Ultimate Avengers Collection [Blu-ray]

I don't know what some of these people are whining about. This is a great product with excellent animation and a compelling story. I suspect this flick will suffer review-wise from fanboys with an imaginary stake in the final product who are groaning because they would have changed some aspect or another if--magically--Marvel had only let THEM do the movie instead of Avi Arad and friends, who have consistently brought us some truly great superhero material over the past several years.It's an animated superhero flick. It harkens back stylistically to the Spiderman the Animated Series, though it's more crisp and the colors are more vibrant. It's not Japanese anime art, though, I'll give you that. It's American cel animation and it looks on par with anything impressive that's come out of that market. It's about 70 minutes long, but it is satisfying and doesn't leave you feeling like you got short-changed. There is a lot going on and quite a few characters to bring together--all while ramping up the conflict in this story. They do a good job multitasking with these challenges so the film doesn't suffer from boring beginning syndrome. The fight choreography is exciting and the sparing use of integrateed CGI in the 2D cel animation that dominates fits right in.I haven't read comic books in many years, so I'm sure that this movie creates something of a new continuity in some ways (I know Nick Fury of SHIELD was not a black man, for one thing--one thing which, while possibly an unnecessary change obviously meant to inject some diversity, really didn't bother me). So if you're all about the Ultimates comic this is supposedly based on, I'm sure you'll find some offense. However, it's all good with Marvel, just like every other continuity change that has riddled all comic book companies forever always were and will be. They're par for the course, and nothing here is glaring or in the face of the spirit of the heroes focused on.Before seeing the movie, I was not psyched about the particular heroes focused on besides Cap and Iron Man, actually. Giant Man has never really captured my imagination. Even so, he was really great, and I'm now a fan. Same goes for the Wasp. Hulk was more interesting the way they did it than he could have been; he wasn't all "Hulk smash" and conveniently Banner gets mad at the right place at the right time. There was a running thread there that worked well, and they even did it without stepping all over Hulk's usual deal (because Hulk smash is still awesome . . .). Banner got a slightly different treatment, but it worked for me in the end.There's a sequel in the works, and not too far off in the future it will be in stores. This movie does not need a sequel to feel complete, and the sequel supposedly will fly on it's own even if you haven't seen this flick first.Look, for the like 12 or 14 bucks this thing's gonna cost you, it's a great buy. If it was even 25 bucks or so, I might say wait and see if you can rent it or see a friend's copy before you invest. But this thing comes with extras, and it's a great ride for a cheap price. All gravy. The feature with the long time writers and artists was great. The pop-up video style factiods you can turn on are nice, though absolutely riddled with typos and spelling errors. (It's almost embarassing, really.)I am a big fan of the DC animated stuff like the box sets of Batman the Animated Series, Superman's series, and I'm all over Justice League when it comes out. I don't seem to be too excited by the new The Batman series, but I'm probably going to pick up Batman Beyond when it hits. If you're like me, you love this stuff. There was not much Marvel going on DVD-wise in this genre up until now, but they hope to change that apparently, and if this is how they started things off, I can't wait to see how awesome a whole movie on Iron Man is going to be. This had a real Marvel feel that I didn't realize I missed lately with all the DC stuff I own now.

I purchased the avengers in 12inch size for my 4 and 6 year old great grand kids. They are very well made and durable and a great price. I wanted them to have the figurines and watch this avengers movie they love it want to watch it every day.

I don't understand some of the negative reviews posted here. This is an animated adaptation of the Ultimates comic, not a re-telling of the comic. Just think of it as a "new story". No,it does not follow the comic (not closly anway), but it's not at all bad...in fact, it's pretty darn good.There are some things that make me raise an eyebrow, like Hulk picking up Thors hammer...but in EVERY animated adaptation of a comic, there are things that make you go "what the heck". Example - In the Justice League cartoon, in one episode, Superman is in space wearing astronaut gear! What the heck?? Since when can Supes not fly in space, especially around earths yellow sun...without the aid of a space suit!!Bottom line...the "rules" that govern these heroes are always somewhat different in the animated adaptations then they are in the comic. Does that make it "right" or does that mean it could not have been written better...no, not at all (otherwise I may have given it 5 stars instead of 4), but it certainly does not make it bad (and certainly not worthy of the one star rating I saw a few people give it). It's just "different".But one thing this movie does do is capture the spirit of the Avengers (ultimate or not). I was a little disappointed that Thor was not in it more, but the screen time he does have is great. Cap is very well written, the voice acting was much better then I was expecting and the animation far exceeded my expectations.I am not at all a fan of the Spiderman cartoon or the X-Men cartoon...the stories are not only to "in depth" for my kids, but they also bore the heck outta me and the animation in both of those, to me anyway...it's just "blocky" looking, and the characters often seem out of proportion, hard to puy my finger on it, but I have never liked the animation in Spiderman or X-Men.But Avengers animation is quiet good. It flows very well, and the characters "look" cool. The fight scenes are intense and entertaining and the the overall effect was very enjoyable (the do a GREAT job of capturing the pure fury and uncontrollable rage of the Hulk). I had low expectation, but man, I was very happy with the end result. I still think Justice League may have the best overall animation, but Avengers is 2nd without a doubt and the best from Marvel.The story was fine, it fit with the spirit of the comic (if not the "exact" story) and a lot of the more adult content was left out, wich is fine because animated features, just by nature being a cartoon, target a larger audience then just adults. This was very well done.My son (2 1/2) enjoyed it (expecially the Captain America parts), but it is pretty intense for kids, and some of the slower "story-line" parts lost his interest for a bit, but he was right back into it when the action kicked up again.My Nephew and his friend (both around 7) LOVED this movie. They were yelling and screaming during the fight scenes (which had us pausing our movie in the other room, just to listen to them yelling)..."Ooooh...I bet that hurt!!!" (Thor hitting Hulk with his hammer)"Captain America's OK!!""Ironman's back!!!""Oh, ow!!"..."Ow!!""He's a monster!""It's the Hulk!!"LOL...it was totally great. They loved it, and I think any comic fan will be able to appriciate this movie as well.The only reason this get's 4 instead of 5 stars is Hulk picking up Thors hammer (and using it against him, no less). I'll leave the end results of that battle out of this review (don't want to spoil anything for those of you who have not seen it) but suffice it to say, the same end to that confrontation could have been written without Hulk picking up Thors hammer (unless they are going on the assumption perhaps that Thor is not a deity or Asguardian or whatever, and he's just a nutcase with a high tech weapon, but that's neither here nor there with regards to this movie or review). I also have to wonder how a little needle/syringe penetrates Hulks skin, but again, I can let that go (think Hawkeye did that in the comic as well, firing it from his bow, but don't recall for sure...been a while since I read the comic).In the end, if your a fan of comics or animation, I highly recommend...Ultimate Avengers and greatly look forward to Marvels next animated release's (Ultimate Avengers II - Aug, Ironman - Oct, and Dr. Strange - Feb 07).

A lot of people are bagging this movie, but it's actually a really good setup with some really cool action sequences. For old school Marvel fans, the characters are updated in many ways, but still have their powers with minor changes to their respective histories (having read the Ultimates though would've prefaced that). The story jumps straight to the action showing the newly formed team as awkward heroes showing off their abilities...not very much depth if you're looking for a serious story line with solid villians, but an incredibly over the top intro to what could lead to very good and intense stories and potentially a good Marvel series. Analyzing the animation is useless because the pacing is good as is the design, so the movie flows like butter. With all the other Marvel animation duds out there this sets the stage to potentially develop more animation with a cast of characters who easily match DC superheroes and would rival the great animation series developed on that end. Marvel characters definitely deserve top notch animators and story tellers and this is a huge step in the right direction.

I ordered a used copy because new from other sellers was way too expensive. The said it comes with the original case and art work, and that’s why I chose to shop with them, because I knew what I was getting. When it came, it’s in such good condition and looks factory sealed, that I’m not sure it really is used.