Superheroes

Batman Begins [HD DVD]

Warner Brothers Batman Begins - HD-DVD
The origins of the CapedCrusader of Gotham City are finally brought to the big screen in this new adaptation of the perennially popular comic-book series. The young Bruce Wayne (Gus Lewis) leads a privileged life as the sonof wealthy, philanthropist parents, both of whom stress their commitment to improving the lives of the citizens of crime-ridden Gotham City. After his mother and father are murdered by a mugger, however, Wayne grows into an impudent young man (Christian Bale), full of rage and bent on retribution until encouraged by his childhood sweetheart, Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes), to search for answers beyond his own personal vendettas. Wayne eventually finds discipline in the Far East under the tutelage of Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson), a member of the mysterious League of Shadows who guides him in the study of martial arts -- and the ways in which an ordinary man can hone his senses to an almost superhuman acuity. After seven years away from Gotham, Wayne returns, determined to bring peace and safetyback to the city. With the help of his faithful manservant, Alfred Pennyworth (Michael Caine), and Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), a scientist at his late father's corporation, Wayne develops a secret identity as Batman, a masked fighter for justice. But when a shady psychiatrist (Cillian Murphy) joins forces with the criminal underworld, Wayne realizes that putting an end to their nefarious plans will be very difficult indeed. Batman Begins also features Gary Oldman as Lt. James Gordon and Tom Wilkinson as the crime boss Carmine Falcone.

Batman Begins discards the previous four films in the series and recasts the Caped Crusader as a fearsome avenging angel. That's good news, because the series, which had gotten off to a rousing start under Tim Burton, had gradually dissolved into self-parody by 1997's Batman & Robin. As the title implies, Batman Begins tells the story anew, when Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) flees Western civilization following the murder of his parents. He is taken in by a mysterious instructor named Ducard (Liam Neeson in another mentor role) and urged to become a ninja in the League of Shadows, but he instead returns to his native Gotham City resolved to end the mob rule that is strangling it. But are there forces even more sinister at hand?

Co-written by the team of David S. Goyer (a veteran comic book writer) and director Christopher Nolan (Memento), Batman Begins is a welcome return to the grim and gritty version of the Dark Knight, owing a great debt to the graphic novels that preceded it. It doesn't have the razzle dazzle, or the mass appeal, of Spider-Man 2 (though the Batmobile is cool), and retelling the origin means it starts slowly, like most "first" superhero movies. But it's certainly the best Bat-film since Burton's original, and one of the best superhero movies of its time. Bale cuts a good figure as Batman, intense and dangerous but with some of the lightheartedness Michael Keaton brought to the character. Michael Caine provides much of the film's humor as the family butler, Alfred, and as the love interest, Katie Holmes (Dawson's Creek) is surprisingly believable in her first adult role. Also featuring Gary Oldman as the young police officer Jim Gordon, Morgan Freeman as a Q-like gadgets expert, and Cillian Murphy as the vile Jonathan Crane. --David Horiuchi

Batman at Amazon.com

All Batman DVDs	Batman Begins 101: A Comic Book Primer	Where Have I Seen Christian Bale?
All Batman Comics and Graphic Novels	Batman Toys	Batman Begins Soundtrack

Stills from Batman Begins (click for larger images)

The Incredibles (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)

Disney The Incredibles (2-Disc Collector's Edition) - Widescreen DVD
From the Academy Award winning creators of Finding Nemo (2003 Best Animated Feature Film) comes the action-packed animated adventure about the mundane and incredible lives of a house full of superheroes. Bob Parr and his wife Helen used to be among the world's greatest crime fighters,saving lives and battling evil on a daily basis. Fifteen years later, they have been forced to adopt civilian identities and retreat to the suburbs where they live "normal" lives with their three kids, Violet, Dash, and Jack-Jack. Itching to get back into action, Bob gets his chance when a mysterious communication summons him to a remote island for a top secret assignment. But he soon discovers that it will take a super family effort to rescue the world from total destruction. Exploding with fun and featuring an all-new animated short film, this spectacular 2-disc collector's edition DVD is high-flying entertainment for everyone.

After creating the last great traditionally animated film of the 20th century, The Iron Giant, filmmaker Brad Bird joined top-drawer studio Pixar to create this exciting, completely entertaining computer-animated film. Bird gives us a family of "supers," a brood of five with special powers desperately trying to fit in with the 9-to-5 suburban lifestyle. Of course, in a more innocent world, Bob and Helen Parr were superheroes, Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl. But blasted lawsuits and public disapproval forced them and other supers to go incognito, making it even tougher for their school-age kids, the shy Violet and the aptly named Dash. When a stranger named Mirage (voiced by Elizabeth Pena) secretly recruits Bob for a potential mission, the old glory days spin in his head, even if his body is a bit too plump for his old super suit.

Bird has his cake and eats it, too. He and the Pixar wizards send up superhero and James Bond movies while delivering a thrilling, supercool action movie that rivals Spider-Man 2 for 2004's best onscreen thrills. While it's just as funny as the previous Pixar films, The Incredibles has a far wider-ranging emotional palette (it's Pixar's first PG film). Bird takes several jabs, including some juicy commentary on domestic life ("It's not graduation, he's moving from the fourth to fifth grade!").

The animated Parrs look and act a bit like the actors portraying them, Craig T. Nelson and Holly Hunter. Samuel L. Jackson and Jason Lee also have a grand old time as, respectively, superhero Frozone and bad guy Syndrome. Nearly stealing the show is Bird himself, voicing the eccentric designer of superhero outfits ("No capes!"), Edna Mode.

Nominated for four Oscars, The Incredibles won for Best Animated Film and, in an unprecedented win for non-live-action films, Sound Editing.

The Presentation
This two-disc set is (shall we say it?), incredible. The digital-to-digital transfer pops off the screen and the 5.1 Dolby sound will knock the socks off most systems. But like any superhero, it has an Achilles heel. This marks the first Pixar release that doesn't include both the widescreen and full-screen versions in the same DVD set, which was a great bargaining chip for those cinephiles who still want a full-frame presentation for other family members. With a 2.39:1 widescreen ratio (that's big black bars, folks, à la Dr. Zhivago), a few more viewers may decide to go with the full-frame presentation. Fortunately, Pixar reformats their full-frame presentation so the action remains in frame.

The Extras
The most-repeated segments will be the two animated shorts. Newly created for this DVD is the hilarious "Jack-Jack Attack," filling the gap in the film during which the Parr baby is left with the talkative babysitter, Kari. "Boundin'," which played in front of the film theatrically, was created by Pixar character designer Bud Luckey. This easygoing take on a dancing sheep gets better with multiple viewings (be sure to watch the featurette on the short).

Brad Bird still sounds like a bit of an outsider in his commentary track, recorded before the movie opened. Pixar captain John Lasseter brought him in to shake things up, to make sure the wildly successful studio would not get complacent. And while Bird is certainly likable, he does not exude Lasseter's teddy-bear persona. As one animator states, "He's like strong coffee; I happen to like strong coffee." Besides a resilient stance to be the best, Bird threw in an amazing number of challenges, most of which go unnoticed unless you delve into the 70 minutes of making-of features plus two commentary tracks (Bird with producer John Walker, the other from a dozen animators). We hear about the numerous sets, why you go to "the Spaniards" if you're dealing with animation physics, costume problems (there's a reason why previous Pixar films dealt with single- or uncostumed characters), and horror stories about all that animated hair. Bird's commentary throws out too many names of the animators even after he warns himself not to do so, but it's a lively enough time. The animator commentary is of greatest interest to those interested in the occupation.

There is a 30-minute segment on deleted scenes with temporary vocals and crude drawings, including a new opening (thankfully dropped). The "secret files" contain a "lost" animated short from the superheroes' glory days. This fake cartoon (Frozone and Mr. Incredible are teamed with a pink bunny) wears thin, but play it with the commentary track by the two superheroes and it's another sharp comedy sketch. There are also NSA "files" on the other superheroes alluded to in the film with dossiers and curiously fun sound bits. "Vowellet" is the only footage about the well-known cast (there aren't even any obligatory shots of the cast recording their lines). Author/cast member Sarah Vowell (NPR's This American Life) talks about her first foray into movie voice-overs--daughter Violet--and the unlikelihood of her being a superhero. The feature is unlike anything we've seen on a Disney or Pixar DVD extra, but who else would consider Abe Lincoln an action figure? --Doug Thomas

More Incredibles at Amazon.com

The Incredibles Toy Store	CD Soundtrack	The Art of The Incredibles Book
Game Boy Advance	On VHS	The Essential Guide Book

The Pixar Feature Films

Toy Story, 1995 A Bug's Life, 1998 Toy Story 2, 1999

Monsters, Inc., 2001 Finding Nemo, 2003 The Incredibles, 2004

More Animation DVDs

Favorite Animated Performances	Previous Animated Oscar Nominees	If You Like The Incredibles...
Our Disney DVD Store	Looney Tunes Golden Collection	Walt Disney Treasures

More Superheroes on DVD

Batman Blade The Hulk

Justice League Robocop Space Ghost

Spider-Man Superman Teen Titans

Wonder Woman X-Men Also see our Comics & Graphic Novels Store

Also from Filmmaker Brad Bird

The Iron Giant (Writer/Director)	"Family Dog" on Amazing Stories (Writer/Director)	Batteries Not Included (Cowriter)
The Simpsons (Director/Consultant)	King of the Hill (Consultant)	The Critic (Consultant)

Fantastic Four - Rise of the Silver Surfer

No Description Available.
Genre: Feature Film-Action/Adventure
Rating: PG
Release Date: 2-OCT-2007
Media Type: DVD

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is another entertaining romp for the Marvel-superhero franchise. Reed Richards, Mr. Fantastic (Ioan Gruffudd), is treading on thin ice when his fiancée, Sue Storm, the Invisible Woman (Jessica Alba), thinks he's more interested in a series of cosmic phenomena occurring around the earth than in the preparations for their upcoming wedding. Sorry, ladies, but Reed is right. The disturbances are caused by a surge of cosmic power from a mysterious being called the Silver Surfer (an all-CGI creation, modeled by Doug Jones and voiced by Laurence Fishburne), who not only zooms around the skies on his board, but also has enough power to fight the FF, sometimes by turning their own power against them, not only mixing up Sue and Reed, but also Johnny Storm, the Human Torch (Chris Evans), and Ben Grimm, the Thing (Michael Chiklis). But that's not the worst of it. The Surfer is only an opening act, a herald looking for planets! that his master, Galactus, can consume for his sustenance.

With its initial installment, Fantastic Four established itself as the superhero franchise that didn't take itself too seriously, and that continues here. There are numerous moments of laugh-out-loud humor, and the most angst they suffer is whether Sue and Reed will ever be able to live a normal family life. (That, and whether they'll ever really get married, of course.) If Fantastic Four were a normal superhero franchise, the ending would be a knock-down drag-out war with Galactus, featuring the FF in a colossal battle for the planet Earth and the lives of everyone on it. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer just doesn't do that, and we don't quite get the payoff we expected. Effects are dazzling, but the Surfer looks too metallic, more like a skyriding T-1000 robot. --David Horiuchi

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer Extras


View exclusive clips (including interviews with Fantastic Four Creator Stan Lee and Screenwriter Don Payne), download AIM icons and wallpapers and browse the extensive photo gallery at our Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer minisite.

Fantastic Four Toys & Games

Fantastic Four Paperback Series

Fantastic Four Comics & Graphic Novels

Fantastic Four Video Games

Fantastic Four Posters, Stickers and More

Fantastic Four Apparel

More of the Four on DVD

Fantastic Four Extended Cut

The Fantastic Four Animated Series

Fantastic Four on Blu-Ray

Stills from Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

X-Men - The Last Stand [Blu-ray]

X-Men: The Last Stand is the third installment in the popular superhero franchise, and it's an exciting one with a splash of fresh new characters. When a scientist named Warren Worthington II announces a "cure" for mutant powers, it raises an interesting philosophical question: is mutant power a disease that needs a cure, or is it a benefit that homo superior enjoys over "normal" human beings? No surprise that Magneto (Ian McKellen) and his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants resist the idea that they need to be cured, and declare war on the human race. But it's a little tougher for the X-Men, led by Professor X (Patrick Stewart), Cyclops (James Marsden), and Storm (Halle Berry). If you're Rogue (Anna Paquin), for example, your power means you can't even touch your boyfriend, Iceman (Shawn Ashmore). To compound matters, someone previously thought dead has returned, and might be either friend or foe.

With director Bryan Singer having moved on to Superman Returns, the franchise passes to the hands of Brett Ratner (Rush Hour), whose best work is done in the big action sequences such as a showdown between mutant armies. But it's difficult to manage the sheer volume of characters when adding longtime comic-book stalwarts such as Beast (Kelsey Grammer) and Angel (Ben Foster), and one character in particular deserved better than an off-screen dismissal. And fans of the original Dark Phoenix comic book story might be underwhelmed by the movie's resolution. X-Men: The Last Stand is presumably the last film in the series, but the ambiguous ending leaves possibilities open. Look for the two writers most responsible for making the X-Men who they were, Stan Lee and Chris Claremont, in early cameos. --David Horiuchi

Beyond the Film

The movies	X-Men Evolution: The Complete Third Season	More Superhero DVDs
X-Men comic books	The X-Men on Xbox	The soundtrack and more

Experience the awesome power of The X-Men's epic, final battle. Join well-known mutant heroes and villains, and meet a cadre of all-new warriors -- including Angel, Beast, Juggernaut and Colossus -- in this thrilling, explosive adventure!

After a controversial "cure" is discovered, mutants can choose to retain their superhuman abilities or give up their unique gifts and become "normal." When peaceful mutant leader Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) clashes with his militant counterpart, Magneto (Ian McKellen), the battle lines are drawn for the war to end all wars.

Bursting with nonstop action, spectacular special effects and exclusive extras, X-MEN THE LAST STAND is a force of nature that "will blow you away!"

Smallville - The Complete Fifth Season

An astonishing season of destiny! Clark Kent now carries a full load of classes at Central Kansas U. but that's not all he carries. He carries the full weight of his - perhaps the world's - destiny. "We call this season Superman in Training" series co-creator Alfred Gough says. "Clark is going to accept his destiny." During this exciting pivotal season: The Fortress of Solitude rises. A spaceship mystery unfolds. A dark tragedy - one even Clark's powers can't prevent - strikes. These and more key elements of Superman lore fall into place.Running Time: 923 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS UPC: 012569762091 Manufacturer No: 76209

Consistently solid with some major developments, the fifth season of Smallville kicks the characters off to college, but not before finishing the cataclysmic disaster that ended the fourth season. With Chloe transported to the Arctic Circle and Kryptonian supervillains in town, Clark (Tom Welling) is in the Fortress of Solitude meeting Jor-El (voiced by Terence Stamp). He gives up his powers, but to get them back will cost him the life of someone he loves.

The even bigger development is that Clark and Lana (Kristin Kreuk) finally give up their dalliances with others and become an official couple. That means the other girls in Clark's life become fifth and sixth wheels, so Chloe (Allison Mack) reveals the secret she's been keeping from Clark and becomes a best pal. Super-gorgeous Lois's (Erica Durance, now part of the opening credits) banter with Clark loses its bite without any sexual tension so instead she meets Arthur "AC" Curry, a fantastic swimmer who has an eye for Lois and an accusing one toward Lex (Michael Rosenbaum) and LutherCorp. He's not the only one; Clark's Central Kansas A&M professor, Milton Fine (James Marsters) hires Clark to help him on his project, an expose of LutherCorp. Lex is the pivotal character of the season. His relationship with his best friend, Clark, now history, Lex has a Christmas Carol-type dream in which he sees himself in a law-abiding--and happy--life. (That episode, "Lexmas," also has some amusing interplay involving Clark and Chloe.) Undeterred, he decides on a life of power and dives into a state senate race against Jonathan Kent with gusto, though a fanatical Lex supporter turns the race into a literal one for life and death. Lionel Luthor (John Glover) also makes a strong comeback in this season, pulling unseen levers and making everyone wonder exactly what he knows.

There's some fun. "Thirst" is a tribute to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and another DC Comics character, Cyborg (Teen Titans), appears. Carrie Fisher plays Chloe's editor at The Daily Planet, and "Exposed" reunites Schneider with former Dukes of Hazzard costar Tom Wopat, and the two go peeling out in a vehicle. But things come to a head in the series 100th episode, when Jor-El's prediction comes to pass and splintered relationships end up leading in unexpected directions. Then in the season finale's cliffhanger, Clark has to face three of his enemies. DVD features include commentary on two episodes and a half-hour examination of the 100th episode, from writing through production. --David Horiuchi