Spider-Man - The Motion Picture DVD Trilogy (Spider-Man / Spider-Man 2 / Spider-Man 3)
by Sam Raimi
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Actor: Alfred Molina, Kirsten Dunst, Thomas Haden Church, Tobey Maguire, Topher GraceDirector: Sam Raimi
Brand: Sony
Writer: Sam Raimi
Writer: Alfred Gough
Writer: Alvin Sargent
Writer: David Koepp
Writer: Ivan Raimi
Writer: Michael Chabon
Writer: Miles Millar
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 388 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-10-30
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Sony Pictures
DVD Reviews of Spider-Man - The Motion Picture DVD Trilogy (Spider-Man / Spider-Man 2 / Spider-Man 3)
DVD Review: Superman lite
Summary: 4 Stars
"Spider-Man" was arguably the first modern super-hero comic book. It demonstrated how a fundamentally idiotic idea (attaining super powers from the bite of a radioactive spider has been mercilessly parodied) could work, if the story resonated with the readers. Lee and Ditko had the sense to make the hero a geeky teenager who has super powers thrust on him, without the experience or wisdom to know what to do. The parallel with the transition from puberty to maturity is obvious, but it works. "Spider-Man" was probably the biggest single influence in moving comic books away from melodrama and toward drama.
Sam Raimi, a director notorious for over-the-top silliness, would seem the least-likely choice for such material, but he handles it perfectly. The focus is firmly on Peter's relationships with his family and Mary-Jane, even in the third film (which has too many villains, and too many plot lines to tie up). It's underplayed, with Maguire's performance convincingly shy without being sappy. He might be a geek, but he's no dork. Rosemary Harris is especially fine as everyone's idea of the perfect nuturing aunt. Her performance is much better than it has to be.
The only unbelievable character is J Jonah Jameson, but then, he was over-the-top in the comics, too; no Perry White, he. J K Simmons (perhaps best-known as the bisexual Nazi murderer-rapist in HBO's "Oz") shows he's just as good at comedy, nailing the character. (No jokes, please.)
If the Spider-Man films have a problem, it's that there's a limited number of feats a super hero can perform, and only so many emotional conflicts a human being can experience. Not surprisingly, their situations and story arcs are uncomfortably like those in the first three Superman films: Peter swings up to catch Mary Jane as she falls (he later repeats the act with his aunt). He abandons his super-identify because it interferes with what he most wants out of life. People "on the street" aid him when he's in trouble. He even loses and regains his super powers. And in the third film, Gwen Stacy's inevitable fall from a building is so close to Lois Lane's helicopter fall (with the mic cable replaced by a telephone cord) that it verges on plagiarism. Not to mention that, as in S3, a drastic change in the hero's personality is a central plot element. Whether or not this is conscious copying, it does give an uncomfortable sense of d?j? vu, which is why I've awarded these well-done and entertaining films only four stars.
I can't resist pointing out that, as with most super-hero films, there is an utter disregard for the laws of physics. Worse, the animators don't understand one of the most-basic: F = ma. Objects and people move almost instantly from rest to motion (or back), which is not only unrealisitc, but impossible. (Disney had a good grasp of this 70 years ago. Digital animators don't seem to have caught it. Note, for example, how Shrek moves as if his body is massless.) S-M3 also overlooks e = mv^2/2 -- there's no way a swinging crane could crack a building's girders.
The Blu-ray transfers are of the high quality one expects. (They /ought/ to be -- Sony owns Columbia.) The second film includes the extended "2.1" version. I don't believe there's any supplemental material that hasn't already appeared on the DVDs.
DVD Review: I Can See Clearly Now.....
Summary: 4 Stars
The picture quality is among the best I have seen for a blu-ray. The sound quality is pristine. I rocked the house playing it through my home theater system. The reason it got 4 stars was for the lack of special features for both Spider-man and Spider-man 2. This set included Spider-man 2.1(Extended Version), which was nice, so the trilogy is almost a quadrilogy. I waited for a price-drop since I had all on dvd prior to my purchase. DVD Review: SPIDER-MAN EVEN BETTER IN BLU-RAY
Summary: 5 Stars
This really doesn't have anything to do with the quality of the movies. I happened to enjoy all three as being above average super-movies. The thing I noticed about the Blu-Ray versions is the crispness of picture quality and the saturation of colors. The colors are so intense at times that they actually hurt your eyes if you're sitting too close to your 50" HD TV. Blu-Ray is a differnce that is easily noticable and worth the extra bucks for those movies that flash color, scenery, mind-boggling special effects and grandeur. DVD Review: Great
Summary: 5 Stars
My son just started getting into superheros and Spiderman was at the top of his list. I found the triology on Amazon right away and at a great price. The movies arrived in very little time and in great shape. I love Amazon and will always continue to shop here.
Tiffany
DVD Review: Worst trilogy ever!!!
Summary: 1 Stars
This is a review of the films and not the blue-ray tech. These movies are an abomination and should be burned where ever they are found. I used to collect comic books when I was in grade school and jr. high and while I wasn't a huge spidey fan I can't believe Stan Lee signed off on these unmitigated pices of crap. If you have source material like this then stick to the source matreial and don't tweek it because you don't think some people will get it. The most glaring problem is with Sipdey's webbing. The whole making of his webslingers was a huge part of Spideys mythos, plus it added tennsion when he was in the middel of the action and he ran out of web fluid and he might be falling and have to switch out cartrages before he hit the pavment. The movies answer to this was to make his web poweres biological and that if he didn't feel confident he couldnt make webs!!! Cut the emo crap hollywood! Also It would have made a better story and helped the caharacter devlope if they had actually used Peters first girlfriend Gwen Stacy and had her killed by the Green Goblin like in the books. This could have set up Spideys doubts about his mission and helped him grow as a person. That brings us to the green goblin costum. It was the worst piece of crap costume I have ever seen in a major hollywood production!!! If I try describe where they went wrong with that I may be physically ill, the only part they got right was the color and that may be because it was in the cahracters name. Finally Reese Witherspoon is a great actress but she was the wrong choice to play Mary Jane. The dye job on her hair was pathatic, and she does not even remotely look like the character. M.J. is tall extremly well endowed woman with a playboy playmate centerfold like figure and green eyes. You tell me is that what we got in the film?
Were the movies completly unwatchable? No but they were'nt Spiderman either.
Description of Spider-Man - The Motion Picture DVD Trilogy (Spider-Man / Spider-Man 2 / Spider-Man 3)
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Ent Release Date: 10/30/2007Spider-Man 3
How does Spider-Man 3 follow on the heels of its predecessor, which was widely considered the best superhero movie ever? For starters, you pick up the loose threads from that movie, then add some key elements of the Spidey comic-book mythos (including fan-favorite villain Venom), the black costume, and the characters of Gwen Stacy and her police-captain father. In the beginning, things have never looked better for Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire): He's doing well in school; his alter ego, Spider-Man, is loved and respected around New York City. And his girlfriend, Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), has just taken a starring role in a Broadway musical. But nothing good can last for Spidey. Mary Jane's career quickly goes downhill; she's bothered by Peter's attractive new classmate, Gwen Stacy (Bryce Dallas Howard); and the new Daily Bugle photographer, Eddie Brock (Topher Grace), is trying to steal his thunder. Enter a new villain, the Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), who can transform his body into various forms and shapes of sand and who may be connected to Peter's past in an unexpected way. There's also the son of an old villain, Harry Osborne (James Franco), who unmasked Spidey in the previous movie and still has revenge on his mind. And a new black costume seems to boost Spidey's powers, but transforms mild-mannered Peter into a mean and obnoxious boor (Maguire has some fun here).
If that sounds like a lot to pack into one 140-minute movie, it is. While director Sam Raimi keeps things flowing, assisted on the screenplay by his brother Ivan and Alvin Sargent, there's a little too much going on, and it's inevitable that one of the villains (there are three or four, depending on how you count) gets significantly short-changed. Still, the cast is excellent, the effects are fantastic, and the action is fast and furious. Even if Spider-Man 3 isn't the match of Spider-Man 2, it's a worthy addition to the megamillion-dollar franchise. --David Horiuchi
Spider-Man 2
More than a few critics hailed Spider-Man 2 as "the best superhero movie ever," and there's no compelling reason to argue--thanks to a bigger budget, better special effects, and a dynamic, character-driven plot, it's a notch above Spider-Man in terms of emotional depth and rich comic-book sensibility. Ordinary People Oscar-winner Alvin Sargent received screenplay credit, and celebrated author and comic-book expert Michael Chabon worked on the story, but it's director Sam Raimi's affinity for the material that brings Spidey 2 to vivid life. When a fusion experiment goes terribly wrong, a brilliant physicist (Alfred Molina) is turned into Spidey's newest nemesis, the deranged, mechanically tentacled "Doctor Octopus," obsessed with completing his experiment and killing Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire) in the process. Even more compelling is Peter Parker's urgent dilemma: continue his burdensome, lonely life of crime-fighting as Spider-Man, or pursue love and happiness with Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst)? Molina's outstanding as a tragic villain controlled by his own invention, and the action sequences are nothing less than breathtaking, but the real success of Spider-Man 2 is its sense of priorities. With all of Hollywood's biggest and best toys at his disposal, Raimi and his writers stay true to the Marvel mythology, honoring Spider-Man creators Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, and setting the bar impressively high for the challenge of Spider-Man 31. --Jeff Shannon
DVD Features:
The first commentary track is by director Sam Raimi and a self-deprecating Tobey Maguire speaking in tandem, and producer (and Marvel CEO) Avi Arad and coproducer Grant Curtis speaking in tandem. They discuss a number of topics, including Raimi's memory of his excitement over Richard Donner's Superman and how the character of Black Cat had to be dropped from the film. The second commentary is by six members of the Oscar-nominated effects team, and one of their primary focuses is how Doc Ock's arms were achieved by a combination of puppetry and CGI.
The centerpiece of the second disc is a massive two-hour documentary that can be viewed all at once or in 12 separate pieces. It covers the development of the story, the visual effects, costumes, stunts, and sound and music. Three shorter featurettes cover Peter Parker's struggle between his personal and hero lives, Doc Ock, and the women in Spider-Man's life, and what's interesting is how they discuss those topics not just in relation to the movies but to the comic books as well. (For example, Betty Brant and Gwen Stacy had a much greater impact in the comics.) There's a scene in which you can toggle among three different camera angles, and a gallery of 17 paintings Alex Ross created for the opening sequence. The sound and picture are spectacular, though only the Superbit edition has DTS. --David Horiuchi
Spider-Man
For devoted fans and nonfans alike, Spider-Man offers nothing less--and nothing more--than what you'd expect from a superhero blockbuster. Having proven his comic-book savvy with the original Darkman, director Sam Raimi brings ample energy and enthusiasm to Spidey's origin story, nicely establishing high-school nebbish Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) as a brainy outcast who reacts with appropriate euphoria--and well-tempered maturity--when a "super-spider" bite transforms him into the amazingly agile, web-shooting Spider-Man. That's all well and good, and so is Kirsten Dunst as Parker's girl-next-door sweetheart. Where Spider-Man falls short is in its hyperactive CGI action sequences, which play like a video game instead of the gravity-defying exploits of a flesh-and-blood superhero. Willem Dafoe is perfectly cast as Spidey's schizoid nemesis, the Green Goblin, and the movie's a lot of fun overall. It's no match for Superman and Batman in bringing a beloved character to the screen, but it places a respectable third. --Jeff Shannon
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