Customer Reviews

Spider-Man: The High Definition Trilogy (Spider-Man / Spider-Man 2 / Spider-Man 3) [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(59)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Anyone looking to purchase this trilogy is already a fan of the SPIDERMAN movies and wants to know how they stand up in the magic of blu ray. We all know that the original SPIDERMAN was an amzing film - a rare treat of exemplary action with superb acting for a change. Tobey Maguire and cast finally brought to the comic action movie acting ability that made the film believable. With Tobey Maguire was born Peter Parker/Spdiderman. We also know that with SPIDERMAN 2 the same cast and crew came together with a film that far surpassed the hugely succesful and critically acclaimed original to be the best in the trilogy. All that was good in the first was raised many notches. SPIDERMAN 3 was still a good film but certainly not a match for 1 and 2. Very enjoyable but a little lackluster in comparison.

Now for the blu ray test. All I can say is AMAZING. The source they are working from on the original is not as superb as the other two which makes the picture quality slightly grainy in its 1080p hd presentation. But this in no means is a bad thing. It is still a very vivid picture with blacks and colors strongly presented. You quickly get used to the slight grain and the film becomes the best presentation you will ever see of it. With SPIDERMAN 2 the caliber raises. All grain is gone and the picture remains crystal clear and vibrant throughout. All fight/action scenes are awesome and the entire film will leave you breathless. SPIDERMAN 3 has a picture of the great quality the same as the second film and it helps immensely to raise the quality of the film itself much higher for you will be in awe watching the richness and awe striking special effects.

With all three films the English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio is of the highest quality. Dialogue is strong and crisp with all speakers in strong, heavy use for action sequences and it seems even the smallest scenes manage to work the rear speakers which is rare. These three films are at their best here and perfectly made for the high standards of blu ray. You cannot imagine how great these films appear in blu ray till you actually see them for yourself. You will never be able to view them another way again.

I do agree that the only flaw with this set is the absence of substantial special features. They do provide the 2nd disc with SPIDERMAN 3 that is all features but do not have it for SPIDERMAN 1 or 2. Having all this would have made the set perfect. So it is not perfect but it still cannot make me lower my 5 star rating for the blu ray presentation of these films is exemplary.

If you are developing a blu ray library and love these films this SPIDERMAN HIGH DEF BLU RAY TRILOGY is a definite must. Highly recommended.

...since the movies in the trilogy deserve their own reviews and have been done to death already. The low cost (even lower by $10 since I bought it) is what motivated me to buy this blu-ray disc set. I already have the special editions of all three Spiderman movies on DVD, so I wanted to see what blu-ray would bring to the home theater table, having recently bought a PS3. True, the picture quality is awesome and the audio certainly will blow you away. However, there are hardly any special features - only the third disc has any to speak of. This is an underwhelming effort, considering the massive amount of space availalble on blu-ray discs. Compare, for example, the featurettes and even mini-movies on "I Am Legend".

One thing I discovered about audio selection: if you choose PCM and your receiver is not capable of processing uncompressed signals (my Onkyo only does HDMI pass-through), all you'll get is simulated surround (e.g. Dolby ProLogic). So I ended up with 5.1 and although it may not be true HD, it's good enough for my 7.1 setup. But if you're an audiophile you would have known about this already.

My summary - HD picture quality: a strong 4 stars, audio quality and options: 4 stars, special features: a dismal 1 star - hence the overall 3 star rating. I guess for the price, this set is not too bad, but considering the wealth of possibilities for the Spiderman franchise, it fell short of my expectations.

Spider-Man 1 & 2 Does not include any of the amazing behind the scenes content originally released on the DVDs. Why would a studio release two extraordinary FX films of this magnitude and incredible production values on a format that can hold so much information, and fail to include the extras? If you're a fan of behind the scenes content, hold onto your DVDs.

Movie - A+. Blu-Ray value for Spider-Man 1&2 - FAIL.

This review is for the Spider-Man: Ultimate High Definition trilogy Box Set.

It contains the following films: "Spider-Man" (2002), "Spider-Man 2" (2004), "Spider-Man 2.1" (an extended cut of Spider-Man 2 featuring some new sequences, and some entirely different alternate scenes) and "Spider-Man 3" (2007).

As for the films, I'd rate them as such:
"Spider-Man" ... 8 out of 10
"Spider-Man 2/2.1" ... 10 out of 10
"Spider-Man 3" ... 7 out of 10 (I didn't hate it, it had a charm and a lot of good factors, despite it's obvious large faults.)

The Blu-Ray image is pretty incredible. I already owned all three on DVD, but I wanted to upgrade, as these films deserve the High-Def treatment. All three look significantly better, compared to their standard-def DVD counterparts. The first "Spider-Man" is the least dramatic upgrade, but the image is still clearer, sharper and more detailed... I was able to see a lot of things I missed on DVD (I didn't realize how much of the image was lost on DVD from compression and whatnot, because every shot I was seeing things I hadn't seen since the movie theater in 2002)- so even though it wasn't the greatest Blu-Ray picture quality, it was still definitely worth the upgrade.

The second and third films are where the High-Def image pays off, though! I had just watched the second and third films days before this set arrived on DVD, and it is like night and day. "Spider-Man 2" was astounding in terms of how much more I could see in the image. You felt like you could reach into the movie. Textures looked real (DVD won't give you that), colors were brighter, small things (sparks, bits of glass, sweat, water) had astonishingly more detail. It was a huge upgrade. And "Spider-Man 3" was just as incredible- what really got me is that you could literally see things that are invisible on the DVD (Ex. You can see every single speck of sand during the Sandman scenes, and when we see the news broadcast towards the end of the film, I couldn't see the "horizontal TV lines" on DVD at all, whereas here, they're clearly visible.).

I can't comment much for sound, as I just play my sound through the TV speakers, but judging from that, everything is mixed well.

The special features are where this review almost slips- the only special features are those from "Spider-Man 3", which felt a bit odd. They are cool features, but it seemed like a missed opprotunity.

But all in all, the price (which has come down a lot) makes it worth it. You can find really good quality used or even new copies in the $25-$35 range, so I can't complain much about the features- the price is right, the quality is amazing, and what features there are, are very solid.

I'd highly recommend this set! Great films.

For those who love the movies, this is a great box set.
However, for those who look forward to special features, get ready for a great disappointment. There is only one special features disc, for the third movie (by all accounts the worse movie in the series). The second movie, and 2.1, which are in my opinion the best in the series, recieve no real special features, not even "the making of" documentry.
Bottom line: Great movie quality, no special features.

Is Spider-Man 3 as good as Spider-Man 2? No. Not really.

But that doesn't mean this box set isn't a great deal. 2-Disc Special Editions for the first two films, and the 1-Disc Widescreen for the 3rd (slightly disappointing, but let's face it: so is the third movie). The trilogy as a whole is awesome, and the price can't be beat.

Don't get a bunch of extra expensive editions of Spider-Man 3. There's no deleted scenes, so there's no hope of seeing what Venom bits were not included. If you're like me, and waited until now to buy these films, ow is the chance.

Three consistently good films! Thought IRONAMAN would rival it BUT the 2nd film wasn't as great as the first. The 2nd SPIDER-MAN surpassed the first and is called the greatest comic film ever! Too bad MARVEL lost this cast...it was a good one! Love having my friend Alex Ross' painting over the opening titles of the 2nd film!

First, a review of the movies. The first Spider-Man movie, while occasionally deviating from the original storyline, was a great movie. It was mostly true to Stan Lee and Steve Ditko's original tale of the web-slinger. It pulled on the Norman Osborn/Green Goblin storylines and was really enjoyable.

The second movie was more goodness and was also really well done. This time we are introduced to Doctor Octopus and we see the beginnings of Harry Osborn going crazy (to later become the second Green Goblin).

The third movie was pretty bad, and I am a huge Spider-Man fan. While I really wanted to see Venom as the villain for the third movie, his whole story arc didn't mesh well with the Sandman/Green Goblin arc. And it also didn't help that Topher Grace played the part of Eddie Brock. All I could see is the kid from That 70's Show (not to say anything bad about Topher or the show, I liked them both). But since when was Eddie Brock a puny kid with a grudge? And what's with the symbiote lifting to show his face all the time? This movie had so much potential, but failed to be up to the quality of its predecessors.

As for the blu-ray trilogy, it looks amazing! The quality and clarity of the picture is truly great. The only negative I have against the trilogy is the lack of special features for the first movie. With the amount of space on a blu-ray disc, I'm surprised to see so little.

The entire Spiderman trilogy is so good (particularly the first two) not because of its fantastic FX, made even more marvelous ;-) in HD, not because of great acting that, with intuitive genius, includes over-the-top performances by limited, key actors (editor, villains), combined with over-the-top powers and toys of the villains to link-in the comic-book (alright, graphic novelette) genre's mood, while keeping the performances of Parker and his personal circle on an emotional, earthly level, but the three movies are sooo good because the story is written so well, with the priority on character, character, character, and the love story, as stated in the first movie's opening monologue, and held true throughout.

Peter Parker's (Toby Maguire) trials with his family, friend, Harry (James Franco) and love-interest, MJ (Kirsten Dunst), are such that the audience is so drawn into the interactions and outcomes, including the strong, inner struggle Parker has with his super-hero alter-ego, that the FX, stunts, toys, and even the conflict with the villains (who are also excellently flushed out and played, with dual, warmly human and wholly evil sides) is a secondary aspect that provides, more than anything else, pace and excitement to accent the real story that moves with the slower pace a plot moved by character demands. This is what good writing, the most important component of any story, in any media, is all about, and with all three Spiderman movies, the good writing prevails, opposite to so many or almost all movies of the genre which make the FX and the combat of villain and hero the centerpiece and wraps a plot, if a story, around that, resulting in another Hollywood failure added to the heap of such two-star-and-less failures.

Great casting also contributes to the effectiveness of character development and the story. The more common, physical attributes of the two leads helps keep their lives down to earth, contributing to an aurora of believability that the viewer can buy into, which would have been greatly diminished if the producers would have filled the role of Parker with a Twilight-James-Dean incarnation (like James Franco, who plays Harry, Parker's friend) and MJ with a compatibly stunning beauty. And the villains' characters are excellently brought to life by Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, and Thomas Haden Church.

The three movies of the first-generation Spiderman are all anyone could hope for, except to hope that the new generation will be produced with care that the same values making the first generation a stand-out will be in the fore of the minds of the writers, producers, and director.

The Spider-Man trilogy has enthralled audiences and made comic book fanboys like myself so happy to see our beloved webslinger on the big screen. Here, we have the (so far) definitive Blu Ray release of the trilogy. We have Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, and Spider-Man 3. All in all, it's a 4 disc set. Now, since it's in high definition, we can expect perfect picture and sound right? In this case, oh yes. The Spider-Man trilogy is a perfect showcase of the richness and power of high definition video and the capabilities of the Blu Ray format. It's sad to say that there are only a handful of Blu Ray releases that actually look great and this set is no exception.

First off, the video presentation is superb. I watched the films on my Sony BD-S350 Blu Ray player in 1080p (HDMI) on my new Toshiba Regza 42" television with a Bose 5.1 surround sound system, just for reference. Spidey 1 is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio with part 2 and 3 in 2.40:1 ratio. The films are filled with special effects and the 1080p transfer delivers the goods. Definition and depth be clearly seen in the actor's faces and even their clothes. You can really see the depth of the fibers in Mary Jane's green sweater at the laboratory field trip, it's that good. Flesh tones and black levels are fantastic and the films feel alive. If you thought the DVDs looked good, you'll see them as obsolete upon viewing the Blu Ray versions. DVDs do not do any justice to the films. The scenes of Spidey swinging through New York just look amazing and Venom in part 3 just looks fantastic. All in all, this is a MUST BUY for Spidey fans and just to show off your fancy Blu Ray player.

The audio is presented in PCM tracks and actually sounds better if not as good as TrueHD audio encode. The 5.1 mix is superb and allows great clarity of the voices, action, and music. The sounds just emit from the speakers with such vibrant resonance that you feel that you are swinging with Spidey around New York. Overall, the audio is dynamic and warm and will sound great with your home theater setup.

Next, we have the special features. One of the letdowns of this set is the lack of special features for films 1 and 2. Spidey 3 includes the second disc of special features found in the DVD set and stand alone Blu Ray copies. Although, Spider-Man 2 does feature the extended Spider-Man 2.1 which I believe is just as good if not much better than the theatrical cut. Spidey 3 features 11 behind-the-scenes featurettes going over the villains, the stunt work, and the sets. Seeing how Sandman and Venom were brought to life in intriguing. All in all, it's a shame that the extras from 1 and 2 didn't make it here, so I guess it's good I kept my DVDs.

Final words, it's a must buy. I can't recommend this set enough. Spider-Man 1 and 2 are landmark achievements and amazing films whereas part 3 was just cluttered with too much plot and an incoherent story ( I really hoped that they would redo this one but alas, they didn't). Even if you don't like part 3 ( I actually liked it for the action and effects), it's still enjoyable and you'll want to watch it when it looks this good. This is definitely a perfect way to show off Blu Ray, other than a nice CG animated movie or another special effects-ladened movie. Movie and comic fans alike will enjoy this box set and plus, it's the only way to get part 1 and 2 on Blu Ray. I give the video a 5/5, the audio a 5/5 and the extras a 3/5. the overall box is a 5/5 and a must buy.