Superhero Movies

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John
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Superhero Movies

Post by John » Fri Mar 29, 2013 4:38 am

Webslingers, Do-Gooders, Arch Nemesis and men who just want to watch the world burn....

Welcome to the Superhero Movie Thread!

Do you like Superhero Movies? What movie is your favorite?

Who are you dying to see get their own movie? Who's your favorite villain? Some of your favorite lines?

Address it all here! It seems the "fad" of superhero movies is lasting quite a long time. While it might not be here forever, there is plenty of money in the biz to keep it going.

So far my favorite Superhero movie overall was The Dark Night, mainly due to some amazing portrayals of both the Joker and Two Face. I'm not even really a Batman fan, but this movie sucked me in completely. How about you?

I can turn this into a rotational weekly topic thread as well if that is easier. Please lend me feedback if y'all prefer that.
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RocketScientist
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Re: Superhero Movies

Post by RocketScientist » Fri Mar 29, 2013 12:45 pm

I'm more X-Men & Avengers. I didn't like Nolan's Bat-films at all, other than Heath and Cillian Murphy. I didn't see the third one.

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Re: Superhero Movies

Post by John » Fri Mar 29, 2013 6:35 pm

The X-men kinda lulled for me. Though first class was exceptional. I had some issues with it, but McAvoy and Fassbender definitely weren't any of them.

I liked Kick Ass too. Pretty funny and very sharp ascetic.
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Re: Superhero Movies

Post by RocketScientist » Fri Mar 29, 2013 7:34 pm

I didn't see either of those. lol. But I love Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen. Patrick is so brilliant that he out-acted the Royal Shakespeare Company in Hamlet. When I watched that it was like everybody else was acting (including David Tennant, who was very awesome as Hamlet), and Patrick Stewart was just being Claudius. If that makes sense. And Ian was even enjoyable in The Prisoner, which was kind of awful.

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Re: Superhero Movies

Post by John » Sat Mar 30, 2013 8:20 am

I just think they are both great. I am very interested in the next Superman movie. He's just so goody goody that I feel a lot of people have a hard time connecting with him. I have no idea how they are gonna pull it off, but I swear to God they better not mess up Lois Lane this time.
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Re: Superhero Movies

Post by TinSoldier » Sun Mar 31, 2013 2:01 pm

The Watchmen, Kickass, and Hancock.

But I like most of the others as well (X-Men, first Spiderman series, Ironman, not-Nolan Batman, Avengers).

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Re: Superhero Movies

Post by DrinksTooMuchCoffee » Sun Mar 31, 2013 2:26 pm

Ooh, does Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon count as superheroes? :)

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Re: Superhero Movies

Post by Arydra » Sun Mar 31, 2013 3:38 pm

My favorite superhero movie is Hancock.

And no Drinks, that movie could never be counted as a superhero movie.
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Re: Superhero Movies

Post by DrinksTooMuchCoffee » Sun Mar 31, 2013 4:05 pm

They got more super powers than Batman. :ktongue:

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Re: Superhero Movies

Post by Arydra » Sun Mar 31, 2013 4:56 pm

That is not really saying much. To me, for a character to be a "superhero" he or she must be regarded as a hero by a great many people. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was about monk/warrior/things who could ignore the laws of physics for no apparent reason.
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Re: Superhero Movies

Post by DrinksTooMuchCoffee » Sun Mar 31, 2013 6:23 pm

Arydra wrote:To me, for a character to be a "superhero" he or she must be regarded as a hero by a great many people. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was about monk/warrior/things who could ignore the laws of physics for no apparent reason.
Well that would eliminate a large part of the Marvel universe right there. Studying secret martial arts manuals that teach you to do that is more of a foundation than, "I dunno, we're mutants for some reason from whom the laws of physics run in terror", and not more magical than the characters actually powered by magic. The main characters in CTHD were also somewhat famous, at least in certain circles, and "widely known as a hero" would eliminate many of the other superheroes mentioned in this thread. I think you're just bigoted against heroes who wear pajamas instead of having their underwear on the outside. :P

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Re: Superhero Movies

Post by Arydra » Sun Mar 31, 2013 6:31 pm

DrinksTooMuchCoffee wrote:Well that would eliminate a large part of the Marvel universe right there. Studying secret martial arts manuals that teach you to do that is more of a foundation than, "I dunno, we're mutants for some reason from whom the laws of physics run in terror", and not more magical than the characters actually powered by magic. The main characters in CTHD were also somewhat famous, at least in certain circles, and "widely known as a hero" would eliminate many of the other superheroes mentioned in this thread.
Actually, you do make a good point. What does make a superhero a superhero?
DrinksTooMuchCoffee wrote:I think you're just bigoted against heroes who wear pajamas instead of having their underwear on the outside. :P
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Re: Superhero Movies

Post by TinSoldier » Sun Mar 31, 2013 6:42 pm

Superheroes are basically vigilantes, though -- they specifically exist to fight crime and/or super criminals and/or threats to a country's or a planet's population as a whole. However reluctantly.

In Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the fight was over a sword IIRC.

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Re: Superhero Movies

Post by RocketScientist » Sun Mar 31, 2013 8:56 pm

Superheroes: They need good costumes, and I have to like them. Looking like Nathan Fillion or Adrian Pasdar is also a plus. :P

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Re: Superhero Movies

Post by DrinksTooMuchCoffee » Sun Mar 31, 2013 9:43 pm

TinSoldier wrote:Superheroes are basically vigilantes, though -- they specifically exist to fight crime and/or super criminals and/or threats to a country's or a planet's population as a whole. However reluctantly.
So is Super Fuzz disallowed because he wasn't a vigilante? And some superheroes have been contracted by governments, although often that leads them at least to ambiguous hero status from enforcing actual laws, which can be not so heroic. Working for a secret unofficial government agency is entirely different, however. :) Many superheroes also primarily concern themselves with just their particular city (town, village, or hamlet) of residence.
TinSoldier wrote:In Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the fight was over a sword IIRC.
Theft of a sword! Theft is a crime! Thieves are criminals! :) The Jade Fox had also killed Li Mu Bai's master and murder is a crime as well!

Ah, another way in which they deviate from convention is the lack of secret identities. The question might still be if that is necessary for superherodom or just the accidental convention of the genre. If John McClane were to have intentionally been able to violate physics does he become a superhero? How far beyond an "ordinary" hero does one have to be? James Bond is pushing it sometimes. :)
Arydra wrote:Actually, you do make a good point.
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Re: Superhero Movies

Post by TinSoldier » Sun Mar 31, 2013 10:04 pm

DrinksTooMuchCoffee wrote:
TinSoldier wrote:Superheroes are basically vigilantes, though -- they specifically exist to fight crime and/or super criminals and/or threats to a country's or a planet's population as a whole. However reluctantly.
So is Super Fuzz disallowed because he wasn't a vigilante? And some superheroes have been contracted by governments, although often that leads them at least to ambiguous hero status from enforcing actual laws, which can be not so heroic. Working for a secret unofficial government agency is entirely different, however. :) Many superheroes also primarily concern themselves with just their particular city (town, village, or hamlet) of residence.
Well, fighting crime or external threats is usually the defining characteristic of a superhero (outside of tights), but it's not an absolute. Did Super Fuzz fight crime only on the job or did he engage in extra-curricular crime-fighting as well?

As for government-contracted superheroes, well, yeah, their activities are generally considered to be extra-legal.
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TinSoldier wrote:In Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the fight was over a sword IIRC.
Theft of a sword! Theft is a crime! Thieves are criminals! :) The Jade Fox had also killed Li Mu Bai's master and murder is a crime as well!

Ah, another way in which they deviate from convention is the lack of secret identities. The question might still be if that is necessary for superherodom or just the accidental convention of the genre. If John McClane were to have intentionally been able to violate physics does he become a superhero? How far beyond an "ordinary" hero does one have to be? James Bond is pushing it sometimes. :)
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Re: Superhero Movies

Post by John » Mon Apr 01, 2013 6:18 am

I think in that if you asked the producer/director of Crouching Tiger "So this is a movie about superheroes?" He would be like...uh no. It's a Martial Arts film.

But I think an Action Movie thread is due in this forum if someone wants to start it up.
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Re: Superhero Movies

Post by thinkslogically » Mon Apr 01, 2013 6:35 am

CTHD is a modern take on traditional Chinese action movies though no? More like 'magical realism' than fantasy, where they're telling stories about probably exceptional but otherwise normal people who have grown beyond their reality thanks to the exaggeration and embellishments that come from retelling legends and passing stories through word of mouth over the years.

So instead of the films telling the 'true' version of what actually happened (a lone, highly skilled martial arts expert stole a sword back and killed a few people), the films retell the embellished legend and present it as true, so you end up with people literally running up bamboo and making impossible leaps through the treetops. They're more a comment on cultural storytelling than on the people themselves I think - the heroes of stories like CTHD were created by the people remembering and retelling their stories, whereas superheroes are exactly as they appear - lucky individuals who have been blessed / granted with exceptional abilities that make them as gods amongst the common folk. They aren't chosen and they aren't particularly worthy, they're just lucky.

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Re: Superhero Movies

Post by DrinksTooMuchCoffee » Mon Apr 01, 2013 8:44 am

Ah, but explaining it as a "Chinese Superhero" genre clears up a lot of the Western confusion about it, no? The adventures of people with extraordinary abilities and, "Look, they can just do this; it's part of the story". Anyway, back to to the nominations. No votes for My Super Ex-Girlfriend? ;)

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Re: Superhero Movies

Post by John » Mon Apr 01, 2013 8:53 am

I was wondering if Harry Potter would be a provocative one to attack next.
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Re: Superhero Movies

Post by TheGoblynKing » Thu Nov 07, 2013 10:29 am

i am extremely critical of Super Hero Movies, but i enjoyed the casting of Green Lantern (the movie itself was very lacking), i enjoyed most of the Dark Knight Series, and i really thought that The Watchmen and Sin City was done FANTASTICALLY.

i am looking forward to seeing Handcock 2 (heard rumors), the first one was an amazing concept and you can go wrong with Will Smith as your main Actor.

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Re: Superhero Movies

Post by Hobgoblin » Sat Mar 01, 2014 9:50 pm

I really like the premises of these movies and I tend to be a fan o some characters, but I REALLY hate the inconsistencies with the real world. In the films, the superheroes are meant to be more realistic, yet if you have a costume or cool power, you could trash entire cities (presumably killing a lot of civilians doing that) and still being cheered as a hero or, in the worst case scenario, you'd still be able to get away with it (for no logical reasons). I mean, for every car launched against the bad guy or for every wall punched down, there's at least a life ruined and no assicuration to cover it. The movies that escape this m.o. are rare.
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Re: Superhero Movies

Post by Synch » Mon Mar 24, 2014 3:18 am

Asian superhero is more like Dragonball Z, or Journey to the West, or Gundam Wing.
Bruce Lee / Ong Bak / CTHD is definately more martial arts.

To me a superhero is someone who protects or defends the public from evil/villainy, either through super powers, or just gadgets and ability eg Green Arrow, Batman etc.
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Re: Superhero Movies

Post by RedwoodElf » Mon Mar 24, 2014 6:57 am

RocketScientist wrote:I didn't see either of those. lol. But I love Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen. Patrick is so brilliant that he out-acted the Royal Shakespeare Company in Hamlet. When I watched that it was like everybody else was acting (including David Tennant, who was very awesome as Hamlet), and Patrick Stewart was just being Claudius. If that makes sense. And Ian was even enjoyable in The Prisoner, which was kind of awful.
Remakes are always awful. Seriously, you can't out-prisoner Patrick McGoohan. What is it with producers these days that they're so obsessed with re-making old movies and shows? The Prisoner was 60s camp...did they seriously think they could re-create that in 2009? What do they want to ruin with a remake next? I Dream of Jeanie? Mister Ed? Sheesh...does no one in the filmmaking industry have the imagination to come up with a new series or movie anymore?
Synch wrote:Asian superhero is more like Dragonball Z, or Journey to the West,...
Dragonball basically IS a Toriyama re-imagining of Journey To the West...so same thing.
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Re: Superhero Movies

Post by WastesTime » Tue Aug 05, 2014 2:09 am

Guardians of the Galaxy! Went to see it yesterday with my wife (who reluctantly agreed) and I have to say it's a pretty damn good movie! Even she enjoyed it thoroughly even though she usually isn't all that keen on watching such things. I definitely recommend it!
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