This animated anthology focuses on Wolverine's mysterious past and his heroic efforts at heavy-duty anger management. "Out of the Past," parts 1 and 2, find Professor Xavier's most challenging team member (real name: Logan) lured into a trap by former lover Lady Deathstryke, who seeks nasty revenge for the unintended destruction of her scientist father. Emotions run high and Logan's bad luck seems endless, but he is not without fellow-mutant friends here. (These episodes tell us one version of how Wolverine's body gained its interior metal frame.) "Nightcrawler" is an interesting variation on
Frankenstein, in which Wolverine and X-Men newcomer/cleric Nightcrawler are attacked by a mob of paranoid villagers. "The Lotus and the Steel" finds Logan seeking inner peace at a Buddhist monastery in Japan, only to find himself in a
Seven Samurai-derived plot. Included on the DVD are good special features, including a Stan Lee interview and bonus episode "The Final Decision."
--Tom Keogh
1 Great if you're a 90's fan...
As a kid I enjoyed watching X-Men with my brother, those were the good old days... My brother's friend, who is a Marvel nerd, let us borrow this, and we enjoyed watching one of our favorite cartoons from the past!
You must be warned though, "Nightcrawler" is the only episode not dealing with Wolverine. He just argues with eceryone and *SPOILER* decides to pray more and read the Bible.
I reccomend you buy this one if you like the 90's X-Men to enjoy the good times again.
2 Is that guy kidding?
"The Chris Claremont interview shows what a dull/uninventive writer he really is. I'm glad he's not involved with the X-Men movies in any way. Only Stan Lee is." -A Viewer (See below)
Is he kidding? Not only is Chris Claremont CURRENTLY writing Uncanny X-men, he's also the best writer they ever had, penning for example a funny little tale called THE PHOENIX SAGA! Which X-Men 3 is going to be based on!! Stan Lee's great, but Chris Claremont did for X-Men what Miller did for Daredevil... he brought them to the next level.
I agree with the other reviews that this show was great, but why are they giving them to us bit by bit? X-Men is the most popular comic of all time, and this show is arguably as good as Batman's show, if in different ways. They are releasing Batman properly, so why not X-Men?
3 What i really wanna see...
I bought this DVD, it generally was good, however it's sopposed to be about the history of WOLVERINE, not his "currrent" adventures... the WWII episode would have been better & some of the other Weapon X and Sabretooth oriented episodes would have been welcomed, personally I WOULD KILL(literally) for a boxed set of all 76(or so) episodes, in their entirety on DVD... that would make the greatest Chirstmas gift ever, now that's an X-FANS dream come true!!
4 With Wolverine, everything is great!
I'm sorry others seemed disappointed in this DVD collection, but I was utterly satisfied! Something else that satisfied me completely, as far as Sci-Fi/Action books are concerned, was THE ADVENTURES OF DARKEYE: CYBER HUNTER...an extremely fast-paced book that takes place in the 23rd Century and reads like a script for a movie due to its unique "log entries" that really pushes the story along! Great read! I highly recommend it!
5 Incredibley dull films.....
Very cheaply put together DVD on Wolverine and some forgetable shows from the early 90's X-Men series, horrible edited in this DVD sad to say. The Chris Claremont interview shows what a dull/uninventive writer he really is. I'm glad he's not involved with the X-Men movies in any way. Only Stan Lee is.
6 Not bad, could've been better
The video quality is about an 8 at best. Chris Claremont's commentary often has nothing to do with what you're seeing on screen. "The Lotus and the Steel" is somewhat boring, and "Out of the Past" isn't all that interesting either. So what's good about this DVD? First of all, "Nightcrawler" and second, the bonus feature "The Final Decision." If you were a big fan of the 90s TV series (like me), than by all means get this DVD. Just shop around first ;-)
7 So Where's The Legend?
The title of this DVD is "The Legend of Wolverine" - so where's the legend? This DVD contains four episodes and one bonus episode from the X-Men Animated Series. The episodes are:
1) Out of The Past (Part 1) - (Episode # 27) featuring Lady Deathstrike.
2) Out of The Past (Part 2) - (Episode # 28) featuring Lady Deathstrike.
3) Nightcrawler - (Episode # 44) featuring Nightcrawler.
4) The Lotus and the Steel - (Episode # 58).
5) The Final Decision - (Episode # 13) a bonus episode.
As you can see, these episodes are not in any particular order. In addition, they have absolutely nothing to do with the legend of Wolverine. If you're an X-Men fan, then this DVD should definately be a part of your collection. However if you're a Wolverine fan, then don't bother spending the money.
I'm not knocking the X-Men Animated Series, because these episodes are great! Wolverine is slicing and dicing things left and right in these episodes. But they have nothing to do with the legend of Wolverine. I bought this DVD because I thought it would contain episodes about Wolverine's past such as - The Weapon X project, Wolverine's time in World War 2 - alongside Captain America, The Weapon X secrets - with Sabretooth, Maverick, and Silver Fox, Wolverine's time in Japan, etc. These episodes explain the legend of Wolverine! Not the ones on this DVD.
8 They shouldn't tease us like this.
I like these episodes. In fact the bonus episode The Final Decision may be one of the best X-men episodes, but come on. I wish they'd start releasing the whole series on DVD. The way they've done it, they're just teasing all of the fans out there. Throwing us a bone every now and then.
I think there were probably some episodes that might have given us more insight into Wolverine than some of these did. Weapon X, Lies, and Videotape would have been a good one, but They're still good episodes. I love the commentary. It's very good, although he could be a little more relevant at times. I'd say over all it's an excellent DVD, picture and sound are great. It's just too little, but it's not too late. If they'd get a TV station to start showing this again, peak some interest in the young kids, they could sell the whole series on DVD and it would sell great. It's one of the greatest cartoon series of all time and they should market it more.
9 They shouldn't tease us like this.
I like these episodes. In fact the bonus episode The Final Decision may be one of the best X-men episodes, but come on. I wish they'd start releasing the whole series on DVD. The way they've done it, they're just teasing all of the fans out there. Throwing us a bone every now and then.
I think there were probably some episodes that might have given us more insight into Wolverine than some of these did. Weapon X, Lies, and Videotape would have been a good one, but They're still good episodes. I love the commentary. It's very good, although he could be a little more relevant at times. I'd say over all it's an excellent DVD, picture and sound are great. It's just too little, but it's not too late. If they'd get a TV station to start showing this again, peak some interest in the young kids, they could sell the whole series on DVD and it would sell great. It's one of the greatest cartoon series of all time and they should market it more.
10 Wolverine's Mysterious Past Reavealed!
If you like the X Menthis DVD is for you,I like it because AT LAST we see Wolverine's origin!!!A former girlfriend of Logan's lures him to a sewer where she tells all.Learn who gave him his Adamantium skeleton!See him extend his claws for the first time!A great storyline,fine animation and good characters make this a must for any X-fan.This is what we've been waiting for!Buy it today!!
11 Much better then X2....
Wolverine's past, Lady Deathstrike and Nightcrawler were all handeled badly in X2...but in these collection of shows from the 1993 X-Men animated series, all these story elements were handeled much better as was the adapatation of the Chris Claremont story material. It certainly shows that animation can do certain stories better then Live Action films could, in least in some cases. So put this in the DVD collection next to the first X-Men movie. They fit together better then X2 does with the original film.
12 Great
After seeing X2, my interest in X-Men once again came alive. This DVD is great. They picked some very good episodes from the cartoon series and it felt very nostalgic. The only reason I gave it a 4 was because another episode or 2 would have been appreciated.
13 CartoonX
The collection of cartoons from the X-Men cartoon series includes:
"Out of the Past-Parts I & II" These two episodes explore the origins of Wolverine and explain how his former love became a hated nemesis, the feared Lady Deathstrike.
"Nightcrawler" This episode of the series introduces the X-Men to the mutant of faith, Nightcrawler.
"The Lotus and the Steel" Taking a plot directly from THE SEVEN SAMURI, Wolverine leaves the X-Men and goes to Japan in order to find inner peace. He finds instead is a village under the reign of a gang of terror and discovers that in order to find peace with the world, one must find peace with one's self first.
This DVD also includes the bonus episode:
"X-Men: The Final Decision" The X-Men join forces with Magneto to prevent the collapse of all mankind, mutants and non-mutants alike.
The DVD also includes an interview with X-Men writer, Chris Claremont; Chris Claremont's talk about each of the episodes on the DVD; and a brief interview with Stan Lee.
I enjoyed watching each one of these cartoons. They work well as an introduction to the X-Men (especially Wolverine and Nightcrawler) and are full of action. The interviews with Chris Claremont and Stan Lee are especially interesting and full of nuggets of Marvel trivia. A nice collection for a fan of the X-Men or for someone interesting in learning more about this superhero team.
14 My favorite episode
This collection has my favorite episode of all times. The one with Nitecrawler. It is without a doubt one of the most frank dealings with christianity I have ever seen in all my times in comics. I mean Kurt hands Logan a bible for goodness sake. This dvd is worth the money for that 1 espisode alone. On the down side I'd rather have these episodes released 1 season at a time. Oh and there's no mention of "Cold Vengence" which is probably one of the best X-men cartoons ever.
15 Finally it is here
Well waiting for - a must for a x-men fan!
16 Fluffer Stuff
First Off this DVD only has 5 episodes
1. Out of the Past
2. Out of the Past II
3. Nightcrawler
4. The Lotus and the Steel
5. The Final Decision (Bonus)
Only 1 episode really has to do with Wolverine. The rest is fluff. In "Out of the Past" Part one we see how Wolverine got his claws. In "Lotus and the Steel" he goes back to a monastery in Japan. In the third and fifth episode, Wolverine is just a regular X-men. This DVD is just a way the studio can make a quick buck because of the X-men 2 Movie hype. The X-men Animated Series is great and should be released as a BOX SET, not single discs. But getting back to the DVD. There are other episodes that are probably better for this DVD. Like ‰??Red Dawn‰?? with Omega Red, ‰??Repo Man‰?? which tells of his claws and time with Alpha Flight. ‰??Weapon X, Lies, and Videotape‰?? tells of his time as Weapon X. And ‰??Old Soldiers‰?? which is about his adventures in WWII with Captain America. But technically the transfers to dvd look clean and crisp.
17 Wolverine kicks-ass!
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* DVD Episode List *
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Episode 27 - Out of the Past (Part 1)
Episode 28 - Out of the Past (Part 2)
Episode 44 - Nightcrawler
Episode 58 - The Lotus and the Steel
Bonus Episode:
Episode 13 - The Final Decision
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* Synopsis *
========
Wolverines former love, Yuriko, comes to seek revenge because she thinks he caused her fathers death.
The X Men stop Yuriko from killing Wolverine.
Gambit, Rogue, and Wolverine take a ski trip in Germany for some much-needed R & R. While Gambit and Rogue seem to be enjoying themselves, Wolverine is restless, and longs for some action. When he hears reports of a demon hiding in a local monastery, his investigation reveals not a demon, but a mutant, Nightcrawler, whose devilish appearance is in stark contrast to his peaceful and deeply philosophical nature. While the X-Men convince the townsfolk not to fear what they do not understand, Wolverine, too, learns something about the nature of faith.
Wolverine, losing control, quits the X-Men to return to rural Japan, site of happier times, in an effort to find himself. He works peacefully with a former spiritual teacher, the monk Oku, to build a temple. But the neighboring village is about to be attacked by bandits, led by the merciless Silver Samurai, unless payment is made. Some of the villagers want to resist, and ask Wolverine for help. Wolverine is torn. This is just the sort of thing he had wanted to leave behind. Meanwhile, Jubilee, blaming herself for Wolverine's abrupt departure, is searching rural Japan for him.
Recovering from their initial battle with the X-Men, Gyrich and Trask have resumed Project Wideawake by creating the ultimate Sentinel: the Master Mold, a walking factory capable of creating Sentinel robots at an assembly-line pace. The X-Men must join with their oldest nemesis, Magneto, to destroy the Master Mold and prevent the extermination of all mutantkind.
