DVD Corner

Top 10 Pulp Adventure Films

Top 10 Pulp Adventure Films

This week’s top 10 list is dedicated to a subgenre that doesn’t get the attention it so rightly deserves- pulp adventure films. Granted, it’s an old fashioned niche subgenre, but some of my all-time favorite films (and indeed some of the best films of all time) are apart of this category. These films may not be particularly deep when compared to something like “Citizen Kane,” but so what? When it comes to entertaining cinematic spectacles, these films are the cream of the crop.

1. The Rocketeer- Another list with Joe Johnston’s “The Rocketeer” at number 1? Deal with it! This is everything a pulp adventure film should aspire to be.

2. King Kong- Forget about Peter Jackon’s bloated remake. The original 1933 “King Kong” personified big screen pulp adventure cinema.

3. Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow- This film doesn’t get nearly enough love, but it should. Not only is it one of my favorite films of the past 16 years, but it’s also an endlessly entertaining love letter to the sci-fi stories of yesteryear.

4. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade- Many folks out there prefer “Raiders of the Lost Ark,”, but I’ve always been partial to the third installment. It’s more action-packed, there’s more humor, and the Connery-Ford chemistry is pitch perfect.

5. Raiders of the Lost Ark- Just because I like ‘Last Crusade’ more doesn’t mean I don’t like ‘Raiders’! Of course this film was going to make the list. It’s a bonafide classic.

6. The Phantom- A supremely overlooked comic book movie that perfectly captured the adventurous spirit of the source material.

7. The Mask of Zorro- This exciting 1998 Zorro film feels like it was ripped from the pages of an old pulp magazine. It’s a shame the sequel (“The Legend of Zorro”) was a bust.

8. Captain America: The First Avenger- While the Red Skull and Tesseract stuff didn’t do much for me, there’s so much to love about this WWII set comic book movie. From the World’s Fair sequence to the movie serial bit, director Joe Johnston simply knocked it out of the park once again.

9. Flash Gordon- Queen soundtrack, Timothy Dalton, Max von Sydow as Ming the Merciless, campy humor- ‘nuff said.

10. The Mummy- The sequels and spin-offs are virtually unwatchable, but the 1999 Stephen Sommers film “The Mummy” was a rollicking good time. You can’t go wrong with the 1932 Boris Karloff version either.

March 2, 2016 - Posted by nicklyons1 | News | Captain America: The First Avenger, Flash Gordon, Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade, King Kong, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow, The Mask of Zorro, The Mummy, The Phantom, The Rocketeer, Top 10 Pulp Adventure Films