SPAWN (1997)- Not As Bad As You Think

[@ultimateaquiles]

I hate the term "guilty pleasure", but honestly this has to be my guilty pleasure movie. I don't know if it's because I love everything Spawn related, or because I actually kind of like the movie, or because I unironically love the 90's CGI, or all of the above.

[@CyberLance26]

I hate that term too because its saying that the things you like are bad and i dont think my so called guilty pleasures are bad at all.

[@erik9157]

Just ordered 2 spawn figures. Can't wait for it.

[@fido9745]

I had the same thoughts!

[@ComeGeekSome]

For me, the shot of his mask coming onto his face during the charity ball event was AMAZING!

[@MalcomMalediction]

Michael Jai White was the perfect spawn and he could still play the role again, he aged hella well

[@jediknightgeo]

Except his over acting was horrible

[@ericbeverly8700]

I own both the first Ghost Rider & Spawn, and I like both movies. It’s always easier to hate something than it is to love and that’s what we humans do: point out flaws in everything we see, rather than the goods things that are also there. The negative almost always overshadows the positive, and that’s what is truly sad.

[@tyleradams3490]

Spawn 97 was my jam. Yeah the VFX were hit or miss but it still rocked. Also sparked my interest in figures a little bit again because the McFarlane figures were a level of quality and detail I'd never seen before! Problem with VFX these days is they are such an after thought and they go to the lowest bidder... At least with practical effects you dial everything in before rolling and you compose and light for the practicals - also you can touch them up in post :) That's why the best VFX we see is usually from projects with filmmakers who have a great relationship with VFX studios or they are VFX artists themselves. I think of District 9 with Neill Blomkamp or David Fincher, Michael Bay is a good example with ILM. Ah and Gareth Edwards, his background with CGI too.

[@GenericProtagonist118]

I think the part of the Spawn story that was so intriguing to me was his relationship with Wanda. Mind you I've only seen the movie, a bit of the comic, and the HBO animated series, but I always felt there was always a pretty good character arc in there for Al and perhaps even Wanda to be able to move on. Having Spawn accept that Wanda is happy with her new family and finally focus on the bigger issue he was dragged into. Finally focus towards the war between Heaven and Hell in an attempt to both redeem his past sins, protect Wanda and her familys lives, protect the less fortunate like the alley bums and the innocents taken advantage of by horrible people, and to finally turn on Hell itself and stop the endless cycle. Like THAT is what I think Spawn should be and I've never heard anyone else have a take like that. Which I can only assume is because that idea was never taken advantage of, which is really sad not gonna lie.

[@BrandonNielsen87]

I gotta buy and own Spawn dvd. I’ve always liked this film and miss watching it.

[@anubusx]

Spawn deserves a proper reboot.

[@fido9745]

A PROPER one. But the 2025 Jaime Foxx one looks bad.

[@intothezombieapocalypse]

I actually talked with John about playing Clown in the movie when I was really active on twitter a decade ago. He told me the thing he remembers most about filming the movie, is always having to crouch down while in costume, said it was uncomfortable lmao. He also says he still loves the movie very much.

[@BloodBathhhh]

Spawn is underrated bro I cant for a new movie or show

[@darkwoods1954]

I somehow managed to get in to see this with my dad as a kid when it came out at the cinema. I was so excited but found it too simplified and dumbed down. Especially after a few years later watching the amazing animated series.

[@tyleradams3490]

We should do a Spawn short. You make the suit, I'll do the CGI enhancements and effects. It would kick ass.

[@briangardner963]

Me personally, I think it was a damn good movie, the CGI was a little lackluster, but, overall, the acting is good so are the practical effects, it's still one of my favorite movies of all time.

[@jediknightgeo]

Try again. A lot of the effects were awful, while the acting was either insanely mid or just downright cringe.

[@Minty0091]

Spawn 1997 movie is better than the MCU

[@MalcomMalediction]

lol fking true

[@BowsettesFury]

Solid facts 😂

[@bigevil1001]

Depends on the phase.

[@ianmpena]

To be honest I really liked the spawn movie as a kid and it's not good or bad but it's a fun and entertaining low budget superhero film and I really think John's performance as the violator is amazing because he was the best part of the movie and i hope John comes back as the violator

[@TheMovieDoctorful]

My favorite superhero film of all time. A lot of that comes from my love of Gothic Horror, that influence is all over Spawn. It's essentially a 90s Frankenstein film. I think the performances elevate it a ton, I agree that Jai White and Leguizamo's acting was both excellent, but I also really loved Nicol Williamson's warm, empathetic performance as Cogliostro. I also agree that bringing Wanda and Al's scenes before Al's death would have vastly improved the film. I still really love and appreciate the early VFX for just how groundbreaking they were for the time (huge digital environments like that wouldn't really be seen again until The Matrix and Phantom Menace), the tragedy is the main attraction for Spawn, so cutting those human scenes seems so misguided. Great review, subbed!

[@jediknightgeo]

My condolences

[@TheMovieDoctorful]

@@jediknightgeo what makes you say that?

[@z0m813]

I really don't think we will see the new spawn film

[@MalcomMalediction]

same and even if it does ever come out...i bet it will be woketarded

[@BlackHeart4087]

​@@MalcomMalediction Always one of you bitching about "woke" when it has nothing to do with the topic

[@TransEldritchGoddess]

​@@BlackHeart4087 that's right wing idiots for yah

[@imanassole9421]

Haters gonna hate. I liked the movie. It could have been a whole hell of a lot better!.. but it was pretty good. The cast was NOT the problem! I love MJW, I think that was a great choice for Al Simmons! He's a big dude, a great matial artist, a great voice for it.. I buy that for sure. John Leguizamo is fantastic! Unrecognizable in that suit, but he steals the show in spots as the clown. They did Violator a bit dirty.. I didn't mind the practical effects, those were pretty good. The CG was meh.. my problem is he wasn't just a scary Incoherent monster in the show. He was an actual entity that communicated through telepathy mainly in the HBO series. The story was good, though seemed a bit watered down and too PG for the source material. Wanda was just like.. there.. you don't feel that this man literally went through hell just to see her one last time.. it's not really earned. Most of The CG was aawwwwwwful. The firey hell was lame.. I think what would work better is like.. think animated Dante's inferno version of hell.. the different layers and environments through the 9 circles.. or if you wanna go cheap.. supernatural season.. 4 I think? Where you just get brief flashes of hell based on the character's fragmented memories of it. Just darkness, fear, pain, screaming, blood and bone etc. Fire is just lame dude, what are we 5? Malbolgia was awful.. the voice was comical.. the only way I could see that getting saved is how one of the video games did it. He looked the same-ish, however, he was never really shown in crazy detail. It was just his shape and outline (once again) in the dark giving him a very boogie man vibe which I liked, with his huge glowing green eyes. Sometimes less is more guys! To me that would have been 10x more terrifying than the Dr Claw hairy ant eater lookin thing we got! So fix that, and up the gore.. by like a lot. How was a cartoon 10x more violent back then?! I was introduced to Spawn through the HBO animated series if I didn'tsay that. Which it was FREAKING BRUTAL in the best ways! Also, cutting out Chapel was criminal! And if they got a sequel maybe they could have done Overkill.. gone into the Hell Spawn hunters from heaven (I forgot what they were called.) You can tell they wanted to be true to the source material, they had love and respect for it.. I mean Violator's clown form even had glowing red eyes. They did try.. they just came up short for who knows why?

[@anthonyharris191]

I feel so lucky that I caught this in theaters when I was a teen. I can't wait for more vids like this. Maybe the crow city of angels???

[@z0m813]

same my dad took me and my bro to see it

[@The_preserver_x16]

It’s funny how modern movies are so bad that they’ve successfully have turned old bad movies into classic and loved. I noticed this in video game circles but now it’s movies…

[@ethanveda1271]

Even when so many people say this film wasn't good for many reasons, I still love it for what it is. I'm sure Todd's new film will be better to a degree, but taking away Spawn's perspective as the main character is just a "No No!" move. I've heard that Leonardo Dicaprio was set to play Detective Twitch but maybe not now because we haven't heard much about the film. Especially with Jamie Foxx as Spawn, I think that's just as much of a huge miscast as Leo playing Twitch. Honestly, you give the directing job to James Wan or Leigh Whinell and just have Todd write the story but from Spawn's point of view putting the pieces of his history together, they could really have an amazing Spawn film today. With Wan's work displayed in Aquaman, Swamp Thing and Malignant, you'd have the gory imagery and convincing practical effects. With Leigh's camera work from The Invisible Man and Upgrade, you get some really intense and fun fight scenes. It's still a huge hope from me to see them collaborate again for an adaptation of The Darkness. But Spawn would be a great start.

[@darthdenn1s]

Dude, half the video is you reading the Wiki page. Also, the director's cut has only 2 extra minutes of footage. The rest are just making of featurettes.

[@shalomoneal]

This was and STILL IS a very fun movie

[@MaeSteRWaR]

I know it would never happen, but a re-release with updated digital effects would be awesome. Vialator really didn't look too bad for the time, but the scenes in hell is what really killed it. They ran out of visual effects budget and man was it was really obvious. I hope they get to finally make the new one and do it justice this time.

[@jolfer1334]

Never thought it was bad

[@AuggieG42]

It's not the worst movie from the 90's. If it wasn't for Leguizamo's performance of Clown and the visual effects, the movie would of been worse. The Hbo series was awesome. I have high hopes for the reboot movie coming from Blumhouse.

[@AndrewsOpinion15]

GREAT SPAWN (1997 ) FILM - NOT AS BAD YOU THINK !!!!

[@trevorstockwell8290]

Who do you think would win the ghost rider (Johnny blaze), the darkness (Jackie estacado) or spawn (Al Simmons)...i would like to see wat you think

[@CloneScavengerVulpin8389]

Spawn deserves to return to the limelight.

[@zacharylee1995]

Good thing that I just bought the DVD of Spawn, the DVD of Spawn that I just bought is literally the rated R version so I am going to assume the version that I bought is the directors cut version

[@CassandrashadowcassMorrison]

The animated series is much better, but the live-action film was okay, Michael was amazing.

[@trevorstockwell8290]

Was it great movie no but was it an enjoyable watch..yes. Some of the things the hurt it was the cgi and the PG-13 rating, it should have been rated R. Michael did a great job and John as the violater fantastic. Who do you think would win the ghost rider or spawn maybe the darkness. Loved Keith David voicing Spawn in the comics

[@BillKeyz]

Great video I’m not riding the bandwagon, but at the time everyone loved this movie, regardless of what everyone says

[@joselopez6990]

If people ever ask me what black heroes I grew up with My response is Michael Jai White Spawn and Wesley Snipes Blade

[@thisisnotatestthisistheend]

Nice channel bro

[@AlphaProto]

I wish they used make up for his masked head. The mask they added was too big. It would have benefited from smaller eyes.

[@usernamedkjahstill5003]

Yeah, no, it was bad... the sfx and props departments were just great.

[@niklavssenkans8341]

plase make lots of new spawn cosmic with new supervillains who are most powerful than Hellspawn and anti spawn and omega spawn and can t destroy entire universes and multiverses

[@BishopWalters12]

Spawn 1997 is very flawed and the animated series was way better but I still think the movie is very entertaining. I'm not saying that it couldn't work but it feels like Spawn missed its shot in some ways for a new movie and I don't think Gen-Z really grew up with the character like Gen-X or Gen-Y. Jamie Foxx is too old at this point if this ever happens.

[@Gokuisthegre]

It would has been more successful if it was rated r they played it too safe and made it too kid friendly too sale merchandise it had potential but failed it should have been like the comic book the show on hbo was better because it stayed true to the comic book Deadpool and Logan were good because it didn’t play it safe they need to listen more to the fans instead of automatically thinking for them

[@matthewedwardsnyder]

It’s good compared to the mcu now

[@christophervarga3947]

I wouldn't go that far.

[@mariogiovanelli9610]

overhyped by buying the bust?ohhh come on !!!! the r rated cut doesnt hold ack?? still feels pg 13 and is. the diffrences are very small . no real blood/gore or r rated violence like in the comics/animated. i like it,but everytime i watch it i think actually its bad and i want a movie true to the source

[@widipriyanto9876]

Sam & Twitch is downgraded into a cameo in the movie. Just a waste of so much potential.

[@trollzone1]

It’s a very ok movie for the era. Just as good as the shadow and phantom

[@jediknightgeo]

Yeah, this movie was garbage and was nowhere near what a Spawn movie should have been. If you want an actual GOOD Spawn adaptation, look no further than the Spawn HBO Animated Series. THAT'S what the live action movie should have been.

[@TheMovieDoctorful]

The HBO series is great, but so is the movie. And there are several things the movie does better than the animated series.

[@jediknightgeo]

@TheMovieDoctorful The movie is nowhere near great. Horrible effects, horrible acting, horrible dialogue. The only really positive about it is the soundtrack.

[@TheMovieDoctorful]

@@jediknightgeo Michael Jai White, John Leguizamo and Nicol Williamson's acting was great, what was "horrible" about their performances? Hell, I like all 3 better than their animated counterparts; Jai White and Williamson had more humanity than them and Leguizamo's performance felt more subtly creepy rather than overtly so. Effects were groundbreaking for the time, I don't care how much they've aged.

[@jediknightgeo]

@TheMovieDoctorful Too much of the acting was way too over the top/over dramatic. Ground breaking effects? A lot of it looked horrible back then, and looks even worse now. Certain effects were good, a lot of them were awful. You're allowed to like terrible, but that doesn't make it any less so. The Animated Series blows this out of the water in every way possible.

[@TheMovieDoctorful]

@@jediknightgeo you say over dramatic, I say sincere. I love the performances in Spawn. And yes, a lot of the effects were groundbreaking back then. As dated as Hell is, nobody had ever seen a digital environment on that scale in 1997. This was 2 years before The Phantom Menace or The Matrix. It still has some of the only digital transformations that I think actually hold up, mainly because they intentionally go fantastical rather than photorealistic (practical works better for the latter) Read Ebert's review if you want an insight into how revolutionary those effects were for their epoch. I think Spawn himself was a much more sympathetic character in the movie, I think the film explores his dormant paternal instinct and love of children better and I thought Michael Jai White's portrayal of the character had more vulnerability and humanity than Keith David's, who was more demonic and hardened. Jai White was more sad (with his "anger" as a protective mask) as opposed to genuinely angry and rageful like David and I connected to that more. Cogliostro is a lot warmer and more empathetic as opposed to the animated series, where I just found him annoying and cold. And The Violator is creepier in a more subtle way in the movie, like how he moonlights as a birthday clown to get close to kids or even the way he positively reinforces Al with the promise Hell will get his fiance back for him (which he never did in the show) I will concede that the show has a better plot with the whole neo-Noir serial killer angle with Billy Kincaid and I like how Wanda has a much meatier and more substantial role, and Wynn is definitely way better in the show, but there are definitely things the movie did better in my opinion.

[@BowsettesFury]

Was never that bad. Cope.

[@dennisjoseph6567]