Help me understand the Super Hero genre - Page 3

Alex · 07-25-2008, 08:28 AM

I think there is also a lot of appeal in the idea that in being different/unique you are actually superior to everybody else and not the opposite.

Personally, I'm not much into super hero stories except in movie form. I haven't read a comic book since I was a pre-teen and then it was mostly the Scrooge McDuck comics my dad had.

For me, while it isn't the only thing I love about movies one aspect is the ability to create visually convincing non-realities. And the abilities of the medium have finally begun to catch up to the ideas behind fantasy (which I enjoy in written form) and comic books (which I don't). I have no real interest in the old Spider-Man movies, the Batman TV show, early Superman, etc.

3894 · 07-25-2008, 08:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alex

I think there is also a lot of appeal in the idea that in being different/unique you are actually superior to everybody else and not the opposite.

Good point. Why does the superiority have to be secret do you think?

Alex · 07-25-2008, 09:00 AM

Because when you're 13 and feel like you're completely different than anybody else and they hate you for it, the superiority apparently isn't obvious. It must manifest in some way others don't easily see.

innerSpaceman · 07-25-2008, 09:20 AM

I just like a good fantasy movie. Also something about basically the same story over and over again, but seeing how it's told by different artists in slightly different forms. The origin story especially is the same same same thing, over and over ... but the others also boil down to three or four tales told repeatedly, in slightly different styles.

I like the mythos stuff and good vs. evil boiled down to basics stuff. But not so much that I'd ever read a comic book.

Nope, it's the fantasy film fantastic stuff and visuals that appeals to me, and the superhero / comic book movie is just a subset of that.

BTW, the best movie for comic book superhero mythos understanding and exploration - which gave me a new appreciation for the movie genre I was into for different reasons - is M. Knight Shyamalan's underseen Unbreakable with Samuel L. Jackson and Bruce Willis. Fantastic.

Cadaverous Pallor · 07-25-2008, 10:25 AM

Just to be clear - I was never into super hero comics, had a couple as gifts but never liked them, read one girly comic series...but I've always dug the movies. I was so in love with Christopher Reeve.

ETA - just wait until Borneio gets here

innerSpaceman · 07-25-2008, 10:36 AM

I love that Singer's Superman Returns was so reverential and referential to the Christopher Reeve Superman series, but the Nolan Batman series is its own animal.

Chris Reeve's 1978 Superman started this whole thing. You can hardly make a Superman movie without acknowleding it. So many Batman flicks by so many different artists make that one more of a free reign zone.

And, of course, there were no previous Spiderman or IronMan movies to have to deal with.

I didn't see this summer's The Incredible Hulk - did it pay homage to the Ang Lee original??

Gn2Dlnd · 07-28-2008, 02:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

I didn't see this summer's The Incredible Hulk - did it pay homage to the Ang Lee original??

I don't know about the Ang Lee version, I didn't see it. But two, count 'em, two references to the TV show!

innerSpaceman · 07-25-2008, 02:56 PM

Season Two was supposedly a disaster that began to right itself just as the righting writers went on strike, so it ended with a promising whimper. I haven't seen it. Season 3 is supposedly better.

Hmmm, to rent or not to rent?

JWBear · 07-25-2008, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

Season Two was supposedly a disaster that began to right itself just as the righting writers went on strike, so it ended with a promising whimper. I haven't seen it. Season 3 is supposedly better.

Hmmm, to rent or not to rent?

It's got a lot of hot guys in it!

innerSpaceman · 07-25-2008, 04:15 PM

OMG, one-track mind.

(But, I like to take a few laps around that track myself)

07-25-2008, 08:28 AM	#1
Alex . Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 13,354	I think there is also a lot of appeal in the idea that in being different/unique you are actually superior to everybody else and not the opposite. Personally, I'm not much into super hero stories except in movie form. I haven't read a comic book since I was a pre-teen and then it was mostly the Scrooge McDuck comics my dad had. For me, while it isn't the only thing I love about movies one aspect is the ability to create visually convincing non-realities. And the abilities of the medium have finally begun to catch up to the ideas behind fantasy (which I enjoy in written form) and comic books (which I don't). I have no real interest in the old Spider-Man movies, the Batman TV show, early Superman, etc.
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07-25-2008, 09:00 AM	#3
Alex . Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 13,354	Because when you're 13 and feel like you're completely different than anybody else and they hate you for it, the superiority apparently isn't obvious. It must manifest in some way others don't easily see.
	Submit to Quotes

07-25-2008, 09:20 AM	#4
innerSpaceman Kink of Swank Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Inner Space Posts: 13,075	I just like a good fantasy movie. Also something about basically the same story over and over again, but seeing how it's told by different artists in slightly different forms. The origin story especially is the same same same thing, over and over ... but the others also boil down to three or four tales told repeatedly, in slightly different styles. I like the mythos stuff and good vs. evil boiled down to basics stuff. But not so much that I'd ever read a comic book. Nope, it's the fantasy film fantastic stuff and visuals that appeals to me, and the superhero / comic book movie is just a subset of that. BTW, the best movie for comic book superhero mythos understanding and exploration - which gave me a new appreciation for the movie genre I was into for different reasons - is M. Knight Shyamalan's underseen Unbreakable with Samuel L. Jackson and Bruce Willis. Fantastic.
	Submit to Quotes

07-25-2008, 10:25 AM	#5
Cadaverous Pallor ohhhh baby Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Parental Bliss Posts: 12,364	Just to be clear - I was never into super hero comics, had a couple as gifts but never liked them, read one girly comic series...but I've always dug the movies. I was so in love with Christopher Reeve. ETA - just wait until Borneio gets here __________________ The second star to the right shines in the night for you
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07-25-2008, 10:36 AM	#6
innerSpaceman Kink of Swank Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Inner Space Posts: 13,075	I love that Singer's Superman Returns was so reverential and referential to the Christopher Reeve Superman series, but the Nolan Batman series is its own animal. Chris Reeve's 1978 Superman started this whole thing. You can hardly make a Superman movie without acknowleding it. So many Batman flicks by so many different artists make that one more of a free reign zone. And, of course, there were no previous Spiderman or IronMan movies to have to deal with. I didn't see this summer's The Incredible Hulk - did it pay homage to the Ang Lee original??
	Submit to Quotes

07-25-2008, 02:56 PM	#8
innerSpaceman Kink of Swank Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Inner Space Posts: 13,075	Season Two was supposedly a disaster that began to right itself just as the righting writers went on strike, so it ended with a promising whimper. I haven't seen it. Season 3 is supposedly better. Hmmm, to rent or not to rent?
	Submit to Quotes

07-25-2008, 04:15 PM	#10
innerSpaceman Kink of Swank Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Inner Space Posts: 13,075	OMG, one-track mind. (But, I like to take a few laps around that track myself)
	Submit to Quotes