DVD Review: X-Men: Volume 4
X-Men: Vol. 4 DVD Review
If anything, Buena Vista releasing the animated “X-Men” series to DVD should inspire hope. Hope that Disney will honor Marvel properties just as well as Paramount and Sam Raimi have, and nothing like Fox has. There’s also evidence to support that Disney’s top priority should be wrestling those rights away from Fox and get to work on both new X-Men and Fantastic Four films.
For now though, we’ll keep things squared on “X-Men” which Buena Vista is finally giving proper release for the animated series. I’ve already lauded enough praise on what the series meant to me and my generation and how great it was here so let’s focus on the episodes we’re gracious enough to be receiving for Volume 4.
Once again, the strong character development the series was known for remains present as well as the socially relevant themes of discrimination and racism inherit throughout the comics and cartoon. Then of course, the big seller to get the kids; the spectacle. “X-Men” has some of the most exciting cartoon action and actually gives us fights with the Sentinels. The mutants also tackle the villainous Apocalypse as well as giving us a good old fashioned Wolverine/Sabertooth smack down every now and then. The animation might be dated, but it does hold up considerably well, considering it’s age.
Speaking of Apocalypse, he gets the best arc of this set in the four part “Beyond Good and Evil” which sees the villain travel through time while battling Cable and Bishop along the way. Also great are the two-part “Sanctuary” where the X-Men battle Fabian Cortez on Asteroid M and “The Lotus and the Steel” which features Wolverine heading to Japan to tackle Silver Samurai. That episode is on disc two of this set, which does keep things more character focused.
Things unfortunately start to turn sour on disc two with episodes like “Have Yourself A Morlock Little Christmas” which shows the series was starting to wear thin with it’s ideas. Plot points start to get boring and the social commentary starts to get a little repetitive, but it still entertains. Besides, is it really going to matter to the target audience if things get a little wobbly? I sure don’t remember giving a flip that I was seeing the same story over, and over again when I was in my youth.
The good though far outweighs the bad, and it doesn’t diminish the impact this series had. It’s tough to imagine Patrick Stewart in the seat of Professor X without this series coming before it and Cal Dodd just IS the voice of Wolverine in the same way Kevin Conroy is the definitive Batman for most people. For the Mouse House, this is glorifying both for them and their fans as they’ve already done an excellent job handling the property before the internet came around. For what it’s worth, these are nice building blocks for a successful new adventure, all things considered.
8 out of 10
The Video
X-Men: Volume 4 comes in the same full frame (1.33:1) transfers that the other sets boast. Much of the problems from before crop up, such as the haze and the murky look of the source material, which was obviously of low quality. Also like before, digital interlacing is noticeable in some spots. It’s not a priority as the discs will still sell, but it’d be nice to give these episodes a proper restoration.
5 out of 10
The Audio
We get choices of English, Spanish or French Dolby Surround 2.0 as well as subtitles in each language. Again like before, the audio is very distorted and does come from a not-so-great source, but it doesn’t feel like much effort was put into restoring it. But still, I do love hearing that old “X-Men” theme as much as before, as well as the optic blasts or the most famous…SNIKT!
5 out of 10
The Extras and Packaging
Dear Buena Vista,
When you do re-release these on Blu-ray, please give these some proper extras as I’m sure all parties were available. Or better yet, let Jon Peters handle them.
Sincerely,
The X-Fans
P.S. – I still love the holographic covers though.
0 out of 10
Overall
X-Men: Volume 4, like the other Volumes, is a nice trip down memory lane and a wonderful introduction to new X-Fans while die-hard fans will need no convincing picking this up. While this is nothing more than a cash-in on the Blu-ray and DVD release of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, anyone who enjoys quality would be better served picking this up instead. You’ll get ten times more the entertainment and something that actually honors and respects the source material. Go get the rights, Mickey!
DVD Overall Rating – 6 out of 10
