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Rating: - Blu-ray: Very good picture and audio quality! Packed with hours of special features! An awesome release on Blu-ray!
In 2007, the sequel to the "Fantastic Four" film titled "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" was released in theaters. The film would bring together The Fantastic Four with their rival/friend The Silver Surfer.

The sequel was directed by Tim Story ("Fantastic Four" and"Barbershop") and a screenplay by Don Payne ("My Super Ex-Girfriend" and "The Simpsons") and Mark Frost ("The Greatest Game Ever Played" and "Fantastic Four"). The screenplay is based on a story by Frost and John Turman ("Hulk" and "Freedom") and would feature music by composer John Ottman ("Cellular", "X2 and "Valkyrie") and cinematography by Larry Blanford ("Eagle Eye", "The Kingdom", "Night at the Museum" and "Smokin' Aces").

VIDEO & AUDIO:

"FANTASTIC 4 - RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER" is one of the earlier Blu-ray releases that was able to show off amazing detail with its High Definition 1080p transfer.

The film showcases the detail for the outdoor surroundings. May it be water or grain of dirt or the green lush forest, detail of these surroundings come alive much more than its DVD counterpart. Silver Surfer's reflections from the surroundings are reflected through the body and are quite evident and really shine through in HD, Sue Storm (ala Jessica Alba's contacts) showcase her blue eyes, Human Torch's flames come to life and the rocks on Thing's body have more detail. And there is a high level of vibrancy through the video as colors really come out through the many daylight scenes in the film. A very awesome transfer from Twentieth Century Fox.

As for audio quality, the lossless DTS-HD Master Audio track sounds quite impressive. It's one thing to get panning audio directional from the surrounds but to hear the various sound effects through the rear audio was quite nice. LFE usage is also well-used throughout the film and the overall soundtrack and musical score keeps you immersed throughout the film. Overall, another impressive audio transfer.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

"Fantastic 4 - Rise of the Silver Surfer" comes with the following special features:

* Audio Commentary by Director Tim Story - A very insightful commentary from Director Tim Story. Tim talks about a variety of scenes and why things have to change from comic to the film adaptation. Also, his knowledge of the Fantastic Four universe and the comics and how much of that he wanted to retain in the film.
* Audio Commentary by Producer Avi Arad, Writer Don Payne and FIlm Editors Peter Elliot and William Hoy - A more technical commentary of the film. And behind-the-scene discussions of certain scenes and differences from screenplay.
* Extended and Deleted Scenes - (9:36) Extended deleted scenes of the main title, Fantastic Store, Wedding Montage, Reed Gets Crushed Ring and Doom Builds Arm Band and Covers Up His Mask. All scenes has optional commentary by Director Tim Story and are featured in black and white with time stamps.
* Family Bonds: The Making of Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer - (46:11) The making of the film (choice of pre-production or during production). An in depth look at the behind-the-scenes planning of the film, various scenes, scout locations, etc. The production side goes into the making of the Dr. Doom's mask, production meetings, making the Silver Surfer sequences, costume photo tests, Doom's lair, the vehicles and more. Overall, an awesome behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film.
* The Fantasticar: State of the Art - (10:36) Interview with the concept artist Tim Flattery, TransFX production crew and the talent in regards to the Fantasticar. A behind-the-scene look on the 3D rendering to the creations of the miniature and large size model.
* The Power Cosmic - (15:10) John Kilkenny (Senior VP of VFX at Twentieth Century Fox) explains how important it was to pull of the Silver Surfer and utilizing the Kirby and other artists iconic poses and capturing the look. The awesome suit built for actor Doug Jones had to wear, utilizing motion capture, CG, and working with an overseas company and communication between the company in the UK responsible for Silver Surfer's look was done through computer with those in the US and more. Very in-depth look at the creation of the Silver Surfer scenes and the large number of people it took to pull it off.
* Sentinel of the Spaceways: Comic Book Origins of the Silver Surfer - (39:02) The history of the Silver Surfer. Interviews with Stan Lee and what the Silver Surfer mean to him. Interviews with Marvel staff in regards to the Silver Surfer then and now. A magnificent featurette on the comic book character.
* Scoring the Fantastic- (4:39) The scoring of "Fantastic 4 - Rise of the Sivler Surfer". Featuring
Composer John Ottman talking about the scoring of the film and what he wanted to accomplish.
* Character Design with Spectral Motion - (11:34) Making the prosthetic suit for the Thing and goals for the second film featuring an interview with Mike Elizalde (The Thing Makeup Prosthetic Supervisor of Spectral Motion).
* Still Galleries - Still galleries for "Behind the Scenes", "Characters" and "Concept Art". Viewers can use their remote to forward and through each image.
* "Saving the World One Question at a Time" Trivia Game - A trivia game featuring over a hundred questions. For each miss, Galactus gets close to devouring a planet.
* "Who Dares Defy Galactus?" Strategy Game - A Blu-ray strategy board game pitting the Silver Surfer vs. Galactus and who can possess the most planets.
* Personal Scene Selections - More or less the viewer can select a button to save a personal scene that they can rewatch.
* Trailers - Upcoming Twentieth Century Fox film trailers in HD
* Fox on Blu-ray - Trailers for Fantastic Four, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, X-Men The Last Stand. All presented in 1080p.
* D-Box

JUDGMENT CALL:

When it comes to the "Fantastic Four", I suppose you can say that it was a comic book series that I grew up with and absolutely loved (from the John Byrne years to even the 1990's Sue Storm goes sexy years).

But what many people don't know (who have not read the comic book series) is that the group was never going to be in the same category as X-Men or Spider-Man. "Fantastic Four" has its share of adventure and action but characters such as Reed Richards and even Sue Storm, despite what their characters are put through in the comic book series, they are scientists who have a lot of money and some may seem them as boring while others enjoy Reed's intelligence in constantly saving the world with his inventions.

"Fantastic 4 - Rise of the Silver Surfer" is a film that takes the comic book series and follows the characters similarly and brings one of the coolest characters The Silver Surfer, to the big screen (And hopefully setting up things for an actual Silver Surfer film).

I personally enjoyed this film a lot because you have the group taking on their nemesis Dr. Doom once again but have to go against the planet devourer Galactus. But of course, there are quite a number of problems I have had with the film.

Of course, Galactus is not the large purple and blue behemoth from the comic book series but a big giant cloud that devours planets and has granted a few people with special powers, ala Norrin Radd (The Silver Surfer). What makes Galactus so menacing is his large presence as this cosmic being and unfortunately, in the film, he is reduced to a huge cloud that devours worlds. But Director Tim Story did thoroughly explains in his commentary that this was not Galactus per se, that he wanted another director to showcase Galactus in a Silver Surfer film, so showing the behemoth was not his goal in the film.

And Dr. Doom, well, we wanted the dark brooding Dr. Doom but nevertheless Julian McMahon's reprise of the character was fine but his role was quite short.

Since the release of these two films, there have been a lot of discussion about "Fantastic 4 going through a reboot, new cast and with the success of "The Dark Knight", "Iron Man" and "The Incredible Hulk" (which did receive a reboot), personally I found the current cast of Fantastic Four to be fine. But I suppose the reason why this second film didn't resonate so clearly with the fans is the storyline (note: the second film made less than the first).

Even with the comic book series, as much as Fantastic Four was one my favorite comic books, it was clearly no X-Men or the Avengers. It was a group of family and friends that were not taking on the typical villains that Spider-Man and Captain America were going against most of the time. This group had to deal with intergalactic villains such as Thanos, Annihilus and were constantly fighting in new worlds. It was a different style of comic book and the only darkness that was typically found are through relationships between Reed Richards and Sue Storm (or Reed Richards gone missing and She-Hulk having to be part of the group).

But the fact is that audiences for super hero films enjoy the darkness that heroes are put through. To be more serious that comic book-like and the fact is, many films are now going to be compared to the box office hit "The Dark Knight" which took superhero films to a new level in storytelling.

But for those who see a Blu-ray copy of "Fantastic 4 - Rise of the Silver Surfer", the film is much more enjoyable than the first. But the picture and audio quality through its HD transfer on Blu-ray is simply amazing. And as mentioned, there are so many special features included on this Blu-ray disc that simply, if you were a fan of the comic books or the film, you will definitely enjoy what has been included in this release.

Overall, I was entertained by the film but if you are expecting "The Dark Knight" type of storyline, you won't find that level of seriousness with this film.

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