Superhero Films have become more and more popular over the past 10 years with the Marvel Cinematic Universe leading the way with the likes of The Avengers, Spider-Man and the individual films for Thor, Iron Man, Captain America et al. DC have also been getting in the mix with Batman V Superman, Wonder Woman and Justice League.


Comic book films have always been very popular though, and the ’80s also had its fair share of comic hero (and anti-hero) movies. We take a look back at some of them, how many have you seen and how many do you remember for either good, or potentially bad, reasons?

Superman II

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The first sequel to the fantastic Superman movie, starring Christopher Reeve, with Margot Kidder also reprising her role of Lois Lane. Superman II sees General Zod and his cronies trying to take over Metropolis with the help of the dastardly Lex Luthor, again played by Gene Hackman.

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Superman III

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This sequel tried to go a little more down the comedic route and it didn’t always work. Getting in Richard Pryor would usually be a stroke of genius, but the comedy side of this film just didn’t really sit right and it all got a bit bizarre when Superman got affected by tainted Kryptonite.

Superman IV: The Quest For Peace

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Widely regarded as one of the worst films ever made, this really is bad. Even watching knowing it’s going to be bad, it’s still genuinely painful to sit through. The less said the better and a tragic end to Christopher Reeve’s run as The Man Of Steel.

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Flash Gordon

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One of the cheesiest films of the 80s – and that’s saying something – this is such a fun and entertaining film! An amazing soundtrack provided by Queen, especially the title song, also helps. Watch this whenever you’re feeling a bit low and it will perk you right back up. Not to be confused with Flesh Gordon – you have been warned!

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The Toxic Avenger

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Troma is well known as making a certain type of over the top film with lots of explicit violence and Toxic Avenger is no exception, with head-crushing, arm-frying scenes at the hands of Troma’s almost-mascot Toxie.

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Masters of the Universe

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The movie version of He-Man, this doesn’t do the classic cartoon much justice with Dolph Lundgren having as much personality as He-Man as a plank of wood! There were also major characters missing – where’s Orko and Cringer? This film did introduce the world to Courtney Cox. however, but that’s little consolation.

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The Swamp Thing

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Directed by Wes Craven, the story of Swampy rescuing the girl and saving the day whilst living in a swamp!

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Howard The Duck

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“A new breed of hero” I re-watched this recently and it really is nowhere near as good as I remember it from when I was about 10! Little surprise, it’s a very strange film which even hints at bestiality and is just very strange from start to finish. There are rumours of this being remade and Howard has had cameos in several of Marvel’s MCU films recently so watch this space – let’s just hope they do it right this time!

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Robocop

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The story of Office Murphy, horrifically gunned down and mutilated whilst confronting some vicious criminal gang members, he is “reborn” as Robocop and goes off to make things right in the world, taking on the criminals in the coolest way possible. Not one for the faint of heart, however, especially the uncut version!

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Supergirl

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Superman’s cousin gets her own film, with Peter O’Toole and Peter Cook adding some gravitas to proceedings, nowhere near as good as Superman and Superman II, but a mile apart from The Quest For Peace!

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The Trial Of The Incredible Hulk

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One of a string of made-for-TV Hulk movies, this one saw The Incredible Hulk fight alongside Daredevil against The Kingpin, bizarrely cast as John Rhys-Davies – it’s not his fault he’s not massive, built like a mountain and bald!

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Batman

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The masterpiece of 80s superhero movies, Michael Keaton remains my personal favourite Batman and Jack Nicholson was absolute gold as The Joker. One of those films you can watch again and again and it never gets old!

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So which of these Superhero films do you remember? have we missed any? Which did you hate? Let us know in the comments as always!