MovieChat Forums > Darkman (1990) Discussion > Still holds up 18 years later

Still holds up 18 years later


I haven't seen this film since it was in the theatres. "Darkman" still hold up to me. In many ways I liked it more than the overly cg'd superhero films of today.

Darkman came out in 1990, before computer effects really became used a whole lot. There are some very brief scenes that used computer effects, but it was mostly for the skin creation scenes.

"Darkman" is a great comic-book style movie, at a time when Hollywood still wasn't getting it right. Sam Rami appears to have created his own comic style film, and it plays like some of the classic horror films by universal, most notably The Mummy" I also sense the invisible man was greatly paid homage to.

Darkman holds up 18 years later, it's silly in parts, but I think that's why I like it. The make-up is cool and of course Danny Elfman hits the soundtrack out of the park. This is a film that I wish the studio would treat to a special edition, especially with Rami's fame now that he's forever linked with Spider-Man.

For those would have not seen it in a long time, I saw go back and have some fun, if you have never seen it, and like what is going on with the comic book movies from the past 8-10 years, this would be a good one to watch. Even if it's just to see what a movie looks like when digital effects are not the focus.

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This movie is terrible. It is completely not entertaining. Good cast, but just seems silly to me. And Danny Elfman's score sounds like his score for Batman.

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Most of Danny Elfman's super hero stuff sounds like Batman. Darkman and Spider-Man are both incredibly similar to Batman. In my opinion, Nightmare Before Christmas, Edward Scissorhands, and Batman were his peak.


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It depends on what one considers to be good Elfman. I think a lot of the stuff throughout his career is so similar that I've gotten quite tired of hearing the same rhomped up orchestral pieces.

However, I seem to remember enjoying his work on Silver Linings Playbook quite a lot. The stuff where you don't notice it's Elfman until the credits is his good stuff these days in my book. Out of the stuff he's done that just screams Danny Elfman, the ones you mentioned are definitely his peak seeing as how he basically just recycles the style over and over. Like Tim Burton and Johnny Depp, he's getting extremely uninteresting. I can't seem to remember a film in years that I've actually wanted to see with any of these three attached.

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Did you find Army of Darkness cheesy as well or do you only like TDK type films?

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Your opinion blows the big one buddy.

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yea it was pretty boring. by the time i realized it wasn't getting any better, i had already invested too much time in the movie to back out. i stuck it through till the end, and it was just boring

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Yep, indeed it does. maybe some effects seems outdated nowadays, but hey, that does not make movie any worse.

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I have a feeling that you're way off on this.

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i'm with you on this one. i own this on dvd and watch it a few times a year i guess. i think it's a great film and watching it now after all the spiderman success you can see raimi was already heading down that track back in 1990 with darkman. certain scenes in the film in particular remind me of certain scenes in the spidey flicks. more so the first spidey film. sure, darkman is a bit cheesey here and there but that adds to the flick. it captures the time it was made brilliantly. i don't think dark, gritty superhero flicks were so in demand back then. raimi hit the spot with this effort.

Dr Loomis-"it's your funeral".

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This film was soooo.... meh. I'm sure its not one that leeson thinks fondly of either. Those most painful line:

See the dancing freak
Pay five bucks
To see the dancing freak
Only five bucks
To see the dancing freak
Just five bucks

I can't believe they didn't cut that line.

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Yeah I really enjoyed this one, definitely a companion piece for Raimi's Spiderman fans as well as great on its own.

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I just watched it now (20 years!) and it holds perfectly (except for some BLUE SCREEEN! moments but those are forgivable).

Not every movie, specially a superhero movie, makes you feel so much for their characters. That's where it's strength is.

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I'm still shocked at the 18 rating of the film, if it was made today it'd be a 12A... times have changed!

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[deleted]

Take the *&^% Elephant! LOL!

I love that whole scene, especially when he breaks the guys fingers and the camera jumps from him screaming in pain to Peyton screaming in anger to Julie screaming in horror - LOL. Gotta love Sam Raimi.

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I think the gory scars probably was enough to rate this an R.

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Technically, it's the best filmmaking from Sam Raimi yet. No other film of his was that flashy. It ain't no classic, it's all been done before and after, but still it's pretty good.

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