Customer Reviews

Wolverine and the X-Men: Heroes Return Trilogy

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Let me start out by saying I love the series Wolverine & the X-men. This DVD is three of the first episodes are on this thing churned out by Lions Gate & Nickelodeon to make a quick buck. Soon for less than twice the price of this DVD you can buy the whole 1st season of Wolverine & the X-men. Save your money and boycott these quick cash garbage DVDs.

I urge you all not to buy any more Marvel cartoon titles released to dvd unless it contains the full seasons.Who ever is putting these titles out is ripping us all off!They put a few episodes on the disc as a teaser just to get your money!Release these the correct way or not at all!

This show is awesome! However, releasing ONE DVD with only 3 episodes sucks! [...]

Sure, we all loved the early 90's X-Men cartoon. For me, it was arguably the thing that turned me into a comic book fan, though it would be well over a decade before I had the means to indulge in the source material. But that show was far from perfect and while it is still an enjoyable crib-notes version of the important events and characters of X-Men history, it didn't do everything right and the animation hasn't aged particularly well. X-Men Evolution was better than it's given credit for, but the high school setting made for some unnecessary cheese. The X-Men film trilogy was very strong as far as live-action comic book adaptations go, but it fizzled in the end and didn;t really encompass all that was the X-Men. "Wolverine and the X-Men" skips the history lesson and drops us right in the middle of bonafide reckoning for the well-established mutant superhero team and gives us definitive versions of our favorite characters in all-new adventures. The result has been...ummm...X-ellent? No? Sorry. Had to try the bad X-pun. It's kind of a thing with me.

Now, a big complaint from fans prior to the series was "Wolverine is not a leader, who would follow him?" That is actually the very point of view of the show's creators. In the opening salvo, Professor Xavier and Jean Grey (who is so charming we fall in love with her in a single shot) both vanish in an explosion at the X-Mansion. Cyclops is so devastated that he quits the team and goes into seclusion, wallowing in his own self-pity like the sissy we all knew he was. The end result of the catastrophe is the complete dissolution of the X-Men. Only the indestructible Wolverine can muster up the fight to try and put the fractured team back together. But with no home and no leader, the mutant heroes have all gone their separate ways and very few are interested in joining the unpredictable Logan, even while the government renews their mutant hunts. I think this estrangement is part of what makes the show as compelling as it is. The reason it works is because the creators understand the characters. Craig Kyle, writer of the outstanding X-Force comic, lends his substantial skill and credibility to the show and it is very apparent that Marvel is now taking their animated projects more seriously by hiring on genuine comic talent. Greg Johnson -whose got a very impressive body of animated adapations to his credit- is also on board. The cast is top-notch as well. This is the X-Men as they are meant to be.

The first three episodes are great, but only the tip of the iceberg. Nightcrawler only shows up at the beginning of this DVD, but later in the series gets an episode all his own and it is brilliant. Magneto plays a non-villainous role so far which is refreshing, and Xavier's fate is a compelling one. The Brotherhood of Mutants boasts both an X-Men defector and the always-underrated Domino in their ranks, The Shadow King makes a comeback (his battle with Emma Frost is a high point), there are cameos from lesser-known-but-cool mutants like Magma, and there is a Wolverine/Gambit team-up episode to boot. And this is all in the first six episode that have aired. That is ridiculously jam-packed with awesome. And a Hulk Vs. Wolverine rematch featuring Nick Fury and Wendigo is up next. It's obvious at this point that the show is going to explore all avenues of the X-Men mythos with fresh new stories that could have easily come right out of the classic comics. This is one of the shows I look forward to the most on television right now.

This DVD is a great preview for the series, containing the first 3-episode arc. That is to say that you should not buy it unless you are desperate for a taste of this show and don't have cable. If you are smart (and patient), you will save your money for the full season boxed set when it comes out. But if you've got to see this right now, then your money will not be wasted, because this show is an X-Men fan's dream come true.

Three episodes? THREE EPISODES?! I agree with "Marvel Me", this is a complete rip off. This show only has one season so far, and it has 26 episodes. Why are they releasing volumes of this instead of a complete season? I can support the original X-Men series volume releases that are coming out because of the quantity of episodes they have in each volume, but the volume releases of this and X-Men Evolution are RIDICULOUS! They need to release full seasons of season 1 and 2 and then release season 4. Then they need to release a complete first season of Wolverine and the X-Men because I WILL NOT buy these volume sets. I also will not buy season 3 of X-Men Evolution unless I can get seasons 1 and 2 COMPLETE not VOLUMES, and not unless season 4 is release. Why waste production costs on a disc with 3 episodes? More people will buy complete season than they'll buy a 3 episode "volume". Waste of time, money, and production costs.

If marvel wont release the whole season like other releases then they dont deserve our dollars. I would rather pay $40 for the eniitre season than waste my time and $10 on this.

Like others have said, don't buy an intentionally gimped version of what should be a full product. Companies do not deserve your cash for these kinds of efforts.

One year ago, a large explosion destroyed the Xavier Institute, and seemingly brought Charles Xavier's dream of having mutants and humans coexisting to an end. Professor X himself and Jean Grey have been missing ever since that day. No bodies were ever found. The X-men disbanded and, along with all of the student body, have gone their seperate ways. The political climate has gotten worse ever since the blast as well. Led by anti-mutant fanatic Senator Kelly, a Mutant Response Division (MRD) has been formed to capture dangerous mutants. To Kelly, that means ALL mutants! Wolverine has been wandering the American backroads on his motorcycle all this time and keeping a low profile. But he gets the attention of the MRD when he saves the life of a girl trapped in the wreckage of a burning train, wounding himself in the process. When the family of the girl he saved is arrested for harboring Logan in their house, he decides that ignoring what is happening in the country is something he can no longer do. Wolverine decides to reform the X-men. But it's easier said than done. Cyclops has always been the guy in charge of the team, but ever since the disappearance of Jean, he's become an emotional and physical wreck. He's living in a seedy motel, never shaves or cleans himself, and appears to be drinking heavily. It's up to Wolvie to get team back together, but neither his demeanor or personality lends itself to the coolheaded analytical thinking that a leader needs. But what choice does he have?

I notice a lot people bellyaching about the fact that this dvd contains only 3 episodes and that Marvel should have released it as a first season set instead. The crummy quantity is nothing new to cartoon dvds so I don't see why everyone is complaining. In their initial releases, the same thing was done with Teen Titans, Batman, the Legion of Super Heroes, and others. Cheap (in the short term) individual volumes were released long before you could buy them in season sets. The same thing has been done most recently with The Clone Wars. I really like that show, but I'm gonna wait until the first season comes out on Blu-Ray.
Right now, you can get this dvd for 10$ on Amazon. To me, this first release is for the really hardcore fans that can't wait a single minute to own some of the episodes. If you don't like it, don't buy it. Or do like me, rent it. I do not have cable so I wouldn't even have been aware that there is a series if I hadn't seen this dvd advertised.


I liked these first three episodes. The thing that is different about the animated series that makes it better than the comic is that it doesn't have to worry about continuity. As long as you've seen the movies, you can understand and appreciate all the characters and storylines without ever having read an X-men comic. That's cool because I haven't kept up with the comic book X-men, or any "X" title for over 20 years. So this dvd could make a good gateway entry to the comics for non-comic book fans. The animation and character designs were excellent. While there are some costume changes, they still remain true to the spirit of the original designs and are easy on the eye. I also liked the inclusion of Emma Frost and Quicksilver in these episodes. And I want to learn more about Domino. I guess that was cool too. If I didn't know a character in the cartoon, it made me want to find out more about them in the comic world. I thought the throwing out of Cyclops as leader was uncalled for. A more cynical fan might say that the only reason Wolverine is made the leader is that Marvel wanted to cash in on the soon approaching Wolverine movie. It's probably true. But besides that minor complaint, I would definitely recommend checking this series out.

This show is great, but I watched it all online for free. Paying for only the first three episodes (roughly only 66 min of show) is a rip-off. I just checked and you can still them all on the station's website.

Amazon.ca (Canada) currently as the entire Season One for about US $50 (US$40 plus $10 next day shipping via DHL. These are region 1 DVDs. The set comes in an Limited Edition Steelbook Case.