Dr. Strange wasn't a "feature film" so to speak, but was actually the pilot for a never-aired TV series. Having now seen this, it is obvious why the TV series didn't get past the pilot. Fun fact: one of the stars of this movie is a young Jessica Walter, aka Lucille Bluth.Dr. Strange, although not particularly gripping as a film, did have its charms. It would be hard to beat for its pure campiness factor, and the story was somewhat engaging. Unfortunately, the movie suffered from two primary problems:
1) As a standalone movie, it sucks, because it is clearly an "origins" story for Dr. Strange, and its primary purpose seems to be to introduce a TV show. Which, I suppose, was its primary purpose.
2) I have only read a few Dr. Strange comics, but the ones I have read are charming and humorous, depicting Dr. Strange as having a great many powerful magic items, but only a tenuous grasp on how to use them. This leads to great stories like Dr. Strange traveling to another dimension to save someone, only to discover (once he gets to that other dimension) that he really can't do anything to help the person because he doesn't actually know how to get them back to his own dimension. He is usually helped out by other, more powerful, beings and superheroes, yet he is still happy to take the credit when all turns out well. This movie captured none of the humor and very little of the charm of the Dr. Strange comics, instead portraying him as an actual M.D. whose last name is actually "Strange", and who is recruited by a dying magician to carry on that magician's "work" and "answer the call" to "save the world" (which, by the end of the movie, he does, although we never get to witness this because the movie basically ends with him finally agreeing to be the "next" magician).
And thus begins my Marvel Movies checklist (I will rewatch the movies I have already seen if I have time).
Note that my ratings for these films will be out of 10, but it should be noted that my ratings for these are slightly different than the way I would rate most movies. I am rating them for their enjoyability and entertainment value first, and quality second (normally I would do quality first, entertainment value second). So if I say a movie is a "9" that does not necessarily mean it is as "good" as a movie that I would normally give a "9". I just feel that if I rate these in my usual way none are likely to score anywhere above a 7.
Films will be added to this list as I see them/rewatch them/decide to rate them:
Movie, year, rating out of 10:
- Dr. Strange, 1978, 3.5/10
