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With all the Marvel superhero movies being produced, I wonder how many people's adolescent memories are being disappointed by big studio renditions. (Movies made about DC characters don't figure with me, because I never had any interest in them in the first place.)
The biggest disappointment to me, however, has been G.I.Joe. As a kid, I loved the toys and the comics, and while the first movie instalment was mildly amusing, it was clear that they were going to utterly destroy anything that I thought was good in the original stories (eg. just turning it into a sort of sci-fi/military thing).
So what characters/stories/comics/whatever from your youth have been destroyed in the cinema?
Judge Dredd.
Masters of the Universe
Transformers
Fantastic Four
John Carter
.....the list is endless
V for Vendetta
(Would second Judge Dredd)
The last Judge Dredd movie was OK, once they got inside anyway. Crap version of Mega-City, though, obviously didn't have enough budget to do it justice.
The Star Wars Prequels are the obvious choice I guess. When were little we lived and breathed Star Wars, the special editions were cool, even if not everyone loved them, but the prequels were shit. I tried to defend them, tried to enjoy them but they were such a departure from the originals and a strange mix of very obvious silliness to sell toys etc and quiet long, boring drawn out political drama.
I decided that however good they were, they could never recreate being 5 and watching them for the first time again, but the last one was actually excellent and I've got high hopes for Rouge One.
'Franchises' are for the most part however a total turn-off for me, it usually means another super hero film, a remake of them one from 5 years ago, the same sickly sweet moral dilemmas, 'super powers' that are utterly flexible in their effectiveness to suit the script and piss poor acting.
His Dark Materials.
Shame,as the Golden Compass mess made sure that The Subtle Knife will (probably) never get made now.
I'm already disappointed by a movie that's not even finished yet. 😥
The Dark Tower.
I've never seen any Die Hard or Fast and Furious so that means they must be rubbish 😉
Lord of the Rings was bad, the Hobbit was dire.
DC Comics stuff mostly sucks.
Transformers after a promising start went downhill very quickly.
Star Wars in general has been more awful than good.
James Bond goes up and down like a sine wave.
The original Die Hard was not that bad, but you're right that the remaining ones in the series were poor. I think it may have been just cashing in on the 'switch brain off' action genre. The same's probably true of Fast & Furious to be fair.
I don't think that DC is alone in producing poor productions of classic comics. Marvel is not without blame in that regard, but does seem to make a better job of it.
I'm going to suggest Watchmen though. Awesome graphic novel. Not a bad attempt at making it, but could have been better. V for Vendetta has already been mentioned. I'm still not happy with how they butchered the original material.
Being a child of the 90's most of the things they're ruining now are fairly new to me.
I've quite enjoyed the marvel stuff (I know it's not high brow entertainment but its a easy fun watch)even though Civil War seemed like a long advert for the next films.
The first judge dredd was woeful, that's just based on watching the Karl Urban one first.
dragon - MemberTransformers after a promising start
really?
I think the teaser was good, the actual films were dire from the get go
the cartoon movie is a waaaay better film, the bit where optimus dies 😥
Twilight. 😐
The biggest disappointment to me, however, has been G.I.Joe. As a kid, I loved the toys and the comics, and while the first movie instalment was mildly amusing, it was clear that they were going to utterly destroy anything that I thought was good in the original stories (eg. just turning it into a sort of sci-fi/military thing).
This. The Action Force comics were great and often quite realistic - proper 'boots on the ground' stuff, often with 'bigger picture' political implications and 'grey' endings. The American GI Joe take seemed to remove the grittiness and add an unbelievable element, while simplifying the actual plot and making everything black and white.
Judge Dredd.
Judge Dredd yes. Have you seen Dredd (www.dreddthemovie.com/) though?
Lord of the Rings was bad, the Hobbit was dire.
Love the books. Thought LOTR was as good as it could have been. You're always going to get dissenters, but to me it was an epic labour of love that visually represents the book well.
mogrimThe last Judge Dredd movie was OK, once they got inside anyway. Crap version of Mega-City, though, obviously didn't have enough budget to do it justice.
It was a more contemporary version as opposed to the high fantasy of the comics (which the Stallone movie did quite well). Worked for me.
jambalayaI've never seen any Die Hard or Fast and Furious so that means they must be rubbish
Die Hard is a classic in every way. But it was a victim of it's own success in that a huge glut of action movies following tried mimic the formula to varying degrees of success, so looking back it appears pretty unremarkable because you've seen it all a thousand times.
[i]Fast & Furious 3: Tokyo Drift[/i] is a master piece of post modernist cinema.
Anyway, as per the OP I think the Hulk hasn't fared well at the cinema.
the Hobbit was dire.
Really, really terrible. Just, well, boring really, as if they took the last 15 minutes of LOTR as the ongoing benchmark.
Golden Compass +many. Tragedy that they couldn't do justice to the book.
It's a shame that Stallone couldn't do Dredd properly. He had the chin for it.
still waiting for the folk of the faraway tree movie, would love to see that. Glenn Close for Dame Slap.
the cartoon movie is a waaaay better film
Agreed. Despite not being a Transformers fan way back when.
the bit where optimus dies
30 years later, I still remember my brothers tears!
Judge Dredd - plenty of good visual elements let down by dire screenplay and agent demands (Sylvester wont do it unless we see his face...) I could probably write a dissertation everything that was wrong with it.
Dredd was light years ahead but the exterior visual stuff, as mentioned, just didn't click. No Hammerstein either. But overall still a 9/10.
Transformers was a let down but TBH we shouldn't have been surprised considering the director.
I'm going to throw another one in - Resident Evil. First movie was actually pretty good in a cheesy sort of way even if it wasn't true to the games. But downhill on a very steep trajectory from there.
Oh and Alein vs Predator. Though again, from the above we should have expected that.
Emmanuelle.
I thought LoTR was pretty decent, but agree that The Hobbit was dire....
Hobbit was the obvious disappointment, followed closely by y the star wars prequels, just horrid
Last transformers movie seemed wilfully terrible, almost like Bay set out to spend the most amount of money for the least rewarding experience. Should be used in film school as an object lesson
Judge dredd, v for vendetta, watchman aren't franchises.
The current dc output leaves a lot to be desired. Star trek movies have been mostly patchy with the wrath of khan being the standout by quite some way.
The first transformers movie was way better than it had any right to be, however since then the standard has been more of the destruction porn you'd expect from Michael bay.
Bond is very hit and miss. The Bourne movies seem to have had their day too.
squirrelkingDredd was light years ahead but the exterior visual stuff, as mentioned, just didn't click. No Hammerstein either. But overall still a 9/10.
The ABC robot was never part of the Dredd universe, it was just thrown into the Stallone movie on the chance that they could sell action figures of it if the movie was a hit.
I'm sure i'll get flamed, but the Marvel films are starting to wear a bit thin for me. They all seem to be building up to something that never appears.
First Transformers movie wasn't bad, the rest were just gash. THe same for the Matrix films.
Any of the tweenager movies are pretty bad, but then they're not aimed at me.
Basically anything that promises an epic battle, takes a few movies to get to it only for it to be 6 or 7 folk having a bit of a ruck in a weirdly abandoned location. (Captain America Civil War, i'm looking at you!)
The confessions series.
I never felt like we really explored the protagonists motivation beyond the superficial.
I was just about to chuck int he matrix, ground breaking the first one was, the second and third weren't even passable.
How about Terminator, 1 and 2 are good and great, but then 😯 👿
I'm sure i'll get flamed, but the Marvel films are starting to wear a bit thin for me. They all seem to be building up to something that never appears.
You'll be wanting to read up on the [url= http://www.theverge.com/2015/5/7/8560555/marvel-infinity-stones-avengers-infinity-war-movie ]infinity stones[/url] then.
But I'd agree the novelty has well and truly worn off.
Anything that refers to itself as 'a franchise' and isn't a Macdonalds is pretty much guaranteed to be absolutely bloody awful.
Mind you, I'm starting from the point of view that I'd rather remove my own kidneys withe a teaspoon than watch a Superhero/Comic Book film. On account of not being at primary school any more.
muppetWrangler - a very valid point. I also felt that the later Carry On films neglected to follow through on the complex, but delicate matters of sexual equality that were bravely raised in the likes of 'Camping' and 'up the Kyber'
Mind you, I'm starting from the point of view that I'd rather remove my own kidneys withe a teaspoon than watch a Superhero film. On account of not being at primary school any more.
Not seen Deadpool then?
Not really for the Primary School audience that one.
I have to admit that thats the only one I'd even contemplate watching PP.
Its not a franchise (yet) though, is it?
I remember watching the trailer for Batman v Superman, and wondered who on earth would go and watch such ridiculously contrived nonsense
's kinda part of the wider x-men franchise innit?
Got Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead in it.
binnersMind you, I'm starting from the point of view that I'd rather remove my own kidneys withe a teaspoon than watch a Superhero/Comic Book film. On account of not being at primary school any more.
Did you watch Old Boy?
ridiculously contrived nonsense
I make it a rule never to watch something that isn't ridiculously contrived nonsense. That's the best part.
Two hours of entirely plausible ordinary happenings to everyday folks would bore the tits off me. I get enough of that at work and at home.
Thought LOTR was as good as it could have been.
I really enjoyed them (for the most part - a few very painful scenes though) but I don't think they have aged at all well, unlike Harry Potter which are still very fresh now.
Surely that one jumped the shark though PP?
Surely that one jumped the shark though?
Nah! the weirder and more outlandish the better as far as I'm concerned.
I thought it was much better than Man of Steel, which was dull as dishwater.
Not the worst Batman ( George Clooney's bat nipples) or Superman (Superman IV the quest for profits) movie by a large margin.
perchypanther - MemberMind you, I'm starting from the point of view that I'd rather remove my own kidneys withe a teaspoon than watch a Superhero film. On account of not being at primary school any more.
Not seen Deadpool then?
Not really for the Primary School audience that one.
Yeah they jumped all the way to secondary school with that one.
The Comic Book Film backlash is looong overdue, but I for one can't wait - it's a bad joke gone too far, the well is dry, all resources exploited, pretty soon a studio is going to put $400m into a comic book film and it's going to lose 70% of it and that will be the last we see of them, for a decade at least.
I miss films about gangsters or thrillers about serial killers. I wish they've make some like that.
anything that is a franchise, basically
I miss good war films.
I remember watching the trailer for Batman v Superman, and wondered who on earth would go and watch such ridiculously contrived nonsense
I did. And it was. Although not [i]quite[/i] as terrible as Battleship (which ironically could have made a good war film).
johndoh - MemberI miss good war films.
Dunkirk looks like it might be good.
There's another one coming soon about a WW2 US Army Medic who was a conscientious objector who refused to take or handle any sort of weapon and saved lots of lives, but it 'based on a true story' and it's being made by Mel Gibson, so...
Police Academy 7 was far below the standard of the original, I think I might even skip Police Academy 8.
Electric Blue 1-15. Terrible 😈
Hobbit was bad, LOTR was great but not a patch on the animated version. (2nd part was never released which was a shame)
Fast and Furious.1st was just a copy of Point Break the rest were better left alone.
but it 'based on a true story' and it's being made by Mel Gibson, so...
He'll blame the English?
The Hobbit. Completely and utterly ballsed by Jackson. It's awful from the get go. The Hobbit so thoroughly rubs out whatever plus points Jackson accrued from LOTR that I never ever want to see any more of his films ever again, thank you. And King Kong was tosh.
Anything Marvel. And DC. They must be stopped. I don't know when it all started to go wrong, but wrong it has gone. Probably the last superhero film(s) I thought was good was the Nolan/Bale Batman(s). And I did watch Deadpool. It was OK. Ish. Sort of.
I can't include Bond, as various installments have been good. Some have been awful.
Bourne, three good films. Should have quit while they were ahead. I just watched the Jeremy Renner film. Please, stop now.
Star Wars prequels.
Fast and Furious. One good film.
Aliens. Got two good ones in before the crap arrived.
Predator. #1 is a classic.
AVP. No, stop it now.
The Jurassic Park-o-saurus. #1 good, #2 passable.
Rambo. #1 brilliant, all else terrible.
Does the God awful HHGTG film count? What a horrible travesty of a film
+1 The Hobbit was an utter pile of burning turds.
Does the God awful HHGTG film count? What a horrible travesty of a film
No - not a franchise. Even tho it was pretty atrocious.
I miss films about gangsters or thrillers about serial killers. I wish they've make some like that.
They still do this was just released lsat week.
How I came to bother watching Scary Movie 3 is something of a mystery to me having sat through the everso weak 1 & 2, but it was far superior!
I'm not saying it was good, but it was a considerable improvement, which is unusual as sequels are generally worse.
The ABC robot was never part of the Dredd universe
Well aware of that, maybe he had been retrieved and copied afer a dimension jump?
And seriously, THAT is what you pick on? At least they managed to get SOMETHING correct, even if it was from a different universe.
Weekend at Bernie's first one is great, second one meh! The Hunger Games, like a mix of Battle Royale and the Running Man, but without the grit of the former or the amazing eightiesness (not even a word) of the latter. They should have got Randy Savage instead of Donald Sutherland. 😀
Hobbit was awful
Stallone Dredd requires mind and eye bleach.
The newer Dredd was brilliant considering the woeful budget.
Star Wars prequels should be stricken from history along with the abomination that was the last one.
Any ST movie other than The Motion Picture, Wrath of Khan and First Contact were hideous, don't get me started on the last 3.
Michael Bay is one of my 7(strapped into a people carrier and hand pushed off Beachy Head, at low tide so any survivors drown as the tide comes in) in fact he's in the drivers seat......for the raping of the Transformers Franchise. I'd cheerfully boil him in concentated alkali.
James Bond. Am I the only one who thinks they are formulaic turgid and totally boring? Deadpool however was excellent.
I don't think the Hobbit was awful, it was just too long. In Bilbo's own words [i]"like butter spread over too much bread"[/i].
I think the cast was great (with the exception of Stephen Fry of whom I'm normally a fan), the music was good, the visuals were superb and Smaug was perfect.
BUT, It could've been done in one long (3:45), or two short films (2:00) It should never have been 3.
OP - The Hunger Games - The films carried little of the horror portrayed by the books.
His Dark Materials - Promising cast, but utterly ruined.
X-Men - Whilst mostly watchable, they're extremely poor when compared to the cartoons of the 80s/90s.
Superman - They're really struggling with this...
The amazing Spiderman, not a patch on the first 2 from Sam raimi.
Oh, can't remember who it was whining about civil war, for not having a world saving end, I quite liked the lack of a world destruction. There's only so many times I can watch the world in peril. It was quite nice to watch high stakes between characters.
There's another one coming soon about a WW2 US Army Medic who was a conscientious objector who refused to take or handle any sort of weapon and saved lots of lives...
I think you described my grandfather - except he was Scots. Blinking Hollywood commandeering history, they'll be claiming they got hold of that enigma machine next...
The ABC robot was never part of the Dredd universe
Well aware of that, maybe he had been retrieved and copied afer a dimension jump?And seriously, THAT is what you pick on? At least they managed to get SOMETHING correct, even if it was from a different universe.
I'm really sorry, I'm not a geek honestly, but Judge Dredd came up against nasty war robots at least a couple of times. In the Cursed Earth saga, I seem to remember some of them were robot vampire nurses draining people's blood to keep the last president of the USA alive. But I'm pretty sure there were other military robots. Also, ever hear of, or seen a movie called 'Hardware'? It's ripped off from a John Mills 'Tharg's Future Shocks' story that was set in Mega City One and sees a war robot almost identical to the the one in the Stallone movie being bought as scrap for an artist and then accidentally being reactivated. Great wee movie....even has Lemmy in it!
I'm confused by everyone's negative attitude to the 'Dark Materials' thing though? Is there a movie other than the Golden Compass that I haven't seen? All I can see are plans for a BBC series to be shown next year. How can that be ruined already?
I actually don't mind most of the franchise...super hero, comedy or action stuff.As long as it's a bit silly, I'm happy. Like someone has already mentioned, I slap a DVD in the slot to switch my mind off for a couple of hours, so the more ludicrously distracting the nonsense in front of me is, the better.
squirrelking
The ABC robot was never part of the Dredd universeWell aware of that, maybe he had been retrieved and copied afer a dimension jump?
And seriously, THAT is what you pick on? At least they managed to get SOMETHING correct, even if it was from a different universe.
It's not even remotely correct. It's just a robot that looks like an ABC Warrior. But if you're going to credit the film for getting something visually or stylistically correct then there's tons of stuff in there that was brilliantly executed and very much in keeping with the comic aesthetic of that era.
In terms of overall look and production design they got far more right than wrong, which just makes the final product all the more disappointing.
Also, ever hear of, or seen a movie called 'Hardware'?
Yes.
sees a war robot almost identical to the the one in the Stallone movie
Nope not even similar. But fun trivia, Chris Cunningham built the robot for "Hardware" and scuplted the maquette that the Judge Dredd ABC robot is based on (after Kevin Walker/Simon Bisley).
Hobbit was bad, LOTR was great but not a patch on the animated version. (2nd part was never released which was a shame)
I'd forgotten about that - the animated version was great. I'd argue about it being better, but it was certainly very good and a shame it was never completed.