85. The Punisher (Mark Goldblatt, 1989)
Dolph Lundgren stars as Frank Castle, a vigilante with a mission to avenge his dead family in this often forgotten 1989 adaption of Marvels Punisher comics. Every bit as violent and balls to the wall as youd expect from this character, and just about any movie staring Lundgren. An exciting and well made action thriller, that allowed its star the chance to shake off the homo-erotic stigma of playing He-Man two years previously. Unfortunately for fans, the film-makers decided to remove some of the key elements of Castles character, in particular his trademark skull t-shirt. Contrary to this, it has subsequently received praise for its characterisation of The Punisher, who resembles Frank Millers re-imagining of the Dark Knight. The Punisher would be rebooted 15 years later, in 2004, in a much more commercial effort.
84. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Stephen Norrington, 2003)
Alan Moore, justifiably, considers this to be a bastardisation of his original work. However, we have since learned that Mr Moore is a very hard man to please. It is true that The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen graphic novels are perfect the way they are, but perhaps having an opium addict and a rapist amongst your heroes would be a little to hard to swallow for Hollywood and the film financiers. If we were to judge this film solely on its content then it would probably rank lower down the list, however, we feel that The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen has an accessibility that some other films, such as the The Punisher, just does not have. LOXG will appeal to audiences of all ages with its mixture of adventure and fantasy and its use of well known stars, such as, Sean Connery.
83. The Phantom (Simon Wincer, 1996)
Proving that real men wear skin tight pink costumes, The Phantom was Paramount Pictures answer to the superhero craze that was sweeping Hollywood in the 90s. Despite a cast that included Catherine Zeta Jones, Treat Williams and Billy Zane the film failed to gross even a third of its original budget, which just goes to show that Paramount should have stuck with its first choice of Bruce Campbell. Set in the late 1930s, Phantom is the tale of a man out to find his fathers killer. In doing so he uncovers a plot to steal the skulls of Touganda, which give their possessor unlimited destructive power. One must assume that these mystical skulls complemented the Phantoms fabulous outfit as this seems his only reason for going after them. Zeta Jones co-stars as Sala, a sultry air pirate. A reboot is in the pipeline.
82. Tales From The Crypt: Demon Knight (Ernest Dickerson, 1995)
Ok, so technically, the Tales From The Crypt movies are a spin off from the TV show. However, they were inspired by the bi-monthly EC Comics anthology of the same name, so you know where you can stick your technicalities. Not to be confused with the 1972 British movie, the US Crypt adaptations saw two very different low budget horror movies released, in particular the 1995 Ernest Dickerson effort, Demon Knight. So whats it all about? Brayker (William I played the Grim Reaper in Bill & Teds Bogus Journey Sadler) has a dark secret. You see, upon his person he carries the last of the fabled Seven Keys, ancient vessels that contain the blood of the crucified Christ. For years now he has been pursued by a charismatic high ranking demon known as The Collector (Billy Zane) who already has possession of the previous 6 Keys. As Brayker runs out of places to hide he seeks refuge at a run down hotel in the arse end of nowhere. Pleased to have a new resident the hotel owner welcomes the stranger, blissfully unaware that her not-so-humble abode will act as the stage for the final battle between good and evil for the very soul of mankind. A great plot line for any comic book, Im sure youll agree? Available on Region 1 DVD only at present, one to look out for.
81. Hulk (Ang Lee, 2003)
Considering how popular and how important the Hulk character is to the Marvel Universe, his movies have been less than stellar since he first smashed his way onto our screens in the 1970s. This bizarre screen outing from Taiwanese maestro Ang Lee sees yet another origin movie where we learn about all things about Bruce Banner and his alter-ego, except we only actually get to see Hulk smash in one scene. And if memory serves hes freaking huge! Too huge! The film itself is also way too long with very little payoff for fans at the end of it, and was made at a time when the CGI just wasnt advanced enough for the character to not look phony. A real shame. The Hulk will be done better and will appear again in this list.