Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10217 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-10-15
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
• Formats: Dolby, PAL, Subtitled, Surround Sound, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 133 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review

How does Spider-Man 3 follow on the heels of its predecessor, which was widely considered the best superhero movie ever? For starters, you pick up the loose threads from that movie, then add some key elements of the Spidey comic book mythos (including fan-favourite villain Venom), the black costume, and the characters of Gwen Stacy and her police captain father.

In the beginning, things have never looked better for Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire): He's doing well in school; his alter ego, Spider-Man, is loved and respected around New York City. And his girlfriend, Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), has just taken a starring role in a Broadway musical. But nothing good can last for Spidey. Mary Jane's career quickly goes downhill; she's bothered by Peter's attractive new classmate, Gwen Stacy (Bryce Dallas Howard); and the new Daily Bugle photographer, Eddie Brock (Topher Grace), is trying to steal his thunder. Enter a new villain, the Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), who can transform his body into various forms and shapes of sand and who may be connected to Peter's past in an unexpected way. There's also the son of an old villain, Harry Osborne (James Franco), who unmasked Spidey in the previous movie and still has revenge on his mind. And a new black costume seems to boost Spidey's powers, but transforms mild-mannered Peter into a mean and obnoxious boor (Maguire has some fun here).

If that sounds like a lot to pack into one 140-minute film, it is. While director Sam Raimi keeps things flowing, assisted on the screenplay by his brother Ivan, and Alvin Sargent, there's a little too much going on, and it's inevitable that one of the villains (there are three or four, depending on how you count) gets significantly short-changed. Still, the cast is excellent, the effects are fantastic, and the action is fast and furious. Even if Spider-Man 3 isn't the match of Spider-Man 2, it's a worthy addition to the megamillion-dollar franchise.

Amazon.co.uk

Stills from Spider-Man 3 (click for larger image)

Customer Reviews

Spiderman trilogy - I will be buying it
This is definitely a trilogy I'll be wanting in my collection. I wasn't too sure on the spiderman movie idea when it first came out, but after watching it, I was hooked. I loved Spiderman 2 and when 3 came out, I was so ecstatic after seeing it at the cinema, I wanted to turn around and go right back in again. Absolutely brilliant movie; all 3 combined = absolute heaven.

Bargain!
This is an absolute bargain buy! It contains the double-disc editions of all three Spider-man films for a fantastic price! Well worth it if you don't already own them (which I didn't before, as I was waiting for a trilogy set).

If only....
This film really could've been special. But, as so many other reviewers have pointed out, its a real let-down. Why do directors always assume that more is better? The first spidey flick had its faults but it was still pretty amazing stuff and we were just glad to have a spidey flick after all the years of false starts and court battles. And the ending did just enough to whet our appetite for the next instalment.
The second one built on the success of the first and took it to the next level. Supreme casting of Alfred Molina as Doc Ock meant we had a villain that was both straight out of the comics yet believeable and another ending that left us salivating for more, turning this into a franchise that you could see would just grow and grow.
And then the inevitable. Too much, too soon. Batman Forever made the same mistake, cramming in too many characters and villains which spelt disaster and the beginning of the end for that franchise. This film could have easily survived on just Sandman and Harry as the villains and the alien symbiote could have made a brief appearance at the end, allowing for a very tempting Spidey 4, focusing on the black suit and Venom.
Ideally Raimi would pull together a director's cut collating all 3 movies and removing all the fluff and nonsense that just aren't necessary - the musical interlude and the landlord's daughter offering chocolate cake and milk (!?) in S2 and far too many instances in S3 to mention.
The franchise is by no means dead becasue of this movie but it does leave you wondering where they're going to take it next. Overall, its still a good film and the amazing effects and dedication of cast & crew just about take it across the finish line but there's no denying, every fan out there of both the films and the comics, if being totally honest, will be thinking, if only....