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Let's discuss the ACTUAL best comic-book film.

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I thought the Akira anime did a disservice to the much better manga series. Same goes for Nausicaa for similar reasons. Too much was cut out to condense the story to 2 hours.

American Splender would probably be my pick for best comic book movie. I never got around to Ghost World.

I don't know that it did a disservice - I prefer the manga as well, the movie is a little too complicated/truncated for its own good at times, but it's a landmark for legitimate reasons. It's not a flawless movie by any means, but being as it's a film based on a comic book, it's gotta be mentioned when people start talking about the best in that genre.

Also, if I remember correctly, Otomo started making it before he'd even finished the manga.

Curious to see what you'd think of Ghost World. American Splendor is a really good movie, as well, can't believe I forgot about that one.
 

inm8num2

Member
Persepolis_film.jpg

Dammit how did I forget Persepolis? That is a masterpiece.
 
Persepolis

American Splendor

Ghost World


In that order.

History of Violence gets an honorable mention (deviates a lot from the book, for the better), and Road to Perdition was disappointing.

V for Vendetta has a lovely adaptation of the prison sequence, but the rest of the movie is hot and miss and a poor adaptation of a good (but not great) book.

I can't think of any superhero stuff that comes close, and I love superheroes.

I was getting pissed after all those mentions to Watchmen (suck-ass adaptation, btw) and not seeing Persepolis and Ghost World.

Ignatz, you win Gaf today.
 

Platy

Member
I like MiB and people ALWAYS forget it is based on a comic book =/

20130729134535!Men_in_Black_Poster.jpg


But for best ...

Persepolis, V for Vendetta, X-Men 2, Speed Racer and Scott Pilgrim are my favorites.

Scott Pilgrim is the best, in terms of trying to keep the heart of a comic alive through the transition to a different form of media.

The attention to detail is incredible (soundtrack, sound effects, visuals, etc) and deserves more credit than it gets.

I love scott pilgrim, but that award goes to Sin City
 

Loona

Member
The V for Vendetta movie would have been a lot better if it had been more faithful to the comic's TV speech, which was easily my favorite part of it:

"Good evening, London. I thought it time we had a little talk. Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin...
I suppose you're wondering why I've called you here this evening. Well you see, I'm not entirely satisfied with your performance lately…. I'm afraid your work's been slipping, and...and well, I'm afraid we've been thinking about letting you go.
Oh, I know, I know. You've been with the company a long time now. Almost...Let me see. Almost ten thousand years! My word, doesn't time fly? It seems like only yesterday… I remember the day you commenced your employment, swinging down from the trees, fresh-faced and nervous, A bone clasped in your bristling fist... "Where do I start, sir?" You asked, plaintively.
I recall my exact words: "There's a pile of dinosaur eggs over there, youngster," I said smiling paternally the while. "Get sucking."
Well, we've certainly come a long way since then, haven’t we? And yes, yes, you're right, in all that time you haven’t missed a day. Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Also please don't think I've forgotten about your out-standing service record, or about all of the invaluable contributions that you've made to the company... Fire, the wheel of agriculture...It's an impressive list, old-timer. A jolly impressive list. Don't get me wrong.
But...well, to be frank, we've had our problems, too. There's no getting away from it. Do you know what I think a lot of it stems from? I'll tell you... It's your basic unwillingness to get on within the company. You don't seem to want to face up to any real responsibility, or to be your own boss. Lord knows, you've been given plenty of opportunities...We've offered you promotion time and time again, and each time you've turned us down: "I couldn't handle the work, Guv'nor," you wheedled. "I know my place"
To be frank, you're not trying, are you? You see, you've been standing still for far too long, and it's starting to show in your work... And I might add, in your general standard behaviour. The constant bickering on the factory floor has not escaped my attention...Nor the recent bouts of rowdiness in the staff canteen. Then of course there's... Hmmmm. Well, I didn't really want to have to bring this up, but...Well, you see I've been hearing some disturbing rumours about your personal life.
No, never you mind who told me. No names, no pack drill... I understand that you are unable to get on with your spouse. I hear that you argue. I am told that you shout. Violence has been mentioned. I am reliably informed that you always hurt the one you love...The one you shouldn't hurt at all.
And what about the children? It's always the children who suffer, as you're well aware. Poor little mites. What are they to make of it? What are they to make of your bullying, your despair, your cowardice and all your fondly nurtured bigotries? Really, it's not good enough, is it? And it's no good blaming the drop in work standards upon bad management, either...
Though, to be sure, the management is very bad. In fact, let us not mince words ... the management is terrible! We've had a string of embezzlers, frauds, liars and lunatics making a string of catastrophic decisions. This is plain fact.
But who elected them? It was you! You who appointed these people! You who gave them the power to make your decisions for you! While I'll admit that anyone can make a mistake once, to go on making the same lethal errors century after century seems to me nothing short of deliberate.
You have encouraged these malicious incompetents, who have made your working life a shambles. You have accepted without question their senseless orders. You have allowed them to fill your workspace with dangerous and unproven machines.
All you had to say was "NO." You have no spine. You have no pride. You are no longer an asset to the company. I will however, be generous. You will be granted two years to show me some improvement in your work. If at the end of that time you are still unwilling to make a go of it... You're fired."
 

Fnord

Member
Six pages and no mention of this:

Darkman_film_poster.jpg


Thread fail. Darkman remains the most "comic book come to the big screen" movie ever made. Despite not having been based on an actual comic book.
 
Sin City is the best movie based off a comic book series.

TDK is the best movie generally based off a comic book.

Of an individual comic/graphic novel? Not sure.
 
If we include anime, Miyazaki wins.

Nausicaaposter.jpg

Nausicaa doesn't even remotely win and I really like the film, despite the whole thing barely scratching the surface of the manga - which is Miyazaki's true magnum opus. I will say that Nausicaa has what is probably my favourite score from Hisaishi.
 
Here's a review of V For Vendetta I wrote a few years back

So what is it that makes the film so bad? At a high level it’s failing conceptually, both as an adaption and as a unique work. While Moore’s Vendetta is a complex, adult take on a very simple idea (the benefits and detriments of anarchy and fascism to society) the film is a poorly disguised metaphor from the brain of a child. A particularly stupid child at that because what we have is not just a jab at the Bush administration that is so telegraphed even George Foreman could dodge it after drinking all the grease that his grills have ever drained, but one that is founded on the 9/11 conspiracy theories. I’m not even fucking kidding, the movie doesn’t even try to hide it. The basic supposition is then, that hopefully this film will rile people in to some sort of revolution but even now it stands as an out-dated cultural relic. Something to peer at and think “were people ever this stupid?”. Yes. Yes we were. So as an adaption it fails and as a unique artistic endeavour it fails. It will not be loved by fans of the original, nor will it be rediscovered fondly as its own piece. It’s trash of the highest order and yet it still has its fans.


“But who” I hear you ask “could possibly love such a thing?”. Well sadly there’s an entire group of people who live off of terrible catchphrase driven nuggets of mass market rebellion. I am of course talking about teenagers and those who never grew out of the basement. Teenagers fucking LOVE this film. Hell they love it so much that it took over that cess-pool of hormonal hatred 4chan. They wear the masks. They quote it. They even defend it. And why not, with the film ignoring one of the key points of the book (and even of itself!) it martyrs V, turning him in to a character, a symbol, a person. Now when the film is telling you on one hand that ideas are important to revolution, not people, and then you have the lead mourning the death of a man and saying that HE was the important one you have problems. But the idiot teens eat it up, furiously masturbating betwixt their twin screens with V on one and…oh I don’t know…Che Guvara on the other.



The dialogue is no better. A prime example is V’s first speech, made almost entirely of words beginning with V. Yes ha ha very clever you can use alliteration. Good for you. Does it mean anything? No of course not. It’s a fucking kinder egg with no prize, something to be quoted to make people feel clever. It’s a joke treated as if it’s a monumental piece of character development. At a stretch you could say it’s an indication of V’s mental state, but the film shows no evidence of that anywhere so really it’s just me showing mercy to something that doesn’t deserve it.



So yes V’s character is utterly fucked. In the book he is utterly insane, a terrorist, a massive fucking problem, he’s the Joker with a purpose. Well sort of, but analysing him with any sort of depth would take too many words than I’m willing to write. In the film? He’s a noble freedom fighter with Neo-esque kung-fu skills and a martyr complex. It ties back in to the film’s childish black and white political vendetta that wasn’t relevant when it was released and is now, five years later, an embarrassing waste of celluloid.
There’s so much more wrong with it, but really I’m tired of thinking about it.


The Wachowski’s exhibit the same lazy writing technique they used in the matrix, completely butchering a simple montage and leaving a confusing mess. Once again they confuse “reference” for “idea” and have no sense of subtlety, leaving a pretentious wet fart of a film. The Matrix was great because it was a unique take on action. No one cared about the philosophy, it was just sort of there as wall hanging. V For Vendetta hinges on the Wachowski’s intellectual prowess, of which they have none, and without the action you’re left with two very silly, boring hours of people trying to sound clever.
 

Screaming Meat

Unconfirmed Member
This film is an abomination. An outright travesty. Constantine deserves far, far better treatment than that bullshit. One of my favorite comic book characters demoted to Keanu Reeves film status.

Agreed on all fronts. Constantine was the most interesting, complicated and above all human comic book character out there. To whoever greenlit this piece of shit, I say:

 

Screaming Meat

Unconfirmed Member
I also liked it.
Never read the comics so I really enjoyed it for what it is with no baggage or expectations

I can't recommend the comics enough. They were pretty unique at the time.

Constantine is meant to be a con-man and hustler; a blue collar warlock who hardly ever uses magic; getting by on wit, cunning, a smart mouth, extensive knoweldge of the occult and its practices, and his much deserved reputation for trickery. He's a scuzzy London-raised liverpudlian who has an extensive list of friends and contacts who invariably end up dead whenever he calls on them. Above all, he never ever wins outright and he never ever learns his lessons.

What he isn't is a dark haired surfer dude, working as a catholic exorcist, who wields a goddamned holy shotgun. That film had access to some incredible source material but instead went the Catholic Matrix route instead.

Hell looked good though. :)
 

Pikawil

Unconfirmed Member
Screw y'all, this is the top of AAA-rank* comic-based films:

GPvuroE.jpg


*
AAA stands for Atrociously Abominable Abortion
 
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