X-Men: The Movie [Paperback]

Marvel Comics (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Marvel Comics (July 5, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0785107495
• ISBN-13: 978-0785107491
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 6.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,164,561 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The comic book of the movie that was based on a comic book, March 6, 2002

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: X-Men: The Movie (Paperback)

It is always interesting to see the official comic book adaptation of a movie that is based on a comic book in the first place. Ralph Macchio has the honors of adapting the screenplay, with penciler Anthony Williams and inker Andy Lanning handling the artwork. Obviously this is really no place to talk about how the X-Men comic was adapted to the silver screen, but rather how it makes the transition back to its original art form. My criticism boils down to one basic comment: 48-pages is not long enough to tell this story. Macchio gets all the words in but Williams is pretty much handcuffed from turning the movie into a "real" comic book. Entire scenes are crammed into a couple of pages and outside of a few splash panels there is no opportunity to use the medium to the advantage of the story. Look at what the big fight between Sabertooth and Wolverine boils down to. We have seen entire comic books devoted to epic fights between a single superhero and a single supervillain. This is just too crammed into this few pages and despite Williams's efforts you know he could have done better with half again as many pages with which to work.

Also included in this collection are reprints of a pair of X-Men issues focusing on Magneto and arguably their best confrontation, #112 "Magneto Triumphant" and #113 "Showdown" (both illustrated by John Bryne), as well as #171 "Rogue," penciled by Walt Simonson and finished by Bob Wiacek. There are also pages from Marvel Comics Presents #72-75, which was the Weapons X storyline focusing on Wolverine and drawn by Barry Windsor-Smith, who drew the worst looking X-Men comic of all time as one of his first gigs at Marvel (he drew it on benches in the park). Of course, these efforts showcase some of the better examples of comic book storytelling and artwork and you have to wonder what it would be like if the movie adaptation was twice as long and half of the reprints were jettisoned. Final note of curiosity: So how much the credits are only provided for one of the four reprints? Hmmmmm.

10 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book rocks!, June 18, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: X-Men: The Movie (Paperback)

This story is based around two mutants who's names are Wolverine and Rogue. They have just recently discovered their powers, and are confused at why the world hates them. They discover a school for mutants run by Professor Xavier. There they meet some other mutants who feel the same way they do. Cyclops: A mutant who shoots lasers out of his eyes. Storm: A mutant who can control the weather. Jean Grey: A mutant who has special telekinis powers. She can move things with her mind.

This is not the only team of mutants around. Another team of mutants, called the brotherhood, have devoted their powers to destroying the humans that hate them. This team consists of Magneto: The leader of the team. A man who can move things with his mind. Msytique: A shapeshifter, that means she can change in to any form she comes in contact with. Sabertooth: A mutant who has a keen sense of smell and can heal himself in a matter of seconds. Toad: A mutant who has a long sticky tounge and can leap to great lengths.

Soon, the people's only hope is that of those whom they hated: Professor Xavier's X-Men.

Based upon the cartoon show and the comic book series, this book is extremely well written. It has a great plot, and I'm sure the movie will be good as well. This book is definitaly a "must have".

3.0 out of 5 stars half good, half bad, June 13, 2006

By 

Sunshine (Florida U.S.A.) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: X-Men: The Movie (Paperback)

The first half of the book, which is the adaptation for the first X-men movie, is horrible. It feels like the writers didn't have much space, so they crammed the movie into a handful of pages. It gives some of the action a jerky, incomplete feel that leaves you wondering what just happend. The dialogue in places is some of the corniest I have seen in a long time. Characters state the obvious very eloquently during tense moments. Finally, the artwork is so dark overall that I find myself wishing there was a magic light switch to make the pages brighter.
The second half is worth the buy though. A few of the older comics are included after the first one, and they have class. They are intelligent, funny, suspenseful, and great for people who are just getting in to the x-men universe. They are what made me glad I purchased this book.