As a movie trilogy, this set is superb. As an HD collection, it's superb. But as a complete package, extras included, it may fall short of fans' expectations.
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"OH, YEAH!" . . . OH NO!
That's pretty much the reaction I had when I broke the shrink wrap on this long-awaited "Spider-Man" Hi-Def Trilogy.
OH YEAH, because these films look fantastic on Blu-ray (see details below)--a real, tingly joy to watch as Spidey's CGI handlers put him and those wonderful villains through their paces. OH NO, because while the double-disc "Spider-Man 3" gives fans the very same bonus features included on the DVD, there are no extras for either "Spider-Man" or "Spider-Man 2." Ouch. Make that double ouch.
And you all know what that means. We collectors are going to have to build another wing on our houses in order to accommodate a double set of DVDs and HD titles.
It all comes down to a matter of dollars, I suspect. The suggested retail price of a 2-disc Blu-ray release like "Spider-Man 3" is $49.95, and I'm betting that the Sony marketing department wasn't sure if the public is ready to plunk down $150 for a six-disc Blu-ray set. As it is, this four-disc trilogy comes with a $98.95 price tag, and the studio also might have been thinking that since most of the bonus features aren't in HD anyway, why go through the expense of putting them onto Blu-ray discs? Wouldn't it be simpler for collectors to just turn to their DVDs for those features? Maybe. But I'd bet that if Sony took a survey, they'd discover that most collectors would be willing to pay the extra money to have a complete, compact set on HD, rather than five or six boxes of the same titles weighing down their storage shelving.
All that aside, this is the set that Spidey fans have been waiting for, and one of the big titles that may well fan the fires of the HD format war. This week's burning questions: will Merle Haggard's return to the Democratic party and declared support of Hillary Clinton be enough to sway other white male "country" voters, and will the "Spider-Man" Trilogy be enough to entice people to buy Blu-ray players?
Spider-Man
You've got to love the one that started it all. With "Spider-Man" Sam Raimi raised the bar for superhero films. Origin films have a tendency to bog down, but that's happily not the case here. Instead, Raimi seems to relish the chance to flesh out characters and relationships. Tobey Maguire seems perfectly cast as the nerdy science whiz who gets bitten by a super-spider while on a class field trip and learns to grapple with his new powers. He's a young guy, so his obvious reaction is, "Cool!" The first installment introduces Peter Parker's crush on neighbor Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) and sets up an eventual competition/conflict between Peter and best-friend Harry Osborn (James Franco). The villain this outing is Harry's father (Willem Dafoe), who becomes his own guinea pig--never a good idea, right?--and swipes the hoverboard his company was developing for the military. With a mask, an evil voice, and a little practice he becomes: The Green Goblin!
Since we've reviewed all three titles at DVD Town, rather than duplicate efforts for the trilogy it seems like a better idea to direct readers to those full-blown reviews. Dean Winkelspecht liked this one so much that he gave it a 10 in his review! I probably would have gone with an 8, but I can see why he went all the way with this one. What's not to love?
Spider-Man 2
While there aren't any extras, at least fans get to choose their own adventure: the original theatrical version is included here, along with Spider-Man 2.1. Pick the latter. The scenes that were added are fun to watch, especially one in which editor J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons) tries on the Spidey suit for size. This outing picks up where the last one left off, with Harry feeling as vengeful toward Spider-Man over his father's death as Peter is toward the robber he failed to stop . . . the one who ended up killing his uncle. While the first film was all about discovery--Peter discovering his powers and his real feelings for MJ-this one is all about the burden of juggling superheroism with a college student's schedule and a pizza delivery job. The tone is lighter in spots than the first film, and the visual effects are brighter. Doc Ock (Alfred Molina) is a superb villain that Raimi's crew brings to vivid life--yet another scientist who's victimized by his own experiment. This time his mind is taken over by the raptor-like appendages that are attached to his spinal cord, turnedvillainous by those mechanical monsters.
I liked it so much I gave it a 9 in my review. Superior special effects, great comic relief, and an adroit handling of lost powers that, coincidentally, mirrored Superman's plight in the second installment of that series.
Spider-Man 3
A few readers raised their eyebrows over my giving this one a "high 9," but after rewatching all three movies in order, I stand by that review. Each film seems to me a little more complex in terms of its emotional core, and a little more accomplished with the CGI special effects as well. This outing, Peter loses his head . . . or rather, he becomes so full of himself that he turns heads as he walks down the street as a strutting Peter Parker peacock . . . in a whatever sort of way. It's about dealing with choices--the kind of thing that schoolchildren are faced with every day. Good choices and bad are dramatized by space-gunk called Venom that attaches itself to Spidey and causes him to adopt a black suit (and do black things). Will he return to the red suit? Of course, but that's not the whole narrative thrust. "Spider-Man 3" gives us three villains to contend with, the others being a newly created Sandman (Thomas Haden Church) whose so cool to watch that you almost don't care what he does onscreen, and a fresh incarnation of the Goblin as the son carries on the tradition of the father and decides to have it out with Peter/Spidey, once and for all.
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