X-Men 1.5

March 22, 2003 3:36 PM

So how do you make an X-Men DVD without mentioning the comics? Fascinatingly candid interview with the producers of the new X-Men 1.5 DVD describing the bizarre issues involved with putting together special features on this and other DVDs, including the afformentioned anomally, a side effect of the current legal situation between FOX and Marvel Comics.
posted by feelinglistless (7 comments total)

For more information about the Fox v. Marvel legal fight, check this or 'round here or over there.
posted by grabbingsand at 9:04 PM on March 22, 2003

I know how!!

5 easy steps:

1. Move out of your parents basement
2. Be older than 15
3. Quit being a drag on the global oxygen supply
4. Realize(as illustrated by the low number of comments) that nobody gives a damn.
5. Enjoy!!!
posted by ttrendel at 3:05 AM on March 23, 2003

. . . (pipes up). . .
I do.

I lived in my parents basement once. It was pretty dank.
posted by Lord Chancellor at 5:34 AM on March 23, 2003

Hey, ttrendel, if you don't have anything nice to say, how about just shutting it? Thanks.

Good post, feelinglistless - interesting read.
posted by mschmidt at 3:06 PM on March 23, 2003

Just scanning the links Grabbing Sands offered, I can't see how Marvel Comics hopes to do anything but diminish the recent upsurge of interest and popularity in their own products by attacking the film company which is essentially offering wondrous publicity for a franchise that's several decades old and would wallow in obscurity if not for these films. It's biting off the hand that feeds it, and further proof that today's copyright laws are painfully unrealistic and damaging. Talking about the comic book origin of the movies certainly is not the same as a film company threatening to produce a comic book that would compete with Marvel Comics' own direct interests.

Though incredibly in dispute with the source material, the first X-Men film and its subsequent upcoming sequel is one of the best film adaptations of comic book source material that I've ever seen. It has managed to simultaneously appease the fans of the source as well as move the story into a mainstream audience. What's Marvel's real beef? Their legal battle can be nothing but self-destructive. They're basically insuring that there will not be an X-Men 3, and that again, film companies will think twice before going to bed with Marvel. This does nothing but hurt the franchise, the fanbase, and the future of more comic book stories being adapted for the cinematic medium.
posted by ZachsMind at 3:58 PM on March 23, 2003

Thanks mschmidt. This isn't the first time ttrendal has ripped into someone's link and I'm sure it won't be the last.

ANYWAY ... it has opened my eyes a bit as to why some DVDs don't have the massive truck load of special features we would like ... it really depends on how much the distributor is willing to spend on the release. It also explains why most DVDs were vanillas right at the start -- why spend so much on 'special features' for an untested format? Test the water first, see if there is a market and then go full pelt.
posted by feelinglistless at 4:12 PM on March 23, 2003

Great link, feelinglistless. Golden nuggets about the X-Men film itself, but what was even more interesting to me was the look at what goes into fancy-schmancy DVD production. Thanks for posting this.
posted by UKnowForKids at 7:12 PM on March 23, 2003