Yes it is strange. A movie that becomes a comic book? Not the other way around? Well, it happens all the time and in fact, I was inspired to write this article because of the “Die Hard” comic that is coming out. Thanks SpyderSpike. I realized that there are a lot of movies I would love to see as comics.
As for criteria, some of the ones I chose because I liked the style of the film and just didn’t get enough the first go ‘round. Others I chose because the viewer is left with too many questions about the characters or events in the film and a sequel has never been made. Sometimes it seems the universe presented in these films is so BIG that a few little comic book children spawned off to the side isn’t going to hurt anybody.
Some of my choices aren’t films. Why? Because it’s MY article! No really, I felt a couple TV shows would make good comics as well, so I included them. These are in no particular order.
Big Trouble in Little China
If you haven’t seen this movie, you are really missing out. This movie is so comic book it’s not even funny. Well, it is really funny. This movie has everything: Kung Fu fighting, explosions, guns, swords, women, Chinese mysticism and more! The characters come out of their packaging fully fleshed out and developed. The heroes are heroic, the villains are villainous, and the damsels are damsely.
More please.
Time Bandits
I love Terry Gilliam. I had four more of his movies on here but I decided they all ended so definitively. I loved this movie so much when I was a kid I rented it every weekend. I thought my mom was going to stab me in my sleep. I watch it now and all I can think is, “This movie is nothing but screaming dwarves and ogres.”
It’s one of those movies where a kid goes on an magical adventure while the whole time you think he’s dreaming, turns out it’s all real. In the end he wakes to his house burning down. The culprit is a microwave. His parents open the microwave to find concentrated evil. He yells at them not to touch, so they do and immediately explode. I always thought the kid would hook back up with his dwarf adventurers. The visual style of this film is of course, amazing and would translate into comics effortlessly.
Total recall
Arnold movies can be so much fun. Alas, Arnold is now the crusty old governator and doesn’t really DO movies anymore. This movie left me wanting more and full of questions. Is this entire story an implanted memory? Is really on mars and did he really terra form it in minutes? The movie gives us excellent back-story and since his memory has been tampered with gives many opportunities for creative story telling. Also, since Arnold is so old there is no way he is going to even consider a sequel so the only way we might see a continuation is through comic books.
Metropolis
No not THAT Metropolis. I have never seen this film in its entirety. It wasn’t even released in an almost complete form until 2002. The style is so beautifully art deco; it needs to be a comic. I see artists’ barrow from it all the time so why not pay full tribute to the inspiration. It is set in a dystopian future where society has been divided into two rigid groups: one of planners or thinkers, who live high above the earth in luxury, and another of workers who live underground laboring to sustain the lives of the privileged. Originally conceived in 1927, it still seems valid today.
The Thing
This film was the be all end all of horror films in its day, at least to me. The creatures alone were the most creative I had ever seen. The build up of tension in this film was so palpable as to be seen and felt. Never knowing who is actually a monstrous alien or who can be trusted. The comic could pick up right where it left off. The facility burning down, McCready and Childs, the last two alive trying to decide if they trust each other. Blair, lost in the snow. We never know if the alien infection escapes or not. There was any number of dogs or people it could have piggy backed on. I really think if they tried to do a film sequel to this it would fail miserably. This is one of those films that can’t be made again at the same quality. The only way is through comics! I can’t wait to see the creature designs.
The iron giant
In the end of Iron Giant you see all the little pieces of the Iron Giant making their way through the snow to Antarctica. We can assume that eventually all his pieces will eventually come together and put him back together again. Will he seek out Hogarth again? Will he leave earth to explore space and find more adventure with different forms of life?
Galaxy Quest
What a great concept for a movie. A group of actors riding on the steam of a long dead television series learn that an alien race has modeled their own insanely advanced technology and society after their show, Galaxy Quest. If you watch the DVD extras, you can tell that the movie was intended to be a little more crass. Actually, if you pay attention to their mouths while watching the movie you can tell that the cuss words have been dubbed out. I would like to see more adventures with the raunchier attitude.
Quantum Leap
Don’t laugh! This show is yet another great concept for a comic book. Sam has to fulfill what happens in history in order to make it back to his own time. He has to do this whether or not it coincides with his personal morals, sexuality, religious beliefs, ect. It must be tough on the soul to make such personality shattering decisions on a prolonged basis. Actually, there’s a comic like this called “Exiles”. I’ve read some REALLY great runs of this comic and the new one is shaping up nicely.
LOST
LOST is an awesome show. Even though the next season is supposed to be the last, it seems these writers can always think of something. Instead of some inevitably crappy movie where they try to cram too much in, make it a comic book series. It’s written like a comic anyway. There is a large cast. Each episode focuses on a few if not all of them. Each character gets what I like to call a “showcase” episode to develop back-story and motivation. This is how they could have knocked it out of the park with the X-men films instead of making it the wolverine show. Don’t get me wrong, I love wolverine, but there is a lot more story there.
The Fifth Element
Who doesn’t want to see more Leelu and Corbin Dallas? One of my all time favorite films and I didn’t even like it the first time. At all. I thought it was too pop-y, plastic-y, pre-fab-y. The second viewing made me realize that it was supposed to feel that way in order to contrast the message of the film, which is love and kindness. I want to see more of them. Yes they saved the universe from Mr. Dark. It would be hard to top the all-encompassing evil of Mr. Dark but there is a possibility of more adventures.
Dark City
To me, when “Dark City” came out, it was the best sci-fi to come out in years! It feels like it should be up there with the most perfect comic book adaptations out there. John Murdock beats The Strangers at their own game using his own mental powers against them. It is revealed that they are on a massive space ship instead of a city. John now has the power to shape the ship-city in any way he wants. You see the sun rising and oceans filling. But not all The Strangers are killed; some are now lurking under the city. Some of them could mutate and create something even more dangerous. Plus every on board now knows they are on a space ship. What should they do? Where should they go? Should they just hang out around a star? Hey, that’s what we do.
Dune
You could argue that this has been done to death. There was a feature film and then there was a sci-fi channel mini-series. Both of these attempts had their pluses and minuses. The original movie was cool but it had time constraints. Even with the directors cut that five hours of extra run time, it is unwatchable. The sci-fi series was ok. I didn’t like the cast or the set design but the story was closer to the books. There is PLENTY of great story here and it would make beautiful comics. I think it’ll be a few years before someone tackles this one again.
The Abyss
Here is another film that ends with unanswered questions. What happens after we meet the undersea aliens? Are they friendly? Do we remain friends? They might accuse us of poisoning them and send Namor after us.
Gattaca
At first I was disappointed with Gattaca. Halfway through the movie I realized I was just a victim of advertising and let myself enjoy the film. Advertising led me to believe I was going to get an action packed, “Big Brother” (the book) style murder mystery that leads to some cool space action. Nope. All drama. It was really good and I enjoyed the film but I could never shake the feeling of being cheated. In the end the main character outsmarts everyone and gets to go into space and have space adventures. I want to see that. I always thought Tim Sale would do a great job while keeping the noir style the film kind of had.
Frailty
This is a great film by first time director Bill Paxton. That’s right, who’d a thunk that Chet would ever make films. And a great film at that. In this film Bill Paxton’s character develops the ability to see “Demons”. I believe what they’re trying to say is that people that commit horrible acts of violence are actually inhabited by demons. God sends him a list of demons to round up and kill. He ends up getting killed but one of his sons (played by Matthew McConaughey) grows up to develop the same “vision”. It’s never crystal clear if he actually has these visions or is a psychopath himself. I would like to see this in graphic novel format. Really visceral, gritty, and lots of detail.
Leon/The Professional
I’ve always wanted an answer to the end of this film. This movie is so good. I’ve never met such an endearing assassin. By the end you love Leon even though he’s probably responsible for hundreds of deaths. Does he really die? Does he recover and train Matilda to be the greatest assassin in the world like himself? Does she ever have her revenge on Gary Oldman’s character? So many unanswered questions. The answer? Comic books.
Remo Williams
This movie came out in 1985 and was based on “The Destroyer” one of the original and longest lasting men's adventure series. The movie is subtitled, “The Adventure Begins”. Turns out it was such a departure from the books that pissed everyone off and took a nosedive. As a kid, I found the movie enjoyable and always wondered why they didn’t make more. This is another one I think could be salvaged.
Unbreakable
This one is like a no brainer to me. We get to see David (Unbreakable) during his origin and discovery of his powers and confidence in himself. We never get to see him after this development with total belief in himself. I’ve always seen this as a Miller style comic as far as artistically. The world is not black and white but comic style would be, with splashes of red here and there. I think it would be a nice contrast. Also the fate of Mr. Glass and develop some new villains.
Pale Rider
Always one of my favorite Clint Eastwood films, this one gives us a glimpse as to the great filmmaker Clint is going to grow to be. I loved the concept of this western. You could think of it as a western “Crow” without the crow motif and non-sucky (the sequels). He is wrongfully killed by bad guys and comes back to avenge his own death and protect those who are innocent. He fulfills his mission so that means his spirit is at rest and has no reason to come back. I thought that “Pale Rider” could be used as a generic term for someone who comes back from the dead under these circumstances. I keep picturing the “Origins” covers as the style for these western stories.
Kill Bill
There is no more Bill to kill but there is still a lot of space for more story here. Uma’s character, “The Bride” is now the master, and she has a kid to train to be a badass. Or we could see a prequel of her and her group of badasses at work. The possibilities are endless.
Godfather
There is so much established story here. This one is still one of those fixer uppers. Everyone seemed so disappointed with part three it seemed like someone should redeem the series. There are plenty of descendants to carry on the legacy, story and mantle of the Godfather. Prequel or sequel, either way could be amazing. I’d like to see a Godfather “origin” story. LOL. Origin as in actually in Italy. They could still speak English, just with an Italian accent. Just like when we make films about Germany, everybody seems to be fluent in English.
A Clockwork Orange
In the end of this film we are shown a scene that tells us that the brainwashing spell put on Alec has been broken. Will he stay the course of the straight and narrow or will he return to his droogish ways? I would love to see this continued in the graphic novel form and in the futuristic/retro style.
Hancock
This movie had such potential. I don’t want to say it was bad. It wasn’t bad it just didn’t end well. I like the character of Hancock. This is one of those where I think that there’s a comic book writer out there that could “fix” the Hancock story in preparation for another movie.
Shoot 'Em Up
This film should’ve had a Latin subtitle that translates “Action for action’s sake”. This movie was so creative in its ways to use a gun. Clive Owen is a super-killer in this. He’s up against some really bad dudes but he never seems really stressed. If any of you have seen that episode of the Simpsons where Homer buys a gun and uses it for everything from opening a beer to turning off the lights, that’s Clive Owen in this film. He kills people with carrots! In multiple ways! You’d think there was only a couple ways to kill someone with a carrot. I for one would like to see more adventures and a little more back-story with this bugs bunny-esque lead slinging maniac.
The Lost Boys
I loved the 80s camp style of this vampire film. If you could even call it a style, more like a product of the time in which it was made. Part of me makes fun of the other part that still likes this movie. Remember the sax player in that band on the beach they go to see? That is the biggest, muscley-est sax player in history. AND he’s the singer? When has this ever happened? But it’s an 80’s movie and THIS is my only problem with, that’s pretty good for an 80’s movie. Anyway, the kids prevail in the end but the grandpa or uncle, can’t remember which, complains about “all the damn vampires” in these parts. That implies that there might be more vampires around to kill. I think the further adventures would be cool. Oops, this one already is a comic. See there!
The Untouchables
I watched this for the millionth time a couple weeks ago and I still can’t get enough of look and atmosphere of the piece. Yeah, I called it a piece. It is a piece of art. I would like to see a prequel drawn with the same style and appeal. Maybe show Capone’s rise to power and there had to be other attempts to take him down. I don’t think the story is finished.
Hausu
I caught this on satellite on some channel I can’t remember. It’s old but it is truly one of the most remarkably inspiring things I’ve ever seen. When you watch the clip you’re going to think I’m nuts. Just imagine if someone gave you some money because you had a movie idea and they just let you do what you want with it. That’s what this is like. I mean there is somewhat of a story, if you want to call it that. I think the film seems more like it’s about creative ways to kill Japanese girls. This is the only one I’m including a clip for because I think you have to see it to believe it. It’s the kaleidoscope of killer imagery that makes me think this would make a great comic, somehow. Enjoy.
See?