Fantastic Four / Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2012)

Short resumed Director Tim Story has done an excellent job with the film adaptation of the Marvel super-hero gang The Fantastic 4. He brought on a terrific cast, used some great special effects and made a couple of movies that the whole family can enjoy together.

The criticism for the Fantastic 4 series seems to center around two similar objections. 1) Fans of the comic books are dissatisfied with the less intense film adaptations. And 2) The series is too light and family oriented. Indeed, those are valid objections if you've come looking for Marvel adaptations like The Blade Trilogy, Daredevil or The Punisher. Even the Spider-Man and the X-Men trilogies far exceed Fantastic 4 in adult-oriented content.

The Fantastic 4 series holds up quite well as a family franchise. The stories are very well put together. There are funny moments and there's great action. The acting cast is good and they take their roles seriously. Sure, the movies get campy at times. But, c'mon...it's a 1960s comic book adaptation. But the modern twists and especially the modern special effects make these films thoroughly entertaining for young and old.

Fun movies, and the sequel is even better than the original.

Part of the reason I buy movies on disc is for the special features like "making of" documentaries, outtakes, etc. Unfortunately I haven't found a Blu-ray copy of the first Fantastic 4 movie that includes all the special features you get with the Fantastic Four (Two-Disc Special Edition) on DVD. This two-pack is no exception. There are commentary tracks, but that's about it. Rise of the Silver Surfer in this set does, however, have all the special features that have been included in other releases/packaging.

I think it's a shame that you have to buy Fantastic 4 twice if you want the movie in high def AND all the special features. Worse, it's not as simple as putting disc 2 from the DVD in your Blu-ray case, because disc 1 from the DVD (above) also has seamlessly integrated extended scenes.

I like the movies, but I give this two-pack two stars because the first movie disc is like a "rental edition" which lacks most of the special features and the extended version option of the DVD edition.

Buy Fantastic Four / Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2012) Now

Fantastic Four / Fantastic Four: Rise of Silver [Blu-ray]

I bought this off of Amazon thinking it included both movies as well as special features, but the description on here was extremely vague. This bluray set has NO special features at all, and the aspect ratio listed on Amazon is incorrect. The actual aspect ratio for each movie is: Fantastic Four (Widescreen 2:35:1) and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (Widescreen 2:40:1).

I was disappointed that I have to return this as I just received it today, but if I'm buying it on bluray I want all the features.

If you're only interested in the movies then this would be great for you, but otherwise it's an unnecessary bundle when they've already had different bundles already put together. This would have been perfect if it contained everything.

Edit:

Apparently someone who purchased this set (Brian T) has posted that there are indeed special features included in this set of the Fantastic Four films. The first film contains 2 commentaries and a trailer while the second apparently has a lot of special features.

I returned this item initially because of no information given on the package sleeve about special features and many people will find themselves in a similar situation because of it. I still rate the movies as 3 stars for an average as they're good but not "Fantastic" yet the bigger issue is with Fox and their poor product manufacturing when it comes to information given on products.

The movies themselves are worth seeing even without the special features but you want as much content as possible for your purchase. Even Amazon doesn't list that there are any special features and that is completely the fault of this "Own the Moments" series.

Read Best Reviews of Fantastic Four / Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2012) Here

I decided to get this 2-movie set version for the value and convenience. The original Fantastic Four movie disc offers the movie in Widescreen with a couple of featurettes. The Silver Surfer movie disc shows the movie in Full Screen format on side A and Widescreen on side B with commentary available. While I didn't expect all the bells and whistles on the second film that was offered in the other released editions, it would have been nice to have one featurette included.

I enjoyed both movies as entertaining diversions. The special effects are quite good. The characters continue the first film's fun banter in the second film. However, don't expect great depth into the characters.

Want Fantastic Four / Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2012) Discount?

I won't argue about comic-to-film translation. Expecting things to be exact from the comic book should be ideals left at the door. This is F4 the movie, you can read the comic book at your local comic store (I encourage you to do so!). F4 is a great movie if you can expect to have a good time with a comic book film, one that doesn't take itself too serious like the Dark Knight trilogy, nor overly comedic, like The Incredibles, but somewhere between. And I think that's the tone a Fantastic 4 film should take. While I enjoyed the first movie, I have to be honest, in the theater I was somewhat disappointed with its sequel. But over time I can sit down and enjoy it for what it is. I think time does that for some movies. Its OK to change and grow your opinions!

The transfer to blu-ray disc is pleasing and fairly standard as far as transfer go, being just as vibrant as it was in the theater. These are mostly bright films, even when its dark outside. Surround sound is also pleasing enough, using a very sci-fi pallet of sounds. Extra's are on the poor side, ripping them (and the disc design) from the DVD's essentially, and I would say that brings the overall rating down to 3 stars but the fact this edition has both films I bumped it up to 4 (when I purchased the "Own the Moments" edition it was a steal being a few bucks over the price of just one film).

Great movies if you can just stop being so critical, grab a big bowl of popcorn and your favorite soda, and have fun. I mean, this is fun for the whole family without alienating adults in my opinion. And since the Fantastic Four is one crazy family (maybe more than some families), its a win-win.

Save 60% Off