Spider-Man (2002)

When bitten by a genetically modified spider, a nerdy, shy, and awkward high school student gains spider-like abilities that he eventually must use to fight evil as a superhero after tragedy befalls his family.

Director:

Sam Raimi

Writers:

Stan Lee (Marvel comic book), Steve Ditko (Marvel comic book),

Stars:

Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Willem Dafoe

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 12 wins & 44 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tobey Maguire	...	Spider-Man / Peter Parker
Willem Dafoe	...	Green Goblin / Norman Osborn
Kirsten Dunst	...	Mary Jane Watson
James Franco	...	Harry Osborn
Cliff Robertson	...	Ben Parker
Rosemary Harris	...	May Parker
J.K. Simmons	...	J. Jonah Jameson
Joe Manganiello	...	Flash Thompson
Gerry Becker	...	Maximilian Fargas
Bill Nunn	...	Joseph 'Robbie' Robertson
Jack Betts	...	Henry Balkan
Stanley Anderson	...	General Slocum
Ron Perkins	...	Dr. Mendell Stromm
Michael Papajohn	...	Carjacker
K.K. Dodds	...	Simkins

Storyline

Based on Marvel Comics' superhero character, this is a story of Peter Parker who is a nerdy high-schooler. He was orphaned as a child, bullied by jocks, and can't confess his crush for his stunning neighborhood girl Mary Jane Watson. To say his life is "miserable" is an understatement. But one day while on an excursion to a laboratory a runaway radioactive spider bites him... and his life changes in a way no one could have imagined. Peter acquires a muscle-bound physique, clear vision, ability to cling to surfaces and crawl over walls, shooting webs from his wrist ... but the fun isn't going to last. An eccentric millionaire Norman Osborn administers a performance enhancing drug on himself and his maniacal alter ego Green Goblin emerges. Now Peter Parker has to become Spider-Man and take Green Goblin to the task... or else Goblin will kill him. They come face to face and the war begins in which only one of them will survive at the end.

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Plot Keywords:

Evil | Spider | Fight | High School | Student | 

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Taglines:

Do you want to know who I am? I'm Spider-Man

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for stylized violence and action

Details

Official Sites:

Columbia Pictures [us] Columbia TriStar [uk]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 May 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

Spider-Man: The Motion Picture

Filming Locations:

4th Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$139,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$130,613 (Brazil) (2 August 2002)

Gross:

$15,917,016 (Brazil) (11 October 2002)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, Marvel Enterprises, Laura Ziskin Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS (8 channels)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Although Spider-Man is an iconic figure for New York, the majority of the film was actually made in Los Angeles. Only two weeks' worth of location filming was done in the Big Apple.

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Goofs

When Peter wakes up after getting bitten he puts on his glasses and the entire screen become blurred not just the part looking through the glasses.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Peter Parker: [voiceover] Who am I? You sure you want to know? The story of my life is not for the faint of heart. If somebody said it was a happy little tale... if somebody told you I was just your average ordinary guy, not a care in the world... somebody lied.

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Crazy Credits

The intro credits are all spun on a spider web and the end credits are surrounded by webbing on random sides of the screen.

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Connections

Version of The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man (1999)

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Soundtracks

"When It Started"
Written by Julian Casablancas
Performed by The Strokes
Courtesy of The RCA Records Label, a unit of BMG Music and Rough Trade Records Ltd. (UK and Eire)
Under license from BMG Special Products

User Reviews

Fantastic

Overall consensus on Sam Raimi's Spider-Man franchise?

by you I only saw the third once, when it came out, so I don't remember it enough to actually judge it. But, rewatching the first two today I was reminded of how great they are. Raimi perfectly blends in cheese, camp, humor, drama, and action in one fantastic package. The comic book style is still in tact, and I noticed that unlike Nolan's Batman franchise, the heart is apparent here. These films give off a good-natured, mainstream vibe. The characters are all excellently written, and so it makes it so easy to relate to them. Raimi does so much with the source material in the way it's all edited together. The first two are honestly great and perhaps as great as something like this could ever be, so why why WHY reboot (remake) this after 10 years? There's simply no reason. It's not like the trailers for the new one suggested it to be darker, because these aren't dark and yet their dramatic moments hit hard.

I hate to say it, but I do think that Raimi did more to this franchise than Nolan ever did to the Batman one. People like to criticize Nolan's writing, but I think the reason why his films' flaws are more apparent on rewatches is because of his direction style. Technically amazing, both Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, but as much as he tries he can't make the smaller moments count. Maybe it is his screenplays, or I simply don't know. My point is, after The Dark Knight people forgot all about these films (and because the 3rd left a bad taste). People like giving TDK credit for being dark and complex, and while it's true that it's tone is different than others of the sort, I think Raimi's films have a lot more to them. I simply just don't know why a reboot happened.