Customer Reviews

X-Men 3: The Last Stand (Widescreen Edition)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

- Spoilers Ahead -

I recently purchased X-Men 3:TLS and opened it eagerly. It starts out well, providing some background to key X-Men like Jean Grey and Warren Worthington III (aka Angel), and an old alliance with Magneto. However, as the action built-up, so did my disappointment. The farther the movie progressed, the farther the movie strayed from the franchise.

My most major disappointments include killing off major titular characters. You just don't do that to a comic book franchise because majority of the movie's audience will be comic readers who have their own personal favorites. There are repercussions on killing personal heroes especially that for which the movie is named! The X-Men is not a tragedy. It is a celebration of being different. My personal favorite is the Phoenix, but although I know that such a character can never ever be given extended existence, one like Charles Xavier should be timeless. Another is Scott Summers. You do not kill off Cyclops after killing Jean Grey (in the previous film). It's simply not right. I could think of a million other ways the film could run parallel to the comic book lines, on how Scott could have dealt with grief and actually move on.

On the issues of the Phoenix, I can probably write a book. Jean Grey's resurrection at Alkali Lake, is acceptable. What follows in the immediate scenes with Cyclops are not. Although the the movie's depiction of the Phoenix as a particularly insidious succubus is not distasteful, Ratner fails at capturing the essence of one of the world's most popular X-Men characters. The Phoenix is an entity and not a subconscious. Even the effects are bland. The Phoenix is called that because of the stylized fiery bird that engulfs Jean Grey when she is in that persona. I spent the whole of the movie waiting for that to happen as suggested in X-Men 2 (when Jean bursts into flame while freeing the Blackbird and holding back torrential waves). I feel stood up.

There are some excellent moments in the film, however, the Danger Room sequence was particularly delightful except for Storm's flying sequence (they've been making heroes fly for decades, and they can't get this right). Angel's refusal to get cured is another, and so is his appearance at the Mansion. Multiple Man is cool and so are the Morlocks. Callisto versus Storm is a classic feud as well. Other enjoyable developments include Anna Paquin's Rogue, focus on Shadowcat (Kitty Pryde), and the feuds between Iceman (Bobby Drake) and Pyro. Iceman's crystal form and Colossus's tinman costumes are excellent and should have been given more screen time.

Hugh Jackman's performance of Wolvie is as always excellent, and even most of Halle Berry's scenes as Storm is commendable although why they stick with Berry is a mystery to me. Halle Berry is short! Ororo Munroe is tall and regal -- being of royal Egyptian descent. But I'm willing to let this go. What is unforgiving is the scene where Storm and Wolverine walk together in the Mansion hallway. Wolvie is taller than Storm and that was a definite no-no. Storm is the tallest X-Man, save only for Colossus, and Wolverine is by far the shortest.

This third chapter in the X-Men movie franchise is a good take on action and a little bit of science fiction; however, the inconsistencies with comics are too much and too glaring and downright disrespectful. Watch this film if you'd like to see the X-gang in action, but don't expect this one to remain faithful to your characters. I would even go as far as to suggest watching the alternate endings to feel better after the disappointing end.

To Brett Ratner, next time you do a movie based on comic book characters, take time out to read a few issues. You fail miserably in the research department and only our love for the X-Men made this movie survive.

This movie is nowhere near the quality of the first 2.Thats pretty hard thoe because bryan singer is a great director and brett ratner has never made a good movie (except maybe this one). Im only buying it just to complete the trilogy. That being said if ur not that big of a fan of the first 2 and thought they were a bit slow you will probably love this one as it is all action.

I'll be truthful; I didn't like this film very much. Of course, it had a lot to live up to, of course, with the previous two films high standard. The film opens well, with strangely disturbing versions of Xavier and Magneto visiting a young Jean. It also goes straight into to the action, the two main plots of the story soon becoming apparent. Both however, come second place to special effects in this film.

At just over 1 and 30 minutes, it would be almost impossible to cram a finale worthy of the trilogy without missing out some things. I just don't see why it had to be the emotion. With the cure side of the story, it seems we never get an insight into the characters worries and feelings towards it. If it had been 2 and a half hour, it would have been able to develop all of the characters, and the back stories would have been more relevant to certain characters. The phoenix part is also extremely disappointing, we aren't ever told why Phoenix does what she does and who is in control. You can only go so far as to blame Brett Ratner, he does a good job with the battle scenes but always seems to want to rush anything involving a character's emotion. I can imagine him on set hurrying along the actors as they try to get into character for the harrowing scenes. So if newcomer Ratner isn't the problem, what is?

As for the script goes. It's as if the writers truly want this to be the last film, killing off characters early to make way for new ones. Rogue is put on the back seat, even though the central theme of the cure should have her at the forefront. The final battle is also inexplicable, with both sides not really sure what they should be doing. It does allow for one of the great moments of the trilogy (Kitty and Juggernauts chase through - and I mean through - the facility). Still on the script, don't forget the corny lines ("I'm the Juggernaut, [...]!") and terrible ending which seems to forget the events of the rest of the film. Vinnie Jones and Halle Berry are both below par in the acting stakes even thought they didn't have much to work with. I don't want this to be the last stand as I think the saga deserves better than this. The previous films had intelligence and emotion, compared to explosions and annoyances.

Overall, it was worth seeing on the big screen, and I'm glad that I saw it. It is an "O-Kay" film. But again, you'll be a little disappointed as an X-Men fan. Maybe X4 will prosper without many of the main characters, well, one can only hope.

It was an ambitious undertaking to do justice to this fantastical comic book franchise from the fertile mind of Stan Lee and company but I think all things considered,the producers got it pretty spot on.
Patrick Stewart is Prof.Xavier who runs a school for mutants.He has the power of super mind control and through his Cerebro chamber he can reach both humans and mutants at will,anywhere in e world.His counterpart and the running villan through all of these films is Magneto played by Ian McKellan.While Xavier prefers the non-violent solution to living with humans,Magneto prefers the path of direct confrontation and overthrow,leading to world domination(what villain doesn't?).
Each movie has its' strengths and weaknesses of course but I think the series goes from strongest to weakest in the order they were made.The first two were directed by Brian Singer and the first movie is a slam-bam winner all the way.The introduction of characters and side plots never interfere with the telling of the story.X2 slows down slightly as we get intro'd to some new characters and lose one in the end.Overall it's not as satisfying as the first but still good.The last was helmed by Brett Ratner.While some blame must go to the director for its' comparative lacklustre execution,Last Stand is just too ambitious,i.e it tried to do too much.There seems to be more plots,sub-plots,back stories and character introductions than the previous two put together.This slows the pace down as all strings endeavour to be tied and every "T" dotted,while the action has to stop or slow down to do so.
What doesn't vary throughout all these movies however are the special effects.There is no shortage of action in any of these films and the special effects are,overall,quite seemless and very effective and engaging.No complaints whatsoever.
Technically the DVDs have all been transferred beautifully and all are in their widescreen glories.Disc one has a myriad of special features such as so called "branching" scenes(extra scenes filmed but not included originally),a Charlie Rose interview,the Hugh Jackman screen test,a featurette,story boards,art gallery,animatronics,the trailer and some TV spots(phew!).Disc two has only a commentary track(which I found very odd)and it is to be found in,of all places,the "languages" section ! Disc three has director commentary,producer commentary,numerous deleted scenes and three alternate endings.
The DVD cases themselves are the newer cheaper kind snap cases that alot of the "big boys" are using now.Instead of the inner case being solid plastic,one side has a recycle sign cut into it and the side the disc sits in is spoke like,radiating out from the spindle.The spaces existing on both sides reveal the back side of the outer descriptive paper cover.
Of course there will be X-men-iacs who will find countless faults with these movies as far as characterizations and continuity from the long running comic book series.But for most casual readers and uninitiated(to X-men)Sci-Fi/action lovers,I think you will be quite pleased with the overall result produced here.Creator Stan Lee himself had his hand in this series all the way so some modicum of accuracy to his "child" had to have been extant.
As a sidebar Fox has produced a Wolverine back story recently but it remains to be seen if anymore movies will be forthcoming from them re the X-Men,as the franchise rights will revert back to the hands of its' new owners,The Disney Corp.in a few years.Marvel also has some property deals going with Paramount and Sony which will also revert back eventually.It's amazing just how much product Disney will ultimately control with its'Marvel acquistion.Who would have thought that a little comic book company called Marvel would grow that big and be bought in the future for an approximate cool $4 BILLION(!).The mind does boggle.
This set is definitely worth owning,not only as the generally good films they are,but if only for its' price as it would cost you much more to but them individually.All the special features included on them sperately are all here in this set.So if you have been hedging whether to buy I would urge you to drop your nickel now when the price is right and get yourself a VERY entertaining trio of great Sci-Fi flicks courtesy of comic writer supremo,Stan Lee.

I watched the previous two movies in the "X-men" series, but I almost didn't watch this one. The reason is simple: pretty much all the reviews I read said it was awful. I should have known better than to pay too much attention to them!

I ended up going to watch "X-Men - The Last Stand" this morning, because my sister wanted to see it. I had a very welcomed surprise. This movie is probably the best in the series, at least so far. Of course, you shouldn't expect too much: this is a movie designed merely for entertainment purposes, and it is quite far from being a classic or anything similar to that. That having been said, it engages the audience easily, and it entertains.

This movie doesn't pretend to be more than what it is: a blockbuster with lots of action and not too much character development. However, that is all right in my book, at least in some of the films I watch. Yes, "X-Men - The Last Stand" could have been better, but it is nonetheless a film you will probably like, specially if you are already a fan of the series.

The inspiration for the plot is taken from the "X-men" comics, even though the story has been substantially modified. In a nutshell, a cure to treat mutations has been found, and mutants react differently to that discovery. The Brotherhood, a group of mutants whose leader is Magneto (Ian McKellen), plans to destroy the cure. The X-Men, led by Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), think that every mutant should be able to choose without pressures whether to remain one or not. In Prof. Charles Xavier's words "Since the dawn of existence, there have always been moments when the course of history shifted. Such a turning point is upon us now" (...) "I do not know if victory is possible. I only know that great sacrifice will be required. And because the fate of many will depend on a few, we must make the last stand".

There is also a secondary plot: Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), an X-Men that died in the second film of the series in order to save her teammates, is reborn, but as someone different, more powerful, and much more dangerous. Jean is now her alterego, Phoenix, a force that cannot be controlled, and that might well wreak havoc on the world. But is there any way of saving her? And will Professor Xavier, Scott (James Marsden), Logan (Hugh Jackman) and Storm (Hally Berry) find it, before it is too late?

On the whole, I think that you will like this film a lot, if you are already a fan of the series. It is more of the same, only a little better. In case you haven't watched the previous movies, give them a try before watching "X-Men - The Last Stand", because then you will understand better what is happening in this film. Of course, recommended :)

Belen Alcat

PS1: Don't leave the cinema as soon as the movie finishes, as there is a little and very surprising scene just after the credits finish rolling up. You will have to wait a few extra minutes, but believe me, it is worth it!

PS2: There are new additions to the X-men, the most noteworthy being Beast, that is Dr. Hank Mcoy (played by Kelsey Grammer).

I'll keep this simple and I won't give out any spoilers. I, personally, hated this film. Yes, I was a comic-geek back in my day, but the deviation from the comics is not the reason for my ire and in fact, I enjoyed not knowing what was going to happen next. No, what I had a problem with was the way this film butchers the storyline established in the first two movies. The heart is gone; replaced by computer generated graphics and big, loud noises.

If you are the type of person who enjoys watching big explosions instead of identifying with the characters; if you are the type of person who cares more about quantity than quality; if you are the type of person who does not care about the true storyline (a persecuted minority fighting for the right to exist in a world that hates and fears them) and just want to see some freaky people zap things; then this movie is for you. Stop reading this review and buy it right now, because I guarantee you will love it!

BUT, if you are the type of person who was looking forward to an emotionally AND visually pleasing end to this trilogy, prepare to be heart-broken. The rich storyline and subplots are basically used as "asides" to break up the 20-min long special effect scenes. The dialogue is shallow and superficial and unworthy of the X-Men title. In fact, this movie could have been a stand-alone... But I digress. I will not buy this movie. As far as I'm concerned, it never happened. I'll keep my collectors edition of 1 & 2, and avoid 3 like the plague.

Fast shipping, great product! Thank you so much for a great customer service. Will do business again for sure!

X-Men: The Last Stand is the second sequel to X-Men, and unlike the first sequel it falls far short of the original. I could spend a lot of time getting into why Brett Ratner is as much to blame for the this as Joel Shumacher was for the near fall of the cinematic Batman. We may very well be one sequel away from a screenplay riddled with puns and fight scenes choreographed like a Broadway show or Disney on ice. Don't hold me to it...all I'm saying is that this disappointing garbage is a few more steps in that direction.

X3 (because us American's love for our blockbuster movies to have the shortest colloquialisms possible) mimics the Dark Phoenix saga by legendary comic writer Chris Claremont, and it mixes that arc with a newer story I'm not so familiar with. I'm assuming this is where the idea of the mutant cure comes from. In short, there is a cure available and it might mean the end of mutants, so we might be tempted to ask ourselves some important questions and a better filmmaker like Bryan Singer may have made these questions far more clear and allowed the answers to cut more deeply. We've developed differently our whole lives, so how much would we really enjoy being like everyone else on Earth? What does Mystique, a shape-shifter who prefers to walk around blue and scaley as opposed to adjusting her appearance like we know she can, really think of this opportunity? What about everyone else and how can a director address this with such a large cast? Ratner is not up to the task of making these observations interesting...he does however know how to direct straight action and make a highly commercial film. He did his job.

Singer on the other hand brought a tremendous amount of emotion and soul to his films, and he did this without being remotely heavy-handed. As a bonus he could also deliver straight action, but in his films we actually cared about the characters. In the second X-Men film we got to see Pyro blast some cops in front of Bobby Drake's house and then we got to see Bobby fly away with the other mutants, but instead of seeing some more explosions and loud jet engines, we see Bobby briefly glance at his family who just betrayed him...and we connect. Here in X3, I honestly just wanted to see the fire guy fight the ice dude. I wasn't buying into the characters anymore and the all-too-often clunky dialogue didn't help either. All the characters that were carried over from the other films are almost just empty shells of themselves from the previous movies, so I felt as if I had to think back to when I gave a damn.

But it's not all bad. Jean Grey's return from death in X2 as the ultra-powerful mutant Phoenix is fun to watch and the film doesn't pull punches to work toward a definitive end to the series (another reason an additional sequel could be dangerous). I'm not a real fan of the comic, but I'm familiar with it enough to know that hardcore fans have countless concerns for how there favorite characters are portrayed. It's not a horrible movie in comparison to some movies of it's ilk. The real disdain for me lies in how X3 betrays the depth of the first two films.

This review I will keep simple. The review I just read for this film hardly does it justice. Yes, the pacing is off from the first two films, and the story differs from the comic book. But, throw those thoughts all away. You want to see mutant on mutant violence? You want to see Magneto at his most Powerful? You Want to see the Juggernaut smash through a wall? If you answer yes to any of this, then this film is for you. Smile sit back and enjoy the ride. The feel of this film is similar and at the same time distinctly unique. The use of Cyclops and Rogue is weak but, they prove to be secondary characters as the focus of the movie shifts between two specific themes. By the way I've got to say this story follows closely to a few of the storylines of the comic and for those that don't aggree with me, do your research. Jean Grey was too powerful for her Body and Professor X did create Psychic blocks to allow Jean Grey the ability to live her own life, without consuming to her own power. Now that that's done with. Two themes, the cure, and of course the Phoenix. I felt that the film conveyed both of these themes well, and the action sequences were fun and let you finally say that you felt like you were part of an X-men adventure. The only thing you have to remember about this film going in is, the first two films were created by a different team. The storytelling style is as different as the difference between Morrison and Clermont. I hope this has been helpful as this was a truly fun movie to watch, albeit shorter than expected.

I will definitely be back to buy more items from amazon.ca. The movie set was in perfect condition and arrived ahead of schedule (I think). Once again I thank you for great prices, quality products and speedy delivery. Sharon