Pulp Movies: Superhero and Adventure
Pulp has a pretty broad definition but we know it when we see it: a devil may care sense of fun, a darkness that brushes perilous close to gimmicky, a certain implausibility. This is a list of adaptations of traditional pulp properties or films done in the pulp style.
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- DirectorSam RaimiStarsLiam NeesonFrances McDormandColin FrielsA brilliant scientist left for dead returns to exact revenge on the people who burned him alive.
- DirectorRussell MulcahyStarsAlec BaldwinJohn LonePenelope Ann MillerIn 1930s New York City, The Shadow (Alec Baldwin) battles his nemesis, Shiwan Khan (John Lone), who is building an atomic bomb.
- DirectorSimon WincerStarsBilly ZaneKristy SwansonTreat WilliamsThe Phantom, descendent of a line of African superheroes, travels to New York City to thwart a wealthy criminal genius from obtaining three magic skulls which would give him the secret to ultimate power.
- DirectorJoe JohnstonStarsBilly CampbellJennifer ConnellyAlan ArkinA young pilot stumbles onto a prototype jetpack that allows him to become a high-flying masked hero.
- DirectorMichel GondryStarsSeth RogenJay ChouChristoph WaltzFollowing the death of his father, Britt Reid, heir to his father's large company, teams up with his late dad's assistant Kato to become a masked crime fighting team.
- DirectorTim BurtonStarsMichael KeatonJack NicholsonKim BasingerThe Dark Knight of Gotham City begins his war on crime with his first major enemy being Jack Napier, a criminal who becomes the clownishly homicidal Joker.This movie may come from the same material as all the other adaptations but this take on Batman is easily the pulpiest.
- DirectorMartin CampbellStarsAntonio BanderasAnthony HopkinsCatherine Zeta-JonesA young thief seeking revenge for his brother's death is trained by the once-great, aging Zorro, who is pursuing his own vengeance.
- DirectorMichael AndersonStarsRon ElyPaul GleasonWilliam LuckingDoc and the Amazing Five battle Captain Seas and "the green death" for control of a fabulous resource.
- DirectorKerry ConranStarsGwyneth PaltrowJude LawAngelina JolieAfter New York City receives a series of attacks from giant flying robots, a reporter teams up with a pilot in search of their origin, as well as the reason for the disappearances of famous scientists around the world.
- DirectorMike HodgesStarsSam J. JonesMelody AndersonMax von SydowA football player and his friends travel to the planet Mongo and find themselves fighting the tyranny of Ming the Merciless to save Earth.
- DirectorW.D. RichterStarsPeter WellerJohn LithgowEllen BarkinAdventurer, brain surgeon, rock musician Buckaroo Banzai and his crime-fighting team, the Hong Kong Cavaliers, must stop evil alien invaders from the eighth dimension who are planning to conquer Earth.
- DirectorAndrew StantonStarsTaylor KitschLynn CollinsWillem DafoeA war-weary former army captain is inexplicably transported to Mars and reluctantly becomes embroiled in a conflict of epic proportions.
- DirectorHugh HudsonStarsChristopher LambertAndie MacDowellRalph RichardsonA missing heir of respected Scottish family, raised in African jungles by animals, finally returns to his estate only to realize that difference between the two worlds is really significant.
- DirectorDavid YatesStarsAlexander SkarsgårdRory J SaperChristian StevensTarzan, having acclimated to life in London, is called back to his former home in the jungle to investigate the activities at a mining encampment.
- DirectorJohn HoughStarsNeil DicksonAlex Hyde-WhiteFiona HutchisonDaring British WWI fighter pilot James "Biggles" Bigglesworth and 1980s low-level business executive Jim Ferguson discover that they can time travel to each other's eras. They try to stop the Germans from changing the outcome of WWI.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsHarrison FordKaren AllenPaul FreemanIn 1936, archaeologists and adventurers of the U.S. government hired Indiana Jones to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis could obtain its extraordinary powers.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsHarrison FordKate CapshawKe Huy QuanIn 1935, Indiana Jones is tasked by Indian villagers with reclaiming a rock stolen from them by a secret cult beneath the catacombs of an ancient palace.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsHarrison FordSean ConneryAlison DoodyIn 1938, after his father goes missing while pursuing the Holy Grail, Indiana Jones finds himself up against the Nazis again to stop them from obtaining its powers.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsHarrison FordCate BlanchettShia LaBeoufSet in 1957, it pits Indiana Jones against Soviet KGB agents led by Irina Spalko searching for a telepathic crystal skull located in Peru.
- DirectorStephen SommersStarsBrendan FraserRachel WeiszJohn HannahAt an archaeological dig in the ancient city of Hamunaptra, an American serving in the French Foreign Legion accidentally awakens a mummy who begins to wreak havoc as he searches for the reincarnation of his long-lost love.
- DirectorSimon WincerStarsTom SelleckLaura San GiacomoAlan RickmanSharpshooter Matt Quigley is hired from Wyoming by an Australian rancher paying a very high price. But when Quigley arrives Down Under, all is not as it seems.
- DirectorJoe JohnstonStarsViggo MortensenOmar SharifZuleikha RobinsonIn 1890, a down-and-out cowboy and his horse travel to Arabia to compete in a deadly cross desert horse race.
- DirectorPeter JacksonStarsNaomi WattsJack BlackAdrien BrodyA greedy film producer assembles a team of moviemakers and sets out for the infamous Skull Island, where they find more than just cannibalistic natives.
- DirectorBrian G. HuttonStarsTom SelleckBess ArmstrongJack WestonJust after WW1, alcoholic American biplane pilot Patrick O'Malley is hired by Eve Tozer, the spoiled daughter of an industrialist, to locate her father, who disappeared somewhere in Asia.
- DirectorJ. Lee ThompsonStarsRichard ChamberlainSharon StoneHerbert LomFortune hunter Allan Quatermain teams up with a resourceful woman to help her find her missing father lost in the wilds of 1900s Africa while being pursued by hostile tribes and a rival German explorer.
