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Today's Date is:

X-Men


Reviewed by: Rachel Hughes
Genre: Action
Video: Anamorphic 2.32:1 Widescreen
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1, 2.0
Language: English, French
Subtitle: English, Spanish
Length: 1hr 34min
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: November 21, 2000
Studio: Twentieth Century Fox
Commentary: None
Documentaries: None
Featurettes: None
Filmography/Biography: None
Interviews: Yes, Bryan Singer by Charlie Rose
Trailers/TV Spots: Two trailers, Three TV spots, and One for the CD Extended
Alternate/Deleted Scenes: Six extended or deleted scenes
Music Video: None
Other: Fox Special Mutant Watch, Hugh Jackman Screen test, Art Gallery, and Anamatics
Cast and Crew: Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, Famke Janssen, James Marsden, Bruce Davison, Rebecca Romijin-Stamos, Ray Bark and Anna Paquin
Screenplay by: Story by Tom DeSanto & Bryan Singer based upon the Marvel Comic, Screenplay by David Hayter
Produced by: Lauren Shuler Donner, Ralph Winter
Directed By: Bryan Singer
Music: Michael Kamen
The Review: When adapting a movie from a book or other source material, the biggest challenge is to interpret characters correctly. Fantasy and science fiction fans, who are usually the most demanding, seem have it the worst, with faithful movies of comics and popular novels being few and far between. Just take a look at the last few Batman movies, Judge Dred, and Steele with Shaquille O'Neil. Few directors have been able to pull off a comic book movie that the fans, as well as general audiences, enjoy. Richard Donner's Superman, Tim Burton's Batman, Kinka Usher's Mystery Men, and now Bryan Singer's X-Men are among the best comic book movies. With X-Men, Singer has created an outstanding story that is faithful to fans of the comic book, but at the same time making it accessible to people who have never heard of the X-Men. To begin with, Singer assembled an incredible cast, though I thought Angela Bassett would have been more appropriate as Storm. Two venerable stage actors, Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellen, add much weight and authority to the production. Only actors of their ability can pull off much of the dialogue without sounding foolish. When they first announced that Dougray Scott was slated to play Wolverine I though he would do a good job. But now with Hugh Jackman in that crucial role, I can't imagine anyone else. The rest of the actors portraying the good guy X-Men and the evil Brotherhood of Mutants do fine jobs. Secondly, Singer has an interesting story line. It keeps the movie going, and he manages its large cast superbly. The special effects are fantastic, and there are several great fight scenes. Luckily for everyone, Singer and the rest of the cast have all agreed to do a sequel. Though it will be difficult, I hope they truly outdo themselves with their second effort.
Image and Sound The images on this DVD are practically flawless. It is overall a dark movie. The blacks are all crisp. The bits of color, such as Jean Grey's red dress and the over-lit laboratory below the school all come through extremely well. Though the picture is of great quality, the sound will blow you away. The THX sound transfer lives up to its label, and immerses you with surround sound. During the cage fight, you can hear and feel Wolverine's adamantine skeleton crushing bone with every punch. Even though the sound effects are important, they never overwhelm the dialogue.
The Extras While the extras on this DVD aren't as great as the early buzz would lead you to believe, there is definitely enough to whet a fan's appetite. First, there is the extended branching of the deleted scenes. When this feature is activated, and the movie watched, a small X will appear in the corner of the screen and the movie will pause to show the deleted scene in the context it was filmed. The quality on the deleted scenes is nowhere near the quality of the movie, but it is nice to see where the scenes were supposed to go. You also have the option of watching the deleted scenes one by one. There is no commentary available so you don't know why things were changed. If you are anything like me, you avoid all publicity surrounding a movie you want to watch before you've seen it. As a result, I missed the Fox special Mutant Watch. It is great to have it included here on the DVD. The made-for-TV special features Senator Robert Kelly in his crusade to have all mutants registered by the government. It is a unique and interesting way to present the movie. Best of all, there are no commercials despite the obvious commercial breaks. Next is an interview with Bryan Singer by Charlie Rose. The interview is broken down into five segments, each containing one question and then Singer's answer. Also included is Hugh Jackman's screen test, featuring him and Anna Paquin, and features a slightly different scenario between them in Wolverine's truck. There are also two trailers for the movie, three television spots and a commercial for the soundtrack. Also worth mentioning is that on the page where you can select the trailers, on the right, is an outline of a rose. If you highlight and select the rose you will be taken to an outtake scene that will be particularly funny to any comic book fans. Next is the art gallery that features another hidden surprise. Here there are over 100 character design drawings and paintings, as well as 65 pieces of production artwork that cover the sets and props. Below the two main categories, there is an outline of Wolverine's dog tag. If you select this there are six character sketches for the Beast and the Blob who were considered as characters in this movie, but will probably appear in the sequels. Finally, there are two animatics. One is for the train station fight and the other is for the final showdown between Wolverine and Sabertooth on the Statue of Liberty. Animatics are computer-generated animation that helps in the staging of the actual sequence. There is no sound, but it is interesting to watch.
Commentary None
Final Words: This was one of the best movies of the summer. Anyone, whether they are a comic book fan or not, will enjoy this movie. It doesn't feel like a comic book movie, and yet those who have followed the characters since the beginning should not feel cheated or slighted. Hopefully this will revive Marvel's abysmal track record in the movie department. This DVD package is definitely worth buying, though if you are short on money, or can wait awhile, there are rumors of a Special Edition to be released in the summer time. Hopefully that will have more outtakes as well as a director/cast commentary.


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 June 16, 2001