SpiderMan, my favourite superhero. I remember reading all the comics and annuals growing up and even had some of the toys ….
Marvel had a great idea to start bringing characters from their comics and make them into movies. One of the first was Spiderman. Stan Lee's comic book hero was about to come to life. Sam Raimi the director (Evil Dead) wanted to stick to as much of the comic adaption as he possibly could without changing much of the storyline when Peter Parker became Spiderman. The actors who are involved in this include Tobey Maguire (Peter Parker / Spiderman), Kirsten Dunst (Mary Jane Watson), and William Dafoe (Green Goblin). Everybody was so sure that this would be a success Tobey and Kirsten were signed up for three SpiderMan films. The villain writers and producers chose was the Green Goblin who is the most well known of all Spidermans enemies. William Dafoe wanted the part on this as he thought he could bring the Goblin into a character of his own.
The film starts with student Peter Parker nearly missing his school bus, getting tripped over and made to look a fool of. He meets his friend Harry Osbourne when his father Norman Osbourne drops him
off at a spider seminar. These spiders are different from normal spiders and all have different strengths as they are genetically engineered. Peter starts to take some photos for the school paper when it is discovered that a spider has gone missing…. While Peter is taking some pictures of Mary Jane by the spiders the missing spider crawls on Peters hand and bites him. Meanwhile at Osbourne corporation the directors are paying a visit and are not happy seeing the gilder again, also the formula they are testing has had some setbacks and the government have told him they will be pulling his funding. We are introduced to Uncle Ben and Aunt May with whom Peter has stayed with for most of his life since his parents died. Peter arrives home feeling ill and collapses. At Osbourne corp Norman tests himself in the laboratory in the vapour lab. Things go horribly wrong as Norman is subjected to the green vapour coming from the gas chamber…………. When Peter wakes up he fins he can see without his glasses, and he has muscles. He rushes to get the bus as it goes by again and as he tries to catch it the sign from the side gets stuck to his hands. When Peter has something to eat at school he senses Mary is going to slip, he catches her and all of her lunch. He discovers a web coming from his wrist and without realising gets a tray of food over Flash who picks a fight with Peter. Peter dodges all of Flashes's punches and throws him across the floor. Peter runs out into an alley, he knows that the spider has altered something in his body and starts to realise he can climb a wall and spin webs !!
That is just the beginning of the film and I won't spoil it by telling you anymore of the plotline.
The DVD I am reviewing is the region 1 two disk set which is basically the same as the region 2 version. This 2 disk set has the following :
Disk 1
SpiderMan the film English and French dolby digital 5.1 English, French, and Spanish subtitles.
This has commentaries by Sam Raimi the director, Kirsten Dunst, Laura Ziskin (producer), and Grant Curtis (co producer) All of these give a wonderful job of telling you all of their experiences of the making of the film in good detailed depth.
Weaving the web : This plays the film with subtitled factoids (production notes and historical facts)
SFX Commentary with John Dykstra (special effects designer) who gives detailed insight of all of the effects in the movie and how it was all accomplished.
Two music videos : Chad Kroeger featuring Josey Scott : Hero Sum 41 : What we're all about
TV Spots
Theatrical trailers
Filmographies and character files
There are DVD rom and weblink featurettes on this disk too.
Disk 2
HBO making of SpierMan : this gives a detailed look at the making of the film and gives interviews with the actors
SpiderMania : an Entertainment special : This is not on very long and just gives a short insight into the film
Historical documentary : SpierMan the mythology of the 21st century
The Spiderman comic archives
Rogues Gallery : This is great to look back on all of those villains that Spidey has battled in the comic books over the years
The loves of peter Parker : This gives details of all of the women that Peter and Spidey have had in their lives
Comic book artist gallery
And lots lots more for DVD rom.
This was the best Superhero film for me as Spiderman was always my favourite as a child, I remember some of the old TV shows that were repeated. I loved the film because all of the charaters were brought to life better than ever and in the way I remember Spidey should be from the comic strip. I thought the transformation from Peter to Spidey was great viewing and the film had in depth looks at the characters from the beginning of Spiderman. Introducing the Green Goblin was very good for this first film as lots of people will remember the Gobiln as one of Spideys oldest enemies. I thought that William Dafoe was great in acting the part of the Gobiln, and Tobey Maguire was excellent in his role bringing this character to life. The film was very well paced all the way through and I did not find anything rushed or out of place. I thought the way this DVD was put together was excellent and it could not have been done any better. There is so much to keep you occupied for hours on end.
I must admit though my favourite villain when I was growing up was Dr. Octopus and must admit still is, keep watching this space for my review of SpiderMan 2 !
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
Action/Adventure - Director: Peter Jackson - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring:Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Liv Tyler, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Andy Serkis
Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam
Brill review! Spider-Man was a great origin movie and was as you said yourself, a great start to the franchise. Thankfully Spider-Man 2 was even better and if the teaser trailer to Spider-Man 3 is anything to go by then... WOW!!! May 2007 seems a long, long way away!!! D.
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![Spider-Man [DVD] [2002]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78535019.jpg "Spider-Man [DVD] [2002]")
Sep 6th, 2005
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