Doug: In our discussion of the Ant-Man film a few days ago, the conversation turned to our rankings of the films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This weekend, let's go ahead and do that as a formal activity. Feel free to rank your favorites across the MCU, and tell us some favorite scenes or lines from those movies. And, if you're so inclined, why not repeat the drill but while adding in the non-MCU flicks such as the Spider-Man and X-Men films. Should be fun to see everyone's perceptions!
Doug: So in the post last Thursday, I commented as such --
My ranking of MCU films would be similar to William's, although I'm not certain but that I would have Winter Soldier at the top or at least tied with the first Avengers film. So, for controversy's sake:
1. Avengers
2. Winter Soldier
3. Iron Man
4. Avengers: Age of Ultron
5. Captain America
6. Ant-Man (?)
And then darned if Martinex1 didn't remind me of the Guardians of the Galaxy! Duh to me... So, in the spirit of commenting revisionism, here's how I'd probably revise my list (but ask me again in two hours and you might get something different) --
1. Avengers
2. Captain America: Winter Soldier
3. Iron Man
4. Avengers: Age of Ultron
5. Captain America: The First Avenger
6. Guardians of the Galaxy
7. Ant-Man
8. Iron Man 2
9. Thor
10. Thor: The Dark World
Now, if I wrap in my thoughts on the non-MCU films, the two Thor movies are going to get the heave ho. Here's how I'd see it now (again, could turn in a minute):
1. Avengers
2. Captain America: Winter Soldier
3. Iron Man
4. Avengers: Age of Ultron
5. Captain America: The First Avenger
6. Spider-Man 2
7. Guardians of the Galaxy
8. Ant-Man
9. X2: X-Men United
10. Iron Man 2
So where do you stand. Right now, that is...
16 comments:
1. Iron Man
2. Captain America: Winter Soldier
3. Guardians of the Galaxy
4. Avengers
5. Ant-Man
6. Avengers: Age of Ultron
7. Captain America: First Avenger
8. Iron Man 2
9. Incredible Hulk ( the 2nd one)
10. Big Hero 6
I like a little humor in the movies, so for me Iron Man, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Ant -Man moved up a bit. Big Hero 6 probably doesn't count but it is memorable for the time I had with my sons. I like Thor and Thor 2 but they just don't climb onto the list for me. I really liked the 2nd Hulk movie. Even if I ranked the Spider Man movies, X- men, FF, Daredevil, Elektra, Blade, Ghost Rider, or Howard the Duck... I think only X-Men 2 would climb onto the list at # 10. I think that was a good movie, but I would like more costumes, more Cyclops,and less Wolverine. I really liked X-Men First Class and that would probably be at 11. Spider-Man 2 would hit my list around 13.
If I lumped all super hero movies and included DC I think the first two Superman movies with Christopher Reeves would be on the list for nostalgia sake, probably bumping my bottom two. Sorry to throw DC on the pile.
Very bottom, lowest of the low, all time worst for me is the Dolph Lungren Punisher movie.
I'm curious how many of our readers have seen the Roger Corman FF movie. It's stock has to be rising with the turd blossom about to be foisted upon us in August.
Doug
I have two astonishingly poor video copies of the Corman FF. You can rest assured, Doug, that as awful as the upcoming rerereboot looks to be, it will on the whole be far better than that poor film was. Almost every aspect was poorly executed that it looked like they were purposely aiming for camp-classic status (which it was denied, of course, since all of the film prints were apparently destroyed). MUCH of it resembled, of all things, a 60's Batman episode-- but less clever. One of the few things that I thought did work okay was the Thing get-up. To me, it did convey a comic-book sense of ol' Ben.
HB
Yeah, I've seen the Corman FF as well - watched it about 5-6 years ago. Like HB, I agree that it's pretty bad, what with the crappy effects, the none-too-impressive actors, etc. However, I recall thinking that overall the story itself wasn't that bad - if the other factors weren't so lousy, it might actually have been a solid film.
As for the rankings, I haven't put that much thought into it, and find it kind of hard to compile a cut-and-dried list. I'll just say that my favorites in no particular order are the two Avengers and the two Caps; I liked many aspects of all three Iron Man films (especially that airplane passenger rescue scene in IM 3, which, as I've mentioned before, is one of the best scenes in any superhero film ever) and I think both Thors are quite solid and enjoyable, and I found Guardians of the Galaxy thoroughly entertaining. Haven't seen Ant Man yet.
As for the non-Marvel Studios efforts, i.e., the FFs, the Spider-mans, and X-mens, of those that I've seen I only liked X-men: 1st Class and Days of Future Past - but not nearly as much as I like the Marvel Studios stuff.
Ugh! I am supposed to be writing but as I told Doug, I'd been wanting to run a post like this so how can I resist jumping in?
So for everyone's sake, here are the twelve Marvel films so far, in chronological order:
Iron Man
Incredible Hulk
Iron Man 2
Thor
Captain America: The First Avenger
The Avengers
Iron Man 3
Thor: The Dark World
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Guardians of the Galaxy
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Ant-Man
My rankings, which are highly susceptible to change (as they do on a frequent basis in my head):
1) Captain America: The Winter Soldier
2) Avengers
3) Iron Man
4) Thor
5) Avengers: Age of Ultron
6) Guardians of the Galaxy
7) Iron Man 2
8) Captain America:The First Avenger
9) Ant-Man
10) Thor: The Dark World
11) Incredible Hulk
12) Iron Man 3
I did see the Corman FF, and as incredibly mediocre as every aspect of it was, at least you could tell it was based on the comics.
Oh, my own rankings?
Mmmmmm, let's see. . . (and for the record, I too am supposed to be otherwise engaged in more pressing pursuits!) And what the hey, I'll give the non-MCU contestants a shot as well:
1)Avengers
2)Spiderman 2
3)Avengers: Age of Ultron
4)Guardians of the Galaxy
5)Cap: Winter Soldier
6)Iron Man
7)Thor: Dark World
8)X-Men: DoFP
9)Spiderman 1
10) Incredible Hulk
11) Iron Man 3 (MUCH more than #2, sorry friends!)
aaaaand anything else is sort of in the "it was just fine" category, probably. Except for X-Men 3.
HB
If we're talking all Marvel related superhero movies (and not just the Marvel Studios films) then this is going to be a bit tougher, but here is my Top 10:
1. Avengers
2. Spider-Man 2 (original)
3. Avengers: Age of Ultron
4. Spider-Man 1 (original)
5. Captain America: Winter Soldier
6. Ant-Man
7. Iron Man 1
8. X-Men 2: X-Men United
9. Guardians of the Galaxy
10. Captain America: The First Avenger
Here's my list at least from the top of my addled brain :
1. Captain America: Winter Soldier
2. Avengers
3. Captain America: The First Avenger
4. Iron Man
5. Ant-Man
6. Avengers: Age if Ultron
7. Spider-Man 2
8. Guardians of the Galaxy
9. Thor: The Dark World
10. The Incredible Hulk
T-t-t-that's all folks!
- Mike 'cannot believe Doug used the term turd blossom' from Trinidad & Tobago.
Finally got to Ant-Man today. Being a Pym/Wasp purist I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. So:
1. Iron Man
2. The Avengers
3. Captain America
4. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
5. Ant-Man
6. Thor
7. The Avengers: Age of Ultron
8. The Incredible Hulk
9. Iron Man 3
10. Thor: The Dark World
11. Iron Man 2
12. Guardians of the Galaxy
I'd love to list reasons but I'm gassed. Go see Ant-Man if you haven't already! -JJ
I am surprised at how highly you all rank Age of Ultron. In my own humble opinion, it was a disaster, incapably trying to mesh too many threads together while shamelessly butchering the source material into vapid nonsense. I'm sorry, it's just that I really found it terrible on all levels. Wonderful if you feel differently. I wish I did.
Here's how I rank my favorite 10 Marvel films (at this moment):
1. Cap 2: Winter Soldier
2. Guardians Of The Galaxy
3. Iron Man
4. Captain America
5. Thor
6. X-Men Days of Future Past
7. The Amazing Spider-man
8. Iron Man 2
9. Ant-Man
10. The Avengers
I generally enjoy all the Marvel-related movies, but I didn't really like the Hulk films (although he is one of my favorite comics characters), and barring DoFP I didn't care too much for the X-Men films (especially the Wolverine ones).
Unlike most people, I rather enjoyed the Fantastic Four films (I thought they really nailed Johhny and Ben).
And I even got a goofy pleasure out of Ghost Rider, it was zany!
And I'm one of the few who are holding out hope that the new FF might actually be good. I'm not turned off by the trailers, it looks intriguing.
Ian Tetrahedron
1. The Avengers
2. Guardians of the Galaxy
3. Spider-Man 2
4. Captain America: Winter Soldier
5. Captain America: First Avenger
6. Spider-Man
7. X2
8. X-Men: Days of Future Past
9. Iron Man
10. X-Men
The first five films on my list I absolutely love. I think they are all fantastic films that capture the spirit of their respective subjects, and I can watch each of them repeatedly. Avengers is still the pinnacle of what I’ve come to expect from a movie based on a Marvel property, with Guardians being either tied with it or just a smidge below in second place. I love Guardians.
On the down side, I was bitterly disappointed with Age of Ultron. Ultron is my favorite Avengers villain so I really wanted to love this film. I didn’t expect it to be as good as the first Avengers, but I did expect it to be good. It wasn’t. It was a sloppy, disjointed mess. As were the last two Iron Man films. Just bad. And I couldn’t stay awake during either of the Thor films, more like the Mighty Snore. Anyway, the only redeeming feature for me regarding Age of Ultron, was Paul Bettany’s Vision. He/they nailed that.
All in all, I’m hoping Avengers: Infinity Wars I and II will redeem the franchise, and hoping GotG II is as loveable and winning as the first one. I haven’t seen Ant-Man yet, but I will soon. The slate of Marvel films coming up over the next few years looks interesting, so we’ll see what happens. *fingers crossed*
I'm late to the party, but it's such a gooooood party... for me the list would be:
1)Avengers
2)Captain America: Winter Soldier
3)Avengers: Age of Ultron
4)Iron Man
5)Captain America
6)X-Men: First Class
7)Guardians of the Galaxy
8)X-Men: Days of Future Past
9)Ant-Man
10)Spider-Man2 (the original)
I'd add those two X-Men movies (perhaps because they're period pieces--that really suits the X-Men imho, which is what Marvel should do with the FF when they get the rights back) because they are awe inspiring to me. So much better than the first 3 (yes, even better than X2, sorry...) Young Magneto and Young Professor X are two of the best, most rounded, most engaging characters in the genre!
tetrahedron and ZIRGAR --
I understood that the original cut of Age of Ultron was three hours or a bit longer. Obviously over 30 minutes was left on the cutting room floor. Here's to hoping that some or all of that footage is included in the upcoming home releases (digital HD late in September, Blu-ray early in October) of the film. I can see your points about the film being choppy in places - I'd love to see the film as it might have been.
Doug
What about Blade?
1. Cap: Winter Soldier
2. Avengers
3. X2
4. Guardians
5. Blade 2
6. Iron Man
7. X First Class
8. X of Future Past
9. Cap
10. Age of Ultron
I'm really feeling affirmed by how high most of our commenters have placed Winter Soldier. If you're new around here, you know that I'm one who did not care for that retcon... until I actually read the Brubaker/Epting stories. The film adaptation was well done, and of course Karen and I have gone on record as stating how exciting the comic version was as well.
Anonymous (hey, we always like names/screen names around here just to personalize things) -- I've not ever seen the Blade flicks, so couldn't comment. Now I'm wondering if any of our other readers have and didn't care for them or perhaps overlooked them.
Doug
I haven't seen Ant-Man yet, so my top faves are as follows:
1. Captain America: Winter Soldier
2. Avengers
3. Iron Man
4. Spider-Man 2
5. Guardians of the Galaxy
6. X2
7. Iron Man
8. Captain America: First Avenger
9. X-Men: Days of Future Past
10. (Tie) Avengers: Age of Ultron/ Spider-Man
11.-whatever: all the other ones except
Last (multi-way tie): FF, FF2, Ghost Rider 2. As much as Spider-Man 3 & X-Men 3 suck, the others I listed are even worse.
- Mike Loughlin
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