comic book movies The Best Classic Comic Book Movies, Ranked  

Ranker Film
401 votes 54 voters 35 items

List Rules Vote up your favorite old comic book movies from before the year 2000.

This list contains information on the best classic comic book movies, ranked from best to worst by user votes. The best classic comic book films come in many forms. Some early comic movies are about powerful superheros while other good comic films before 2000 feature hilarious jokes. A few of the best old comic book films even generated sequels.

What films will you find on this top old comic movies list? Batman has to be at the top. This 1989 Tim Burton film found Michael Keaton donning the Dark Knight cape to face off against Jack Nicholson's Joker. The movie even featured great music as Prince provided several original songs to accompany Danny Elfman's score. Superman – starring Christopher Reeve – is another great old comic book movie.

The Mask was based on the comic book series of the same name written by Mike Richardson. Other great early comic book movies featured on this list include Blade, Howard the Duck, and The Crow.

Do you have a favorite comic book movie that was released before 2000? Take a look at this list and give the best films a thumbs up.

list ordered by

1
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Superman is listed (or ranked) 1 on the list The Best Classic Comic Book Movies, Ranked
Superman Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve Superman is a 1978 superhero film directed by Richard Donner. It is based on the DC Comics character of the same name and stars Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, ...more

2
20 3
Batman is listed (or ranked) 2 on the list The Best Classic Comic Book Movies, Ranked
Batman Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Michael Keaton Batman is a 1989 American superhero film directed by Tim Burton and produced by Jon Peters, based on the DC Comics character of the same name. It is the first installment of Warner Bros.' ...more

3
17 3
Batman Returns is listed (or ranked) 3 on the list The Best Classic Comic Book Movies, Ranked
Batman Returns Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, Danny DeVito Batman Returns is a 1992 American superhero film, directed and produced by Tim Burton, based upon the Batman character appearing in comics published by DC Comics. It is the second installment of ...more

4
12 5
Superman II is listed (or ranked) 4 on the list The Best Classic Comic Book Movies, Ranked
Superman II Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve, Terence Stamp Superman II is a 1980 British-American superhero film directed by Richard Lester. It is a sequel to the 1978 film Superman and stars Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve, Terence Stamp, Ned Beatty, ...more

5
13 7
Blade is listed (or ranked) 5 on the list The Best Classic Comic Book Movies, Ranked
Blade Kris Kristofferson, Wesley Snipes, Traci Lords Blade is a 1998 American vampire superhero action film starring Wesley Snipes and Stephen Dorff, loosely based on the Marvel Comics character Blade. Snipes plays Blade, a human-vampire hybrid ...more

6
13 9
Batman Forever is listed (or ranked) 6 on the list The Best Classic Comic Book Movies, Ranked
Batman Forever Nicole Kidman, Drew Barrymore, Jim Carrey Batman Forever is a 1995 American superhero film directed by Joel Schumacher and produced by Tim Burton, based on the DC Comics character Batman. It is the third installment of the initial ...more

7
6 2
Flash Gordon is listed (or ranked) 7 on the list The Best Classic Comic Book Movies, Ranked
Flash Gordon Timothy Dalton, Max von Sydow, Ornella Muti Flash Gordon is a 1980 British science fiction action film, based on the comic strip of the same name created by Alex Raymond. The film was directed by Mike Hodges, and produced by Dino De ...more

8
10 7
Spawn is listed (or ranked) 8 on the list The Best Classic Comic Book Movies, Ranked
Spawn Martin Sheen, John Leguizamo, Melinda Clarke Spawn is a 1997 American supernatural superhero film loosely based on the comic book of the same name, by Todd McFarlane and published by Image Comics. Directed and co-written by Mark A.Z. ...more

9
9 6
The Rocketeer is listed (or ranked) 9 on the list The Best Classic Comic Book Movies, Ranked
The Rocketeer Jennifer Connelly, Timothy Dalton, Alan Arkin The Rocketeer is a 1991 American period superhero film produced by Walt Disney Pictures and based on the character of the same name created by comic book writer/artist Dave Stevens. Directed by ...more

10
8 5
Superman III is listed (or ranked) 10 on the list The Best Classic Comic Book Movies, Ranked
Superman III Richard Pryor, Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder Superman III is a 1983 British-American superhero film directed by Richard Lester. It is the third film in the Superman film series based upon the long-running DC Comics superhero. The film is ...more

11
7 4
Judge Dredd is listed (or ranked) 11 on the list The Best Classic Comic Book Movies, Ranked
Judge Dredd Sylvester Stallone, Diane Lane, James Earl Jones Judge Dredd is a 1995 American science fiction action film directed by Danny Cannon, and starring Sylvester Stallone, Diane Lane, Rob Schneider, Armand Assante, and Max von Sydow. The film is ...more

12
6 3
Casper is listed (or ranked) 12 on the list The Best Classic Comic Book Movies, Ranked
Casper Mel Gibson, Clint Eastwood, Christina Ricci Casper is a 1995 American family comedy fantasy film starring Christina Ricci, Bill Pullman, Cathy Moriarty, Eric Idle, and Amy Brenneman, based on the Casper the Friendly Ghost comic books and ...more

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Batman & Robin is listed (or ranked) 13 on the list The Best Classic Comic Book Movies, Ranked
Batman & Robin Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Clooney, Uma Thurman Batman & Robin is a 1997 American superhero film based on the DC Comics character Batman. It is the fourth and final installment of Warner Bros.' initial Batman film series. The film was ...more

14
8 6
Heavy Metal is listed (or ranked) 14 on the list The Best Classic Comic Book Movies, Ranked
Heavy Metal John Candy, Harold Ramis, Eugene Levy Heavy Metal is a 1981 Canadian adult animated anthology science fiction fantasy film directed by Gerald Potterton and produced by Ivan Reitman and Leonard Mogel, who also was the publisher of ...more

15
5 3
Red Sonja is listed (or ranked) 15 on the list The Best Classic Comic Book Movies, Ranked
Red Sonja Arnold Schwarzenegger, Brigitte Nielsen, Ernie Reyes Red Sonja is a 1985 Dutch-American sword and sorcery action film directed by Richard Fleischer. The film introduces Brigitte Nielsen as the title character with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sandahl ...more

16
5 3
The Phantom is listed (or ranked) 16 on the list The Best Classic Comic Book Movies, Ranked
The Phantom Catherine Zeta-Jones, Kristy Swanson, Billy Zane The Phantom is a 1996 American superhero film directed by Simon Wincer. Based on Lee Falk's comic strip The Phantom, the film stars Billy Zane as a seemingly immortal crimefighter and his battle ...more

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7 6
The Shadow is listed (or ranked) 17 on the list The Best Classic Comic Book Movies, Ranked
The Shadow Alec Baldwin, Ian McKellen, Tim Curry The Shadow is a 1994 American superhero film, directed by Russell Mulcahy and starring Alec Baldwin, John Lone, Penelope Ann Miller, Ian McKellen, Peter Boyle, Jonathan Winters and Tim Curry. It ...more

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The Punisher is listed (or ranked) 18 on the list The Best Classic Comic Book Movies, Ranked
The Punisher Dolph Lundren, Louis Gossett, Jr. The Punisher is a 1989 Australian-American action film directed by Mark Goldblatt and starring Dolph Lundgren. It is based on the Marvel Comics' character of the same name. The film changes many ...more

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3 2
The Fantastic Four is listed (or ranked) 19 on the list The Best Classic Comic Book Movies, Ranked
The Fantastic Four Rebecca Staab, Alex Hyde-White, Jay Underwood The Fantastic Four is an unreleased independent superhero film completed in 1994. Executive produced by low-budget specialist Roger Corman and Bernd Eichinger, the film was based on Marvel ...more

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2 1
Captain America is listed (or ranked) 20 on the list The Best Classic Comic Book Movies, Ranked
Captain America George J. Lewis, John Davidson, Dick Purcell Captain America is a 1944 Republic black-and-white serial film loosely based on the Timely Comics character Captain America. It was the last Republic serial made about a superhero. It also has ...more

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2 1
The Incredible Hulk Returns is listed (or ranked) 21 on the list The Best Classic Comic Book Movies, Ranked
The Incredible Hulk Returns Lou Ferrigno, Bill Bixby, Charles Napier The Incredible Hulk Returns is a 1988 television film based on the Marvel Comics character the Hulk, which serves as a continuation of the Incredible Hulk television series. In The Incredible ...more

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2 1
Captain America is listed (or ranked) 22 on the list The Best Classic Comic Book Movies, Ranked
Captain America Ned Beatty, Darren McGavin, Francesca Neri Captain America is a 1990 direct-to-video American-Yugoslavian superhero film directed by Albert Pyun. The film is based on the Marvel Comics superhero of the same name. While the film takes ...more

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Richie Rich is listed (or ranked) 23 on the list The Best Classic Comic Book Movies, Ranked
Richie Rich Macaulay Culkin, Claudia Schiffer, Reggie Jackson Richie Rich is a 1994 American live-action film adaptation of the Harvey Comics comic book character Richie Rich. Directed by Donald Petrie, and starring Macaulay Culkin as the title character. ...more

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Swamp Thing is listed (or ranked) 24 on the list The Best Classic Comic Book Movies, Ranked
Swamp Thing Adrienne Barbeau, Louis Jourdan, Karen Price Swamp Thing is a 1982 American science fiction superhero film written and directed by Wes Craven, based on the DC Comics character of the same name created by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson. It ...more

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1 1
Tank Girl is listed (or ranked) 25 on the list The Best Classic Comic Book Movies, Ranked
Tank Girl Naomi Watts, Ice-T, Iggy Pop Tank Girl is a 1995 American science fiction action comedy film directed by Rachel Talalay, loosely based on Alan Martin and Jamie Hewlett's comic series of the same name, which originated in ...more

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1 1
The Man from Planet X is listed (or ranked) 26 on the list The Best Classic Comic Book Movies, Ranked
The Man from Planet X William Schallert, Robert Clarke, Margaret Field The Man From Planet X is a 1951 American science fiction film. starring Robert Clarke, Margaret Field and William Schallert. It was directed by Edgar G. Ulmer.

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Supergirl is listed (or ranked) 27 on the list The Best Classic Comic Book Movies, Ranked
Supergirl Faye Dunaway, Peter O'Toole, Mia Farrow Supergirl is a 1984 British superhero film directed by Jeannot Szwarc. It is based on the DC Comics character of the same name and is a spin-off to Alexander and Ilya Salkind's Superman film ...more

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4 5
Timecop is listed (or ranked) 28 on the list The Best Classic Comic Book Movies, Ranked
Timecop Jean-Claude Van Damme, Mia Sara, Ron Silver Timecop is a 1994 science fiction action film directed by Peter Hyams and co-written by Mike Richardson and Mark Verheiden. Richardson also served as executive producer. The film is based on ...more

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3 4
Steel is listed (or ranked) 29 on the list The Best Classic Comic Book Movies, Ranked
Steel Shaquille O'Neal, Judd Nelson, Ray J Steel is a 1997 American superhero action film based on the DC Comics character John Henry Irons, who first appeared in 1993 during the Reign of the Supermen! storyline in the Superman comic ...more

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Barb Wire is listed (or ranked) 30 on the list The Best Classic Comic Book Movies, Ranked
Barb Wire Pamela Anderson, Clint Howard, Tommy Lister Barb Wire is a 1996 American action-science fiction film based on the Dark Horse comic book series of the same name. Brad Wyman produced, and David Hogan directed. Barb Wire stars Pamela ...more

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The Crow: City of Angels is listed (or ranked) 31 on the list The Best Classic Comic Book Movies, Ranked
The Crow: City of Angels Iggy Pop, Mia Kirshner, Thomas Jane The Crow: City of Angels is a 1996 American supernatural action film directed by Tim Pope. It is a sequel to the 1994 cult film The Crow.

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Tales from the Crypt presents:... is listed (or ranked) 32 on the list The Best Classic Comic Book Movies, Ranked
Tales from the Crypt presents: Demon Knight Jada Pinkett Smith, Billy Zane, Traci Bingham Demon Knight is a 1995 horror film directed by Ernest Dickerson, starring Billy Zane, William Sadler, and Jada Pinkett Smith. Brenda Bakke, CCH Pounder, Dick Miller, and Thomas Haden Church ...more

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0 1
Justice League of America is listed (or ranked) 33 on the list The Best Classic Comic Book Movies, Ranked
Justice League of America David Krumholtz, David Ogden Stiers, Kimberly Oja Justice League of America is an unsuccessful 1997 television pilot produced by CBS and directed by Félix Enríquez Alcalá, based on a team of fictional DC Comics superheroes ...more

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Superman IV: The Quest for Pea... is listed (or ranked) 34 on the list The Best Classic Comic Book Movies, Ranked
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve, Jim Broadbent Superman IV: The Quest for Peace is a 1987 American superhero film directed by Sidney J. Furie. It is the fourth and final film in the original Superman film series. This is the first film in ...more

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The Return of Swamp Thing is listed (or ranked) 35 on the list The Best Classic Comic Book Movies, Ranked
The Return of Swamp Thing Heather Locklear, Louis Jourdan, Sarah Douglas The Return of Swamp Thing is a sci-fi-comedy film released in 1989, and directed by Jim Wynorski. It is based on the DC Comics title Swamp Thing and is a sequel to the 1982 horror film Swamp ...more