Total Film have long been champions of the CBM, and always give(I find anyway) pretty accurate and fair reviews and ratings. I find them to be a lot more consistent that some other movie magazines at least. So I was very interested in seeing the top 50 movies they chose to stand as their greatest CBMs of all time. Below are their top 10, for the full list click the link at the bottom of the article..
#10) Kick-Ass
What they say:
The Comic Book: Mark Millar’s semi-autobiographical ‘what if?’ reverie about his childhood dreams of fighting crime.
The Movie: Matthew Vaughn’s hyperactive action-comedy about an ordinary kid (Aaron Johnson) who decides to become a superhero.
The Comic-Book Movie: Developed in parallel, comic and movie share a taste for bubblegum ultra-violence, sick laughs and unstoppable entertainment.
#9) When The Wind Blows
The Comic Book: A graphic novel by Raymond Briggs, of The Snowman fame. Considerably darker than that Christmas cracker.
The Movie: Jimmy Murakami’s animated sob-story about an elderly couple (John Mills and Peggy Ashcroft) living through a nuclear Armageddon.
The Comic-Book Movie: Unlikely to be screened at Christmas, Murakami remains faithful to Briggs’ devastating, adult drama to demonstrate the power of the medium
#8) Batman (1989)
The Comic Book: Spiritually inspired by Frank Miller’s 1986 classic The Dark Knight Returns, although the Joker’s origin story has its roots in 1998's The Killing Joke.
The Movie: Tim Burton’s mega-hyped gothic take on the Caped Crusader. Michael Keaton plays the bat, but this is all about Jack.
The Comic-Book Movie: A widely-watched and largely acclaimed blockbuster that ditched the campy appeal of the Adam West TV show for a weirder, more leftfield vibe.
#7) Spider-Man 2
The Comic Book: 1967’s Spidey classic, Spider-Man No More, in which Peter Parker renounces his powers.
The Movie: Sam Raimi’s follow-up to the global smash piles on the agony and the ecstacy for Maguire, Dunst and Franco’s love triangle. With added Doc Ock.
The Comic-Book Movie: A full-on Marvel marvel, as Raimi goes for broke with berserk camerawork, without losing sight of the central dilemma.
#6) Sin City
The Comic Book: Frank Miller’s unusual, near-monochrome series of interconnected stories in the titular metropolis, begun in 1991.
The Movie: Robert Rodriguez (plus friends Quentin Tarantino and Miller) direct Bruce Willis, Jessica Alba, Mickey Rourke and loads more in a urban nightmare-noir.
The Comic-Book Movie: Innovative use of CGI turns the cinema screen into a moving recreation of Miller’s original panels that blurred the line between genres. It’s so faithful, Miller even directed parts of it
#5) X2
The Comic Book: X-Men classic God Loves, Man Kills, in which anti-mutant crusader Stryker catalyses an uneasy truce between Professor X and Magneto.
The Movie: Bryan Singer reunites Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Hugh Jackman and co. Literally reunites, as mutant factions band together to fight Brian Cox's Stryker.
The Comic-Book Movie: Long cited as a high-point in the evolution of modern screen superheroism, Singer pulls off the tricky balance between multiplex mayhem and the comic’s thematic and character weight.
#4) A History of Violence
The Comic Book: John Wagner and Vince Locke’s 1997 graphic novel about a seemingly ordinary guy dragged into his bloody past.
The Movie: David Cronenberg flirts with (and subverts) the mainstream with a seemingly uncharacteristic crime thriller. Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello and Ed Harris star.
The Comic-Book Movie: A landmark in bringing critical acclaim and auteur sophistication to non-superhero comics. The film takes liberties with the original’s plot, but the result kick-started a late bloom for Cronenberg.
#3) Akira
The Comic Book: Katsuhiro Otomo’s manga about biker gangs in post-apocalyptic Neo-Tokyo, serialised between 1982 and 1990.
The Movie: Otomno’s own page-to-screen adaptation, transforming the original into a groundbreaking cyberpunk animé.
The Comic-Book Movie: Obviously, a close fit to the source in tone and visuals. More importantly, the crossover hit that brought animé to a global audience.
#2) Superman: The Movie
The Comic Book: Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster’s 1930s original, the blueprint for all superheroes since.
The Movie: Richard Donner directs Christopher Reeve, with mega-watt support from Gene Hackman and Marlon Brando. You’ll believe a genre can fly.
The Comic-Book Movie: The groundbreaker that proved the artistic and commercial mettle of big screen superheroes. Reeve remains the genre’s most perfect piece of casting.
#1) The Dark Knight
The Comic Book: The rise and fall of Harvey Dent is based on the 1996 series The Long Halloween, bolted to a depiction of the Joker based on the character’s first appearances in the 1940s.
The Movie: Christopher Nolan’s epic is the ultimate superhero movie, the first to break £1 billion dollars worldwide and the first to win an Oscar for a performance, thanks to the late Heath Ledger's memorably mad turn as The Joker.
The Comic-Book Movie: The title is the giveaway. With Batman never mentioned, this is a mature crime thriller in which the Joker’s anarchy is instrumental in destroying a great man. In other words, as deep and profound as the best comic books.
I would have found a place for
Iron Man and also
X-Men: First Class as recent as it is. I completely forgot
When The Wind Blows even existed! It's technically a very good movie but man is it depressing. No arguing with the top 2 though imo. The rest of the 50 is bound to cause a stir. What do you guys think?
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