Product Details

• Actors: Neal Adams, Ron Perlman, Roger Corman, Richard Donner, Stan Lee
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
• DVD Release Date: November 4, 2008
• Run Time: 59 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001DHXSYO
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #155,069 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

COMIC BOOKS UNBOUND - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Comic Books Unbound: Slightly biased, November 1, 2008

By 

Tim Lasiuta "Comic Fan 42" (Red Deer, Alberta) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Comic Books Unbound (Starz Inside) (DVD)

Comic books are hot in Hollywood. Just look at the current round of popular films. Iron Man, the Hulk, Batman Returns, Superman Returns, the upcoming Green Hornet, the Fantastic Four, Spiderman #3, Hellboy II, and so many more are taking the box office by storm.

Starz Entertainment, in association with Michael Ruggerio, Gregg Backer, and Evan Kanew, delve into the history of successful comic book to film adaptations starting with the early movie serials like Blackhawk, Batman, Superman, Captain Marvel, and Spy Smasher to current megahits Hellboy II and Iron Man. Interviews with comic book legends Carmine Infantino, Jim Steranko, Stan Lee, Frank Miller, and Mike Mignola, film producers Avi Arad, Micheael Uslan, and Richard Donner, and actors Ron Perlman, and Lou Ferrigno spice the peppy presentation up with insights and opinions. The various decades and productions are dealt with in a choppy fashion, and the flow is not smooth as it might be, but this may be due to the short length of the documentary. For instance, the movie serial era is only glossed over, and seems to zoom in on a limited number of titles, and the 1960's to the 70's is briefly discussed. Missing in action seems to be good discussions on the Batman TV series, the Green Hornet TV series, Wonder Woman, the Hulk, and the animated series from Filmation. The entire range of animated shows is also omitted, leaving the bulk of the time on the documentary spent on the era from 1994 to 2008.

Having said that, the information and interviews is interesting and presents a good overview of how Hollywoods' perception of comic books has gone from hot to cold to hot again. New productions are mentioned and Frank Millers' The Spirit is included, as are announcements from San Diego and New York.

No documentary is perfect, yet, for the intended audience, this is a reasonable presentation. Any more information, and we have a 2 hour special, and many more hours of cast offs.

Look for this at your favorite DVD dealer or online from anchorbay at www.anchorbayentertainment.com.

Make Mine Marvel, DC, and Dark Horse, or Dell....

Tim Lasiuta

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not a True Documentary, January 4, 2010

By 

Scott Asher "ashertopia" (Tennessee) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Comic Books Unbound (Starz Inside) (DVD)

I found this on the documentary channel of Netflix streaming and was excited to watch it. What I got was more a taste of the incredible diversity of impact on the silver screen by one of my favorite mediums, Comic Books. Since this is a Stars special, and not a true documentary, the show moves very quickly from era to era without spending a lot of time in each. As a result, my interest is piqued but my hunger not satisfied.

A nice diversion as we wait for the true documentary expose on the impact of Comics on culture.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars BY AN LARGE A WELL-DONE DOCUMENTARY, October 12, 2009

By 

Tim Janson (Michigan) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Comic Books Unbound (Starz Inside) (DVD)

Comic Books Unbound is an hour-long documentary that originally appeared on the Starz Network a few months ago and has just been released on DVD. I hesitate in calling it a documentary because it isn't one in the truest sense of the word. It is rather a collection of interviews with various comic book pros, actors, and filmmakers on the subject of comic book-based films.

The film traces comic book films from the earliest movie serials of the 1930s and 40s, right through this year's mega-hit films like "Iron Man" and "Batman: The Dark Knight". It is most interesting to see how these films have developed from low-brow, B-movie fare to the blockbusters that they've become today. One need only take a look at the all-time box office leaders and you will see it littered with comic book films. The Dark Knight is inching ever closer to taking the top spot away from "Titanic".

It's not only a history of comic films that you get but a bit of comic history itself. Stan Lee talks about how the comic book business was almost destroyed in the 1950s by the publication of "Seduction of the Innocent" and the Congressional hearings that forced the creation of the Comics Code Authority and doomed many comic book companies, notably EC Comics.

You have to cringe when you think about the sheer stupidity of studio executives. Michael Uslan was turned down by studio execs numerous times in trying to get "Batman" made as the jaded execs could not see past the campy 1960s TV show.

The list of interviewees is long and diverse: Stan Lee, Neal Adams, Jim Steranko, Tim Sales, Mike Mignola, Carmine Infantino from the comic book pros; Guillermo del Toro, Richard Donner, Michael Uslan, Roger Corman, Avi Arad, and Zak Penn representing filmmakers; Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Jeff Bridges, Robert Downey Jr., Edward Norton, and Gwyneth Paltrow, giving their opinions from the actor's perspective.

Corman's tale of his Fantastic Four is quite humorous if you're not familiar with the ill-fated, ultra-low budget fiasco. The film also hits on several other Marvel Comics film flops including the horrible Captain America made-for-TV films and direct-to-video disaster. As a long time comic fan I particularly enjoyed the comments by Neal Adams and Jim Steranko. These guys were the rock stars of the comic book business when I started collecting in the early 1970s.

While enjoyable, it's quite short at just under an hour and it doesn't reveal much information that most comic fans don't know already. One thing that would have been nice to see is a look at some of the films due out in the next few years and an overall assessment of the future of the genre. Not much in the way of extras other than a few minutes of interview outtakes, notably from Stan Lee and a few others. It's fun but fluffier Cool Whip.