X2: X Men United
As a film, X-Men 2 pushes more action, more effects and more mutants onto the screen than it’s predecessor. As a DVD, viewers are treated to an optic blast of bonus materials to satisfy any fanboy.
* Sound Format Digital Theater Systems (akin to 5.1)
* Languages/Sound: Eng/Fre/Spa
* Screen Formats: Full Screen/Widescreen Anamorphic
* Additional Features Disc one:
o Commentary by Bryan Singer and Tom Sigel
o Commentary by Lauren Schuler Donner, Ralph Winter, Michael Dougherty, Dan Harris and David Hayter
* Disc two:
o “The Second Uncanny Issue of X-Men”- the ultimate making-of documentary
o 11 featurettes
o Interactive multi-angle scene study- nightcrawler attack
o X2 global webcast highlights
o 11 deleted/extended scenes
o 26 revealing still galleries
o Three theatrical trailers
X2’s Menu’s are visually complex motion graphic bonanza’s that keep your eye moving from one menu to another. Where the James Bond Series provided technoligically themed menus, X2 gives viewers a biological world to explore while browsing for a scene or opening bonus features. Although menu choices are abit spread apart, they are still convenient enough to click around without getting lost.
The second disc especially contains a bevvy of bonus. So much so that it requires several levels of menus in order to present everything on one disc without overcrowding the screne. This does distract a bit when trying to drill down to find something specific. Many of the featurettes and bonus materials were a repackaging of other materials though and became a bit boring over time. I think I heard the beautiful Rebecca Romijn-Stamos talk about the improvements in her Mystique makeup process repeated around 6 times in 6 different behind the scenes clips. In addition, the deleted scenes are less deleted and are rather examples of full scenes that were cut short for time considerations rather than entirely removed film sequences. Theatrical trailers are included, but for whatever reason, they lack widescreen. Very odd, considering the vast majority of the bonus material is presented in 16×9. Que cera cera.
Video transfer was excellent, although I did notice a bit of bleed over of bright reds and whites, especially that of when Cyclops (James Marsden) uses his eye beam to take out adversaries. This COULD have been my TV though, so don’t completely rule that out.
The sound is top drawer. Lows are certainly felt, whether it be the rumble of the X-Jet or the balls of fire that send police cars into the air before crashing down again. Despite the DTS track on the disc, there wasn’t much use of the rear channels except for the audible pops of Nightcrawler’s transporting and rushing water near the end of the film. Just seems a bit underused.
Final word is that X2: X Men United is a great film and a great DVD. It’s not perfect, but should still be a part of any self respecting Geek’s collection. Not a geek? Still a good disc to own for those times when you feel a little nerdy.
