I’m going to describe two movies to you. I think you’ll guess one of them, see if you can guess the other.
| Movie 1 | Movie 2 |
| Based on a comic book character | Based on a comic book character |
| Our hero watches as his family is killed by members of a crime gang | Our hero watches as his family is killed by members of a crime gang |
| This turns our hero in to a dark vigilante | This turns our hero in to a dark vigilante |
| He’s male | He’s male |
| He wears black, a lot | He wears black, a lot |
| A young eager crime gang member is elevated to crime lord boss when the boss is killed | A young eager crime gang member is elevated to crime lord boss when the boss is killed |
| Our hero badly disfigures the face of the gang member that is to become the crime boss while trying to catch him | Our hero badly disfigures the face of the gang member that is to become the crime boss while trying to catch him |
| The police while publicly denouncing the vigilante, have at least some members who actually help him out | The police while publicly denouncing the vigilante, have at least some members who actually help him out |
| The facially disfigured crime boss seeks revenge | The facially disfigured crime boss seeks revenge |
| There’s a woman – there always is | There’s a woman – there always is |
| This one, I watched all the way through many, many times, and was critically acclaimed when it was released | This one I just switched off half way (maybe less?) through today, because not only was the acting woefully embarrassing, but the story was such a cliche that it made me sad inside. |
| Cinema Release: 1989 | Cinema Release: 2008 |
Lessee, Tim Burton’s Batman on the left, and Punisher: War Zone on the right?
Yep. Can’t believe how bad Punisher: War Zone was. It might be more true to the comic than the previous Punisher movies, but it doesn’t translate well into an on-screen experience. As someone said elsewhere, all the bad dialog of typical 80’s action movies without any of the redeeming features.
Wait. Typical 80’s action movies had redeeming features? 🙂
What!? Were you alive in the 80’s :p
I guess it depends on what you consider “typical”. Your “typical” 80’s action movie was pretty bad, as I recall. Chuck Norris. Dolph Lundgren. “First Blood”. “Roadhouse”, anyone?
The gems stand out because they weren’t typical. Aliens and Die Hard. Lethal Weapon and Mad Max. Top Gun and Under Siege…