[EW] 20 worst Comic Book movies

[arscott]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the Nick Fury movie starring David Hasslehoff.

I will say that you can't really count the Justice League TV Pilot or the Old Fantastic 4 movie. Neither one was actually released. (in fact, the FF movie was made by producers who never actually intended to release it. They made it because a licensing contract stipulated that they had to before a certain date, or they'd loose their license).

 

[Silver Moon]

....the never-released original Fantastic Four movie would all certainly be up -- err, down -- there.

Laser beams with curved trajectories, who the human torch can outrun, aren't your thing? I'll say this, I thought the Doctor Doom portrayal in that unreleased version was better than the one in the big budget one.

I didn't think that Batman & Robin was that bad either - Uma Thurmann made a great Posion Ivy and Clooney wasn't awful in the role. Still can't figure out why they felt the need to put nipples on Batman and Robin's costumes (but didn't with Batgirl).

As for Hasslehoff's Nick Fury, the less said the better - we'll all just wait to see Samuel L. Jackson's version of the character and forget that the other ever existed.

 

[ShinHakkaider]

Anyone who puts Daredevil on a "worst of" list has clearly not seen the director's cut on DVD.

The theatrical version? Yeah, not great (though not, I think, as bad as some people believe). But the director's cut? Far better in every respect. Not just better, but good.

And count me among those who think that both X3 and Spider-Man 3 (what's with the 3s always sucking in comic book series?) should be on that list in preference to some of what they've got there.

If they've removed Elektra from the entire movie then, MAYBE I'll check out the Diirector's Cut. Otherwise, there's really no saving that movie.

I understand the hate for X3, but you know what on it's own it's not a terrible movie and doesnt deserve to be on the worst list. It promises the action and it brings the action. Ratner delivered on what a summer action blockbuster was supposed to do and I say this believing that Ratner has to be one of the most bland and stylistically unimpressive filmakers i've seen as of late (his adaptation of Harris' Red Dragon is his best work BY FAR though).

I agree with you on Spider-Man 3 though. Ugh. That was painful. You know it's bad when my 6 year old who loves Spider-Man is not motivated to watch it repeatedly.

Also I know what I'm about to say is sacrilege but it needs to be said, Superman Returns should be on that list as well. It's the absolute worst thing a superhero movie can be...it's boring.

 

[Remus Lupin]

You know, I didn't mind Daredevil, and thought Jennifer Garner was one of the best things about it. However, when Matt opens up that secret chamber in his huge Manhattan loft (paid for, mind you, on the dime of a poverty lawyer!), and we get to see that he has several copies of his daredevil costume, I leaned over to my friend and said, "Is there some place that makes those for him? Because, that might be a lead the police should look into."

 

[Villano]

That would be this version, from 1979:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078937/

They not only ditched the entire WWII aspect of the character, they even eliminated the mask, with him wearing a motorcycle helmet instead. Beyond awful!

Well, depending on how old he is, he might be referring to the 1990 film directed by Albert Pyun. Even though this one did have (a strangely Italian) Red Skull in it, it was just as bad as the 2 Reb Brown movies. Actually, it was worse if you go by the IMDB ratings (2.7 vs 3.6 for the other two).

I hope someone gets off their butts and does a good WWII Cap movie.

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

20 worst of... what, all time? Geez the list of candidates is EXTREMELY long and undistinguished and clearly the author(s?) of the article didn't bother to, like, research the subject or something meaningful like that given the list. But, having read little or none of the source material for ANY of these I feel I am a much better judge of whether the movie actually stank badly enough to qualify for a worst-of list. Not that you all care what I really think in detail, but...

Ghost Rider. Sure, why not? It was at best utterly forgettable. Only memorable thing in it was Sam Elliot just because he's Sam Elliot.

The Shadow. I don't remember it being quite as awful as all that but it definitely IS rooted in the era of its source material and all the potential of that was wasted. I thought Baldwin did an adequate job but the rest of the movie around him was something of a mess.

Barb Wire. Pam Anderson in anything but Baywatch is a waste of film. No, forget that. Baywatch is also a waste of film despite women in bikinis. This movie deserves extra penalties for a) being an awful clone of a movie that should simply NOT be remade again EVER because the original stands alone (Casablanca), and b) wasting the presence of Temuera Morrison who actually can be a fine actor.

Catwoman. Can't really comment. Never saw it. But the fact that I don't CARE to see it despite the presence of one of the most beautiful women on the planet in tight leather speaks volumes.

Brenda Starr. Oh now come ON. Who the hell even knew this one existed?

The Phantom. Now at one point some years ago I actually was reading this strip in the paper. I found the PREMISE to have potential but the execution IN PRINT to be quite laughable. The movie only made it more laughable by insisting on that shockingly lame purple Spandex suit instead of... well, just about anything would have been better. This movie was teh suck.

Daredevil/Elektra. Daredevil was utterly forgettable if for no other reason than it starred Ben Affleck. I can accept him in some movies. This was not one of them. Elektra on the other hand was memorable if for no other reason than it starred Jennifer Garner, another of the most beautiful women on the planet. I could watch her read the phone book and be entertained. Okay, the movie was not very good, but I thought it had a few moments that were alright.

Tank Girl. Now this one I just have to object. Lori Petty might not have carried this movie but she sure gave it a HELL of a shot. Without her performance this would have been the dregs of cinema. With her in the movie it at least had outrageous energy and attitude. Just saw part of it again a few days ago and it's still watchable - but only because of her.

Fantastic Four. It will win no prizes. It has Jessica Alba, one of the MBWOTP. It had brief flashes of energy and interest and a great lack of actual story or plot. It's uninspired "blockbuster" formula junk. But it isn't worst-of. Not quite.

Sheena. Agree on this one. A brief flash of Tanya Roberts boobs are the only thing of merit.

Punisher. Totally forgettable. TOTALLY. Uninteresting and tensionless dreck.

Supergirl. Don't know if I actually saw this one or not. I think I did, which tells you what I thought of it. Not even Helen Slaters gorgeous eyes could save this. For that matter - ALL Superman-derived movies are DRECK except for the 1978 version with Chris Reeve and the reboot from '06. They were at least above average, the former suffering heavily from it being the '70's, the latter from being an adequate but not-inspiring remake.

Barbarella. A ha ha ha ha ha ha! Yeah it belongs on the list.

Howard the Duck. Now the very premise is SO lame it's unspeakable. The costume was even worse. It belongs on the list - but it DID have a few moments of amusement.

Steel. Keep sports stars out of movies. Period. Keep them out of the music business too while we're at it.

Swamp Thing. The article was wrong. This movie was as laughable at the time as it is today. No redeeming value.

Batman & Robin. Okay, enough about the stupid (and they were) nipples on the batsuit. That's too easy. The movie is not bad because of the freakin' nipples. It's bad because it was badly written, badly directed, and poorly acted.

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Oh. My. God. So much potential. So much WASTE. Such overblown production for such... Oh. My. God. Connery was not the worst of it - though he was close. Nor was it Tom Sawyer. It was Captain Nemo in a turban and... just... Oh. My. God... the WASTE!

Superman IV. As I said, all Superman movies but those two are total crap. I couldn't say if this was worse than Supergirl or not, but when you're making those kinds of calls you're WAY down in the gutter.

Judge Dredd. I thought Stallone was AWFUL as his typcial, overblown, macho-persona. And now don't get me wrong - Rob Scheider should never, EVER be allowed to STAR in a movie - but comedic supporting roles like this are what he IS good at and what he should by law be restricted to. Again, lots of wasted potential.

***

Not at all a PROPER worst-of list, but then if someone tells me they hated Tank Girl I'm not gonna argue that they're LYING.

 

[Mark]

I agree with you on Spider-Man 3 though. Ugh. That was painful. You know it's bad when my 6 year old who loves Spider-Man is not motivated to watch it repeatedly.

There's an undeniable truth at the heart of this anecdote.

 

[billd91]

I didn't think that Batman & Robin was that bad either...

You are dead to me.
It's one of the very few movies that I've rented and could not sit all the way through. I usually have a lot of intestinal fortitude for bad movies (I own a copy of Hawk the Slayer on DVD) but I had to shut this one off.

 

[Steel_Wind]

While there are some pretty stinky titles in there, to say that Fantastic Four, Barbarella and Daredevil are in the "worst 20" and not even RATE Red Sonja (which imo, would rate as one of the top 3 worst comic book movies of all time, nm 20) is a travesty.

I'm guessing the list writer probably failed to recognize that Red Sonja was a comic book at all.

 

[Mouseferatu]

If they've removed Elektra from the entire movie then, MAYBE I'll check out the Diirector's Cut. Otherwise, there's really no saving that movie.

*shrug* I didn't mind her, but if that's your criteria then no, you won't enjoy the director's cut, either.

I understand the hate for X3, but you know what on it's own it's not a terrible movie and doesnt deserve to be on the worst list.

Did we see the same X3? It was a muddled, poorly written, disorganized mess that took what could have been the plots for 3 or 4 great (or at least decent) movies and mashed them together, strained out everything good about them, and strung together a useless panorama of what remained. I'll agree that some of the individual scenes were good, but put together as a movie?

Awful, awful, awful.