X3: X-Men The Last Stand DVD review (1 Viewer)

[Dave>h]

HI,

Watched this last night using the Toshiba HD A1 upconverting to 1080i on my AVIA calibrated Samsung 61" Dlp.

The picture quality was excellent with good color saturation, excellent black levels and a good level of detail. While the movie for the most part is not paticularly colorful, a lot of muted color schemes and earthy tones, black leather etc, the dvd looked very good in my set up. not HD good but certainly excellent for an SD disk. (wonder when the Blu ray version of this will be out, too bad it won't be out on HD DVD :frowning: ). I found myself wondering how good it would look in HD as it certainly looked good in SD.

Sound was also excellent. I used the DTS 6.1 ES track through my Yamaha DSP-A1 and Paradigm reference set up but did not listen to at reference levels (it was a bit later in the evening when I was watching it). The bass was deep and affecting, especially during the scenes where Magneto struts his stuff. Excellent use of surrounds and panning effects. There is not a lot of subtlety to the track but what quiet scenes there are were handled well.

I did not notice any digital artifacts in this release, no edge enhancement or ringing.

I watched some of the deleted scenes, all were anamorphic and done in DD 5.1, which was nice. There is one scene in particular with Storm and a wave that had some very serious bass. Kind of felt sorry for the neighbors on that one as I was not expecting the deleted scenes to be as loud or deep as they were and it was about Midnight when I was watching them...Oops. : )

I liked the film and the DVD does an excellent job of recreating the theatrical experience at home, not quite HD good, but certain excellent by SD standards.

Dave

 

[Jerome Grate]

Thanks for the review, this is definetly on the list for purchase.

 

[Dave GR]

Just one thing - you mixed up your titles. I think you mean X-Men III: The Last Stand, not X-Men United.

(admin note - title fixed)

 

[Dave>h]

You are absolutely correct! I have edited it. Must have been all the talk about being united and in it together that got me on the wrong title!

Thanks for the heads up!

Jerome, I am not sure if you should buy this release or wait for the inevitable super duper 2 disk version wihich will undoubted follow this release around x-mas...

 

[Jason_V]

Brett Ratner's already said a two disc SE is coming, Dave. I'm still picking this one up and we'll see about the 2 disc. It's gonna have to offer something bigger and badder than the normal double dips.

 

[Magnus T]

Why bother wait?

http://www.cd-wow.us/detail_results_...ct_code=383872

 

[Tarkin The Ewok]

Not everyone here has a multi-region player or wants to import discs. I'm perfectly content to wait and get a free movie ticket or something in the second edition.

 

[Seretur]

Thanks for the review. I've held off purchasing any of the X-Men movies so far, not being particularly thrilled with their current incarnations. I have high hopes for the R2 trilogy box, but I'll wait to see what the reviews say. Hopefully the reference-quality soundtracks will be ported across the regional boundaries.

And if the Blu-ray release is handled properly, it might be enough to make me a convert to the format.

 

[Manus]

"Not everyone here has a multi-region player or wants to import discs"

Theres absolutely nothing wrong with having a multi-region player or importing discs. I regularly use www.dvdbeaver.com and www.dvdcompare.net and http://www.dvd-basen.dk/uk/home.php3 to source the best editions of discs.

Some great classic films are also only available , say, in Japan or Europe so why do without ?

~M~

 

[Bill Thomann]

Thanks for the review but I'll wait for the SE.

 

[Ron Reda]

Thought this only had a DD EX track. It has DTS-ES as well???

DVD Empire doesn't mention it:

http://www.dvdempire.com/exec/v4_ite...ite_media_id=2

 

[TonyD]

yes it does.
and it sounds great

 

[RichP]

Not me! I ordered the R3 2-disc set, should be here next week!

 

[Matthew Clayton]

DVD Empire posted the back artwork for both standard and collector's edition, and the back artwork states that X3 has both DD 5.1 EX and DTS 6.1 ES tracks.

Dave>h, was the version you reviewed a final copy or a watermarked screener? And does the standard edition have a chapter insert?

 

[Dave>h]

Matt,

The copy I watched was the standard version sold in stores, not a screener and it does have DTS ES 6.1 on it and it does sound awesome.

I am still going to wait for the super duper two disc'er of this title before purchasing (or wait until both a Blu ray version comes out and a blu ray machine can be had for under a Grand!)

DAve

 

[Frank@N]

I'm not completely hung-up on the lack of extras, but will there be a longer version of the movie at some point?

103 minutes seems a bit short. Enough for fluff like FF, but not enough X3.

If a longer version is coming, then I'll wait.

 

[Matthew Clayton]

You still didn't answer my question of whether the final copy includes a chapter insert.... does it or not? (I'm curious, because it seems that Fox only does chapter inserts for their flipper discs and 2-disc sets, and put promotional inserts in movies that have separate full-screen and widescreen editions nowadays.)

 

[Dave_P.]

I read somewhere that Ratner said the film we saw in theaters is exactly what he wanted us to see, so there probably won't be an version with footage added back into the film itself.

 

[Frank@N]

That's a shame, since I heard the movie felt rushed and overly compressed (in terms of plot).

Maybe the box office slowdown has forced studios to cut movie budgets and runtimes.

 

[AndrewR]

Got my shipping notice from CD-Wow for the 2 Discer!

"Not everyone here has a multi-region player or wants to import discs. I'm perfectly content to wait and get a free movie ticket or something in the second edition."


Just FYI, Region Free players can be had cheap (some cheaper than Region 1 only players) and importing discs isn't hard at all. It's just like ordering from Amazon or DeepDiscount or anywhere else. No hassle what-so-ever. PLUS, the pre-order price for X3 was $14.95 WITH free shipping. 2 discs with everything Region 1 has to offer and MORE for the same (and even cheaper) price? Come on!

Break the Region chains, man. Break 'em.