Live Action Superheroes

Live action Superheroes from the 70-90's..
By dg
On
October 30, 2006

I've been into super hero movies since a kid, like any other and enjoyed watching some really good ones.I wanted to do this article mainly because of the superheroes today.Its like super hero movies are in fashion now.Back in the day superhero movies came out rarely but today's super hero movies they come out nearly every year. Which isn't a bad thing its just they don't all blow you away as much as you would like showing that cgi doesn't always mean box-office success. I think the older superhero films were much more impressive because they didn't have so much cgi in them and had to be made much more cleverly but obviously there were allot of bad ones as well. I think the older ones were better because they seemed like they took there time with them it wasn't like they had to be made straight away, they just didn't look so rushed as the do now.


For me this film really reminds me of the 80's the clothes, the music and the look of it.I actually enjoyed this film quite allot.It had quite a weird villain at the end which was some sort of voodoo statue that would come to life and become some big monster.There were some English actors in it which were quite wacky that seemed to fit into the film, who were Peter O'Toole who was really good.When you see him he's in some weird dark world with sharp rocks. I always found it scary when she had to climb up through the twister and then fly out at the top but Peter O'Toole's character was sucked into it.The other actor was Peter Cook who was another old face from TV programmes showing a face in the film.



I couldn't believe that they had already made the Punisher with Dolph Lundgren.Although I haven't yet seen it Ill have to check it out.From the pics though it does look quite bad but you never know.Its weird how it was never really mentioned just because its a more dated now and the remake is newer and has a bigger budget.Which just shows how things are these days not respecting the originals enough when they do loads of remakes which aren't all ways as good. Its obviously made during Lundgrens heyday so it might be worth the watch.




When I heard they were making another Batman film I was really excited because I was only a kid still.I then heard that Michael Keaton was not returning because he was too small, which really made me feel annoyed because he was my favourite Batman.When I eventually saw Batman Forever, I really enjoyed it and I always wanted Robin in it but as I got older I realised it was quite bad with its over the top campness and colourful scenery, it pretty much destroyed the Batman's origin.The only thing really good out of it was Jim Carreys hilarious performance as the Ridler and Tommy Lee Jones great performance as the ruthless Tooth face.And after that came....I think we'll move on quickly.



Now we all know the beginnings of the Spiderman but to get it closer to a live motion picture there was the 70s show, which was really great to watch as a kid but laughable now.Its mainly because there's know special effects, just dodgy camera tricks which makes Spiderman look like he's sliding up the building rather sticking to it.The only thing I can remember from this film is Nicholas Hammond who plays Spiderman gets bitten which we all know and he dodges out of the way of a car and lands on the wall which looked cool. He ends up making his web shooters and from what I recall getting a costume out of a chest.He then practises swinging from a tree.Later on in the film he's swings round a corner of a building into a statue and gets badly wounded. I think the kingpins in it who is the main villain but I'm not shore because I haven't seen it in along time. I liked it although its dated because it seems closer to the Spiderman origin which the movies didn't seem have enough of.



The Captain America movie was pretty cool to watch as a kid but I found most of the film a tad bit boring. Once he's become Captain America its really exciting and it was great the way it was set in World War II but after he has a really wicked fight with the Red Skull it goes down hill from then on wards. After the big fight which was quite early in the film there didn't seem to be enough excitement to sit there and watch the rest. Captain America uses his shield allot to take down villains but there's not enough villain's that really give him any bother apart from the Red Skull so it seemed a pretty plain film to watch. But Ill always remember his costume which I still think looks cool.



I think that the the Flash film was really good for its time especially with the special effects because they really worked well in the movie. It was really clever how they made him look running the speed of light.It had light humour as well which gave it good comic relief.John Wesley Shipp who played the Flash did a really good job which was funny as well as serious when he donned the red costume. I thought the costume looked awesome at the time but now it looks a bit chunky with all the fake padding but still ok.The only thing I felt it lacked was the villains they were all bad boy bikers which is a usually thing in superhero films, instead of having another villain who has super powers like him so it was a bit boring. I think they did the best they could with it considering the special effects for its time and I would give it two thumbs up.



A classic TV programme which every one remembers as a kid.When I was a kid I never laughed at it as I do now,with the Hulk's wig and green powder,it looks so awful and cheap now. It wasn't all bad though because Lou Ferrigno did an amazing job as the Hulk and Bill Bixby also did a great job at portraying Dr. David Bruce Banner. It was just the fighting and the silly stories which made it so enjoyable to watch, a bit like Baywatch but without the fit women.



"I have the powerrrrrr"
One of Dolph Lundgren best movies seeing him as the man of muscle himself He-Man. This movie is just excellent, its such a entertaining film . I saw it loads of times as a kid and never got bored of it. Skeletor was a bit over the top but apart from that it was great with an early role from Courtney Cox. Another film that really reminds me of the 80's and I carnt wait to see it again. I didn't think it was totally close to the cartoon but none the less it was really impressive.



The first Darkman movie with Liam Neeson was really good. Sam Rami directed it and did a really good job because you can tell that its so much better than any of the sequels.There was some good action scenes in it with a really cool fat bad guy for the main villain. I remember Darkman being quite evil at times with his victims which gave it a really dark touch. Ill have to watch it again because I haven't seen it in along time.I hope its as good as when I last saw it.



I never really heard of Spawn when the film came out so I knew little about him. After I watched it I thought it was totally amazing and the characters in it really made it what it was. I loved the way he looked with his cool costume and his wicked powers to slay his victims down. Its always good when you get a hero that it really dark like Snake Plissken, like an anti hero or something so there not so sweet and innocent. I thought the clown character was weird and cool.The world was really dark and apocalyptic which he fault in. There was another hero in the film, the trainer to spawn and it was great how he teaches spawn to become stronger and learn his powers and weapons. He ends up fighting at the end wearing a medieval costume when him and Spawn had to take on the big monster from hell. I think visually this film was great but lacked something, I'm not shore what it is.Maybe villains, if they added more in it maybe it would of been more of a success.The film did actual remind me of the game Twisted Metal, I suppose its the dark world and wacky characters.I thought that Michael J White was great as Spawn and if they make another in the near future, I would still want him to play Spawn.



Blade 1 is a great film and the best out of the three. Wesley Snipes was born to play this role and did an amazing job. I remember when you first see him from the feet down working up, as his dark look stood out from all the blood and white back ground and you knew that this film was going to kick ass.This one had a better story than the others, introducing him well and putting some amazing fights on screen especially the sword fight with frost at the end.The film was shot quite stylishly which I never really like but this film was compelling and really enjoyable.Its a shame the other two weren't as good.







Tim Burtons dark remake of Batman was absolutely amazing with Michael Keaton as Batman who was brilliant and Jack Nicholson with an outstanding performance as the Joker. It had dark humour and amazing action.These are my favourite Batman film's out of the lot.The car he drives kicks ass, it has to be the greatest car in movies ever.The second was still dark but more Tim Burtons style, which was wacky and weird but still great. I just don't see the point in reinventing franchises all the time, when you have two perfect films such as these because your only milking it and it becomes boring.That's how I felt with Batman Begins regardless of whether it went back to being more dark.


You'll Believe a Man Can Fly

I think the first Superman movie is the best superhero movie ever to be made. It was brilliantly directed by Richard Donner and had a really good cast through out the movies, especially of course the man of steel himself Christopher Reeve. I think the first film had so much heart and passion in it that allot of superhero movies rarely capture which makes it set apart from all the rest.To be honest I know the other superman films weren't as good as the first one.The second one is the closest to it but I find that film really boring compared to 3 and 4. I liked all the superman movies because the third and fourth were so entertaining compared to the first two which were obviously much more serious. I really liked it when Superman turns bad, showing that Christopher Reeve could play a really good guy as well as a badass, rather than being so good all the time. The fourth film I quite in enjoyed ,especially when he had to fight another version of himself but evil. I really liked the fight on the moon which looked quite brutal but cool.
I was so upset when Christopher Reeve passed away, when he played a superhero that could fly and ended the way he did.



Christopher Reeve (1952-2004)
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