For just over a decade now, we geeks have been living in a golden age of comic book movies. Starting with the first X-Men movie and steamrolling through Spider-Man, Iron Man, Batman Begins, Captain America, Thor, The Dark Knight and further with the upcoming Avengers movie. For the most part, these movies have shown us how new technology and a big budget can bring to life the four-color adventures we so cherish. While not every movie will be considered great (Daredevil), each movie has brought out the geek in all of us.

When X-Men: First Class was revealed as a prequel, I was disturbed. My opinion on prequels notwithstanding, I wanted more of the future of the X-Men! But we don’t always get what we want, right? Since I most identify with these Children of the Atom and their plight of being outcasts, I was still very much ready to see the beginning of the X-Men and Charles Xavier’s School for the Gifted. Exploring the dynamic between Xavier and Lensherr and the split that would forever make them enemies. The creation of the X-Men and the Brotherhood. Xavier going from an upright walking individual to wheelchair bound professor. All of these would be seen and more. Read on to find out my geek opinion about the Blu ray release.

I never fully understood how to take First Class. Was it just a prequel or a prequel reboot? Most times I felt I was watching the precursor to the original X-Men trilogy and at other times, the beginnings of a reboot. Namely there were some slight continuity errors that contradicted the earlier films. As I refuse to spoil anything, you tried and true geeks will know what I’m talking about. The movie itself on a whole was a great combination of story, characters and special effects. With my minor quabbles aside, I loved the flick and recommend it to any film fan.

What about the Blu ray you ask? Blu ray is great for big budget blockbusters and comic book movies. The First Class Blu ray really brings to life the world of Xavier and Magneto. Crisp, clear and beautiful. Not every movie needs to be on Blu but First Class is perfect for it. Without the need to compress the audio or video, it feels more like the cinema experience than the standard DVD. Excellent presentation and delivery.

The main draw to Blu ray is all the extras that can be packed inside that shiny disc of goodness. First Class has the standard Making-ofs and featurettes stuffed inside. The “X Marks The Spot” feature is a pop up overlay that will show behind the scenes clips and play them over the film as you watch. The Cerebro: Mutant tracker was the most fun extra for me. It was a simple interaction based “game” that had me press the Enter button whenever a mutant popped up. It ranged from fan favorite Wolverine to Jean Grey to the master of Magnetism, Magneto. Once I hit enter, the screen would change to show footage from the various X-Films involving that character. Afterwards it would show a little info about them, such as affiliation, name and a bit of background. It even had a Mutant Manifest that cataloged all the muties I found. Find them all, which is quite easy, and a special surprise shows up in the Manifest.

The Blu ray also had Live Extras on it which I feel studios are leaving rather void of anything special. A few past releases have had some standout features but most are not taking advantage of the interactivity this feature could bring to home entertainment. First Class linked to Fox’s portal, showing a “Proof of Concept” for a scene from the movie and a trailer. It also has trailers and features from other flicks but nothing spectacular. Either studios need to really put forth some effort or let this die.

At the end of it all, if you’re a movie fan or comic fan, get X-Men: First Class on Blu ray. It’s a worthy addition to your Blu ray collection. As a side note, my favorite scene in the movie is during the recruitment montage. You geeks will know it when you see!

Thanks to our friends at Fox for the review copy!

Related articles

• Now on Blu-Ray, “X-Men: First Class” (cinemaic.wordpress.com)