Product Description
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Prepare for the all-new, action-packed Fantastic Four 2-Disc
Extended Edition. Bursting with hours and hours of bonus material
including an exclusive 100 minute "Making of" featurette and an
Inside Look at Fantastic Four 2, this Extended Edition also
features 20 minutes of footage added back into the film.
.com
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Marvel Comics' first family of superherodom, the Fantastic Four,
hits the big screen in a light-hearted and funny adventure. It
begins when down-on-his-luck genius Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd,
Horatio Hornblower) has to enlist the financial and intellectual
help from former schoolmate and rival Victor Von Doom (Julian
McMahon, Nip/Tuck) in order to pursue outer-space research into
human . Also on the trip are Reed's best friend, Ben Grimm
(Michael Chiklis, The Shield); his former lover, Sue Storm
(Jessica Alba, Dark Angel, Sin City), who's now Doom's employee
and love interest; and her hot-pilot brother, Johnny Storm
(Chris Evans, Cellular). Things don't go as planned, of course,
and the quartet becomes blessed--or is it cursed?--with
superhuman powers: flexibility, brute strength, invisibility and
projecting force fields, and bursting into flame. Meanwhile, Doom
himself is undergoing a transformation.
Among the many entries in the comic-book-movie frenzy, Fantastic
Four is refreshing because it doesn't take itself too seriously.
Characterization isn't too deep, and the action is a bit sparse
until the final reel (like most "first" superhero movies, it has
to go through the "how did we get these powers and what we will
do with them" churn). But it's a good-looking cast, and original
comic-book cocreator Stan Lee makes his most significant
Marvel-movie cameo yet, in a speaking role as the FF's steadfast
postal carrier, Willie Lumpkin. Newcomers to superhero movies
might find the idea of a family with flexibility, strength,
invisibility, and force fields a retread of The Incredibles, but
Pixar's animated film was very much a tribute to the FF and other
heroes of the last 40 years. The irony is that while Fantastic
Four is an enjoyable B-grade movie, it's the tribute, The
Incredibles, that turned out to be a film for the ages. --David
Horiuchi
On the DVD
The Fantastic Four two-disc extended-cut edition is the DVD that
should have come out first. But if you did buy the original
edition, you don't need it any more because this version has both
the extended cut and the theatrical cut with the same commentary
by Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, and Michael Chiklis. If you
enjoyed the film, you'll probably like the extended cut as well,
since it adds 20 minutes to the relatively short 106-minute
running time. The new and extended scenes (which are also
viewable separately) are mostly character interplay--Sue/Reed,
Sue/Victor, Ben-Alicia (with a glimpse at a possible future
villain)--plus some gags like Johnny heating up an elevator. The
new cut has a new commentary by director Tim Story, producers Avi
Arad and Kevin Feige, and screenwriters Michael France and Mark
Frost, though they choose to talk about producing the film and
not the new material. The second disc is practically worth the
price of admission, with two hourlong documentaries. One is the
history of the FF comic book decade by decade, with interviews of
Stan Lee, Joe Sinnott, Walter Simonson, Len Wein, Marv Wolfman,
Alex Ross, and Jim Lee (John Byrne is discussed but not
interviewed). The second focuses on master artist Jack Kirby,
including his work from the '40s on, life, work style, personal
style, and far-reaching influence. The interviewees include many
of the same from the other documentary, plus Neal Adams, Barry
Windsor-Smith, and Kirby's kids, assistants, and friends. More
featurettes and still galleries of costumes and memorabilia fill
out the disc. --David Horiuchi
The Fantastic Four at .com
Comics and Graphic Novels (
/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/13784671/ref=d_ap_fan4_1 )
Disney animated series (
/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0007US7CQ/ref=d_ap_fan4_2 )
The classic comic book (
/exec/obidos/ASIN/0785111816/ref=d_ap_fan4_3 )
Movie tie-in graphic novel (
/exec/obidos/ASIN/0785118098/ref=d_ap_fan4_4 )
The Xbox game ( /exec/obidos/ASIN/B0007RDM6A/ref=d_ap_fan4_5 )
Fantastic Four Soundtrack (
/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0009OPO12/ref=d_ap_fan4_6 )
The Fantastic Cast
Jessica Alba
( http://www..com/gp/imdb/actor/nm0004695/ref=d_ap_fan4_7 ) as Sue
Storm
Michael Chiklis
( http://www..com/gp/imdb/actor/nm0004821/ref=d_ap_fan4_8 ) as The
Thing
Ioan Gruffudd
( http://www..com/gp/imdb/actor/nm0344435/ref=d_ap_fan4_9 ) as Reed
Richards
Chris Evans
( http://www..com/gp/imdb/actor/nm0262635/ref=d_ap_fan4_10 ) as
Johnny Storm
Stills from Fantastic Four (click for larger images)
( https://images-na.ssl-images-.com/images/G/01/video/stills/f4-cast_large.jpg )
( https://images-na.ssl-images-.com/images/G/01/video/stills/f4-flame_large.jpg )
( https://images-na.ssl-images-.com/images/G/01/video/stills/f4-sue_large.jpg )