The original X-Men is the best film

[the_scream]

I like X2 a lot but Singer was fantastic with the original. I watched it again recently and there is so much subtlety that is overlooked. My fav scene is where Prof X confronts Magneto in that hallway with all the Xs around them. There is so many wonderful visuals. The Xs surround them and the mirrors are great. Love the dialogue too.

This film feels like a small X-Men adventure. Prof X has a major role; Cykes is the hero in saving Wolverine and at the end; the X-Men work as a team; and nothing is overkill.

X2 is great but it turns into a Wolverine story too much with Prof X and Cykes delgated to nothing roles. Love the action but the team work aspect is lacking. There is a difference between making a good action film and making a really good "film". Watch the original again and pay attention to the subleties. The scenes are so rich and precise.

[TNC9852002]

Hmmm...I never felt that X2 was that much better than X1 either..But it's almost like each film's weaknesses became the other film's strengths..They're almost equal..

The only thing that held X1 back (for me) was the deleted scenes...If they had kept them all in, I would say that they are dead equal.

-TNC

[Dark Beast]

I see X1 actually as a very good building up-movie. Singer had a lot of problems with just getting the charactres believable. It's also a very typical first mission-adventure... It set up the perimeters for X2: the charactres were already introduced, the set up the relations between the good guys and the bad guys.

People wouldn't think X2 was a good movie without X1.

[TNC9852002]

That's an interesting point...

-TNC

[GNR]

X1 is still my favorite.There was something about X2 that left me feeling confused when I left the theater.It was great,but just the fact that it opened with loose ends and ended with loose ends really didn't make it feel like a movie which could stand on it's own.X1 had a certain "classic" feel to it,like something Kirby and Lee would cook up.

[stassiss]

I though X1 was a great movie it had everything a movie needs in my opinion! But there was a rumor that someone doing x1 wanted to cut the budget and make it not such a great movie because they thought it would fail or something? But they were defeated!!!

[bosef982]

Yea, I'm starting to appreciate X1 more and more after watching recently. It's much more character centered, but so is X2. And both are more character centered and better written than alot of films and certainly comic book films out there.

X2 doesn't stand alone that much, and it does end openly. That's why I'm excited to see X3, to see if it bookends it properly.

[Kira]

Generally speaking, i like x1 better. The drama, characters, action... But the ending in x2 was far superior. Phoenix in the water and the epilogue... it was awesome.

[Telekinetic]

i found x-men 1 to be a little boring. overall i liked x2 a lote more.

[rogue_devlin]

I think that in techincal achievements X2 is by far superior to X-Men, but I still like X-Men more than X2, its story is more appealing to me than X2's.

[Angamb]

I think X-men 1 needed more social repercution and X2 still more.

And also, X1 needed one or two more characters (x members)

[WalkingDead]

The more I see X1 the closer it becomes to a dead tie with X2 as to which I like more.

X1 is a great Character Film...really well done on the main Characters. Logan and Rogue are just the vehicles to push us along, but at the core X1, to me, is a Xavier and Magneto film, they are the two main characters of that movie (screentime or not). Also Cyclops is represented very well here (even if his screentime was a bit short). The best scenes of the movie are the ones with Xavier and Magneto.

[The Shredder]

I think that in techincal achievements X2 is by far superior to X-Men, but I still like X-Men more than X2, its story is more appealing to me than X2's.

Thats pretty much my thoughts as well. :up:

[LoGaN's RuNNer]

Generally speaking, i like x1 better. The drama, characters, action... But the ending in x2 was far superior. Phoenix in the water and the epilogue... it was awesome.
I agree.:up:

[Blackpanther22]

I've always liked X1 better. It's more about teh whole team. X2 divides everything into a couple of story;ines atht don't really interact the way they should. Everything is Wolverine&Stryker, Cyclops&Jean, Prof X & Magneto.

[*xmenfan*]

X-Men 2 was better because it had nightcrawler in it, the storyline was better, characters more developed and it had more action .But i still love X1, X1 is better than X3!!

[Gambit aka remy]

X1 is WAAAY boring!!!! its really slow and theres hardly any action

[Nell2ThaIzzay]

Both movies are awesome.

Overall, I like X2 better. I think it's more stylized (Nightcrawler's White House attack, Magneto's escape from the plastic prison, Magneto re-arranging Stryker's Cerebro, Magneto pulling the pins out of all of the grenades, Mystique's infiltration into Stryker's lab, the Wolverine vs. Lady Deathstrike battle, etc...) not just better action, but better style / visuals.

X-Men is really great though. I love the first time we see Wolverine, fighting in the cage. The first time his claws come out. The Senate hearing with Jean Grey, and the sequence between Magneto and Xavier (one of the best in the franchise, I think) "And I will bring you hope, old friend. And I ask only one thing in return. Don't get in my way."

I would have to say that X2 is a superior film to X-Men in pretty much every way, in my opinion. However, X-Men is a great film as well. I love 'em both.

[XCharlieX]

I saw x1 in theaters and liked it, for x2 its amazing how seamless the story is continued. Without missing a beat. Both are up to par in terms of quality imo.

People knocked sabretooth... i found him to be a worthy opponent for wolverine.

[Mgneto]

Just watched X1 for the first time in about a year, and I found that I liked it a whole lot more than I recalled. The scene where Storm and Cyclops confront Sabretooth in the beginning is outstanding, visually, and, while a few of the fights were not as enthralling as X2's, the final showdown between Magneto's crew and the X-Men is quite intense.

Favorite moment that I don't remember was when the ship had taken off and just left the school, and Wolverine, just for kicks, flexes his claws as Jean looked on, that was just a great little tension-builder Singer threw in. Great movie, all around, but far too short.

[Kevin Roegele]

X1 is superior;

- Wolverine is not neutured. He is vicious, rebelious, has an ultra-short temper, almost kills people in an instant. He has an intimidating, unpredicatable, dangerous presence that is completely missing from X2, where he becomes more of a standard superhero except when he kills the soldiers.

- X2 is more of a conventional action movie. Singer is not an action director. X1 is a character piece, Singer's forte.

- The opening twenty minutes of X1, up until Wolverine's truck explodes, is sublime and the best part of the series so far. Simply put, it makes these comicbook characters into completely believable people. Nowhere else in the series does that happen.

[GambitXremy]

x1 i would say is the better movie to me

[Darkie]

X2 is the best x-men movie cos it had much more action and the storylines was sooo much better but i still like X1

:up::up::up::up: yep

[usagicassidy]

X1 is superior;

- Wolverine is not neutured. He is vicious, rebelious, has an ultra-short temper, almost kills people in an instant. He has an intimidating, unpredicatable, dangerous presence that is completely missing from X2, where he becomes more of a standard superhero except when he kills the soldiers.

- X2 is more of a conventional action movie. Singer is not an action director. X1 is a character piece, Singer's forte.

- The opening twenty minutes of X1, up until Wolverine's truck explodes, is sublime and the best part of the series so far. Simply put, it makes these comicbook characters into completely believable people. Nowhere else in the series does that happen.

Very well put! I'm excited to watch these two films again in May, just in time for X3...

[Spidey 2007]

X1 is superior;

- Wolverine is not neutured. He is vicious, rebelious, has an ultra-short temper, almost kills people in an instant. He has an intimidating, unpredicatable, dangerous presence that is completely missing from X2, where he becomes more of a standard superhero except when he kills the soldiers.

- X2 is more of a conventional action movie. Singer is not an action director. X1 is a character piece, Singer's forte.

- The opening twenty minutes of X1, up until Wolverine's truck explodes, is sublime and the best part of the series so far. Simply put, it makes these comicbook characters into completely believable people. Nowhere else in the series does that happen.

your totally right on teh wovlerine aspect, it seems as we move on he gets less wolverinish. I havnt seen anything in X3 that screams pure wolverine like x1 did. X2 had its moments, but not as much as x1 had. Hopefully in X3 we can get a full explanation on the possible block the proffesor put on logan?

[rjb182]

Coming out of the theater, I liked X2 better than X1... It seemed like a bigger movie, with more Cool Stuff Happening, and who could resist the Phoenix ending?

But y'know, looking back... I think X1 had a better emotional center to the stories than the second one. I felt for the characters more. And while X1 might have left some stuff on the table as far as the amount of superheroics in the movie, I think X2 might have gone a little over the top at times...

I think, right now, the only thing that keeps X1 from being better than X2 is the running time. It was an awfully short movie, by today's standards. If it had been fleshed out with an extra half-hour, it might just have taken the prize.

[The Kid]

Absolutely right. This movie took itself serioiusly every step of the way (except for the silly toad struck by lightning thing) and that's why it's great. I"m a hulk movie fan but I'll admit that movie went overboard on the artsy stuff. X1 struck a blance between drama, coolness, story, overall serious take on the source that I've not seen in any other comic book movie besides Sin City. Where's the love for that? This movie could have been another fantastic four or catwoman but they wanted it to be good. And it is.

You could tell X2 was where they let loose and had fun with the mutants' more comic booky powers and stuff. But X1 was where we got a more grounded take on the xmen and their abilities, I think.I wish more comicbook movies did this. For some reason X2 feels more like a popcorn munching blockbuster film than X1. Begins got praise for being a more realistic batman instead of like the last few ones. It was what I call a fantasy that's dangerously close to reality and people loved it and held it up as an example to the rest of the comicbook movies to come. X1 did that already before begins was even a commited to paper and it was and still is my favorite x movie so far because of that.

Give the same treatment to Superman, Singer.

[Enlight]

I hated X1 when I first saw it and it took a while to grow on me. It didn't capitolize on emotion or action. I was caught in the first ten minutes, but instead of climaxing it degraded.
I was amazed by X2. I was swept off my feet. X2 had great action that made the character bits stand out and shine. I was intrigue by every character that grace the screen. X1 never allowed me to get lost in the story like X2 did. X2 is far superior.

[LEX]

Despite the short runtime, I loved X1 and it felt like forever. The drama, the character development, the story and the action were all there. Xavier and Magneto got the best scenes. Cyclops was represented really well as a true leader. Wolverine, too, was represented as an unpredictable animal. The pacing was perfect. However, I wish they would've kept the deleted scenes because they were building up to the Cure and Dark Phoenix storylines that will happen in X3.

And the fight scenes were just unbelievable. I loved the train station scene. We got to see Toad climbing and snatching Cyclops' visor away, causing him to blow off the roof, Sabretooth choking Storm, Magneto flying. And also, the climax of the movie at the Liberty Island. It felt like the comics. The movie felt like what the X-Men would do.

I also loved X2. It was mostly the same with X1, but different and much bigger. Despite Cyclops' lack of screentime, he got some great scenes (Cyclops versus guards and Deathstrike, Cyclops' escaping Stryker's base with Xavier - even though it wasn't in the movie - Cyclops versus Jean and the entire ending with Cyclops). The fights were much better. The story was bigger.

X2 has more and better action scenes (Pyro causing havoc at the Drakes, Magneto's escape, Mystique versus Stryker's soldiers and her hilarious scene when she gave the finger and blew a kiss, Wolverine versus Deathstrike, Cyclops versus guards and Deathstrike, Nightcrawler's opening scene, Jean's sacrifice and of course, the mansion invasion). Stryker was a great villain. Shows a human side of him and revenge, of course.

I can't decide which is the best. They're both great, but I prefer X2 b/c of the increase in drama and action.

[WideAwake]

I like both (and I hope that soon, all three of them) equally, but I think X1 is the best.
I wasn't a fan of the X Men untill I saw X1, and I loved that movie primarily because of the characters.
The movie is short, but every single scene contributes to the story and the characters wonderfully. Making Rogue one of the main characters really drove home the point that mutation is not always a gift, but can be a curse too.

My favorite elements of the movie are all scenes between Rogue and Wolverine and the duality of Magneto's character, he walks a fine line between being a terrorist and a visionaire.

[Hype Police]

X1 was obviously the superior film. The direction was alot more effective, better character interaction, a better story, almost every aspect. Sure, X2 had bigger action scenes, but they did little to progress the story and the entire plot was a lazy rehash of the first film. It was completely uninvolving and boring.

[phoenix_force]

x2 was MUCH better overall than x1 x1 better than x2? honestly you must be joking

[Tony7682]

I have to disagree with the majority of the posters in this thread. I went back and recently rewatched both of the first two X-movies, and X1 disappoints in a number of ways.

Basically, too much of the story just does not make sense.

First, regarding the scene in Canada where Sabretooth attacks Wolverine and Rogue: How does Magneto even know that Rogue exists, what her powers are, and where she is? That is never explained. It is also a stretch that Xavier would know about Sabretooth's attack on Wolverine and Rogue, although I presume that Xavier used Cerebro to track Sabretooth.

The scene where Jean Grey addresses the US Senate on mutation: The set there looks so ridiculously fake. Why would there be a big picture of the Capitol Building behind Jean? There is no such thing in a Senate hearing room. It would have been very easy and inexpensive to make a set that did resemble a real committee hearing room - a witness table where Jean would be seated (not standing) and then the committee members seated around that in a semicircle. Behind Jean and on the floor in front of her would be reporters, photographers, spectators, etc.

The scene where Wolverine accidently stabs Rogue in the middle of the night is completely unbelievable. Wolverine is having a bad dream, which just so happens to wake up Rogue and compel her to walk into Wolverine's room, and then Wolverine just so happens to wake up and stab his claws right where Rogue just so hapens to be standing. Sorry, but I just don't believe it. Watching it now makes me cringe. It is a very lame way of explaining Rogue's ability to temporarily gain the power of a mutant that touches her.

The scene where Senator Kelly escapes from Magneto and Co.: Again, very unbelievable. First, if Kelly is so important to Magneto's plans, why is he not monitored very closely? Then Kelly manages to stretch past the bars of his cell and slip through Sabretooth's grip... ok, fine. Yet Kelly somehow survives the fall all the way down to the water? Then Kelly, despite all his fear and confusion, is somehow able to navigate and survive his way all the way back to shore? Then in his weakened and confused state, he is somehow able to find the mansion and wander all the way to it? This seems like it was made part of the story in order to enable the X-men to learn of Magneto's plan and that his machine ultimately kills humans. Yet it comes off as way too sloppy, forced, and contrived.

Then, during the few action scenes, a recurring theme throughout them is the basic powerlessness of Jean Grey.

When Storm and Cyclops go to the train station to look for Rogue, why is Jean not with them? Her powers would have been useful in fending off Sabretooth and Toad. Then we find out that Jean is just sitting in a car with Xavier doing nothing. When the police confront Magneto, Sabretooth, and Toad (with Rogue on Toad's back), Xavier controls the minds of Sabretooth and Toad in an effort to stop Magneto. Xavier makes Sabretooth grab Magneto's neck. Why not have Sabretooth rip Magneto's telepathy-blocking helmet off of his head? Why not use Sabretooth to physically attack Magneto and/or Toad? Why can't Jean use her telekinesis to pull Rogue away from Toad? When Magneto points all the cops' guns back at them, why can't Jean point them away? When Mystique approaches with the helicopter to pick up her comrades, why can't Jean use her power to shove the helicopter away? Also, where is Storm? Cyclops is presumably not of much use with his visor ripped off by Toad, but Storm could have used wind/coldness/lightning to disrupt the Brotherhood's escape. Again, the storywriters *needed* the Brotherhood to succeed here, so that was just forced to happen even though the X-Men could have done more.

Then the final fight scene at the Statue of Liberty: When Magneto uses the scraps of metal to trap all the X-Men against the wall of the statue, why doesn't Jean do anything? She could use her power to remove the restraints, and while Magneto might be able to move them back, the back and forth battle between them could have distracted Magneto long enough for at least one X-Man to escape and attack Magneto. Then during the Wolverine vs. Sabretooth battle, Jean could have used her power to wisk Sabretooth away. Storm also could have done something if not with lightning, then with wind against both Magneto and Sabretooth.

Then of course Mystique inexplicably survives being stabbed right in the gut by Wolverine...

When this film first came out, I was excited at just being able to see my childhood heroes on the big screen. But now going back and analyzing it, much of the story comes across as sloppy and not thought out well at all.

[WideAwake]

Some good points there, Tony.

I agree mostly with your points on Jean, she was pretty weak in the movie. I wondered about why she didn't attack Magneto, Sabretooth or Toad telekinetically at the trainstation too, but I think she wasn't strong enough to do that. Why they made her that weak, I don't know. Was she still developping her powers and learning how to use them (deleted scene with Xavier in Cerebro seems to indicate so) ?
On the other hand, Magneto had all the advantages: Rogue as a hostage and guns pointed at policemen.

I think Xavier sent only Storm and Cyclops to the station to fetch Rogue because they didn't know of Magneto's plans for Rogue. Xavier thought he was after Wolverine.
Also, I think that after Cyclops blew the roof of the station, he and Storm had to leave quickly: they just used their powers out in the open, and almost tore down the station, bystanders could identify them as mutants, call the police and attack them.

Other things you mentioned, such as Magneto knowing of Rogue and Senator Kelly making it to the insitute are those typical movie conveniences, but they don't bother me.

On the whole, X1 feels "tighter" than X2.

[spinny0617]

The scene where Wolverine accidently stabs Rogue in the middle of the night is completely unbelievable. Wolverine is having a bad dream, which just so happens to wake up Rogue and compel her to walk into Wolverine's room, and then Wolverine just so happens to wake up and stab his claws right where Rogue just so hapens to be standing. Sorry, but I just don't believe it. Watching it now makes me cringe. It is a very lame way of explaining Rogue's ability to temporarily gain the power of a mutant that touches her.

it's pretty obvious that rogue is next door to logan and that she hears him through the wall. and she was probably awake at the time anyway thinking about all the stuff that's happened to her that day (meeting logan, getting attacked by sabertooth, rescued by the x-men, finding a place to stay and finish school...).

and he stabs rogue cause when he awakes from the nightmare he thinks that it's one of the doctors standing over him (the one with the needle).

I thought it was a very good scene.

[psylockolussus]

The only good thing in X-Men 1 was there's really a team work and the X-Men vs Brotherhood.

[LoGaN's RuNNer]

I like X2 a lot but Singer was fantastic with the original. I watched it again recently and there is so much subtlety that is overlooked. My fav scene is where Prof X confronts Magneto in that hallway with all the Xs around them. There is so many wonderful visuals. The Xs surround them and the mirrors are great. Love the dialogue too.

This film feels like a small X-Men adventure. Prof X has a major role; Cykes is the hero in saving Wolverine and at the end; the X-Men work as a team; and nothing is overkill.

X2 is great but it turns into a Wolverine story too much with Prof X and Cykes delgated to nothing roles. Love the action but the team work aspect is lacking. There is a difference between making a good action film and making a really good "film". Watch the original again and pay attention to the subleties. The scenes are so rich and precise.
You have a good point, X1 was really good, I think it should have gotten 3 stars instead of 2 1/2, you have to watch it more than once to really begin to notice everything.

[L0ngsh0t]

with al due respect i hated x1, i felt singer to artistic liberaties that no other comic book movie creator was aloud to do, and mad an anti-climatic movie, with very unimpressive action, the only saving grace in the movie for me was the fact that i was the xmen, and Ian Mckellen naid magneto to a t

x2 is an improvement of epic proportions, while still being obseredly inaccurate as far as characterization, and the second worst comic to film adaptation besides x1, the action in it gets alot better

[foxx5]

the original is always the best!

[co2]

I have to disagree with the majority of the posters in this thread. I went back and recently rewatched both of the first two X-movies, and X1 disappoints in a number of ways.

Same here. I just went back and watched the two in preparartion for X3, and came away with the same feeling.

I would say that X-men was OK, but it's not as easy to rewatch, as far as action and even character goes. The first movie feels like excatly what it is..an introduction and set up. In that way it serves it's purpose. X2 feels like the real story. Going back to watch these films, I was struck by how mediocre I thought X-men was and how great X2 was. I'm re-inforced in my belief that X2 is definitely one of Marvel's best. Last Stand has a LOT to live up to.

[GambitXremy]

who can forget cykes scene with the prof.X in x1 when te prof. is sick

[Knightsaber Priss]

Well, i'm just disappointed with the first movie in the fact we never have gotten even a verbal confirmation of Sabretooth and Wolverine's connection to each other yet. You'd think with 3 movies they'd have at least had someone say it by now. At least all the Cyke fans got see see cyclops in 3 straight movies here. all i have to go on is one movie that relegated Sabes to a supporting role. I hope the Wolverine spinoff rectifies this.

[ShadowBoxing]

X1 was a better film and did a better job with presenting the X-characters.

What they could have changed
- They should have had Ray Park play Pyro instead since that was more like Pyro and would have been a better foil for Storm
- Sabretooth should have had a better costume and verbal confirmation like "I've been waiting a while for this little man" when fighting Wolverine that he knew Wolverine
- Toad could have still had a role, but he should have been looked down upon by Magneto and Jean should have handled him.

What was great
- Wolverine, most spot on performance of the character yet
- "I have a shot, I'm taking it" and "I'll take care of them".
- Scott and Logan's back and forth dialogue.
- The team dynamic
- The deleted scenes (were good)
- Storm's accent.
- The plot and script overall.

[co2]

Out of all the X villians to choose from...and they chose toad? They wisely decided to drop him for X2. He was the worst part of that film....well, aside from Halle Berry I mean.

[Kevin Roegele]

Having seen all three X-Movies now - and all three are very good - X1 is still the best. At the centre is Hugh Jackman's best Wolverine portrayal and Anna Paquin as Rogue. Then you have Ian McKellen as Magneto, before he started hamming it up, Mystique back when she was mysterious and sinister (she became something of a hero in X2), some really tense scenes between Prof X and Magneto (their final chess game has atmosphere completely missing from the sequels), James Marsden's most screentime (not that he gets much)....

All in all, it's the perfect X-Men film. The final scene completely sums up everything you need to know about X-Men. At the end, Magneto says, "The war is coming, Charles, and I intend to fight it - by any means neccessary." Prof X replies, "And I will always be there - old friend." Cue intense, dramatic theme tune cut to credits. It's perfect. It's definitive.

[XCharlieX]

The Statue of liberty climax still packs a punch imo. Love it. Especially after when Wolverines trying to wake rogue up.

[Cyclops]

I loved Ray Park as Toad. And he deserved a role in Magneto's Brotherhood because he was the original Brotherhood member. THE original one.

[Hades]

Having seen all three X-Movies now - and all three are very good - X1 is still the best. At the centre is Hugh Jackman's best Wolverine portrayal and Anna Paquin as Rogue. Then you have Ian McKellen as Magneto, before he started hamming it up, Mystique back when she was mysterious and sinister (she became something of a hero in X2), some really tense scenes between Prof X and Magneto (their final chess game has atmosphere completely missing from the sequels), James Marsden's most screentime (not that he gets much)....

All in all, it's the perfect X-Men film. The final scene completely sums up everything you need to know about X-Men. At the end, Magneto says, "The war is coming, Charles, and I intend to fight it - by any means neccessary." Prof X replies, "And I will always be there - old friend." Cue intense, dramatic theme tune cut to credits. It's perfect. It's definitive.
I totally agree you with, man. And the scene at the beginning of the movie, where magneto is in the concentration camp. It was one of the most beautifull scenes in the movie I thought. Magneto would have to be one of the greatest movie villains ever.

[DRob]

:xmen: Seriously, why the f*** are we still talking about this film!!!!! :xmen:

[Darth Rockwell]

Because it was the beggening of the franchise. It is what brought us the great X2 and X3. Over all though I have to say that X1 is probably the weakest of the three films me thinks. It just doesn't come together nicely. You can tell that someone behind this movie didn't know enought about the characters when making it. THankfully they learned for X2 and got a whole new team fr X3.

[ororoandme]

I don't know if this has been asked before but you know when Storm flies out of the elevator and starts walking towards Toad, the wind is blowing Toad in one direction, while Storm's cape and hair are flying in the other...does that make much sense?

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

I have watched X1 again recently, and while i hve always thought it was a good movie, i have found a new appreciation for it lately (thats also happened with the first Spiderman, isnt that weird), and while i still think X2 is better, X1 is far better than X3.

The opening scene is just superb with Magneto and his family in the german concentration camp. Sets the tone perfectly for the rest of the movie and is one of the best scene's in the entire trilogy.

Cyclops is actually really good in this movie and i love his speech to the unconcious Xavier about taking care of the school.

Wolverine is also more Wolverine in this movie than in X3 and i think Jackmans performance as him is on par with his X2 one.

Also the trainstation confrontation is great, especially the Sabretooth vs Storm one, completely badass by both characters.

Completely underrated movie.

[Drago]

I like X1 the best still... X1 actually does the best job of juggling the most number of characters- X2 focused on less characters than X1 and X3 wasn't character-driven. Plus, I'm a sucker for stories that are kind of introductions and focus mostly on exposition, and I like the Logan/Rogue relationship, especially the sacrifice at the end.