There's a guy in the UK named Nick who, back in the day, took Toy Biz Famous Covers action figures and customized the shit out of them. And man, he customized a lot of them. Even more impressive was the fact that the guy did such great work. Check out his custom Thing, above. Here's a link to his website which is still running.
I did custom figures like these back in 1999-2000 with the help of my wife. I designed the characters, sourced the materials and sculpted the heads, and she sewed the costumes. She did an amazing job on the sewing, just amazing. The figures weren't too shabby, actually. We sold them for an average of $100 each. Characters I remember doing included Black Panther, Luke Cage, Blizzard, Firebrand, Doctor Octopus, Tarantula, The Shocker, The Jackal, Morbius, Punisher, Carrion and Molten Man. One day I got an email from a doctor who wanted us to make him a custom Nova... and he was willing to pay something like $225 for it! I spent hours and hours fine-tuning this thing to perfection and sent it off for his approval. When he received it he was absolutely thrilled.
In any case, at one point I'll try to dig up some pics of the FCs we did, and post them here on the blog.
Heh. This kills me. So many errors you just don't know where to begin. It's obvious that the people who made this superhero/supervillian battle bracket don't fully understand the rationality behind epic superhero battles. Fortunately, you and I do.
Hey if you're like me and would rather debate these battles than some stupid who-gives-a-f#*k NCAA crap, you can check the superhero battle bracket out here.
Leave comments! I must hear what you have to say on this!
Seriously, people — whether he helped create these characters as a work for hire or not — the guy should have been receiving a percentage long before his death. Sure, okay, maybe a smaller percentage than Stan The Man, but a percentage nonetheless. That's my take anyway.
Read this and then tell me what you think... I'd be interested to read your opinions on this...
Sometimes I swear to god I laugh out loud at comments made by AICN talkbackers. If you've never paid witness to the boards on AICN, you are really missing out. We all know what happens when some geeks in this world read news or rumors they don't agree with... they take to the Internets and go off like mad cow. When AICN talkbackers read something they don't like some of them take it to the next level. One part clever, two parts humorous, seven parts hatred. Some comical shit to be sure.
This time, the rage is in response to the latest Spider-Man 4 rumors. John Malkovich as The Vulture? Anne Hathaway as Felicia Hardy a.k.a. The Vulturess? WTF is a Vulturess? WTF happened to The Lizard? Lots of WTF happening there. But yeah, I can almost guarantee right now that you will laugh at many of these golden nuggets. Let's fire away, shall we?
Vultress? No fucking way. This is shaping up to be twice the abomination that Spider-Man 3 was. They'll probably throw in the Lizard, Vulture, Mysterio and the Rhino just to overcrowd the movie like the last one did. Did these assholes learn nothing from Batman & Robin? ONE villian, ONE hero. Concentrate on those TWO characters and go make the movie.
after that abortion that was Spidey 3 I have to laugh that bullshit rumor like this can even generate a response at all. I give Sam total credit, I'm still a fan but I hated Spidey 3, it's almost as if he has some sort of creative axe to grind, like he's purposely making them shittier and shittier the more money they throw at him, and christ Toby McGuire loathes it as well. This story is complete horseshit, Vulturess? If anything remotely like that makes it to film it will kill Raimi's cred once and for all, what small amount he still has. Bring in Electro and Mysterio and stop fucking around, assholes!!
FAIL FAIL FAIL FAIL! Why in THE FUCK would you have Felicia Hardy....and not have her BE Felicia Hardy? Why use that name? It makes ZERO SENSE!
If Raimi is absolutely intent on using the dopiest characters in Spider-Man lore, then yes, by all means, use The Vulture! Not using The Lizard because it doesn't have a human face is quite possibly the stupidest thing I've ever heard in connection with these films, and that includes emo hair and disco dancing!
And everyone went, BRILLIANT idea! He LOOKS like the Green Goblin! Add some pointy ears and makeup and it's perfect! Then they covered what is essentially the perfect Green Goblin face with A FUCKING PLASTIC HELMET! Yeah, This series has fucked things up from day one.
if it wasn't bad enough that Spiderman 2 and 3 sucked, course i didn't think they could fuck Spiderman up any more than they did in 3, here they are proving me WRONG. look, i love Spiderman, and I don't mean the movies, I mean Spidey the character, the comics. The first movie was bad enough as it was, but at least I could watch it, 2 stunk, and 3 was just a horribly effin' nightmare of a travesty that is Marvel/Raimi. Quit taking artistic license with these iconic characters and FOLLOW THE FUCKIN HISTORY!! It's OK to change some stuff here and there, tweak things, but you have to stay true to the cores... they are bastardizing everything about Spidey, and it seems like no one even cares. Stan Lee should be beat within an inch of his life, brought back to health, and have it done again, over and over for pimping out his characters. I can't even believe they could stoop low enough, as to completely change a character like Felicia Hardy-Black Cat, and now SUPPOSEDLY the Vultress.... UN-FUCKING-BELIEVABLE. and i HATE Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane. PERIOD.
It will be a total train wreck. Nolan raised the bar for all comic book movies with TDK and after the last outing of Spiderman it's going to be hard to get people back into those seats again especially casting a weak villain like The Vulture. Terrible terrible choice if true.
"Listen. You. Spider. Man. If you think. That I. Would just. Give. Up. Then you. Are sadly. Mistaken. Get thee back. Little. Freak. And witness. The. POWER OF MY AVENGING WINGS!
There's no way in hell someone would be stupid enough to make Felicia Hardy the "Vulturess." That would just be inviting an geek/internet backlash of epic proportions. This source either misheard something or he's full of shit. It's just too dumb to be true.
Sam Raimi has always been respectful of the old school Spider-man villains in his films (although Harry should have been in the original Goblin suit for a total Parker mindfuck), so I can't see him changing Felicia Hardy from The Black Cat to the Vulturess. I say it's misinformation or a bullshit source.
Vulture and Vulturess? WHAT THE FUCK? So VENOM is fucking okay? But The Lizard isn't? Did Raimi lose his balls? WHAT THE FUCK! THIS HAS ME SO FUCKING MAD.
It felt like I was watching an episode of the Power Rangers. Had to put that out there.
Every-time the Goblin spoke, his head bobbed up and down because of that helmet he wore (Damn, I wished that was make-up.)
Spidey wears a mask, you would think you could at least see his mandible move when he spoke.
The whole Lizard fiasco is bullshit, Raimi need to grow a pair and tell those suits to fuck-off because Nolan raised the bar with Two-face. If that make-up job could get pass an audience without offending anybody, I'm quite sure the lizard could as well.
I geeked out when the rumor about the Morbius/Lizard and the mutant six-armed Spider-man storyline surfaced. I love that story, and it would be a total freakshow episode of the series. I'm kind of up for that. Plus it would give Spider-man a new look to exploit for toys, action figures, etc. The Vulture was kind of a boring villain to me as a kid (he's not likely to be a big selling toy with kids). I hope they can pull it off.
The spider that bit Peter in the first movie bites a bum behind a party store around Halloween, the bum (crazy-drunk on a can of Sterno) finds a discarded pumpkin costume behind the store.
Thinking that Spiderman stole his bicycle, he dons the pumpkin outfit to fight Spidey for his Schwinn.
...couldn't save this. Please, Mr. Raimi. You're a fantastic filmmaker, and seem like one of Hollywood's nice guys. DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN. VULTRESS? "Make it so, Vultress!" The fuck you say?!
For as much as he got right in the first 2, he still mixed up Gwen and MJ, gave us a spiderman that is very short on great sarcasm, gave the goblin a power ranger costume, made Sandman Ben's killer, and made Harry's Goblin into something from the X-games.
Spidey digs up Ben's corpse, alternately pummeling what's left of him into jelly crying "You killed my Uncle", and hugging him close with tear-filled promises of "I won't ever let you down again".
I bet he takes the money no matter how shitty the script. You think he's going to go back to making small horror movies for peanuts? He's got a death grip on this golden goose and he ain't letting go.
True story week before Thanksgiving I meet Sam Raimi in Manhattan near were i work, got to shake his hand and everything. Thought it was pretty cool, now with this news I must say I am sorry to everyone that I didnt kick him in the balls. P.S. I think The rumor Is bulls@#$ I hope
"Hm, the Vulture, huh? Does it have to be a bald guy?" "How about a hot chick!" "The Vulture... ess?! Anyone? The Vulturess? Huh? Bikini and wings? Maybe some go-go boots? How about it? I'm thinking Halle Berry." "Make it Anne Hathaway. And let's replace that Lizard subplot with a dance number!" "Done and done. What's for lunch?"
Let me get this straight. The suits are nervous about a meek scientist who transforms into a COOL looking powerful Lizard man.....but they aren't about an OLD MAN in a VULTURE suit?? LOL. Gimme a break. A CGI Lizard who hisses and talks and kicks ass would be AWESOME. Don't get me wrong, Malkovich would be great too. But on the silly scale, a man in a Vulture suit is A LOT sillier than a Lizard Man. :-)
The whole goddamn world has been waiting for the Lizard! He's got to be more believable then the fucking stay-puft-marshmellow-man Sandman we got! Liz should have been there 3 films ago!
Superman: The Movie. God damn, Superman: The Movie.
This film drops the bomb on me. When I watch it, it's like someone has unlocked the gates of thunder from above. It just crushes and kills.
It is the film to impact me most during my youth. Not even the sheer might of The Empire Strikes Back could do to me what this film has done. It has had the most long-term effect on me. It lays into me and slams me to the ground with such emotional force every time I see it that I'm not sure I could ever fully explain it to another person. And it may seem strange to say but I truly believe this film somehow contributed to the way I grew as a human being. Has there ever been a film that has done this to you? Just grabbed you and held you in its grip from 0:01 to the end? A film that puts you on an emotional roller coaster no matter how many times you see it?
While I must admit The Dark Knight is probably in a close three-way tie with this movie and Empire, at the end of the day Superman edges out. There are many reasons why I hold it in such high regard.
The cast Brando. Hackman. Ford. Cooper. Even before you get to Reeve, you have a formidable cast and I would go so far as to say unparalleled to this day when it comes to any cast assembled for any superhero movie. When you watch the film it is obvious that the actors — most notably Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder — had real chemistry.
The Overall Scope They spent a shitload of money on this film. At the time, something like $40 million (of which $3.5 mil was handed to Brando for less than three minutes of screen time... obscene). I know the budget was right up there with the one for Star Trek: The Motion Picture, which had $40 mil, the biggest budget up to that point. Now look, granted, the "flying" effects are very dated when you watch them now, I will give you that. You do not "believe a man can fly." I will even say that many of the other effects are also fairly poor. But overall, the scope of this movie is beyond measure. The opening sequence with Krypton is breathtaking. The level of sophistication... the writing, the pacing, the camera angles, the editing... all superb. The logistics involved with putting this film together must have been staggering.
The Acting Brando was Brando... excellent. Reeve did a fantastic job and he injected all sorts of subtelties throughout. Margot Kidder was sweet and charming and sexy and feisty and complex. And Glenn Ford's heart attack sequence must go down as one of the most brilliant examples of acting ever; you can literally see a nervous twitch in his face as he realizes he is having a heart attack.
Krypton This is the only film to spend any time on Superman's home planet. When the film opens up, we are transported to a gorgeous landscape and a civilization we can relate to — complete with political corruption, scandal and opposition against those who wish to do the right thing. In this case the warning from Jor-El that falls on deaf ears. What's more, we are treated to a masterful performance by Brando where he pronounces selfless love for his newborn son and a chance for his survival. As a young person I used to fast-forward through this entire "boring" Krypton sequence. Looking back I can only see how ignorant I was. This is a rich, flawless chapter in the movie and a great prologue. Easily one of my favorite set pieces in any superhero film.
Staying Power Other than the special effects (which I've admitted to looking pretty crappy), Superman: The Movie holds up to repeated viewings. To me, it does. I don't own it on Blu-ray yet but I plan on getting it soon.
The Cinematography Out of all the movies I have ever seen I must say I've never watched anything as beautiful nor as heartbreaking as the wheat field sequence. When Ma Kent tells Clark, "I knew this time would come... we both knew it... from the day we found you..." and when the camera begins to circle them, it chokes me up every time. The late Geoffrey Unsworth was lauded as one of the "last great lighting men in Hollywood," and with good reason. The next time you watch this film, pay special notice to the use of lighting... particularly during the Lois/Superman rooftop sequence. You'll see why Unsworth was held in such high regard.
The Direction At no other moment in his career has Richard Donner been more perfect a filmmaker than he was during the making of this movie. He has a few stumbles (as Reeve runs toward the camera to reveal the "S" for the first time, he begins to slow down and the camera stays on him for a few beats too long) but overall Donner scores an A+ in my mind. Some very dynamic moments such as the scene when Superman puts a finger up at the black guy on the street as he heads off to rescue Lois, as if to say, "Hey man, I've got someting serious going on, get back"... the scene where Superman spins down through the concrete to get to Luthor. The scene where Superman is interviewed by Lois... the part where Pa Kent realizes he is having a heart attack... the scene where Superman holds a dead Lois Lane in his arms and then flies into a rage through the clouds... the list goes on.
First Class The Dark Knight is a masterpiece but it is no match for this film in terms of class. The scope, the direction, the music, the acting, the dialog makes Superman: The Movie ooze class at every turn.
The Soundtrack If there was one word I would use to describe this film it would be "majestic," due in large part to the music. The epic piece composed for Krypton (which you can experience in the video clip below). The heavenly piece done for the scene when Lois goes up with Superman, "Can You Read My Mind." And of course, the main theme, the one where you can actually hear the word "SUPERMAN!" if you listen for it. In my opinion, this is John Williams' best film score from beginning to end. Just epic.
And this. This piece of genius by John Williams. Jesus Christ Almighty, hearing this makes me feel alive. It just fills me with positive energy and hope. In fact, not many of my friends know this (I'm not sure any of them do) but when my wife and I built our first home four years ago, I put together a soundtrack and played it the day we went to get the keys. The song I chose to play as I unlocked the door was the main theme to Superman. My wife and kids thought it was awesome!
When the film opened on December 15th, 1978 and people sat down to this opening sequence, they knew just how "big" a movie they were about to see. Watch this intro from the film. Just listen to it one time and tell me your day will not become all the richer for it.
There's a guy in the UK named Nick who, back in the day, took Toy Biz Famous Covers action figures and customized the shit out of them. And man, he customized a lot of them. Even more impressive was the fact that the guy did such great work. Check out his custom Thing, above. Here's a link to his website which is still running.
