This is the first of a series of lists, leading up to the Top 10 and Bottom 10 overall Comic Book movies toward the end of the Summer. So look forward to that, if you would.
The only way to get there is to take the first step.
So here... we... go...
This Top 10 list is going took at live action DC properties. Movies AND TV Shows. When it comes to DC vs Marvel, DC tend to have the animation down, but falters in the live action department. Even with that fact, DC HAS put out some wonderful live action stuff.
So I'm going to share with you my favorites.
Enjoy...
Top 10 DC Live Action Works
Here we go...
Honorable Mention 1: Batman (1966): The classic series made during the Silver Age of comics. Not violent if could help it. Overly cheesy. BIFF! BAM! SMACK! And it gave us the icon known as Adam West. That makes it great. RIP Mayor West.
Honorable Mention 2: Constantine (2014): This NBC series depicted John Constantine almost perfectly. Solidly paced... but some how it got cancelled after 1 season. Maybe because it was in a horrible TV spot(Dracula was put in the same spot... 1 season). But it made enough of an impact, at least Matt Ryan did, that this Constantine got an animated spin off, he was added to Legends of Tomorrow, AND Matt Ryan is the voice in the DC Animated Universe.
Honorable Mention 3: Superman & Lois (2021): The newest of the CW DC Series, it is a Superman game changer. Not an origin story for Superman. Set after Clark and Lois have teenage sons. Good story so far with so much potential. We will see if they don't screw that up.
10: Swamp Thing the Movie (1982): Directed by the Legendary Wes Craven(yes, THAT Wes Craven) pre-Freddy Krueger. This was campy... very campy. But it took a character that wasn't well known in the comics and turned it into a cult hit B movie series. I have very fond memories of watching this movie AND the series that followed. My uncle and I watched this. And... Dick Durock made it creepy.
9: Smallville: The DC CW series BEFORE The Arrowverse took shape. Follows Clark Kent through the formative teenage years. It had some low points, but Tom Welling and Michael Rosenbaum have the best Clark Kent/Lex Luthor dynamic I've seen in any Superman property. It also had a wonderfully fresh take on Doomsday... even if the suit they used sucked. I enjoyed the first 8 of the 10 seasons. Go check it out.
8: Batman (1989)/ Batman Returns: Tim Burton is famous for making dark moody movies. So here comes his take on Batman... who was dark and moody. But he had this idea. He took an actor famous for comedies and put him in the suit. Critics chided him for it. And... it worked. Still one of the most iconic Batman actors to this day. And I put both of his movies here because as awesome as Jack Nicholson was as The Joker, the Penguin/Catwoman dynamic was epic in the same ways.
7: The Flash series(2014): Here we have the show that turned CW's Arrow into the Arrowverse. I didn't know what to think about this show at first, but it turned out to be entertaining. Grant Gustin just... worked. And bringing in such a great actor like Tom Cavanaugh as Harrison Wells, a character they have molded into whatever they need to steal the show. I admit, I tapered off the show and I WANT to go back and catch up. But... the first 2 seasons were gold... so much so, I need to say this. The Flash Season 2 is my favorite season of any superhero TV show of all time. The villain Zoom is so well written, I'm glad I got to experience it.
6: Watchmen: Who Watches The Watchmen? I do. My favorite graphic novel of all time. Changed my way of thinking. It really did. So when I saw Zack Snyder was tackling it, I got excited. Perfectly cast across the board. Shot for shot ripped from the novel. But... in the graphic novel has 2-3 panels of Dr. Manhattan penis. Somehow, we got roughly 30 minutes of electric blue penis. Electric... blue... penis. Kudos to Billy Crudup... for... that.
5: Swamp Thing series (2019): I don't want to say too much, because this pissed me off. It was such a good series. Cut short due to money mismanagement. It was scary, the storytelling was better than solid. Perfect homage to the originals... but an even better homage to the comics. Worth the watch. I hope the CW experiement saves it.
4: Superman II Richard Donner Cut: Before pining for the Synder Cut was a thing, the Donner Cut was a reality. Christopher Reeve is an icon. And Superman made everyone believe a man could fly. But this sequel took everything that made the first movie great and made it all legendary. All because of a truly terrifying villain. General Zod. Terrence Stamp aggressively declaring "KNEEL BEFORE ZOD" is ingrained in our minds.
3: Joker: A artistic film representation of a man shit kicked by society's ascension into the Clown Prince of Crime. Noir without being noir. Smart without being too smart. And it doesn't hold your hand through exposition. Hints at something bigger, while still being VERY contained. Capped off by a performance by Joaquin Phoenix that got his that well deserved Oscar. This was a masterpiece of filmmaking. Watch it. But not for the kiddos.
2: The Dark Knight: The Nolan trilogy. Christopher Nolan, famous for his over the top fantasy style of film making decided to flip it... and make a Batman Trilogy that was very grounded in reality. Nearly everything in the trilogy was designed to make the viewer think it was possible in real life. Giving very real explanations for the tech. And of these movies, The Dark Knight was special. As amazing as the Joker movie was, this movie here gave us the definitive live action Joker performance. The movie is overall amazing, but Heath Ledger's Joker is THE reason to watch the movie(getting the Oscar for Supporting Actor for it)...... and even then, I would put Aaron Eckhart's performance at Harvey Dent/Two-Face over that. Yeah. I said it. That is how good those two were in this movie. And a testament to how great the movie was overall.
And the Number One DC Live Action Work is......
1: Zack Snyder's Justice League: So before anyone accuses me of being a Zack Snyder fanboy, he isn't even in my top 5 for directors. He is responsible for one of my least favorite movies of all time: Sucker Punch. But this... this was a cinematic masterpiece. The culmination of his vision, his hard work, the dedication of the fans wanting to see this come to fruition after the piss-poor Whedon Cut failed to satisfy us. We knew it could be more than it was. Then Warner announced it, gave extra money to Snyder to make it however. And what we got was 4 hours of a weaved story, doubling down on Ben Affleck being the best Live Action Batman... while introducing us to The Flash and Cyborg, making them MAJOR players... equals to the Trinity and Aquaman. Along with building a ferocious villain, and more than a glimpse of the end-all villain this one bends to knee to. Solid pace. Good story. And action sequences worth the wait. This is the pinnacle of what DC could be.
There is the list. Tell me what you think. Share it so others can tell me what they think. Any I might've missed? Have you own? Let me know in the comments.
Part 1 of many. So stay tuned.
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