Top 30 Greatest Superhero Movies Of All Time: 1. The Dark Knight (2008)

But Batman trains really, really hard. I don't see Tracy doing that (or maybe he does - perhaps he's doing weights between scenes).

 

As has been mentioned, the list seems to be treating "hero from comics" as functionally equivalent to "superhero."

 

23. Swamp Thing (1982)
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The tale of a research scientist turned into a plant-based monster who clings to his humanity has been prime fodder for both movies and TV as creator Len Wein's character boasts endless possibilities.

Two films (this plus a light-hearted sequel) have been released about this character, this one being made by Wes Craven. Don't know anything about it apart from the fact that it's release saw DC re-promote and (eventually) revamp the character under Alan Moore.

 

I once had my boots shined next to Swamp Thing creator Len Wein, who was getting his own rattlesnake-skin cowboy boots (this is a New Yorker we're talking about here ) shined, in one of the outer corridors of the San Diego Comic Con.

We chatted for a bit about the Batman Animated Series before talk turned to Swampy. Len told me he liked what Alan Moore had done with his characters "as an adult", but that the little kid in him disliked the serious tone of the writing, and that he missed the fun, monster-vs.-monster aspect that he and co-creator Berni Wrightson had imbued into the character and his milieu.

I silently disagreed, and chose to reserve my opinion that the Moore era of Swamp Thing is gripping, exploratory science-fiction of the highest order.

The 1982 movie falls decidedly on the fun, monster-vs.-monster side of the equation. In short, it's an enjoyable romp.

 

22. Batman (1989)
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Tim Burton took a character that had become campy and put his darker, gothic spin on it. Michael Keaton made a great, quirksome Bruce Wayne and Jack Nicholson played The Joker with OTT relish.

It was the most successful film in 1989 (beating out expected boxoffice titans such as Ghostbusters 2 and Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade) and kick started a new franchise that lasted just short of a decade (Batman & Robin saw the series infamously end in 1997) with 3 different Batmans and a number of classic characters from the rogues gallery.

I haven't seen it in years, though Jack Nicholson's Joker still remains memorable even after the late Heath Ledger's Oscar-winning performance of the same character in The Dark Knight. It also (for me) still boasts the best version of the Batmobile seen on screen.

 

There are 22 better superhero films? Je ne crois pas.

 

And with that, the list is over.

 

Tim Burton took a character that had become campy and put his darker, gothic spin on it.

No he didn't. He took a character that had been dark and Gothic since about 1969 in the source material, and attempted to convey that shift in tone to the mainstream movie-going world. In this Burton and company were mostly successful, but we should not come away from this believing that Burton himself was responsible for the "darker, [G]othic spin" his movie put on Batman. That "spin" was inherent in the material through the efforts of DC creators Dennis O'Neil, Neal Adams, Jim Starlin and Frank Miller.

It's a decent, three-star film that gets a lot wrong in my opinion. But it is vastly more enjoyable and re-watchable than any of the hammy, sparkly sequels.

 

I don't think that anyone believes that. I think it's pretty well known that Burton went back to the roots rather than change it "himself". The article is just saying that the on-screen Batman was known to be camp.

 

Leave it to me, the wizard of nerdly pedantry (or pedantic nerdism?), to miss that.

 

21. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)
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It might not have aged as well as some of the other older entries on this list, but it's still a hugely enjoyable romp with some great animatronics from Henson and great performances to bring them to life.

Saw this film for the first time in years just last week. I pretty much agree with the list author - it hasn't aged so well, but the work done by Jim Henson's company is indeed outstanding.

 

I was a huge Turtles fan as a kid, and loved loved loved this movie. I still recall it as being great fun, but I haven't seen it in forever. I really should check it out again sometime.

 

At least The Shredder was cool and intimidating, not the joke he was in the animated show.

 

... until that final fight with Splinter, where he's taken out in 3 secs like a punk.

 

20. Darkman (1990)
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Frustrated in his attempts to land mainstream superhero gigs (he'd have to wait a few years), Sam Raimi cooked up an original idea fizzing with potential, turning Liam Neeson into a badly injured scientist who creates synthetic skin and uses it to disguise himself as anyone. Sheer fun.

Never even heard of it, let alone seen it.

 

Darkman (original 1990 film only) is one of the greats! Fans of super-hero cinema, of Sam Raimi's work in the Evil Dead or Spider-Man series, and/or of action-horror-comedies owe it to themselves to seek this movie out and put it on their shelves (group it by subject between Spider-Man 2 and Evil Dead 2 ).

Part Batman, part Dr. Phibes/Phantom of the Opera and all inspired lunacy, Darkman is superbly crafted and loads of fun. It was the film that made me realize that the flaws in Burton's Batman (IMO) could have been avoided by a more skilled and ironic director.

Darkman has cinematic style to spare, employing tilted angles, hand-held shaky-cam, psychedelic imagery and a carnivalesque Elfman score to really set the movie apart visually and musicaly. It's also funny, and weird, with quotable dialogue like "Whose little boy are you?" and "Take it! Take the ******* elephant!!"

And while the climax is fairly standard for late-80s super-hero fare (see Robocop and Batman) the core idea is so original, so obvious-in-retrospect, and so cleverly brought to life that the film lingers with you long after you've seen it.

 

High praise from Merlin I see.

Next one ...

19. Superman II (1980)
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While we'd recommend the Richard Donner cut over Richard Lester's version, there's still plenty to enjoy in Lester's work. Kneel before Zod! No really - Terrence Stamp makes for a great villain.

A classic - I've only seen the Lester version so don't know how well the Donner cut rates. Kneel before Zod!

 

IIRC the original plan was to use the turning back time ending at the end of the second film not the first. It got moved to the first because someone (I can't recall who) felt that it needed a bigger ending, and Donner intended to go back to do a different ending for two. Since he never got that chance, he just used the ending that was originally intended, and what parts of his story still existed.

I was never a fan of any of the Lester films, so seeing the Donner Cut of II was a real treat for me when it came out.

 

I could not disagree more. The Donner version is absolutely dire and full of contradictions and plot holes. It's ONLY saving grace is Marlon Brando.

 

Nail. Hit. Head.

From the lamentable use of test/rehearsal footage to pad out a major scene -- the gun firing in Clark's apartment (or is it Lois'? -- either way it looks like a cheap set, because it is) -- to the plot-destroying deletion of scenes for the sole reason that Lester shot them (EG the entire Niagra Falls hotel sequence, paired down to incomprehensibility), to the embarrassing re-use of the world-spinning gimmick (which absolutely works in the first film and absolutely does not in the Donner cut), to the illogical return trip to the Alaska diner (since in the new, post-spin reality Clark was never beat up), the great bulk of the Donner version is as Halibut asserts above.

I'd love to weave the Brando footage back into the original, so-called Lester version (which actually has quite a bit of Donner-shot stuff in it as it is), along with some of the shots from the four-way aerial combat over Metropolis that Donner included in his otherwise unfortunate cut.