5 Low Budget Superhero Movies

by Michael Powell

The modern superhero film has entered the realm of the mega blockbuster, with top tier talent and massive budgets. But it wasn't always this way - over the past few years, several lucrative superhero franchises have been rebooted after starting out as low budget outings, some not so bad and others, downright embarassing.
Here are a few noteworthy examples:

1. Fantastic Four (1994)

In 1994, Fantastic Four rights holders Constantin Films, as a last resort, looked to B-movie king Roger Corman to help produce the adaptation of the 1961 comic book Fantastic Four after failing to secure their original $40 million budget. With the rights quickly lapsing, Constantin had no choice but to make the movie and settled for a meager $1.5 million production cost and a one-month shooting schedule. Ouch.

The result: a movie deemed to be so bad it has never seen an official theatrical or DVD release (although this was later deemed to be a deliberate move to avoid embarassment for those involved). For a while the movie was a sought after item on the bootleg market, but in recent years has made more easily available (as of this writing you can catch it on YouTube).

The 2005, $100 million reboot was much improved in terms of special effects, but was critically panned and not the success Fox was hoping for. And the truth is, after watching about 20 minutes of the 1994 version, it's obvious the filmmakers were determined to make the best film they could, given the budget and time restrictions. It's still pretty bad, but is infused with a spirit that at least makes it a mildly watchable folly.

2. Captain America (1990)

Before the 2011 big budget version of Marvel Comics' WW2 superhero Captain America, the good Cap'n appeared in 3 previous live action incarnations: a competent 1944 serial (now in the public domain), the ill-fated 1979 TV series starring the Reb Brown (he of the 1983 classic Yor: The Hunter from the Future), and a woefully misguided 1990 update directed by Albert Pyun.

It's this version that's worth noting, as it's the first feature length adaptation to get a theatrical release (albeit a limited one outside North America, where it went direct to video in 1992). A much wider rollout was planned to coincide with the Capmeister's 50th anniversary. But incompetent action scenes, cheap sets and a stiff acting lead in Matt Salinger all conspired against the movie from the opening scene and no doubt dashed these formidable hopes.

To his credit, Pyun does his best to make the film look good despite a limited $10,000,000 budget, and the movie is nicely photographed. But it still sucks.

3. Batman (1943)

It may be surprising to hear that the first live action incarnation of the Caped Crusader and his sidekick Robin was not the campy 1960's TV show, but a 1943 Republican Pictures serial. Its, ahem, limited budget is evident in almost every frame, from the Batman and Robin costumes that look like rejects from a primary school Halloween party, to laughably sped up action scenes, and a batcave that more closely resembles a set for a 5th grade play than a fortress of solitude.

Most sacrilegious to fans though, is the absence of the Batmobile, here replaced with an old Cadillac whose back seat is used as a change room by the dynamic duo.  And don't be fooled by the moody and wonderfully illustrated DVD artwork for this one - it's deceptive packaging at its best (or worst).

Watching this makes us ever so thankful for the visionary talents of Tim Burton and Chris Nolan, who have finally brought cinematic justice to the Dark Knight.

 
4. The Punisher (1989)

The first feature adaptation of Marvel's violent comic book hero, the 1989 version of The Punisher suffers primarily from a low budget and a miscast lead in Dolph Lundgren. But despite this, it's not the dud you might think. The movie's a surprisingly well-paced, well shot picture with some respectable technical credits. And renowned action film editor Mark Goldbatt directs with a strong sense of style, doing what he can with limited resources.

That said, the movie still never got a release in the States due to the bankruptcy of distributor New World Pictures. Even internationally, it never caught on, not even making back its meager $9 million budget. Since then, Marvel rebooted the franchise in 2004 with Thomas Jane as the title character, but met with bad reviews and audience indifference. 2008 saw yet another attempt with Punisher: War Zone, but this met with even worse reception. You'd think the Punisher would be an ideal fit for Hollywood to adapt, but for some reason they haven't been able to crack this one. Here's hoping.

5. Spider-Man (1977)

Is it just me, or does the phrase "made for television" and "superhero movie" in the same sentence instill a most palpable sense of dread? In 1977, CBS TV aired a feature-length pilot of the first live-action incarnation of The Amazing Spider-Man, one of the most celebrated of all comic book characters.  Spidey fans at the time must have been elated by CBS's movie-style campaign poster proclaiming they would finally see their hero "For the first time on the screen". (According to the IMDB, the movie got a theatrical release overseas, qualifying it as the first big-screen Spidey.)

It feels somewhat unfair to criticize the movie's shortcomings, given the fact that it was shot on a TV budget in the 1970s without the luxury of modern specal effects or the use of name actors. Still, the movie's preview/promo will undeniably raise a chuckle or two (or four) with its lame action highlights set to a cheesy 70s disco soundtrack.

It would be a surprising quarter century (and many aborted attempts) before Sam Raimi's 2002 update gave Spider-Man the proper big screen treatment so deserved.