Films based on Graphic Novels

How clumsy, I just prepared a poll, wrote a very long opening post, and accidentally closed it just as I was getting read to post it. Ah well, here I try again -- may be mistakes as I hurriedly prepare this one.

In the last option, vote for any or all of those. There's some interesting contrast there with Blue is the Warmest Colour, a bold and artsy tale of Sapphic love (I don't enjoy The Mask myself, and I didn't like The Crow, but I know they get some love in the forum).

This was inspired by Batman talk, by the way, and I did similar poll once before but with less options. There are some others that I might have included, but I think of them as from comic books (periodicals) rather than graphic novels (which are read much like a normal novel -- I tend to read normal novels but we do have some Gaiman and Death Note ones in the house). Maybe some of these do not belong.

Vote for as many as you like and mention any others (it's not a contest and the poll choices are merely intended as an accessory to discussion, and digressions are appreciated).

V for Vendetta is great, but I also think that Oldboy (the Korean version) is a terrific revenge drama (and if I were to choose just one, then I think Oldboy would get my vote). I could happily vote for all of the first 11 films plus Ghost in the Shell (not the recent film). Some others I have yet to see, but are highly regarded.

V for Vendetta, Watchmen, Sin City, I think all 3 capture the comic art and darkness beautifully

Guldbamsen wrote: First vote for A History Of Violence. I admire Viggo for going in the exact opposite direction acting wise to rid himself of the heroic horse riding king from Tolkien's imagination. Nahh how about a psycho russian mobster and here in a similar violent role. Frodo..err sorry Elijah Sood did something similar and did a crazy psychokiller with a taste for human flesh as well as a guy that quickly becomes enamoured with football hooliganism and generally just feeling good about giving certain folks a good stomp in their tummies. It didn't really work though. I still think pwople see Elijah and want to call him Frodo. It's inevitable. Sadly. Ed Harris is wonderful as a baddie in the flick. Those crewcut guys who've been casted accordingly for years and years make for the finest of villains shen they finally get the gig...but maybe that is entirely the point? I doubt it. Producers and casters aren't exactly fortune tellers. Hhmmm The Watchmen... now while I do like it and probably like it a lot, I am still slightly letdown by it. In its open attempt to make superheroes and the whole universe surrounding them more realistic and human, it sadly misses the opportunity to 'really stick it to the man' and make a film that fully crosses that line in order to underline what I personally believe is at its very core: the ultimate dilemma. In short: why not have full-frontal-nudity-blue-man-group-of-one succeed? The bomb goes off, we reset the clocks and let mother nature go back to work. It would have been such a beautiful feck-you to the whole industry...but then again I don't suppose the graphic novel ends like that either? I'm asking because I don't know.

A very good post, and one that gives me plenty of food for thought. Thanks, David. A History of Violence is definitely one of my very top favoured films here. As for the Watchmen, it is a flawed film, lacking some substance/ social commentary and it could have ended better (I hadn't "read' the graphic novel except in part so I can't compare). I still love the look and general feel of it (beautiful film in its way), but it could have been more subversive.

Edited by Logan - July 29 2018 at 13:07

Sin City rebooted the film carear of Mickey Rourke hes portraiil of Marv was menecing and cool which is proof of good acting chops. And Bruce Willis steals the show hes so HARDigan. RiP Michael Clark Duncan and a nice cameo of Routger Heuer. The entire casting is soo a-class and works like a clock.

Edited by Icarium - July 29 2018 at 15:27

Blue is a warm colour edges Persepolis (that an anime, which is IMHO not a movie proper)

I've seen a few of these and Watchmen is the best I've seen (It's not "The" Watchmen btw).

Edited by BaldJean - July 30 2018 at 08:55

BaldJean wrote: I am actually not really interested to see a movie based on a graphic novel. the result will in my opinion very rarely turn out to be satisfying. there is one graphic novel series that I might be interested in to watch, but it would have to be a movie or movies with a lot of CGI. and that's the "Canardo" series by SOKAL

Rarely should be the operative word. I'm generally not really interested to see a film because it is based on a graphic novel, but that doesn't mean that I won't be really interested in seeing films that happen to be based on graphic novels. Tale some time to explore these titles, and I do think you'd find something that might interest you or you would enjoy. I will talk about it more later, but Blue is the Warmest Colour is one that you might find some appreciation for.

There's actually considerable variety in the list, and there is another that I forgot to include when I lost the original which is a traditionally shot, low budget live action film which does not rely on special effects. Some are big budget action films with CGI, some use traditional cell animation, some are more art house films, some are superpower-type films etc. The variety of storytelling and styles in these types of films can be as endless as other films. I'm not much of a reader of graphic novels, preferring traditional novels, but I do believe that they can inspire great films. I don't discriminate.

Take Blue is the Warmest Colour, which is a French bold and beautiful film of Sapphic Love (erotic and not one, by my standards, for kids) which, surprisingly to me, won the Palme d'Or at Cannes when Steven Spielberg was head of the jury. It's win did surprise me because I think it is, in part, softcore porn. I mean, many great artistic French films often are -- my wife and I loved Betty Blue for instance, and another blue in more ways than one film. Now I want to redundantly talk about Kieslowski's Blue.



A film like American Splendor is different from, say, Watchmen (there I remembered to omit the "The"). Akira is different from V for Vendetta in execution. Persepolis is a beautiful film and faithful, and is very different from Sin City. A History of Violence is very different from Ghost in the Shell. One I missed in this hastily redone list after I lost my first (which took a long time to prepare as I was writing something about each of these films) is The Diary of a Teenage Girl, which again is so different from, say, Snowpiercer. Oldboy is very different to Edge of Tomorrow etc. 20th Century Boys is very different to Wanted. The Mask (one I'm not keen on, though I love some later Carrey films such as Eternal Sunshine..., Truman Show, Man in the Moon...), is very different Road to Perdition etc.

Again, I'm relatively confident that it you were to explore these films in the list, you would find something to like and, perhaps, would then find that you might be interested in seeing other films based on graphic novels in the future (oftentimes one wouldn't guess that they were, or might be, based on graphic novels any more than one might guess that a film was based on a novel that one wasn't aware of). Me, I tend not to discriminate based on the source medium. One can make enjoyable films based on great literature, Graphic Novels, radio plays, news stories and so on. Inspiration comes from many sources.

Nogbad_The_Bad wrote: Can't believe someone voted for A League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen, that movies was a steaming pile.

It's no "The League of Gentlemen" -- available on BritBox for those that have the service https://www.britbox.com/ca/season/The_League_of_Gentlemen_S1_8466