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Man of Steel (Blu-ray+DVD+UltraViolet Combo Pack)
A young boy learns that he has extraordinary powers and is not of this Earth. As a young man, he journeys to discover where he came from and what he was sent here to do. But the hero in him must emerge if he is to save the world from annihilation and become the symbol of hope for all mankind.
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A. Irey
January 1, 2014 at 10:14 am
Man of Steel…,
Let me say right away that I am fan, so if you imagine that there may be some bias about this film, you’ll be right. As much as I enjoy the work done by Zack Snyder and Christopher Nolan I am, first and foremost, a fan of Superman the character. Beyond the super powers and god like awe that surrounds the character, he is inherently a symbol for the potential good of the human race. He represents the best of both his worlds and acts as a guide for others. Superman is often referred to as the “constant boy scout”. It’s easier to understand when you truly see the kind of temperament and control he exhibits on a nearly constant basis. When faced with adversity how easy would it be for him to destroy his opponent in the blink of an eye, and yet he refrains from doing so. He is a symbol for all that we can achieve, good and bad. In some ways he is the embodiment of hope; hope for the future, hope for the world, and hope in our own personal lives. So, when I say that I am a fan I mean to say that this film held high expectations for me and I am glad to say that this film not only met my expectations but exceeded them.
It’s difficult to compare comics and movies to one another. They are different animals, and because of that, require different things. For those of you who are fans of the comics it may be best to show that this film has an extremely similar vibe to the “Earth One” story presented a few years back. It is a reboot that while fresh and rewarding for the casual viewer truly gives back to the fans. It’s worth mentioning that I believe a movie based on a comic book should remain faithful to its original material it also needs to separate itself and be its own thing. Thankfully that is the case with the “Man of Steel”. The Nolan brothers’ screenplay brought to life by Zack Snyder is a wonderful homage to past material while remaining original in its own way. The very human aspect brought to the character removes some of the awe that may separate us from him and witnessing the struggle he deals with in understanding his two sides is the needed heart thread that grounds the film. The characters, most of which, are easily picked out by fans of the comics are played by some rather extraordinary actors and actresses. You can tell by the quality of actors how serious Warner Bros. was about making this a legitimate project. I could mention each one in particular and yet somehow I feel as though it doesn’t do justice to the ensemble as a whole. Each person fits their character in a natural way and one of the things that I found myself enjoying about the film is that not one person overshadows another, they are each a piece of the puzzle that fits well into the mold.
Another important facet to any Zack Snyder film is the look and feel of the film. While the film itself is grounded in many ways due to the wonderful cast it is hard to forget just how magnificent this movie looks at times. While each shot is truly worthy of a movie still the action scenes are the stuff of legend. Remember that awe I spoke of surrounding the character of Superman? This is where it shines. Snyder is able to envision Superman and his battles in a way that captures the eyes and truly keeps us glued to the screen. The movie has a somber low tone visually, with most of the colors subdued, but when given the opportunity to for action the screen suddenly shines and explodes. For much of the movie I had pure goosebumps traveling up and down my spine. So, if there are any reservations you have about buying this film on blu-ray, get rid of those right now. You’d be doing yourself a disservice buying it on another format. Thankfully, like the “Batman” trilogy Nolan is so well known for, there are a few moments among the drama and action for humor, so it’s not a horribly dry film without levity. Also, the amazing Hans Zimmer has lent his talents to this film and truly created a soundtrack befitting the movie. I’d like to point out that any time Hans Zimmer is part of a film I get a bit excited but when it was officially announced that he would do the score for this film I was eager to hear how he would pull it. The movie moves seamlessly with each passing score and Zimmer’s soundtrack only enhances the experience.
In this day and age I know the idea of having two options available to customers is nice, in terms of DVD and blu-ray format, but in the case of “Man of Steel” I’d recommend that you buy the bundle pack. Yes, you may not have a blu-ray player but if you ever decide to get it then you’ll already have the blu-ray copy along with the DVD one. Truth be told, I have a hard time recommending that this movie be bought solely on DVD cause it’s simply too visual a movie to experience any other way than blu-ray.
One of the best indicators I have for a film are the feelings I have the day afterwards. I left my local theater following the midnight premiere and I had a…
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|Edwin O. Eschberger
January 1, 2014 at 9:40 am
Needs more respect.,
While I can see and understand some of the complaints against this film, some of them, on the other hand, are hypocritical nonsense.
The internet isn’t the best way to put a films reception into perspective. From perusing comic book message boards you would think this is the most hated film of all time. Not so. It is mostly met with favorable praise. But the vocal minority is REALLY vocal on this one. Complaints about structure and editing are one thing (I don’t agree with them at all but they are legitimate) but the huge hubbub over the destruction in this film is over the top and frankly all out misguided and downright false.
It seems the internet can’t make up it’s mind on what they want their Superman to be. For YEARS all fans ever did was say they wanted a Superman movie where he can really show off his powers. They begged and whined and pleaded for a Superman film to deliver the action that the character deserves on screen. And when Superman Returns came out that begging and pleaded grew exponentially. “WE WANT SUPERMAN TO PUNCH SOMETHING!” seemed to be the go-to phrase. People finally get what they were whining for and what do they do? They turn their nose up at it.
The way people complain about the action you would think this is nothing but wall to wall mindless explosions. This is not so at all. After the opening scenes on Krypton and a quick rescue on an oil rig the film doesn’t have much action until the last act kicks in. The last act is no longer or drawn out than The Avengers ofr any of the Nolan Batman films. In fact I think I read somewhere the finale to Batman Begins is a few minute longer than Man of Steel.
For one thing this is a superhero movie. Two, this isn’t only a superhero movie but a SUPERMAN movie! What, you don’t expect insane action and visuals? Really? The action in this film is incredible. It’s hard hitting, edge of your seat kind of stuff. THIS IS WHAT SUPERMAN SHOULD LOOK LIKE ON THE BIG SCREEN!
Whiny fanboys go on and on and ON about the amount of destruction in this film like it’s Supes fault. They literally blame the destruction on Superman like he caused it all. If one simply watches the film with the most minimal amount of attention they will know this is simply, idiotically false. The most purely destructive thing Superman himself directly does is crash Zod through a gas station. Literally everything else is Zods fault. Superman tries the whole last act to stop them and gets his butt handed to him a lot of the time.
Another HUGE misconception is that the final fight in Metropolis is horrible because it’s in the middle of the city and causing more death. Again, if people paid a modicum of attention they would have seen that the entire portion of the city they were fighting in is DESERTED. TOTALLY DESERTED. No people around.
I for one am glad the destruction in this film was so realistic. People were shown to really be dying and in peril. Most other superhero films feel safe in this regard, like nobody is really in jeopardy. It’s safe, clean destruction. Not so in Man of Steel. It makes Superman feel MORE like a hero and not a perfect action figure imo that he has to struggle and can’t save every living soul. Did people really want him to just fly around catching people out of windows the whole time? “WAH Metropolis got destroyed ans Superman didn’t save enough people!” I’m sorry, did you not see him save the ENTIRE world by destroying the World Engine, which damn near took him out as well? I guess not.
I know I’m ranting but I can’t help but feel a lot of the reactions to this film are misguided in the extreme. This is the mythic, larger than life Superman film we’ve been needing. And mythic is exactly what Superman is. This isn’t the joyless shell people are making it out to be either. There is light comedy sprinkled throughout the film. It’s the Batman Begins of Superman. I have a feeling if this came out around 2005 or so it wouldn’t have gotten the fanboy slamming it did.
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