With Endgame on the horizon, I started thinking about how the MCU compares to the other great franchises over the years. So...what are the best ones of all time? We'll generate a giant list then put it through a Rain Man style poll series in the Lounge (probably seeded by box office or something like that).
I'll do my best to compile everything in the thread, but ideally give me a copy and pastable name or description. I'm not going to be able to hunt down some of these I'm not familiar with. [Reply]
Finally had a chance to update the list. Let me know what I missed, what should be clarified, etc.
I pulled in box office ticket estimates from Box Office Mojo where I could. Some of the older ones didn't have any info in there, so I just assigned them a random number in the general range as the rest. I'll give it another couple days for people to chime in, then start putting together the bracket. [Reply]
Star Trek vs Star Wars i hope they go head to head on their own at some point. Should be interesting of those two Franchise CP wins out without any other Franchise taking votes from them. [Reply]
Originally Posted by sully1983:
While I am hyped af about Endgame , I would argue that the MCU is pretty mediocre overall. Like seriously, so many of those movies are forgettable .
Thor 2 , Iron Man sequels both sucked, same goes for Age of Ultron and to a lesser extent Civil War was a pointless popcorn movie. Just my opinion anyways . What I am getting at is not all of the MCU films are worth seeing. Half of them are forgettable and cheap cash grabs .
Also I do not think Kevin Feige (the wizard behind the MCU) gives these directors that much creative freedom . Most of the MCU films have the same standard / cookie cutter formula .
Again, I am hyped for Endgame and think the Russo bros have talent. I do want to see how this shit ends but I wouldn't say its the greatest franchise ever.
I just can't disagree more that the MCU as a franchise is "mediocre".
To accomplish what they set out to do is nothing short of remarkable.
IMO, it's Marvel, then we can open discussion.
The only one that is even remotely close would be Bond, but that is just a bunch of stand-alone-ish movies. The number of characters, the degree to which the stories are interwoven, the frequency of movies, and the sheer number of storylines that are managed is remarkable.
The fact that they even tried this is astounding.
AND THEN the fact that none of the movies suck ass, even if they are forgettable is beyond remarkable. Hell, other than the first Jurassic Park, all the sequels probably are on par with the worst MCU films. And look how stale they are after 5.
The other thing I'd take issue with is I think you are applying a viewing lens today to a bunch of those older ones. Some of them haven't aged the best, but most of them were better received at the time than you give them credit for.
Go watch Spartacus from the 60s now and it is BRUTAL, but it is one of the most successful movies of all time. I think you need to temper your evaluation with how they were received at the time. [Reply]
I'm also pulling in a few others that are on Box Office Mojo's franchise list that we should probably include just to be thorough. Let me know if anyone sees others that we just can't live without.