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X2 - X-Men United (Full Screen Edition)

X2 - X-Men United (Full Screen Edition)

List Price: $29.98
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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: More than human
Review: Mutants can't live with them, can't live without them seems to be the preveiling theme of the marvelous X2. Building on the momentum of the first film Director Bryan Singer continues to graft contemporary issues (although, to be fair, the original comic did so as well but not in such a compact fashion)to the X-men story. The major theme of the second feature, like the first, is prejudice and tolerance. Singer handles the themes and the film's story well. Although many of the original elements from the graphic novel involving Stryker have been changed, those changes work dramatically for the film.

When we last saw the X-Men, Wolverine had left Xavier's School For Gifted Children and the X-Men compound to discover his origin. He ends up at an abandoned research facility so it appears, on the surface, that his search has reached a dead end. Rogue mutants have become bolder making an attempt on the life of the President. This assassination attempt allows William Stryker the opportunity and excuse he needs to convince the President to sign an order giving him troops to invade Xavier's school and take the X-Men (and the children at the school)captive.

Encased in a plastic prison cell, Magneto is a caged bird. When Stryker arrives with a special serum to force Magneto to cooperate in revealing information about Xavier's school and the compound, Magneto sings giving up his old friend to a mutual enemy.

Jean Grey's abilities have blossomed in a frightening way since her encounter with Magneto at Ellis Island. Her abilities indicate that she might be more powerful than ever before. She and Storm go in search of the Presidential assassin so they can get to the bottom of who is trying to create a war between humans and mutants. Meanwhile, Stryker attacks Xavier's compound and with Wolverine the only adult around, he goes into high gear fighting them off. All of this becomes central to the conflict between Stryker, Magneto and the X-Men.

The performances are all exceptional in particular Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. Famke Jannsen, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellan and Brian Cox give considerable power and presence to the various roles they play. Unlike some films, the actors here are clearly committed to the material and aren't going through the motions.

The DVD looks exceptional although I did notice a bit of edge enhancement. Still, it's nothing serious and doesn't mar an otherwise exceptional presentation. The colors are rich and, unlike the film the Santa Clause (another recent release)the transition from one layer to another in the disc isn't disruptive.

The extras are an improvement when compared to the first edition of X-Men on DVD (and comparable to 1.5). On disc one there are two running commentaries with Bryan Singer, Cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel and a second audio track with various comments from a variety of the actors and producers.

Disc two focuses on a wide variety of extras. The Nighcrawler Attack sequence is a multi-angle interactive sequence that is actually quite cool although I doubt you'll go back to it again and again. The Wolverine/Deathstrike Fight Rehearsal provides the nuts and bolds of choregraphing a difficult and demanding fight sequence. The documentary The Second Unanny Issue of X-Men (cleverly titled I might add) is quite good and provides a good glimpse into the production process. It's not the best documentary I've seen included as an extra but provides considerable insight.

The Featurettes include The Secret Origin of X-Men, Nightcrawler Reborn, The Adventure Before X2, Introducing The Incredible Nightcrawler and character studies. As before there are deleted scenes although I haven't had the time to investigate all of these fully so can't completely comment.

Parents should be warned that there is a bit of bad language and also some suggestive sexual situations in the film.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: X-Men series and Lord of the Rings Top 2 of All Time
Review: The X-Men movies and The Lord of the Rings are the two greatest movies of all time. There's no need for me to even expalin the story of either of the two. You know X2: X-Men United is great if you've seen the first and the same goes for any Lord of the Rings movie. Yes, X2 is even better than the first.
5 out of 5 stars, 2 thumbs up.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Awesome but one upped by the first one
Review: there is only so far you can go with comics. Spiderman, The Hulk, The Flash all comics. this one however takes the cake. the only better movie i can think of is the first x-men and that is sayin somethin. check out http://www.outwar.com/page.php?x=1719175 for more comic stuff

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Adaptation of A Comic Book
Review: Outstanding action sequences permeate this movie. The acting is great. This is truer to the nature of it's comic book source material than any other film, especially in the crucial area of the depiction of action. Much improved over the first movie, which was very good too.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The X Files
Review: X2: X-Men United the sequel to X-Men, does something very few sequels do, it's actually better than the original.

After a lone mutant called Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming) attacks the White House, one of the President's (Cotter Smith) top advisors, General Stryker (Brian Cox) visits an imprisioned Magneto (Ian McKellen) to pump him for infomation about Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and his famed X-Men. As these forces gather, Storm (Halle Berry) and Dr. Jean Gray (Famke Janssen), are sent to find Nightcrawler, in the hopes of discovering the truth behind the White House attack. As the investigation begins Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) returns, after some time away, searching for clues, as to his true identity. The true nature of this mystery, ultmately forces Professor X, to confront the ghosts of his past.

One of the problems that I had with the original film, was the way some of the major charaters got slighted in the story by having too many characters to keep track of. Well, I don't how director Bryan Singer managed to do it, but the sequel has even more characters this time out, and it's still better than the first film. While Cyclops (James Marsden) is still getting shortchanged here, everyone else is given some major screen time, and gets a chance to shine, as opposed to X1 Rouge (Anna Paquin) is still in the mix--this time with Iceman (Sean Ashmore) and Pyro (Aaron Stanford both of whom were all but cut from the first film) in tow. Even though the entire team is split up at various times throughout the film, we get to see the heroes work together more--which to me also helps the film. At one point, the movie even allows for Magneto to become an ally, but not for long.

As with most sequels the action is notched up a bit. X2 is no exception There's plenty action and special effects. My favorite fight sequence though, is a confrontation between Wolverine and Deathstrike (Kelly Hu) As the clawed pair do battle--it's pretty cool Even as the daring do takes us away...Singer and the writers manage to slip in a message about accepting those who are different and a little more humor as well. X2 is longer than the previous adventure, but never seems to get bogged down, or lose its way. It breezes along at a good pace and sustains that pace throughout.

The 2 disc set also does the film great justice with its supplements. There are 2 fine audio commentary tracks on disc one, the first, features Singer and director of photography Tom Sigel. While their track may get a bit technical at times, I for one never tire of hearing Singer talk about the process he uses to make movies. The second track features producers Lauren Schuler Donner + Ralph Winter, along with writers Michael Dougherty, Dan Harris, and early screenplay drafter David Hayter.

Disc 2 has a wealth of documentary and other video based material for a look at virtually all aspects of the film. It matches up nicely with the stuff produced for the X-Men 1.5 set. Some of the information is repeated throughout, but, not enough to be a major problem. Of particular interest for me was the 64 minute documentary - "The Second Uncanny Issue of X-Men" - Making of X2. After that overview, we get insight on how key components and sequences came together. There are 11 featurettes. Some will hold your attention better than others. My favorites are: "The Secret Origin of X-Men,", "Evolution in the Details - Designing X2,", "Wolverine Deathstrike Fight Rehearsal," " "Nightcrawler Stunt Rehearsal," "Nightcrawler Time-lapse" or make up test for the charater, "FX2 - Visual Effects," "Requiem for Mutants" and composer John Ottman's take on scoring music for the film, and "X2 Global Webcast Highlights" The 11 deleted scenes are nice to see for sure, but part of me wishes there were a commentary option as well, for a little context. Rounding out disc 2 are a few still gallaries,
3 theatrical trailers, some links to various X websites, and very out of place PSA that has nothing whatsoever to do with the X-Men or any of its incarnations.

With solid action, nice interaction, humor and a twist here and there, X2 is a well rounded comic book film. The movie and its well produced bonus material has something that will please X fans like me, and newcomers alike. I highly recommend both X Men 1.5 and this X2 set for anyone's DVD collection.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: packed to the nines
Review: A great DVD for a great movie....this dvd is packed....especially enjoyed the interviews :-)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: X-traordinary!!
Review: This movie is just great!! Far better than the original, and thats a rare thing! Collosus, Kitty, and other mutants appeared in this film, than the last. The first movie was cool, and this one even better. The plot was great, the graphics, with night crawler teleporting all over the place, that was just fantastic! I am only out of my seat waiting for the third movie of X-men to come out, marvel has done a great job. It is rated pg-13 but still, i would still recommend that kids to watch it. This movie is a must have, and when it comes out I will surely buy it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the Best Movies of 2003!!
Review: To say this movie was great does not do the film justice. Much better than the slow first movie, X-2 is a fast-paced action flick punctuated with wonderful special effects. The powers of each mutant are totally believable. The audience is dazzeled with Nightcrawler's teleportation powers, electified by Storm's awesome weather abilities (Halle Berry rocks as Storm, but I would have liked a Jamacain/African accent), and captivated by Wolverine and Lady Deathstrike's dual of claws! This movie has an all-star cast including the genius of Sir Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart, the strength of Hugh Jackman and the budding talent of Shaun Ashmore (Iceman). Plot/storyline is also very strong in this movie. The tale is captivating and leaves the audience wondering who will use their powers to get out of the current ominous situation. In its entirety, this movie is great fun to watch. The mutant mayheim running rampant throughout this movie makes the audience thirsty for a sequel and makes this a great must-own DVD.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Simply awesome!
Review: To start off, X-Men is one of my all-time favorite things; I was one of those kids who sat in front of the TV with the X-Men cartoon show playing with a couple X-Men toys in each hand. So as I am in a little older now, I need some new tastes. A movie was exactly what X-Men needed, for both young and adult audiences, X-Men fanatic, movie fanatic, or just someone who wants to sit down and enjoy a good movie, this movie is recommended for all audiences.

This is X2, the sequel to the 2000 hit X-Men movie. It was highly anticipated, but did not really get much attention. Quite frankly, besides cool effects and just the whole "Wow, an X-Men movie!" mood, it was not that good. But X2 blew everyone away, and especially with the typical sequels which usually do not have near the impact of the original one, X2 did a quite good job of avoiding that discretion.

The first X-Men movie was hard to follow for most people, because most people had no clue what X-Men were, and who the characters were. It didn't do a great job of explaining the story, and left viewers more confused and asking questions even before they watched the movie. X2 is totally opposite.

X2 blends story, characters, and just everything so smoothly and so well. For X-Men fans and movie fans alike it is pleasing. For X-Men fans especially, who I can admit I am a somewhat X-Men expert, can enjoy it far more. Knowing those characters already, the story behind X-Men, and the stories between the existing characters. For a movie fan, they don't know who that guy who shoots lasers out of some sort of futuristic goggles from someone who can levitate metal. But once they are over that hump, X2 is much smoother, and not focusing on how much you already know. You just watch it. Conflict of the original story with X-Men and the story that Peter Jackson and writers of this film do not clash; it comes together leaving both sides equally pleased.

X2 focuses more on new characters, a fully-developed story, explaining more about the characters like the origin of Wolverine, and a message that everyone should really think about, and no one can forget those incredible actions scenes, scenes that keep making you want to see more and more, and they do not stop coming, there is one action scene after another.

X2 keeps all original cast, unlike other movies who constantly change around actors/actresses, which gets confusing and really annoying. With exception to Toad and Sabretooth (no one knows what happened to them story-wise), all original X-Men actors/actresses are there, Patrick Stuart, a.k.a. Professor Xavier, Hugh Jackman, a.k.a. Wolverine, Halle Berry, a.k.a. Storm, and others, with a handful of new ones. Though, these new characters only enhance the movie, not cloud it. New characters like rising stars Shawn Ashmore, a.k.a. Iceman and Rogue's new love interest, Aaron Stanford, a.k.a. Pyro, Kelly Hu, a.k.a. Yuriko Oyama (Lady Deathstrike), and Alan Cumming, a.k.a. Nightcrawler, and the occasional small characters that only X-Men fans will recognize, and which was quite cool, Colossus, Kitty Pryde (Shadowcat), and Siryn. There are also little details about other characters that are hard to notice for some: Hank McCoy (Beast) on a newscast and Remy LaBeau (Gambit) appearing on a list. Little detail delights for fans.

As I have said before, this movie does not disappoint. Constant action scenes, awesome fights, and amazing, spectacular special effects. Several of these scenes, a scene with Nightcrawler entering the White House using his mutant ability to teleport which looks awesome and just kick-ass, Magneto escaping his plastic prison, Wolverine fighting Yuriko, and other awesome scenes.

Story is still developing, and picks up where X1 left off. The attraction of Wolverine to Jean Grey, and the aggression between Cyclops and Wolverine which is pretty humorous. Iceman and Rogue's blooming relationship, the constant conflict of views between Xavier and Magneto. The story for this specific movie is great, though it is based on your typical save-the-world ordeal, but nonetheless great to watch. The X-Men must save the world from being threatened, and must team up with their enemies to save it. For a movie it's not what is to be accomplished, but how. The movie does a great job of showing how it is done. It gives an insight on the origin of Wolverine, which Wolverine was trying to figure out from the first movie and tells you where he got his claws from.

The message of this movie is a good one too: mutants are different, though the humans in that movie react with fear and aggression, it is saying though people may be regarded as "freaks", that they are not different from you and I, and show not be treated in that respect.

The DVD itself has a lot of extras, behind-the-scenes, how they did the awesome effects. Just know if you want wide-screen or full-screen.

So, X2 broke the typical sequel discretion, and proved to be a great movie to watch. Action, great developing story, great stars to fill in characters, humor, and awesome effects, it's just overall a great movie. Many would agree that this is far better than the first movie, and all would most certainly agree that "they liked it". So see for yourself what was so popular in the theatres this past summer, and watch X2: X-Men United for yourself. For both X-Men fans and movie fans alike.

5 stars!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: X-2 is the best
Review: If you liked the 1st X-Men, you'll love X-2. It is so much better then the original X-Men. If you liked the 1st X-Men, you will LOVE X-Men 2. When I first saw it at the movies, I wanted to watch it again, and again, and again... so you should see X-Men 2.
You'll like it alot. Even though it's PG-13, it is a great family movie. I would reccomend it for kids 7 and up. The special effects are great, and it is a very interesting story, like The Matrix but X-2 has less swearing and stuff. Hope you like the movie if you plan to see it!!!!!!!


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