X-Men (Widescreen Edition)

Kids like it.

In any group there can be found extremists and throughout history the most common type is the "kill the strangers" brand of fanatic. In the X-Men, we are introduced to a new group of humanity, mutants. These people are born with gifts and curses that set them apart from their neighbours. It is no surprise to learn that the rest of humanity is rumbling and in the best tradition of politics, one Senator stands up to be counted. Senator Robert Jefferson Kelly has made it his mission to track and control the dangerous and secretive mutants. If you replace the word "mutants" in his speeches with "Jews", you would get a clear Nazi feel for it all.The scriptwriters clearly borrowed a lot from Nazi Germany, not the least of which was the opening scene. A crowd of Jews is being herded into a concentration camp, complete with ominous smokestacks in the background. In the crowd, a young boy is separated from his parents as the gates close, the quota being filled. The boy is distraught and struggles to reach his parents. What is surprising is how successful he is, dragging two soldiers along the muddy road. Then we realise that the wire fence is bending towards him, being twisted as if by a giant hand. This miracle abruptly ends as yet another soldier slams the but of his rifle into the boy's face.Powerful images abound in the film. But at no stage is it heavy handed. This is one of those great stories where things are not always clear. We feel sympathy for the most violent and aggressive character in the film, Magneto. He may want to kill or transform the greater bulk of homo-sapiens but all the time, we know he is that little boy who survived the holocaust. Even the bigoted and opportunistic Senator gets our sympathy when he is imprisoned and subjected to experimentation by Magneto. What's even scarier is that some of the good Senator's speeches actually made some sense. "These mutant children have powers more dangerous than hand guns. We don't allow guns in schools, do we?"Not all mutants want to dominate humanity. There is a group in Westchester being led by a wheelchair bound Professor named Charles Xavier. A mind reading mutant himself, he runs a school for the gifted that also doubles as a base for the X-Men. What do his students do when they graduate? Why, they use their talents for good, fighting crime and injustice. Luckily they have avoided the spandex accessories in their super hero careers, opting instead for form hugging black leather. Where do I sign up?The film has a large cast of important characters. Given the scope of the comic series, on which it is based, that is unavoidable. As the franchise develops, this will only become more of an issue. However, the story focuses mainly on one mutant, Wolverine, and we are encouraged to see most things through his eyes. Otherwise known as Logan, he is a great character and his main gift seems to be a long-burning anger at the world. If you're angry all the time, it comes in handy to have six spring-loaded blades that can sprout from between your knuckles. Just the potential for damage forces us to carefully watch his every move. I was quite pleased when Hugh Jackman got this role. He's a talented Aussie actor and for those that aren't aware, he has a good singing voice as well.There's little point is describing all the characters in the film, although I would like to single out Anna Paquin for special praise. There are many powerful roles and they are all interesting. All except Dr Jean Grey, Famke Janssen, who doesn't do a whole lot of important things during the film. Since, in the comics, the good doctor developed into, Pheonix, one of the most powerful mutants, I look forward to seeing her spread her wings in the future. In fact, there is so much that needs exploring, after watching this enthralling film, that I hope they make another ten.

Awesome

The original movies are the best.

Course.. good movie

I love, love, love, love, love superhero movies. They have something for everyone. They have action scenes and sometimes scantily clad women for the guys and they sometimes have romance and scantily clad men for the chicks. They are not normally oscar contenders, but they are almost always one hell of a time.The X-Men series is my favorite superhero series of all time. It has the best characters, the best actors, the best romance, the best action scene and there is always the required scene of Hugh Jackman shirtless. You can't beat this cast: Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen and Anna Pacquin. All of them give wonderful performances.Then this series has my favorite superhero of all time, Wolverine. He is sexy, flawed, vulnerable and badass. You just can't wait to see what he will do next. Hugh Jackman has made this character his own and that makes for an awesome film. Of course it only helps that he is surrounded by an outstanding cast.I love that the X-men were born this way. They didn't come from another planet, they weren't bit by a radioactive spider nor were they born with enough money to buy themselves enough toys.Even the story line is fun and exciting. They were able to weave in an interesting storyline while still spending a decent amount of time on characterization.The weakest person in the bunch was Famke Janssen as the love interest. I didn't get the attraction and there was no chemistry between her, James Marsden or Hugh Jackman. Lynn Collins, from Wolverine Origins was much more plausible and effective.This series is so good, that the best film in the series is the 4th installment. What an amazing achievement. I highly recommend all the movies in the X Men series.

DVD worked well for me.

I loved this movie. The story was kept very simple and did not try to over explain itself or over work itself. A few things were left out or changed from the comics but ultimately they are changes I can live with. I am referring to things like Wolverine & Sabertooth not knowing each other that fact that Rouge and Jubilee were more or less morphed into one character. I loved the inside jokes (the students), the Easter Eggs on the DVD are great! Especially the outtake with an unexpected visitor. :) I won't spoil the surprise if you don't know, but all you have to do is go to the TV Spots part and highlight the rose and OK it or whatever, let 'er rip. I about busted a gut let me tell you. The other Easter Egg is the in the Art Gallery and displays artwork for characters not used in this movie, but perhaps the sequel. I can say enough about it, Patrick Stewart man, that's a whole conversation right there. He NAILED Professor X in my mind. Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, in fact, I think all the actors pretty much nailed there characters. I think the reason I like it so much was like I said it was kept simple. They didn't try and do too much, and you weren't bombared with all this information that only really makes sense to fans like me. Outstanding!! I cannot WAIT for the sequel, Bryan Singer's back on board and as far as I know, all the actors have said yes to one. The seriousness is another factor. I mean, the story, for being so out there is treated very seriously. No goofy off the wall crap. Oh, BTW, the deleted scenes aren't all that, but they rarely are (hence why they were cut out of the film) but there is one between Jean Grey and Professor X while they're talking about Wolverine that I liked quite a bit. Still it didn't hurt the movie and kept the pace up. Rent this movie and then when you can't stand it BUY IT! I saw this movie on opening and day and was waiting for the DVD with baited breath and was not disappointed at all. If only Batman had been treated so well. . .yes, yes I know, DC vs Marvel but I hardly think that's an issue in this case.

My son wanted to see the whole series, what with the new Wolverine coming out, so I got all 5 films and even I enjoyed sitting down and watching them with him.Great price, great service so a thumbs up if you are thinking of buying this DVD or the series.

Great movie, I love marvel movies and this is one of the first, great actors and great effects, a welcome addition to my bluray marvel collection

Good item well pleased with the quality ...Buy with confidence, a good quality item, if you love vintage X-man this is a must for you !One of the best DVD's I have purchased in a long time !

I ordered this for Christmas and had it delivered to a different address. Everything went very smoothly as it always does when ordering via Amazon - dvd is as good quality as anywhere else

Was a very good film, worth a watch if you are into this sort of thing. Even if you think it may not be for you i'd give it a watch as i was a bit dubious and i really enjoyed it