X-Men: Days of Future Past – The Rogue Cut Blu-ray Review

July 21, 2015


Title:	X-Men: Days Of Future Past – Rogue Cut
Genre:	Superhero, Action, Sci-fi
Starring:	Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult,
Certificate:	US: PG-13 UK: 15
Picture:	2.39:1
Audio Format:	7.1 DTS-HD MA
Subtitles:	English
Runtime:	Rogue Cut: 2 Hours 22 mins Theatrical: 2 Hours 06 mins
Extras:	2 Versions of the film, Audio Commentaries, Featurettes, Making Of, etc.
Studio:	20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Release Date:	USA: Jul 14 2015 UK: Jul 13 2015
See If You Like:	X-Men: Days Of Future Past, X-Men 2,

Let’s do the Rogue Warp again!

‘Patience rewards those who wait’ goes the old saying… and that’s definitely the case of those patient enough to wait a bit longer for this all-singing, all-dancing Rogue Cut of X-Men: Days Of Future Past. With the news in the run up to the cinematic release of Fox’s time travelling clash of it’s old movies of Marvel’s mutant franchise and… well their newer ones… that Anna Paquin (True Blood) and her fan-favourite Rogue character was cut for time, there was always the feeling that the footage would make an appearance in a re-cut of the movie on home media. And true to form to their continuing quest to apologise to mutant fans for the crappier entries to the series, Fox have released this fan servicing edit blu-ray with Rogue plastered on the cover.

Although, there can be such a thing called over-compensating. X-Men: Days Of Future Past – The Rogue Cut does what it says on the tin – it has Rogue in it; I can’t fault that. However from all the talk director Bryan Singer (Jack The Giant Slayer) made in the run up to the cinematic release, I was under the impression she plays a big part in the time-crossing plot… she doesn’t. Well, she does but Rogue is pretty much disposable in her role in this film that you can see why they cut her out in the first place, saving them a good few minutes. She also doesn’t turn up until about 90 minutes into this new version which is pretty much in the 60-70% region of the runtime, which does not equate her making a huge impact either. Whilst I’m all for Fox being crucified some more for X-Men 3: The Last Stand & X-Men Origins: Wolverine, their attempts after getting off said wooden crosses at appeasing the fanbase with falsely – at a level – advertising this all-new Rogue material as being something grander takes the mick somewhat.

So what else is new for The Rogue Cut, away from our titular heroine and her disappointing amount of screentime? Well with all those cut snippets of seconds and scenes of exposition, you do get a way more clearer sense of what the hell is going on at the start of the film in relation to the semi-complex idea of sending someone’s consciousness back in time and the bizarre nature of it all. I wager though for ever one worthwhile line of dialogue or scene stitched back in, there are two moments you can see clear as a day of future past why they were cut and probably better left on the cutting room floor. Whilst it’s certainly weird to see Jennifer Lawrence’s (The Hunger Games) Mystique & Nicholas Hoult’s (Mad Max: Fury Road) Beast relationship kicked to the side in the cinematic cut, it’s more jarring to see the impossibly quick meet up leading to a Beast-out tease of a sex scene. There are a few jokes which fall flat on their face and kill the movie for a few seconds. I guess Sir Ian McKellen (Mr. Holmes) is given more to do as future Magneto but he barely speaks still. Whilst the great things about the cinematic cut with the performances, mutant politics and the science fiction ambitious plot remain intact, the needless bonus added-on runtime dilutes their potency somewhat. A bit similar to James Cameron’s director’s cut of Aliens then.

In the end, whilst not admittedly stated, I was expecting far more from the missing Rogue subplot given this is the whole point of this home media release. The additional 17 minutes to the runtime of X-Men: Days Of Future Past does more bad than good in it’s new footage and noticeably bumps down an excellent sci-fi comic book movie that breathed new life in the franchise into merely a good one. Shame really.

X-Men: Days of Future Past 03

Picture:

The 1080p transfer impresses throughout with a striking quality that goes hand in hand with the top draw clarity. The vibrancy and colour of the retro 1970’s past is complimented by the bleakness and downtrodden feel of the future. The direness is enhanced by it’s night time setting which highlights the usage of shadows and dark colours that manage to balance with whites and other bright colours with no clipping. On a semi-negative note, I would say in places the high quality of the transfer actually reveals how poor some of the frankly awful CGI moments are (the Magneto adding metal to the Sentinels on the train scene especially) but that is more indicative of the graphics used and not the standard of the Blu-ray transfer itself. All the same, it’s fabulous and free from any issues.

Audio:

A stellar DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 audio mix provides a fantastic audio spectacle with atmospheric moods being enhanced with deep bass and dynamic surround. The action sequences are enhanced from the presence of top notch sound to make them stand out more. The dialogue is deep and clear from the very start as Sir Patrick Stewart’s (Star Trek: The Next Generation) Professor X from the future grabs your attention with his boredom cutting razor sharp clarity. An immersive and powerful audio mix that compliments the fantastic visuals.

Extras:

Whilst it feels ignorant to call it an extra per se, you do get the original (and superior) cinematic cut thrown in too which is worth buying this release for alone. The top notch performances and boldness of the plot in a tighter package is irresistible, even if you are feeling burnt out by the mutant franchise. The ‘Mutant Vs. Machine’ hour long documentary goes in-depth behind the scenes with interesting tales about the varied costume design, the difficulties in the page-to-screen conversion of the Days Of Future Past storyline and the craziness of the numerous scheduling difficulties of the mammoth cast. ‘X-Men: Unguarded’ is an engaging roundtable discussion between cast and crew over the mutant characters. There’s a few different galleries with the storyboard process, concept art and different versions of costumes included as well as a sneak peak at Fox’s other superhero revival movie coming this summer – Fantastic Four. Finally, to compliment the actual Rogue Cut, Singer and film editor John Ottman have contribute a new commentary track to go along. A nice, big bundle that is relevant to the original material and the best on a release I’ve had the pleasure to review in awhile.

The Bottom Line:

Now then, whether you waited to see if The Rogue Cut would come out instead of purchasing the first home media release of X-Men: Days Of Future Past, here’s your chance to own the best version of the movie with the curiosity of the missing Rogue footage along with a great set of extras in a top notch Blu-ray transfer. In other words, it’s essential. On the other hand, there’s not much to really give the go ahead to trade up as Rogue’s inclusion as well as other cutting room floor material should have stayed well away in terms of how pointless it’s reinsertion is.

Terry Lewis – @lewisonlife