Blu-ray Movie Reviews

When does a trilogy become a quadrilogy? (Is there such a word? There is now.) When they release the third sequel, of course. And the Spider-Man films have been such a rousing success that you can be sure another one is in the pipeline.

But for now, we have three. It's a variable lot, but I think it's safe to say that no superhero comic book franchise has ever produced a better, or a more profitable, series of films. This Blu-ray box set of all three will be in stores on Tuesday, October 30th.

But it all started with the original Spider-Man. It's a delightful work, laying out the often-tedious background required of any superhero saga with a light—but not campy—touch. There isn't a wrong move here from the first bite to the final shot, where Spidey briefly but prominently shares the screen with a huge American flag. (You'll see fast-cut but clear shots of the flag in all three films. Director Sam Ramey isn't afraid to do a little flag-waving, particularly here in the first film which was released during the spring that followed 9/11).

Spider-Man 2 is even better. In fact, it’s the best of the lot, a potent and all too rare example of the sequel that outdoes the original. It's richer and deeper, with more depth, far better action scenes (which advance the story without appearing to be simply tacked-on to ratchet-up the excitement) and the most emotionally satisfying finale of all the films. It also has, by far, the best villain.

Spider-Man 2.1, a video only version (previously released on DVD) adds 9 minutes to the original film's running time. It's included on disc 2 in this set, along with the theatrical version, using what must certainly be seamless branching. The added scenes are mainly character moments, but for the most part they enrich an already excellent film.

Spider-Man 3 falls down in a number of ways that could have been at least partially corrected by some cuts to its bloated 2 hour, 19 minute running time. It has one (perhaps two) villains too many, and none of them are as interesting or well explored as Doc Ock in the second film. There's also too much romantic angst here, and Kirsten Dunst's Mary Jane, now that she has a better idea of why Peter Parker can't always be there for her, appears annoying and selfish rather than sympathetic. Worst of all, many of the scenes featuring the "bad," goo-controlled Peter Parker are cringe-worthy.

But one advantage of home video is that you can skip the bad stuff, particularly on subsequent viewings. The best parts of Spider-Man 3 are the special effects scenes. Last summer I was invited to Sony Pictures Imageworks, where the largely computer-generated special effects were produced. There we were given a complete rundown on the creation of several if the key special effects sequences. The Spider-Man 3 package in this box set provides all of the same information I received, and a lot more. It contains 11 high definition featurettes, each dedicated to a specific aspect of the film, plus theatrical and TV trailers and spots.

Disc 1 of the Spider-Man 3 package in this set also includes two audio commentary tracks, one by the actors and another from the producers, editor, and special effects supervisor. There's also a blooper reel, some of which, as usual with such reels, appears to have been staged specifically for the DVD release (though the staging probably was not responsible for the random R-rated language that occasionally pops out on this feature).

It's in the overall quality of its features, however, that this box set comes up short. The extensive extras that fill out disc two of the last film aren't enough to hide the virtually complete lack of special features on the Spider-Man and sets. No commentaries here, no "Making of" featurettes, no—nothing. Special features are not high on my list of must-haves on packaged media, but if they are make-or-break additions to you, you'll see a lot more of them on earlier DVD releases of these films.

Fortunately, the three discs on this Blu-ray set have technical chops that far exceed anything you'll see on DVD, including their Super-Bit releases. While they aren't the very best Blu-ray discs I've seen, their limitations might well originate in the original photography rather than in the HD transfers. Of the three, Spider-Man 3 is the most consistent, with sharp but not artificially enhanced details and textures, good shadow detail, and spot-on colors.

Spider-Man 2 has the most uneven transfer, though most of its problems —softness in some of the medium and long shots, a few grungy-looking dark scenes, occasionally too-warm colors—come in the first third of the film and seem to clear up later. The brief, dark, establishing shots of Dock Ock's riverfront lair, in particular, look stunning, as do the (less challenging but still relatively dark) interior shots in the big finale.

The video quality of the original Spider-Man, overall, is good and roughly equal to 2. It's also the only 1.85:1 film here; the others are 2.40:1.

All three films offer excellent English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtracks, with additional language tracks in standard Dolby Digital 5.1 (two of the movies even offer 5.1-channel Thai soundtracks!). Only Spider-Man 3, however, also includes an uncompressed PCM 5.1-channel soundtrack.

The audio is impressive on all three films, but particularly so on the last two, with deep, explosive bass and active surrounds. And the music on the soundtracks was particularly well handled, presented on a wide and deep cinematic canvas perfectly suited to the style of the films. It never sounds unrealistically grating or edgy—with one exception. All three films feature pop songs over the closing credits, and the style of those songs, particularly in the first two films, destroys any attempt to savor the mood lingering from the films' final scenes. They scream "Buy the soundtrack album today!"—which is clearly their intended purpose.

But I doubt if anyone will be disappointed in any of the soundtracks on this box set. The jury is still out for me, however, on the TrueHD vs. uncompressed PCM question. In theory, both types of audio tracks should be equivalent, everything else being equal (unlike some studios, Sony does not provide the sampling rate and bit-depth of its uncompressed audio tracks on the disc jacket). But I did switch back and forth between the TrueHD and uncompressed tracks several times while watching Spider-Man 3. The comparison was complicated by the fact that the uncompressed track was definitely louder (why?). But even after dropping its level by several dB in a rough attempt to compensate, the uncompressed track still sounded fuller and more powerful, particularly through the midbass.

Spider-Man 3 is also available separately on Blu-ray, in two-disc form identical to the one on this packaged set. Both two disc and one disc DVD releases are also available. No separate Blu-ray releases of the first two films have been announced—yet. (While we have no crystal-ball, inside information on this, want to bet against separate, expanded, full-featured Blu-ray releases of the first two films sometime in the future?)

Spider-Man Picture…8.5 Sound…8.5 Film…8.5 (maximum 10.0)

Spider-Man 2 Picture…8.5 Sound…9.0 Film…9.5

Spider-Man 3 Picture…9.0 Sound…9.0 (TrueHD), 9.5 (PCM) Film…7.5

(Reviewed on a JVC DLA-RS1 1080p projector and Stewart Studiotek 130, 78" wide, 16:9 screen, with a Samsung HD-P1200 Blu-ray player, an Onkyo TX-SR875 Surround Sound Receiver (used as a pre-pro), an Anthem Statement P5 power amplifier, and an APC S15 power conditioner/UPS. Also B&W 683 (L/R front) and 685 (surround), Revel C12 (center) speakers and a Revel B15 subwoofer.