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It finally paid off. I usually rush and buy DVDs shortly after they come out, only to be burned by a special edition disc not to far down the road (Let’s see, Spider-Man 2, Chicago, Pirates of the Caribbean and Chronicles of Narnia immediately spring to mind). This time, with Fantastic Four, I told myself I would wait until the sequel came out, and I was right. Here we have the 2-disc extended edition, and I didn’t have to waste $20 on the single-disc one. Yes!
The Main Characters
--The Fantastic Four are Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic (Ioan Gruffudd), a genius with the ability to stretch, Susan Storm/Invisible Woman (Jessica Alba) with the power to turn invisible and generate invisible force shields, Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Chris Evans) who can transform his body into flames and Ben Grimm/The Thing (Michael Chiklis), a super-powerful being stuck in a rocky body.
--Doctor Doom (Julian McMahon) is a mad genius that obtained the ability to control metal and electro-magnetic pulses.
The Setting
New York City, New York.
The Film (1:45:48)
Reed Richards is a brilliant scientist who is unfortunately bankrupt due to some poor foresight on his end. He goes with his friend, Ben Grimm, to a colleague, Victor Von Doom, to fund an experiment with cosmic rays in outer space. He decides to finance this and uses Susan Storm (an old flame of Reed and current flame of Von Doom) and her brother Johnny Storm in the experiment as well. They go to outer space and of course, the shields don’t work and the five of them are bombarded with cosmic rays. Their bodies start changing and they start getting strange powers. Hotheaded Johnny Storm can turn into flames and fly. Tough-as-nails Ben Grimm becomes a super-strong being with a rocky exterior. Brilliant Reed Richards, with the pliable mind, can stretch any part of his body, and Sue Storm, often being ignored by Reed, can turn invisible and emit invisible force fields. Von Doom changed, too. His body started becoming metallic and he could control electricity of sorts. Reed, Sue, Ben and Johnny come together and become the Fantastic Four, becoming Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, The Thing and the Human Torch and end up battling Von Doom (Dr. Doom) in the film’s climactic finale.
Movie Review
This was a very different movie coming from Marvel. To me, it was much more accessible as a family film that kids and adults can enjoy. That isn’t a knock on the film, just an observation. Really this film is a popcorn film. You sit back, watch the special effects, the story, experience some cheesy dialogue and just enjoy yourselves. This movie kept the main themes of the comic book alive, while changing little bits and pieces that it needed to in order to be manageable in 100 minutes. It’s not the best Marvel movie (the X-Men and Spider-Man movies have it beat) but it is far from the worse either. Tim Story did as good a job as one could on the film and the casting for the most part was spot on, though Jessica Alba was probably used more for her commercial appeal than anything else. So that’s what this is, a family summer blockbuster that goes all out on the effects, with a bit of story added in for good measure. I call this a *** movie.
DVD Features
A) Extras
---Disc One---
1) Extended and Deleted Scenes (26:42)
These are all in the extended version in one form or another, and most of the titles are pretty self-explanatory.
---A) Icy Reception
Reed and Ben go to visit Doom, and get an icy reception from the receptionist. They include an alternate opening, too.
---B) Fan 4 Wake-Up
The FF wake-up after being pelted with cosmic rays, and are fine, except Ben, who we don’t see. This leads to the Johnny gag telling him the doctors did all they could for him.
---C) Push Into Plant
Something is pushed into a plant. I didn’t really pay attention.
---D) Victor/Sue’s Dinner
Victor and Sue have dinner and Vic wants to propose but Sue kind of shoots him down. It builds the hate well between Vic and Reed.
---E) Storage Room
Sue takes a trip with Reed into his storage room and we see some of his inventions including Herbie. Reed saves Sue from falling shelves and Ben sees Reed on top of Sue and gets pissed. There’s also a funny gag of Johnny heating things up in an elevator with hot women to get them to take their coats off.
---F) Ben’s Birthday
Ben watches a video of one of his birthdays, and misses his old life. He goes out to the bar.
---G) Sue Cloaks Envelope
Sue uses her invisibility to see through an envelope addressed to her. It tells her to fight crime and solve their problems and she tells Reed, who ignores her.
---H) Reed Tests Plant
Reed tests a plant in his cosmic ray generator.
---I) Planetarium With Kiss
Reed and Sue go to a planetarium and remember their first date and kiss.
---J) Wolverine
Reed morphs into Wolverine, which was pretty funny.
---K) Ben Finds Gallery/Johnny In Limo/Art Show
Ben sees himself in an art gallery and learns it is Alicia’s sculpture. They bond together as she dusts and scrubs him. Ben sees puppets and Alicia says it is her fathers (Puppet Master reference). Ben thinks everyone is making fun of him and leaves. Johnny takes a ride with Doom in a limo and shows him some prototype toys and the marketing possibilities.
---L) Thing on a Bench/Johnny’s Bar Tricks
Thing is moody on a bench and Johnny uses his flame in a bar when people confront him. Some girl tells him off that he’s too brash and could’ve hurt someone and if she had his powers she would do something with them. Vic gets Thing back to the Baxter.
2) Marketing
These are just various trailers and commercials promoting the movie. I have to say; they weren’t all that great and I think the film thrived on name alone. The first trailer was just beyond corny and the second one showcased the worst line of the film (Let’s not fight, no let’s).
---A) Theatrical Teaser (1:19)
---B) Theatrical Trailer (2:26)
---C) TV Spots
------1) TV Spot A (:33)
------2) TV Spot B (:23)
------3) TV Spot C (:18)
3) Cast Commentary
This commentary is done by cast members Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba and Michael Chiklis. So the Fantastic Three (where is Chris Evans?) are on commentary here. Ioan has his accent going on (which sound British, I guess) and Michael says he was the only fan of the comics involved in the movie, besides Tim Story, and it was always a dream of his to play the Thing. Jessica and Ioan were not familiar with it and Michael jokes that Alba is like fifteen. Jessica says the suit was uncomfortable which Michael says the fans loved it. Michael says something about being bananas and Jessica sings the Gwen Stefani song, funnily enough. Jessica mentions she hated that Thing’s wife came out in the middle of NYC in her slip. Jessica says they wrote in the bra scene after she was hired and just right before shooting. She said it was the worst day of her life. Michael talks about walking out of the cosmic ray generator with no shirt on and says he’s no Chris Evans and can’t pull it off. He also talks about the line, “and no thing to stand in your way,” and making it credible. They mention some stuntmen who hurt themselves during those scenes as well. Very good commentary.
4) Director/Producer/Writer Commentary
This commentary is performed by Tim Story, Avi Arad, Kevin Feige, Michael France and Mark Frost. I didn’t catch his name (it was either Kevin, Michael or Mark) but they talk extensively about the screenplay, the differences between the comic book (and he seems to really know the comic) and the movie as well as the feel of the movie (more like Ghostbusters, not a tragedy but a light-hearted movie, and it worked). At one point, they mention the Thing is 6 feet tall, and that is straight from the Handbook. They continue to talk about things from the movie, lines they liked, ones they didn’t what worked and what didn’t, why certain things were cut and teasers about the second film. I preferred the cast commentary to this one but that one guy talking all the history of the FF was pretty cool.
5) Inside Look (1:37) / (8:02)
This is a very short inside look at Rise of the Silver Surfer, actually, it’s just the trailer. Then, just when I thought it was over, there is an 8-minute look at the comic book origin of the Silver Surfer. It was quite awesome actually, a very succinct and informative history of Silver Surfer in comic books.
6) Extended Cut (2:05:59)
The extended cut adds about 30 minutes to the movie and it really fleshes out the movie quite a bit. I don’t know if it is just adding the deleted scenes that are extras on disc one (I will find out, soon I guess, but I think they are judging by their names) but it really adds to the film. There aren’t any new action scenes but it adds a lot to the characters, especially Sue and Reed’s romance, Doom’s anger and his desire to destroy Reed and most importantly, the relationship between Alicia and Ben. The best part (for me at least), was Ben being in Alicia’s room, and seeing puppets and asking about them, to which Alicia responds they are her step-fathers, which any real Marvel fan will know as the Puppet Master. Herbie even makes an appearance! I have to say that this was a much better film than what was presented in the theaters. It could really rival that of even the first Spider-Man in terms of humor, action, character building and fun little Easter eggs for true FF fans to discover. I am really happy they released it.
---Disc Two---
1) Production
---A) Heroes are Born: Making of Fantastic 4 (1:37:30)
This is the making of the Fantastic Four film. They start off with the Brooklyn Bridge scene and all the main cast members have their say. They took measurements of the screen, built a bridge with some blue background and filmed on that. They then focused on the Thing. Stan Lee talks about how Kirby drew the Thing and there’s a nice conversation between Mike Chiklis (in Thing make-up) and Stan Lee. Mike wouldn’t have been interested if it was a CGI-thing. They show him putting the costume on, and they show the stunt-thing standing next to Michael, so it’s like watching two Things. They show the scene where he threw the car, too. They then focus on Sue Storm as played by Jessica Alba, and she’s the Invisible Woman. There’s not much else to say about it. Our focus shifts to Johnny Storm/Chris Evans. The scene they focus on for him is the motorbike convention. Next up is Ioan, complete with his British accent, who says he has the coolest superhero name. Finally, there’s Doctor Doom (Julian McMahon). There’s Stan talking to Julian, which was pretty cool. Julian seems like a funny guy and they show him goofing around a bit. Finally, there is the cast talking about Stan Lee, and they show his cameo. This was just an awesome movie-length featurette covering all bases, from the actors to the man who created it all.
---B) The Baxter Building: Declassified (6:49)
This is basically a view of the Baxter Building, with all the rooms and showing the original Kirby layout from early FF issues.
---C) Multi-Angle Animatic to Scene Study (5:31)
All six of these animatics show the animatic used and the final scene. Kind of cool, I guess.
------1) Fantastic Four Hit By Cosmic Storm
------2) Brooklyn Bridge
------3) Ben Hits Johnny
------4) Reed and Doom Fight
------5) Johnny Chased by Missile
------6) The Thing and Doom Fight
2) The Comic Book
---A) The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine (59:09)
They show the origin of the FF by sort of animating panels from FF #1 (which is really cool). They then show scenes of issues through the years (this was about 2 and a half minutes). They then start off with a look at the FF in the 60’s, with Joe Sinnott and Stan Lee retelling the FF’s origins. John Romita talks about the early years, too. Stan talks about the Marvel writing process and they talk about Galactus and Silver Surfer, too. Stan tells how Jack actually created the Silver Surfer. Then, as the 70’s began, Kirby left for DC. Romita had the title to start then was replaced by Buscema. This starts the 70’s with input from Marv Wolfman, George Perez, Rich Buckler and Len Wein chiming in with them mainly talking about the Perez/Wein run and the FF breaking up. The 80’s begin and we hear from ill Sienkiewicz who says he feels his run was a placeholder for John Byrne’s run on the title. John doesn’t talk at all and we meet with Engleham, Ralph Macchio and Walt Simonson who brought the book into the 90’s. Alex Ross, Jim Lee and Chris Claremont. Alex did Marvels, Jim did the Reborn, and Chris followed that. This leads to the 2000’s with Joe Quesada talking about the different titles at the time, Knights, the regular and Ultimate. Tom Brevoort, Adam Kubert, Mark Waid and Karl Kesel, who talk mainly about the Ultimate Universe and the Waid run on the book. This was just an awesome look at the FF comic through the decades.
---B) Jack Kirby: Storyteller (1:03:58)
No FF documentaries would be complete without a look at the man behind it all, Jack “King” Kirby. Other comic luminaries gush about Jack before we get to the main feature. This basically tells his life story, from where he grew up to his growth as an artist into the premiere artist of the comic generation. It documents all the great things he did as well as his leaving Marvel and DC. This is really just an awesome documentary.
---C) Collectibles
------1) Visiting The Stately Ross Museum (3:00)
This is the Alex Ross household and he shows us a Thing head he has, as well as a Doom head he has. Those were some awesome statues.
------2) Gallery
These are still images of mostly toys, games and cards featuring the FF. I actually have some of the things on there, which is pretty scary!
---D) From Comic Book to Film (3:54)
They show scenes from the movie with scenes from the comic book showing similar things. Funnily enough, they show the comic book Alicia, and the movie Alicia.
3) Still Galleries
These are just pictures. The concept art was pretty cool.
---A) Behind the Scenes
---B) Character Sculpts
---C) Characters
---D) Concept Art
---E) Costumes
---F) Human Torch Flame Tests
B) Audio/Video
The audio is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and the video is displayed in anamorphic widescreen format (with a 2.40:1 ratio). Both were excellently done and even the extended version measures up to the original.
C) Liner Notes
There are a couple of things in here. One is a four-pager featuring the cover, the chapters of the theatrical version of the movie as well as a short essay on the FF. There’s another four-pager shilling DVD’s, Slurpees, and FF toys, and finally a Fantastic Four 2: Rise of the Silver Surfer free movie ticket, which I never got to use.
D) Easter Eggs
None that I could find.
Overall Review
I am really happy I stuck it out for the FF, as this extended edition is everything I wanted in an FF DVD. First off, two versions of the movie with their own commentaries and the extended edition actually improves on the theatrical cut of the movie. Secondly, there are two hour-long featurettes on the FF comic and Jack Kirby not to mention a 90-minutes making of which is just astounding. They really included everything on here and I can’t think of a thing that could make this any better. This may actually be one of the best Marvel DVD’s that has come out in quite a while. The World’s Greatest Comics Magazine also makes the World’s Greatest Comics DVD.
Overall Rating
10.0
10.0 Perfect
9.0-9.5 Near Perfect, Highly Recommended
8.0-8.5 Really good disc, Recommended
7.0-7.5 Good DVD, Mildly recommended
6.0-6.5 Above Average DVD. Mildest of mild recommendations
5.0-5.5 Decent all around disc, but catch it on TV
4.0-4.5 Great Movie but horrible DVD
3.0-3.5 Horrible movie but great DVD
2.0-2.5 There’s at least some merit to this DVD, but not much.
1.0-1.5 Horrible DVD, don’t even bother
0.0-0.5 Worst DVD ever
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