Rating: 
Summary: A hidden gem... for the right folks
Review: Mark Hamill shines in this brilliant mockumentary about the inside world of the big BIG business of comics. As a tremendous fan myself, the most enjoyment I took from this film was seeing how much fun Mark had digging into his character, Don Swan, the obsessive comics old-schooler who's prepared to go to the ends of the earth to preserve the integrity of his cherished childhood hero, Commander Courage.In this the era of the pure genius of Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy and their improvisational masterpieces Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, and A Mighty Wind, Comic Book: The Movie sings sweetly the song of our fandom. Some performances are a little flat, but Mark Hamill could esily hold his own with the likes of improv masters like Michael McKean, Harry Shearer and Catherine O'Hara. His depth and attention to detail with evey aspect of his character is stunning. For those of you who can't seem to get beyond his living legend in the days of 'space operas', this is your chance to see Hamill break out. He produces, directs and stars in this absolute gem of a film. Of course going in, the only downside is the overall appeal of this production. To fans like me, this will be a treasure... and to those looking for a more polished mockumentary style film like Rob Reiner's This is Spinal Tap, you may feel a little disappointed. This is intended for a select audience and not for mass consumption... and I wouldn't have it any other way! Brilliant work, Mark... please give us more!!
Rating:
Summary: Great movie for Comic Book fans
Review: Odds are that if you're reading this review, you will adore this movie. It's quite good, and provides fun insight into the Hollywood/comic book industry/fandom dynamic. It would also make a terrific present for a comic book fan. I liked this movie so much that I'm taking the time to write a review about it! I've bought many dozens of items from Amazon over the past 4 years, but I never felt the urge to review any of them until I saw this movie. The actors really steal the show in this. They're all great. Hamill gives an absolutely marvellous performance. It seems as if a lot of the "interviews" his character does are ad-libbed; they have a very realistic feel to them. Most of the characters in the movie--including the cameo interviewees--don't look like they're acting, which is the best compliment you can give. Actually, the featurette "Behind the Voices" on Disc 2--which shows a panel of a bunch of terrific voice actors from before the making of the movie--is perhaps even better than the movie itself. It's great and very entertaining. If you buy this DVD, make sure to watch it.
Rating: 
Summary: A nice little movie
Review: This is a good little movie. The beginning is a little slow, and the ending is lacking a big emotional impact, but the middle part of the movie is a lot of fun, very enjoyable. The film follows our hero, Don Swan (Mark Hamill), a high-school teacher who also owns and operates a comic book store in Wisconsin. Swan is an expert on the fictitious Golden-Age comic book hero Commander Courage. (Is "fictitious comic book hero" an oxymoron? Oh well, you know what I mean.) A movie studio wants to make a movie about Commander Courage, but they want to use the darker, more modern version, Codename: Courage, and they've hired Swan to go to ComicCon where the studio plans to make their big announcement and film some footage which they can use on the DVD version to jack up the price of the DVD. Swan has a different idea, though, to drum up support and convince the studio to use the kindler, gentler Golden-Age version of Commander Courage. The movie is shot in the mock-documentary style most recently and successfully used by Christopher Guest in Best In Show, A Mighty Wind, and Waiting For Guffman. The actors only had a rough outline for a script, so most of the movie is improvised. One thought that occurred to me watching the movie is that this might have been better if it had been scripted a little more. While the cast is great and very funny, I don't think improvisation is their strongest skill. The beginning of the movie is hurt by an unnecessary interview with Hugh Hefner. Why Hamill thought this was necessary, I'm not sure. Hefner apparently wanted to be a comic book artist at one point. But this doesn't really advance our plot, and we don't really do anything with Hefner. The beginning is also slowed down with an interview with Kevin Smith, who (in the movie) worked on the Commander Courage screenplay at one point. This interview is too long, really, and in the end, again, seems pointless. Other comic book and cartoon writers and artists are interviewed for the movie, but their bits are short and to the point; Smith's interview really should have been along the same lines. The movie begins to pick up, though, when Leo (Billy West) enters the movie and our gang arrives in San Diego at ComicCon. Leo is the great-grandson of Jackson Whitney, who created the Commander Courage character. Leo has no idea about comic books or movies, he's a metal worker from the mid-west. Swan brings Leo along to convince him to side with him and pressure the studio to use the original Commander Courage; a humorous power struggle ensues over Leo, with the studio trying to keep Leo ignorant of things like "royalties". In the meantime, Ricky (Jess Harnell), Swan's cameraman, tries to get Leo to break out of his shell and meet girls at the convention. There's also a very funny interview between Swan and Bruce Campbell, who is being considered for the role of Codename: Courage in the movie. Swan is trying to win Campbell over to his side. Campbell is great, and plays the scene completely convincingly. Contrasted with the Kevin Smith interview earlier in the movie, Campbell's scene is integral to the plot and moves the story along. There are a whole host of star cameos at the convention which only comic book or cartoon enthusiasts will recognize. But even more entertaining are the scenes with real, ordinary people at the convention. This movie would have succeeded just as well, I think, if it had just been a straight-forward documentary of the ComicCon. Unlike the somewhat mean-spirited "Trekkies" documentary from some years ago, "Comic Book: The Movie" respects and affectionately admires the subjects of these scenes, and that's nice to see. The big ending, with Swan confronting the studio execs, is somewhat anti-climactic. After a humorous scene of Swan running through the convention floor in a Commander Courage costume, and picking up a few random costumed convention-goers like Flash and Aquaman along the way, Swan makes an impassioned plea to the convention audience to reject the movie's version of Commander Courage. But the speech just falls flat, to me. This is an example of what I said earlier: I wonder if the movie would have been better if this speech had been better scripted? Even a soundtrack might have helped. Overall, the movie is enjoyable because of all the little things in it: Don Swan explaining in excruciating detail the differences between Golden Age and Silver Age comics to a polite but indifferent Leo; Ricky's obsession with The Hulk; Derek's (a friend of Swan) son being dragged because he's just too tired to walk; Derek's son not wanting to open his new "collectible" figure; Jonathan Winters and Sid Ceasar improvising a scene; stuff like that. The bonus features though are also wonderful, and are worth the price of the DVD alone! The making-of feature, and a "Behind The Voices" feature filming a question-and-answer session at the convention with famous voice-over actors from your favorite cartoons, are priceless. Interviews and footage of convention sessions with Stan Lee are fun and informative, as usual. And in the deleted scenes, there is a wonderful scene of a real independent comic book creator hawking his book, "Robots R Cool, Zombies R Jerks". Overall, this gentle, good-humored, comedic look at comic books, Hollywood and cartoon voice-over actors is a nice movie, and I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Opium for nerds
Review: well, Mark Hamill has done it! If you have any interest in cartoons, voice overs, cult icons or, yes, even comic books this movie has something for you! Made so convincingly that people who've never heard of the cast members or know enough about Comander Courage to know he's made up, this mockumentary takes the viewer on a ride of fantasy, imagination, fandom and hollywood remake. The movie itself is hillarious, but what really sells it is the performances (which are for the most parts more or less improvised on the spot!). Roger Rose and Lori Allen are perfect as the hollywood producers who's only ambition is to sell their new revamped movieversion of "Codename Courage", Mark Hamill IS Don Swan as he runs around fighting vigorously for his love of the golden age version: "Comander Courage and Liberty Lad", Billy West looks sort of confused in the middle of the whole spectacle and Jess Harnell makes funny commentaries (mostly about the hulk) from the sideline as the wizecracking camera man Ricky. And Donna D'errico proves that it IS possible to have looks AND talent at the same time! for anyone who knows what a comic con is or is at all into cult classics there are cameos aplenty on this thing: Stan Lee, Kevin Smith, Bruce Cambell, Ray Harryhausen, (for fans of star wars there's even and out of costume apperance from David prowse, Peter Mayhew and Jeremy Bulloch -better known to fans as Darth vader, Chewbacca and Boba Fett) and the list goes on... The 50 minute feature "behind the voices" on disc 2 should get cartoon fans of all ages exited. Ever wonder what Pinky and the Brain look like i n real life? Wonder no more.
This movie confirms that there are people out there who get to live out their dreams and make hundreds of others happy at the same time. A very uplifting thought. The only criticism I can offer is, that this movie possibly dosn't have a very wide appeal. I mean you basically have to like comic books, cartoons or something from our of pop culture stew. But if you do, this is it. The motherload!
Rating:
Summary: Comic Book - The Triumph!
Review: What a delightful surprise! Part "This is Spinal Tap", part "Looking for Richard", "Comic Book - The Movie" is an impressive bit of low-budget filmmaking that merrily blurs the line between fantasy and reality. It is modern media's love letter to its simpler roots - television and film paying homage to comics, radio, and pulp fiction. The brainchild of one of science fiction's most popular figures, Mark Hamill (aka Luke Skywalker), the film leaves no stone unturned. Cult icons like Bruce Campbell are interviewed, comic book "gods" like Stan Lee are given the pedestal treatment, and fans like Hugh Hefner sound like giddy kids when confessing their comic-loving roots. By staging most of the action at a real comic convention, the heart of all these worlds - the fandom - gets to share center stage with its inspiration. All these interviews and observations are wrapped around a mockumentary featuring Hamill as a comic creator chronicling the announcement of a new comic-to-movie project based on his works. Well-known comic afficionados like Kevin Smith get to tweak their images playfully and Hamill in a clever turn casts familiar-sounding voice actors in roles in front of the camera. The whole film is about things that are familiar, presented here in new, offbeat, and thoroughly enjoyable ways. But in a way, the best part are the supplemental features. Much like the "Spinal Tap" bonuses, it adds up to a whole other film. We see a lot of the behind the scenes production, a curtain call of sorts for everyone involved in the film. One of the most enjoyable features, and one that encapsulates the heart of this effort, is a "Commander Courage" radioplay written by Mark Hamill and acted out by the voice actors who make up the on-screen cast in the film. At only seven or so minutes, you wish it went longer but even still, you get a great idea of where Hamill & Co. are coming from with this tribute. "Comic Book - The Movie" is an accessible film, built in the same deconstructionist way as Pacino built "Looking for Richard". For anyone who loves any of those fiction industries of past or present, though, this film is an unexpected gift and an absolute must-see. Get ready to smile.
Rating: 
Summary: WHY MAKE THIS MOVIE?
Review: Why make this movie when you hate the very people you say you are"playfully" mocking. I had a run in with Mr Hammill one day here in New York where he did his play that was quickly shut down. He was not kind to any of his fans...in fact the 4 COUNT THEM 4! people that waited for him to meet him after the play he called....LOSERS! Now i ask why make this movie claiming you love comic books and the movie making of them....when you hate all "nerds and geeks"
Mr Hammill has continully bashed STAR WARS and all its fans(obviously envious of Harrison Fords career)yet whenever theres a project hes invloved in, he preys upon star wars fans to go out and buy or support his stuff. Well this Star Wars FAN! will only embrace those who love us and who have no need to hock there horrible projects. Cant wait till Indiana Jones 4!!! Go out and support Mr Ford and Ms. Fisher...at least their genunly honest in their opinions! DONT BUY OR RENT THIS MOVIE! STAR WARS FANS SHOW HAMILL HES NOTHING WITHOUT US!!!!!!
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