Monday, April 23, 2012

Marvel's The Ultimate Avengers Movie Collection

Some speculate that cartoons and animation is the same thing, unfortunately, because of the perceptions some may have they are reluctant to purchase, or rent animated movies. One audience that is not quite as picky on this is the fans of Comic Book Animation. Over the last number of years there has been some wonderful animation, with theatrical style story that has come to the homes of many who enjoy these genera. Hoping to tap in on the mania that is soon to come about with the theatrical release of The Avengers, Marvel Comics has released three of their movies as a set titled, The Ultimate Avengers Movie Collection. This set includes three previously released movies, all feature length. The movies titled Ultimate Avengers, Ultimate Avengers 2 and a bonus movie titled Next Avengers; Heroes of Tomorrow are worth watching and quite enjoyable. With the exception of the later movie, all of the movies are based on previous stories from the Marvel Universe with a variety of Marvel characters. The later movie, Next Avengers; Heroes of Tomorrow is a new story that takes place involving the children of The Avengers after the majority of them have died or moved on.

One of the things I appreciated about these three movies and this particular boxed set is the attention to detail. The animation while using some CGI is largely hand drawn and exceptional in quality. The editing, direction and especially sound and story are also exceptional. Marvel can be proud of the product they have put out here. If viewers give it a chance, they will be quite pleased with the three movies and the low pricing for those movies on a 2 DVD set, with one of them being a front and back DVD.

All three movies have some origins concepts that are worth while for fans of especially Captain America, Thor and The Black Panther. In these and other characters, one of the things we see Marvel do is some character development. It helps lend to the stories and fans of The Avengers will appreciate the range of character development that takes place.

One of the things about the Marvel Characters, and many within these stories I especially appreciated is the struggle of being human and thus being challenged with taking on their respective responsibilities and roles to save the world. This struggle of being human is true in the various characters on screen but especially true in one of my favorite characters of all time, Captain America. We see his struggle with who he is and what he is to become after years of being frozen in ice. He has lost almost all he has ever loved and the world as he knows it no longer exists. One of the things the movies, specifically Ultimate Avengers does is has him figure out that there are still things to love, people to appreciate and a life to live. He is reminded of this by his love for his country and the relationships he is developing. We see similar stories take place with Bruce Banner AKA as The Hulk. One of the things these movies do is they don’t present what many will consider a cleaned up comic book story. There is death, mayhem, and destruction. There is also the struggle with human emotions and the attempt to try and be something others want. The concept of individuality and the struggle to remain true to the individual self is exemplified in each of these stories. The exception is The Next Avengers; Heroes of Tomorrow. Here we see the struggle of finding self but we see it through the eyes of children who have either lost loved ones or felt abandoned by their loved ones.

One of the things that resonated with me through these movies is the reality that the emotions expressed on screen are emotions all people go through at some point in their lives. There is a reality that even the heroes of our lives express emotion. It resembles in some ways the person of Jesus Christ. While many put him up on a pedestal, which he deserves, they forget about his humanity, his own emotions where we can see in the Bible his expressions of joy, sadness, even weeping, and ultimately his anger. The heroes in these movies are reminders that it is okay to be emotional. If our heroes or even our God’s and recipients of our worship can be emotional, so can we. I appreciated that in these movies we see grown men, who also happen to be heroes, cry and show emotion. We also see the importance of being there for each other, supporting each other in times of need. These are lessons well worth being reminded of and Marvel has done an excellent job of doing so in this set of movies.

One of the things I must mention is something I suspect comic book fans, especially Marvel fans, and others will appreciate. One of the things I love about DVD’s is the special features. Fans of special features like me will love this set, especially the special features in the Ultimate Avengers. Marvel understands the concept of giving their fans a little more and here, they have gone above and beyond, they don’t just give a little more; they give a lot more. The purchase price of this set is worth it, just for the special features. There are excellent ‘Making Of’ features, deleted scenes, gag reels, and much, much more.

I am fortunate; I get advance copies to review. This one was so good I have since been looking in stores to purchase other Marvel works. If the rest of the Marvel Universe videos are half as good as these, then I will support them even if I have to, purchase their products. I suspect others will be pleased set just as I have been. This is a set of movies I will watch several more times and will be glad to do it not just for the quality of the product, but the lessons and reminders I will get in the process.

To see the video posted below, click on the video, if the video doesn’t appear or appears in distorted form, click on the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fX9aiDpW03A

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1 comment:

Misty said...

I found out about these three cartoons on Dishonline, and I absolutely fell in love with the team. They prompted me to go see The Avengers in theaters, which is actually pretty good. I suggested to one of my co-workers at Dish to check out these cartoons before watching the movie, because they make the movie that much more intense on the big screen. I’ve always been a fan of the Super Friends, and they may be some cartoons you’d like since you like Ultimate Avengers.