"Comic Book Movies" That Weren't Adapted from Comic Books
There are some movies that feel like a comic book adventure, even when they aren't adaptations of a comic book. In other words, these are films that would have made for great comic books, with few changes. There are some tv shows here, too.
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- DirectorRobert ClouseStarsBruce LeeJohn SaxonJim KellyA Shaolin martial artist travels to an island fortress to spy on an opium lord - who is also a former monk from his temple - under the guise of attending a fighting tournament.Bruce Lee ended up as a comic character, at Malibu Comics (in the 90s); but, he wasn't this Mr. Lee. To paraphrase Jim Kelly, "Everything sounds like it came from a comic book." You have an evil turncoat villain, with little motivation, other than greed and power, and a virtuous former associate, out for revenge and justice. Though the film was never directly turned into a comic, it was a major inspiration for the classic Marvel Comics Master of Kung Fu series, particularly the Doug Moench/Paul Gulacy run.
- DirectorRobert ClouseStarsJim KellyGloria HendryScatman CrothersA Mafia buy out of Papa Byrd's karate school downtown ends in his death. Byrd's daughter, Sydney, refuses to sell, and wants revenge. Byrd's students call the Black Belt Jones for help. Jones reluctantly teams with Sydney in many battles.Jim Kelly is pure comic book hero here, fighting gangsters who are trying to run off a martial arts studio, so they can grab the land. Jones battles thugs in the dark ("Batman, mother@#$%^&), infiltrates the villain's home, with the help of girl acrobats, then beats the stuffing out of the gang at a car wash, dumping them into garbage trucks. Black belt Jones would have been an awesome comic hero, alongside Luke Cage and Iron Fist.
- DirectorCharles BailStarsRockne TarkingtonWilliam SmithConnie StricklandNoble nightclub owner Samson does his best to keep his neighborhood clean of crime and drugs. When vicious mobster Johnny Nappa tries to muscle in on Samson's territory, Samson takes a brave stand against Nappa and his flunkies.Rockne Tarkington stars as a pure urban hero, Samson. A group of crooks are selling drugs in his neighborhood and he won't stand for it. They try to scare him off, but a man who keeps a pet lion and carries a thick wooden staff doesn't scare easily. Samson rallies the residents to fight off the criminals when they try to move in force. Great film and a great hero of the people.
- DirectorGordon Parks Jr.StarsJim BrownFred WilliamsonJim KellyBlaxploitation film about three martial-arts specialists who prevent white supremacists from tainting the U.S. water supply with a toxin that's only harmful to black people.Kind of an urban Justice League. Fred Williamson, Jim Brown, and Jim Kelly team up to stop a white supremacist group from introducing a chemical into water supplies that kills only African Americans. How the drug can only target the one ethnic group is never really explained and not strictly vital. Jay Robinson is the icily cool leader of the nazis. The trio opens a world of hurt on the gang, and even employs a trio of motorcycle-riding dominatrices to interrogate one of the nazi soldiers.
- DirectorAl AdamsonStarsJim KellyBill RoyRoberto ContrerasRobert Sand, agent of D.R.A.G.O.N. (Defense Reserve Agency Guardian Of Nations), is playing tennis on his vacation with a beautiful black girl, when his commanding officers ask him to save a Chinese girl who happens to be Sand's girlfriend, and the daughter of a top Eastern Ambassador. The ransom for the abduction was the secret for a terrific new weapon - the freeze bomb - but the 'Warlock' behind the deed is also into the business of drug dealing and Voodoo ritual murders. The search takes him from Hong Kong to California through Miami, and plenty of action, against bad men, bad girl, and bad animals.Jim Kelly stars as a secret agent, out to stop the bad guy and his weird band of henchmen. Kelly gets to use a jetpack (not a real one, like in Thunderball, alas), and opens up a can of whoop-a$$ on the baddies.
- DirectorTed V. MikelsStarsMichael AnsaraFrancine YorkAnthony EisleySquad of beautiful government agents tries to catch saboteurs.Long before Charlie's Angels there was this group of feisty female agents, who are trying to stop a madman from launching a missile (which the budget never stretches to reveal). The dialogue is cheesy and the acting bad; but, the action is great and a lot of fun is had. This would have been an awesome series and shares some similarity with an obscure Gold Key comic, Jet Dream and her Stunt Girl Counter-spies.
- CreatorGwen BagniPaul DubovStarsAnne FrancisJohn EricsonBruceAfter her father's death, Honey West takes over his high-tech private-detective firm, assisted by rugged Sam Bolt--and her pet ocelot Bruce.Tv series about private detective Honey West and her partner Sam. Honey was a mixture of detective and spy, using all kinds of gadgets and sporting standard black action gear. It owed more than a little to Modesty Blaise and was adapted into a single issue comic, from Gold Key (who did many tv and movie adaptations); and, much later, a series from Moonstone Comics.
- DirectorDaniel MannStarsJames CoburnLee J. CobbGila GolanWhen scientists use eco-terrorism to impose their will on the world by affecting extremes in the weather, Intelligence Chief Cramden calls in top agent Derek Flint.Flint was a parody of James Bond; but, unlike Matt Helm, he didn't originate elsewhere. Flint is a polymath, with expertise covering a stunning array of disciplines. Essentially, he is an updated version of Doc Savage, complete with a trio of female assistants (though they aren't field agents, like Doc's Fabulous Five). Flint tries to stop the evil machinations of Galaxy, infiltrating their lair. He is unmasked by an anti-American eagle! Great stuff.
- DirectorGordon DouglasStarsJames CoburnLee J. CobbJean HaleSuper-spy Flint takes on a cabal of women plotting to rule the world.Flint returns to face a band of modern amazons, out to prove the superiority of women by replacing world leaders, to manipulate governments into moving more women into positions of authority. They are betrayed by a man, of course, and Flint ends up fighting alongside the ladies. Not as strong as the first film, but plenty of fun to be had.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsKurt RussellKim CattrallDennis DunA rough-and-tumble trucker and his side kick face off with an ancient sorcerer in a supernatural battle beneath Chinatown.Awesome film from John Carpenter, reunited with Kurt Russell. Kurt is tough-talking truck driver Jack Burton, who helps his friend Wang Chi rescue his fiance from the clutches of the evil villain Lo Pan. The film mixes is wuxia films, John Wayne, Fu Manchu, and liberal doses of comedy, delivering a delightful adventure. Unfortunately, itt was a bit ahead of its time, so we didn't get further adventures from Jack Burton.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsKurt RussellLee Van CleefErnest BorgnineIn 1997, when the U.S. president crashes into Manhattan, now a giant maximum security prison, a convicted bank robber is sent in to rescue him.Ex-Special Forces soldier-turned,nefarious criminal Snake Plissken is captured by the USPF and sent into the Manhattan Island prison to locate and rescue the President of the United States, who lands there after terrorists try to hijack Air Force One. Plissken must evade The Duke and find the President and bring him out within 24 hours, or tiny explosive charges in his bloodstream will rip open his arteries and kill him. Snake would return in Escape from LA, which essentially rehashed the plot of this film. He did turn up in a one-shot comic, at the turn of the millennium, and a newer series, more recently.
- DirectorRoger YoungStarsTom SelleckJane SeymourLauren HuttonA handsome jewel thief is arrested and in order to avoid prison, must break into the heavily guarded German Embassy to steal millions in gems.Tom Selleck stars as Nick Lassiter, a jewel thief, operating in London, in the pre-war 1930s. Lassiter is blackmailed by the FBI and Scotland Yard to steal diamonds from a Nazi courier, who will be using them to fund espionage activities. Lassiter must break into the embassy to steal the diamonds and get them out; but, he has his own plans in mind. Selleck is great as the hero, who is a mixture of pulp hero and gentleman thief, ala Raffles and Arsene Lupin. Bob Hoskins is the nasty British detective and Jane Seymour is the love interest. Great film.
- DirectorBrian G. HuttonStarsTom SelleckBess ArmstrongJack WestonDuring WW1, an alcoholic American biplane pilot is hired by the spoiled daughter of an industrialist to find her father who disappeared in Asia.Tom Selleck ets to have a pulp adventure, after missing out on Indiana Jones, as a mercenary pilot hired by bess Armstrong to help locate her father, somewhere in the provinces of China. The film steal liberally from things like Lost Horizon and Terry and the Pirates; but, it's a lot of fun.
- CreatorIvan GoffBen RobertsStarsKate JacksonFarrah FawcettJaclyn SmithA wealthy mystery man named Charlie runs a detective agency via a speakerphone and his personal assistant, John Bosley. His detectives are three beautiful women, who end up in a variety of difficult situations.TV series about a trio of lady detectives, who work for their unseen boss, helping to uncover crimes. The ladies often go undercover, where their beauty is used to disarm the crooks, while they use their brains to stop the crimes. The characters are thinly sketched and the plots repetitive; but, the series was charming, though cast turnover hurt the series in the long run.
- CreatorSam RolfeStarsRobert VaughnDavid McCallumLeo G. CarrollThe two top Agents of the United Network Command for Law and Enforcement (U.N.C.L.E.) fight the enemies of peace, particularly the forces of T.H.R.U.S.H.Superspies Napoleon Solo and Ilya Kuriakin work to thwart the schemes of the evil THRUSH organization. They often find themselves working with civilians to stop the THRUSH plots. The series was a phenomenon and helped launch the spy-fi craze. It influenced Marvel Comics Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD (which is the basis for the tv series Agents of SHIELD) and was adapted into a comic series by Gold Key. It was also a one-shot from Millenium Comics, in the 90s.
- CreatorSam RolfeStarsStefanie PowersNoel HarrisonLeo G. CarrollThe missions of agent April Dancer of the United Network Command for Law and Enforcement.Companion series to the original UNCLE, featuring agents April Dancer and Mark Slate. Not nearly as good as the original series, though it had some moments. It lasted one season and then POOF! Like the original, Gold Key adapted it into a comic.
- CreatorBruce GellerStarsPeter GravesBarbara BainGreg MorrisAn elite covert operations unit carries out highly sensitive missions subject to official denial in the event of failure, death or capture.A team of specialists are employed for various missions, to stop enemy agents or criminals, often by employing elaborate cons or carrying out complex thefts. The series was adapted into a Gold Key comic; but, it inspired a much better comic in DC's The Secret Six. There, a group of people are forced to work for the mysterious Mockingbird, as each owes him something. The hook is that the Mockingbird is secretly one of the team. The series was great fun, but short lived. It had a brief revival in the late 80s, before the name was co-opted for a group of villains who operated as mercenaries, often opposing the schemes of much worse villains.
- DirectorRobert AldrichStarsLee MarvinErnest BorgnineCharles BronsonDuring World War II, a rebellious U.S. Army Major is assigned a dozen convicted murderers to train and lead them into a mass assassination mission of German officers.A band of condemned criminals is given a chance at a reprieve, by carrying out a commando mission to assassinate a large group of German generals, at a relaxation center, prior to the D-Day landings. The film was based on a novel but it would have been right at home in comics, alongside such books as Sgt Rock and Sgt Fury and his Howling Commandos. As it stands, the premise was swiped multiple times, including the Marvel Comic Combat Kelly and the Deadly Dozen, the film Inglorious Bastards (the original) and the Italian film Battle of the Commandos.
- DirectorBrian G. HuttonStarsRichard BurtonClint EastwoodMary UreAllied agents stage a daring raid on a castle where the Nazis are holding American brigadier general George Carnaby prisoner, but that's not all that's really going on.Based on the Alistair MacLean novel, about an improbable commando mission to rescue an American general, who has knowledge of the D-Day plans. It turns out the actual mission is to uncover the names of German spies working in Britain. The action is straight out of the old Boys Own stories and would influence many a war comic. MacLean knew how to write pulp adventure, which shares many storytelling traits with comic books.
- DirectorJ. Lee ThompsonStarsDavid NivenGregory PeckAnthony QuinnA team of Allied saboteurs is assigned an impossible mission: infiltrate an impregnable Nazi-held Greek island and destroy the two enormous long-range field guns that prevent the rescue of 2,000 trapped British soldiers.Alistair MacLean delivers another thrilling adventure. A group of commandos are tasked to destroy a German radar-controlled gun emplacement, hidden withing the near-impregnable confines of rock caves and bunkers. The group must sneak ont the island of Navarone, link up with resistance fighters, travel to the guns, infiltrate the complex, and destroy them. However, they are betrayed at every turn. Highly influential and the plot turned up in many a war comic, especial things like DC Comics' The Losers and The Unknown Soldier.
- DirectorRichard BrooksStarsBurt LancasterLee MarvinRobert RyanAn arrogant Texas millionaire hires four adventurers to rescue his kidnapped wife from a notorious Mexican bandit.A group of soldiers for hire are recruited to rescue the wife of a railroad magnate from Mexican revolutionaries. This team of specialists includes weapons expert Lee Marvin, horse expert Robert Ryan, demolitions man Burt Lancaster, and tracker and hunter Woody Strode. However, they find that things are not what they seem. Great western adventure, with a liberal dose of commando action. It would have fit right in with western comics of the 60s and 70s.
- CreatorRoy HugginsStarsJack KellyJames GarnerRoger MooreBret and Bart Maverick are well-dressed gamblers who migrate from town to town always looking for a good game.Card sharp, raconteur, and adventurer Bret Maverick finds himself drawn into various troubles, as he moves about the west. The series was great fun and would have fit well with DC's western comics. In reality, it directly inspired DC's Bat Lash.
- DirectorTom LaughlinStarsTom LaughlinElizabeth JamesJeremy SlateBilly Jack battles a motorcycle gang in a small California beach town.First of the Billy Jack Films, though it is more of a biker film and is quite different from the later Billy Jack films. Billy Jack protects a young woman from a biker gang, using his military and martial arts skills. Not quite as interesting as the later films, philosophically; but better written and acted.
- DirectorTom LaughlinStarsTom LaughlinDelores TaylorClark HowatEx-Green Beret hapkido expert saves wild horses from being slaughtered for dog food and helps protect a desert "freedom school" for runaway.Tom Laughlin stars as the mixed race Native American ex-Green Beret, who is protecting wild horses from an unscrupulous rancher, as well as the Freedom School, a haven for young people, run by liberals and hippies. The film preaches a message of nonviolence, while presenting multiple examples of Billy Jack using violence to stop the rancher's men. It's schizophrenic, to say the least. Hapkido expert Bong Soo Han choreographed the fights and the character reads like one straight out of a 1970s comic. Apart from the action, the film hasn't aged well.
- DirectorTom LaughlinStarsTom LaughlinDelores TaylorVictor IzayAfter Billy Jack in sentenced to four years in prison for the "involuntary manslaughter" of the first film, the Freedom School expands and flourishes under the guidance of Jean Roberts. The utopian existence of the school is characterized by everything ranging from "yoga sports" to muckracking journalism. The diverse student population airs scathing political exposes on their privately owned television station. The narrow-minded townspeople have different ideas about their brand of liberalism. Billy Jack is released and things heat up for the school. Students are threatened and abused and the Native Americans in the neighboring village are taunted and mistreated. After Billy Jack undergoes a vision quest, the governor and the police plot to permanently put an end to their liberal shenanigans, leaving it up to Billy Jack to save the day.Billy Jack returns for more peace and violence, while also undergoing a vision quest. Not quite as good as the first, though there are some really well done fight scenes.