# X-Men: First Class - Blu-Ray Review



## Dale Rasco

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=7073[/img]*Title: X-Men: First Class
Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Kevin Bacon, Rose Byrne, Jennifer Lawrence
Directed by: Matthew Vaughn	
Written by: Ashley Miller, Zack Stentz, Jane Goldman, Matthew Vaughn
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 132 Minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: 9/9/2011 * 

*Movie:* :4.5stars:
*Video:* :5stars:
*Audio:* :5stars: 
*Extras:* :4stars: 
*Overall:* :5stars: 


*HTS Overall Score:*96 

*Summary:* 
X-Men: First Class unveils the epic beginning of the X-Men saga - and a secret history of the Cold War and our world at the brink of nuclear Armageddon. As the first class discovers, harnesses, and comes to terms with their formidable powers, alliances are formed that will shape the eternal war between the heroes and villains of the X-Men universe.

In 1962, at the height of the Cold War, Charles Xavier (McAvoy) is approached by the CIA to assist in locating Sebastian Shaw (Bacon) before he single handedly orchestrates the extinction of mankind through nuclear war. Xavier locates and assembles a team of mutant G-Men working for the United States in hopes of stopping Shaw before it’s too late. [img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=7074[/img]

One of the mutants that Xavier recruits is Erik Lehnsherr (Fassbender) who has his own score to settle with Shaw however; when the team is torn over what’s right, what’s wrong and what is, they discover that they will need more than their powers can offer if they are to survive and save mankind from extinction. 

As the constant onslaught of super hero movies that flood our theaters continues, X-Men: First Class offers a fresh, quazi-retro origin story of one of the most beloved intellectual properties in comics and hits the mark on all fronts. After X-Men: The Last Stand and Wolverine, I had little hope that the franchise could return to its former glory that peaked with X2: X-Men United. That has definitely changed with this new tale and the only word I could offer to the filmmakers of X-Men: First Class is; ‘*Bravo*’! This new X-Men movie is hands down the best in the series and in my opinion one of the best films in the genre thus far. Director Matthew Vaughn has constructed an extremely original and flat out awesome ride for our dear mutated brethren.

[img]http://www.hometheatershack.com/gallery/file.php?n=7075[/img]To top things off we are given memorable performances by just about everyone involved. No, I’m not going to suggest that these Oscar worthy, but I will easily say that every actor in this one did their part perfectly and did an excellent job at drawing you into their world and making you care about what happens to them. I would also say that Michael Fassbender and Jennifer Lawrence stood out most in the cast.

Setting the story against one of the most frightening moments in history was brilliant as it rooted the series in our reality. Vaughn was able to masterfully give the film a vintage look while still making everything feel shiny and new. Stock footage from the era combined with modern filming technologies paid off huge and in the end I was left with a feeling of complete satisfaction. Being such a huge fan of comic books and super heroes in general, it was a real treat to finally see a film that I felt was at the very least in the same class as The Dark Knight.




*Rating:* 
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence, some sexual content including brief partial nudity and language




*Video:* :5stars:
The 1080P MPEG-4 AVC transfer for X-Men: First Class is impeccable. I could find nothing at all to complain about on this one. Colors were rich and deep with effortlessly pure hues. The black levels were penetrative and deep with fine shadow detail and perfectly adjusted contrast. Resolution speaks for itself in the fine detail inherent in such an exceptional transfer. Whether it was CGI or perfectly natural imperfections on textured surfaces, this is a clear and detailed presentation that pops out at you. Fleshtones are natural looking in all instances and never look flat or dead. There was some natural grain from time to time, but that never distracts from the rest of the transfer. Even the stock footage from 1960’s Las Vegas is a treat to see. This is one that you’ll definitely want to see for yourself, an A+ presentation.




























*Audio:* :5stars: 
Of course the whole experience would have been for naught had the audio been anything less than perfect. Luckily it was every bit as good as the video transfer. There is something for everyone in this extremely dynamic and perfectly balanced 5.1 DTS-HD-MA gift from Fox. Surround channels are perfectly imaged to capture off camera conversations as well as ambient and action oriented audio. Everything throughout the film was incredibly well articulated and one of the clearest high definition audio experiences I have ever heard. Low frequency extension covers all of our favorite areas from the impactful, offensive and rude to the atmospheric and encompassing. The filmmakers brought there A-Game to this sound design and it shines from beginning to end. Dialogue reproduction was flawless and is perfectly imaged across all five channels. This is an audio experience that not only needs to be heard to be appreciated, but I absolutely demand you go out right now and buy it. Its ok, I’ll wait…..





*Extras:* :4stars:

X Marks the Spot Viewing Mode 
Cerebro: Mutant Tracker 
Children of the Atom Documentary 
Deleted and Extended Scenes 
Composer's Isolated Score 
BD-Live Exclusive - "Dogfight" Stunt Test 
Digital Copy


*Overall:* :5stars:
See? Didn’t I tell you it was awesome? All kidding aside, if you liked the first two X-Men films, or are a fan of superhero movies or of action movies or of adventure movies or just plain great movies; then you should pick this one up without hesitation. Ever since Layer Cake I have been a fan of Matthew Vaughn and he far exceeded my expectations with this one. The effects in the movie are awesome, the video presentation of the film is as good as I have ever seen in a live action movie and the AQ is off the charts. I challenge anyone to effectively argue that this is not one of the best, if not the best, Blu-Rays to come out in the past year or more. Yes, I’ll concede that it handily bests my beloved Battle: Los Angeles on all fronts. The entire cast put in a great effort and made a good idea a great movie. X-Men: First Class should serve as an example that you ca still take something familiar and make it feel new again. Highly Recommended!










*Recommendation: BUY IT!!!​*



Official Blu-Ray Reviews Scoring


----------



## Z71SierraSLT

Nice review. I picked this up yesterday at Best Buy and watched it for the first time. Did you have any issues with it loading in your Blu-Ray player. My player usually loads fast, but this one took a while. Also read on some other forums that this wasnot working with PS3 players.


----------



## Dale Rasco

No problem playing in my PS3, didn't have any slow loads either. Odd, I'll have to do some checking on that one.


----------



## Jon Liu

Thanks for the review, Dale! There is about only one aspect of this film that really drives me up a wall, a couple of the mutants are just downright awful. The one that tops all of them has to be Angel. I just think she is so out of place in this film. Other than that, I absolutely loved every other aspect of this film and have already purchased my copy on Blu-ray as well. I am hoping to fire it up tonight!


----------



## Dale Rasco

My only issue with Angel was that they used the name Angel since Angel/Archangel is a guy and a hero in X-Men already. I really didn't mind it thought or her character. Though it was a great movie but like I said, the last two were such a let down I had incredibly low expectations on this one.


----------



## Dwight Angus

If this one is better then Battle Los Angeles I better get it as I thought BLA was hard to beat.


----------



## Dale Rasco

This one was much more dynamic as far as the AQ goes and the PQ is outstanding. I loved B:LA to but thought this one was all around better.


----------



## Jon Liu

I really liked Battle: LA, but I don't think that movie holds a candle to X-Men: FC. I think it is one of the best X-Men movies to date. It's a tough call between this one and X-Men 2 for me, however it's probably unnecessary to compare the two. Both McAvoy and Fassbender really give this movie its life.

I really loved the cameo of one of the key X-Men in the recruiting sequence, too!


----------



## Dale Rasco

Yeah, the cameo cracked me up!


----------



## gorb

This is my favorite of the X-Men movies so far. I also really liked the cameo


----------



## Prof.

Based on your review Dale, I'll be buying this one..:clap: :T


----------



## Dale Rasco

I hope it won't let you down Prof! Let me know your thoughts!


----------



## Prof.

I've just discovered that the region B version won't be released until late October!! :rant:


----------



## Dale Rasco

That's just wrong on so many levels... what about Thor and Star Wars? We get those Tuesday and Friday this week!


----------



## Prof.

Star Wars (which is on order) is released tomorrow!  Thor won't be released until the end of the month! Go figure..:scratch:


----------



## Dale Rasco

Well at least you'll have six movies to watch. SUWEET!!


----------



## Prof.

Not for awhile unfortunately..SW is coming from the UK!


----------



## smurphy522

Thanks for the review Dale!

Will add this one to my BR "to buy" list.

Always appreciated.

BTW how do you go about getting the movies in advance for the reviews?


----------



## Dale Rasco

The studios have programs in place through PR firms and directly with their marketing departments that send them to us.


----------



## sga2

Great review. I am looking forward to seeing this one. I _promoted_ it to the "I'll wait 'till it comes on BluRay" list when it received good reviews in the theater (that would have been a demotion not too long ago...). I'm a big fan of X-Men 1 & 2. Not so much 3.

Regards,
sga2


----------



## GP400CI

I also just watched this movie, definitely worth the buy! Just love the throw-back they did with it, the best cameo of the year to go with it too. Great review Dale!:T


----------



## HuskerOmaha

Prof. said:


> Star Wars (which is on order) is released tomorrow!  Thor won't be released until the end of the month! Go figure..:scratch:


Thor is worth it, you are in for a treat. TRON still tops in my book, though.


----------



## Dwight Angus

I also just watched this movie and it was terrific. PQ and AQ were the best I have seen/heard in awhile. Better then BLA imho and yes the throwback was awesome.


----------



## Jon Liu

I want to check out Tron next as well. I heard some mixed things about that one though. Regardless, I am itching to watch this one again. Maybe tonight.


----------



## ironglen

Very good story and acting, probably one of the best I've seen for a comic-book movie. You guys are getting good at this review thing: I find myself looking to see what you've reviewed before I go to the store! :T


----------



## Trizzly

I felt like Magento was controlling my subwoofer...


----------



## ironglen

Trizzly said:


> I felt like Magento was controlling my subwoofer...


:yay2::yay:


----------



## sga2

Watched last night. Overall the PQ and AQ were top notch and the movie itself was very good. However, there were a handful of scenes that I thought were a little blurry. One that comes to mind was the near the beginning when young Magneto was being forced to move the coin (if you've seen it you know what I'm talking about...). The side shots of him were a little blurry, so much so that I thought my PJ was out of focus until the next (crystal clear) shot. Did anyone else notice that? I never saw this movie in the theaters so not sure if this was from the source.

Regards,
sga2


----------



## Trizzly

sga2 said:


> Watched last night. Overall the PQ and AQ were top notch and the movie itself was very good. However, there were a handful of scenes that I thought were a little blurry. One that comes to mind was the near the beginning when young Magneto was being forced to move the coin (if you've seen it you know what I'm talking about...). The side shots of him were a little blurry, so much so that I thought my PJ was out of focus until the next (crystal clear) shot. Did anyone else notice that? I never saw this in the theaters so not sure if this was from the source.
> 
> Regards,
> sga2


I absolutely saw the same thing in the exact same thing. That makes two of us, perhaps it is the source material.


----------



## Trizzly

EDIT: I absolutely saw the same thing in the exact same scene. That makes two of us, perhaps it is the source material.


----------



## Picture_Shooter

I got this movie when it was released, and yet to see it. I need to get a move on!


----------



## honey34567

I haven't seen it on Blu Ray yet but I did get to see it in the theater and it was my favorite of the XMen films so far.. mostly because of Michael Fassbender's performance. Who knew Magneto could seem so sympathetic?

I'm looking forward to taking in the Blu Ray treatment especially after your rave reviews


----------



## Stitch

How would you compare this one to x men origins 'wolverine' ?


----------



## Dale Rasco

I thought this one was a much better film.


----------



## Jon Liu

I will have to agree with Dale. I had hoped for so much from X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but they fell short by a massive margin. X-Men First Class is MUCH better of a film.


----------



## Stitch

Thanks,fella's......you know what that means....another purchase !! I watched Thor again , and I still can't get over the sound quality( never gets old)


----------



## Stitch

Capt. America next tues.?!!! Sweet


----------



## Stitch

I have to admit....I was lookin forward to a 'dale' review on capt. America b.d.


----------



## Dale Rasco

I would have liked to have done the Capt America review but that one is assigned to Dave to get done. He's been swamped lately and trying to get it done. Personally I liked Capt America quite a bit, but I'm a bit of a fanboy and have been waiting for a proper Capt America movie to come out since that rubish that was made for TV in the 70's and the stinker from 1990. I finally watched it last night with the family and I really enjoyed the story and the look of the film was great. Hopefully the series will take the next step after The Avengers next year.


----------



## Stitch

I caught capt America in the theater ,and was very impressed ---- I rated it just above Thor and right up there w iron man 1


----------



## aceinc

An audio nut nit (or two) to pick;

I belive that the turntable used in the sequence from about 1962 was a Transcrpitor model which wasn't produced until about 5 or more years later.

The 10" Tape deck in the background of one of the shots also appeared to be of a much later vintage, probably the 70's.

Having said that I enjoyed the movie, hate to send it back to NetFlix.

Paul


----------



## turtle101

Just watched this recently on blu-ray the review was spot on great pic quality however did have a problem playing it at first on the ps3 I had to turn off the internet on the ps3 as the blu-ray live causes a problem with the film when playing for some reason I had the same problem with the Pineapple Express blu-ray but apart from this the blu-ray was great!


----------



## d12d

This is a very good movie. This is a good prequel and has a good story. Some good action scenes as well as good audio and video quality. Some nice low frequency audio as well. Definitely worth watching 8/10


----------



## kingnoob

Very great movie, Excellent job by Kevin Bacon as the Villan. Magneto is also very cool another great x-men movie. Not many all star actors but actors were very good!


----------

