Essential Super Hero Movie Collection

[Shinobu]

(Talking Strictly Theatrical Release Movies here)

In the past two weeks I've been watching a hero movie a night.  I started with Captain America, then Iron Man, then Thor, and then I went out and bought Iron Man 2 and Avengers (which I didn't own yet) and watched each of those.  I skipped a couple of nights but then the Hulk movie arrived (most recent one) and I watched it (wasn't available at my local store so I ordered from Amazon).  After that I had to go back and watch Avengers again -- it's one of those that I can watch repeatedly I think.

After all of that I wasn't sure where to turn -- but I settled on X-Men 1 and then 2.  I will never watch X3 again, but I stopped at the store on the way home tonight and picked up X-Men First Class, which I had seen once in the theater and liked quite a bit.

I also own all three Spiderman films (not counting the new one).  I haven't actually watched Spiderman 3 yet, I know it wasn't considered great.  But I'll probably watch all three of those on successive nights.

I don't own Dark Knight Rises yet, but probably the next step would be to watch all three of those.

Once upon a time it was hard to name a really good superhero film, let alone talk about a good library of them.  We're kind of in a golden age for superheroes on film (in my opinion anyway). 

I'm curious what people would consider essential additions to a great superhero movie library.  I'd probably consider all of the above (jury's still out on Spiderman 3 obviously, and X3 is definitely out).

I own the first Tim Burton Batman film, and consider it quite good.  I don't have plans to ever own any of the ones that followed, or watch them again.  I own and pretty much like Watchmen, despite it's faults.  I'd probably include that in my own collection even if I can understand why many wouldn't.  I own Hellboy, that's fun so I'd include it.  And I have a real soft spot for Mystery Men.

I'm sure there are a few others I'm forgetting that are good.  Maybe the original Christopher Reeves Superman, it's been so long since I've seen that.  My friend recently told me that I should watch Daredevil, that he really liked it despite bad reviews.  And I did like Kick-Ass a lot, even though I haven't bought it yet.  Think I saw it twice in the theater though.

For theatrical animated releases, it's hard to top The Incredibles of course, and I'm also quite fond of Despicable Me and Megamind (supervillain movies count too!)

So:

Iron Man
Iron Man 2
Thor
Hulk
Captain America
Avengers

X-Men
X2
X-Men:  First Class

Spiderman
Spiderman 2

Batman (Burton)

Batman Begins
The Dark Knight
The Dark Knight Rises

Superman (Christopher Reeves) (maybe?)

Hellboy
Mystery Men
Watchmen
Kick-Ass
The Incredibles
Despicable Me
Megamind

Anyway... curious what people would add or subtract or are flabbergasted that I didn't mention...

(And why isn't there a She-Hulk movie yet?  That's a different topic -- what superhero most deserves a movie.)

[Tenzhi]

Let's see...  I'd add Hellboy 2, and I much preferred The Amazing Spider-Man to the other three.  I didn't care for X-Men or its two sequels (haven't seen First Class).  I'd add the original Punisher movie with Dolph Lundgren as well as Punisher: War Zone - but not the Thomas Jane film, I hated that one.  I like the second Burton Batman (Batman Returns?) as much as the first.  And Batman: Mask of the Phantasm received a theatrical release, so it should be here (though, really, most of the DC Animated offerings are pretty worthwhile even if they didn't get theatrical releases).

I thought Constantine was pretty good, even though I would've preferred it a bit more British.

And Spawn was pretty good except for the cheesy Hell/Malebolgia FX.

[Septipheran]

Thinking a little outside the box, there's a vigilante movie I watched on Netflix several months ago called Boy Wonder. It was on the gritty side- nothing groundbreaking but I thought it was a good watch.

I agree with Tenzhi that the new Amazing Spiderman is better than the Toby McGuire trilogy.

Also on the subject of Iron Man 2, I ran into this neat article about that movie recently. I found it really interesting, if anyone wants to check it out.

http://www.policymic.com/articles/17501/iron-man-3-movie-tony-stark-may-be-the-first-super-hero-republican-and-here-is-why

Also- Superman 2. Probably the only Superman movie I liked. And we can't forget about The Crow.

[Little Green Frog]

I think V for Vendetta should definitely be on the list.

[JaguarX]

I think V for Vendetta should definitely be on the list.

yep.

I'm with the Frog on that one.


And Watchmen should be added. Nitty gritty and not so "eat your wheaties, kids." cheesy like many of them. It's like how it would truly be if people was super heroes, with one that is considered crazy but no nonsense, one that basically a depressed shell of himself, a smart one with a great scheme, all powerful blue guy that is nearly out of touch with humanity, and etc.

[Triplash]

I'd call Hancock essential. Ghost Rider, Fantastic Four.

I really liked Daredevil as well, I honestly can't see what all the hate is about toward that movie. Now the spinoff, Elektra, I liked much less.

If you liked Mystery Men you might wanna check out The Specials. It has a similar tongue-in-cheek vibe to it.

Unbreakable is a superhero movie. An unusual style, but it is.

Bulletproof Monk is one of my personal favorites.


Now, if we were branching out from 'essentials' to 'these also exist', I'd add a couple more. But I'll hide those cause that's not the point.

Spoiler for Hidden:

I've always had a soft spot of my own for Steel, that cheesy one with Shaq. And yes I do know it was terrible... but dangit it had heart.

Speaking of terrible, look up My Super Ex-Girlfriend, Blankman, Meteor Man, and Leonard Part 6. Now that is how you do "so bad it's funny"

Woody Harrelson was in a pretty gritty one called Defendor. He plays a wannabe vigilante instead of a superhero though, and it's more a drama than a hero movie, so it's not for this list.

I haven't seen Green Lantern, but it exists.  >.>

As does the Green Hornet.

And though I personally couldn't stand them, there's also Zoom and Sky High.

[Tenzhi]

And Watchmen should be added.

But then it would be there twice.

Though, personally, I still prefer the giant Lovecraftian psy-alien approach from the book(s), the movie was pretty good.

I also really liked Sin City, though while it was certainly based on a comic book (or graphic novel, if you insist) I couldn't call it a 'superhero' movie.

And I thought League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was a lot of fun, though I saw it before reading the comics.  After reading the comics - I still thought it was fun, so NYEAH! 

[The Fifth Horseman]

Ghost Rider is the poster child of 90's antiheroes. Essential? IDK. Neither movie really does the character justice. Parts come close.

[Triplash]

Neither movie really does the character justice.

To be fair though, few movies could do a pre-existing character justice. Of the major forms of entertainment media, movies get the least amount of time in which to develop characters. The average movie is an hour and a half to two hours long, with occasional ones extending up to three. While that may (arguably) be enough time to establish a character that's original to the movie, it's certainly not enough time to recreate the impression you have of a character that has already been established somewhere else.

An hour and a half? That's only two episodes of a 45 minute tv series. Four episodes if you're talking about a 22 minute series. As for comics and books... well, unless you can read an entire book or a complete line of comics in less than two hours, then a movie is shorter than those as well. Liked the story in a video game you played? Did you get through that entire game the first time you played, while paying close attention to the storyline, in two hours? Movies just don't get the opportunity to do real justice to adaptations very often. Movies won't run for 84 episodes, or 132 issues. The best you can hope for is to capture the "spirit" of the original, that same positive feeling you get when you pick up the book / open the comic / turn on the tv / play the game. But honestly, imho, movies are the major form of entertainment least capable of character depth, precisely because they're over so quickly.

...But yeah, aside from Hancock, I don't know if I'd call any of those essential either. I just thought I'd mention them

[mikoroshi]

I know it's based off of an anime/manga, but "Casshern" is one of my favorites.  The plot is kinda nonsensical (I chalk it up to there being some Japanese cultural mores and narrative aspects in it that I'm just not familiar with) but it is simultaneously beautiful and intense.  I've watched it a buncha times before plotting fight scenes for my books.

[Starsman]

I agree with Tenzhi that the new Amazing Spiderman is better than the Toby McGuire trilogy.

Don't do this to me... really... I have not seen it... didn't see it in theathers... plese... dont make me curious... I dont want to... please!!!!

[Little Green Frog]

Don't do this to me... really... I have not seen it... didn't see it in theathers... plese... dont make me curious... I dont want to... please!!!!

I am sorry to do this to you, but I concur with Tenzhi an Septipheran. The new Spidey movie is great.

[mikoroshi]

I am sorry to do this to you, but I concur with Tenzhi an Septipheran. The new Spidey movie is great.

Thirded

[houtex]

The hive mind has spoken, resistance is just plain silliness and stuff, you must see New Spidey.  It is worthy.

/But I'm not forcin' you... but really totally worth seeing, and bein' on the list, and better than Tobey's.  Although I do think the first Tobey one was pretty good stuff too, then it got sillier and sillier.

[Aggelakis]

I liked the first Toby Spidey A LOT, I think he was a FANTASTIC casting choice. Damn near perfect. I think the first movie was incredibly solid. I ignore the other movies, just like I heard someone thought about making a fourth Indiana Jones (but it never came out). (*glares* IT NEVER CAME OUT.)

I *realllllllly* liked Amazing Spidey, even though I was biased against the kid playing Peter. I didn't like him at all in the Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and I wasn't looking forward to his performance in Spidey. But he surprised me.

[Triplash]

I ignore the other movies, just like I heard someone thought about making a fourth Indiana Jones (but it never came out). (*glares* IT NEVER CAME OUT.)

I heard they were going to put the same kid in it that they were going to put in that Transformers movie that didn't get made. What was it... Stewie LeBeef or something like that?

Weird how stuff with that kid in it never gets made.

[Shinobu]

Well okay, the crowd has spoken... tonight's movie was the Tobey Spiderman.  Tomorrow, the 2nd one (which I remember liking for the most part).  Then Saturday, the third one (which I have never watched... it may turn out to be like that one time that I thought I watched an X3 film, but of course they never made one, right?)

And then by Sunday I'll have to buy Amazing Spiderman so I can watch and compare.  ^_^

But yeah, Tobey is an excellent Peter Parker... that first film, nothing wrong with it really.  Except that the most dramatic scene is between two people in masks, makes it very hard to convey the emotion of the scene.  That always bugged me, although I'm not sure how you could have avoided it.

[Aggelakis]

I heard they were going to put the same kid in it that they were going to put in that Transformers movie that didn't get made. What was it... Stewie LeBeef or something like that?

Weird how stuff with that kid in it never gets made.

Suddenly watching a movie in my head with Stewie Griffin in place of that kid. Instantly 100x better.

[Septipheran]

Am I the only one who thinks that the epitome of Spiderman casting would have been either Donald Glover or Elijah Wood, depending on the approach? (Glover for the last trilogy and Wood for the new films.)

[Tannim222]

Here's a few from my personal library (a mix from fair, nostalgic, to my favorites in no particular order)

The Crow
Blade 1 and 2
Incredibles
V for Vendetta
Watchmen
Superman 1 and 2
Batman (Burton)
Nolan Batman Triology
X-Men 1 and 2
Spiderman 1 and 2
Amazing Spiderman
Iron Man 1 and 2
Thor
Captain America
Avengers
Mega Mind
Mystery Men
Kick-Ass
Conan the Barbarian (from short stories to comic then movie so it counts!)
Punisher (80's for pure nostalgia - wouldn't recommend it outside of anyone who was around to see it first, Thomas Jane was fair, War Zone was brutal but not really a good film per se)
Hancock
Sin City
300
Hellboy 1 and 2
League of Extraordinay Gentlemen

For my personal tastes I despised the following:
Spiderman 3
Fantastic Four 1 and 2
Ghost Rider 1 and 2
Daredevil
Hulk (even though I own it and mostly because of the stupid gamma-dogs and final fight)
Any Crow film after the first
Green Hornet