Topic: Superhero Marathon

[addicted2dvd]

Superhero Marathon
Today I was thinking back at all the fun I had doing the Batman and Superman marathons with the old Batman and Superman movie serial chapters between each movie. I decided I wanted to do something like that again... but I didn't want to wait till the weekend to do so. So what I decided to do is a slow paced marathon (meaning I may only do one movie a day or even every other day)... and in between each episode I will be watching chapters of a Superhero serial. This time I chose....


The Adventures of Captain Marvel
Considered by many to be the finest serial ever made, The Adventures of Captain Marvel chronicles the exploits of "The World's Mightiest Mortal" as he combats The Scorpion, a hooded villain intent on obtaining six optical lenses that, when aligned properly, turn ordinary stones into gold! Highlighting the serial were the fabulous flying sequences by Republic's ace special effects team, Howard and Theodore Lydecker. Combining a wired dummy photographed against real backgrounds in natural sunlight, with spectacular take-ff leaps and landings supplied by action ace, David Sharpe, the final effects are still as fascinating today as they were in 1941. The Adventures of Captain Marvel marked the very first time a comic book superhero's exploits were transferred to the silver screen, and the resulting 12 chapters have yet to be equaled for excitement and entertainment.

My Superhero Collection:
Feel Free to request review of anything not striked out... Since I already did one with them will be no Superman or Batman movies (That I did in their own Reviews) this time.
- Batman
- Batman Returns
- Batman Forever
- Batman and Robin
- Batman Begins
- Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker
- Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
- Batman: The Movie (Watched not that long ago)
- Catwoman (A Stretch... Recently watched)
- Daredevil (Damaged... need to replace my copy)
- The Dark Knight (Watched not that long ago)
- Death of the Incredible Hulk
- Elektra (Maybe a Stretch... but what the hell)
- Fantastic Four
- Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
- Hancock (yes a bit of a stretch... but what the hell)
- Hulk
- The Incredible Hulk
- The Incredible Hulk Returns
- Iron Man
- The Meteor Man
- Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt (yes a bit of a stretch... but what the hell)
- Sky High
- Spider-Man
- Spider-Man 2
- Spider-Man 3
- Supergirl
- Superhero Movie (Watched not long ago)
- Superman: The Movie
- Superman 2
- Superman 3
- Superman 4: Quest for Peace
- Superman Returns
- Superman: Doomsday
- Superman: Brainiac Attacks
- Trial of the Incredible Hulk
- The Ultimate Avengers
- UnderDog
- X-Men
- X-men 2
- X-men: The Last Stand
- Zoom: Academy for Superheroes

I think the first one I will watch for this marathon will be Supergirl... look for the review some time tomorrow!

[Jimmy]

I think the first one I will watch for this marathon will be Supergirl... look for the review some time tomorrow!

This is the one I was checking for in your list

[addicted2dvd]

Supergirl
When the planet Krypton was destroyed in a cosmic holocaust that claimed its great civilization, Kal-El (known to Earth as Superman) was believed to be the only survivor – until now...

Safely hidden in the void of inner-space is the Kryptonian city of Argo — saved by the scientist Zaltar (Peter O'Toole) and powered by the magical Omegahedron. But now the city's vital power source has been lost, and only one courageous person can retrieve it! Her name is Kara...on Earth she is known as Supergirl (Helen Slater). Standing in her way is the evil sorceress Selena (Faye Dunaway) who has taken control of the fantastic power source. With her now super-powered black magic, the villainess is bent upon nothign less than world domination! Can Supergirl retrieve the Omegahedron before it is too late?

Supergirl features an all-star cast: Faye Dunaway, Peter O'Toole, Hart Bachner, Peter Cook, Mia Farrow, Brenda Vaccaro, Simon Ward, and Helen Slater as Supergirl.

This Limited Edition double disc set contains two versions of the film: the International version — containing 10 minutes of footage not seen in the U.S. and presented in Widescreen and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound; and the Director's Cut — containing 24 minutes of long lost and recently rediscovered footage presented here for the very first time! Adventure soars higher than ever before

My Thoughts:
For this viewing I decided to watch the Director's Cut version for the extra 24 minutes. Clocking in at 2hr. 18min... this movie is a little on the long side. But you really don't notice this when watching. The movie is just so much fun that it seems to be over before you know it. I think both Helen Slater and Faye Dunaway did a great job. Sure there was some parts of this movie that I found to be a little on the silly side... but to be honest that just made it more entertaining and I think the silliness was well balanced within the rest of the movie for the most part. Over-all I am glad I got the limited edition DVD when it was released. There is no extras what so ever on the Directors cut DVD but there is a few good things included on the International version DVD in the set.

My Rating:
Out of a Possible 5

[richierich]

Never heard of The Meteor Man, would be interested to read a review of this   

[addicted2dvd]

I haven't watched that one in a while so I will be sure to get to it... it is more a comedy  starring Robert Townsend...

[Tom]

- Daredevil (Damaged... need to replace my copy)

But I recommend to get the Director's Cut this time. It is a lot better!

[addicted2dvd]

- Daredevil (Damaged... need to replace my copy)

But I recommend to get the Director's Cut this time. It is a lot better!

Yeah... I was planning on getting the Director's Cut this time! I heard it was better.

[addicted2dvd]

The Adventures of Captain Marvel
Considered by many to be the finest serial ever made, The Adventures of Captain Marvel chronicles the exploits of "The World's Mightiest Mortal" as he combats The Scorpion, a hooded villain intent on obtaining six optical lenses that, when aligned properly, turn ordinary stones into gold! Highlighting the serial were the fabulous flying sequences by Republic's ace special effects team, Howard and Theodore Lydecker. Combining a wired dummy photographed against real backgrounds in natural sunlight, with spectacular take-ff leaps and landings supplied by action ace, David Sharpe, the final effects are still as fascinating today as they were in 1941. The Adventures of Captain Marvel marked the very first time a comic book superhero's exploits were transferred to the silver screen, and the resulting 12 chapters have yet to be equalled for excitement and entertainment.

Chapter 1: Curse of the Scorpion
Billy Batson is given the ability to become Captain Marvel after the curse of the Scorpion is unleashed.

My Thoughts:
This is the first movie serial I ever seen. Normally in my experience a chapter of a movie serial runs approximately 15 to 17 minutes long... with the first chapter a little longer (usually 20some minutes long)... but in this case the first chapter is a half an hour long! But that is understandable in this case as the first chapter not only has to set up the story but also the origin of Captain Marvel. The first chapter is a lot of fun... and it has a good cliffhanger ending. I really liked how they got 2 different people playing Billy Batson and Captain Marvel.

My Rating:
Out of a Possible 5

[addicted2dvd]

Spider-Man
From Columbia Pictures Presents, A Marvel Enterprises/Laura Ziskin Production, Spider-Man is a live-action feature of one of the world's most popular comic book superheroes. Directed by Sam Raimi, Spider-Man centers on student Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) who, after being bitten by a genetically-altered spider, gains superhuman strength and the spider-like ability to cling to any surface. He vows to use his abilities to fight crime, coming to understand the words of his beloved Uncle Ben: "With great power comes great responsibility."

My Thoughts:
I remember the first time I saw this movie. Since Spider-Man has been my favorite superhero I was a kid it is one of the few movies I bothered to go see at the theater when it was first released. I remember initially being disappointed with his web coming from his wrist instead of the webshooters that he created in the cartoons and such I grew up on. But shortly into the movie I decided that I liked the idea of how the movie does it even better then the way I grew up knowing it to be. I thought the choice of Toby Maguire as Peter Parker/Spider-Man was very good... he did a great job with the role. I have watched this movie many times since I got the dvd... and still enjoy it just as much as I did the first time.

My Rating:
Out of a Possible 5

[addicted2dvd]

Never heard of The Meteor Man, would be interested to read a review of this   

I was looking for something to watch... and while doing so I was checking to see if the movies I picked have a review up here yet... and I see I did do a small review for this one earlier...

LINK

Though I may still watch it again for this marathon.

[addicted2dvd]

The Adventures of Captain Marvel
Considered by many to be the finest serial ever made, The Adventures of Captain Marvel chronicles the exploits of "The World's Mightiest Mortal" as he combats The Scorpion, a hooded villain intent on obtaining six optical lenses that, when aligned properly, turn ordinary stones into gold! Highlighting the serial were the fabulous flying sequences by Republic's ace special effects team, Howard and Theodore Lydecker. Combining a wired dummy photographed against real backgrounds in natural sunlight, with spectacular take-ff leaps and landings supplied by action ace, David Sharpe, the final effects are still as fascinating today as they were in 1941. The Adventures of Captain Marvel marked the very first time a comic book superhero's exploits were transferred to the silver screen, and the resulting 12 chapters have yet to be equaled for excitement and entertainment.

Chapter 2: The Guillotine
Billy and Whitey attempt to reclaim the lens stolen by the Scorpion from the camp. However, the Scorpion has an electric guillotine rigged to prevent anyone from taking the lens back.

My Thoughts:
The second chapter of this serial I enjoyed quite a bit. Not as much wasted time setting up the story this time. The archaeologists comes back to the states in this one. And it has a great cliffhanger at the end.

My Rating:
Out of a Possible 5

[addicted2dvd]

Mystery Men
The hippest cast in history has united to become the funniest superhero team ever. Ben Stiller, Janeane Garofalo, Hank Azaria, William H. Macy, Greg Kinnear, Geoffrey Rush, and Paul Reubens join forces in this wild, funny and thoroughly original misadventure.

When Captain Amazing, Champion City's legendary superhero, falls into the hands of the evil madman Casanova Frankenstein and his disco-dancing henchmen, there's suddenly a chance for the aspiring superheros to show what they can do. They're the Mystery Men...a ragtag team of superhero wannabes featuring: Mr. Furious, whose power comes from his boundless rage; The Shoveler, a father who shovels "better than anyone"; The Blue Raja, a fork-flinging mama's boy; The Bowler, who fights crime with the help of her father's skull; The Spleen, whose power is pure flatulence; Invisible Boy, who's only invisible when no one's watching and the Sphinx, a cliché-sprewing philosopher.

With its outrageous adventure, incredible cast and hip alternative humor, Mystery Men is so irresistibly funny and appealing, seeing it just once will never be enough.

My Thoughts:
Felt a little like a comedy today. This is a pretty good comedy... though I did find it a bit silly at times... and I have definitely seen better superhero movies. I liked most of the cast as well... though one person on the cast I was not impressed by is Greg Kinnear as Captain Amazing. At least he wasn't in most of the movie.

My Rating:
Out of a Possible 5

[Jimmy]

I've just noticed that you don't have Flash Gordon in your collection (the film, not the serials). This is something that you could certainly like (it's silly, it's fun and it's my favourite "super-hero" movie). At least you're lucky since a region 1 edition is available now (not as great as the region 2 that I own, but since you aren't crazy like me with the extra).

Amazon link

[addicted2dvd]

Thanks for the recommendation Jimmy.

[Najemikon]

I would love to hear your thoughts on Flash Gordon, Pete! It's a classic. 

But I really mean it, do not click the following spoiler!

(click to show/hide)

Ok, when do we tell him about the soundtrack that's so impossible to ignore it often takes the place of sound effects? "FLASH! Ah-ha... he'll save every one of us!"