X-Men The Official X-Men 1 (2000) Appreciation Thread

[Avenging Angel]

I didn't see a thread for this (bring one up if you see it) so I thought this movie deserved a thread full of appreciative comments.

Who has a new love for this movie every time they see it? Whenever I see it on cable I have to watch it all. There's just something about it that I love.

I still loved that the film was told through Wolverine's POV. Sir Patrick and Ian's friendship and banter. Famke & James' chemistry and her scenes with Hugh were memorable. The younger mutants: Rogue, Iceman. It was a great introduction to the comics. I just thought everything about it was cool. I'm still liking it 15 years later.

Does anyone feel the same?

 

[psylockolussus]

I still love this film <3 There's something very intimate about it.

 

[PunyGod]

...

 

[Avenging Angel]

I still love this film <3 There's something very intimate about it.

I really loved the flirtations between Jean and Logan.

I also thought Scott acted like a great leader. He was the savior at the end.

 

[Avenging Angel]

Just seeing the X-Men come to life for the first time was amazing. And it jump-started the CBM era we are still enjoying.

The fact that the movie turned out good is pretty amazing when you consider all the pressure it was under. The budget was slashed, the release date got moved up by 6 months at the last minute, and the studio pushed to cut it down to 100 minutes. It didn't have any stars to bank on either.

I think what made it great was the story and the actors even though they were relative unknowns with the exception of Pat, Ian and Anna. Unless you remember Famke from Goldeneye.

I actually didn't know they were only riding on a shoe string budget. It still looked incredible on screen.

 

[PunyGod]

...

 

[kevork89]

I love the first X-Men. I just love how it felt. It wasn't this big giant spectacle. It didn't need to be. Ian and Patrick are just superstars and are really the reason why Prof X and Magneto are still so important. Of course those characters are always important but I think Patrick and Ian just did something that worked so well together and I see the same in James and Michael. The chemistry. People might complain about it but I love that the X-Men issues are still about and surround that relationship. The first X-Men showed that but it was X2 and DoFP that really solidified it.

I can always watch X-Men over and over although right now the one hardest part to watch is when Sabretooth throws Wolverine and he spins around the head of the statue cutting off one of the crown parts. Before that looked so damn cool but seeing the cgi now I need to look away hahaha. But besides that it all holds up well still.

 

[kevork89]

One of my fav bits from X-Men is when Jean is in Washington trying to stop the mutant registration act. A very small scene that overall doesn't seem important but it sure is. To see how humanity views mutants was all summed up in that one scene. And also my fav line is when Senator Kelly says we license people to drive Dr. Grey and her response is yes but not to live. Great dialogue.

 

[PunyGod]

...

 

[Avenging Angel]

I think the plot involving Senator Kelly being turned into a mutant by force was brilliant, especially when it backfired in that famous scene with Storm.

Speaking of Storm, even though she didn't fly I felt like keeping her accent was crucial.

 

[psylockolussus]

She technically fly during the elevator scene.

 

[kevork89]

Also I never understood the hate that Halle got for the toad line lol. I never rolled my eyes at it or thought it was the worst line like everyone says.

 

[Kermit_The_Frog]

Just seeing the X-Men come to life for the first time was amazing. And it jump-started the CBM era we are still enjoying.

I get a little annoyed when people say it was Blade. I don't think the Blade movie was nearly as popular as X-Men when it came out. Or maybe my memory is fuzzy.

Nowadays, it's Spider-Man that jump-started it, not the X-Men. People really go out of their way to downgrade these movies.

Also I never understood the hate that Halle got for the toad line lol. I never rolled my eyes at it or thought it was the worst line like everyone says.

I think it was her delivery. There wasn't really much behind it. They shoulda just cut it out altogether. It would've more badass if Storm fried Toad without even saying a single word.


But I too, loved the first X-Men movie. There's something special about to me. Despite the poor budget, the several script rewrites, the rushed date, and all the other problems I heard they had with it, they still produced a damn good movie.

The casting was just great all around (even Halle as Storm), the tone was very serious, the fight scenes were pretty good, the dialogue was great, I really liked the dynamic between Wolverine and Rogue, the conflicting ideologies between Xavier and Magneto, and it was the only movie where we saw shades of leadership from Scott. Plus, the banter with Scott and Wolverine was done pretty well.

My only problems with that movie was Toad soloing Scott, Jean, and Storm so easily, and the scenes they cut. That's pretty much it. There was this one extended scene of Jean's talk with Logan in his bedroom, and there was more to his talk with Cyclops which would've given both characters a little more dimension, but they didn't include it.

I think Rebecca Romijn said it best in an X2 interview, and I agree. X-Men was like a dress rehearsal and X2 was like opening night.

 

[PunyGod]

...

 

[kevork89]

Yeah one thing I didn't like is how underpowered they seemed against Toad. And how slow it seemed for them to get their powers going. Now we don't see that. The power displays are great and fun and fast but in X-Men it took Storm forever to just get a bit of lightning. But yeah X-Men was just a pure set up movie because X2 was just WOW. I think X2 and Spider-Man 2 were the groundbreaking movies for comic book adaptations. X-Men and Spider-Man paved the way.

 

[Kermit_The_Frog]

Yeah one thing I didn't like is how underpowered they seemed against Toad. And how slow it seemed for them to get their powers going. Now we don't see that. The power displays are great and fun and fast but in X-Men it took Storm forever to just get a bit of lightning.

Yeah, I never understood the basis for that. Jean had him suspended in mid air and just held him. She didn't throw him back across the room, or anything. It's like this was their first rodeo.

But yeah X-Men was just a pure set up movie because X2 was just WOW. I think X2 and Spider-Man 2 were the groundbreaking movies for comic book adaptations. X-Men and Spider-Man paved the way.

X2 and Spidey 2 are Top 5 IMO. Those movies are just absolutely incredible.

Blade had nowhere near the box office of X-Men. And more importantly no one even knew it was based on a comic book so I dont see how it can be credited with making CBMs popular.

It was a gory R rated vampire movie. I dont see how any studio exec would look at the success of that movie and decide that its time to start making PG-13 superhero movies for kids.

If I remember correctly, the Marvel logo wasn't even in its marketing, right?

Spider-Man does deserve some credit as it was even more successful than X-Men. It was the one-two punch of both films that opened the floodgates.

Fair enough. I'm not trying to discredit Spidey. He's my favorite hero and I loved the hell outta the movie. It just seems like some people act like the X-Men had no part in the CBM boom and it's a little silly.

 

[GuestStar2004]

Yeah, I never understood the basis for that. Jean had him suspended in mid air and just held him. She didn't throw him back across the room, or anything. It's like this was their first rodeo.

Her doing that was probably quite impressive for 2000 as it was in the trailers if i remember right

 

[Kermit_The_Frog]

Yeah, times were much simpler back then. Nowadays, you have to go above and beyond.

 

[Avenging Angel]

She technically fly during the elevator scene.

Halle looked so gorgeous with the cap and long hair. I loved that she kept Storm’s accent.

 

[Avenging Angel]

Also I never understood the hate that Halle got for the toad line lol. I never rolled my eyes at it or thought it was the worst line like everyone says.

Storm in the comics would have said the same line in the same situation. I didn’t get the big deal about it either.

 

[marvelrobbins]

People forget the entire genre was looked down after Batman & Robin.

Blade wasn't promated as comic book film.

even with just 75 million budget it was big deal when X-Men went into
production and risk for fox given how genre was thought of at time.

At time many were saying strange a comic book film would open in holcaust and yet that was taken from comics of magneto as boy in camps.

As i say X-Men revived the genre and Spider-man explored it.

MCU fans should show respect to X-Men and spider-man.Look you can think their films are better.That's matter of taste and perference but without X-Men and Spider-man there wouldn't be MCU since they and their success payed the way for MCU.

When you look at comic book films of 1990's X-Men was revelation when it came out.I still prefer first X-Men over first class.

 

[Avenging Angel]

People forget the entire genre was looked down after Batman & Robin.

Blade wasn't promated as comic book film.

even with just 75 million budget it was big deal when X-Men went into
production and risk for fox given how genre was thought of at time.

At time many were saying strange a comic book film would open in holcaust and yet that was taken from comics of magneto as boy in camps.

As i say X-Men revived the genre and Spider-man explored it.

MCU fans should show respect to X-Men and spider-man.Look you can think their films are better.That's matter of taste and perference but without X-Men and Spider-man there wouldn't be MCU since they and their success payed the way for MCU.

When you look at comic book films of 1990's X-Men was revelation when it came out.I still prefer first X-Men over first class.

I had so many fights over the B & R movie with Bats fans that I used to have nightmares over it. Ultimately I decided it was a comedy to me, even some people admit it was.

Yeah Blade was marketed as Rated-R Buffy. At the time Buffy: TVS was a HUGE show.

And the risk it took with the cast being unknowns, aside from maybe Halle and Anna, if you're a classical theater buff or a 90s trekkie, Sir Pat Stew and Sir Ian McKellan.

It made the film stand out when they opened it that way. I'm glad they had, it paved the way for Magneto's introduction so it was clear what his motives were from then on. It reaffirmed it in XMFC.

No doubt, I always thought they were the oldest siblings of the CBM boom. The excitement and thrill around the first Raimi Spider-Man is something I haven't seen since maybe DOFP.

I think MCU has respect for those films the more time goes. They still hold up, I'm feeling the same emotions and revere the honesty of it every time I see it.

I look at XMFC as a proper reboot. Something that lacks in reboots today.

 

[Herofan]

I loved the film when I first saw it because I had only watched a small handful of the animated episodes and hadn't read the comics and yet it was so accessible I still understood and enjoyed it ... when I rewatch it after reading more and more comics I still love it .
The tone/story, themes, action and character relationships (especially Wolverine's development) really hold up (although I don't much like the movie version of Cyclops, Storm & somewhat Mystique were underused and a little more action would have been better).

Also I never understood the hate that Halle got for the toad line lol. I never rolled my eyes at it or thought it was the worst line like everyone says.

Not terrible but very anticlimactic after the music and effects in the scene had been really good.

 

[FeedOnATreeFrog]

One of my favorite superhero movies. (#6, behind TDKT and Spider-Man 1/2)

The first half in particular is perfection.

 

[Avenging Angel]

Usually when I remember great comic book movies, I always think back to this one and SM1. I don't remember DCU coming close to what Marvel broke down in terms of story, plot, characters and acting. I feel like it comes together better with MCU. I still think about this movie a lot.