X-MEN VOLUME 1 (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

April 30, 2009 by Dennis Amith 

“For any X-Men fan (past and present), during the early 1990′s, fans were excited to see the characters based on Jim Lee’s 1992 X-Men in animated form.  With slight differences from the comic series, ‘X-MEN’ the animated series stayed true to the core of what made the X-Men so popular.  With a total of 16-episodes included in the first DVD volume, it’s definitely a great time to enjoy this classic series all over again!”

Images courtesy of © MARVEL, X-MEN and all related characters and their distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks of Marvel Characters, Inc. and are used with permission.© Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

DVD TITLE: X-MEN VOLUME 1

DURATION: 368 Minutes (16 Episodes)

DVD INFORMATION: English, Dolby Digital Surround Sound, Fullscreen (1:33:1), French and Spanish Language Tracks, French and Spanish Subtitles

COMPANY: Marvel Entertainment Group/Buena Vista Home Entertainment

RATED: TV Y7 FV

RELEASE DATE:  April 28, 2009

Starring:

Cedric Smith as the voice of Professor Charles Xavier

Cal Dodd as the voice of Wolverine/Logan

Norm Spencer as the voice of Cyclops/Scott Summers

Lenore Zann as the voice of Rogue

George Buza as the voice of Beast/Doctor Henry “Hank” McCoy

Catherine Disher as the voice of Jean Grey/Phoenix

Iona Morris (1992) and Alison Sealy-Smith (1992-1997) as the voice of Storm/Ororo Munroe

Alyson Court as the voice of Jubilee/Jubilation Lee

Chris Potter as the voice of Gambit/Remy Lebeau

Lawrence Bayne as the voice of Cable, Erik the Redd

Payl Haddad as the voice of Nightcrawler/Kurt Wagner

Jeremy Ratchford as the voice of Banshee/Sean Cassidy

Lally Cadeau as the voice of Doctor Moira McTaggart

Ron Rubin as the voice of Morph

Marc Strange as the voice of Forge

Philip Akin as the voice of Bishop

David Hemblen as the voice of Magneto/Erik Lehnsherr

John Colicos and James Blendick as the voice of Apocalypse

Don Francks as the voice of Sabretooth/Victor Creed, Puck/Eugene Milton Judd, Shaman

Christopher Britton II as the voice of Mister Sinister/Nathaniel Essex

Rick Bennett as the voices of Juggernaut/Cain Marko and Colossus/Piotr Rasputin

Experience the classic Marvel legacy as the popular 1990s X-Men animated series explodes onto DVD! With stories adapted directly from the original comic books, this collection is a piece of Marvel history and a must-have for every X-Men fan.

Discover the origins of your favorite characters and uncover the secrets of Magneto and more of the world’s most diabolical villains in X-Men Volume 1.  Relive the first 16 episodes, beginning with the 2-part “Night of the Sentinels,” in this thrilling collection.

In 1992, it was a special year for X-Men fans.  Popular artist Jim Lee would bring new life into the X-Men comic books by giving them new costumes, bringing an edge to the way the characters were drawn and a new comic book spinoff in the X-Men universe.

With the popularity of DC’s Batman: The Animated Series on FOX KIDS, it was time for Marvel to step up to the plate and when the announcement of a new X-Men animated series was announced, fans were ecstatic.

Adding to the excitement was the news that the series would be utilizing the characters as seen on the Jim Lee comic books and popular characters such as Gambit, Rogue and even newer junior member Jubilee would be featured.

Despite using the same costumes and is adapted from the comic books, there are some differences from the comic book series to the actual origins of the characters and also an original character named Morph who was added to the team.  But despite the differences, the series was still accepted by fans due to the series including action sequences and its utilization of many characters from the comic book series.

The series proved to be a big ratings hit for FOX KIDS and lasted for five seasons (1992-1997) and on April 28th, Disney has released two volumes containing two DVD’s.  The first volume which contains the first 16 episodes and the second volume which contains episodes 17-33.

In Volume 1, the DVD’s contain the “NIGHT OF THE SENTINELS” episodes including “Days of Future Past” and “Til Death Do Us Part”.  Here is a summary of episodes included (each episode is 21 minutes long):

DISC: 1

• EPISODE 1 – NIGHT OF THE SENTINELS (PART 1) – Due to the violence by mutants such as Sabretooth against humans, the government is forcing mutants to register themselves to the agency.  The episode focuses on teenager Jubilee who started exhibiting new powers, her parents are considering to register her but now the Sentinel (a huge robot sent to capture mutants) is sent to the family’s home to capture her.
• EPISODE 2 – NIGHT OF THE SENTINELS (PART 2) - With Jubilee captured, the government wants her to aid them in ID’ing powerful mutants.  the X-Men try to put a stop to the Sentinels and rescue her but not without any problems as one of their own goes down.
• EPISODE 3 – ENTER MAGNETO - Beast is being held in captivity but is rescued by Magneto.  Magneto opposes Professor X and believes mutants should lead the world.  Meanwhile, Wolverine’s nemesis Sabretooth is being held by the X-Men and is being treated.  Professor X and the X-Men believe they can help him, like they helped Wolverine.
• EPISODE 4 – DEADLY REUNIONS - With Sabretooth being nursed back to health, Professor X confronts his friend/rival Magneto.  Meanwhile, Wolverine and Sabretooth battle against each other.
• EPISODE 5 – CAPTIVE HEARTS - Scott Summers and Jean Grey try to help a mutant and end up in the underground tunnels with the Morlocks (mutants not accepted by human society due to their characteristics).  The leader Callisto wants Scott Summers to be her husband and holds Jean Grey captive.  Meanwhile, we see Wolverine getting closer to Jean Grey.
• EPISODE 6 – COLD VENGEANCE – Because Logan’s conflicted feelings towards Jean Grey, Logan (Wolverine) leaves to the snowy north where Sabretooth awaits him.  The two get into another battle with each other.
• EPISODE 7 – SLAVE ISLAND - The Island of Genosha is using mutants as slaves.   The island is like a camp for mutants by the US government and Gambit and the X-Men visit the island to save the other mutants being held and come across a man named Cable.
• EPISODE 8 – THE UNSTOPPABLE JUGGERNAUT - Professor X seems to be missing and the team go to look for him.  Storm, Rogue and Jubilee look for him and encounter a mutant named Colossus but also encounter a huge mutant thief named Juggernaut.

DISC 2:

• EPISODE 9 – THE CURE - Cable looks for a man named Dr. Adler (a doctor who can cure mutants and make them normal) but instead comes across Warren Worthington III (aka “Angel”) and the two end up fighting each other.  Meanwhile, Professor X goes to Muir Island to meet up with Dr. Moira McTaggart for help.  As for Cable, he encounters three more evil mutants named Pyro, Blob and Avalanche.
• EPISODE 10 – COME THE APOCALYPSE - Apocalypse with the help of Mystique capture Angel and changes him to Archangel.  The X-Men confront Apocalypse and his four henchman.
  
• EPISODE 11 – DAYS OF FUTURE PAST (PART 1) - The future of the world is in chaos and the mutants are the hunted.   We see an older version of Wolverine and a mutant named Bishop.  They need the help of the X-Men and thus Bishop is sent to the past to enlist their aid in helping mutants in the future.
• EPISODE 12 – DAYS OF FUTURE PAST (PART 2) - Bishop tells Professor X and the X-Men of how mutants in the future are blamed for the murder of the President and thus an army of Sentinels were created to seek all mutants and hunting them down.  Bishop tells them that one of the X-Men is responsible for setting the chain of events that has led to the persecution of mutant kind.
• EPISODE 13 – THE FINAL DECISION - Magneto returns and a new Sentinel called Master Mold along with thousands of newer models of sentinels have been created to fight against the mutants.  Meanwhile, professor X says that the X-Men must save Senator Kelly, the same Senator responsible for the Mutant Registration Act.
• EPISODE 14 – TILL DEATH DO US PART (PART 1) - It’s the marriage of Scott Summers (Cyclops) and Jean Grey.   With the two out on their honeymoon, the news reports that Beast is attacking humans.  Meanwhile, a former X-Men member makes a return.
• EPISODE 15 – TILL DEATH DO US PART (PART 2) - While on their honeymoon, Scott Summers and Jean Grey are captured by Mr. Sinister.  And realize that Morph is alive and has now become one of their enemies.
• EPISODE 16 – WHATEVER IT TAKES – Wolverine goes after Morph, while Storm becomes possessed by the Shadow King.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“X-MEN” the animated series is presented in full screen (1:33:1).  One thing that you will notice is that the animation does show its age.  Since the animation was created over 17-years ago, a lot of the animation is hand drawn and compared to many of the digital animated series that are show on television today, the animation doesn’t have that digital color vibrancy as newer animations.  But like many older animations from the 80′s and the 90′s, especially for superhero-based storylines, the strength lies within the storytelling.

At that time, the animation was quite exciting for any of us who were fans of the comic book series but watching it today, you realize that the series does show its age.

As for audio, audio is presented in Dolby Digital Surround Sound and is dialogue-driven.  I wasn’t expecting any 5.1 surround sound but audio dialogue is heard quite clearly.  If anything, I have to say that the English dubwork was very good for the series.  From Wolverine’s scruffy voice, Rogue’s southern accent and Remy Lebeau’s Louisiana/French style of talking, I’ve always felt that the “X-Men” was well-cast for the animated series.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

There are no official special features in relation to the X-MEN animated series but trailers for newer releases from Disney.

I was among the big X-Men fans who were highly anticipating the series and just loved it!  As a collector of the X-Men comic books around that time period, to have a series based on Jim Lee’s character designs and a series with so much potential of showcasing a variety of enemies and characters, it was always a treat to find out who would be introduced in each episode.

In fact, during the hoopla and way before the Internet became part of our natural lives, many of the fans would communicate about the episodes through electronic BBS’s and show our happiness and excitement over the animated series, the action figure line and of course the many multiple X-Men related comic book series that flourished from the early 90′s.

For volume 1, these 16-episodes are quite solid.  Not only do you get the sentinels hunting down the mutants but you have Sabretooth, Magneto and his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants such as the Blob, Pyro, Avalanche and then you get other baddies such as Apocalypse, Mystique, Shadow King and more.

Also another big step that was a nod to the comic book series and surprising to see in a Saturday morning cartoon were the episodes featuring Logan (Wolverine) showing his feelings towards Jean Grey and for that to be included in the actual cartoon.  That was absolutely surprising but nevertheless, as a fan, you couldn’t help but be happy that despite the cartoon being shown on Saturday morning television (where cartoons are typically aimed at young children), the series managed to keep those romantic and edgy moments from the comic books and adapt those stories to the animated series and thus winning the attention of the older fans.

Overall, “X-MEN VOLUME 1″ is a solid set and with a total of 16-episodes, this long awaited series has finally come out on DVD!  For fans of the “X-MEN” animated series, you can’t go wrong with this release.