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If we were to measure by appearance ONLY (and not script treatment or the film overall), which movie got the appearance of the hero right? It's interesting, because if I have to ignore the overall film and just measure by aesthetics, my list get's turned around quite a bit.
1) The Phantom - The movie was okay, but I thought Billy Zane absolutely nailed the look of the comic hero perfectly. A completely honest translation.
2) Superman - Christopher Reeve IS the Man of Steel. It's not likely anyone will ever top him. Probably the best story ever told in this genre as well.
3) Spiderman - Never did I ever expect they could get Spider-man right, but this was awfully close. Very little in the way of enhancements.
4) Iron Man - Differences from the comics are minimal at best. Of course one could argue he doesn't have the classic 70's look, but the armor has always evolved through the years.
5) Ghost Rider - Great appearance. I just wish they would have been more faithful to the look of Johnny Blaze.
6) Hellboy - Nicely interpreted from the comics. Never thought they could pull that off convincingly.
7) The Rocketeer - Nice translation. Really got the helmet and outfit right.
8) The Watchmen - I know this was a graphic novel. But honestly this stayed very true to the image of those characters. Maybe too true in some examples?
9) The Spirit - Strange film. But they got his look perfectly done.
10) Conan - I thought Arnold really captured the overall look of the John Buscema version drawn in comics at that time. I was impressed.
Now clearly, there are some good films that are omitted. And if I had to measure by story, most on my list would not even be here. Batman has some great installments, but Hollywood has never been faithful to his comic appearance. X-Men has also been good, but the look is not comic based by much. Daredevil was good as a director's cut, but his look is quite different from the comic version. And I had too many "effects" problems with the Fantastic Four and Hulk to put them in the top ten. They kind of looked like them. Then again they didn't too. How would you list them? Appearance only now.
1) The Phantom - The movie was okay, but I thought Billy Zane absolutely nailed the look of the comic hero perfectly. A completely honest translation.
2) Superman - Christopher Reeve IS the Man of Steel. It's not likely anyone will ever top him. Probably the best story ever told in this genre as well.
3) Spiderman - Never did I ever expect they could get Spider-man right, but this was awfully close. Very little in the way of enhancements.
4) Iron Man - Differences from the comics are minimal at best. Of course one could argue he doesn't have the classic 70's look, but the armor has always evolved through the years.
5) Ghost Rider - Great appearance. I just wish they would have been more faithful to the look of Johnny Blaze.
6) Hellboy - Nicely interpreted from the comics. Never thought they could pull that off convincingly.
7) The Rocketeer - Nice translation. Really got the helmet and outfit right.
8) The Watchmen - I know this was a graphic novel. But honestly this stayed very true to the image of those characters. Maybe too true in some examples?
9) The Spirit - Strange film. But they got his look perfectly done.
10) Conan - I thought Arnold really captured the overall look of the John Buscema version drawn in comics at that time. I was impressed.
Now clearly, there are some good films that are omitted. And if I had to measure by story, most on my list would not even be here. Batman has some great installments, but Hollywood has never been faithful to his comic appearance. X-Men has also been good, but the look is not comic based by much. Daredevil was good as a director's cut, but his look is quite different from the comic version. And I had too many "effects" problems with the Fantastic Four and Hulk to put them in the top ten. They kind of looked like them. Then again they didn't too. How would you list them? Appearance only now.
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