Comics Movies
Comics and movies both blossomed in the cultural landscape of the 20th Century. And as they flowered they cross-pollinated one another with their brightest blooms and their most effective arrangements. The digital revolution has opened many doors to the previously unfilmable, leading to an explosion in the number of comic book adaptations.
For many people 'comics movies' mean gaudy titans in tights pounding the snot out of one another. However, if you remove the properties of the two big American companies (DC and Marvel), a broader spectrum of the fantastic and mundane is revealed.
Presenting for your selection, a cornucopia of pocket universes born of ink, transformed into light. For Superheroes peruse the DC and Marvel sub-headings under Comics Movies, stage left.
Pictured: Marv (Mickey Rourke) takes a moment to collect his thoughts in 2005's "Sin City" - cinema's most faithful comic book adaptation to date.
Lady Snowblood (1973)
7.7/10
Director: Toshiya Fujita
Starring: Meiko Kaji, Toshio Kurosawa, Masaaki Daimon
Her father, a schoolteacher, is brutally murdered. Her mother is beaten, raped, and forced into prostitution to survive, only to die giving her life.... Read more
Lady Snowblood: Love Song of Vengeance (1974)
7.7/10
Director: Toshiya Fujita
Starring: Meiko Kaji, Yoshio Harada, Kazuko Yoshiyuki
Imprisoned and sentenced to hang for the murders she committed to avenge her family, Yuki is given a reprieve by the mysterious Kikui, a secret govern... Read more
Lone Wolf and Cub 1: Sword of Vengeance (1972)
Director: Kenji Misumi
Starring: Tomisaburo Wakayama
He was Ogami Itto, a man who held himself to the harsh code of Bushido, entrusted by the Shogun with the gravest of responsibilities, that of official... Read more
Lone Wolf and Cub 2: Baby Cart at the River Styx (1972)
Director: Kenji Misumi
Starring: Tomisaburo Wakayama
The Yagyu clan has murdered Ogami Itto's wife, and had him stripped of his position of Official Shogunate Second. Now Ogami Itto and his son Daigoro w... Read more
Lone Wolf and Cub 3: Baby Cart to Hades (1972)
Director: Kenji Misumi
Starring: Tomisaburo Wakayama
"Child and Expertise For Rent" reads the sign on the crude baby cart that Ogami Itto pushes, carrying his infant son, Daigoro, as they wander the Japa... Read more
Lone Wolf and Cub 4: Baby Cart in Peril (1972)
Director: Buiichi Saito
Starring: Tomisaburo Wakayama
His services cost 500 pieces of gold. Once he agrees to take an assignment, he never fails. But now Ogami Itto faces his greatest challenge yet - he h... Read more
Lone Wolf and Cub 5: Baby Cart in the Land of Demons (1973)
Director: Kenji Misumi
Starring: Tomisaburo Wakayama
Five retainers of the Kuroda clan seek out Ogami to enlist his aid in saving the Clan. But first, they must ensure that he is capable of helping them.... Read more
Lone Wolf and Cub 6: White Heaven in Hell (1974)
Director: Yoshiyuki Kuroda
Starring: Tomisaburo Wakayama
In this, the final film, the evil Lord Yagyu Retsudo, having failed in his previous attempts to eliminate Ogami, deploys his ultimate weapons; his dau... Read more
Lucky Luke: The Ballad of the Daltons (1978)
4.8/10
Director: Henri Gruel, Rene Goscinny
The villainous Dalton brothers are a few days into their 2,400 year-long prison sentence when they learn of the death of their Uncle Henry. Before he... Read more
M.W. (2009)
5.5/10
Director: Hitoshi Iwamoto
Starring: Yuriko Ishida, Ryo Ishibashi, Takayuki Yamada, Hiroshi Tamaki
When a top secret compound called M.W. (pronounced 'mew') infects an island community, the military moves in to kill the victims and cover up the stor... Read more