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.
From Hell (2001)
6.8/10
Director: Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes
Starring: Johnny Depp, Heather Graham, Robbie Coltrane, Ian Holm, Ian Richardson
London, 1888: the grimy streets of the city's poorest neighbourhood are the stalking grounds of a vicious killer unlike any before him, where a police... Read more
From Hell ( Blu-ray ) (2001)
6.8/10
Director: Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes, The Hughes Brothers
Starring: Heather Graham, Ian Holm, Johnny Depp, Robbie Coltrane, Ian Richardson
London, 1888: the grimy streets of the city's poorest neighbourhood are the stalking grounds of a vicious killer unlike any before him, where a police... Read more
Garfield (2004)
5/10
Director: Peter Hewitt
Starring: Bill Murray, Breckin Meyer, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Stephen Tobolowsky, Debra Mess...
Cartoonist Jim Davis's lasagna-eating, nap-loving, fat cat comes to life in a comedic family adventure that mixes live-action with computer-generated... Read more
Garfield 2: A Tail of Two Kitties (2006)
5/10
Director: Tim Hill
Starring: (Voice of) , Billy Connolly, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Breckin Meyer, Bill Murray, V...
As with the original, this sequel features Bill Murray as the big, orange, CGI puss in a real-life world. In spite of the title, the story is swiped... Read more
Ghost World (2001)
7.4/10
Director: Terry Zwigoff
Starring: Illeana Douglas, Thora Birch, Steve Buscemi, Scarlett Johansson, Brad Renfro
For sardonic high schoolers and best buds Thora Birch and Scarlett Johansson, the world around them is filled with living targets for their scorn and... Read more
Go West (1925)
7.2/10
Director: Buster Keaton
Starring: Buster Keaton
With little luck at keeping a job in the city a New Yorker tries work in the country and eventually finds his way leading a herd of cattle to the West... Read more
Golgo 13: Kowloon Assignment (1977)
7.5/10
Director: Yukio Noda
Starring: Sonny Chiba, Etsuko Shihomi, Emi Shindo, Callan Leung
Based on a best-selling Japanese comic, Sonny Chiba stars as 'Golgo 13', a master assassin whose calling card is a single shot between the eyes. Match... Read more
Hanzo the Razor - Sword of Justice (1972)
6.8/10
Director: Kenji Misumi
Starring: Shintaro Katsu, Yukiji Asaoka, Mari Atsumi
Hanzo 'the Razor' Itami is a samurai cop who's expert at weilding more than just his sword. Like a Japanese version of 'Shaft', Hanzo is a demented b... Read more
Hanzo the Razor 2 - The Snare (1973)
Director: Yasuhiro Matsumura
Starring: Shintaro Katsu
Based on the manga of Kazuo Koike, this is the second part in the Hanzo trilogy as our dubious and well-endowed hero gets on the wrong side of a bunch... Read more
Hanzo the Razor 3 - Who's Got The Gold? (1974)
Director: Yoshio Inoue
The last in the Hanzo trilogy, this time our hard-as-nails super-stud cop is on the trail of a plot to smuggle gold out of the national treasury. Nat... Read more