Comic Book Movies (Live Action)

[Palatinus]

I think comic book movies have gotten better lately even if there is also an increase of the cut and paste movies being made.  I am really excited about seeing Thor but I couldn't care less about the Green Lantern movie and that is nothing to do with the character and everything to do with how they appear to have put no work into the movie to make it stand out.

For me, my favorite comic book movies so far are:

Batman (1989)
The Dark Knight
Blade, Blade II
Constantine
Elektra
From Hell
Hellboy, Hellboy II
Hulk, Incredible Hulk
Iron Man, Iron Man 2
Judge Dredd
The Losers
The Punisher 2004
Red
Sin City
Spawn
Watchmen

[BigBadHarve]

Batman Begins isn't on your list?   

Live Action Comic films that I like...

Batman Begins
Dark Knight
Sin City
Iron Man
Unbreakable
History of Violence
V For Vendetta
Watchmen
X-Men series
Hulk

Comic Book films have certainly come a long way. The irony for the longest time was that the actual comic books had richer and more complex plotting and character development than the films, which came across like the stereotypical view of comic books!

Looking forward to Thor and Captain America... and while Green Lantern is one I'll see, I don't have high hopes for it.

-BBH

[Palatinus]

Batman begins was okay, but I feel like the dark knight and tim burton's batman were so much better I just don't rank it very highly.

V for vendetta was an interesting movie, but I didn't really buy into it's premise nor the mixed messages of everyone stand up for themselves but also a terrorist bombing the government leading to freedom from a dictator overnight.  I think even when the movie came out we had enough object lessens to disprove this premise, but even more so lately.

I have mixed feelings about the X-men movies.  When I saw them I enjoyed them, but after rewatching them, after seeing much better movies since, I am less impressed.  I am, however looking forward to X-men first class.  I'm also looking forward to captain america!

[Nostalgic]

Batman Begins /Dark Knight – Probably the best 'realistic' comic adaptations ever.
Blade/Blade Trinity - Hated blade II. The whole super vampire just didn't work for me.
Superman (Christopher Reeves) - Classic and still awesome. 
Unbreakable –  Uniquely awesome!
Sin City - Uniquely awesome!
Iron Man -Iron Man II was also pretty good.
Watchmen – It was my first exposure to those guys but well done.
The Losers – Well done.
Incredible Hulk -The 2nd movie absolutely murdered the 1st
Spiderman II - Loved Doc Oc.
X-Men II - Liked it more than the other 2. Admittedly Nightcrawler had a lot to do with that.  Beast and Storm's hair were the only good points of the 3rd. 
Daredevil – Despite Affleck I liked it.   

Dishonorable Mentions...
Elektra, Spiderman III, Fantastic 4 (though it had its good points...)

[Ranerdar]

My personal favorite is Mystery Men.

[rucker73]

Finally some love for Spider-Man 2.  I loved that movie and couldn't wait for number 3, and then Sony Pictures took a big steaming poop on my expectations with Spider-Man 3.


Other Faves -

Superman (1978)
Batman (1989)
Batman Begins
X-2
The Dark Knight
The Punisher (2004)

and tentatively if it ever actually gets made Deadpool (2014)

[Nate Grey]

Favorite Comic Book movies are:

Iron Man
The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Spider-Man 1 and 2
X-Men 2
Iron Man 2
Batman Begins
The Dark Knight
Kick-Ass
Blade 1 and 2

Even without having watched them yet, I know Thor and Captain America are going to be at the top of my favorite comic book movies.   I'm so looking forward to them. I can't say the same for Green Lantern and X-Men: First Class but as a comic book fan I feel obligated to watch them in the theaters.  

[gameplan.exe]

Favorite Comic Book movies are:

Iron Man
The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Spider-Man 1 and 2
X-Men 2
Iron Man 2
Batman Begins
The Dark Knight
Kick-Ass
Blade 1 and 2

Even without having watching them yet, I know Thor and Captain America are going to be at the top of my favorite comic book movies.  I'm so looking forward to them. I can't say the same for Green Lantern and X-Men: First Class but as a comic book fan I feel obligated to watch them in the theaters. 

I won't post spoilers, per se, but I hate what they've done with Thor and X-men: FC, so I don't think I'll be seeing either of them in the theater. I'll be waiting for Netflix so the studios get as little of my $ as possible. It's not that I'm trying to "hurt" them, but I don't want to reinforce bad behavior.

[Palatinus]

I won't post spoilers, per se, but I hate what they've done with Thor and X-men: FC, so I don't think I'll be seeing either of them in the theater. I'll be waiting for Netflix so the studios get as little of my $ as possible. It's not that I'm trying to "hurt" them, but I don't want to reinforce bad behavior.

I don't really follow what you mean here.  I am definitely excited for these movies and i will see both in theaters.

[gameplan.exe]

I won't post spoilers, per se, but I hate what they've done with Thor and X-men: FC, so I don't think I'll be seeing either of them in the theater. I'll be waiting for Netflix so the studios get as little of my $ as possible. It's not that I'm trying to "hurt" them, but I don't want to reinforce bad behavior.

I don't really follow what you mean here.  I am definitely excited for these movies and i will see both in theaters.

Because they seriously messed with both of them. Look into their plots a little and you'll see what I mean. Not cool with me (or lots of other X-men / Thor fans).

[Palatinus]

I gave up on trying to follow the plots of any of the long-running comics as continuous.  Also, when a franchise moves from one medium to another, I am content with 1) Going in a different direction because you can.  I am okay with this because what is important to me about a character or set of characters is not specific plot points or character attributes, but more along the lines of themes.  If they are thematically correct, then I am okay with it.  For example, look at Batman:TAS.  Those character designs were way different from the comics and they work.  They work really well.  They are at once familiar and fresh.  2) Changing things to fit your new medium.  What works on a comic page and what works on the big screen can and will be different.  What looks like a well-designed, action packed battle in a few pages of a comic could amount to half a second on-screen.  Also, a lot of the reason for why things are done they way they are in comics is because of habit.  There used to be a reason for certain ways of doing characters and dialog that might not apply anymore but they are stuck in their ways.  The same is true with the movies.  They will do certain things a certain way because that is what they know to do.  These things will not likely line up between the two mediums.  3) Even in the comics characters aren't consistent.  Look at Thor, look at ultimate Thor.  Look at Thor when he is based on being a human and look at him when he is just a straight-up god.  And the X-Men.  They change around so much, I can't even really read them any more they are so far from what I know.  But that's fine.  Start fresh in the movie.  Don't bring all that baggage with you and just take the good ideas and make them work in the movie.

That's my opinion, but I know that there are film adaptations of things that I detest and it may be because I am too stubborn about their subject matter to be forgiving, so I understand your point.

[Nostalgic]

Because they seriously messed with both of them. Look into their plots a little and you'll see what I mean. Not cool with me (or lots of other X-men / Thor fans).

I'll check them out in theaters, but my main concern with x-men:FC have nothing to do with it as it relates to the comics.  I accepted from the first xmen movie this is marvel earth 123456.... or whatever.    My problems are the continuity issues within the movie genre's own established timeline from the first 4 movies.  You would think they could at least be consistent within their own medium. I mean you can tell the "issues" from the trailer. 

[Ranerdar]

Because they seriously messed with both of them. Look into their plots a little and you'll see what I mean. Not cool with me (or lots of other X-men / Thor fans).

I'll check them out in theaters, but my main concern with x-men:FC have nothing to do with it as it relates to the comics.  I accepted from the first xmen movie this is marvel earth 123456.... or whatever.    My problems are the continuity issues within the movie genre's own established timeline from the first 4 movies.  You would think they could at least be consistent within their own medium. I mean you can tell the "issues" from the trailer. 

You mean like how White Queen, who was in her late teens in X-Men Origins: Wolverine is now late 20's in X-Men: First Class. Even though First Class takes place before Origins.

[gameplan.exe]

I'm all for new designs, but making an origins movie, while more or less completely ignoring the actual origins, really bothers me.

If they came out with a Spider-Man: Origins movie, wherein Peter Parker grows up in an orphanage because Carnage killed Aunt & Uncle & parents - I don't think Spider-Man fans would deal with it well (or comic fans, in general).

[Palatinus]

Ah, now I see.  This is a problem with the promotional material.  The X-Men First Class movie is not in the same continuity as the previous X-Men films just as the X-Men First Class comics are not in the continuity of the regular comics.  They are advertising the movie as if it is a prequel which it is not.  That's a big mistake on their part.  I felt the original X-Men movies were okay, but I am happy for something not of that universe.  I found out about the movie before this poorly done promotion so I was never expecting it to be in the other movies continuity.  Also, that sounds like an awesome set up for a Spider-Man reboot!