Comic Book: The Movie (2004)

Comic Book: The Movie is a 2004 direct-to-DVD mockumentary starring, co-written and directed by Mark Hamill.

This film features various voice actors appearing in a live-action film and also marked Sid Caesar's final film role before retiring in 2005 and dying in 2014.

Plot

Comic book fan Donald "Don" Swan battles against a fictional film studio that is about to announce a film based on his favorite superhero, Commander Courage (a parody of Batman).

Cast

Mark Hamill as Donald Swan

Billy West as Leo Matuzik

Donna D'Errico as Liberty Lass, Papaya Smith

Roger Rose as Taylor Donohue

Jess Harnell as Ricky

Lori Alan as Anita Levine

Daran Norris as Commander Courage, Bruce Easly

Jim Cummings as Dr. Cedric Perview

Jill Talley as Jill Sprang

Tara Strong as Hotel Maid

Arleen Sorkin as Ms. Q

James Arnold Taylor as J.T.

Debi Derryberry as Debby Newman

Tom Kenny as Derek Sprang

Sid Caesar as Old Army Buddy

Jonathan Winters as Wally (Army Buddy #2)

Kevin Michael Richardson as Ice Tray

Cameo appearances in the film

Kevin Smith

Hugh Hefner

Stan Lee

Bruce Campbell

Peter David

David Prowse

Peter Mayhew

Ron Perlman

Jeremy Bulloch

Mike Mignola

Matt Groening

Rob Paulsen

Sergio Aragonés

Maurice LaMarche

Bruce Timm

Roy Thomas

Production

The script was finished on July 29, 2002. Most of the movie was filmed at the 35th annual San Diego Comic-Con on August 1–4, 2002. All the interviews with attendees while Hamill remained in character were unscripted to obtain a realistic look. This film subverted convention by casting voice actors in live-action roles. The panel was held on August 2, 2002.

Home media release

Comic Book: The Movie was originally released on DVD on January 27, 2004. It was distributed by Miramax Home Entertainment and Buena Vista Home

Entertainment. It was distributed internationally through NFK Entertainment UK and Force Entertainment (Australia) on September 13, 2005. It was distributed by Alliance Films on April 26, 2011 in Canada. It was re-released on DVD and distributed by Paramount Movies on July 13, 2021. Netflix made it available for streaming November 27, 2013 – June 2, 2016.

Reception

The film received an approval rating of 40% on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on five reviews. IGN rated the film a 7 out of 10.

Awards

DVD Exclusive Awards

Best Live-Action DVD Premiere Movie

Best Supporting Actor (in a DVD Premiere Movie) - Sid Caesar and Jonathan Winters

Nominee - Best Actor (in a DVD Premiere Movie) - Mark Hamill

Nominee - Best Director (in a DVD Premiere Movie) - Mark Hamill

References

External links

Scott Chitwood (20 January 2004) Interview with Mark Hamill by TheForce.Net.

Comic Book: The Movie at IMDb

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