jeffbase34

As a comic book fan, it is pure tragedy to see a beloved series get totally trashed and raped on the big screen, but adapting a comic book to live action is no easy task. You can stay true to the fans like Watchmen, but alienate the mainstream.

So what adaption has let you down the most? Mine is:

The Fantastic Four


Being a fan of the FF since childhood, I was really excited that CGI and special effects had evolved to where a good movie version of the superhero team could be done. IMO, the FF stands as Marvel's finest series. While other superheroes battled earth bound super villains, the FF constantly faced threats that would destroy the entire earth or even the universe. The enemies were huge, and so creative. Mole Man, Anniulus, the Kree, the Skrulls, Doctor Doom, the Puppet Master, the list goes on...

After the success of Xmen and Spiderman, I expected a similar movie experience. Heck, I even enjoyed Daredevil. Instead, I received a colossal letdown. Fantastic Four the movie tried to be an action comedy while failing on both fronts. The origin story was completely changed. Doctor Doom, one of the greatest villains of all time, was given a lame origin story with an out of place reference to Latveria. Doom, the master of invention and evil, was reduced to some dude who shot lightning bolts.

Everything about the movie was a mess from the acting, the pacing, and weak action sets. It was like they made the movie for people who never heard of the comic.


To this day, I am puzzled why the FF was given a light comic tone, and not a serious adaption like Xmen.

Ash Ketchum

Agreed, THE FANTASTIC FOUR (2005) is the most disappointing. And its 2007 sequel is possibly even worse.

A close third, in terms of disappointment, is the 1943 15-chapter Republic Pictures serial of CAPTAIN AMERICA, starring Dick Purcell. They turned him into just another masked crime-fighter, with no powers. They took away the wings on his head mask. They took away his shield and gave him a revolver instead. And they took away his boots and put him in tights with shoes!!!

fumanstan

I enjoyed Fantastic Four, especially the extended cut. I think my most disappointing was Superman Returns.

PopcornTreeCt

Are we talking about the old Fantastic Four movie? Because the new ones were good. I'll say Ang Lee's Hulk movie was by far the most disappointing for me.

islandclaws

I usually avoid most of the really terrible looking comic adaptations, but the worst I have personally seen was Daredevil.

jeffbase34

I'm talking about the 2005 version directed by Tim Story. Why in the world would they hire the director of Taxi and Barbershop for such a big film? Ang Lee was an awful choice as well.

McHawkson

Daredevil is the most disappointed and X-Men (or should I call it Wolverine Original?) 1-3 came second.

Both of them are one of my favorite comic books, especially Elektra (Daredevil) and Phoenix (X-Men). They were basically ruined in movie. Elektra looks weak and ridiculous - Phoenix's character is pretty much far from original - completely different character.

Bandit03

My most disappointing one would have to be Superman Returns. I'm a big Superman fan and that movie was just a big let down. It's not the worst superhero film (that honor goes to Daredevil), but being such a big Superman fan, I just expected and hoped for more.

As for the Fantastic Four ('05 and '07), I loved those movies

Goat3001

Spider-Man 3 by far (I'm surprised no one has mentioned this). Obviously not the worst but easily the most disappointing.

The first was excellent. It was one of the first of the recent comic book movies that wasn't all dumb action but told a good story while keeping it light.

The second was, at the time, considered by pretty much everyone to be the best comic book movie ever. It still ranks in my top 3 and I'm sure many of you can say the same.

The hype surrounding the third was incredible. It was supposed to be darker and grittier. Then it just turned out to be a huge turd. Emo Peter Parker was almost a slap in the face to those that watched the first 2 films a dozen times and waited eagerly for the third.

Palaver

Howard the Duck

Hokeyboy

FANTASTIC FOUR (2005) was pretty much garbage from start to finish. I actually enjoyed the sequel, though. It wasn't a great movie, or even a very good one, but it was decent.

The one that *probably* disappointed me the most was JUDGE DREDD (1995). I loved the original comics, was a huge 2000 AD fan in general, and that movie was pretty much an abortion. From the misguided casting of Stallone and the cringeworthy comic relief from Rob Schneider, to the direction, editing, tone, EVERYTHING was off (save for Max von Sydow and Armand Assante). MegaCity One was supposed to be this grungy, polluted, excessive sprawl gone insane environment, not this gleaming hyper-futuristic pop opera. The JUDGE DREDD environment should be lean, sepia, and brutal, not shiny, colorful, and bloated.

SUPERMAN RETURNS is probably second, even though I thought the movie was decent but very flawed. As I mentioned in another thread, Bryan Singer had absolutely *ZERO* understanding of the Superman character and world EXCEPT for what he saw in the first Superman movie... which is why he regurgitated it.

chris_sc77

Fantastic Four and Fantastic Four 2 I would say. These are abominable pieces of shit.
Just truly disgusting and lazy filmmaking.

devilshalo

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/movie-talk/...ok-movies.html

Most disappointing for me was Daredevil. Even the Director's Cut couldn't save it no mattter how much better it was than the theaterical release.

chess

Spider-Man 3 and Batman and Robin are tied for me. Sequels to franchises that I'd enjoyed to that point..that were just terrible.

Hokeyboy

Yeah but was B&R really as disappointing? It's a shit movie, no question, but the franchise had already taken a turn to the shitter in the previous movie, so it's not like expectations were that big.

riley_dude

Fantastic 4 and Daredevil.

Solid Snake

To me the most disappointing one was Daredevil...the worst one...I dunno..Batman & Robin?

theflicker

I was really disappointed by Watchmen. It was less a movie and more a book on tape.

I enjoyed the Fantastic Four movies for what they are, though they could be a lot better.

I knew Daredevil was going to be terrible so I wasn't exactly disappointed when I finally saw it.

Oh and Ang Lee's Hulk might be my favorite superhero movie, but that could be a result of how maligned it is. I do think it's very good though.

I also really like Superman Returns and hate Batman Begins. So, I'm extremely in the minority, I guess.

Giles

I never saw the 1994 Fantastic Four - but I've heard it pretty much reeks.

Ronnie Dobbs

Ghost Rider and Constantine (Hellblazer) had sooo much potential to be bad ass. Casting Nicholas Cage and Keanu Reeves were terrible.

Redo Hellblazer with Clive Owen. That series is awesome.

Also The Punisher was pretty forgettable too.

Jacoby Ellsbury

ninja turtles
Punisher

all of em

Maxflier

Batman and Robin.

I can't believe so many people hate Daredevil, I liked it.

DieselsDen

By far, the most disappointing is SUPERMAN IV, with SUPERMAN III a close second.

After the train wreck of SUPERMAN III, it was good to hear that Margot Kidder would be back, along with Gene Hackman, and that Christopher Reeve would be co-writing the script and directing second unit. And then...Cannon slashed the budget by over a half, and the film was released incomplete.

You can't imagine seeing it on the big screen, and noticing right away that the opening credits were cheesy, and that the first scene outer space is in big, big trouble once the model of the cosmonaut clearly loses his head after being hit by space junk. You felt like you were watching a work in progress.

BATMAN FOREVER and BATMAN AND ROBIN weren't too disappointing to me, because I didn't like BATMAN RETURNS.

I thought DAREDEVIL was okay. I liked it slightly better than the overrated SPIDER-MAN films.

Singer's X-MEN films were pretty damn good.

jeffbase34

I don't understand the Daredevil hate either. It stayed true to the comic, and I enjoyed Bullseye as a villian. With Fantastic Four, the film is very loosely based on the comic which pisses me off.

devilshalo

I liked the director's cut of the film. But this is about DISAPPOINTING comic book films as opposed to ones people HATE.

I feel DD could have been so much more than it is (especially since he is my favorite Marvel character), but the choice of director and its actors left me less than thrilled with the final product. The director's cut fixed a lot of problems the studio forced on MSJ, but Bennifer's acting as well as MCD as Kingpin just really let me down.