Customer Reviews

Ultimate Avengers Collection [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(55)
4 star:		(49)
3 star:		(30)
2 star:		(17)
1 star:		(22)

 

 

I tell you what...get this if you're a fan of the Hulk alone. That in itself is reason enough to see this movie. I have forever loved all that the Hulk represents and how he rolls. But he about lost his mind in this movie! I loved it!!! Beyond that, good plot, beautiful fantasy cartoon babes abound, and as a Marine, I appreciated how Captain America and the military were portrayed as they went into battle against Nazis and space aliens in WWII. C,mon...space aliens, dream babes, Nazis, and the Hulk...what're you waiting for? Relax the literary critic inside you and have some fun. Go. Rent.

As an adult reader of comics who loves The Ultimates, I have to say that this movie was quite a disappointment. The animation was surprisingly cheesy, reminding me more of the old Spiderman and His Amazing Friends than X-Men: Evolution. The story was confusing and lacked the wit and style of the comics. If the goal was to attract children to comics, then maybe the choices to dumb down the material and save on the animation costs make sense. If Marvel wants to find another way into the wallets of adult comic-lovers, though, I think it made a big mistake.

I grew up during the 70's and was an avid comic book junkie (as weere most kids my age). The kid in me still gets excited to heard about a new Marvel movie. That's probably why I liked this movie even though there were a few things that bugged me:

- Bruce Banner was potrayed as an whiney, little rat-faced man. He wasn't like this in the comic book, why now?

- Thor seemed more like a alchoholic hippie. Always drinking his mead and trying to save whales. A "Hero" not interested in the wars of man. What's with his hammer having a blade on one end? I know Marvel revamped most of it's characters quite a while back, but if I remember correctly it's referred to as the HAMMER of Thor, not the AXE of Thor. This makes me think of how DC ruined Aquaman.

- Henry Pym was about as arrogant and self-centered as they come. He blamed everyone else for his mistakes. While I remember him as being arrogant this was went overboard. I did though, like the part of the movie where he puts on his old Ant Man helmet.

Overall, it's worth getting if you do not expect it to strictly follow the comic books of your childhood.

I don't know what some of these people are whining about. This is a great product with excellent animation and a compelling story. I suspect this flick will suffer review-wise from fanboys with an imaginary stake in the final product who are groaning because they would have changed some aspect or another if--magically--Marvel had only let THEM do the movie instead of Avi Arad and friends, who have consistently brought us some truly great superhero material over the past several years.

It's an animated superhero flick. It harkens back stylistically to the Spiderman the Animated Series, though it's more crisp and the colors are more vibrant. It's not Japanese anime art, though, I'll give you that. It's American cel animation and it looks on par with anything impressive that's come out of that market. It's about 70 minutes long, but it is satisfying and doesn't leave you feeling like you got short-changed. There is a lot going on and quite a few characters to bring together--all while ramping up the conflict in this story. They do a good job multitasking with these challenges so the film doesn't suffer from boring beginning syndrome. The fight choreography is exciting and the sparing use of integrateed CGI in the 2D cel animation that dominates fits right in.

I haven't read comic books in many years, so I'm sure that this movie creates something of a new continuity in some ways (I know Nick Fury of SHIELD was not a black man, for one thing--one thing which, while possibly an unnecessary change obviously meant to inject some diversity, really didn't bother me). So if you're all about the Ultimates comic this is supposedly based on, I'm sure you'll find some offense. However, it's all good with Marvel, just like every other continuity change that has riddled all comic book companies forever always were and will be. They're par for the course, and nothing here is glaring or in the face of the spirit of the heroes focused on.

Before seeing the movie, I was not psyched about the particular heroes focused on besides Cap and Iron Man, actually. Giant Man has never really captured my imagination. Even so, he was really great, and I'm now a fan. Same goes for the Wasp. Hulk was more interesting the way they did it than he could have been; he wasn't all "Hulk smash" and conveniently Banner gets mad at the right place at the right time. There was a running thread there that worked well, and they even did it without stepping all over Hulk's usual deal (because Hulk smash is still awesome . . .). Banner got a slightly different treatment, but it worked for me in the end.

There's a sequel in the works, and not too far off in the future it will be in stores. This movie does not need a sequel to feel complete, and the sequel supposedly will fly on it's own even if you haven't seen this flick first.

Look, for the like 12 or 14 bucks this thing's gonna cost you, it's a great buy. If it was even 25 bucks or so, I might say wait and see if you can rent it or see a friend's copy before you invest. But this thing comes with extras, and it's a great ride for a cheap price. All gravy. The feature with the long time writers and artists was great. The pop-up video style factiods you can turn on are nice, though absolutely riddled with typos and spelling errors. (It's almost embarassing, really.)

I am a big fan of the DC animated stuff like the box sets of Batman the Animated Series, Superman's series, and I'm all over Justice League when it comes out. I don't seem to be too excited by the new The Batman series, but I'm probably going to pick up Batman Beyond when it hits. If you're like me, you love this stuff. There was not much Marvel going on DVD-wise in this genre up until now, but they hope to change that apparently, and if this is how they started things off, I can't wait to see how awesome a whole movie on Iron Man is going to be. This had a real Marvel feel that I didn't realize I missed lately with all the DC stuff I own now.

Most agree that the story was bad for this animated release. I personally think part 1 was bearable, but 2 was close to unwatchable. What I DO however like about this release, is the quality Bluray brings. Those who tell you animation wont be enhanced by hi def? Show them this. Crisp lines, and solid colors all around. Very impressive to watch visually. And the sound was incredible. I only use the two speakers on my TV, but the sound that came out of this release was still pretty amazing, leaps and bounds over my regular DVDs.

The Ultimates comic is an excellent revamp of the classic Marvel title. The Avengers was a favorite of mine throughout my childhood, but recently, with the popularity of the Justice League comic and cartoon, it was hard not to see the Avengers as a weaker JLA.

What the Ultimates comic did was resurrect the team with grittier, more cinematic, more realistic angles: Captain America as the tough-as-nails but assinine patriot, Iron Man as the frivolopus alcoholic, Thor as the possible schizophrenic merely pretending (perhaps) to be a Norse god, etc. It's interesting, it's dramatic, and the concept of creating a PG-13 version for a straight-to-DVD release is promising.

The promise goes unfulfilled. First of all, only the bare structure of the Ultimates is followed. I can accept that; it's an adaptation, after all. But what is most missing is what was most vital, and that's the gritty characterization. In the "Ultimate Avengers," Captain America is the same boring hero we've already seen a million times. Thor and Iron Man are themselves, no more and no less. We get no new insight in their lives, we see nothing new about them, and they do what generic Marvel characters seem to do best: punch people and get thrown around.

So what we get is the worst of both worlds. We get the generic characterizations of these Avengers, except without the comic book fantasy and flourishes that could possibly compensate. And then we get SOME realism, but without the full depths and subtleties that such realism requires to turn into actual drama. The result is a bland story filled with boring characters--when they're not being outright annoying, as is the case with Banner and Pym (why "annoying," and ONLY "annoying," passes as "realistic" to so many writers escapes me).

The art is ok, but not great. It's what you would expect from an Avengers TV cartoon, if they made one today for, say, Cartoon Network. The animation is ok, but not great; CG is used randomly, as has become the custom in most TV cartoons, and there are moments of "not bad" to moments of "oh my god, that's awful."

There was a time--when I was a teenager and when I was starved for comic book films and cartoons--when this movie might have appealed to me. Maybe there are 12-15 year olds who might get a kick out of it. But in an era of Justice League Unlimited, successful Spider-Man and X-Men and Batman movies, and even decent super-hero live-action TV shows like Smallville, this is no longer acceptable. They're going to pump these out now, probably twice a year, until the well runs dry. In the meantime, the results are uninspired.

In short: Don't buy this movie. At most, watch it on Cartoon Network when they show it one day (which is probably very soon, knowing their track record with straight-to-home-video movies).

The movies themselves earn a solid 4 stars - the first would get 5 and the second would get 3 since the second one is essentially the same story as the first (first fight aliens, then fight hulk).

I'm a little disappointed in the quality of the blu-ray though. My wife and I have several animated Marvel and DC movies (Green Lantern, Superman/Batman PE, Planet Hulk, etc...) on blu-ray and they're beautiful, very crisp and vivid. These movies are lacking a little in the crisp and vivid department. I doubt it's because both movies are on one disc - a blu-ray should have more than enough space for two shorter movies and still have a better picture quality.

It's not bad, and the price isn't terrible, but unless you're trying to get more blue cases on your shelf, maybe stick with DVD and the upconvert?

Given that my first job as a young teenager was at a comic book store, and my favorite comic was The Avengers, the Ultimate Avengers should have been right up my alley. The result, however, is a confusing attempt to blend styles and cater to mixed audiences. At parts I was incredibly interested, caught up in the nostalgia of Marvel comics, and at other times I was somewhat aggravated with the efforts. Overall I'd say it's still fairly great, but there are a few aspects that don't

When a "Super-Serum" is used to turn a WWII era U.S. soldier into Captain America, the Nazis quickly meet their match. Unfortunately for the Captain, the Nazis have aliens called the Chitauri on their side, and a nuclear warhead. While thwarting the enemy's efforts the Cpt. Gets knocked unconscious and falls from the sky, landing in freezing water where he is preserved in a glacier. Fast forward to the future where Gen. Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. is pressing Dr. Bruce Banner to complete the serum. After multiple failures, and a discover/dethawing of Cpt. America, Fury is forced to compile a crew of superheroes to combat the Chitauri. Among those recruited for Project Avenger are: Cpt America, Natalia Romanov - Black Widow, Hank Pym - Ant Man (Giant Man), Janet Van Dyne-Pym - Wasp, Tony Stark - Iron Man, and Thor.

Despite initial difficulties with teamwork and leadership, not to mention subsequent setbacks when encountering the Chitauri, the team - along with a little help from an unexpected, albeit angry visitor - comes together for the triumphant final battle. Only then do they face the real battle, versus a completely enraged, absolutely P.O.'d Hulk.

The story and action are great. Good enough for an actual motion picture (perhaps when the X-Men run their course). The characters and animation, on the other hand, are irritating and lacking, respectively. Nick Fury, a cigar-chomping white guy, is turned into a bald black guy with an eye patch. Completely pointless change. And Thor is made out to be a drunken, deranged idiot, someone protesting like an indoctrinated college student. The animation is sketchy at best. Some scenes are flawless, while others look like they were handed off to the B-Team of animators. Several walking scenes are painfully choppy, like flipbook animation, but other scenes - like the final battle - are absolutely epic.

NOTEWORTHY SPECIAL FEATURES:

*Avengers Assemble - Great history lesson of the Avengers, completely awesome and worth the viewing

*The Ultimate Voice Talent Search - Mostly a collection of voice submissions by hopeless morons who better hope their videos don't make it to Youtube. There is one guy, however, who is absolutely BRILLIANT. He recites the Thor lines with perfect impersonations of Sean Connery, William Shatner, Yoda, and Christopher Walken. Get this man a stage and a microphone!!

*Sneak peak at Ultimate Avengers II

Loved it! Love the whole "Ultimate" line. I would love to see more Marvel Ultimate movies come out.

I'm an Avenger fan but not an Ultimates fan. I really like the DVD and I'm just glad to see the Marvel's Avenger characters in animation. I hope someday to see them in the movies. The quality of the animation is well done and the story is also well done.

I could have given this a 5 star but certain superhero characters were not true. Hank Pym "Giant Man" is a giant jerk in this movie instead of a brilliant scientist. There's not enough Thor and even he was way off. He didn't act like a Thunder God at all. He lost to the Hulk very easily. His own hammer knocked him out. Usually he could go toe to toe with the Hulk with bare fist without the hammer and take a huge amount of beating. How on earth did the Hulk lift Mjolnir??? You have to be worthy to do that.

Too much emphasis on Captain America and not enough on the others. Iron Man was the only character that was played out right. This movie made the Hulk look good, which happens to be Marvel's cash cow anyway.

I hope someday they do a true Avenger, earth's mightest hero, and I hope the characters are true.