Decent Comic Book Movies of the 20th Century
by BramOh | created - 13 Mar 2019 | updated - 26 Sep 2022 | PublicThe technology wasn't ready to do justice to comic book/superhero films until the last 20 years of the millennium. These are the ones worth your time. Listed by release date. "Decent" means a rating of 6 or higher.
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1. Superman (1978)
PG | 143 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
An alien orphan is sent from his dying planet to Earth, where he grows up to become his adoptive home's first and greatest superhero.
Director: Richard Donner | Stars: Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman, Marlon Brando
Votes: 187,512 | Gross: $134.22M
A real landmark, the first movie to do comic books justice. Like all comic book movies, the origin isn't the best story available.
2. Superman II (1980)
PG | 127 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Superman agrees to sacrifice his powers to start a relationship with Lois Lane, unaware that three Kryptonian criminals he inadvertently released are conquering Earth.
Director: Richard Lester | Stars: Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Ned Beatty
Votes: 114,621 | Gross: $108.19M
This is criminally underrated and the best on the list. I thought the world agreed this sequel was far better than the original because he had actual super villains to fight. Kneel before Zod!
3. Tron (1982)
PG | 96 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A computer hacker is abducted into the digital world and forced to participate in gladiatorial games where his only chance of escape is with the help of a heroic security program.
Director: Steven Lisberger | Stars: Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner, David Warner, Cindy Morgan
Votes: 129,263 | Gross: $33.00M
Another landmark film of the golden age of arcades and rotoscoping era.
4. The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984)
PG | 103 min | Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Adventurer, brain surgeon, rock musician Buckaroo Banzai and his crime-fighting team, the Hong Kong Cavaliers, must stop evil alien invaders from the eighth dimension who are planning to conquer Earth.
Director: W.D. Richter | Stars: Peter Weller, John Lithgow, Ellen Barkin, Jeff Goldblum
Votes: 29,327 | Gross: $6.25M
Peter Weller makes this list twice and in very different movies. This is the first good comedic comic book film.
5. RoboCop (1987)
R | 102 min | Action, Crime, Sci-Fi
In a dystopic and crime-ridden Detroit, a terminally wounded cop returns to the force as a powerful cyborg haunted by submerged memories.
Director: Paul Verhoeven | Stars: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Dan O'Herlihy, Ronny Cox
Votes: 283,058 | Gross: $53.42M
The first gritty R-rated comic book movie.
6. Batman (1989)
PG-13 | 126 min | Action, Adventure
The Dark Knight of Gotham City begins his war on crime with his first major enemy being Jack Napier, a criminal who becomes the clownishly homicidal Joker.
Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl
Votes: 404,206 | Gross: $251.19M
7. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)
PG | 93 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
Four teenage mutant ninja turtles emerge from the shadows to protect New York City from a gang of criminal ninjas.
Director: Steve Barron | Stars: Judith Hoag, Elias Koteas, Josh Pais, David Forman
Votes: 104,822 | Gross: $135.27M
Unexpectedly good, the dark look and lighthearted feel really works.
8. Darkman (1990)
R | 96 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A brilliant scientist left for dead returns to exact revenge on the people who burned him alive.
Director: Sam Raimi | Stars: Liam Neeson, Frances McDormand, Colin Friels, Larry Drake
Votes: 69,834 | Gross: $33.88M
aka The Revenge of Melty Face. Part of the dark trilogy of this list, along with RoboCop and The Crow.
9. Batman Returns (1992)
PG-13 | 126 min | Action, Crime, Fantasy
While Batman deals with a deformed man calling himself the Penguin wreaking havoc across Gotham with the help of a cruel businessman, a female employee of the latter becomes the Catwoman with her own vendetta.
Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken
Votes: 327,439 | Gross: $162.83M
10. The Crow (1994)
R | 102 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A man brutally murdered comes back to life as an undead avenger of his and his fiancée's murder.
Director: Alex Proyas | Stars: Brandon Lee, Michael Wincott, Rochelle Davis, Ernie Hudson
Votes: 203,096 | Gross: $50.69M
This was a very costly film.
11. The Shadow (1994)
PG-13 | 108 min | Action, Adventure, Crime
In 1930s New York City, The Shadow (Alec Baldwin) battles his nemesis, Shiwan Khan (John Lone), who is building an atomic bomb.
Director: Russell Mulcahy | Stars: Alec Baldwin, John Lone, Penelope Ann Miller, Peter Boyle
Votes: 27,138 | Gross: $32.06M
12. Spawn (1997–1999)
TV-MA | 30 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
After being betrayed and murdered by his employer, a government assassin is resurrected as a Hellspawn and is forced to act as the reluctant leader of Hell's army.
Stars: Keith David, Richard Dysart, Dominique Jennings, Todd McFarlane
Votes: 10,027
13. Men in Black (1997)
PG-13 | 98 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
James, an NYC cop, is hired by Agent K of a secret government agency that monitors extraterrestrial life on Earth. Together, they must recover an item that has been stolen by an intergalactic villain.
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld | Stars: Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith, Linda Fiorentino, Vincent D'Onofrio
Votes: 612,822 | Gross: $250.69M
14. Blade (1998)
R | 120 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
A half-vampire, half-mortal man becomes a protector of the mortal race, while slaying evil vampires.
Director: Stephen Norrington | Stars: Wesley Snipes, Stephen Dorff, Kris Kristofferson, N'Bushe Wright
Votes: 298,928 | Gross: $70.09M
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