X-Men dvd reviews

http://frogenyozurt.com/2011/08/on-blu-ray-x-men-first-class-2011-james-mcavoy-and-michael-fassbender/

On Blu-ray: X-Men: First Class (2011) James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender

X-Men: First Class is the thrilling, eye-opening chapter you’ve been waiting for…Witness the beginning of the X-Men Universe. Before Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their superhuman powers for the first time, working together in a desperate attempt to stop the Hellfire Club and a global nuclear war.
Editorial Review

When Bryan Singer brought Marvel’s X-Men to the big screen, Magneto and Professor X were elder statesmen, but Matthew Vaughn (Kick-Ass) travels back in time to present an origin story–and an alternate version of history. While Charles Xavier (Laurence Belcher) grows up privileged in New York, Erik Lehnsherr (Bill Milner) grows up underprivileged in Poland. As children, the mind-reading Charles finds a friend in the shape-shifting Raven (Jennifer Lawrence) and Erik finds an enemy in Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon), an energy-absorbing Nazi scientist who treats the metal-bending lad like a lab rat. By 1962, Charles (James McAvoy) has become a swaggering genetics professor and Erik (Michael Fassbender, McAvoy’s Band of Brothers costar) has become a brooding agent of revenge. CIA agent Moira (Rose Byrne) brings the two together to work for Division X. With the help of MIB (Oliver Platt) and Hank (A Single Man‘s Nicholas Hoult), they seek out other mutants, while fending off Shaw and Emma Frost (Mad Men‘s January Jones), who try to recruit them for more nefarious ends, leading to a showdown in Cuba between the United States and the Soviet Union, the good and bad mutants, and Charles and Erik, whose goals have begun to diverge. Throughout, Vaughn crisscrosses the globe, piles on the visual effects, and juices the action with a rousing score, but it’s the actors who make the biggest impression as McAvoy and Fassbender prove themselves worthy successors to Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen. The movie comes alive whenever they take center stage, and dies a little when they don’t. For the most part, though, Vaughn does right by playing up the James Bond parallels and acknowledging the debt to producer Bryan Singer through a couple of clever cameos. –Kathleen C. Fennessy, Amazon.Com Review

Review

What drew me to check out X-Men: First Class was not any particular love of comic books nor any particular fondness of the previous films. What drew me to this film was the presence of actor Michael Fassbender, whose increasingly eclectic work has continued to impress me more and more with each new film he appears in. I recall little about the first three X-Men films, besides that I found them enjoyable and I admit that I haven’t even bothered to see X-Men Origins: Wolverine. I figured it was only a matter of time before Fox rebooted the X-Men series after the lackluster reception of the last two X-Men films. Bringing in director Matthew Vaughn, the director of 2010′s cult hit Kick-Ass, X-Men: First Class is a summer blockbuster that delivers on all fronts, while reinventing and re-energizing the series.

The film opens with the same scene that opened the first film, introducing us to Erik Lehnsherr as he’s separated from his mother at a Nazi prison camp. These first scenes, particularly Erik meeting his mortal enemy Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon), are surprisingly effective. Several years later, the film sets itself up against the backdrop of the 1960s Cuban Missile Crisis as Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) is recruited by CIA agent Moira MacTaggert (Rose Byrne) to assemble a team of mutants for the purpose of stopping Shaw from triggering World War III. Charles forms a partnership with the vengeful Erik (Fassbender) to help him assemble the team, which already consists of Charles’ adopted sister Raven (Jennifer Lawrence), and the film leads us through the events that culminate in Charles, Erik, and Raven becoming Professor X, Magneto, and Mystique, respectively.

The story and screenplay give credit to six people total and the key to the success of this movie may be that one of those six people is Bryan Singer, the director of the first two X-Men films whose absence may have been what guided the last two films into mediocrity. His involvement, Vaughn as the director, and the changing of the time period all have significant impact on the film’s success. The material seems much more at home in the 60s time period, while also helping to establish a different atmosphere and tone that separates it from the other films in the series.Vaughn emphasizes a steely, gray palette, an atmospheric visual aesthetic that gives the film a much bleaker tone than it’s predecessors. He’s assisted in establishing this effective atmosphere by the ominous musical score by Henry Jackman that lends to the atmosphere and builds the suspense.

There is some great talent in front of the camera. Lawrence, a recent Oscar nominee is a perfect fit for the young Mystique and Kevin Bacon gives a diabolical performance as the antagonist, but it is Michael Fassbender whom I believe will walk away from this film a star. It’s sad that with so many great roles behind him in the last few years Fassbender has to play Magneto to finally get the recognition he deserves. With that said, Fassbender’s performance as Magneto is fascinating to watch and brings a new level of depth to the character. His charismatic performance shows Erik as a tortured soul, but also a (forgive me for not being more eloquent, but no term I can think of is better) bada**. Furthermore, he shares remarkably strong chemistry with McAvoy and these two work well enough together to carry more films in this series.

What really elevates the material beyond it’s predecessors and, for that matter, most superhero movies, is the level of drama and genuine humanity it contains. It’s a complete success as a summer action film, but it’s much more than that; it’s a genuinely good, well-made film. In addition to that, it’s almost unbearably entertaining. I found it riveting for it’s entire 132-minute running time, while marveling at how it’s so insanely entertaining without relying on contrived, repetitive, action sequences to guide its entertainment value. There are some negative elements; Mystique’s makeup looks much cheaper than it did in previous incarnations and there is the occasional cheesy line of dialogue, but none of this was substantial enough to negatively impact my view of the film.

X-Men: First Class is exactly what it’s title implies; first class. Backed by a script that is both entertaining and intelligent, guided by great direction, and brought to life by a tremendous cast, I have no reservations calling this the best X-Men film yet. It has all the things you could want from a summer blockbuster; action, adventure, intelligence, soul, Magneto exacting revenge on Nazi’s, great performances, and one of the funniest cameos I’ve seen in a long time. It’s not a masterpiece, as it sticks a little too close to the summer-film template but, be that as it may, the heart must rule the head and I have no qualms admitting that I loved it. – Joshua Miller, Amazon.Com Customer Review

http://www.heraldextra.com/entertainment/movies/videos/article_e69c9ce2-e4be-5ba5-a6f4-85ccc076986a.html

/ Utah News from the Daily Herald Newspaper / Utah Entertainment Ticket / Movies in Utah / Videos / Videos
New on DVD for September 1

The Washington Post | Posted: Thursday, September 1, 2011 12:04 am

'X-Men: First Class'

(Sept. 9, PG-13, 132 minutes): "First Class" begins, like the comic book series itself, in 1944. That's when a young German boy named Erik Lehnsherr watches his parents being hauled off to Auschwitz. In a fit of fear and rage, he bends the metal gate separating him from his family, commanding the attention of a scientist eager to harness young Erik's telekinetic powers. Twenty years later, the grown Erik (Michael Fassbender) contemplates his revenge against the man who went on to ruin his life and who now goes by the name of Sebastian Shaw. Meanwhile, the genially telepathic Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) is earning his doctorate in genetic research at Oxford, with his shape-shifting friend and surrogate sister, Raven (Jennifer Lawrence), by his side. Things happen, taking "First Class" on a whirlwind tour of Las Vegas, Argentina, Russia, Miami and finally the waters just off Cuba. "First Class" happily delivers on the escapism and rich narrative texture the best of its predecessors have promised. Contains intense sequences of action and violence, some sexual content including brief partial nudity and profanity. DVD extras: "Children of the Atom" behind-the-scenes featurette; also, on Blu-ray, featurette on Lawrence's transformation from Raven to Mystique; two-plus hours of interactive features; 10 Marvel "X-Men" digital comics; extended and deleted scenes.

http://dvdmovieplanet.com/asian/x-men-first-class

X-Men: First Class
X-Men: First Class

51lACblirxL. SL160 X Men: First Class

X-Men: First Class is the thrilling, eye-opening chapter you’ve been waiting for…Witness the beginning of the X-Men Universe. Before Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their superhuman powers for the first time, working together in a desperate attempt to stop the Hellfire Club and a global nuclear war.When Bryan Singer brought Marvel’s X-Men to the big screen, Magneto and Professor X were elder statesmen, but Matthew Vaughn (Kick-Ass) travels back in time to present an origin story–and an alternate version of history. While Charles Xavier (Laurence Belcher) grows up privileged in New York, Erik Lehnsherr (Bill Milner) grows up underprivileged in Poland. As children, the mind-reading Charles finds a friend in the shape-shifting Raven (Jennifer Lawrence) and Erik finds an enemy in Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon), an energy-absorbing Nazi scientist who treats the metal-bending lad like a lab rat. By 1962, Charles (James McAvoy) has become a swaggering genetics professor and Erik (Michael Fassbender, McAvoy’s Band of Brothers costar) has become a brooding agent of revenge. CIA agent Moira (Rose Byrne) brings the two together to work for Division X. With the help of MIB (Oliver Platt) and Hank (A Single Man‘s Nicholas Hoult), they seek out other mutants, while fending off Shaw and Emma Frost (Mad Men‘s January Jones), who try to recruit them for more nefarious ends, leading to a showdown in Cuba between the United States and the Soviet Union, the good and bad mutants, and Charles and Erik, whose goals have begun to diverge. Throughout, Vaughn crisscrosses the globe, piles on the visual effects, and juices the action with a rousing score, but it’s the actors who make the biggest impression as McAvoy and Fassbender prove themselves worthy successors to Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen. The movie comes alive whenever they take center stage, and dies a little when they don’t. For the most part, though, Vaughn does right by playing up the James Bond parallels and acknowledging the debt to producer Bryan Singer through a couple of clever cameos. –Kathleen C. Fennessy

http://fiusm.com/2011/09/01/x-men-dvd-extras-make-a-great-film-even-better/

Categorized | Reel to Reel
X-Men DVD extras make a great film even better

Posted on01 September 2011.

By: Rico Albarracin/Columnist
I am not a fan of movies being rebooted or revamped. To me, it just means that the studio that made the movie made a mistake and needs a fresh start or the studio would like to make more money on a familiar set of characters or plot. In the case of X-Men, I had no problem with 20th Century Fox retooling the franchise since the quality of the story needed to be restored after “X-Men: The Last Stand” and “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” were not well received by critics or fans alike. What came out was the best film of the franchise in “X-Men: First Class,” being released on DVD and Blu-ray on Sept 9.

Director Matthew Vaughn, known for his work on the 2010 superhero film “Kick-Ass,” gives his fresh take on the origin story of how the X-Men came together. The film is set in the 1960’s, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, with Charles Xavier (Professor X) and Erik Lehnsherr (Magneto) who are allies against a common enemy by the name of Sebastian Shaw, a man set on destroying the world. This threat leads Xavier to the discovery other mutants from around the world in order to assemble a team to take down Shaw. All the while, this group of mutants ask themselves whether they will ever be accepted into society.

Vaughn does an amazing job with the story and direction of the mutants coming together. Focusing the film on the Cuban Missile Crisis (which we know how that ended) does give the movie more weight as opposed to the average larger-than-life stories that comic book fans, such as myself, are accustomed to.

The connection that the mutants share is in their not knowing what to do with their powers. This allowed me to enjoy the journey of self-discovery and growth amongst the likes of Mystique, Beast and Havoc. I found myself invested in the characters because there was a backstory to be told. Their stories were told in a fresh way, something that the other X-Men films lacked.

Along with the story, Vaughn does an incredible job with the imagery portrayed, setting a Bond-style theme with the clothing, scenery and even the technology shown in the film. The effects were spot on, although there was one or two moments where it was easy to spot the CGI that was used in the movie.

The cast is full of promising young talent led by James McAvoy as Xavier. A young, smart but slightly naive man to the ways of the world gave him a chance to grow into the Professor X that comic book fans have come to know. Strong performances from Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique), Nicholas Hoult (Beast) and Lucas Till (Havok) give the “good guys” a formidable adversary to the star-studded lineup that the “bad boys” trot out.

Kevin Bacon (Sebastian Shaw), leads the other side of the mutant struggle to achieve the purpose of mutants making a better use of their powers. Mad Men’s January Jones gives a very dry, stiff performance as Emma Frost, a telepathic mutant who can change herself into diamond form. The acting suits the character, who is always straightforward in whatever she does, which helps me not to hate Jones for potentially ruining the very important role she plays in the film.

The cast was great, but the star of this film is Michael Fassbender, who plays Magneto. Known for his work as Lt. Archie Hicox in “Inglorious Basterds,” Fassbender compelled me to focus on him in every scene he was in. Even when a certain scene had nothing to do with him, I still paid attention to see what he would do next. Fassbender did a great job of making me forget, even if it was for a moment, that he eventually turns against Xavier. With sequels being lined up, Fassbender will be a focal point and a real treat to watch in many more movies to come.

For the true hardcore fans, there might be some nit-picking at some of the character choices and whether or not they should have been put in the movie. Ultimately, it does not create an issue. “X-Men: First Class” gave me, as a fan of comics, a much more entertaining origin story than most superhero films have ever created. Visually stunning, with a sweeping score by Henry Jackman that pulls every scene together and strong story to follow, I just had a great time watching this movie and I will say that “First Class” is the best that the franchise has to offer.

The Blu-ray version comes with 10 Marvel “X-Men” Digital Comics with an exclusive “X-Men: First Class” backstory comic, more than two hours of never-before-seen extras, an eight part behind-the-scenes featurette charting the film from pre-production through post-production, including visual effects techniques and cataloguing “X-Men” transformations through make up and costume design. Both, the DVD version as well as the Blu-ray version, come with extended and deleted scenes and the composer’s isolated score.

http://geeksyndicate.wordpress.com/2011/08/26/news-release-date-announced-for-x-men-first-class/

NEWS: Release Date Announced for X-Men: First Class

Posted by dwgrampus on August 26, 2011

Take home some first class entertainment as critically acclaimed, box office smash X-Men: First Class; an origins film about the world’s favourite mutants, flies onto Blu-ray Triple Play and DVD on 31 October 2011.

The British dream team behind Kick Ass – director Matthew Vaughn and writer Jane Goldman – are joined by a stellar cast including James McAvoy (Wanted), Michael Fassbender (Inglourious Basterds), Nicholas Hoult (A Single Man) and Jason Flemying (Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels) in one of the biggest blockbusters of the year.

Charles Xavier, (McAvoy) a gifted Oxford University graduate with the power to read minds has been under CIA surveillance for some time when agent Moira MacTaggart (Rose Byrne: Bridesmaids,) tracks him down to help her recruit a team of mutants. Their mission is to take on Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon: Mystic River, Apollo 13), a megalomaniac supremacist plotting nuclear Armageddon between America and Russia.

Meanwhile Erik Lensherr (Fassbender) is on a mission to avenge the brutal murder of his mother whilst they were in a German concentration camp during World War II. Having mastered control of his incredible magnetic powers, he unleashes hell on all who stand in his way in his search for his arch nemesis, the same Sebastian Shaw.

Xavier and Erik’s paths soon cross and the two grow to be close friends, combining their powers to form a brotherhood of mutants …until the day comes where both are forced to make a decision that will change their lives forever.

X-Men: First Class introduces fan-favourite characters including Emma Frost (January Jones: Mad Men), Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence: Winter’s Bone), Azazel (Flemyng), Riptide (Alex Gonzales), Banshee (Caleb Jones) and Havok (Lucas Till). The Blu-ray release includes over 4 hours of special features material including ‘Cerebro’ an interactive mutant database, a multi-part making-of documentary and thirteen deleted scenes.

Don’t miss your chance to see one of the most talked about films of the year when X-Men: First Class comes to Blu-ray Triple Play and DVD on 31 October 2011, and we’ll have a full review up closer to the time.

Special Features – DVD

Five Deleted scenes
Digital Copy

Special Features – Blu-ray Triple Play

Cerebro: The Ultimate Mutant Database; replicates what happens when Charles locates mutants through Cerebro and allows you to learn more about various mutants, connect them to key events, decipher connections between them and much more (additional mutants can be unlocked through BD Live)
Children of the Atom – Multi-Part Documentary on the X-Men including the following elements: ‘Second Genesis’, ‘Band of Brothers’, ‘Transformation’, ‘Suiting Up’, ‘New Frontier: a Dose of Style’, ‘Pulling Off the Impossible’, ‘Sound & Fury’ and ‘Untitled Closing’
13 Deleted Scenes

o Erik in Argentinean Airport

o Shaw with Cuban Generals

o Charles & Moira’s Tryst, Part 1

o Charles & Erik Recruit Angel (extended)

o The Russian Truck (extended)

o Erik vs Russian Guards (extended)

o Shaw’s Plan (extended)

o Havok Training, Part 1 (extended)

o Banshee Training, Part 1 (extended)

o Havok Training, Part 2 (extended)

o Banshee Training, Part 2 (extended)

o Hank & Raven in the Lab (extended)

o Charles & Moira’s Tryst, Part 2

http://brusimm.com/2011/09/04/dvd-review-x-men-first-class/

DVD Review: ‘X-Men: First Class’

by Bruce Simmons on September 4, 2011

As you all may or may not know, in my movie review of X-Men: First Class, generally speaking, I said the following bits about the movie:

'X-Men: First Class' dvd cover art 01

X-Men: First Class takes the genre and steps it up a notch. I was impressed with how they took the ensemble of characters and injected them into real-world events that pulled you away from the idea that these were comic book characters and made them feel like they had more context behind the people themselves.

First Class is in reference to the first group of heroes, or X-Men, in their early days as they were pulled together by Charles Xavier, played by James McAvoy. Along with the formation of the team, we get to explore the early relationship between Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr, aka the soon to be Magneto (Played by Michael Fassbender).

Of special note is the portrayal of Sebastian Shaw by Kevin Bacon. A rather sublime and sinister effort on Bacon’s part.

"X-Men First Class" promo movie poster

I gave X-Men: First Class a 10 on my popcorn scale for being one of the most outstanding genre films to come along in quite a while. I think it’s a fun movie for both fans of the franchise and for folks who aren’t.

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With that said, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment provided Brusimm.com the single-disc DVD of the movie for review. (That was at my request.)

The X-Men: First Class DVD & Blu-ray release comes out on September 9th, 2011.

The movie will come out in your choice of different cases. One case cover will feature Professor Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and the other has Erik Lensherr aka Magneto (Michael Fassbender).

The Blu-ray package will have more than two hours of special features, a digital copy of the film, ten Marvel X-Men digital comics, where one of them will include a new X-Men: First Class back story. (Dang, I have got to buy myself a Blu-ray player one of these days!)

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Kevin Bacon and January Jones in "X-Men First Class"

On the single DVD disc, there’s a few extras… Well one.
Children of the Atom:

On the Blu-ray, it’s an eight-part behind-the-scenes featurette, charting the film from pre-production through post-production, including visual effects techniques and cataloguing “X-Men” transformations through prosthetic make up and costume design.

On the DVD, it looks to be an abbreviated version with two sections. Second Genesis and Band of Brothers.

In the abbreviated section of extras, the feature touched on

Filming X-Men: First Class (XFC)

How, while they were filming X-Men 2, the idea came about for XFC. Then they had the multiple story lines initially, but then they had to go through massive rewrites to be able to save on budget. While trimming the monetary fat, they still tried to retain Charles’ and Eric’s relationship and keep the other sub-stories going.

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They talked about the ideas of introducing Havoc, they touch on how Azazel is like Nightcrawler and the concerns about these two characters addition to the group.

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There were arguments against Michael Fassbender playing Eric because he seemed too old. Especially in his audition tape, where he had a mustache that made him look much older.

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Kevin Bacon saw his chracter is basically a sociopath, but he also saw him as a Hugh Hefner type of guy.

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January Jones brought a cool, frostiness to the role of Emma Frost.

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The production staff see’s Jason Flemyng as a lucky charm. They made a humorous reference to how films that have Flemyng in them always do well and the ones he isn’t in, don’t do that great. LOL.

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It’s weird to hear Rose Byrne speak in her native accent.

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On my DVD, there was a no-smoking ad / extra feature and a how-to on how to deal with your digital copy of your movie.

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Other features that you can expect from the Blu-ray disc:

- Cerebro Mutant Tracker: The complete interactive Mutant Database with interactive videos giving fans the ability to learn about their favorite mutants in the X-Men film franchise

- Children of the Atom: An eight-part behind-the-scenes featurette, charting the film from pre-production through post-production, including visual effects techniques and cataloging “X-Men” transformations through prosthetic make up and costume design

- “X” Marks the Spot: An interactive feature allowing viewers the opportunity to learn more about specific scenes with talent interviews and behind-the-scenes footage

- Extended and Deleted Scenes

- BD-Live Portal with additional Cerebro Mutant Tracker profiles

- Composer’s Isolated Score

- Theatrical Trailer

=

Though limited, the features on the DVD were an extra few minutes of enjoyable material. They obviously don’t compare to the Blu-ray extra features, but not everyone can stock up on Blu-ray players.

Remember,

The X-Men: First Class DVD & Blu-ray comes out on September 9th, 2011.

http://pottsmerc.com/articles/2011/09/11/life/srv0000013719202.txt

'X-Men: First Class' bogs down, but elicits superb performances

Published: Sunday, September 11, 2011; Last Updated: Sun. Sep 11, 2011, 6:08am

By Amy Longsdorf

Journal Register News Service

For the origin story of Professor X (James McAvoy) and his steel-controlling pal, Magneto (Michael Fassbender), the brain trust behind "The X-Men" franchise has concocted a smart, character-driven entertainment that has more in common with Sean Connery-era Bond movies than with modern, f/x-heavy actioners.

Sure, "X-Men: First Class" (2011, Fox, PG-13, $30) bogs down a bit when the soon-to-be-frenemies help defuse the Cuban Missile Crisis, but director Matthew Vaughn ("Kick-Ass") manages to elicit superb performances from his stars while also juggling a mammoth cast of supporting mutants (Kevin Bacon, January Jones, Jennifer Lawrence, Lucas Till.)

Extras: 10 Marvel X-Men digital comics and eight featurettes.

http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/X-Men-First-Class-Blu-ray.shtml

X-Men: First Class Blu-ray Review
By Chris Chiarella three and a half stars

The Movie

Prequels are an especially vexing challenge for filmmakers, as we already know the futures of the characters we are revisiting, The cinematic X-Men universe has tried its adamantium-clawed hand at prequels once before, but X-Men: First Class is a truly grand, rousing reboot of the franchise.

Set primarily in the early 1960s, specifically on the brink of the Cuban Missile Crisis, First Class reveals the rich backstory of the two characters at the center of the now-classic struggle for mutant rights, who will become popularly known as Professor X (the ever-affable James McAvoy) and Magneto (Michael Fassbender, a total badass once again). Each has been born with exceptional generic gifts which make mere humans jealous, distrustful or far worse.

Magneto is driven by rage and revenge against the Nazis who took everything from him, particularly the scientist (a deliciously evil Kevin Bacon) who has recently resurfaced with a seemingly unstoppable plan to push the Russians and Americans into World War III. But whereas Magneto soon sees the potential for his kind to dominate, the Professor always sees the good in mankind and works toward peaceful coexistence.

These two allies attract others, youngsters with similar blessings/curses, often misunderstood and in need of a leader. Will their salvation be a school? Or a mutant army? Warriors and students alike will clash in the waters off of Florida in the movie's tense, powerful finale, which serves to establish much of the basic X-premise we've taken for granted all these years.

Directed by Matthew Vaughn, First Class has a groovy '60s vibe throughout, almost as if it was a recently discovered comic book movie from the pre-Batman era. Then again, like all prequels, it is subject to the temptation to comment on well-known upcoming events, and here the writers et. al. throw the fans quite a few tasty bones. Hitting all of the necessary plot points while masterfully entertaining us, this movie is first-rate.

Or you could choose Joe Lozito's review of X-Men: First Class instead. Just know that if you're not with my review, you're against it.

The Picture

The 2.35:1, 35mm film image is mostly crisp, with a pleasing level of detail throughout, although it is definitely affected by film grain (a deliberate choice to evoke the proper period look?) and a fair amount of noise. Blacks too can be dull and without nuance, while backgrounds can appear unusually soft and unnatural. The believability of the special effects varies frankly, but anything to do with flying is pretty darned spectacular.

The Sound
X-Men-First-Class-BD-WEB.jpg

No complaints here, particularly about the power of the powers, which call upon both low-end to convey the superhuman might as well as directionality when, say, bolts of energy are shooting out of someone's body. The surrounds are utilized in clever ways, sometimes simulating a telepath's voice inside our head, other times phasing smoothly, credibly around us, and with ample discrete, speaker-specific DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 touches. Toss in traditional bits like crowd noise, jet flyovers and explosions, and you have an action movie track that certainly does not disappoint.

The Extras

The movie can be viewed in "X Marks the Spot" Mode, which seamlessly branches away to behind-the-scenes videos (in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1!) at appropriate moments, or we can view these eight little pods separately. (20 minutes total, in HD like all of the on-disc video extras here.)

We can experience what it's like to use the mutant tracker device Cerebro with an interactive feature that allows us to use our remote to unlock and store character profiles for easy future access, and once we have them all we can access more via BD-Live. The BD-Live here also brings Fox's Live Extras with title-specific content, as well as Live Lookup powered by IMDB.com. This disc supports pocket BLU bonus content and enhanced control via select portable devices. We are also given access to 10 X-Men digital comics via a unique online code inside the package.

The eight-part "Children of the Atom" documentary goes in-depth on the making of the movie, an hour and ten minutes all told. The 13 deleted and extended scenes--most of them excellent--total 14 minutes. Composer Henry Jackman's musical score is available as an isolated track, in Dolby Digital 5.1, a nifty feature that I wish more releases would offer.

Disc Two is a DVD-ROM carrying a Digital Copy of the movie for iTunes and Windows Media.

Final Thoughts

Real history, comic book history and blockbuster moviemaking coalesce in the uniquely enjoyable X-Men: First Class, rewarding for the fans (like me) but plenty-interesting for non-fans (like my wife) too, even if you only half-remember the Patrick Stewart/Ian McKellen trilogy. I do wish that the video was a tad stronger, but the audio kicks and the extras are a cut above the ordinary.

Product Details

Actors: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Kevin Bacon, Jennifer Lawrence, Rose Byrne, January Jones, Nicholas Hoult, Zoë Kravitz, Oliver Platt, Álex González, Jason Flemyng
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Audio Format/Languages: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (English), Dolby Digital 5.1 (Spanish, French, English Descriptive Audio)
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Number of discs: 2
Rating: PG-13
Studio: Fox
Release Date: September 9, 2011
Run Time: 132 minutes
List Price: $39.99
Extras:
"X Marks the Spot" Viewing Mode
Interactive "Cerebro: Mutant Tracker"
"Children of the Atom - Filming X-Men: First Class" Documentary
Composer's Isolated Score in 5.1 Dolby Digital
Deleted Scenes
Digital Copy
pocket BLU
Digital Comics via unique code
BD-Live with Live Extras and Live Lookup

Where to Buy:

http://hamptonroads.com/2011/09/adventure-and-thrills-%E2%80%98first-class%E2%80%99-firstrate

10 September 2011 | 9:36 AM
For adventure and thrills, ‘First Class’ is first-rate

“X-MEN: FIRST CLASS”

Blu-ray widescreen, DVD widescreen and digital copy in one package exclusively at Target, 2011, PG-13 for intense action and violence, sexual content including partial nudity and language

Best extra: “Children of the Atom,” a seven-part feature on making the movie (in high-definition)

THIS MOVIE WOULD have been great to see on the big screen, but viewing it in high-definition in your own living room is the next best thing. You will not be disappointed by the visuals or sound. It also helps that the storyline is riveting enough to make this 2-hour, 11-minute movie fly by.

“First Class” tells the story of how Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender) began a friendship that would end with them fighting against each other as Professor X and Magneto. Before that, they must fight a bigger menace: Dr. Shaw (played confidently by Kevin Bacon), who has gathered his own mutants to help start World War III between the Russians and Americans. The year: 1962.

This Blu-ray pack offers a fantastic array of bonus features that bring home how well thought-out this movie was and how fate brought director Matthew Vaughn (“Kick-Ass”) to the project after he walked away from “X-Men: The Last Stand.” Bryan Singer, who directed the first two movies, couldn’t direct “First Class,” so he ended up as co-creator and producer. He also ran into Vaughn at a restaurant and talked to him about directing “First Class.”

Vaughn read the script and said he’d come on board only if he could rewrite it with Jane Goldman, one of his partners in the “Kick-Ass” screenplay. “I’m going to stick to the story but I’m going to craft a film out of it,” he told Singer.

The behind-the-scenes stories delve into most every detail of this flick, including the incredible visual effects - overseen by the legendary John Dykstra (“Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope”) - and its 1960s mod look. Cameos by Hugh Jackman (Wolverine) and Rebecca Romijn (Mystique) are discussed, too. In fact, producer Lauren Schuler Donner credits Wolverine with having the best line in the movie – a line that cannot be repeated here.

Other high-def bonus features include the option of watching the movie with just composer Henry Jackman’s score; 13 deleted and extended scenes; the “X” Marks the Spot viewing mode, in which filmmakers talk about the creation and production; and “Cerebro Mutant Tracker,” a game of sorts that lets you track down mutants like Charles Xavier does in the film. It’s pretty anticlimactic because all you do, after spotting the mutant, is push the Enter button, which brings up scenes involving the character and a quick bio. The BDLive portal provides more mutant information via the Internet.

Die-hard fans can access 10 Marvel “X-Men” comics online, including “First Class, with a special code within the Blu-ray package.

Enjoy this movie, one of the better prequels out there.

http://my.hsj.org/Schools/Newspaper/tabid/100/view/frontpage/articleid/452346/newspaperid/273/XMen_First_Class_Movie_Review.aspx

X-Men First Class Movie Review
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Wednesday, September 14, 2011 By Spencer Raymond
X-Men first class came out this summer and it blew up getting 55.1 million dollars on opening week. The story starts off with Charles Xavier(James McAvoy) and Erik Lensherr(Michael Fassbender) who are two young boys who discover that they have special mutations that allow them to do magnificent things. When the 2 boys get older they take different approaches with their mutations. Xavier decides to help fellow mutants and let them be proud of how they are.
Lensherr believes that mutants should hide from a society that hates them.

Lensherr and Xavier form a team of new mutants and train them so they can take down a man who goes by Dr. Schmidt. Doctor Schmidt is a mutant who is known for killing Lensherrs mother when Lensherr could not release his mutation in front of him. The Doctor is a big reason that Lensherr has so much hatred and decides that mutants shouldn't help society.

When the team is assembled they gear up to take down Schmidt and his group of mutants. After taking Schmidt down, Lensherr gets in a dispute with a CIA agent and when he is shot at he reflects the bullet and it hits Xavier in the spine, paralizing him.

The movie was a really nice action film to see and beat the summer heat. Though the movie doesn't quite follow the comic book series 100%, it really excells in what matter. It is a thrill to watch. The actors are fantastic and really sell the characters. There are moments, as in every movie, that get a little boring and slow.

The movie really feels like it builds up just for one action scene and there isn't really too much of it throughout the movie. But the end will definitely put you at the edge of your seat. I give this movie a 4 out of 5. It is entertaining and if you are a fan of the comic book universe you already know it is a must see.

http://insidepulse.com/2011/09/14/blu-ray-review-x-men-first-class/

Blu-ray Review: X-Men: First Class
by Mike Noyes - September 14, 2011

Bryan Singer completely revitalized the comic book film genre with the first X-Men film and Brett Ratner almost killed the franchise with X-Men: The Last Stand. Now Matthew Vaughn (who was supposed to direct Last Stand) gives us his idea of the world of the X-Men, and he succeeds admirably.

Set amidst the Cold War and the Cuban Missile Crisis, First Class tells the story of how Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender) first met, built an amazing friendship and ultimately lost it due to a conflict of ideals. This really is Charles and Erik’s film – the rest is just window dressing.

First Class brings together a new team of mutants including a young Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence), Havok (Lucas Till), pre-blue fur Beast (Nicholas Hoult), Banshee (Caleb Jones), Darwin (Edi Gathegi), and Angel Salvadore (Zoe Kravitz) which is an odd grouping pulling from classic characters in the comics and more recent ones. For the most part this team works really well together.

With Erik being a good guy this time around a new villain is needed. Enter The Hellfire Club. Lead by Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon), this team includes Emma Frost (January Jones), Riptide (Alex Gonzalez) and Azazel (Jason Flemyng). The creation of these two teams breaks from any semblance of continuity to the comics, but within the world of the film it works for the story it wants to tell.

Shaw is doing everything in his power insure that the United States and Russia go to war because of the Missile Crisis and it’s up to Charles, Erik and their team to stop them. This is the setting for the big final action sequence, but again, this is all just window dressing to what this film is really about. Keep in mind, though, that this is some really fun and exciting window dressing.

Despite it’s continuity problems, the film works because of the relationship between Charles and Erik. Specifically it’s the performances of McAvoy and Fassbender that sell these characters and the drama that brings them together and ultimately drives them apart. They both do a fantastic job making the audience believe not only that they have these fantastic powers, but that they both have ideas of where mutant kind should be heading and that they’re both, in their own way, right.

This is not perfect by any means. Some of the character choices hurt the film big. Azazel (who in the comics is Nightcrawler’s dad) is a really odd choice as is Darwin and Angel, both newer minor characters in the comics. Moira McTaggart (Rose Byrne), Charles’ love interest has been transformed from a Scottish scientist in the comics to an American FBI agent. And Charles and Mystique meet as children, which just seems really strange. However the biggest problem I had with the film was January Jones who did nothing to make Emma Frost an interesting character. Her performance is the weakest by far.

All these problems aside, this is still a really fun film and the first good addition to the franchise since X2.

This film is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen and 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio with French and Spanish language tracks and Spanish subtitles. This is a fantastic looking film, it’s extremely well shot and all the visuals look amazing in Blu-ray. The sound is extremely well balanced as well. All the action sequences and score and dialog can all be listened to on a single volume level.

Looking at extras, X Marks The Spot (20 min.) is a series of behind-the-scene vignettes that focuses on various moments in the film. The Cerebro: Mutant Tracker allows you to travel through Cerebro like in the movie and click on different mutants to get little montages focusing on them from the various films. While kind of neat, this is mostly pointless unless you know absolutely nothing about any of these characters. Go on-line to access even more characters. Children of the Atom (79 min.) is a fantastic and in-depth look at the making of First Class. It thoroughly covers all the aspects you’d want to hear about. One of the best making-of docs I’ve seen in a while. Deleted And Extended Scenes (14 min.) Despite the film’s already two-hour plus running time, these scenes should have stayed in. Especially the scene where Charles tries to hit on Moira and fails.

Filling out the rest of the bonus material is an Isolated Score audio track, plus a Digital Copy of the film and access to ten Digital Comics that focus on various characters from the film and some Blu-ray Live stuff.


The comic fan in me kind of hates X-Men: First Class, but the movie fan in me really enjoyed it. It’s got some serious continuity issues, but the movie is so good that while watching it I forget all about those. It’s only after I turn the film off that I start to bitch. For me that makes this a pretty darn good film. Plus it’s got some of the best special features I’ve seen in a while.


20th Century Fox presents X-Men: First Class. Directed by: Matthew Vaughn. Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Rose Byrne, January Jones, Kevin Bacon and Oliver Platt. Written by Ashley Edward Miller & Zack Stenz and Jane Goldman & Matthew Vaughn. Running time: 132 minutes. Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence, some sexual content including brief partial nudity and language. Released on Blu-ray: September 9, 2011. Available at Amazon.com.

http://blog.mysanantonio.com/dvd/2011/09/x-men-first-class-makes-use-of-white-out/

“X-Men: First Class” makes use of “white-out”
Posted on 09/12/2011 by Harry Thomas

The young Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Erik Lensherr (Michael Fassbender) have their first philosophical discussion on the future of mutants in "X-Men: First Class." Photo courtesy of Fox/Rotten Tomatoes.

As a rule, prequels tend to be more problematic than sequels, especially if you’ve established a franchise. The most obvious example is the “Star Wars” prequels, because the series was so established in the minds of the fan base. When George Lucas came up with the idea of the “midichlorians” to explain why the young Anakin Skywalker was so gifted with the Force in “Episode 1: The Phantom Menace,” the howls of derision could be heard to the Orion nebula.

Comic books get a little more leeway, mostly because it’s become standard practice for each new writer/artist to put his/her own stamp on the franchise. That said, the new “X-Men: First Class” prequel to the established franchise holds true, for the most part, to the original trilogy. And it even works 1960s Cold War politics and history into the franchise, quite successfully.

The film opens to the same scene that the original “X-Men” did; the World War II German concentration camp in occupied Poland where a young Erik Lensherr (Bill Milner) is separated from his parents, who are sent to a different building. The young Erik first demonstrates his ability to control magnetic fields by destroying the metal gates. This is observed by Dr. Schmidt (Kevin Bacon), who brings the boy to his office and tries to get him to move the metal coin on his desk. Erik can’t do it, so Schmidt brings in his mother and threatens to shoot her if he doesn’t move the coin. He still can’t, so Schmidt calmly shoots her. This sends Erik into a rage, and he makes all the metal instruments in the adjoining torture room fly all around the place. Schmidt praises Erik, and gives him a chocolate bar.

In America, a young Charles Xavier (Lawrence Belcher), investigates a noise in the kitchen and finds his mother there. He realizes that it’s not her, and accuses her of impersonating his mother. The woman morphs into the Raven Darkholme (Morgan Lily), a blue-skinned young girl. Charles welcomes her, and we assume he just adopts her, as the next sequence of scenes involving the pair show them as adults at Oxford University in London.

In Las Vegas, CIA agent Moira McTaggart (Rose Byrne) sneaks into the Hellfire Club while trailing U.S. Army Col. Hendry (Glenn Morshower); he’s meeting with Dr. Schmidt, now known as Sebastian Shaw, who is accompanied by three mutants, including the lovely Emma Frost (January Jones). Shaw wants Hendry to deploy American nuclear missiles in Turkey, threatening the Soviet Union. Frost uses her mental telepathy powers to change Hendry’s mind.

McTaggart seeks out Charles (James McAvoy), as he has just been hooded as a professor, with his thesis centering on human mutation. Charles initially tries the seduction line on her; but after she cuts him off, he reads your mind and sees the interchange between Shaw and Hendry. He agrees to go with her to CIA headquarters and brief the top brass there on the emerging mutant situation. They brush him off, until Raven (Jennifer Lawrence) shows her true colors.

Meanwhile, the adult Erik (Michael Fassbender) is searching for his Nazi tormentors. His methods are crude, but very effective. He finds out where Shaw is, and heads there with murder on his mind.

BD extras:

X Marks the Spot Viewing Mode: Picture-in-picture featurettes that give background filming information and interviews. It can be watched separately, which is the method that I recommend. Best sequence: the filming of Hugh Jackman’s (Wolverine) cameo.
Cerebro – Mutant Tracker: Interactive featurette that shows clips of the major characters from all the films, followed by a dossier. Unfortunately, some characters do not appear; I guess they didn’t get enough screen time to put together the requisite two-minute sequence.
Children of the Atom documentary: Very well done documentary on the making of this film and its place within the franchise. It’s here where producer Lauren Shuler Donner makes the comment about “white-out” when referring to the continuity errors that happen when you’re making a prequel. Note: this is the extra on the DVD version.
Deleted/extended scenes
Composer’s (Henry Jackman) isolated score
Access to 10 X-Men Marvel digital comics: You have to register on the Marvel website and use the activation code on the insert inside the disc box. The presentation is actually pretty cool, but I don’t expect to be going back there too often myself.

To start: I’m only a fan of the films; I’ve never read the comic book in my life until I went to the Marvel site, so all of my opinions are based on the films. And I enjoyed every one of the films; even “X-Men: The Last Stand” and “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” which do seem to have a lot of fan derision aimed at them.

I didn’t know that Kevin Bacon was in the film until I saw it in the theater. During the interrogation sequence, I kept looking at him like “Is that Kevin Bacon?!” He did speak the foreign languages very well, but I think for the most part he chewed the scenery. And now we have to add a whole new film to the “Six Degrees” game. I was wondering why the young Erik didn’t send those knives in the surgical suite after his ass after the evil bastard shot his mother, and then complimented him on the display.

I loved the Hugh Jackman and Rebecca Romjin cameos. I chuckled for two minutes in the theater after Wolverine told the young recruiters what he thought of their offer.

I did like the character arc of the Raven/Mystique character. I thought it was actually rather brilliant to have her focused on Charles for most of the film. I went home and watched all four films afterward, and I found myself comparing the different “Beast” characters (Nicholas Hoult in this film; Kelsey Grammer in “X-Men: The Last Stand”). I liked each one, both as characters and actors.

I also liked all of the actors playing the human roles in “First Class;” their surprise at the sudden appearance of the abilities of mutants seemed genuine.

I also found the abilities of the two young leads (Fassbender and McAvoy) quite good, although I kept seeing Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen playing the parts. As little as I know about the comic book, I always thought it was brilliant casting to have Stewart playing Professor X.

White-out moments:

In the original “X-Men,” Charles told Logan that Erik had helped him build Cerebro. In this film, it’s Hank McCoy who built it.
The documentary told me that the character of Alex Summers/Havok (Lucas Till) was actually Summers/Cyclops’ (James Marsden) younger brother. This film is set at the same time as the Cuban missile crisis; the Cyclops character appears in the original three films.
Charles getting shot in the back, causing his paralysis: It had been established in both “The Last Stand? and “Wolverine” that Charles could walk. I think it would have been a better story arc if they had established that Charles had some sort of degenerative disease that even his brilliant intellect (or another mutant) couldn’t cure. Patrick Stewart could have played that one extremely well.
The recruiting sequences in this film were fun. But considering their ideological split at the end of the film, it’s going to take some fancy footwork to reconcile Charles and Erik recruiting Jean Grey/Phoenix in “The Last Stand.”

Bottom line: I enjoyed this film immensely; much more than “Thor,” which I went to see the same day (and which comes out tomorrow on disc). Perhaps it was the comic book character overload. I always liked Stewart and McKellen, and missed their presence here. But McAvoy and Fassbender play the characters of Charles and Erik very well. It’s not as much of a reboot as the Christopher Nolan “Batman” trilogy is, but it does cast the franchise in a new direction. This one is worth picking up, especially on BD.

X-Men: First Class
Fox, 135 minutes, PG-13
DVD: $29.98
BD with digital copy: $39.99

http://www.tedpublications.com/home-theater/x-men-first-class-blu-ray/

X-men: First Class (Blu-ray)

Posted on Sep 23, 2011 by David Susilo

Studio and Year: 20th Century Fox – 2011
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Feature running time: 132 minutes
Genre: Action/Sci-fi/Fantasy

Disc Format: BD-50
Encoding: AVC (MPEG-4)
Video Aspect: 2.35:1
Resolution: 1080p/24

Audio Format(s): English DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio, English/Spanish/French Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Rose Byrne, Kevin Bacon, January Jones, Oliver Platt
Directed by: Matthew Vaughn
Music by: Henry Jackman
Written by: Matthew Vaughn, Ashley Edward Miller, Zack Stentz, Jane Goldman
Region Code: A

Blu-ray Disc release Date: September 9, 2011

Synopsis (courtesy of imdb.com):
In 1962, the United States government enlists the help of Mutants with superhuman abilities to stop a malicious dictator who is determined to start world war III.

My Take:
Quite honestly, before I watched the movie I already rolled my eyes and said to myself, “sheeesh, another sequel”. However, while chugging along watching this Blu-ray Disc, I’m getting more and more impressed. I liked the idea of using the Cold War era as the backdrop, something that is rarely done nowadays, and thought it was integrated nicely. The pacing was brisk and the balance between drama and action is spot on which keeps my interest high. X-Men: First Class turned out to be a much better film than I anticipated thanks to its top notch audio and video production elements, capable direction, pacing and proper casting.

Audio: 9/10
Video: 9/10
Storyline: 8/10