic book movies I've ever seen.

    1. The Avengers
    2. The Dark Knight/Iron Man (Tie)
    3. Spider-Man 2
    4. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
    5. X-Men 2
    6. The Dark Knight Rises
    7. Captain America: The First Avenger
    8. Batman (1989)
    9. Superman II
    10. Thor
    11. Spider-Man
    12. Batman Begins
    13. Superman
    14. V For Vendetta
    15. The Amazing Spider-Man
    16. Iron Man 2
    17. Men in Black
    18. X-Men First Class
    19. Batman Returns
    20. X-Men
    21. The Incredible Hulk
    22. 300
    23. Watchmen
    24. Superman Returns
    25. Spider-Man 3
    26. Ghost Rider
    27. The Fantastic Four
    28. Ang Lee’s Hulk
    29. Ghost Rider 2
    30. The Fantastic Four 2 Rise of the Silver Surfer
    31. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II
    32. Men in Black II
    33. League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
    34. Batman Forever
    35. Batman and Robin
    I'd probably put the cutoff for "I actually liked this movie" at about 23 or 24.
    Agree? Disagree? Have a list of your own?
     
  2. Eddie Roth

    Eddie Roth Commodore Commodore

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    Location:
    Germany
    I have lists for everything (or am able to come up with them rather quickly). I for one have not yet seen TDKR, but I did want to mention that I didn't really get the hype surrounding your #1. I found The Avengers to not even be the best Marvel-based film (Thor and all the Spider-Mans are ahead of it for me). I thus still wonder what, in people's opinions, sets it apart so much from all the other ones? Didn't really see it.

    That said, TDKR pending, my list would go something like this (in no specific order, because it's apples and oranges):

    Great films:

    Batman (89)
    Batman Begins
    The Dark Knight
    Spider-Man 2

    Good ones:

    X-Men First Class
    Superman II
    Thor
    Spider-Man
    Spider-Man 3
    Superman
    X-Men
    X-Men 2
    V for Vendetta
    Batman Returns

    Okay ones:

    The Avengers
    Iron Man
    The Amazing Spider-Man
    Superman Returns
    Superman III

    Did little for me:

    Captain America: The First Avenger
    Iron Man 2
    The Incredible Hulk
    Hulk
    Fantastic Four I & II
    Batman Forever

    Bad ones:
    Superman IV
    Batman and Robin (although that one is so beyond good and evil one can hardly call it "bad" by human standards...)
     
  3. DarKush

    DarKush Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Nov 18, 2005
    This is really tough! I've put my top 10, but I already know I'm going to revise it. So it's my top 10 of the moment.

    Superman 2
    The Dark Knight Rises
    Blade
    Spider-Man
    Kick-Ass
    The Avengers
    X2
    Batman
    Iron Man
    Watchmen
     
  4. Peter Q Taggart

    Peter Q Taggart Lieutenant Junior Grade Red Shirt

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    Location:
    Derby, KS
    The Avengers
    The Crow
    Watchmen
    V for Vendetta
    Iron Man
    Batman Begins
    Incredible Hulk
    X2
    X-Men First Class
    Spider-Man 2

    In no particular order except The Avengers at #1
     
  5. Ian Keldon

    Ian Keldon Fleet Captain

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    Dec 22, 2011
    Top 10 (general order, subject to change)

    Avengers
    Iron Man
    Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (was theatrically released)
    Superman
    Superman II
    Fantastic Four
    Spider-Man
    Captain America
    Thor
    The Incredibles
     
  6. Admiral James Kirk

    Admiral James Kirk Writer Admiral

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    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    I'll do my top ten or I'll be here all night.

    1. Superman: The Movie
    2. Kick-Ass
    3. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
    4. Batman Begins
    5. Daredevil
    6. X2
    7. Thor
    8. The Avengers
    9. Iron Man
    10. 300
     
  7. Ian Keldon

    Ian Keldon Fleet Captain

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    ^Does 300 count? That's more mythological/historical than Comic Book
     
  8. Harvey

    Harvey Admiral Admiral

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    Oct 8, 2005
    How can it not count? It's based on a comic book.
     
  9. Kirkman1987

    Kirkman1987 Commodore Commodore

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    Location:
    Missouri
    The Donner Superman films are my clear favorites. After that it gets murky.

    Some top choices though would be

    Watchmen
    Popeye
    Rocketeer
    The West, Burton and Nolan Batman films
     
  10. Harvey

    Harvey Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 8, 2005
    If we're talking comic book movies, I think American Splendor is rather good. Of course, it's not a superhero movie, so it tends to get overlooked when it comes to this sort of thing.

    Along those lines, I also like Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, A History of Violence, and (to a lesser extent) Road to Perdition.
     
  11. Shazam!

    Shazam! Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    : |
     
  12. Tom Hendricks

    Tom Hendricks Vice Admiral Premium Member

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    I wanted to limited myself to a top 10 but that is really hard when you consider the movies. So I have a few ties,

    1. Batman Begins - Still my favorite of the Nolan Batman trilogy.
    2. Watchmen - I know has some issues but love it.
    3. Iron Man - Without the success and vision of this movie, you have no Avengers.
    4. Captain America - Took something that should be campy and made a great movie.
    5. The Avengers - While I loved it, there was still something off about it.
    6. The Dark Knight & Dark Knight Rises - I think as they went along, both just got crushed under their own weight.
    7. Batman & Batman Returns - A product of their times, still hold up today.
    8. Spiderman & Spiderman 2 - The most fun of all the comic book movies.
    9. X-Men 2 & X-men: First Class - Good solid comic book movies, making you want more.
    10. Superman & Superman 2 - The two movies that set the mark for what superhero movies could be.

    PS. Haven't seen the new Spiderman movie yet, so this could change things.
     
    Last edited: Jul 25, 2012
  13. Admiral James Kirk

    Admiral James Kirk Writer Admiral

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    Location:
    Tucson, AZ

    I kept debating that myself. However the title of the thread is "Comic Book Movies" not "Superhero Movies" so I had to put 300 on there.
     
  14. Crystalline Entity

    Crystalline Entity Lieutenant Red Shirt

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    Feb 18, 2004
    Note: I admit I'm probably Nolan-biased, but I tried my best to be objective otherwise. :)

    1. Batman Begins

    From origin to beginning, the highest-quality movie overall

    2. Superman the Movie

    The best origin story, an iconic portrayal of Superman

    3. The Dark Knight

    Legendary villain performance by Ledger, a relentless story with a gut-wrenching end

    4. Spider Man 2

    Best of the Spider-Man movies, terrific villain, you really feel for Peter and MJ's relationship from the lows to the highs

    5. The Dark Knight Rises


    An epic end to the Nolan trilogy, extremely dense (perhaps too much so), but notable for concluding the journey of Bruce Wayne.

    6. X-Men 2

    The best of the X-Men movies, Wolverine is unleashed!

    7. Batman (89)

    Stylish and impactful, does things different than many comic book movies today by not starting with the origin. Perhaps does not age as well, but still did some things better than the Nolan trilogy

    8. The Avengers

    A terrific action-fest, with smart and hilarious performances by all. Dependent on having seen all the other Marvel films, and lacks the deeper substance of the films above it.

    9. Iron Man

    Arresting performance by RDJ, snappy and fun, main weakness is a subpar villain

    10. Superman 2

    Zod, Ursa and Non together are perhaps the most formidable supervillains of all. And though it was not part of Donner's vision, how Superman beats them is one of my favorite comeuppances of all time. Some of the humor doesn't age as well.

    Honorable Mentions:

    - The Incredibles: in many ways superior to the movies listed above, but being animated it can't be directly compared

    - Blade: dark and stylish, but doesn't stick the ending. Brad Douriff is great, but his final battle with Snipes is not.

    - X-Men: First Class - terrific performances by McAvoy, Fassbender and Bacon, with a stylish setting. Ending ties too closely to the first X-Men.