I was not aware that there's an Iron Man film coming. The trailer looks promising. I think the armor-action sequences convey more about raw power than any Superman film I've seen. Very nice.
And the suit is beautiful.
And I was tickled to hear they use one of my fave one hit wonders: Filter's Nice Shot. I call it a one-hit wonder because it was the only song of its class in the CD I paid good money for. But what a song.
The next Batman also looks promising. Maybe it will be a bit more edgy than the first one (of the new series), which seemed to me to be a little... bland. But from the new trailer, it seems they understand that the Joker is not funny, but can be one of the scariest villains ever. As he was in The Dark Knight Returns, the classic Frank Miller comic from which this film seems to get its title.
21 comments:
Hah, the Iron Man trailer looks cool. They are even using Black Sabbath's original track from 1970. As a kid I used to wonder what that song was about --- I hadn't come across the Marvel superhero. Now I know! :-)
Not sure if you're serious, probably not.
It's not unusual for rock groups to be into superheroes.
But I don't think it's the same Iron Man.
Lyrics:
Has he lost his mind?
Can he see or is he blind?
Can he walk at all,
Or if he moves will he fall?
Is he alive or dead?
Has he thoughts within his head?
Well just pass him there
Why should we even care?
He was turned to steel
In the great magnetic field
Where he traveled time
For the future of mankind
Nobody wants him
He just stares at the world
Planning his vengeance
That he will soon unfold
Now the time is here
For iron man to spread fear
Vengeance from the grave
Kills the people he once saved
Nobody wants him
They just turn their heads
Nobody helps him
Now he has his revenge
Heavy boots of lead
Fills his victims full of dread
Running as fast as they can
Iron man lives again!
One of my friends, a talented musician, got really into Black Sabbath as late as the nineties. I tried to get what the appeal was, but I can't get past Ozzie's voice.
First appearance of the superhero: 1963.
Release of Sabbath's Iron Man: 1970.
Perhaps the Sabbath song has no relation to the superhero. Perhaps the relation is only in name.
On the other hand, these kinds of ideas are often archetypical in that two writers may be writing about the same root concept without even realising it.
Anyway, Sabbath's Iron Man appears to at least have been repurposed for the film, and sounds cool in that context.
I'd like to see them do a movie version of The Dark Knight Returns. What they should have done for Batman Begins was a film version of Miller's "Batman: Year One," which was great.
Batman Begins "WAS" the greatest Bat Film in my opinion. It had the reality and depth of why Bruce Wayne chose to become Batman! Wonderful!
I look forward to the sequel! Christian Bale excelled as the caped crusader and the movie did EXTREMELY WELL here in America! Plus Gary Oldman was superb as always!
I will go to the theaters immediately to watch this most anticipated sequel! BRAVO HOLLYWOOD!
It comes down to personal taste, but I prefer the 1989 one, even though it had it's faults - not least a Batman who couldn't turn his head.
But, of course, the greatest Batman of all is Adam West. He didn't need molded plastic to improve his physique. Pure West.
As a HUGE Sabbath fan(my personal favorite band ever), I can assure the song has no relation to the comic book character. Personally, I think it's kinda dorky that they're using it to advertise the movie since they really don't have anything to do with each other. But then, it kinda irritates me to hear rock songs in commercials anyway.
I found the Batman Begins film quite excellent myself. And Michael Caine was great as Alfred, not to mention the incomparable Morgan Freeman. Proves that physical resemblance with the comic's character can become meaningless when talent is there.
Similarly, Tobey McGuire felt quite adequate for the character of Peter Parker. Even with his teenage-sounding voice when in spider-costume. ;-) A bit odd to hear at first, but made a lot of sense when you think about it.
I agree with Jes: the Sabbath song doesn't sound anything like the Iron Man superhero of the movie. Revenge against the world? WTF???
A heavy metal song named Iron Man is a neat idea for that movie, but the lyrics definitely need some adjusting to be relevant.
Haha yeah, and I'd have to drive to Hollywood to bust some heads myself if they messed with the lyrics.
I get why they did it, but the two just seem really out of place together, especially if you know about the band.
I enjoyed Batman Begins, and of course Morgan Freeman is always good. I just prefer the 1989 Tim Burton one (and 1992's Batman Returns).
I thought Tobey McGuire was about perfect as Peter Parker, even if they changed a few things I didn't like - like getting rid of the mechanical web shooters. I was very surprised by that first Spider-Man movie because until then Marvel had a habit of making really bad movie adaptations, in contrast to DC.
I agree. Nicholson's Joker and Pfeiffer's Catwoman were amazing.
Yes, it took a loooong while, but Stan Lee's efforts to go Hollywood finally paid off, and how! the past five years have had so many excellent Marvel movies.
Eolake said...
"Nicholson's Joker and Pfeiffer's Catwoman were amazing."
You can say that again!
("Okay: `Nicholson's Joker and Pfeiffer's Catwoman were amazing`.") ;-p
And this, in spite of the fact that this Catwoman had a very unusual non-canon costume.
I guess it's the same with McGuire's anatomical web-shooters: they chose to make the whole thing a little more modern than the tired "Radio-active spider/platypus/whatever" story. This is the Y2Ks, GMOs are in fashion now, get on with the times dude, you dig? Grooveyh...
Do you know how the "original" Sandman got his powers? An escaped convict, resting on a deserted beach, when an atomic test is performed in the vicinity, and he's irradiated so he gains the, um, "powers" of sand.
I remember seeing an old Spiderman movie, where the hero in costume had a very odd way of moving, very nervously, like he was high on caffeine or something. Then I realized it felt weird, but made some sense: he was acting like a spider, always in sudden moves.
:-?
"The past five years have had so many excellent Marvel movies."
And it's only the beginning, true believers! :-)
Clearly, super-hero comics have finally become legitimate culture, now that yesterday's teen fans have become today's parents. Before that, it was television and cinema, then rock music. Next step: most likely, videogames.
"Anything that is in the world when you're born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works. Anything that's invented between when you're fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it. Anything invented after you're thirty-five is against the natural order of things." - (Douglas Adams)
Douglas rocked.
I didn't know any prior Spider-man movies had been made.
Most movie superhero costumes are non-canonical, because usually they are too ridiculous otherwise. Superman's was an exception.
Yes, Pascal, back in the 60s a lot of heroes gained their powers from atomic explosions or some other kind of radiation. That should be done away with in most cases, but it still works for some characters - the Hulk should still have gained his powers that way. They screwed up that movie by changing his origin. (The main screw up was the completely CGI Hulk. An improvement over the huge but still-too-small-to-be-the-Hulk Lou Ferrigno of TV's The Incredible Hulk.)
As for Spider-Man, I did not have a problem with their changing his origin, but the reason they got rid of the mechanical web shooters had nothing to do with that. Rami said in an interview that he thought it unlikely a high school kid - no matter now smart Peter Parker is supposed to be - could come up with web fluid and shooters on his own.
Personally I think the web shooters are the least ridiculous part of the whole story.
I remember seeing that 70s Spider-Man movie on TV, and what I found funniest was how they made his webs look - like thick, white rope. Probably the worst Marvel movie was Matt Salinger's "Captain America," which went straight to video. Made Dolph Lundgren's "The Punisher" look good.
For a good spoof of the nuclear bomb origin story, see the Simpsons episode "Three Men and a Comic Book" to see when Radioactive Man gains his powers.
"Personally I think the web shooters are the least ridiculous part of the whole story."
I was just about to say that! The amount of suspension of disbelief superhero stories require, I can live with the web shooters.
Just for one small thing, the likelihood of a young male being able to sew a great looking costume is hardly bigger.
Speaking of comics, people say the new Marvel Digital Comics are not only great value for money but excellent products in general. Apparently they have scanned every issue ever published (with ads, articles and all) and have released the scans as hi-res PDFs (full spreads) on DVD-ROM. I haven't seen one myself, but based on the description this is exactly the right way to do it.
Just one problem: Amazon.com doesn't want to sell them to us europods ("Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S."), and Amazon.co.uk doesn't carry them. Oh well, maybe we get them later.
Radioactive Man. Now there's a brilliant spoof.
I recall a scene from the Hulk comic: the Gray Hulk is fighting the savage Green Hulk in Banner's subconscious, trying to keep him from pushing open a huge steel door and break free. Of course, Green is stronger, "strongest there is". Suddenly, Gray says: "Hey, look! Isn't that Lou Ferrigno over there? -Hunh?" Green turns around, and Gray slams the door: "Heh, heh! Works every time."
The movie's Hulk was well done, but had something unrealistic in the way he moved. Not enough inertia in his huge muscles, I guess. Great movie visually, though. Not all effed-up.
I agree with you, this is one radioactive origin that should have stayed untouched. And surely it would have made for a great scene, too. The explosion of the Gamma Bomb...
The DVD has a nice idea in it, too: the subtitles/captions aren't all at the bottom of the screen, but near the character that is speaking. Haven't seen that anuwhere else. It feels like the legitimate son of a comic book and a movie. :-)
Raimi had a point, with the web-shooters.
"Personally I think the web shooters are the least ridiculous part of the whole story."
W.O.O.F.! Whinnying Of Outrageous Fun. :-D
I must admit that superbly crafted costume had me scratching my occiput too. Even admitting he's a genius at sewing. Where DID he find such fabric, especially being broke and all?
(Heck, I could barely afford the action figures!)
Yes, it's weird, they've been doing awesome dinosaurs for ages, but still struggle to make decent humanoid figures. Sure, they are much more familiar and all, but still.
Speaking of dinosaurs, it would appear that the "fearsome" Velociraptor was actually markedly smaller than in Jurassic Park, and covered with feathers. Basically, it was like a big chicken. But a very smart big chicken, with claws and teeth. Undoubtedly fearsome in a cockfight...
I can imagine the T-rex eating the two raptors at the end of JP1: "Hmm! Tastes like chicken." :-D
I think the problem I mentioned with the CGI Hulk was more a matter of distraction than a flaw in the imaging technology. Still, bear in mind that human motion is extremely sophisticated, compared to most of what you see in the animal world. It takes talent and art to reproduce it.
Joshua Glenn: We are Iron Man! A lowbrow literary mystery or what does the Black Sabbath song have to do with Iron Man.
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