Needless to say at this point, the highly-anticipated 'Snyder Cut' did offer a new dimension to not just the DC Extended Universe but also the superhero cinema pantheon in general. The DCEU has had its fair share of misfires or polarizing films and yet Zack Snyder's Justice League seems to have satisfied fans and critics alike.
While of course, aficionados of comic-book films would be entertained with Snyder's latest, but the entire premise of Batman and Wonder Woman uniting the so-called league has strong undertones of a classic 'team-up film' (regardless of the genre). Furthermore, this isn't the first director's cut that Snyder has worked on, considering his acclaimed Ultimate Cut for Watchmen. So, there are plenty of flicks outside of the DCEU for fans of this to check out.
The Death Of Superman Lives: What Happened? (2015) - YouTube
Fresh off the success of his Batman films, director Tim Burton was supposed to helm a Superman reboot in the late 1990s titled Superman Lives (directly inspired by The Death of Superman). The film was slated to be a largely comic-accurate venture starring Nicolas Cage as the Kryptonian hero while Christopher Walken and Sandra Bullock were rumored to play Brainiac and Lex Luthor respectively.
Despite the big names attached to it, the project never saw the light of the day. Decades later, the Kickstart-funded documentary The Death Of Superman Lives investigates the behind-the-scenes drama that might explain the cancellation of this seemingly-ambitious project. As of now, director John Schnepp has made the documentary available for free on his YouTube channel.
Dawn Of The Dead (2004) - DirecTV, AMC+
The film that kicked off Zack Snyder's career shows his capability of handling blockbuster narratives. Interestingly, this remake of George A Romero's 1978 cult classic was written by James Gunn, who is himself embarking on several DCEU projects at the moment.
2004's Dawn of the Dead works around the familiar premise of a zombie apocalypse as a group of survivors find refuge in a mall, trying their best to fight off the swarms of the undead creatures. And yet, the formulaic approach worked well to build a tightly-knit narrative bringing about a resurgence in the zombie genre, along with 28 Days Later that released around the same time.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) - DirecTV, AMC+
In Justice League, Joe Morton played Cyborg's father Silas Stone, a scientist hellbent on rebuilding his son's body after a freak accident. Morton's character in itself is an amusing Easter Egg as one of his most popular roles happens to be that of Miles Dyson, the Cyberdyne's director whose work would eventually lead to the creation of the antagonistic network Skynet.
Revisiting Terminator 2: Judgment Day would still enthrall viewers, considering how ahead it was of its times, both in terms of the special effects and the philosophical 'human vs machine' narratives (that unfortunately got tarnished with the film's many sequels).
Triple Frontier (2019) - Netflix
Ben Affleck has had a continuous history with ensemble films that include building a team of sorts, from Armageddon to Argo to Netflix's Triple Frontier. Starring Affleck alongside Oscar Isaac, Charlie Hunnam, and Pedro Pascal, this action-heist film is filled with video-game-like ridiculousness that makes it better.
If one is ready to not decipher every scene logically, Triple Frontier makes for a fun watch as a team of ex-Special Forces operatives reunite for a mission that serves their own needs for a change rather than that of their country. While getting their hands on contraband money in South America, their mission goes awry, leading to unforeseen physical and mental challenges.
Once Upon A Time In America (1984) - Vudu, DirecTV
Zack Snyder's struggle with studio interference to protect his artistic vision is akin to Sergio Leone's pursuit in preserving the original cut for his final film, the gangster epic Once Upon A Time In America. A long runtime was expected from the film considering its detailed exploration of the life of two friends who thrive within New York's world of organized crime.
After pressure from distributors, Leone condensed his planned 4hr-long storyline to a theatrical cut of 229 minutes. However, even this version was massively re-edited to a mere 139-minute-long version resulting in the film eventually flopping. Over the years, the 229 minute-cut has finally resurfaced on streaming and is largely regarded as a fitting legacy to Leone's stellar career.
Secret Origin: The Story Of DC Comics (2010) - YouTube
Available for free on Warner Bros's YouTube, this expansive documentary covers the history of DC Comics as a whole touching upon familiar favorites like Superman and Wonder Woman while also covering cult-level miniseries like Watchmen. The documentary would sound slightly different than expected as there are no mentions of the DC Extended Universe.
After all, it's voiced by Ryan Reynolds who was just cast as Green Lantern back then. That's what makes Secret Origin interesting. It serves as a time capsule to a phase preceding Zack Snyder's Man of Steel by three years.
Le Dernier Combat (1983) - Amazon (Rent)
The Knightmare-inspired epilogue in Zack Snyder's Justice League was definitely one of the most talked-about scenes in the film. The dystopian landscape and costume design are easily comparable to post-apocalyptic ventures like the Mad Max series. A quite underrated entry in this genre is the Luc Besson-debut film Le Dernier Combat aka The Last Battle.
The film paints a brooding atmosphere focusing on a post-apocalyptic future where an unknown incident has rendered every human to be mute. The remaining survivors battle each other for the limited resources that are left in this engaging black-and-white sci-fi drama.
Dredd (2012) - Prime Video, Hulu
A massive update on the critically-panned Judge Dredd, Dredd reimagined the dystopian law enforcer's character in a grittier comic-book adaptation, using its R-rating to the fullest. The film finds the titular character (Karl Urban) and his rookie partner (Olivia Thirlby) making their way through a building terrorized by the henchmen of a drug lord (Lena Headey).
While the film doesn't shy away from its gory violence and fast-paced action, Karl Urban's portrayal of Dredd is genuinely intimidating, even with limited dialogue and a mask that covers half of his face for the entirety of the film. Even though Dredd bombed at the box office, it has garnered an iconic status over the years.
300 (2007) - DirecTV
A film that cemented Zack Snyder's position as a blockbuster director, 300 is loosely inspired from the actual Battle of Thermopylae between the Ancient Greek and Persian forces although it relies on Frank Miller's graphic novel of the same name rather than any historical sources.
Rather than the storyline or the dramatic acting, 300 is a worthy entry in Snyder's filmography for its overall aesthetic value. Slow-motion action sequences, violence in epic proportions, and iconic quotes; Snyder's period action saga has it all.
Seven Samurai (1954) - HBO Max
The quintessential 'team up' film unites the titular masterless samurais as they protect a village from bandits. This seemingly simple premise turns out to be a multi-layered narrative on morality, violence, and class differences as Akira Kurosawa's masterful storytelling explores the nuances of each of the warriors (particularly that of Toshiro Mifune's Kikuchiyo whose non-regal background makes it difficult for him to adjust with his peers).
Like other Japanese-language adventure dramas by Kurosawa, Seven Samurai went on to inspire the Western genre directly serving as an inspiration to The Magnificent Seven.