Comic book movies of the past have had mixed results-Batman was quite a box office smash the first couple of times, Superman the same, but some efforts, like The Phantom , The Shadow, etc. have been less than sterling in their final form. X-Men has a couple of good things going for it from the start; Patrick Stewart, who picks his material carefully, and also Ian MacKellan, who has earned praise from the acting community for years. Add to this a new director (Bryan Singer), a cast of new and unknown actors of "we try harder" actors including Anna Paquin, Hugh Jackman, James Marsden, , babes Famke Janssen, Halle Berry, and Rebecca Romlin Stamos and you get an entertaining picture.

Although a futuristic scenario, the story begins with a definition of mutation, followed by a young boy being herded along with his Jewish parents in World War II. When he is separated, his true power is revealed in his anguish. In present day, mutants are developing as teenagers. Their mutations take on many forms and some are dangerous, as is demonstrated by Anna Paquin's first kiss. A power hungry US senator (which ones aren't?) wants to introduce legislation to register the mutants, isolating them from the rest of society. Opposing him are Jean Gray (herself secretly a mutant), and Patrick Stewart as Professor Xavier, who runs a school for the "gifted". Below the school, lies the headquarters of X-Men, consisting of Cyclops, Storm, and others. Anna Paquin has fled to Northern Alberta, where she has taken the name Rogue, in search of another mutant named Wolverine. Reluctantly, Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), who sprouts foot long blades from his hands when angered, and Rogue join forces, but soon are confronted by Magneto's body guard, Saber Tooth, a strong yet not to bright mutant. Wolverine and Rogue are rescued by Storm and Cyclops, two mutants who work for Xavier. Xavier has learned that his old friend Magneto, who was the boy in the opening sequence, has no faith in humanity and wants to stop the upcoming registration of mutants by turning political leaders into mutants by some machinery he has developed. Magneto kidnaps the good Senator (Bruce Davidson) and tests his machine on him. Wolverine is examined and it is determined that his mutation was artificially installed into his body. Wolverine has no memory of how he became what he is except for glimpses of his past experience through nightmares. This leads to a sub plot involving the character which is not totally solved by film's end, leading to guess-what-sequel time! The plot is fast paced and involved, and is sophisticated enough to bring in elements of prejudice and persecution of peoples, elevating it above a comic book level. It is all taken very seriously by the cast and writers, while still evoking some humor in the characters.

Picture-The widescreen anamorphic transfer is sharp and clear, with just a few artifacts noticeable. Extra scenes can be viewed with an extended branching feature, if you chose to watch the film that way. Some of those extra scenes lack the color quality of the rest of the film, and there are some scenes where it was shortened for the film, leading to some repeated dialog if viewing the film this way. It is a nice feature that is just beginning to be used on some DVDs and is a terrific way to look at additional footage without just viewing it as a separate scene away from the film. Of course, if you prefer that, you can view the scenes separately too. Sound-Dolby 5.1 sound is incorporated on the disc and while lacking the punch of DTS, it is still done well, with a full spectrum of sound. Discreet separation of channels is a must for this film and it doesn't disappoint with swirling sounds traveling through all the speakers.

The X-Men package comes in a unique, shiny silver slipcase box, attractive but susceptible to fingerprints. The paper insert contains a list of chapters but no other information about the film or production (must be waiting for the special, special edition announced by the director, which will contain two discs and released later). According to Home Theater FOrum, these rumors are false! The extras on the DVD include excerpts from a Charlie Rose interview with the director about the film, the Hugh Jackman screen test with Anna Paquin, 10 minutes of additional footage that seemlessly branch in the film already mentioned, a collection of character sketches, some animatic scenes (computer renderings of scenes), and trailers of the film. There's also the THX adjustment program for your home theater to adjust the control s of your video and audio. This is a great bonus!. It's a nice package of extras but still, there is no director commentary track, which DVDers have come to expect with big films like this.

The film is not a comic book romp. The storyline is sophisticated and has tremendous special effects while still touching on serious subject matter. Accolades must go to Fox Home Entertainment for the high quality of the disc with its nice packaging and the addition of some extras, like the seamless branching feature (remember Titanic). The DVD is still lacking some options viewers have come to expect, such as director's commentary and DTS sound option, which would put it over the top as a true outstanding DVD.