It's only today that I learned of the existence of this movie. And I have yet to understand why Roger Corman is not credited as the director on IMDb. Given Stan Lee has confirmed that it was shot just because the studio had to start production, unbeknownst to the cast that it was never even intended to be distributed, there are multiple layers to why and how this came out as some ghost movie.
Yet I like it. I think it is much better than some of those recent Marvel movies into which mad money is wasted, as if they are trying to make up for the simple, honest, clear values they so desperately lack.
Yeah, this is like a TV movie after all - and I embrace it like I embrace the Spider-Man movies starring Nicholas Hammond. Specialeffects did not become better in time - they just CHANGED and became more complicated; subconsciously instructing the viewer to NOT fill in the visual blanks in their imagination, making the mind lazier as people focused on CREDIBILITY rather than FUNCTION.
By the end of this movie, we have some of the cheapest animation scenes where the Human Torch races with a ray, flying... Yeah, today they can do it 100x more "credible"... But who cares?! Audiences are already not meant to "believe" thses things really have happened. There's no actual need to strive for "credibility". This cheap solution, in practice, serves the same as million-dollar efforts.
It's good enough, and even better on some level as it resonates with the 60s comics.
I see Corman has tried to incorporate the mood from Tim Burton's Batman movies into this, especially in the scenes involving the Mole Man. Strangely though, the movie gives the impression it was made in the late 70s and not mid 90s.
But it works. I watched it on YT and my level of engagement was not any less than what I nowadays experience with Netflix or Amazon productions where the result is just "too professional".
No, I'm not advocating for this low production quality at all. And it's not just nostalgia. I seriously do believe today's movies, including comic book adaptations, lack some core elements this one naturally has.
Yet I like it. I think it is much better than some of those recent Marvel movies into which mad money is wasted, as if they are trying to make up for the simple, honest, clear values they so desperately lack.
Yeah, this is like a TV movie after all - and I embrace it like I embrace the Spider-Man movies starring Nicholas Hammond. Specialeffects did not become better in time - they just CHANGED and became more complicated; subconsciously instructing the viewer to NOT fill in the visual blanks in their imagination, making the mind lazier as people focused on CREDIBILITY rather than FUNCTION.
By the end of this movie, we have some of the cheapest animation scenes where the Human Torch races with a ray, flying... Yeah, today they can do it 100x more "credible"... But who cares?! Audiences are already not meant to "believe" thses things really have happened. There's no actual need to strive for "credibility". This cheap solution, in practice, serves the same as million-dollar efforts.
It's good enough, and even better on some level as it resonates with the 60s comics.
I see Corman has tried to incorporate the mood from Tim Burton's Batman movies into this, especially in the scenes involving the Mole Man. Strangely though, the movie gives the impression it was made in the late 70s and not mid 90s.
But it works. I watched it on YT and my level of engagement was not any less than what I nowadays experience with Netflix or Amazon productions where the result is just "too professional".
No, I'm not advocating for this low production quality at all. And it's not just nostalgia. I seriously do believe today's movies, including comic book adaptations, lack some core elements this one naturally has.