X-Men (DVD 2004)

Comic book superheroes used to be golden geese for profit-hungry film companies but one too many rotten eggs in recent years - The Phantom, Batman & Robin, Spawn - all but consigned the genre to the grave.

Thanks to X-Men, buff men and even buffer women clad in impossibly tight body-suits are in vogue once more. At least until Batman 5 comes along.

It's the near future and the world is still divided: not by race, sex, religion or class, but by genetics. A new subspecies of human, known as mutants, has emerged, blessed with strange and wondrous powers. Senator Kelly (Bruce Davison) leads the calls for all mutants to be registered so that decent and hard-working American citizens will know exactly who - and what - their neighbours are.

The mutants are understandably frightened by the implications of drawing attention to themselves. Their cause isn't helped by embittered mutant Magneto (Ian McKellen), a Nazi concentration camp survivor who fears a new age of persecution is on the horizon. He plans to declare war on the humans, aided by the shape-shifting Mystique (Rebecca Romijn-Stamos), the fearsome Sabretooth (Tyler Mane), and the slippery Toad (Ray Park).

Mankind's only hope rests with wheelchair-bound telepath Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and his band of champions: Cyclops (James Marsden), Storm (Halle Berry), Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), Dr Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) and energy vampire Rogue (Anna Paquin). Let the battle begin...

Shoe-horning so many characters and so much back story into a little over 100 minutes, director Bryan Singer is forced to relegate many key players to bit-parts.

Rogue, Cyclops and Jean Grey are barely two-dimensional and Magneto's henchmen have no personalities. Their so-called powers also seem rather feeble compared to the X-Men (Storm could just summon a hurricane and blow them away like troublesome flies).

Wolverine and Rogue are afforded the lion's share of screen time, and both Jackman and Paquin deliver solid performances. As the feral killing machine, Jackman brings out the anger and sadness of a lifelong loner. He develops a touching brother-sister relationship with Paquin, who transforms Rogue into a tragic figure, never able to let anyone get close to her.

Fans of the comic books will spot plenty of in-jokes and clever touches in David Hayter's screenplay. There are also cameos from Kitty Pride and Bobby Drake, aka Iceman. Action sequences are choreographed and edited to within an inch of their lives, combining every trick in the book to make the duels between good and evil as spectacular as possible.

As an aperitif before the main course - X-Men 2 in 2002 - Singer's film guarantees plenty of larger-than-life action and more style than you can shake Wolverine's claws at.

You come out of the film hungry for more, though sadly not for all the right reasons.

The first and best of the X-Men films. Great characters, cracking action sequences and a spot on cast.

If you like comic book superhero films you'll love it. If you dont you probably wont.

I've come to the realization that comic books get a bum rap. Most of us assume that comics are for kids and thirty year old losers still living in their parents' basement. We assume they have overly simplistic stories, and when crappy movies like Batman and Robin and The Phantom come out, we say, "See! Comics suck!" But X-Men disproves that stereotype with an absolutely excellent mix of eye-popping action and a great story. My new perspective is that writers of the best comics put the majority of Hollywood scribes to shame.

The central story of X-Men is one of prejudice and intolerance. But instead of examining things like racism directly, the story uses mutants as its main metaphor. The basic idea is that in all humans, there exists the genetic potential to evolve to a higher level of being. In the near future, some people have begun to exhibit this next step in evolution, but most have not. As such, the majority of humanity fears these so-called mutants because they don't understand them.

Leading the march of intolerance is Robert Kelly (Bruce Davison), a Republican senator who is pushing for a bill that would make it a requirement for all mutants to register their mutant status. His reasoning is that disclosure of abnormal powers would make society a safer place. Armed with fear, Senator Kelly's main objective is to single out anyone who begins to exhibit the unexplained. While some humans are opposed to Kelly's McCarthy-esque witchhunt, many others support him. As with all minority groups, the mutants find themselves the targets of violence and hatred.

To oppose the ignorant actions of the humans, a mutant named Magneto (Ian McKellen) forms the Brotherhood of Mutants. He believes very strongly that mutants are the superior form of humans, and that they must be allowed to persevere--at whatever the cost. Because he has witnessed the tragic events of human history, he knows first hand what humans are capable of. His solution is therefore a preemptive strike: the mutants must lash out and destroy all humans before humans can destroy them. Meanwhile, Magneto's old friend, another powerful mutant named Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), takes a different approach to the whole situation. He realizes humans fear mutants, but he believes that education and compassion are the keys, and that the two races can co-exist peacefully. He forms a school where youngsters who exhibit the evolution can explore their powers and learn to control them. Within the school, he forms the X-Men, a group of mutants trained to battle the Brotherhood.

This establishes three main groups in the movie: the Brotherhood, the X-Men, and humans, each one dangerous in their own way. It also puts the X-Men in a very interesting position, as they are out to defend the very humans who want to see them dead.

The cast of characters is interesting, and all of the main actors and actresses are wonderful. There's not a single weak link in the entire ensemble. The good guys: Professor Charles Xavier, though wheelchair bound, has the power to enter anyone's mind; Jean Grey (played smart and sexy by Famke Janssen) is a psychic who can move objects with her thoughts; Cyclops (James Marsden) shoots destructive beams of light from his eyes; Storm (Halle Berry) has the power to control the weather; Rogue (Anna Paquin) can draw the lifeforce out of anyone she touches and mimic their power.

I like the special effects and the action scenes, the special powers are very imaginative, and the storyline is great, cannot think of a thing to dislike about it, onlt thing I would change is for it to go on forever.

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WE BOUGHT THIS DVD BECAUSE WE COLLECT FUTURISTIC AND SCI-FI FILMS AND ACTION FILMS.
WE LIKED THE SPECIAL EFFECTS OF THE FILM AND ALSO THE SOUNDTRACK.
WE ALSO LIKED THE PRICE BECAUSE IT WAS CHEAPER THAN THE SHOPS. IN FACT WE COLLECT ANYTHING THAT HAS A SUPERHERO FEEL TO IT.

i am only a new member to e bay and am still finding my way around and have found the sellers very helpful a special thanks to the e bay team for your support GERRY

Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen are superb in this movie as protagonists flexing their unusual gifts of mind... nice visual effects and a splendid crew of characters fighting forces.

WHAT A GREAT FILM IF YOU WERE IN THE MARVEL ERER THEN TRHIS IS A MUST FOR YOU IT CERTAINLY BRINGS THOSE COMIC BOOK OR CARTOONS TO LIFE ITS ABOUT TIME WE SAW SOME THINK LIKE THIS..

I BOUGHT IT BECAUSE ON EBAY IT WAS CHEAPER THAN IN THE SHOPS. GOOD DVD I LIKED THE MOVIE EXTRAS GOOD TOO.

I loved the first film of the x-men and have the other two so now I can watch them back to back Cool!

really brilliant film, suitable for all ages, really good buy for all ages. special affects really make you feel that your in the film

As an avid Xmen collector I will stay away from the obvious criticisms and just say that I thought that with the exception of Storm it was brilliantly cast. I haven't been as excited about the release of a film for years. It ticked all the boxes. Really excellent.

This film is a good superhero movie, not fantastic but for those interested in x-men a definit must have. Buy this if you love marvel!

I found this along with another X-men video on ebay express. I wanted them as christmas gifts they were very easy to buy together and it arrived very quickly in time for christmas, well packaged and sealed and complete. I was very pleased with the item and the service.

As a Patrick Stewart and Hugh Jackman fan, and a Sci-Fi fan, this film was a must for me. The special effects are good, and the lack of understanding from the humans towards the X-Men comes across very well. The characters each have their own appeal. For pure escapism I would recommend this film.

A truly outstanding film. A must for all sci fi enthusiasts. The special effects are impressive as is the performances of all involved especially the talented Mr Hugh Jackman. A highly recommended film.

I lovbed this, i love both XMEN and will be buying the next as soona s it comes out so that i have all three, its good to get the collection and comparre the first with the last.

This product did not arrive - am still awaiting some sort of communication from either the supposed seller or ebay.

Bought to catch up before seeing X-men 3 at the cinema. It was a great hit with the whole family and the DVD was in excellent condition.

From all aspects, it was an excellent buy.