Free X-Men: First Class
Genres: ActionThrillerAdvent
Starring: Kevin Bacon, Jason Flemyng, James McAvoy, Rose Byrne, Oliver Platt, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender
Available Quality: DivX, Hi Def, iPod, Hi Def, Hi Def
Director(s): Matthew Vaughn
Country: USA
Year: 2011
IMDB Rating: 7.9
Before Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time. Before they were archenemies, they were closest of friends, working together, with other Mutants (some familiar, some new), to stop the greatest threat the world has ever known. In the process, a rift between them opened, which began the eternal war between Magnetos Brotherhood and Professor Xs X-MEN.
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X-Men: First Class (Hi Def) | Resolution: 1280x544 px | Total Size: 5581 Mb |
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1 | X-Men: First Class (DivX) | Resolution: 640x272 px | Total Size: 699 Mb |
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Visitors Review
lordbyte (16 May 2012)
Weak film, the only actors who showed any form of character were the baddies
The new heroes are weak. It seems they just made up powers at randomand shoehorned them in just to not look like they took them from anyother comic. None of them get any decent character building, and theones that do come out as total a-holes. Only half-decent characters arethe ones masterfully played by both bad guys (Magneto and the villainof the film). Mystique at times tried to put something into her rolebut the terribly clichéd writing made her feel just as unreal andone-dimensional as the others. Even as a pop-corn film it justirritated the s**t out of me, and the plot-holes and shoehorned humansare bad 'mkay ending just ruined it all for me. I was glad it was over.Too long, too clichéd, too one-dimensional. They tried nothing new,they didn't even try to make the characters memorable, and only twoactors actually brought something to the screen. The special effectswere good though. 4 out of 10.
hfeldst (15 May 2012)
FIRST CLASS ENTERTAINMENT
Five writers are credited with the screenplay and however they collaborated, they got it right. Director Matthew Vaughn takes a great script and translates it into a truly first class film in every respect. The X-Men have always been sort of the "Anti-Avengers", much more serious in their own corner of the Marvel universe. This is a smart script that takes itself seriously and reboots the "X-Men" franchise. All the comic book mythos is there but the film works even if you are a casual fan or even unfamiliar with the other films. Of course if you are new to this franchise, you will miss the pleasure of two great cameos. Coupled with a strong story, Mr. Vaughn brings a deft hand to the action sequences and molding the story to the real life Cuban missile crisis of the '60's brings plenty of gravitas to a film that could have gone in a completely different direction. He makes you believe that mutants forced the Russian's move and almost set off World War III. The casting is first class as well with James McAvoy as the young Charles Xavier(Professor X) and Michael Fassbender as the young Erik Lensherr (Magneto). Mr. Fassbender, in particular, is outstanding as the mutant balancing good and evil mixed in with a strong revenge motive. Rose Byrne has fun with her CIA operative role, as does Oliver Platt. Jennifer Lawrence moves on from "Winter's Bone" and takes on the role of a young Raven/Mystique. January Jones is perfectly cast as yet another "ice queen", playing Emma Frost (an important figure in X-Men lore) and rounding out the major cast is Kevin Bacon as Sebastian Shaw, the central villain of the film. With so many superhero sequels constantly bombarding us, it's refreshing to have the original idea of a "prequel" that really jumpstarts the franchise. Smart, action packed and fun from start to finish.
Bence Locsei (13 May 2012)
Uncool.
X-Men: First Class pushes the envelope by further developing a timelyform of bad. The "phylosophical themes" featured by this talky littlemovie consist exclusively of stupid commonplace and the banal scenesillustrating the concept of separation and such run on kindergartenlevel. As a wise man once said: "If you have nothing to say then justshut the f+*k up". And yet again, not shown to you, like, visually, buttalked about and explained verbally. Similar to Venezuelan soap opera.Let me just hand out a big f/ckyou here.I will make the rest short. Characters are superficial andunderdeveloped. Except of somewhat competent James McAvoy actors seemuninspired. Dialog also matches daytime drama standards and worse.Superpowers are just not cool and the visual execution seriously lacksfantasy. The fact that almost everything you see here has already beendone in the previous x-men movies and in much cooler ways lets mereshape into a question mark. Visual design also lacks fantasy. Thework of the department responsible for the make-up effects is atrocious(Beast, blue Mystique). Here goes the other f*ckyou.Logical connections to the former trilogy are missing completely. Ididn't know this was a reboot but however, the question emerges, whyrebooting something that has been decently executed before (let'sforget about X3 for a minute here). Why destroying the former moviesand make something even more remote to the comics? Surely it has to dowith money, so let's bow to the gods of marketing and pr.People in the cinema seemed to like it, I guess they found it awesomeand intelligent. I have no doubt that anti- intellectual sh-*/t likethis will continue setting standards and increasingly shape upcomingmovies in it's own image as box office numbers show it is well matchedto the demands of it's audience.2/10Whatever talented, passionate people might have accomplished throughoutmovie-making history, most successful production will always be theOprah Winfrey Show...
Coolphill (12 May 2012)
Movie of the year!!!
WOW!!! Mathew Vaughn has done it again! This absolutely wipes the floorwith x men origins wolverine and X men the last stand, and in myopinion is even better then x men 1 and 2. The story is so well told,all the characters are brilliantly fleshed out and every one of themeither has a really interesting character arc or is just awesome orfunny. The script is perfect ranging from effective humour, to reallydark but emotional scenes (especially a stand out one in aconcentration camp), the action is both inventive and astounding withsome very clever uses of powers. But the best thing about this is howwell every character is explored and how they show some real depthhere, in my opinion this is even better intellectually then the darkknight. Everyone gives a great performance too. Nicholaus Hault bringspain and frustration to the character of beast expertly, as doesJenifer Laurence to the character of mystique. but ultimately this is afilm about Charles and Erik and when they need to James Mcavoy andMichel Fassbender really display magnificent acting capabilities andpresence, the film charts those two coming together as friends and thenfalling apart, and it does so brilliantly and there performances cementthis. I cant recommend X- men first class enough See more
(09 May 2012)
Sick of this security BS
This review is from: X-Men: First Class (+Digital Copy) [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray) Bought this movie last week off of amazon. The movie is great, saw it in theaters. The problem is the random pauses since I've placed the blue ray disc into my PS3. Seriously?! I payed good money for this movie and I can barely watch it correctly. These moronic security fixes don't stop hackers and just punish honest people that pay for movies. Next time I'm just going to rent a movie from amazon instant play and avoid the film companies completely.Here's a tip if your having this issue. Just disconnect your ps3 from your internet connection. Film is great nonetheless. If you don't want to deal this this nonsense I suggest you just get it through amazons on demand.
(09 May 2012)
Amazing MOVIE
Have to say that this movie lived up to the series..... Recommend it to anyone I know and looks great on Blu-ray...........
(07 May 2012)
X-Men First Class
This review is from: X-Men: First Class (+Digital Copy) [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray) I always enjoy ordering from Amazon. Whatever I order comes on time, and in perfect condition! I enjoyed this movie at the theater and now I'm happy to add it to my collection!
inclusus_review (07 May 2012)
Enjoyable adaptation that only narrowly misses out on being great
I was really looking forward to this for a long time and was notdisappointed as it turned out tense, immersive, pacy, full of actionand generally great fun. I'm really enjoying seeing director MatthewVaughan grow too and having enjoyed his output so far am intrigued tosee where he goes next. Here he manages to direct a well balanced comicbook adaptation managing to navigate between the Hollywood,self-knowing, smart-ass movies (Iron Man 2) and the oh-so-serious (DarkKnight). However as an origins piece it does take away valuable timefrom any deep story lines so while being very good I couldn't quiteallow myself to say great. The cast all put in decent performances with the main playersparticularly working well together with strong support being a mix ofnew comers and experience. Kevin Bacon's Sebastian Shaw is a dastardlysolid villain while James McAvoy as Charles Xavier has that easylikability (blandness?) he's had since TV's Shameless. However, itsMichael Fassbender's Erik/Magneto that stands out here but then I findhe's consistently spot on with his performances anyway. (I don't wantto say 'this is only a comic book adaptation' but check out Hunger orFish Tank two wonderful though very different films for an example ofhis talent.)Although this is a prequel it does not exist in the same Marveluniverse as the other X-Men films. The poor X3 Last Stand showed a baldXavier walking while in this offering we see him supposedly paralyzedyet with a full head of hair. Although the film strays from certainorigins (and endings!) it's nice for the comic crowd to see theHellfire Club in there and also touches like introducing WilliamStryker Sr too. These little details I found fun as they gave fans aknowing extra while not sneering at those who didn't get it. Even though it is quite long for this type of feature I feltcomfortable with the pace of the film. The introductions as they startbuilding the team come rapidly but do not seem rushed. Similarly thetraining section follows a similar quick fire fashion effectivelyconveying progress and growing friendships in a minimum of screen time.Relationships form the backbone of the film - not just human/mutant butErik/Xavier, Xavier/Mystique, Mystique/Erik, Erik/Shaw - and I wasimpressed the way the film let many intertwining strands play out whilekeeping the story moving and not focusing too hard on one at theexpense of others. This evenhandedness is really where the film excels as it shares theburden well between the players rather than rely too much one character(thinking of Wolverine). McAvoy and Fassbender draw out a really warmand believable relationship and even though most watching will knowtheir fate the tension is upheld (far better than in say the Star Warsprequels and Vader's turning) and their affinity portrays genuineregret at the routes they must take. Characterisation is strong for the main although the female parts allhave traits seemingly based on classic Hollywood feminine stereotypesMystique is very needy, Angel terribly insecure and Emma Frost whileone of the most powerful mutants is dominated first by Shaw and thenliterally by Magneto who in a classic male fantasy straps her to a bedand asphyxiates her. Not to say the male characters are above sufferingfrom similar anxieties or complexes - Havoc cannot control himselfwhile Xavier can't stop trying to control everyone - but the mutantworld is definitely still a man's world. We could call fault with theoriginal text but I think this could have been avoided without loss ofnarrative. The film is a bit heavy-handed with the theme of not fitting inalthough it was slightly surprising that given the era it didn't touchon the civil rights movement. However it's not quite the simplereflection of diversity and tolerance faced in our society so steeringclear may have actually been wise. One thing I did find a tadirritating was the time line. When so much effort was put into otherdetails it just seemed lazy rather than down to artistic license. I'm amoderate fan rather than a fanboy geek but to my knowledge I would haveplaced Banshee much older than he appears and I'm not sure Havoc wouldhave even been born at this time. I could be wrong and of course thismeans nothing to those who don't care/know the comics and has noinfluence on the story other than mild elitist-antagonism for those whomay. After the initial excitement I was also little disappointed that theSixties setting was really only highlighted by giving the femalecharacters shorter skirts and higher boots. Attitudes of the era mayhave been signified briefly in the offhand objectification of women atthe Hellfire Club but it hardly seems as if Hollywood needs the sixtiesas an excuse to show lingerie clad women. The Cuban missile crisis wasnicely tied in to Shaw's fiendish plan and it's actually here that Ithought it was most Sixties-esque as Shaw is very much the early Bondvillain complete with sharp suits, private submarine and well stockedbar. The fashion in which he dismisses Emma to get his ice is pureSixties kitsch. Although not as stylised as other comic book adaptations theenvironments were richly constructed, characters believable, storyinteresting and immersion into the world easy for the viewer. The onlytime I had a slight reality twinge was in the final 'the real enemy isout there' speech where I suddenly became very aware I was watching anactor in a dorky helmet but I can easily forgive that. Although a bitlight in places it remains a superior version and a very enjoyable fewhours.8 out of 10
(06 May 2012)
Great movie!
This review is from: X-Men: First Class (DVD) This was a surprisingly fun romp in the world of Professor Charles Xavier and the fledgling X-Men. I really enjoyed the backstory of Charles and Erik, and of Raven. A lot of fun, well-acted and good production values. I think my favorite surprise was a fun cameo from Hugh Jackman.
tim l (05 May 2012)
It's the best one so far!
This is the best X-Men movie so far, they picked better actors for Professor X and Magneto. Eventhough it is suposedly a prequal but I hope this is a reboot of a new saga instead. For future sequals of this one I wouldn't mine if they bring back Wolverine and Sabertooth with Hugh Jackman and Liev Schreiber playing them respectively.
onenickel1 (04 May 2012)
Best x-men yet
I watched it twice and enjoyed it both times. It is not too common you can watch a movie twice and not be bored the second time.
pc95 (03 May 2012)
Some Good Scenes but Overlong and Disjointed
After an OK last X-Men film with some heavy-hitting actors seeminglyriding into the sunset, Marvel and a new set of cast and director comesroaring back in a quite long but not altogether dull "reboot" typemovie. Especially for the first hour or so of it's runtime, "X-MenFirst Class" is disjointed and everywhere - it lacks focus and dragsout it's introduction too long. However, by the 2nd half, the movie hassettled down and the characters have mostly come together. The strengthof the cast, like the older movies, is rightfully with it's 2 leadsJames McAvoy and Michael Fassbender, especially McAvoy who seems tofaithfully represent a young and dashing Xavier. I enjoyed almost everyscene with him present. Unfortunately though Kevin Bacon's antagonistseems more mischievous than truly malevolent so the movie kind of lacksan arch-villain. Anyway, there are both worse and better superheromovies out there.
(29 April 2012)
X MEN: FIRST CLASS Is a Grand Beginning
The super hero genre in movies has been loading up with adaptations from DC and Marvel Comics primarily from the glorious Silver Age of Comics. In most cases, these incarnations have taken on a stunning visual realism with state of the art technology and pyrotechnics, but what separates the cream of the crop like Spiderman 2 and The Dark Knight from the rest is great acting and a superior script. Having scored less than impressive results with X Men: Wolverine and Last Stand, the reboot of the franchise, X Men: First Class, is a prequel that reinvigorates with a fresh cast, elaborate script (Ashley Miller and Jack Stentz) and solid direction by Matthew Vaughn (Kick Ass) who has proven himself in this genre. During World War II, a young boy, Erik, is separated from his parents by ruthless Nazis and tormented by a sadistic doctor, Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon), who forces Erik to unleash his power of magnetism over metal. Meanwhile in a mansion in New York, a young, telepathic Charles Xavier befriends a fellow mutant named Raven who can morph into any person. Years later in 1962, an adult Erik (Michael Fassbinder) searches the world for Sebastian to exact revenge even as Charles is thriving at Oxford University. In Las Vegas, CIA agent Moira McTaggert (Rose Byrne) infiltrates a strip club and spies Sebastian Shaw planning to engineer a Cold War conflict with the Russians. Sebastian is aided by a roster of evil mutants including Emma Frost (January Jones). Moira and the CIA seek the help of Xavier who realizes that there are other mutants in the world, and he must seek them out. As Erik closes on Sebastian, he comes in contact with Charles, now realizing he, too is not alone as a mutant, and joins forces with Charles' growing roster of young mutants including an increasingly restless Raven AKA Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence). Each discovered mutant has a distinctive power and a unique name or moniker (Charles becomes Professor X and Erik is Magneto). After a deadly attack by Sebastian and his mutants at a CIA compound, Charles and an ever vengeful Erik set about to train their raw recruits to face Sebastian as he steers the Russians on a collision course with the Americans in Cuba. With a global war imminent, Sebastian reveals a deeper, more insidious plan that could mean the end of humanity. The action filled climax is a visual feast that has a stunning display of military might versus the mutant super powers and sets the stage for betrayal and realigning allegiances. This is a handsomely mounted production, with visual effects that serve the story and its super mutants in ways that could not be convincingly rendered a generation before. When a young Erik displays destructive power in front of his Nazi captors, it harkens back to Drew Barrymore's burning apocalypse in Firestarter. Lending realism to otherwise unworldly characters, the dialogue frequently switches to German, Russian, French and Spanish as the setting dictates, and the fashion styles and news footage lend an air of period authenticity, although trying to integrate events like the Cuban Missile Crisis requires some suspension of disbelief. The film succeeds in portraying the mutants as a metaphor for racial discrimination and being treated as commodities by each respective side of the impending war. There are moral dilemmas as these kids express feelings and doubts including the question of whether they should accept being different or conform to the human race. Witness the interesting parallels with the Nazi genocide of World War II, and how Erik ironically assumes some of the corrupt evil from Sebastian, the very individual he hates. This is a very attractive, talented group of actors led by McAvoy (Atonement), sounding like a grown up Harry Potter with a commanding presence and a deliciously charming Fassbender (quite effective in Inglourious Basterds) who is destined to conquer heroic or villainous roles for years to come. Bacon is featured prominently and has a field day hamming it up as the scheming Sebastian who is clearly modeled after Nazi doctor Josef Mengele. The scenes as Charles and Erik search for mutants are quite fun, and there are a couple of clever cameos. The film has echoes of traditional James Bond films with its iconic evil characters bent on world domination. That's not a bad thing. Whether the box office will garner a direct sequel remains to be seen. Perhaps the one thing lacking is that it does not engage the audience the way films like Raiders of the Lost Ark and Spiderman did. The same sort of thing plagued the original Lara Croft: Tomb Raider film, only more so. What comic book enthusiasts will savor is a fairly entertaining recreation of what we know as the X Men, and while things don't perfectly mesh with the original X Men canon, this is a slick, intelligent attempt to rejuvenate a franchise much as J. J. Abrams' Star Trek relaunched that series.
chambersjad (29 April 2012)
Glad I gave it a chance.
I just watched this movie, quite a while after it's release. A friendwho I thought was fairly intelligent told me not to bother. He said itwas the worst X-Men film yet. I didn't bother, I didn't watch it. Butrecently my curiosity got the best of me. This was a really solidprequel-reboot of a series that was on a serious 2 movie skid. I'm gladto see all of the positive reviews. And the naysayers ALL seem to haveproblems with this movie's "continuity" with the rest of the franchiseand the comic books in general. It's the same problem that my friendhad with it. About halfway thru this fantastic movie it occurred tome... "that argument doesn't have a freakin leg to stand on." Hey comicbook fanboy... yes, they take liberties with the establishedcharacters. You know who else does that with Marvel characters? Everyfreaking writer working for Marvel comics, that's who. House of M, Ageof Apocalypse, The End, Ultimates; these titles sound familiar? Ohright, reboots and alternate versions, most made decades before any ofthe X-Men movies, and there are about a dozen others just like them. Ithink re-booting X-Men is the most authentic tribute to the comics madeso far in the franchise. If that's the best criticism the naysayers cancome up with... this movie didn't have much wrong with it. Now I'm offto punch a friend in the kidneys, not too hard, for making me miss thisin theaters.
jjnoahjames (28 April 2012)
X is XAULTING! One of the best scripts ever written.
In First Class we intimately get to know the heart of Charles Xavier,his relationship with Magneto and his desire to protect the X-Men. Wesee all of the X-Men struggle with their identities in what comesacross as one of the best scripts ever written. After watching this movie you can see why The X-Men have been around solong. Women's rights, equality, being oneself, revenge, war and muchmore take place without getting confusing.From the very first scene there is no blink story telling. This isobviously a trait of a great film but this is matched well with greatacting (especially on Mcavoy and Fassbender's parts) and a selfconscious wittiness, a rarity for this kind of flick which helps setthis film over the top.
jzappa (28 April 2012)
Superpowers of the Literal Kind In Strangelove's War Room
The most persuasive acting in Bryan Singer's classy revenge on Fox isby JFK, who in his 1962 message to the nation conveys thanks for thetriumphant end of the Cuban Missile Crisis while stifling what hecertainly must know, that American and Soviet missiles spent a lot oftime soaring back and forth while telepathically manipulated by theremarkable powers of mutants. The movie's use of the missile crisisdefinitely performs the function of founding this prequel in the early1960s and fulfills the doubt of whether or not reality intersects withthe chronicles of superheroes.Mainly owing to the manner of young-at-heart, Brit-grit oomph directorMatthew Vaughn sopped up from his roots in Guy Ritchie's super-slickcapers, the movie is state-of-the-art and features a few goodperformances from a few actors whose abilities could've elevated thisoverreaching artistic cross-promotion, with plenty of action and racketas it renders the genesis of the X-Men, a troupe of roughly a dozenmutants, hitherto. It opens in a Nazi concentration camp, where youngErik Lehnsherr is made to behold a heartbreaking act of cruelty anddiscovers he can manipulate metals with his mind, but just when he'senraged. He grows up to be Magneto and is played by Michael Fassbender,the sinewy Irish actor who the rumor mill says will become a big starafter this movie. For god's sake. He is already truly first-class. Buthe only becomes well-known after playing Magneto? Moreover, Raven isplayed by Jennifer Lawrence, recently nominated for a Best ActressOscar. Now she's a blue shape-shifter with scales. The cost ofprominence. Why is she great in Winter's Bone and yet so boring here?At Oxford, we meet James McAvoy's telepath Charles Xavier as a youngman, not yet a paraplegic. He'll ultimately oversee a school to protectand educate mutants, and he dreams they can relieve the world. Hisnemesis is Kevin Bacon's Sebastian Shaw, Magneto's merciless oppressorin the Nazi camp.Other mutants are assembled into one fold or the other. Each one has aspecialty. There's your shape-shifter, a hurricane-hurler, a screamer,a fire-shooter, a swift acclimatizer, named Darwin, sure enough, etc.That each would cultivate a distinctive capability through concurrenttransformation is a toll of the intelligent design of Stan Lee and hisMarvel Comics gang. Nevertheless, it must be limiting to just have onestunt. You need to move with a clique to deal with all given aspects ofa given situation.The plot entails efforts by Rose Byrne's CIA agent Moira McTaggert toexploit Xavier to fight Shaw, who poses a menace to world peace.Precisely how the CIA came across the mutants is a bit vague. Certainlythe agency exists basically as an expediency for the script, and thebasis for Moira, who appears to really like Xavier, and as a telepath,he should know.In any case, the fate of the good and evil mutants cross with theMissile Crisis, which was not entirely as we generally understand it.The scene where the mutants stand on a beach and telepathically spar bycausing both American and Soviet missiles to ferry back and forth inthe sky is, well, amusing, I was going to say, but no, I should viewthis scene more seriously.X-Men: First Class is fit weekend distraction that will soon be outdonein the collective fan conscious by the next one and the one after that.It's not a great comic book picture, like The Dark Knight, or a badone, like RED. It's not in 3-D, which is a clemency. The cast allrepresents their roles credibly, if not very enthusiastically, and theeffects worthily handle those rockets switching directions likecharacters in Scooby-Do being chased through one door and out another.The combat sequences feature people having awful things happen to themin rather unintelligible ways, but they also make an interestingconsistency for Raven the boring shape-shifter.
(26 April 2012)
Best Movie of 2011
This review is from: X-Men: First Class (+Digital Copy) [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray) The movie to me is the best of 2011! Outstanding actors and storyline. The effects are amazing! Loved how they built the relationship between the characters.
jenngrayxx (25 April 2012)
Best of all X-Men combined
I cannot believe I waited a month to see this film. It's a terrificstory set against a nicely-woven time period where you can understandand empathize with the world's fear, panic, and with all of thecharacters....all of them. All of the funny comments, cameos, names of "senior" characters, allwere noticed. This is definitely my favorite of the entire franchise.It's hard to say who stole the show (Michael Fassbender) because all ofthe major performances were so well done. The relationship between Magneto & Charles is the reason I enjoyed thefirst X-Men so much, and I loved seeing this from the beginning.Fassbender very astutely captures the pain and anger of Magneto and Icouldn't take my eyes off of him.
(22 April 2012)
Wow, give Mathew Vaughn X-4, Wolverine 2 and any other X-Men film!
X-Men: First Class is an exciting and fast paced prequel to the other X-Men films, that tells the story of how Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto (Michael Fassbender) befriended and started a school for mutants. Xavier tries to get Lehnsherr to get rid of his anger and remember his good memories, but Erick can't help wanting revenge on a powerful mutant named Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon), for reasons I won't give away. Director Matthew Vaughn (Kickass), who backed out of doing X-3 and was replaced by Brett Ratner (Rush Hour) "and his black leather fetish", proves here that he's as good at making comic based movies as Christopher Nolan (Dark Knight), Sam Raimi (Spider-Man) "if you don't count Spider-Man 3" and Jon Favreau (Ironman). Hell, I wish Vaughn will do any X-Men film for now on, including Wolverine 2. He does a great job capturing the look of the 60's, as well as handling such a big cast and giving them all a good amount of screen time and character build up. While all of the performances are well done, Fassbender especially gives an intense and star making performance as Magneto and even outshines the great Ian Mckellen in the role. Mckellen was a little too laid back in the role of a man who lost his parents to Nazis, Fassbender however brings out that anger perfectly. Movies like Thor and X-Men:First Class shows that maybe Hollywood hasn't forgotten how to give us summer movies that are actually worth seeing. Roger Ebert some how didn't think so and thinks that every comic based movie should be more like Spider-Man 2. Why, though ? When Thor and X-Men: First Class are faithful and well made adaptions of their comics.
(21 April 2012)
X-Men: First Class (Blu-ray)
Movie - 5.0Suffice it to say, X3 and Wolverine were pretty underwhelming. The dynamic relations in Xavier and Magneto's friendship and philosophy was pissed on and turned into some generic, shallow shell of its former self, and the potential depth in a character like Logan was wasted away by the whims of studio big heads. Thankfully, though, with Bryan Singer back on the X-train as producer and co-writer and Matthew Vaughn at the helm fresh off his Kick-Ass success, X-Men: First Class more than makes up for the disappointment. First Class is literally what it sounds like: an origins film. For those who aren't familiar with the X-Men franchise, there's actually very little you need to know, as the movie just essentially builds everything from scratch. If you're like me, and have been a fan for a while, whether it be through the comics, cartoon, or previous live-action films, then it should go without saying that you're in for a real treat. The one element that always attracted me to the franchise as a whole has always been the beliefs that Xavier and Magneto held and the conflict that existed between them. Both are ambitious and both have goals to someday create a world where mutants can live in peace. The only difference is that based on their upbringing, one believes in violence while the other does not. As mentioned about the dynamic between their relationship, I can't say how much I thoroughly enjoyed the performances of James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender. Both play their roles in very convincing fashion and really manage to capture the spirit of the two, which is a refreshing sight to see and a definite positive step in the direction of the movie franchise. The storytelling is perfect in terms of character development and looks amazing on a production and technical level as well. In addition, the supporting cast does an equally good job. Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique really helps to support the foundation of Xavier's beliefs, and Kevin Bacon does a surprisingly good job as Sebastian Shaw in ultimately shaping Magneto's beliefs (plus it's been a while since I've seen him in anything, so it's good to see him acting again). Before this film, I didn't think X2 could be surpassed in terms of scope. First Class has proven me wrong by a long shot. So far, this is the best movie of the franchise, and I'm hoping it leads to a few more.Video - 4.5- Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC- Video resolution: 1080p- Aspect ratio: 2.35:1- Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1So lately, I've started to become very interested in a lot of the technical work that goes in to movies, with a big part of it being the cinematography. When I discovered John Matheison, who had done the slew of Ridley Scott's epic period pieces (Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven, and Robin Hood), I was very much excited to hear of his involvement as DP for First Class. I still find it ironic that First Class itself is something of a quasi-period piece taking place during the Cuban Missile Crisis and paying aesthetic homage to the earlier Sean Connery Bond films, but I think it actually works out very well. First Class was filmed on 35mm and has a very nice filmic texture giving it a dated, yet very clean look to the overall picture. Black levels are easily the best part of the video giving lots of great shadow delineation while providing excellent detail in clothing and facial features. Contrast isn't too high or low providing a good deal of discernment between people, objects, and the background, especially in some of the more darkly-lit scenes. The color palette starts off a tad muted at the beginning of the film when we see Erik in the concentration camp, but things tend to get much more vivid when he and Charles are grown up. This is most noticeable when we see Erik traveling around the world looking for Sebastian Shaw and get some brighter yellows, oranges, tans, and whites throughout the shots of the Swiss bank and Argentinian bar scenes. Detail is sharp for a good majority of the film aside from one very dark shot when Charles and Erik are in the truck sneaking around in Russia. There's also a shot when Charles is trying to train Alex in the bomb shelter where all the light fixtures cause a kind of blue ringing effect on the camera, but it's more so just a quirk with the lighting than any kind of transfer problem. Other than those possible minor quibbles, there's really nothing wrong with the picture quality as a whole. Overall, I love the filmic texture and the picture's ability to balance dark and flashy. Emma Frost looks very good in either her sparkly dresses or diamond body form, and the visual effects appear virtually seamless whenever there's action on screen.Audio - 5.0Languages- English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1- Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1- French: Dolby Digital 5.1Subtitles- English, French, SpanishEqually impressive is First Class' audio presentation. Designed and recorded by Ron Bartlett (some of whose work includes Sherlock Holmes, Terminator Salvation, and the final cut of Blade Runner), there's a lot to enjoy, here. To start, dialogue is clear and audible through the center, and for what Charles' power is worth, from the other four speakers. In fact, I think one of the cooler, more subtle effects of the film is his telepathy. It has something of a rippling resonance to it that gives it an even cleaner sound than just hearing him talk on camera. Granted, it's a sound effect added through post-production, but what did you expect from an X-Men movie? But moving along, I also really like Henry Jackman's score. Listening to it as a standalone CD, as a part of the movie, and then as an isolated track on the BD (in conjunction with his wonderfully spirited interview on the special features), I have to say I've really come to appreciate his compositional work and how it really creates the mood of the movie overall. And then of course there are the sound effects. Being a summer blockbuster, the film has its definite fair share of booms, bangs, zips, rumbles, etc. High and low ends handle extremely well, particularly in the form of energy charges whether it be Shaw absorbing bombs, discharging it to kill a bunch of people, Magneto moving metal, Alex shooting his beams, or Azazel's teleportation. Surround activity has an excellent balance of front and rear channel dispersion as well, some of it around the beginning and middle, but mostly at the end when the X-Men and Magneto are fighting the Hellfire Club. LFEs are my favorite part of the audio, though. The aforementioned moving of metal by Magneto is the best example of this. Much like the previous X-films, whenever he uses his powers the sound design has always made that creaking sound which, if you have a competent sub-woofer, should sound amazing. I also really like the first appearance of the Blackbird towards the end of the film for its rumbly jet turbines and engine, and of course the part where Magneto lifts the submarine out of the water and drops it on the island.Extras - 4.0- X Marks the Spot (HD; 19:55 altogether)A feature that you can either play with the movie itself or as a standalone. It plays more like the half-assed version of Maximum Movie Mode where the film diverges into behind-the-scenes footage during the actual movie and not as a true Picture-in-Picture that goes along with the it, but it's still pretty informative. However, I don't think the overall duration of it is really worth watching in-movie, as it feels a tad intrusive. Had it been something of a true P-i-P like what Vaughn was able to do with Kick-Ass, then that would've been much, much more immersing. These are the features broken down:- Erin in Auschwitz (1:57)- Charles Meets Raven (1:56)- Mr. Howlett Declines (1:55)- Mindscape (1:49)- Emulsional Journey (4:13)- Rebecca's Return (1:44)- Cuban Beach Pre-Viz Sequence (3:07)- Retro Cool (2:51)- Children of the Atom (HD; 69:49 altogether)It's a 7-part feature that essentially covers everything from pre- to post-production and everything in-between. Of particular interest to me was how articulate the crew was in trying to make this a kind of throwback movie to the days of James Bond, but with an X-Men twist, and a little more grit. There were also some very cool snips of how the makeup and visual effects were created and implemented, and I especially loved the interview they had with Henry Jackman. It's only a few minutes, but the guy speaks so candidly and with so much gusto that I was very entertained, yet felt very informed by the what he had to say about composing the music and the kind of ideas he got from talking with director Matthew Vaughn. Here's the breakdown:- Second Genesis (10:01)Talks about the initial concept of setting the movie in the '60s, how the idea came about in the first place, and why they decided to go for it. After the abomination that was X3, I wholeheartedly accept this sort reboot prequel.- Band of Brothers (11:51)Discusses why they chose to use certain characters and how each actor was chosen to play them. In thinking about it, I find it interesting that despite continuity issues this main cast of characters still worked out pretty well. While it's definitely more of an Xavier/Magneto-centric film, the characters still offer enough support to back the literary themes of the story very well.- Transformation (10:06)A pretty cool look at the make up and prosthetics work that went into Beast, Mystique, and Azazel. In particular, I really liked the bit on choosing the right design for Beast. They mention Vaughn wasn't all that keen with Kelsey Grammer's look in X3, and that they wanted to go for a more wild, animalistic style for this re-visioning.- Suiting Up (8:33)The costuming of the film, getting all that '60s clothes, and how they managed to put yellow back into the original costumes. It was very interesting to find out that the yellow itself was supposed to represent the natural color of Kevlar.- New Frontier: A Dose of Style (9:55)Goes into great detail about how Vaughn specifically wanted to refer back to classic James Bond movies (of the Sean Connery variety) for the production and art design of First Class. They talk about how is such a genre piece now that they wanted to infuse as much of that style and ambiance as possible by building a lot of the sets from scratch. And in hindsight of what was written when Vaughn saw Inception, I can see why he was upset that the "revolving set" idea was beaten to the punch. Ah well, the tumbling X-Jet sequence still looks pretty cool.- Pulling off the Impossible (10:23)Shows the awesome work of Visual Effects Guru John Dykstra. Here, they cover a lot of things like how the Banshee/Angel fight scene was actually filmed on helicopters and no green screen, the detail in Emma Frost's diamond form, and concept behind Sebastian Shaw's energy absorption/discharge.- Sound and Fury (6:29)A very entertaining interview with composer Henry Jackman. The highlight of this feature is how he went through all of the trouble to create Magneto's theme with a bunch of fancy notations and drawn-out tunes, when all Vaughn really wanted was "the f-ing bass line." And guess what, it was a good idea.- Isolated Score (Dolby Digital 5.1 @448kbps)It would've been cooler to have it in lossless format, but it's still a great listen in hindsight of Jackman's interview and in the context of everything else the movie established both symbolically and thematically.- Deleted Scenes (HD; 14:07)Most are just alternate takes, but some of them are actually pretty funny, though they probably would not have worked as well if left in.- Cerebro: Mutant TrackerIt basically takes clips from all the other movies and tacks on a little dossier at the end of each one. I could write better bios than this based on what I've seen and read in the cartoon series and what little I've read of the comics...Personally, as informative as the extras are, I was hoping for it to be closer to the level of Kick-Ass, where at least an audio commentary or a true P-i-P track to go along with all, if not most of the movie, would've been nice.Overall - 4.5I've always been a fan of the X-Men franchise. I read some of the comics, watched all of the cartoon, played the numerous video games, collected the action figures, even made a (short-lived) fan club for it in 5th grade, and have really enjoyed the live-action movies (the first two, anyway..). And just when I thought X2 could never be topped, I was proven wrong. Matthew Vaughn (whom I now really wish would've done X3) has really shown signs of great directing prowess. Screw the financial shortcomings and pay attention to just how great of an X-Men film this is and show your support for more incarnations to make their way into the franchise. Whether it be more prequel stuff or even present day continuations, Brett Ratner's piece of crap and the slightly better (but not by much) Wolverine have been redeemed. With some masterful characterizations, a fun atmosphere, and some amazing production values, the movie deserves high praise. And while the extras are still a good two hours in length, I still wish a better P-i-P or at least an audio commentary were available. But with reference A/V quality to enhance the already great story, this is still one of my favorite BDs for the year so far. It's a must-own for X-Men fans and even a definite recommendation for those who aren't familiar with the franchise.
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