Random 1990s Superhero Movies

G

Gothamite

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2007
Messages
3,260
Location
Dublin, Ireland
So after Batman came out and made a buhzillion dollars, it seemed like the in-thing to release movies about similarly dark, lesser or non super-powered heroes in the hope of making similar bucks.

Why make a thread about this?

Well, the sci-fi channel over here's been having a 'Heroes & Villains' Week and for whatever reason, they weren't able to get the more mainstream, well-known superhero movies (Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, X-Men), so they're showing the more obscure ones from the 1990s (The Phantom, The Shadow, Spawn). Daredevil is also on for some reason.

Any memories you'd like to reflect on in regards these lesser known movies?

Personally, I think The Phantom was a lot of fun. Certainly not Shakespeare, but it was Indiana Jones in tights and you can't go wrong with that. Billy Zane's physique and looks were perfect for the role.

The Shadow, while not a very good movie, had an excellent first twenty minutes. It's so much fun in a corny, campy way and they really milk the scenes with the Shadow so it's like watching Batman on horse steroids or something. This is pretty much the best scene in the film. The rest of the film really wasn't up to much at all.

I haven't seen Spawn yet, but from what I hear, it's pretty terrible. Am I forgetting any other obscure 90s heroes?
 
Spawn is awful, just awful. I saw it at the show and they showed the last two reels out of order so we got free tickets to another movie. I used mine on Steel.

I enjoyed The Phantom at the show but haven't seen it since.

The Shadow is all around awesome.
 
Joe Kalicki said:
Spawn is awful, just awful. I saw it at the show and they showed the last two reels out of order so we got free tickets to another movie. I used mine on Steel.
Click to expand...

You poor bastard. I mean Spawn into Steel. Thats like pulling a stick out of your left eye to jam it into your right.

I enjoyed The Phantom at the show but haven't seen it since.

The Shadow is all around awesome.
Click to expand...

I endorse both of these statements.
 
Joe Kalicki said:
Spawn is awful, just awful. I saw it at the show and they showed the last two reels out of order so we got free tickets to another movie. I used mine on Steel.
Click to expand...

Wow. A double-whammy of crapness.

To be fair, though, I do have Steel on VHS and it's a fairly decent piece of silliness when you're in the mood. Shaq may not have been an actor, but he was certainly exactly what John Henry Irons should look like.

The Shadow is all around awesome.
Click to expand...

I love the first twenty minutes and the music throughout the whole film is purified, impenetrable, solid GOLD (not surprising, considering the name of the composer).

Unfortunately, after that scene I showed you, the movie doesn't add up to much. The plot, the love interest and the villain are all boring. Plus, they show far too much Alec Baldwin and far too little of The Shadow.

I love how they expanded on the invisibility/telepathy powers The Shadow only ever had in the radio show. In the Pulp Magazines, he was just an ordinary, powerless vigilante, a la Batman. Sam Raimi appears to be trying to make a new Shadow movie which is more faithful to the magazines. I'm not interested unless he has the power to "cloud men's minds". :rockon:
 
Dick Tracy is easily the best of the lot. Great movie, great cast and acting and music and art direction... just excellent all around. After ages of my cousins and I playing with the action figures(of which they had virtually all of), my uncle gave me the VHS of the movie one day and it was just ****ing awesome. Still is.

The Shadow was just about my favourite movie as a little kid and I've watched it at least a couple dozen times, probably second only to Tim Burton's Batman or The Mask.

The Rocketeer I've seen maybe ten times over the course of the last 15 years. I love it immensly and would probably put it in my Top 50 but it is probably the weakest of these four films.

The Phantom my dad and I saw at the cinema at some kind of special premire thing. I guess I was around 6 or 7. Everybody there got posters and actual metal Phantom skull rings which was the coolest thing ever and I still have mine to this day. Loved the movie, still own it on VHS, but out of these I've got probably the least sentimental relationship with it and have "only" seen four or five times. Also read the novelization at the cottage a couple years ago, which was cool.
 
There was always the awesome Tank Girl movie.


(yes I know she's not technically a "superhero" per se)
 
Last edited:
Gothamite said:
Daredevil is also on for some reason.
Click to expand...

'cuz it wasn't very good, and was probably subsequently cheap to buy the rights to

Gothamite said:
I love how they expanded on the invisibility/telepathy powers The Shadow only ever had in the radio show. In the Pulp Magazines, he was just an ordinary, powerless vigilante, a la Batman. Sam Raimi appears to be trying to make a new Shadow movie which is more faithful to the magazines. I'm not interested unless he has the power to "cloud men's minds".
Click to expand...

The only thing I remember about The Shadow was the knife that flew around. But that **** was awesome.

skotti-chan said:
There was always the awesome Tank Girl movie.


(yes I know she's not technically a "superhero" per se)
Click to expand...

*gag* That was such a terrible movie.

But the cast was awesome. Malcolm McDowell! Ice T! Lauren Petty! mmmm....



As for Steel? gross. John Henry Irons shouldn't look like Shaq. Irons should be big, but not Shaq big.
 
Last edited:
Would you count The Mask as a superhero? Not that it was a great movie or anything, just thought it might belong here.
 
i was just talking with my college buddies the other day about how awesome the phantom was.
 
I actually loved a lot of these 90's hero movies, probably because they were relatively low budget and the studios didn't try to control them like bigger budget superhero movies. So they were just really fun and original.

The Phantom - I really enjoyed the film, the whole mythology behind the Phantom.

The Rocketeer - This has to be one of those all time great movies, just fantastic. I mean a jet back guy fighting nazis? How can you go wrong with that?

The Shadow - I remember seeing this in theaters and not remembering one thing about the film. I found that odd that I couldnt remember anything that happened. That's a rare thing for me. I saw it again a few years ago, it's really fun, I love the use of hypnosis

Spawn - I liked it, it was really stupid is some aspects but I still found it entertaining, I never read the comics or watched the series so I have no bench mark. That one clown really annoyed the crap out of me though

Steel - It was so utterly cheesy and stupid, but still fun. I think it would have been a much better if they got an actualy actor instead of Shaq
 
Random said:
Steel - It was so utterly cheesy and stupid, but still fun. I think it would have been a much better if they got an actualy actor instead of Shaq
Click to expand...

It's 'cuz They don't want the youth to see a black man in a superhero costume.

If they knew what was up, they would have cast Doom as Steel.
 
Random said:
I actually loved a lot of these 90's hero movies, probably because they were relatively low budget and the studios didn't try to control them like bigger budget superhero movies. So they were just really fun and original.
Click to expand...

I would disagree strongly in the case of The Shadow, mainly because we only saw the Shadow in full costume a couple of awesome times throughout the movie, whereas Alec Baldwin was seen throughout. Reminded me a bit of how we rarely ever saw Judge Dredd in full costume in his movie. This certainly looks like some kind of contractual thing that Baldwin demanded.

When Baldwin was in full-costume though, he was concentrated badassness. Check out that scene I already posted for proof. His voice is just amazing; he's like a classic '30s actor. Listen to how he pronounces the word 'conscience'. It's friggin' insanity.
 
Last edited:
Gothamite said:
I would disagree strongly in the case of The Shadow, mainly because we only saw the Shadow in full costume a couple of awesome times throughout the movie, whereas Alec Baldwin was seen throughout. Reminded me a bit of how we rarely ever saw Judge Dredd in full costume in his movie. This certainly looks like some kind of contractual thing that Baldwin demanded.

When Baldwin was in full-costume though, he was concentrated badassness. Check out that scene I already posted for proof. His voice is just amazing; he's like a classic '30s actor. Listen to how he pronounces the word 'conscience'. It's friggin' insanity.
Click to expand...
Well that is only one instance where the studio steps in, they paid for Baldwin and they want their money's worth, but I'm talking more about plot and focus
 
Random said:
Well that is only one instance where the studio steps in, they paid for Baldwin and they want their money's worth, but I'm talking more about plot and focus
Click to expand...

You can still get your money's worth if the actor is hidden by heavy makeup or masks, etc. I reckon Baldwin just wasn't bothered spending the whole film all dressed up in uncomfortable prosthetics so he said in his contract that he wanted such-and-such amount of screen minutes without the costume on.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top