X-Men

[Hal]

Title: X-Men
Year: 2000
Director: Bryan Singer
Rating: PG-13
Length: 104 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, English: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, French: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround
Subtitles: English, Spanish

Stars:
Hugh Jackman
Patrick Stewart
Ian McKellen
Famke Janssen
James Marsden

Plot:
Born into a world filled with prejudice are children who possess extraordinary powers - the result of unique genetic mutations. Cyclops unleashes bolts of energy from his eyes. Storm can manipulate the weather at will. Rogue absorbs the life force of anyone she touches. But under the tutelage of Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart), these and other outcasts learn to harness their powers for the good of mankind. Now they must protect those who fear them as the nefarious Magneto (Ian McKellan), who believes humans and mutants can never co-exist, unveils his sinister plan for the future!

Pulsing with state-of-the-art visual effects and unforgettable characters, 'X-MEN' "delivers it all!" ('ABC-TV')

Extras:
Scene Access
Feature Trailers
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Gallery
Production Notes
DVD-ROM Content
Closed Captioned
THX
Animatics

My Thoughts:

As I’ve mentioned before, I have never been a big comic book fan, so I had never heard of these characters until this movie came out.  If it’s anything like reading a book first, it’s probably just as well, since movies rarely stack up to the books they’re based on.  At any rate, I found this to be an enjoyable action-packed film with very good special effects.  While they did a good job of portraying the rivalry between the Professor and Magneto, I don’t think there was enough time devoted to development of any of the other characters, except maybe Wolverine, especially Sabre Tooth, Toad and Mystique.  All we know is that they’re on the wrong side.  Worth a look on it’s own, but a must see for the remainder of the trilogy.

Rating:

[Jon]

Always good to get a non-comic-nerd view of such films, Hal. I'd be interested to know what you think of the sequel.... 

[Hal]

I had originally listed X-Men III for this marathon, but I thought, dummy, you haven't watched X-Men II yet!  

Then I thought, it's been a long, long time since I've watched the original, maybe I'll just do that and after the marathon (hopefully tomorrow), I can watch the other two and have the whole experience!

Anyway....that's my story and I'm sticking to it!  

[Jon]