X-Men: The Last Stand 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Review
Score: 70
from 3 reviewers
Review Date:
X-Men: The Last Stand's mixed film and upgraded visuals/audio, still a must for fans.
Disc Release Date
2K Upscale
HDR10
DTS-HD MA
Video: 63
X-Men: The Last Stand's 4K UHD release enhances detail and color with some upscale flaws but overall offers a visually superior experience.
Audio: 80
While lacking Dolby Atmos or DTS-X, the DTS-HD MA 6.1 track delivers an immersive, dynamic experience, with precise, clear dialogue and robust sound in action sequences, benefiting home theaters greatly.
Extra: 67
The release lacks the comprehensive extras of previous editions, with varied audio commentaries and sparse deleted scenes, highlighting a technical focus but overall disappointing content.
Movie: 67
X-Men: The Last Stand is seen as a flawed yet watchable finale, critiqued for lacking depth despite efforts, amid a backdrop of broader franchise revisits and personal fondness for the series' themes.
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Video: 63
X-Men: The Last Stand, presented on 4K UHD Blu-ray, offers an up-scaled 2160p resolution from its original 2K Digital Intermediate, utilizing Panavision cameras on 35mm film for its creation. This release employs the HEVC (H.265) codec for HDR10, presenting the film in a widescreen 2.39:1 aspect ratio with 10-bit video depth, a Wider Colour Gamut (WCG), and High Dynamic Range, promising improved picture quality over its Blu-ray counterpart. Despite this, the up-scale does not universally enhance detail levels significantly. In certain instances, such as bright landscapes or broader shots like Xavier’s School gardens and Jean’s street, the added definition is less pronounced, occasionally leading to visuals that lack a sharp defining edge or even appear worse than their Blu-ray precedents. However, the inclusion of WCG and HDR notably enriches color reproduction and contrast, bringing out vibrant autumnal hues and deeper blacks that add a remarkable depth and dimension to the image.
The disc's color grading offers a further highlight, delivering more lifelike skin tones and clothing details, alongside the more nuanced shades in characters' costumes and environments. For instance, Jean’s red attire and hair exhibit a spectrum of vibrancy previously unseen, while Magneto's outfits display a deeper plum and varied tones of magenta, enhancing the overall visual experience. The added grain, a consequence of its 35mm origin and up-scaled DI, contributes to a filmic texture that, while generally pleasing and authentic to the source, tends to become distracting in instances where it morphs into noise-like artifacts in certain scenes of lower light or complex detail.
Despite these variances in quality due to the up-scaling process and the inherent graininess that occasionally overshadows details or exacerbates darker scenes, the 4K UHD presentation of X-Men: The Last Stand markedly surpasses its Blu-ray counterpart. Enhanced contrast levels ensure whites are more resplendent, and specular highlights imbue metallic elements with a glistening realism. Black levels are notably richer, laying a strong foundational depth that accentuates both foreground detail and background dimensionality across scenes. The overall performance of this 4K UHD release underlines it as a substantial upgrade, with its improved detail in close-ups, and an enriched palette that leverages HDR to offer viewers a visually engaging experience reflective of the director's vision, albeit with some inconsistencies reflective of its up-scaled origins.
Audio: 80
The 4K UHD Blu-ray release of "X-Men: The Last Stand" continues to boast the robust DTS-HD Master Audio 6.1 track familiar from its earlier 1080p Blu-ray incarnation, a decision that might leave enthusiasts craving the more immersive experience of Dolby Atmos or DTS:X still yearning for what could have been. Despite this, the audio presentation does not falter in delivering a dynamic and forceful soundscape, ingratiating itself with audiophiles through its aggressive positioning of sound effects — from the ferocity of mutant powers in battle to the subtle environmental sounds in quieter scenes. The track’s proficiency at rendering the low-end provides a thunderous foundation for the action sequences, ensuring that every explosion and supernatural occurrence is felt as much as heard. Dialogues remain crisp and intelligible amidst the cacophony, ensuring that character interactions, whether in the heat of battle or during more introspective moments, are always front and center.
The absence of an object-based audio track notwithstanding, "The Last Stand" excels in audio quality among its counterparts, offering an enveloping experience that leverages the DTS-HD MA 6.1 track’s full potential. Action scenes brim with life, utilizing the surround channels effectively to throw the listener into the center of the conflict, with sounds swirling around in a manner that’s both exhilarating and meticulously crafted. The film's score also benefits from this arrangement, weaving through the channels to create an immersive backdrop that complements both the dialogue and the plethora of sound effects.
Moreover, the track’s wide and spacious soundstage, together with a detailed mid-range and a powerful low-end, ensures that every scene is delivered with an audial clarity that can rival visually stunning moments for impact. Optional up-mixing via Dolby Surround or DTS: Neural:X might provide a partial solution for those missing overhead sound channels, spreading the film’s rich atmospherics and action cues into the vertical plane and enhancing the overall experience. Thus, while missing out on the latest in audio encoding technologies, "X-Men: The Last Stand" still delivers an exemplary aural experience that commands attention and respect.
Extras: 67
This 4K UHD Blu-Ray release of "X-Men: The Last Stand" features a mix of intricately technical and somewhat lackluster extras, primarily inherited from previous Blu-ray iterations. Notably, it includes engaging audio commentaries on the UHD disc—one with director Brett Ratner and screenwriters Zak Penn and Simon Kinberg that focuses on screenwriting and technical aspects of the film, and another less captivating one with producers Avi Arad, Lauren Shuler Donner, and Ralph Winter, offering sporadic anecdotes. The Blu-ray companion disc houses these commentaries again alongside 12 deleted scenes with optional commentary, providing a closer look at the cutting room floor but failing to offer new depth to the film's lore or universe. Trailers round out the collection. Unfortunately, this release does see a reduction in content, omitting the second extras disc found in the original package, which leaves this edition feeling somewhat sparse for die-hard fans seeking the complete archival experience.
Extras included in this disc:
- Audio Commentary with Brett Ratner, Simon Kinberg, and Zak Penn: A detailed dive into the screenwriting and technical setup.
- Audio Commentary with Avi Arad, Lauren Schuler Donner, and Ralph Winter: Offers anecdotes but lacks consistent insight.
- Deleted Scenes: 12 scenes that offer a glimpse into what could have been, with optional commentary.
- Trailers: Promotional material for the film.
Movie: 67
In "X-Men: The Last Stand," presented in stunning 4K UHD as part of the X-Men Trilogy 4K collection, director Brett Ratner inherits a turbulent legacy from Bryan Singer and embarks on a cinematic adventure that teeters precariously between reverence and reinvention. This chapter unfolds in the aftermath of significant narrative upheaval, grappling with the introduction of a 'cure' for mutancy that divides our cherished characters along lines of ideological conflict and personal desire. Under Ratner's direction, the film unfurls with visual splendor, enhancing the 4K presentation's allure with nuanced detail and a richer color palette, albeit without introducing new auditory refinements to match its visual upgrades. The storyline, although captivating with its plot centered on mutant rights and societal acceptance, is criticized for its lack of emotional depth and a substantial connection with the audience, reverberating with a sense of missed opportunities in character development.
Ratner’s attempt, commendable yet flawed, caters to the franchise’s action-oriented fans, delivering sequences that pulsate with intensity but often at the expense of the narrative's heart. The emotional resonance that characterized the predecessors feels diluted, replaced by a cascade of spectacle that, while technically impressive, especially in its 4K presentation, lacks the empathetic undertone essential to the X-Men saga. This installment, despite these criticisms, remains an integral component of the trilogy, offering moments of genuine intrigue and contributing to the overarching narrative that fans have grown to cherish. Its portrayal in 4K UHD accentuates every detail, from the complexity of mutant powers to the intricate dynamics of their struggle, albeit leaving enthusiasts yearning for a more comprehensive and emotionally engaging narrative execution that could have elevated this chapter to the heights achieved by its predecessors.
The physical and digital presentation of "X-Men: The Last Stand" in 4K UHD underlines both the film's strengths and its weaknesses. The upgrade in visual fidelity is apparent, showcasing the technical prowess and potential of home cinema. However, it also casts a spotlight on the narrative and directorial choices that have polarized fans. While the film navigates through pertinent themes of choice, identity, and acceptance within the mutant community, it struggles to resonate on a deeper emotional level, a shortfall underscored by the absence of innovative audio enhancements in this release. Nonetheless, for collectors and enthusiasts devoted to the high-definition experience, this 4K incarnation presents an opportunity to revisit the final chapter of the trilogy with renewed clarity, offering a window into both its cinematic triumphs and its storytelling flaws.
Total: 70
X-Men: The Last Stand," the final chapter in the trilogy, presents a mixed bag of emotions and quality, reflective of a tumultuous production marked by a directorial change and studio influence. While the film attempts to maintain the franchise's intensity, introducing a logically sound storyline and a visually impressive showdown, it ultimately falls short of encapsulating the emotional depth that its predecessors were celebrated for. Despite some genuinely tragic moments, the film's overreliance on action at the expense of storytelling leads to what can only be described as a lackluster conclusion to an otherwise stellar series.
The 4K UHD Blu-ray presentation of "The Last Stand" showcases an up-scaled picture from a 2K DI that remains impressive, owing largely to the inclusion of Wide Color Gamut (WCG) and High Dynamic Range (HDR) which enhance the visual experience with bolder colors, deeper blacks, and more radiant whites—providing a significant upgrade over the standard Blu-ray edition. The audio experience remains unchanged, utilizing the existing dynamic DTS-HD Master Audio 6.1 track known for its impactful bass and immersive effects. However, the package is slightly marred by the lack of extensive extras, as it primarily includes commentaries and deleted scenes, omitting the more comprehensive features seen in previous releases.
In conclusion, "X-Men: The Last Stand" on 4K UHD Blu-ray offers an upgrade in visual quality that fans of the series and 4K aficionados will appreciate, despite some shortcomings in special features and the less favorable reception of the film itself. It's an essential addition for completists and represents a crucial part of the trilogy's history, making it a recommended purchase for those looking to experience the fullest representation of the X-Men saga on home media.
avforums review by Simon CrustRead review here
Video: 70
There is pretty much no enhancement to the detail level, indeed in the odd case it even looks worse (bright landscapes fare quite badly, the Brotherhood’s camp, for example), but when it is clear, it is...
Audio: 80
The score is well layered and makes full use of all the speakers, while dialogue is clear and precise, sounds very natural and never lost in the mayhem....
Extras: 30
All the extras come from the previously available Blu-ray, but not all, the second extras disc included with the original release in not here, leaving this film particularly sparse....
Movie: 60
The story continues, once again, a few month after the traumatic events of the second film, with the plot involving a ‘cure’ of the mutant gene that polarises the mutants; those that want to live a normal...
Total: 70
The final film in this set hails from a 2K DI, meaning it’s an up-scale; the picture, regardless, is still pretty good, there is little to no detail enhancement but the addition of WCG and HDR really adds...
Blu-ray.com review by Jeffrey KauffmanRead review here
Video: 70
While shot on film as with the first two outings, this is reportedly upscaled from the 2K DI, and the difference in detail levels between this and the first two films (especially the first one) is noticeable...
Audio: 90
As I mentioned in the reviews of the 4K UHD versions of the first two films, there may still be audiophiles who wish these releases had been granted Dolby Atmos or DTS:X mixes since all three films feature...
Extras: 100
Both Commentary Tracks from the original Blu-ray release have been ported over to the 4K UHD disc....
Movie: 70
With eleven films thus far in the expanding X-Men franchise, and with much of the oxygen for the series given over to Logan and Deadpool 2, at least for the last couple of years, it's actually kind of...
Total: 10
Even if this is the least effective of the first three films, it still provides a lot of story detail and some wonderful characterizations....
High-Def Digest review by M. Enois DuarteRead review here
Video: 80
However, for a majority of the movie, whites are crisp and glowing with outstanding luminous while specular highlights radiate with a tight, narrow brilliance that reveals plenty of detailing within the...
Audio: 100
The mid-range is always crisp and detailed while maintaining precise, intelligible dialogue in the center, and each movie comes with a vigorously potent and robust low-end that provides a commanding presence...
Extras: 80
Singer provides some fairly interesting anecdotes, such as having Indiana Jones’ favorite sidekick Short Round on set, but for the most part, this track is about how fans reacted to the film, anticipation...
Movie: 80
Having Magneto and his group's animosity with society as the result of being denied their humanity, refusing mutants equality and survivor's guilt makes for a great plot, but the execution ultimately feels...
Total: 80
Along with porting over some of the same supplements as their Blu-ray counterparts, the overall UHD package comes Recommended for both fans of the series and those who didn't purchase the previous individual...
Director: Brett Ratner
Actors: Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry
PlotIn a world where mutants with extraordinary abilities are ostracized by society, a pharmaceutical company announces that it has developed a "cure" for the mutant gene, capable of stripping mutants of their powers and rendering them "normal." The controversial cure quickly divides the mutant community. While some see it as an opportunity to assimilate into society, others perceive it as an eradication of their identity and a tool for mandatory conformity. The mutant community's conflicting views on the cure lead to tension and mistrust, as the possibility of choosing between their powers and societal acceptance looms.
Magneto, the powerful mutant with control over metal, sees the cure as a threat to the survival of mutantkind and mobilizes his Brotherhood of Mutants to oppose it by any means necessary. Meanwhile, the X-Men, led by Professor Charles Xavier, face their own internal struggles as they contend with the implications of the cure on their lives and their mission for peaceful coexistence. The emergence of Jean Grey, one of the original team members who has returned with vastly amplified, but extremely unstable powers, further complicates the situation. As lines are drawn and sides are chosen, a full-fledged battle looms on the horizon, with the potential to decide the future of humans and mutants alike.
Writers: Simon Kinberg, Zak Penn
Release Date: 26 May 2006
Runtime: 104 min
Rating: PG-13
Country: United States, United Kingdom, Canada
Language: English