Spider-Man VCD Review

Title: Spider-Man

Media: Video-CD (Malaysian Import)

Genre: Live Action Superhero Dramatization

Stars: Tobey Maguire, Willem Dafoe, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Cliff Robertson, Rosemary Harris, Ted Raimi, Randy Savage, and Bruce Campbell

Writer: David Koepp

Based On The Marvel Comic Book By: Stan Lee and Steve Ditko

Director: Sam Raimi

Feature length: 121 minutes

Extras: Music Video, Trailers, One-Sheet, Exclusive Mug Coaster

Sound: English Stereo Sound

Subtitles: N/A

Chapter Stops: 10

U.S. Distributing Studio: Columbia Pictures

Home Video Distributor: Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment Through Media Max (In Malaysia Only)

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera

Sam Raimi’s feature film adaptation of “Spider-Man” is a treat for fans of the web slinging superhero and those relatively unfamiliar with his comic book adventures. What is amazing is how Raimi has managed to update the comic book hero for the new millennium while remaining surprisingly close to the superhero folklore that is a part of American pop culture.

Tobey Maguire is perfect as “Peter Parker.” He is able to communicate a sense of vulnerability and mortality while bringing a great sense of nobility and responsibility to his new role. Kirsten Dunst is both sexy and sweet as Parker’s girl next door and love interest, who is always just out of his reach one way or another. Willem Dafoe delivers a great sense of tragedy to his character, making him more three-dimensional than the cardboard villains one often sees on television. James Franco also adds a brooding subtext to the film that makes him as much as a doppelganger to Peter Parker as The Green Goblin is to Spider-Man.

The effects are pretty good and despite some scenes that reveal the technology enhancements a bit too much, it is no more stylized than other big screen comic book adaptations. In some ways the film calls to mind the wonder of Richard Donner’s “Superman: The Movie” and the bleakness of Tim Burton’s “Batman” while keeping an appropriate balance that gives the film a stamp all it’s own.

Sam Raimi is no stranger to telling comic book inspired stories. His third installment in the “Evil Dead” series “Army Of Darkness” presented Bruce Campbell as the unlikely and thickheaded hero, who manages to save the day in spite of himself while the “Dark Man” films presented a hero that was a combination of the lamenting “Phantom Of The Opera” and “Batman.” His brother Ted Raimi and long time collaborator Bruce Campbell both have cameos in the film along with professional wrestler Randy Savage.

“Spider-Man” is a great start to what may be another fantastic live action superhero theatrical film franchise. In fact when one considers that other Marvel icons such as “Blade” and “X-Men” have already made extremely successful transitions to the big screen with new installments in various stages of development and production coupled with upcoming feature film adaptations of “The Incredible Hulk” and “Daredevil” on their way, it looks like we are in the age of Marvel on the big screen much as D.C. Comics inspired films dominated the late 70s, 80s, and most of the 90s.

Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment has already officially and legally begun to sell “Spider-Man” on both DVD-Video and Video-CD in Asian countries such as Malaysia where the government stamp reveals a street date of October 10, 2002 as opposed to the November street date here in America. The transfer on the Video-CD appears to be made from the same digital transfer being used for the full screen edition of “Spider-Man” on DVD and as a result this is by far the best looking transfer I have ever seen on a Video-CD even with the limitations of MPEG-1 compression. The colors are surprisingly vibrant with deep reds and greens and despite the visible compression artifacts associated with Video-CDs in general, the film looks so good that it is easy to overlook the MPEG-1 artifacts and the English digital stereo soundtrack is not too loud or distorted as is the case on some Video-CDs. The sound is CD quality and is also crisp and clear to the ear. The film is spread across two discs housed within a two-CD jewel case. There are trailers for “Men In Back II” and “Stuart Little II” before the feature begins on disc one and the music video “The Hero” (3:28) after the feature on disc two.

To celebrate the release of “Spider-Man” on Video-CD, a full size one-sheet poster and a collectable mug coaster came along with the Video-CD, but are not packaged in the CD jewel case, which is a good thing since it makes storage easy in any CD/Video-CD rack and ensures that the collectible poster is a full sized advertisement and not some magazine sized cutout.

This Video-CD is PAL formatted and will only work in DVD players capable on PAL VCD playback as well as computers with a CD-ROM drive. Check your manufacturer’s documentation to make sure your DVD player is backwardly compatible with NTSC and PAL Video-CDs. Most are, but not all. “Spider-Man” is available on Video-CD now and can be ordered online directly from www.EurekaMovies.com.

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