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Blu-ray Review X-Men: Days of Future Past Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

Matt Hough

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X-Men: Days of Future Past Blu-ray Review

Having directed the first two (and the best two) X-Men films, Bryan Singer now returns to the franchise in the interesting and complex X-Men: Days of Future Past. Combining many of the cast members from the original films with the younger versions of the characters who were found in the excellent X-Men: First Class, Singer and company have turned out a first-rate comic book adventure tale featuring a time travel story that doesn’t make one’s eyes roll and riddled with exciting ways to reunite so many beloved characters from this most emotional and humanistic of the Marvel franchises.



Studio: Fox

Distributed By: N/A

Video Resolution and Encode: 1080P/AVC

Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1

Audio: English 7.1 DTS-HDMA, Spanish 5.1 DD, French 5.1 DD

Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish

Rating: PG-13

Run Time: 2 Hr. 11 Min.

Package Includes: Blu-ray, Digital Copy, UltraViolet

keep case in a slipcover

Disc Type: BD50 (dual layer)

Region: A

Release Date: 10/14/2014

MSRP: $39.99




The Production Rating: 4/5

Under threat of complete annihilation from a squadron of highly advanced robotic warrior sentinels who can mutate as well as any living mutant, Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) has Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page) put Logan (Hugh Jackman) into a state where he can go back through time to 1973 in order to prevent Raven (Jennifer Lawrence) from killing the inventor (Peter Dinklage) of the Sentinels during which operation her DNA is harnessed allowing the future sentinels to be able to mutate into any mutant just as she can. In order to pull off this risky changing of history, Logan must enlist the combined efforts of Xavier (James McAvoy) and Magneto (Michael Fassbender) who not only are in 1973 bitter enemies but also struggling with their own difficulties: Xavier with a loss of power by using drugs which will allow him to walk again and Magneto who’s ten stories underground at the Pentagon, captured and imprisoned for his involvement in the JFK assassination ten years earlier.

 

Simon Kinberg’s marvelous script allows him to have not only our most familiar mutant warriors on hand but also work in others even if they’re only around for a few scenes. One of the film’s most accomplished sequences, for example, involves Peter/Quicksilver (Evan Peters), a necessary ingredient in order to get Logan underground to release Magneto. A bravura kitchen sequence where he outraces a hail of gunfire to save his friends while all the time having his own bit of fun in the process comes early in the movie, and his character pretty much disappears after that, but it’s so delightful a scene, so magnificent in the acting, directing, and special effects work that it’s just a pleasure to gape in awe of what can be accomplished today in movies. The film is filled with such awe-inspiring moments: Magneto’s ripping apart an entire stadium and using it for his own purposes, Xavier’s first moments returning to his beloved lair with its eye-popping pyrotechnic display. And when the time comes for emotions to come to the fore, the script never makes a wrong move with earnest pleas between characters to think before they act, when characters struggle to figure out their next moves, and in the film’s most nakedly affecting climactic moment when Logan gets his reward for a job well done, the movie shows it can combine the comic book fantasy with real world emotions and be all the better for it.

 

Though it’s terrific seeing Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, Halle Berry, and others of the old guard again, the film still belongs firmly to the new (old) generation: Michael Fassbender’s dynamic, driven Magneto, James McAvoy’s pained and poignant Xavier (though he and Patrick Stewart share a scene that’s immensely powerful), Jennifer Lawrence’s single-minded Raven, and Nicholas Hoult’s entertaining Hank. Of course, Hugh Jackman’s quintessential Logan/Wolverine is the focus of the film (he gets top billing among the stars), and he has admirably made strides in making this version of his iconic character a bit advanced from his last foray in The Wolverine showing growth and progress with handling his emotions. Peter Dinklage is as sure-footed and solid as always as Dr. Bolivar Trask, and Shawn Ashmore as Iceman, Daniel Cudmore as Colossus, and Bingbing Fan as Blink (who opens portals to different times) all make firm impressions.



Video Rating: 5/5  3D Rating: NA

The film is presented in its theatrical 2.40:1 aspect ratio and is offered in 1080p resolution using the AVC codec. The future sequences are bathed in blackness emphasizing the bleak, stormy future that the mutants are facing, and the black levels are indeed outstanding with superb shadow detail. The 1973-set majority of the film offers outstanding sharpness and solid color rendition with believable and appealing flesh tones. Contrast is perfectly modulated throughout the movie. The film has been divided into 40 chapters.

 

Of course, the film was released to theaters in 3D, and there is a commercial 3D version available, but only the 2D version was sent for review.



Audio Rating: 5/5

The DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 sound mix offers just the kind of immersion one requires of these comic book adventure films. The entire soundstage is utilized to the max in terms of split surround effects with frequent pans across and through the soundfield, and John Ottman’s music likewise receives a full spread through the fronts and rears. LFE channel activity stays busy throughout the enterprise with wonderful bass effects that you’ll feel at certain key moments.



Special Features Rating: 3.5/5

Deleted Scenes (5:36, HD): five deleted scenes may be watched together or separately and have the option of director Bryan Singer’s commentary track for them.

 

Gag Reel (5:40, HD)

 

Kitchen Sequence (6:28, HD): an outtake that shows the difficulty of filming it with the director unable to communicate with his actors without breaking them up. It’s explained in the featurette.

 

Classification: M (11:54, HD): director Bryan Singer, producers Lauren Shuler Donner and Hutch Parker, and other members of the cast and crew talk about the new mutants engaged for this chapter of the saga: their powers and how they were achieved on-screen.

 

X-Men: Reunited (9:47, HD): along with director Singer and producer Lauren Shuler Donner, members of the “old guard” including Hugh Jackman, Shawn Ashmore, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, and Ellen Page discuss the thrill of coming back to an ­X-Men film.

 

Double Take: Xavier & Magneto (11:51, HD): the two actors who each play Magneto and Xavier along with director Singer and producer Donner talk about their characters’ states of mind during the story. We learn that the future scenes were filmed first and that McAvoy and Stewart spent one day filming their scene together: Stewart’s last day on set and McAvoy’s first day of shooting.

 

Sentinels: For a Secure Future (9:19, HD): actor Peter Dinklage along with director Singer, producer Donner, writer Simon Kinberg, production designer John Myhre, along with sound designer Craig Berkey and special effects supervisor Derek Spears talk about the transformations of the robots from their 1973 incarnations to the future models and how effects and sound were combined to make them truly frightening creatures.

 

Gallery: Trask Industries (HD): three art galleries with sketches and models may be stepped through by the viewer offering dozens of drawings and photos: Mutant Experiments, Blueprints, and Set Constructions.

 

Theatrical Trailers (7:09, HD): three theatrical trailers may be viewed individually or together in montage.

 

Second Screen App: supplementary device application for use while viewing.

 

Fan Art Booklet: enclosed in the case

 

Digital Copy: code sheet for iTunes and Ultraviolet inside case.

 

Promo Trailer (HD): Exodus: Gods and Kings.



Overall Rating: 4/5

X-Men: Days of Future Past in another excellent entry in the X-Men franchise: exciting, unpredictable, touching; all of the things one expects from this terrific Marvel franchise along with reference quality picture and sound. Recommended!


Reviewed By: Matt Hough


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ScottJH

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Just a heads up, the DOFP disc currently won't play in an Oppo BDP-83. If the 83 is your only player you might want to hold off on purchasing the disc. Oppo is uncertain if they will be able to get the disc to play once they get a copy to test.
 

Jason_V

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Ken_McAlinden

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It might be worth clarifying that the "Kitchen Sequnce" mentioned in the extras is a deleted conversational scene at the X-Mansion, and not the technical tour de force Quicksilver kitchen sequence from the movie.
 

Dave Moritz

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I picked up this title to finally watch a 3D title on my Samsung 4K UHD TV that I purchased almost 9 months ago. Time to check out 3D on this beast!

The only problem it looks as if the Denon DBP-1611UD blu-ray player will not play this title ether! So the Oppo BDP-83 and Denon DBP-1611UD both do not play this title. Anyone else having trouble with this title? Am hopefully going to talk with someone at Denon and see what is going on with a firmware update so I can view this title.
 

schan1269

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Dave Moritz said:
I picked up this title to finally watch a 3D title on my Samsung 4K UHD TV that I purchased almost 9 months ago. Time to check out 3D on this beast!

The only problem it looks as if the Denon DBP-1611UD blu-ray player will not play this title ether! So the Oppo BDP-83 and Denon DBP-1611UD both do not play this title. Anyone else having trouble with this title? Am hopefully going to talk with someone at Denon and see what is going on with a firmware update so I can view this title.
Will make the comment here as well(posted in the "weekend watch" thread)

It appears that the studio is using "death knell" level HDCP.

There are no(as yet) pre-Sunset BD players capable of playing it...that I know of.

Essentially, if your BD player has a component output(meaning pre-Sunset)...expect this movie not to play.

Supposedly there will be a "hack code" for pre-Sunset Oppo soon. That is if the studio doesn't crack a whip first.

When the BDA announced "the sunset" any players already set for production during 2013 "supposedly" were to be grandfathered into "death knell" HDCP.

Well...looking to be not the case...

(by the way, death knell is my pet term for the "reading between the lines" of the statement that essentially said...depending how you read it, "All BD players with a component video output will be 'bricked'")

I have not bought this disc yet, currently in my cart on Amazon. I have(not all in use) 15 BD players. 7 of which are multi-region...and only 1 (an Orei) is pre-sunset. Been on a buying binge of BD players this year. All of my older ones are sitting in a closet.
 

CraigF

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Apparently the BDP-83 has problems with this BD because its firmware was designed back in the day when the Blu-ray forum standards were strictly enforced. Believe it or not, they are not so strictly enforced today.

I do understand the "sunset clause" and often refer to it "elsewhere", but this problem has nothing to do with that. I have two other BDPs (one an Oppo too) plus a PS3 that all have component (analog) video output, thus contravening the sunset clause if they were built today, and they all play this BD.

No, the probem is that Fox screwed up in their bizarre copy-protection scheme, this has been proven, and it does not meet the strict BD forum standards for BD authoring that were once enforced. The BDP-83 checks to ensure the standard is exactly met, as written, newer players do not.

As an aside, it has been reported that Region B versions, as have been released so far (i.e. not the UK), do not have a problem with the BDP-83 (obviously you need a region-free kit).

Oppo may be able to fix this, determination ongoing, it is largely up to one of their chip suppliers Mediatek to get involved since the relevant firmware is proprietary and not part of the Oppo-specific stuff. It's not that Oppo doesn't want to fix this, it's that they can't by themselves.

[This info is gathered from "elsewhere" from people who know, who apparently aren't allowed to say "more" yet. Just posted here because the 83 is a popular player, and for people who may not go to the elsewhere place much.]
 

Dave Moritz

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[SIZE=14.3999996185303px]Purchases a 50' cat6 cable and moved my 4 port switch to the ht rack and the Denon DBP-1611UD bluray player had an update and bam Days Of Future Past plays. Update barely took 2 minutes via wired network and now I just need to buy a new 4 port giga switch to replace the one I moved. Time to enjoy this movie![/SIZE]
 

Dave Moritz

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I really enjoyed Days Of Future Past as well as the other X Men movies. It was interesting to see how there characters where when they where younger and it was interesting to see Wolverines expression when he saw his claws where not metal. I am surprised that they did not bring the night crawler into this story but they made the escape of Magneto work just fine. I found the story line enjoyable and the special effects where very good, but one thing that made no sense to me is if Xavier died at the end of X Men Last Stand how is he alive in the future? Or did Wolverine warn the professor thus changing his future? I also enjoyed the audio mix on this title as well.
 

RolandL

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Dave Moritz said:
I picked up this title to finally watch a 3D title on my Samsung 4K UHD TV that I purchased almost 9 months ago. Time to check out 3D on this beast!

The only problem it looks as if the Denon DBP-1611UD blu-ray player will not play this title ether! So the Oppo BDP-83 and Denon DBP-1611UD both do not play this title. Anyone else having trouble with this title? Am hopefully going to talk with someone at Denon and see what is going on with a firmware update so I can view this title.
Plays fine on my Sony Blu-ray player (never updated) and PS3 (update is automatic).
 

CraigF

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Oppo has released a new "beta" firmware update for the BDP-83 today. It only corrects for this strange new authoring on a few recent Fox BD titles, such as this one. You have to go to the Oppo site, to the 83 download section, and get the file onto a USB stick. After the FW has been tested by a bunch of users it'll be released in the usual way directly to the player i.e. your player will notify you if you have that option enabled; it doesn't notify for betas. Note that unlike most players, Oppo allows you to revert FW, so no harm done. Haven't done it myself yet, since I played this on the PS3 and too soon for another viewing...
 

Grady Reid

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Has anybody heard when or if the extended cut will be released? I thought it was going to be early this year.
 

Neil Middlemiss

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Grady Reid said:
Has anybody heard when or if the extended cut will be released? I thought it was going to be early this year.

No firm date, just 'summer of 2015' right now.
 

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