The rest of the world has forgotten it, so I am officially declaring that this movie is another one of MY movies. Like Masters of the Universe and Superman IV, you, movie, are in a league of your own. You hold up just as well as you did back in 1999. No one saw you in theaters, no underground movement was ever started in your honor, but you did make a difference in one boy's heart.

Also, like Superman IV and Fire Walk With Me, a sick amount of your story was cut from you. I have no idea why that is a common thread in movies I love, but maybe the mystery of not knowing how you were intended to be watched made you that much greater.

No other movie since have I seen that had your look, style, flavor, or personality. You were truly original. You also came out in a time when there were no superhero movies. The closest things were Blade and The Matrix. Those were R rated flicks targeted only toward men, but you were wider in diversity covering four quadrants of appeal. The world you created was vast and captivating, leaving much open to interpretation of how it came to be. The characters were all interesting and likable, from the heroes to the villains. Like Charles Laughton, Kinka Usher was a one hit wonder director whose visual style will forever be hauntingly absent from the world of cinema.

My only regret is that in the past 9 years of your life, I haven't quoted nor referenced you nearly as much as you deserve.

Mystery Men, I salute you.

Black Zarak wrote:

Dr. Jeebus wrote: For what it's worth, the characters in Mystery Men were old silver age Charlton characters, just like the Watchmen. Fool! They were characters from a spin-off series of Flaming Carrot which was published by Darkhorse. And Watchmen's characters are only loosely based on Charlton characters, not actually.

Technically, the Sphinx is a golden age hero who fell into the public domain. And I think Jeebus meant that they were only modeled off silver age characters since most of the characters were unique to the film as opposed to coming from the comic.

Black Zarak wrote:

And Wikipedia's telling me that both Sphinxes they list were second rate minor Marvel villains, what do they have to do with anything?

Quote:

The Sphinx was a Golden Age hero who was the creation of Better Publishing; his real name was Ellsworth Forrester, and he first appeared in Exciting Comics #2. Had Better Publishing still been in existence at the time this movie came out, the filmmakers could have been sued for plagiarism. As it is, due to the fact that Better went out of business in the 1950s with no successor, the character is now in the public domain.

http://goldenageheroes.blogspot.com/2008/09/sphinx-let-me-go-you-you-fiend.html
http://ratmmjess.tripod.com/ga/golds.html

Black Zarak wrote:

Edit: My bad, I forgot there's a character called the Sphinx in Mystery Men, I haven't seen it in like a million years. Another bonus to that movie is a Tom Waits cameo!

Whoa, that's what you meant by what does Sphinx have to do with anything? Sorry, I misunderstood.

And I wouldn't say Waits is a cameo as he's in quite a bit toward the end. It's at least as long as his role in Dracula and much longer than his appearance in Domino. Speaking of which, Tom Waits, now there's an actor.

Black Zarak wrote:

Not to mention singer

That's a given. Still many singers don't (and shouldn't) translate to film. Waits brings his own game. Actually, that'd make an interesting thread, who are the best singers turned actors. David Bowie also springs to mind.

I love how Kenan was in Kel's music video.