X-MEN VOLUME 2 (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

May 1, 2009 by Dennis Amith 

“For fans of the ‘X-MEN’ animated series, the second season features even more non-stop action, more characters from the Marvel Universe and more mutant mayhem!  If you thought the first volume was great, the second volume is much, much more better! “

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 2

DURATION: 391 Minutes (17 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

Prepare for more electrifying action as the X-Men return in volume 2 of the classic 1990s animated series!  All your favorite mutant heroes are back for 2 discs full of spine-tingling battles with Mr. Sinister, Omega Red and more of the most fiendish villains on earth!

Be part of Marvel history with these stories adapted directly from the original comic books.  Experience 16 thrilling episodes, including the 5-part epic “Phoenix Saga,” in this action-packed, must-have collection!

In 1992, the “X-Men” animated series aired on television and suffice to say, the series was a tremendous hit.

Considering what was going on behind-the-scenes at the time, especially on the comic book end of things.  Comics had a resurge in popularity and 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.  In fact, the X-Men comic books reached such an all time high in popularity that there were more spinoff series than any super hero title and fans actually bought them all up.

The series was a big hit for FOX KIDS during the Saturday morning block but because the series captured the heart and soul of the comic books (with slight differences in storyline and actual continuity), fans young and old were watching the “X-MEN” animated series.

With the first volume, we watched as the X-Men had to face against intolerance towards mutantkind and having to face off against Magneto.  This time around, the storylines now come closer to what is happening on the comic side of things during the early to mid-90′s.

This second volume is full of non-stop action and each episode filled with thrilling episodes plus more characters from the Marvel Universe and battles galore!

Here is a summary of what to find on both discs for “X-MEN” Volume 2.

DISC: 1

• EPISODE 17 – Red Dawn - Professor X and Magneto continue to survive in the Savage Land.  Meanwhile Colossus talks about how his Russian people are being terrorized by a mutant named Omega Red.  The X-Men go to Russia to take him on.
• EPISODE 18 – Repo Man – Wolverine encounters his former friends, the Canadian super hero team,  Alpha Flight.  The group is not too thrilled that Wolverine left their group for the X-Men.
  
• EPISODE 19 – X-Ternally Yours - GAMBIT-X receives a distress call to help his brother in Louisiana.  Meanwhile, Professor X and Magneto continue to work with one another to survive in the Savage Land.
• EPISODE 20 – Time Fugitives (Part 1) - The storyline moves towards the future where Cable and other mutants fight against Apocalypse minions.  Meanwhile, Bishop goes back to the past again and mutants are being blamed for a virus affecting humans.
• EPISODE 21 – Time Fugitives (Part 2) – Cable goes after Bishop in the present timeline and tries to prevent Bishop from stopping the plague.
• EPISODE 22 – A Rogue’s Tale – The X-Men fight against the Blob and we learn about the origin of Rogue.
• EPISODE 23 – Beauty & the Beast - Mutant hysteria continues, meanwhile BEAST meets a woman (who is blind) who cares about him even if he is a mutant.  But her father happens to hate mutants.
• EPISODE 24 – Mojovision - The X-Men are contacted by Mojo (from another dimension) and tries to put the X-Men on his deadly television network to help improve ratings.  Meanwhile, Magneto and Professor X try to save Shanna the She-Devil from the mutant Sauron.

DISC 2:

• EPISODE 25 – Reunion (Part 1) - The Savage Land story continues as Professor X and Magneto work with Ka-Zar.
• EPISODE 26 – Reunion (Part 2) - The X-Men head to the Savage Land to help Professor X but they along with Ka-Zar are captured by Mr. Sinister.  It’s up to Shanna the She-Devil and her friends to save them.
• EPISODE 27 – Out of the Past (Part 1) – The Morlocks are being attacked and Wolverine goes down the sewers to save them.  And he encounters the mutant known as Lady Deathstryke, who happens to be his former love Yuriko.
• EPISODE 28 – Out of the Past (Part 2) - The X-Men head to the Morlocks lair to help Wolverine. Meanwhile, Lady Deathstryke’s thirst of revenge nearly kills a member of the X-Men.
• EPISODE 29 – The Phoenix Saga (Part 1) - Professor X has the X-Men on a mysterious assignment. But something goes wrong and something happens to Jean Grey.
  
• EPISODE 30 – The Phoenix Saga (Part 2) - Professor X appears to be possessed and goes against the X-Men.  Black Tom hires a few more super villains to fight against the X-Men.
• EPISODE 31 – The Phoenix Saga (Part 3) - Jean Grey recovers from her injury while the Juggernaut goes after Professor X and Princess Lilandra.  The Banshee assists the X-Men to take on his brother while the X-Men find a way to stop the Juggernaut and rescue the princess.
• EPISODE 32 – The Phoenix Saga (Part 4) - The X-Men must protect Princess Lilandra’s Crystal but the Starjammers are sent to recover it.  Meanwhile, Jean Grey’s Phoenix power starts to manifest. 
  
• EPISODE 33 – The Phoenix Saga (Part 5) - The X-Men and the Starjammers join forces but one of their own sacrifices their own life in order to save the universe.
  

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.

As the first volume was quite exciting at the time, especially how  it took popular storylines from the comic books such as the Mutant Registration Act and Apocalypse Four Horseman chapters, bringing in characters such as Archangel and Cable vs. Bishop.  For an X-Men comic book fan, this was magnificent!

I found the second volume even more exciting as it introduces more villains such as Omega Red, the Canadian superhero team Alpha Flight, more Cable and Bishop and the virus storyline which was a big part of the comic book series at that time, Mojo and Long Shot, the Savage Land storyline featuring Ka-Zar and Shanna the She-Devil and of course, one of the biggest X-Men related storyline, the Phoenix Saga.

This second volume of “X-MEN” is absolutely jam packed with action and characters from the X-Men and Marvel universe that this animated series does not disappoint.  Of course, there are differences between the animated version and the comic books but overall, the series stays close to the heart of what the X-Men and its characters are all about.

More action, more battles and more mutant mayhem, “X-MEN” the animated series volume 2 is definitely worth checking out!