With the X-Men films becoming too expensive to feature all its stars, it has become more logical to focus on the storyline of each of the main characters. And what best than to feature one of the more popular characters in the Marvel and X-Men universe, Wolverine.Taking the helm as director is actor, Gavin Hood ("Thug", "The Storekeeper" and "Stas and Nel Adventures"), with a screenplay by David Bennioff ("The Kite Runner", "Troy") and Skip Woods ("Hitman" and "Swordfish"). Joining the men is composer Harry Gregson-Williams ("Deja Vu", "Shrek the Third" and "Gone Baby Gone") and cinematographer Donald McAlpine ("The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", "Peter Pan", "Anger Management" and "Moulin Rouge!").
"X-Men Origins: Wolverine", the Blu-ray Ultimate 2-Disc Edition comes with two discs. The main disc is the Blu-ray, while the second disc is a digital copy.
VIDEO & AUDIO:
"X-Men Origins: Wolverine" is presented in 1080p High Definition with an AVC @ 22MBPS. The picture quality is quite solid with the skin pores of both Hugh Jackman and Liev Schrieber coming quite nicely on the HD transfer. The grittiness, the sweat, the grime, the vibrancy is also well-captured in the film. Blacks are nice and deep and with the film being shot outdoors, the areas that Logan visit are quite detailed. I didn't see any compression artifacts or major scratches or dust on the video transfer.
The audio is presented in English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio (also English, Spanish and Portuguese 5.1 Dolby Digital and French 5.1 DTS). The lossless audio track is absolutely awesome. From Zero's gunfire, Logan's adamantium claws making the "snickt" sound, Wade's swords as it deflects the bullets and Victor's attacks and his growls, it's all captured and sounds incredible. Also, there are plenty of action-scenes that really showcase the surround channels and a good amount of LFE is utilized. From the explosions to the gunfire, home theater owners should be happy with the Blu-ray lossless soundtrack as some scenes sound quite immersive.
As expected, Twentieth Century Fox has done a great job with the video and audio transfer for "X-Men Origins: Wolverine". Subtitles are presented in English SDH, Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin and Portuguese.
SPECIAL FEATURES
"X-Men Origins: Wolverine" comes with the following special features:
* Commentary by Gavin Hood Audio Commentary by the director Gavin Hood. For the most part, Hood does a great job in providing the details to the film. A very informative audio commentary.
* Commentary by Producers Laura Schuler Donner and Ralph Winter There are some interesting details about certain scenes and what went on to create those scenes via the producers perspective. The only problem is that Donner and Winter have too many silent moments in where they are not talking. So, it can be a bit distracting.
* The Roots of Wolverine: A Conversation with Stan Lee and Len Wien (16:16) Both Stan Lee and Len Wien discuss the X-Men, Wolverine as a character, Hugh Jackman as Wolverine and the history of the character. An informative featurette in regards to the comic books. For some reason, I felt that Stan Lee was not his jovial self.
* Wolverine Unleashed: The Complete Origins (12:02) Interviews with the director, producers, Hugh Jackman in regards to shooting the film, origins of Wolverine, training, making his claws and the set.
* Weapon X Files This segment features each talent in character talking about themselves and then we hear from the director/producer about what they wanted to accomplish with their character and special effects that went into the making of that character. Probably my favorite was the featurette on Kevin Durand's Blob and what went into making the fat suit.
Victor Creed/Sabretooth (7:25)
William Stryker (4:25)
John Wraith (4:15)
Kayla Silverfox (3:26)
Fred Dukes/Blob (7:18)
Bradley (3:18)
Remy Lebeau/Gambit (9:08)
Agent Zero (3:45)
Wade Wilson/Deadpool (7:10)
Emma (Kayla's Sister) (3:25)
* The Thrill of the Chase: The Helicopter Sequence (5:53) The making of the helicopter sequence.
* Ultimate X-Mode While watching the film, viewers can watch the director, producers and cast talking about the film via picture-in-picture.
* Deleted & Alternate Scenes (9:30) With optional commentary by director Gavin Hood, Hood introduces four deleted and alternate scenes which include: Young Storm, Victor at the boxing ring, Alternate Memory Erase Sequence and a Japanese Bar Scene.
* Fox Movie Channel Presents: World Premiere (6:20) The "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" debut in Tempe, Arizona (The contest winners of where the red carpet premiere took place).
* X-Men on Blu-ray: Trailers for X-Men Trilogy and "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian".
* BD-Live Lookup With a BD-Live enabled Blu-ray player, viewers can access up-to-date information on actor filmographies, information related to "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" on imdb (The Internet Movie Database).
JUDGMENT CALL:
I literally grew up with the "X-Men" and "Wolverine" comic books when I was younger. During the 80's, you had your American superheroes but Wolverine represented a character that was just exciting, deadly and literally kickass.
Since the release of the three X-Men films, I have no doubt in my mind that Hugh Jackman was the best casting decision made for the character. He embodies the character completely and the amount of discipline he puts in working out and being Logan is just incredible and it shows in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine".
For the most part, the film is full of action and full of characters. The excitement is there, the killer instinct of both Logan and Victor are there and of course, we have pre-Deadpool Wade Wilson in the film as well, along with many other characters that makes this film fun and exciting. And to feature a storyline that revolves around Logan's origin is not easy. After all, having followed the comic books for so long, I think even writers had their challenge of how the Weapon X program would be and even today, just seeing how things have evolved with the program is just staggering. So, before watching the film, I did have my reservations of how muddled the plot could be.
Fortunately, the filmmakers took a different approach and created their own storyline with some aspects of the comic book still part of the storyline. Keeping things simple and for the most part, for those who are not familiar with the comic books, at least exciting enough to understand where Logan came from and why he and Victor have had this dysfunctional relationship.
For the most part, Jackman is just great as Logan/Wolverine and Liev Schreiber can always play the definitive bad ass. Danny Huston as Stryker was quite effective and Lynn Collins as Kayla Silverfox did a great job as well. As for Taylor Kitsch ("Friday Night Lights") as Remy Lebeau/Gambit, that was quite interesting but for the most part, I felt that Kitsch did a good job albeit the thick French accent that Gambit exhibits in the comic books and people are so used to hearing from the X-Men animated series. The others have small roles such as "LOST" and "Lord of the Rings" actor Dominic Monaghan as Bradley and Black Eyed Peas member Will.i.am also ventures to the acting world, appearing onscreen (instead of voice as he did in "Madagascar 2'). But one of the exciting parts of this film was seeing the Blob (Kevin Durand) and of course, Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds). It was great to see on the Blu-ray of how they came up with the Blob's outfit and of course, having Wade Wilson in the film. It's important to note that if you are a fan of Wade Wilson, make sure you watch through the ending credits.
With all my gushing about how much I enjoy this film, one must wonder if I have any negatives. Well, what I didn't like about the film was the overuse of CG, in which some scenes looked a bit too unrealistic. Also, the tweaking of the Wade Wilson character was a bit too much for my taste. I can understand some hardcore fans who may have a problem with the comic book continuity and how the film has quite a few differences but personally, many super hero films has its differences from its comic book counterpart that its not surprising anymore. As long as the soul of the characters are intact and the storyline is well-presented, it's good enough for me.
As for the Blu-ray release, the film definitely gets a wonderful HD transfer as picture and audio quality is solid. A good number of special features are included, as well as a slipcase and a digital copy of the film.
With that being said, "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" is a good superhero film with a lot of action. Was it as deep and entertaining like "The Dark Knight Returns", my answer is no. But I definitely enjoyed it more than the third X-Men film and even the "Hulk" related films. I felt that the storyline focused on Logan/Wolverine, his rivalry with Victor Creed quite well. If anything, it's the CG that tends to be overdone at times that bothered me a bit but for the most part, I did enjoy watching the film.
But after watching the awesome Blu-ray version and seeing the film in High Definition and watching the special features, that actually enhanced my perspective towards the film. A lot went into the making of this film and to see that Hugh Jackman did most of his own stunts, that is incredible.
Overall, if you are a fan of Wolverine and the previous X-Men films, definitely give "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" a try. Definitely worth recommending!
Like the other X-Men movies, it doesn't always follow the comic storyline, and some characters are different from the way they were in the comics. However, taken on its own, this movie tells an interesting story of Wolverine's background, and successfully captures his basically good, decent character, without ignoring some of the things he has had to do in his life (and including the action scenes that are part of why people watch Wolverine). It also gave a good look at Gambit, which finally made me able to see the charm of this character.
There is some timeline continuity problem between this movie and X-Men First Class, and a little with the later movies. At the end of First Class, Xavier is around 30 and still has his hair when he is paralyzed. Near the end of this movie, there is a short scene of a bald Xavier walking. Also, Scott Summers is a minimum of 14 in 1962 in this movie, and seems no older than 30 in X-Men 1, set somewhere in the 1990s (when he should have been at least 44 for continuity to work).
Overlooking these details (after all, the comics contradict each other periodically, too), this is an enjoyable movie and worth getting. I actually liked it better than First Class (which I also enjoyed), though that one has better reviews.
Buy X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy) (2009) Now
I want to get this out first, I love the comics. I think none of these movies are anywhere close to represent the X-men as they are in the comics. That said, I think these movies exist in a different world that has nothing to do with the 616, except for the characters names and most their powers. I have no problems with these movies; X-men 1 and 2 were very entertaining action movies. But even those movies should have been called, "Wolverine 'N Pals", because they didn't focus on the X-men, but on Wolverine's interaction with the other characters. My expectations of this movie were not based on the comics themselves, but on the previous movie storylines. I knew in my heart that Hollywood would somehow find a way to rape the image of one of my favorite characters in the Marvel Universe, Deadpool. So when "Weapool 11" popped up at the end I wasn't even surprised they would do something that silly. I read an interview a long time ago that about X-men 1 that the producers had to fight to have Cyclops wear the visor because the director didn't like it. So, I am not surprised nor bothered by the fact that these Hollywood interpretations don't have a clue about how these characters should be handled. I did like the previous movies (except 3), and understand that this is merely a diferent interpretation of these characters.Wolverine Origins or, "Wolverine 'N Pals 4; how this mess began", is a very entertaining movie. But it fails to deliver a comprehensible story line. A lot of the story doesn't make any sense. The movie,( as you might be have been clued to know), is about Wolverines origins, its shows you where he came from and how his powers manifested, leading to spending a long part of his life with his half brother Sabertooth, whom we were introduced to in the 1st X-men. After many adventures and wars, the pair ends up joining a military group of people with superpowers led by Stryker. On one of the missions, Wolverine angered by Sabertooth's actions leaves the group to pursue a nicer lifestyle. This is when he falls in love with Silverfox and the pair lives happily for a while. Many years later Sabertooth comes back in a killing rampage taking out some old members of Stryker's group, and Wolverine's love is killed during this. To get his revenge, Wolverine agrees to have done on him an experimental procedure that with give him metal plated bones.
Not bad right? Love, family, betrayal and revenge. All the stuff to make a great story. This is where it doesn't add up. For those of you that don't want "Spoilers" please don't read, as I might give away some plot details.
-After wolverine finds Silverfox dead, Wolverine a veteran of many wars, doesn't check to make sure she is in fact dead? Why did he leave her body there in the field? Couldnt't his enhanced smell detect the fake blood? Was it her manipulation power that convinced him to just move on instead of taking her to a medic.
-If she can manipulate people by touch, how the hell didn't she manipulate Stryker in letting her sister or any of the other kids go? She spends 7 years of her life with Wolvie and doesn't manipulate him, and indestructible man, to kill Stryker? Was she having to much fun maybe?
-After Wolverine has adamantium put on his bones and escapes to visit the "Kents", why on earth would Stryker send Maverick with a rifle to shoot a man that can't die with metal bones? Was he going to shoot through an eyeball from a helicopter? He missed pretty badly by the way, twice. Superman gonna be angry when he goes home to visit.
-Its revealed that Silverfox wasn't killed by Sabertooth yet after Sabertooth saves Wolverine from falling off the cooling tower, Wolverine tells him "this doesn't change anything". Why? She's not dead. She fooled you. He saves you from falling and having your butt kicked but Weapon 11, why the hell are you still mad at him?
-Stryker failed to wipe Wolverine's memories so the solution is to shoot a guy with metal on his skull on his head? How the hell does that work? How did he know it would work?
-Why did the most powerful telepath (Professor X) not control someone inside the 3 mile island release the kids? Why wait 7 years and then help. Why didn't he do that stop time thing from the previous movies so he can save the kids? Where was Magneto? Doesnt he care about abused mutant kids? (One of the restrained kids looked like Quicksilver, who is Magnetos son in the comics)
-How come those kids couldn't get away on their own? What was that chain link fence cage they were in made of? Adamantium?
-Why was Gambit hanging out in a casino, when he knew he was being looked for by Stryker? How was it that Stryker can't find him in a long time and yet Wolverine finds him in a day? Maybe Stryker didn't want him anymore. Maybe they couldn't persuade the Blob to talk?
-Why add the scene in the end where Stryker is going to be arrested for his crimes, when we well know that he was a high ranking military official in X-men 2?
Well these are most of the plot points from the movie that just don't make any sense. It's ok for an action movie to be extremely silly and self referential in that way. For example in Transformers when they have the teen kid take the cube and the alien so they can hide in the populated city, one of the characters mentions how dumb that idea is. They make no excuses in this movie, and just because it's "supposed" to be a dumb action movie, there is no justification for the producers of this movie to assume their viewers are idiots, and won't care about a story plot that doesn't make any sense. Which, apparently they are correct because this movie made a boatload of cash. I will not act like there is nothing wrong with this movie just because it's flashy and has lost of explosions.
In my arrogant opinion, it's a onetime watcher. This is not a boring movie by far, yes, it's a lot of fun and tons of action and the movie's cast was really great. But the story is convoluted and nonsensical, it seems to take the audience for granted. So, if you want to enjoy this mess, just ignore the entire story and watch the shiny stuff happening on screen.
Read Best Reviews of X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy) (2009) Here
I received my Blu-ray copies of the X-Men Trilogy and X-Men Origins: Wolverine yesterday and was immediately disappointed and frustrated by two things.1.) I cannot get X-Men Origins: Wolverine to play beyond the "If you are having trouble..." screen without turning off the BD-Live functionality on my player (Oppo BD-83). I thought to do this because the other movies in this series all asked if I wanted to download a BD-Live update at that exact point. Maybe it's because the servers are being overwhelmed by a new release, but that shouldn't be the case if proper planning and testing had taken place.
2.) The picture quality of these movies is very poor. Even during the first few scenes of the trilogy movies, there is very noticeable video noise in darker portions of the picture, resembling what you get on a cheap digital still camera with the ISO cranked way up. I know this isn't my player or TV's problem because watching 17 Again, Bolt and S.W.A.T. on the exact same setup yielded SPECTACULAR picture quality. It's almost as if the producers took one of their DVDs and did some cheesey upconversion to create these Blu-ray copies.
I am very tempted to return the whole purchase and just buy them on DVD, saving the extra money I spent to get them on Blu-ray.
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We didn't realize this movie existed. I caught it on some TV channel so I went to Amazon and bought it. We absolutely loved it. Hugh Jackman is a great actor and not hard on the eyes either!Save 52% Off
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