The Return of Captain Invincible (1983)

The Return of Captain Invincible (1983)
Rating: ★★★
Nov 21, 2003Superhero Spoof
Witty and overlooked parody of the superhero with Alan Arkin as a retired superhero trying to get back into the game. Made before superhero films became big and has a number of charms that were ahead of its time

The Running Man (1987)

The Running Man (1987)
Rating: ★★
Apr 1, 2003Action/Future Televised Gladiatorial Combat
This adapts one of Stephen King's Richard Bachman novels but the book is sidelined to become an Arnold Schwarzenegger action comic-book on the oft-used theme of a future where people compete in televised gladiatorial games

The Spirit (1987)

The Spirit (1987)
Rating: ★★
Nov 27, 2018Comic-Book Superhero
Few people today have an idea of what a huge name comic-book creator Will Eisner was. This was an unsold tv pilot adaptation of Eisner's most famous creation, the masked hero The Spirit. The pilot is not a very successful effort but at least it makes an effort to get many of the details and zany spirit of the comic right

Bad Dreams (1988)

Bad Dreams (1988)
Rating: ★★
Sep 23, 1999Cult Survivor Haunted by Dream Killer
Story of the sole survivor of a cult mass suicide waking from a coma to be haunted by the cult leader begging her to join them. This becomes a derivative of the A Nightmare on Elm Street films before a contrived ending

Street Fighter (1994)

Street Fighter (1994)
Rating: ★★
May 22, 2001Videogame Adaptation/Action Team
Based on the popular videogame, you cannot complain that this is exactly what you expect – wall-to-wall action, comic-book heroes and villains. The complaint might be that the action is never particularly enervated and the film lacks anything beyond that

Judge Dredd (1995)

Judge Dredd (1995)
Rating: ★★
May 21, 2001Comic-Book Adaptation/Future Law Enforcement Officer
The film adaptation of the cult comic-book looks great in terms of design but misses the comic's satiric sense of humour and simply becomes a thudding Sylvester Stallone action vehicle

Lara Croft, Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003)

Lara Croft, Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003)
Rating:
Nov 21, 2003Videogame Adaptation
The first Tomb Raider film was empty-headed but a hit but the series was then killed off by this sequel. Angelina Jolie's performance is detached from human emotion and the action sequences ludicrous