Spider-Man Live Action (1 Viewer)

[Greg_S_H]

Yeah. I think a lot of writers get Spider-Man wrong. It's not, "He's Spider-Man, so he has to have PROBLEMS." No, he's like us, so he has problems, and he has successes.

Funny thing about the movies--I don't care for the casting, and I can't stand the Goblin's costume. But, I still really like them. I've always hated the horrible spandex suit Marvel used to trot out for events. It was a lot like the TV show suit, and it had all these sharp lines and just looked bad. I was unhappy when it turned out the movie suit was going to be rubber instead of cloth, but I'm pretty happy with it. A little shiny, but a thousand times better than the suits I feared.

 

[Lenny Rakes]

I really did not like the mysterious case of the coming and going Spider strength. In one scene, Spiderman is able to stop an out of control subway, while in another scene he is not able to knock out Doc Ock with a single blow. Also, another beef with the movie is besides the fact that he cannot keep his mask glued to his neck, was the teenage romance that dragged the movie down. While there was romantic drama in the comic, it was only used in a few sporadic pages, to take a break from the non-stop action.

 

[Bill>Moore]

I like the movies just fine, but I still would love to see the live action tv show. Loved it as a kid.

 

[Randy*S]

Moving from the subject of the movies. (shudder)
Does anyone know who owns the rights to this great series now?

 

[JoSAN]

I've been thinking about this show a lot lately (and watching tidbits of it on YouTube.com) and am wondering how soon it will be before someone releases this on DVD. I mean, you'd think - like with every other show out there (no matter how obscure) - there'd be a rush to put out a regular DVD so they could re-release it as a high definition DVD or Blue Ray disc or whatever later.

Seriously, the more I think of the Spider-Man movies with Tobey Maguire, the more I want to see Nick Hammond and this show. Nick at least looked like Peter Parker, a la John Romita Sr.

Y'know, I'm really annoyed by CGI these days. Does anybody else feel that way? It's like a millstone; once a technology has been introduced, it's like there's no going back and filmmakers feel they have to use it even if there was a simpler way. It's like they don't want to be accused of being "archaic" or something. Then you see interviews that say "Oh, we couldn't have afforded to make this movie without CGI technology" but then other interviews say "Most of our $250 million budget went into the CGI FX". It's both cheaper and more expensive? Feh. Give me common sense FX any day.

The CGI in the Spider-Man movies look especially (or is that typically) unconvincing and is waaay overused. You could make an awesome Spider-Man movie without ANY CGI. Really. They just don't want to. When you think about it, the 70s TV show is the only real LIVE action Spider-Man because the Raimi movies feature mostly an animated Spider-Man!

It's strange how people who criticize the TV show say "You can see the wires!" Well, in the parts of the Raimi movies that use wires (Peter jumping for the first time... trying to wall crawl in S2, etc), they may have used CGI to erase the lines but the results look very shaky or bouncy. So it seems that wire FX haven't progressed much in 30 years. ("Look! You can't see the wires -- but they're still there!")

Anyway, Nicholas Hammond looks far more like Spider-Man to me than Maguire, in or out of the costume. Tobey simply doesn't know how to act like the character, even in a padded costume to improve his shrimpy stature. Remember the scene in the first movie when he lands with MJ on a rooftop and says: "I'm your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man!" He looks and sounds very un-heroic and the result is cheezy-city. It makes me cringe and really question the casting choice made. Sure he's a nerd and goofy looking -- but he's not Peter Parker. And he certainly doesn't sound anything like Spider-Man. When I think of Spider-Man's voice I think of the 60s animated show. "Wallopin' Websnappers but he's fast!" Now THAT was the perfect voice for Spidey!

Stan Lee, reportedly, didn't like the live-action series but it's kind of sad that Spidey's co-creator prefers the ultra-violent movies with (way) bigger emphasis on Mary Jane. Steve Ditko, on the other hand, doesn't think much of the Raimi movies. When Raimi asked him what he thought of the first one, Ditko said that Spidey didn't do enough wallcrawling and did too much swinging. Raimi (shattered) promised to do more wallcrawling in the sequel but ended up giving him even less. (Guess he ended up assuming that he knew better than Spidey's creator because the movie made $800 million.) Well, the TV show has it all over the movies because the wallcrawling scenes are both frequent and extremely well done. Best of all, they're REAL.

Come on, people -- Bring this show to DVD!!!

And don't forget plenty of interviews and commentaries by Nicholas Hammond!!

 

[Scott Ruhl]

AMEN! Preach brother!

 

[Ron68]

I want to see this series on DVD too. The lack of Super-villains never bothered me, or the belt and web shooters on the outside of his costume. I love how the show stayed close to Spidey's origins from the comics, more so than the movies did. The cast was really good, especially Hammond. I would have liked that he did the elevator scene in Spider-man 2 rather than the actor from Queer As Folk, it would have been a funny nod to the series.

 

[mannix]

that is a program i would like to my collection

 

[JoSAN]

The demand for this show definitely seems to be there. It's a money maker in the waiting and so I'm sure it's just a matter of time.

And - say - isn't 2007 the 30th anniversary of the show?

 

[Xenia Stathakopoulou]

Let me be the first to say that if this doesnt come in 2007, which is the 30th anniversary , itll never come out.Thats just my opinion.

 

[Jay Pennington]

I was a big Spider-Man fan at the time (and still am), but I never cared for the show. It looked nothing like NYC--it was shot in LA and looks it. The effects were bad THEN. Even as a kid I was unimpressed. The silly, featherlight net of webbing that would float down over the bad guys, the helicopter shots of him climbing buildings, moving his arms and legs FASTER than the cable was actually pulling him upward. Just looked silly. And the plots didn't do anything for me, either.

However, not to threadcrap! I'm never AGAINST something coming out on DVD. If there are fans of the show, then bring it on!

 

[Steve Phillips]

It's true, even watching as kid at the time I was NOT impressed with the special effects at all, and still less with the storylines. I watched anyway. Still, I'd love for these to be released on DVD.

 

[Vader]

Agreed!

 

[JoSAN]

WB will no doubt miss out on releasing Batman this year but I'm sure they'll find a way to release this much-asked for show yet. I think there's a good chance of Spider-Man coming in 2007. Any word on this, Gord?

 

[JoSAN]

Check out these clips from YouTube:

http://youtube.com/results?search_qu...derman+hammond

I really love the lush sax in the second theme music (incorrectly labelled as "Opening 1"). Spider-Man should always have a jazzy theme, like in the 60s cartoon. Elfman's Batmanesque theme just doesn't cut it for Spidey.

I think the wall-crawling scenes were done exceptionally well. Look at Spidey starting up the wall in "Opening 1" just as the logo appears and also in that far away shot of him climbing the Empire State Building. It's very believable and his motions are timed perfectly with his ascent. The web-shooting looks great, too.

And, Scott, here's an extra link for you that has the entire episode 16 of "Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends" in three parts!

http://youtube.com/results?search_qu...mazing+friends

Enjoy!

 

[Scott Ruhl]

OH MAN, thanks!

 

[JoSAN]

Post didn't show.

 

[JoSAN]

I just noticed on http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/ that Spider-Man is the 135th most requested show that isn't on DVD yet. That's not a bad ranking for a 30 year old show that only ran for 13 episodes!

So, everyone here at HTF who wants to see this show should pop over to Gord's site, sign up, and add the Amazing Spider-Man to their want to see on DVD list. This is a great way to let TPTB know there's an audience for it and it should be a piece of cake to push it into the top 100!

 

[Lord Dalek]

Believe or not, and I'm probably going to take a lot of flack for this, but I prefer the theme in the pilot more than the two "proper" ones.

 

[Sam Favate]

I have fond memories of this show too, and I watched it when I was 10 or 12 years old. But I'm surprised at how many people have commented they prefer this show to the Sam Raimi movies. For me, the show has a nostalgic value, but the movies are great.

A few years back, I explained it to my wife like this: It was a DVD release Tuesday and season sets came out of both Batman: The Animated Series and Super Friends. "This," I said, pointing to Super Friends, "is pure nostalgia. While this," pointing to B:TAS, "is a classic."