Been watching all 3 movies lately...

[Nell2ThaIzzay]

I'm on one of my routine X-Men kicks, where NOTHING can satisfy me except X-Men.

X-Men cartoons, X-Men video games (thank god for X-Men Legends), comic books, and of course, the movies. In the last 2 days I've watched X2, and twice watched X-Men: The Last Stand.

So, being on the X-Men kick that I am, I went through all of my old X-Men: The Last Stand videos - trailers, TV spots, promotional videos, etc...

God damn I know it's just the fanboi in me but this movie had the BEST marketing material ever.

As much as I love this movie (and trust me when I say I do), the promo material does make me sad, because all of it did lead me on, thinking we were going to get a much different movie than we actually got.

I don't think what we got was bad, I just think that it's bad compared to what I was expecting due to how the movie was presented in it's promos and trailers. I still remember all of the wild speculation about what was and wasn't going to happen in the movie, the excitement everytime a new TV spot or photo came out. I must say, they were fun times to be a fanboi.

This isn't meant to spark debate over the movie itself (it's been done to death, we all know where we all stand on the movie) but rather just reminisce on the "good ol' days"

 

[DMRadz]

Funny you mention X-Men Legends, I'm in the middle of leveling everyone up to 45... cause I've never done it before.

 

[X-Maniac]

I saw all three movies back-to-back at an all-night screening, in IMAX. You could then see for sure that the first two were technically better and definitely more consistent while the third one has some superb moments but also some much weaker moments.

The film never really seems to live up to the ominous voiceover by Xavier in the trailer, even though it's obvious that the cure, Magneto's war and the Phoenix could all "change the course of human history". I think Xavier's reaction to the cure should have been much stronger, something like: "This could change everything, all that I've worked for, all that we do here at the school to teach acceptance and understanding."

I think, with the eight weeks he had to plan before filming, Ratner had little time to immerse himself in the material and fully assimilate it all so we got a somewhat abbreviated story/film where we have to fill in a lot of the blanks, hence the endless debates on here.

 

[[A]]

I saw the 1st and 3rd ones in theaters. Missed the best one, the 2nd, which is something I regret

 

[November Rain]

Was the last stand the film they started showing minute long clips of on the internet?

they certainly went head over tit for it

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

I saw all three movies back-to-back at an all-night screening, in IMAX. You could then see for sure that the first two were technically better and definitely more consistent while the third one has some superb moments but also some much weaker moments.

The film never really seems to live up to the ominous voiceover by Xavier in the trailer, even though it's obvious that the cure, Magneto's war and the Phoenix could all "change the course of human history". I think Xavier's reaction to the cure should have been much stronger, something like: "This could change everything, all that I've worked for, all that we do here at the school to teach acceptance and understanding."

I think, with the eight weeks he had to plan before filming, Ratner had little time to immerse himself in the material and fully assimilate it all so we got a somewhat abbreviated story/film where we have to fill in a lot of the blanks, hence the endless debates on here.

Fox didnt help Ratner by any means, but its not like he is exempt of fault, he stated in an interview that he wanted the movie to be as short as it was because he has a short attention span! Really, a short attention span? THEN what the **** are you doing making movies dip****! This is the ONE movie in comic book movie history that SHOULD have been AT LEAST 2 hours long.

 

[X-Maniac]

Fox didnt help Ratner by any means, but its not like he is exempt of fault, he stated in an interview that he wanted the movie to be as short as it was because he has a short attention span! Really, a short attention span? THEN what the **** are you doing making movies dip****! This is the ONE movie in comic book movie history that SHOULD have been AT LEAST 2 hours long.

I don't exactly buy that attention span thing because he also did dozens of takes of each scene, which doesn't sound like someone who is really impatient and likes to move on quickly. Halle said she was glad he wasn't there when she did her spinning scene because it made her queasy doing the twirling and she'd have had to do it dozens of times! I think he more than likely said that to justify the film being the length it was.

I'd love an extended edition though, reinstating some of the deleted material (including Storm talking about her African origins, which you can see being filmed on one of the DVD extras).

 

[Nell2ThaIzzay]

I'd love an extended edition though, reinstating some of the deleted material (including Storm talking about her African origins, which you can see being filmed on one of the DVD extras).

Yes, I'd also like to see an extended / alternate version as well.

Keeping on topic of the marketing / promo material, there is SO much in the trailers and commercials that was never in the actual film. Cut scenes, alternate scenes:

-Trask telling the President "Well then you know what needs to be done"
-Trask telling the President "You're talking about declaring war on American soil"
-Alternate Wolverine / Iceman dialogue "Magneto's got an army out there. You go to war, you might not come home. She might not come home. You ready for that?" "We're not kids anymore."
-Alternate takes of Magneto's speeches - watch the trailer and commercials (or even the 7 minute special that aired on Fox a week or so before the movie released in theatres), Magneto's speeches ("When the air is still and the night has fallen", "They wish to cure us, but I say we are the cure!") are performed differently than they are in the final film.
-Storm's tidal wave (commentary says it was cut because it didn't fit right into the final battle, but I disagree. It would also help explain why SIX mutants were able to gain the upper hand over dozens / hundreds)
-Different shots of the final battle seen in commercials that weren't in the final film.
-Different shots of the Golden Gate Bridge sequence that were in commercials that weren't in the final film.
-Rogue's alternate ending (also shown in a commercial if I remember correctly - "This is who I am")
-Beast's alternate ending.
-Deleted scene of Iceman and Colossus taking out Phat.
-Actors for Angel and Psylocke both made comments in interviews about their characters doing things that never made it to the film - psy blades, and Angel kicking "bad guys' asses"
-Xavier's alternate dialogue of "You have no idea what is upon us now" - shown in trailers and commercials. Instead we got "You have no idea of what she is capable".
-Even James Marsden stated something in an interview for Empire Magazine about the "Pavlovian" response to putting on the X-Men uniform again (is this just a reference to suiting up for promo materials?)
-In the 7 minute feature that I mentioned earlier, the scene of the X-Men sitting around discussing the cure happens different also. The tones of Beast's "You don't shed on the furniture", and Wolverine's "For all we know the government helped cook this up" are different, Storm's response to Xavier's "Yes Rogue, it appears that it is" (in regards to the validity of the cure) is different than in the movie - she cuts off Xavier mid sentence, giving the issue of a cure a bit more severity. I think it's a much more dramatic version of the scene than what we got.

Even to this day, 2 1/2 years later, there are still so many mysteries regarding this film. The promotional materials for this film had so much footage that never made it into the final movie, either alternate versions of what we got, or things that were just cut out completely. These scenes, these changes, these "mysteries" are really my biggest concerns with the film, because watching all of the promotional material, I was expecting one film, looking forward to seeing certain scenes, and how they played out, and then those scenes never happened, or they happened completely different from all of the trailers and commercials.

I have seen plenty of films where a particular scene from a trailer or commercial isn't actually in the film (in fact, from the first X-Men film, I remember a commercial where Cyclops tells Xavier "He won't follow orders", and Xavier responds "Give him an order worth following"), but never to the degree of this film. So many scenes were different than what was advertised, I still believe that there was another version of this film. Not any kind of conspiracy or anything like that, but I can just tell that there were different ideas for this film other than what we got, and I'd like to see how these ideas play out. None of them are probably all that drastic - I'm sure we won't get Sentinels, or Cyclops alive, or anything like that - but perhaps a more dramatic, better developed film? Something that ALL of us (including those of us like myself who absolutely LOVE the film) can agree on - that this film needed to be developed a bit better.

I know people complain about double dips and stuff, but I am honestly looking forward to a double dip if we can get some kind of extended / alternate version of the film that includes all of these changes.

 

[GuestStar2004]

I remember a commercial where Cyclops tells Xavier "He won't follow orders", and Xavier responds "Give him an order worth following"), but never to the degree of this film. So many scenes were different than what was advertised

wow that scene shows how promising these movies could of been

 

[[A]]

It'll still be a Ratner movie

 

[Endeavor]

... Ratner ...stated in an interview that he wanted the movie to be as short as it was because he has a short attention span! Really, a short attention span? THEN what the **** are you doing making movies dip****! This is the ONE movie in comic book movie history that SHOULD have been AT LEAST 2 hours long.

 

[Psykoelf]

So, being on the X-Men kick that I am, I went through all of my old X-Men: The Last Stand videos - trailers, TV spots, promotional videos, etc...

I don't think what we got was bad, I just think that it's bad compared to what I was expecting due to how the movie was presented in it's promos and trailers. I still remember all of the wild speculation about what was and wasn't going to happen in the movie, the excitement everytime a new TV spot or photo came out. I must say, they were fun times to be a fanboi.

It wasn't an abominably bad film by any means, but it was a bad film. Don't get me wrong I like it, I watch it fairly often, but it was bad. When I heard that it was to have Dark/Phoenix I was thinking, ok they may not have the whole flaming bird thing going on, but mayhaps this will be more psychological in its execution. Then I saw Pyro was included again, and I thought sweet maybe they will do the flaming bird (Jean manipulating the flames into the sigil). I was expecting darkness. Even the promo clips gave me a promise that it was to be dark. Fox seemed sure how to market to the public, but not deliver.

About the only real good thing to come out of X3 was a drinking game.

 

[X-Maniac]

Yes, I'd also like to see an extended / alternate version as well.

Keeping on topic of the marketing / promo material, there is SO much in the trailers and commercials that was never in the actual film. Cut scenes, alternate scenes:

-Trask telling the President "Well then you know what needs to be done"
-Trask telling the President "You're talking about declaring war on American soil"
-Alternate Wolverine / Iceman dialogue "Magneto's got an army out there. You go to war, you might not come home. She might not come home. You ready for that?" "We're not kids anymore."
-Alternate takes of Magneto's speeches - watch the trailer and commercials (or even the 7 minute special that aired on Fox a week or so before the movie released in theatres), Magneto's speeches ("When the air is still and the night has fallen", "They wish to cure us, but I say we are the cure!") are performed differently than they are in the final film.
-Storm's tidal wave (commentary says it was cut because it didn't fit right into the final battle, but I disagree. It would also help explain why SIX mutants were able to gain the upper hand over dozens / hundreds)
-Different shots of the final battle seen in commercials that weren't in the final film.
-Different shots of the Golden Gate Bridge sequence that were in commercials that weren't in the final film.
-Rogue's alternate ending (also shown in a commercial if I remember correctly - "This is who I am")
-Beast's alternate ending.
-Deleted scene of Iceman and Colossus taking out Phat.
-Actors for Angel and Psylocke both made comments in interviews about their characters doing things that never made it to the film - psy blades, and Angel kicking "bad guys' asses"
-Xavier's alternate dialogue of "You have no idea what is upon us now" - shown in trailers and commercials. Instead we got "You have no idea of what she is capable".
-Even James Marsden stated something in an interview for Empire Magazine about the "Pavlovian" response to putting on the X-Men uniform again (is this just a reference to suiting up for promo materials?)
-In the 7 minute feature that I mentioned earlier, the scene of the X-Men sitting around discussing the cure happens different also. The tones of Beast's "You don't shed on the furniture", and Wolverine's "For all we know the government helped cook this up" are different,

I agree with all of those being desirable/preferable alternatives except...

Storm's response to Xavier's "Yes Rogue, it appears that it is" (in regards to the validity of the cure) is different than in the movie - she cuts off Xavier mid sentence, giving the issue of a cure a bit more severity. I think it's a much more dramatic version of the scene than what we got.

There were enough complaints about Storm being unsympathetic/aggressive, so I prefer what we did get.

Even to this day, 2 1/2 years later, there are still so many mysteries regarding this film. The promotional materials for this film had so much footage that never made it into the final movie, either alternate versions of what we got, or things that were just cut out completely. These scenes, these changes, these "mysteries" are really my biggest concerns with the film, because watching all of the promotional material, I was expecting one film, looking forward to seeing certain scenes, and how they played out, and then those scenes never happened, or they happened completely different from all of the trailers and commercials.

I don't think it's that mysterious, Ratner did many different takes. The mystery is why many of the takes used in promo material were not used.

I have seen plenty of films where a particular scene from a trailer or commercial isn't actually in the film (in fact, from the first X-Men film, I remember a commercial where Cyclops tells Xavier "He won't follow orders", and Xavier responds "Give him an order worth following"), but never to the degree of this film.

I agree, I think it reflects that Ratner shot as many different versions as possible so he could make decisions later without reshoots.

So many scenes were different than what was advertised, I still believe that there was another version of this film. Not any kind of conspiracy or anything like that, but I can just tell that there were different ideas for this film other than what we got, and I'd like to see how these ideas play out. None of them are probably all that drastic - I'm sure we won't get Sentinels, or Cyclops alive, or anything like that - but perhaps a more dramatic, better developed film? Something that ALL of us (including those of us like myself who absolutely LOVE the film) can agree on - that this film needed to be developed a bit better.

Yep.

I know people complain about double dips and stuff, but I am honestly looking forward to a double dip if we can get some kind of extended / alternate version of the film that includes all of these changes.

I'm doing all I can.

 

[[A]]

This brings an interesting question (not really): could another director.. I mean, could a real director fix Ratner's mess..? You know, given the chance to make a brand new edit

 

[X-Maniac]

This brings an interesting question (not really): could another director.. I mean, could a real director fix Ratner's mess..? You know, given the chance to make a brand new edit

Possible but doubtful. It would be rather unethical/unprofessional to get another director in for a new edit.

I mean, would they hire Sarah Brightman to redo the vocals on a Britney Spears album?

 

[[A]]

The new director can just type in his name after he's finished

 

[EnDz0n3]

The new director can just type in his name after he's finished

MORGAN FREEMAN.

done.

haha this post had me laughing out loud!

 

[[A]]

but yeah, it wasn't a serious question--people needs to relax

 

[I Am The Knight]

but yeah, it wasn't a serious question--people needs to relax

So it wasn't pointless, then?

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

It'll still be a Ratner movie

NO extended edition could fix this mess in my eyes.

It wasn't an abominably bad film by any means, but it was a bad film. Don't get me wrong I like it, I watch it fairly often, but it was bad. When I heard that it was to have Dark/Phoenix I was thinking, ok they may not have the whole flaming bird thing going on, but mayhaps this will be more psychological in its execution. Then I saw Pyro was included again, and I thought sweet maybe they will do the flaming bird (Jean manipulating the flames into the sigil). I was expecting darkness. Even the promo clips gave me a promise that it was to be dark. Fox seemed sure how to market to the public, but not deliver.

About the only real good thing to come out of X3 was a drinking game.

I can think of one, down a shot of vodka every time there is a bad scene. Guaranteed way to get obsenely drunk in 90 mins .

 

[[A]]

^ I own the dvd and I'm out of vodka at the moment bad, bad situation

 

[Theweepeople]

^ I own the dvd and I'm out of vodka at the moment bad, bad situation

Fortunately, I always see movies first before I buy them on DVD. I've only seen X-Men 3 once and there was no way in hell that I was going to buy this turd. Unfortunately, my dislike of X-Men 3 ruined the whole trilogy for me. I haven't watched the previous X-Men films since 2006. Instead of letting my DVD's continue to collect dust I might as well sell them and let someone else find enjoyment out of an experience that has become
stale for me.

I guess I'm completely done with the X-Men in general for now. The last time I was excited for anything X-Men related was when X-Men legends came out in 2005 and X-Men 3 was in production. I also, don't read my X-Men comics that often anymore. Of course there's always the posibility that "Wolverine and the X-Men" cartoon will get me interested in X-Men again. It does look promising.

 

[[A]]

^ I bought a trilogy box, hard to leave it out But I'm a completist, so I would've ended up buying anyway..

 

[Endeavor]

NO extended edition could fix this mess in my eyes.

Agreed. The only way to 'fix it' would be an entirely different movie which shows that everything we saw in X3 happened in an illusory world created by Jason Stryker who in some way survived the destruction of his father's base... Hey if retcons happen in comics why can't they happen in movies?

 

[X-Maniac]

Agreed. The only way to 'fix it' would be an entirely different movie which shows that everything we saw in X3 happened in an illusory world created by Jason Stryker who in some way survived the destruction of his father's base... Hey if retcons happen in comics why can't they happen in movies?

Remember how the Dallas 'entire series was a dream' went down?!