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Ranking the best superhero movies of all time
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Started by fantastic_four,

141 posts in this topic

theCapraAegagrus

theCapraAegagrus

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On 7/5/2022 at 11:45 PM, alexgross.com said:

i couldn't find a thread devoted to BATMAN BEGINS, but having just re-watched it, i personally think it is one of the best superhero films ever made, if not the best one. it's still incredibly influential on everything that has come since, in both the dcu and mcu, in terms of its tone, style, and storytelling. absolutely fantastic film.

i also noticed that the actor who played king geoffrey in GOT was in batman begins as a little kid. 

Batman Begins is nearly as-underrated as Man of Steel. They're both phenomenal origin stories for the 2 biggest-name superheroes in the world.

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theCapraAegagrus

theCapraAegagrus

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On 7/6/2022 at 12:33 PM, D84 said:

My top 20

  1. Batman Begins
  2. Captain America: the Winter Soldier
  3. The Dark Knight
  4. Zack Snyder's Justice League
  5. Guardians of the Galaxy
  6. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
  7. The Crow
  8. Iron Man
  9. Batman Returns
  10. Hellboy
  11. Logan
  12. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
  13. The Avengers
  14. Black Panther
  15. Thor
  16. Superman II
  17. Spider-man
  18. X2: X-Men United
  19. X-Men
  20. Batman (1989)

The bottom 5. One is the worst 

  1. Thor: Ragnarok
  2. Captain America (1990)
  3. Batman and Robin
  4. Superman IV: the Quest for Peace
  5. Captain Marvel

ZSJL and BvS Top 20, but no MoS? I personally consider MoS the best of the 3.

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theCapraAegagrus

theCapraAegagrus

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Posted (edited)

I didn't see a list posted by myself in this thread before, so this is how I rank the top CBMs right now:

  1. Man of Steel
  2. The Dark Knight
  3. Avengers: Infinity War
  4. Batman v Superman (Ultimate Edition)
  5. Zack Snyder's Justice League
  6. The Avengers
  7. Watchmen (Director's Cut)
  8. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
  9. Iron Man
  10. Batman Begins
  11. Logan
  12. Guardians of the Galaxy
  13. 300
  14. Spider-Man 2
  15. Spider-Man
  16. The Dark Knight Rises
  17. Avengers: Endgame
  18. Doctor Strange
  19. Spider-Man: No Way Home
  20. X2
  21. X-Men
  22. Deadpool
  23. The Punisher
  24. The Crow
  25. Blade

I consider animated films to be a different genre, so they were not considered for this list.

Edit: I did not expect ZSJL to end up in my Top 5. I put the list together from consideration of, "how excited would I be to re-watch this in comparison to what I already have written down", and this is the order I came up with.

Edited by theCapraAegagrus
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theCapraAegagrus

theCapraAegagrus

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On 7/7/2022 at 11:42 AM, Straw-Man said:

it's your opinion, and to each their own.  but, do you honestly think the punisher is better than supe 1?  i'll accept that, as some think pepsi is better than coke, but my hope is you forgot...

I would rather re-watch The Punisher than Superman, yes. If Man of Steel didn't exist, Superman (+ possibly Superman II) would make my list. Admittedly, I haven't watched any of the Reeve movies in a decade or so. Maybe your comment prompts a re-watch.

Edit: It's basically the same situation with Bale's and Keaton's Batman. Batman and Batman Returns are good, but since I think a newer series did it better, I don't have much inkling to watch the 20th century ones.

Edited by theCapraAegagrus
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Straw-Man

Straw-Man

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On 7/7/2022 at 10:46 AM, theCapraAegagrus said:

I would rather re-watch The Punisher than Superman, yes. If Man of Steel didn't exist, Superman (+ possibly Superman II) would make my list. Admittedly, I haven't watched any of the Reeve movies in a decade or so. Maybe your comment prompts a re-watch.

Edit: It's basically the same situation with the Bale's and Keaton's Batman. Batman and Batman Returns are good, but since I think a newer series did it better, I don't have much inkling to watch the 20th century ones.

would this concept not result in logan bumping the first 2 x-flicks?

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theCapraAegagrus

theCapraAegagrus

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On 7/7/2022 at 11:50 AM, Straw-Man said:

would this concept not result in logan bumping the first 2 x-flicks?

No, because Logan didn't feature any of the other X-Men but Xavier. Magneto is my favorite X-Men character of all-time. The newer movies like First Class, DofP, or Apocalypse (!!!) would have had to do it.

Apocalypse was one of the biggest let-downs I have experienced, with regards to movies. Pretty much on-par with Josstice League. I wanted those movies to be made for about 20 years, and they sucked when they finally came to theaters.

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fantastic_four

fantastic_four

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Gave it some thought but I don't think any 2022 or 2023 films yet crack my latest list in this thread.

But I still haven't seen The Flash.  Is that a top 35 of all time superhero film?

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Straw-Man

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On 11/9/2023 at 7:26 AM, fantastic_four said:

Gave it some thought but I don't think any 2022 or 2023 films yet crack my latest list in this thread.

But I still haven't seen The Flash.  Is that a top 35 of all time superhero film?

yes, barely, if you put a "0" behind 35.

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Dr. Balls

Dr. Balls

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On 11/9/2023 at 6:26 AM, fantastic_four said:

Gave it some thought but I don't think any 2022 or 2023 films yet crack my latest list in this thread.

But I still haven't seen The Flash.  Is that a top 35 of all time superhero film?

For me, The Flash wasn't as atrocious as what everyone else thought. I actually enjoyed it for the most part, and I'm not a fan of Ezra Miller's portrayal of Barry Allen. But I still say it's worth the watch.

Top 35? Man, I don't think I'd have a list that goes past ten, but if I had to think of 35 comic-specific movies, I'd say Flash probably makes the 25-35 area of the list. With stinkers like Jonah Hex, Catwoman, WW84, Inhumans, Quantumania - there's a lot of room to hit 35.

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fantastic_four

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On 11/9/2023 at 11:55 AM, Dr. Balls said:

I had to think of 35 comic-specific movies, I'd say Flash probably makes the 25-35 area of the list. With stinkers like Jonah Hex, Catwoman, WW84, Inhumans, Quantumania - there's a lot of room to hit 35.

I started this thread in 2018 with a list of the top 25 superhero films, comic or not.  Most of them are from the comics, but I'm not including movies like Road to Perdition, Ghost World, etc because they don't feature superheroes, and I am including superhero films that weren't from comics like the Matrix or the Incredibles.  As new movies were released since then i just kept adding new ones to the list if they merited it and I never shrunk it which is why I said top 35.

This is my latest from page five, and none of those more mediocre titles you just mentioned are anywhere near making it:

  1. The Dark Knight
  2. Spider-Man 2
  3. Batman Begins
  4. Logan
  5. Iron Man
  6. Spider-Man: No Way Home
  7. Avengers: Infinity War
  8. Avengers 
  9. Captain America: Civil War
  10. Avengers: Endgame
  11. Black Panther
  12. The Dark Knight Rises
  13. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
  14. The Matrix
  15. Joker
  16. X-Men: First Class
  17. Spider-Man: Homecoming
  18. Superman
  19. Spider-Man: Far From Home
  20. Thor: Ragnarok
  21. Deadpool
  22. The Incredibles
  23. Spider-Man
  24. Watchmen
  25. Captain Marvel
  26. Wonder Woman
  27. Batman Returns
  28. Superman II
  29. X-Men: Days of Future Past
  30. Guardians of the Galaxy
  31. Batman
  32. The Matrix Reloaded
  33. Deadpool 2
  34. Unbreakable
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Dr. Balls

Dr. Balls

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Oh MAN, 'Blade' didn't make that list? Sacrilege! lol

Surprised to see Matrix on there, but I can get down with that. I like that you've gone as far back as Supes and Superman II. I also like the addition of Unbreakable, which is not only a great superhero movie - but if you watch it with the deleted scenes, it gets even better.

Looking at your list, I'm not sure I'd commit Flash to it just yet, but maybe in a few years - I never like adding brand new things to Best Of lists, because you need time to weigh out how well it holds up in the long term.

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Bosco685

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Creating these BEST OF lists can be such a personal preference many times. Of course there are movies where no debate on its greatness is required (Frank Miller's The Spirit :shiftyeyes: ). Then there are those that it comes down to personal likes.

Plus there are so many CBM contenders (not just superhero). And many not in the mainstream - yet good to great:

  • 300
  • Watchmen (superhero)
  • A History of Violence
  • V For Vendetta (superhero)
  • Kick-Azz (superhero)
  • Wanted (superhero/anti-hero)
  • The Crow (supernatural superhero)
  • Hellboy (superhero from the depths)
  • Dredd (superhero)
  • Darkman (superhero)
  • The Rocketeer (superhero)
  • Spawn (superhero/anti-hero)
  • Unbreakable (superhero)
  • Mystery Men (superhero)
  • Flash Gordon
  • Defendor (superhero)

 

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fantastic_four

fantastic_four

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On 11/9/2023 at 12:57 PM, Bosco685 said:

Creating these BEST OF lists can be such a personal preference many times

My personal preference list is completely different than the one I have in this thread.  I'm not even entirely sure what's on it, but I know Daredevil is in the top 10 even though I know it's not a great film.  One of the things that pushes it up for me is the soundtrack...it probably has the best soundtrack of any superhero film, period.  The Crow is in my top 10 also and it also has a terrific soundtrack, but it's a problematic film from an objective perspective.

I also don't even like some of the films in my list here all that much.  I don't like Joker for example, but I recognize how good it is in many ways.

Edited by fantastic_four
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fantastic_four

fantastic_four

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On 11/9/2023 at 12:21 PM, Dr. Balls said:

Oh MAN, 'Blade' didn't make that list? Sacrilege! lol

That's based upon faint memory--I saw the Blade films in the theatre and haven't seen them since.  Isn't the third one the one everyone likes best?

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Dr. Balls

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On 11/9/2023 at 7:30 PM, fantastic_four said:

That's based upon faint memory--I saw the Blade films in the theatre and haven't seen them since.  Isn't the third one the one everyone likes best?

I haven't seen two or three since they came out, but I've rewatched the first one probably 8-10 times over the years. Love the first one.

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fantastic_four

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On 11/9/2023 at 12:57 PM, Bosco685 said:

300

One of my favorite films ever.  It's not superhero so it wouldn't qualify for my list, and it's also laughably bad in a LOT of ways so I'm under no illusion that it's an objectively good film, but wow, I friggin love that movie.  Probably seen it 10 to 15 times, and I've rewatched half a dozen or so of the best sequences on Youtube many dozens of times such as the "THIS.  IS.  SPARTA!" scene or the "Give them nothing, but take from them--EVERYTHING!" scene.

I've almost started a separate thread on the top action scenes of all time several times over the past few years, but I can't think of a great way to define what a scene or a sequence is.  For example Matrix Reloaded really shouldn't be on my objective list because it's not great in many ways, but some of the sequences are just SO outstanding that it deserves recognition for the insane quality of those parts.  All of the scenes starting with the many Smiths, continuing on to the Merovingian encounter, to the fight with the Merovingian's men and the ghost twins, up through the highway chase scene is probably the absolute best half-hour or so of action in any movie, ever.  INSANELY rewatchable even if the film as a whole isn't.

Edited by fantastic_four
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