X-Men has one of the prettiest packages I’ve seen on a DVD. Fox really likes to use metallic finishes on their highly anticipated disks (ID4, Sound Of Music) and it works exceptionally well for X-Men. It’s a slipcase much like the Fight Club set but since there is only one disk it’s a bit thinner. The whole outer case has a metallic blue tinge to it and really stands out on the shelf even from the side. The inner case is a gatefold (like Fight Club) with the disk in the center. The outside is all silver with a small X logo in the center of the front and the back. When you open the first fold you’re greeted by the promotional material and the four-page insert. There is more of the metallic blue ink on the inside as the artwork is done entirely in that color. The four-page insert is pretty dull as it has the same artwork as the inside of the gatefold case Page two of the insert includes the chapter breakdown. Also included is a coupon booklet and a CD Rom. I’ll go over the CD Rom in depth later on.
The disk begins with a Fox promotional montage including footage from a lot of Fox’s bigger DVD releases this year. Fox also seems to enjoy messing with the warning screens because after the montage we see another warning screen and it kind of fizzles out (again like Fight Club). After the warning you see a retina scan and you enter Cerebro. The camera pans around the obviously cgi room until you get to the main menu. All of this from the montage to the menu can be avoided by hitting the menu button a few times. The main menu gives you four options: Play Movie, Scene Selections, Special Features and Language Selection. All the menus are animated in one way or another and it fits with the theme all over the disk but like many animated menu’s, they tend to take a few extra seconds so if you’re impatient it may become a little irritating.

PLAY MOVIE
I have been a fan of X-Men for well over fifteen years so the minute this went into production I got excited. I was there opening night with my wife, who was a fan but only because of the cartoon, and we sat there waiting in anticipation. I was excited but all I kept telling her is “its going to suck, every time I get this excited about a movie it sucks.” I walked out of the theater with a big grin on my face and a skip in my step. X-Men the movie was all I had hoped for.
The biggest fear most “fanboys” had about the film was whether or not a non comic book guy could get the characters right. Luckily Bryan Singer did a superb job bringing thirty eight years of baggage for each character to the screen with a minimal amount of confusion. Sure, there are spots where the comic book continuity isn’t exactly reflected but for a comic book to become a successful feature film a few concessions must be made, that’s why 1989’s Batman worked so well. The character was right and every thing else fell into place.
The plot was fairy simple. Bad guy tries to do bad things, good guys try to stop him. The complex part is the motivation. The villain doesn’t believe he’s evil, he thinks he’s saving his people from certain destruction. So how do you root for the “good guys” when the main protagonist grew up in a Nazi death camp and wants to keep his people safe from those who hate and fear them? Give him a “better than you” attitude and surround him with some of the meanest henchmen money can buy.
X-Men the movie is a solid action flick with a lot of great FX and a single, self-contained story that can be easily followed by people who have never read the comic book. The characters are faithful to the comic books, if not 100%, at least enough so that the avid X-Fan recognizes who’s who.

SCENE SELECTION
One of those nifty animated menus that looks really cool the first few times you open it but if you use it repeatedly, it gets to be a chore. The menu is set up to look like the machine Jean Grey uses to show the rest of the team how the adamantium is grafted to Wolverines bones. There are 28 chapters total and they are split up into groups of four.

SPECIAL FEATURES
This is the most annoying of the animated menus. It’s supposed to be a simulated motorcycle ride but the monochrome blue tinted visuals coupled with the “engine” sounds are just irritating.

Extended Branching Version One of the coolest features on the disk but I really wish they had done this like the ID4 DVD and added the extra footage into the movie and given the option of the theatrical version or the directors cut. The way its designed you are able to watch the movie with the added footage but the disk has to search it out and therefore there is a slight pause much like the layer transition. There are six new scenes and each one is actually pretty cool. Most are just extended versions of existing scenes but the extra footage helps to flesh out the characters.

Fox Special:”The Mutant Watch” One of the coolest promotional pieces I’ve ever seen for a movie. It’s basically a making of documentary but there are cutaways between sections where Senator Kelly is arguing his case before congress. Kind of cheesy dialogue and bad acting on the part of the Senate but a fun thing to watch nonetheless.

Bryan Singer Interview I don’t understand why people like Charlie Rose, he always interrupts his guests. Good interview split into five different parts.

Hugh Jackman’s screen test Hugh Jackman is pretty bad in his screen test. I hope he had a few more because the only thing he does well in this is pretend to crash. Pretty funny though.

Theatrical trailers and TV Spots There are two trailers, three TV spots and a promotional spot for the soundtrack. This is the menu where the X-Men easter egg is found. From “Trailer A” use your remote to go to the left and you will highlight a rose. Hit enter and you get to see a funny bit where Spider-Man joins the X-Men for the Statue of Liberty battle.

Art Gallery There are about a million pictures here split into two galleries. Some nice character sketches for X-Men who didn’t make it into the movie.

THX This helps to set up your audio and video so it looks the best with the THX.

Animatics Pretty cheesy looking cgi that helps the director lay out a scene.

LANGUAGE SELECTION
This animated menu is designed to look like the top of Magneto’s desk. The language options are English 5.1 and Dolby surround and French Dolby surround. There are English and Spanish subtitles. When you leave the menu the metal balls fall to the floor just like the movie.

CD Rom insert
This mini CD is a nifty insert for the people who got the VHS copy but it’s not really necessary for the DVD owners. The main menu is split into six sections: Movie trailer, Special Features, FOX Privacy Statement, Web Links, Free Juno and Exit.
Movie Trailer The same trailer that was online six months before the movie came out.
Special Features
All these special features can be found on the DVD. The only difference is the “behind the scenes” feature which is actually the “Mutant Watch” special without the senate parts.
Animatics, Behind the scenes, Still Gallery, Wolverine screen test and X-Tra X-Men footage
FOX Privacy Statement Pretty self explanatory.
Web Links Web Links related to FOX movies and Marvel Comics.
Free Juno Take it from a guy who has used this “free” ISP, don’t bother. The pop up ads pop up about every twenty minutes and the connections are unreliable.



Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up Ages 8