100 Greatest Comic Book Films Of All Time

100. Catwoman (Pitof, 2004)

Notable only for Halle Berry in a tight costume. Quite possibly one of the worst movies ever made but it makes the list as a must see in how NOT to make a comic book movie. Even the film's star went on to describe it as "a piece of shit, god-awful movie". A brilliant character is turned into a ridiculous joke and helps ruin many a fanboy's wet dream as the next-gen Catwoman balances her secret life and her love life in a convoluted plot involving Egyptian cats and skin cream do little to prevent this from being the most boring superhero movie of all time. Michelle Pfeiffer must be spinning in her cat basket! Sharon Stone also stars in a role we€™re forgotten and are also sure she€™d rather forget.

99. Batman & Robin (Joel Schumacher, 1997)

So bad it's good. Except it isn't good it's awful.Really awful. Sadly no top 100 would be complete without it. Easily one of the most talked about comic book movies of all time, but for all the wrong reasons, Batman and Robin proved one Dark Knight movie too much and left the franchise stone cold dead in the water for eight years. Starting out in 1989 with Tim Burton's atmospheric classic, the series was already verging on camp and ridiculous by the time Joel Schumacher got his hands on it, but casting Arnold Schwarzenegger as a wise cracking Mr Freeze just sealed it's fate - €œYou won€™t take me to the cooler!€. Bob Kane's caped crusader will appear several times in this list but never again will he appear with nipples on his outfit, which is a good thing.

98. Howard The Duck (Willard Huyck, 1986)

AKA Howard: A New Breed of Hero. Created in 1973 as a secondary character in Marvel's Man-Thing comic, Howard is an extraterrestrial duck from a distant galaxy that is brought to Earth and pitted against a Dark Overlord who has also found himself stranded in the US. The oversexed creature quickly falls in love with Lea Thompson€™s Bev character and smokes a few cigars, all the while waddling around town like a dwarf in fancy dress - which, let€™s be blunt, is exactly what he is. Widely considered a box office failure that no amount of Quack-Fu can save, Howard received a modicum of cult success when the DVD was eventually released but it didn't distract from the fact that the movie is just plain awful, at least when one takes into account the people involved in making it. With the likes of George Lucas involved this really should have been a lot better.

97. Mystery Men (Kinka Usher, 1999)

Based on Dark Horse's Flaming Carrot Comics, albeit loosely, Mystery Men was supposed to be a slapstick alternative to the straight superhero movies doing the rounds at the time. In fact that's kind of the point of the film too - a bunch of rubbish heros (Mr Fury, The Shoveler etc) try to make a name for themselves in a super-world dominated by pompous goody goodies like Captain Amazing. A definite cult classic but a box office flop. Mostly a funny and quotable movie that is perhaps too obscure for many viewers. One for hardcore comic book movie fans and those of you interested in Paul €˜Pee Wee Herman€™ Reubens career post porno cinema bust.

96. Judge Dredd (Danny Cannon, 1995)

"I am the law", screamed/mumbled Sylvester Stallone in Danny Cannon's 1995 flop. What he should have shouted (and allegedly did) was "I am a star. People want to see my face". The thing was NO ONE wanted to see Sly's medically manufactured mush, especially when one of his character's key traits was that he never took his helmet off. It also turned out that no one wanted to watch this film, which is a shame as it's actually a pretty nice action movie with some great set pieces - it just doesn't do the 2000 AD source material justice. A reboot is slated for later this year starring Karl Urban and is already getting rave reviews for its approach from those in the know including Dredd€™s original creator.
 
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