---

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #323 in DVD
• Released on: 2009-10-19
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 107 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Wolverine, fan favourite of the X-Men universe in both comic books and film, gets his own movie vehicle with X-Men Origins: Wolverine, a tale that reaches way, way back into the hairy mutant's story. Somewhere in the wilds of northwest Canada in the early 1800s, two boys grow up amid violence: half-brothers with very special powers. Eventually they will become the near-indestructible warriors (and victims of a super-secret government program) known as Wolverine and Sabretooth, played respectively by Hugh Jackman (returning to his role) and Liev Schreiber (new to the scene). It helps enormously to have Schreiber, an actor of brawny skills, as the showiest villain; the guy can put genuine menace into a vocal inflection or a shift of the eyes. Danny Huston is the sinister government operative whose experiments keep pulling Wolverine back in, Lynn Collins is the woman who shares a peaceful Canadian co-existence with our hero when he tries to drop out of the program, and Ryan Reynolds adds needed humour, at least for a while.

The fast-paced early reels give an entertaining kick-off to the Wolverine saga, only to slow down when a proper plot must be put together--but isn't that perpetually the problem with origin stories? And despite a cool setting, the grand finale is a little hemmed in by certain plot essentials that must be in place for the sequels, which may be why characters do nonsensical things. So, this one is fun while it lasts, if you're not looking for a masterpiece, or an explanation for Wolverine's facial grooming. --Robert Horton, Amazon.com

Stills from X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Click for larger image)

Special Features
Blu-ray only:

Commentary by Director Gavin Hood

Commentary by Producers Lauren Shuler Donner and Ralph Winter

The Roots of Wolverine: A Conversation with Stan Lee & Len Wein

Wolverine Unleashed: The Complete Origins

Weapon X Mutant Files (in 10 sections introducing the characters)

The Thrill of the Chase: The Helicopter Sequence

Ultimate X-Mode

X Connect

The Director's Chair

Pre-visualizing Wolverine

+ BD Live (IMDB feature) and BD J (PiP and a quiz)

Synopsis
As the title implies, X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE is the back story of the fiery and conflicted Wolverine (né James Logan), whose mutant powers include killer claws that shoot from his knuckles and a regenerative ability that allows him to live seemingly forever. Taking a few mild liberties but staying relatively faithful to the comic-book source material, ORIGINS follows Logan from his first recognition of his mutant powers as a young child up through his infamous adamantium rebirth and the total memory loss that would subsequently fuel his angry quest. Wolverine’s story has enough intriguing details to allow for a grown-up psychodrama in the mold of THE DARK KNIGHT, and the actors on hand--including Danny Huston as Stryker and Liev Schreiber as Logan’s half-brother, Victor (aka Sabretooth)--have the chops to deliver. Director Gavin Hood, however, opts in favor of cinematic razzle-dazzle heavy on John Woo-style action-ballet and CGI glitz. From Deadpool’s eye-popping swordplay (the action-adventure equivalent of Riverdance) to the tightrope-walk of a fight scene in the film’s finale, WOLVERINE is a blockbuster action film in the most fundamental sense of the word.

---

Customer Reviews

Neither the best nor worst of the series
This is a somewhat flimsy but enjoyable romp of a film which I would rate firmly behind the first two X-Men films, but a little ahead of the third. Others on here have mentioned its flaws, chief, for me, was that in roughly 1 3/4 hours you don't find out that much more about Wolverine than you already knew; even the reason given here for his memory loss in the Trilogy is not very satisfying. And the film also suffers a little from "X-Men 3"'s too many characters, too little time syndrome in places.

It is also surprisingly true as some have stated that the CGI is not absolutely top notch. The animation of the claws was better in the earlier X-Men films. Having seen all four in HD I can't agree with the other reviewer who puts it down to HD being more revealing; for some strange reason the standard has dropped here. However, the grain criticised is not excessive, only present as a stylistic touch, and despite being no lover of grainy films it didn't bother me at all. It is also a little misleading to say that the colours are 'washed out', there is colour filtering in some scenes (sort of brown-ish) but, again, it is to achieve a certain look. Generally the picture quality is pretty good, sharp and with reasonable but not exceptional depth and plasticity. Perhaps not quite as good as "X-Men 2", but that is a high standard. The sound quality is also very good, although now only 5.1 DTS HD MA, a step back from "X-Men 3"'s 6.1 track.

On the whole though the film has a reasonable amount to offer. Liev Schreiber is very good as Victor aka Sabretooth, putting Jackman in the shadows at times. The film also has its humourous moments and a fair amount of imagination has been put into the fight scenes. Not a cerebral affair by any means, but a good, honest action movie that will probably only be truly disappointing to hard-core X-Men fans who notice liberties being taken with the franchise of which I was ignorant.

Could Have Been Better
As I was really looking forward to Wolverine: Origins I went to the cinema eagerly anticipating an action classic, however rather than being an all action, claw slashing stunt filled adrenalin fest I will most remember this movie for its unfinished early release on to the internet.

As much as I wanted to love Wolverine, which I did enjoy to a point, I found it to be a bit of a muddle which is exacerbated by a plot that has more holes than a teabag. Things I wanted to know, such as; how and why both he and his brother, Sabretooth, age to a certain point and then suddenly stop is not explained. However it's not a shocker, the Swordsman, Wade Wilson, is brilliant, while Liev Schreiber's Sabretooth outshines Jackmans Wolverine time after time. Plot holes aside, another disappointing aspect was some of the effects, for example the motorbike scenes and the waterfall scene. Also and most unfortunately, much more time is given to less interesting mutants Wraith and The Blob while Gambit, one of my favourites, is a bit of a let-down.

Sadly, I found this to be another overhyped movie which promised more than it delivered. Don't get me wrong, there is a fair bit of entertainment here but I couldn't help but be drawn towards the shortcomings of a movie which could have been better.

What's going on with these other reviews?
to be honest, what's wrong with a bit of wolverine kicking butt. these other reviews make it out to be an awful movie, its got a good cast, and the cgi is very good (dont belive what c. mackellen says). if you want a good comic book action movie, then you cant go wrong with this.