Review of X Men 1.5: The X Treme Edition (2 Discs)

Introduction

Call me cynical, but the release of a big budget sequel nowadays always seems to coincide with a release of a revamped DVD of the first movie – or more accurately, it is the other way round: the DVD release coincides with the sequel`s box office opening weekend. And so, continuing Marvel’s never-ending stream of box office hits, each the beginning of prospective lucrative franchises, this upgraded version of the X-Men DVD was released in order to whip up interest in the sequel.

The most anticipated bonus was supposed to be more extra scenes – in addition to the ones inserted into the theatrical cut of the original DVD. There were rumours of director Bryan Singer wishing to film more scenes to flesh out the movie, adding to what even he admitted was a rushed shooting schedule. Hence this DVD is somewhat dubiously entitled “X-Men 1.5”, implying that this is almost a different film, with so much added to it to help bridge the gap between X-Men 1 and X-Men 2 that it is deserving of a new film title. I say dubious because the fabled new scenes, every fanboy’s wet dream, never materialised, whether it was because of limited budget, or lack of time, or even – day I say it – the fact that there was no pressing NEED to film them. This DVD will probably sell quite well anyway as there will always be people who will upgrade anyway, and also some who chose not to buy the first incarnation yet will be swayed by the advertising campaign promising more and better features.

So the question to ask in this review is if this DVD is worth getting, whether you are a first time buyer or an upgrader. Unfortunately you will not be able to find a satisfactory answer to the second question in this review, as, despite phone calls and pestering, we could not get hold of the second ‘extras’ disc in this Special Edition. As to the latter question – well, I’ve got to hold something back to keep readers interested, so see my conclusion…!

Video

The THX-certified picture here, the same as that which was included on the original release, is pretty much flawless. There is no print damage or grain, the colours are rich and black levels solid. There is an astonishingly and consistently high level of detail right the way through the film. I am loathe to give full marks for picture quality…but in this case it is deserved.

Audio

The 5.1 Dolby Digital track, which was also on the original DVD, is included here, and just like the picture quality, is excellent. The surround effects are used a great deal and are always very impressive: the climactic fight on top of the Statue of Liberty and Magneto’s machine are superbly done. Another scene that shows how good this mix is when Wolverine first enters Xavier’s mansion – Professor X’s psychic voice in Wolverine’s head is neatly done in full surround.

This edition also contains a 5.1 DTS mix, as if we weren’t spoiled enough. It’s a little hard to describe why the DTS mix is better than plain DD, but in this case it just is…if I was trying hard, I would say the bass is more focused and sweeter, and the surround effects sound even more `directionalised`. But if you don’t have DTS capabilities on your amp, the DD version is virtually perfect; it’s just that DTS track raises the threshold of perfection.

Features

Unfortunately, as most of the DVD’s extras are on disc 2, I cannot comment on them, although I’ve heard that there are some superb extras on there…so *gasp* you may need to see some of our rivals` reviews for more information on these. For the record, this is just what should be on the second disc:

‘Bringing The X-Men To Life’ feature
`X Factor: The Look Of The X-Men’ feature
’Producing The X-Men’ feature
’Special Effects Of The X-Men’ feature
’Reflections Of The X-Men’ feature

On disc one, as on the original release, the star attraction is the extended cut. We are given four options to play the movie, other than in the original theatrical cut: with extended scenes, with extended and behind the scenes, with extended scenes and commentary, and with commentary only. The problem with the first disc – that of the six deleted scenes being clumsily inserted into the main movie instead of using seamless branching, and in non-anamorphic video when the rest of the movie is anamorphically enhanced – has been carried over onto this improved version in a ridiculous oversight. This was annoying the first time around, but leaving it uncorrected is pretty infuriating. Fortunately this seems to be the only drawback to this fine release.

The behind the scenes are a pretty good addition to this edition…just the usual B-Roll of the director directing actors, but there is something immeasurably cool about seeing Wolverine being brought to life! These scenes are inserted into the film as it runs: do not watch this version first! The film suddenly breaks to show you the behind the scenes action: great on a second viewing but to watch X-Men for the first time with it on can lead to narrative confusion. Bryan Singer’s commentary, another new addition, is also entertaining. After some initial shyness, Singer rabbles on with the kind of enthusiasm you can clearly see from the other extras.

Finally , the menus on this upgraded version of X-Men are far superior to the slow and cumbersome predecessor’, and just as pretty. A small point to make surely, but I’m sure every DVD enthusiast has owned DVDs where the sheer frustration of a clumsy menu has been a sticking point.

Conclusion

X-Men seems to get better every time I see it, and after seeing the superior sequel, I can really appreciate what a good job Singer did in covering so much exposition and introducing so many characters, as well as judging that delicate balance between placating the die-hards and appealing to the masses just about right. Of course the film could have been better without the studio pressure to finish six months earlier than expected to hit that summer release date and maximise box office returns: which blockbuster wouldn’t be better given more time and money? Practically all the characters are perfectly casted: Jean Grey, Professor X, Magneto, and, most of all, Hugh Jackman as Wolverine – so much so in fact that I can’t think of Wolverine in the cartoon or comics without picturing him. My only quibble is that Singer is clearly not an action director: the fight scenes in both X-Men movies lacked a little something…maybe he should look at the fantastic cartoon series! And Gambit, the Ragin’ Cajun, should be introduced. Immediately. Otherwise, I’m a pretty big fan of the X-Men, and since I really liked the film, I hope most others will too.

As I said in my opening, somewhat frustratingly I was not given the second disc of this set by the PR company responsible for distributing the DVDs, so I can’t really say if X-Men 1.5 is substantially better than the first version, and therefore cannot recommend this as a worthwhile upgrade. However, as to the question I left off on, whether it’s worth a purchase if you never bought the first DVD, I can answer that with a resounding ‘yes’: the first version of this film on DVD was superb, an excellent buy in every department. This edition only improves on that, so, regarding the first version as an essential purchase, I would highly recommend this DVD too.