Featured Blu-ray / DVD Review: X-Men: Days of Future Past: The Rogue Cut
July 27, 2015
X-Men: Days of Future Past: The Rogue Cut - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
X-Men: Days of Future Past came out last year and earned plenty of praise from critics. It also became the biggest worldwide hit in the franchise. Now it is being re-released on DVD or Blu-ray as something called The Rogue Cut. How is it different from the theatrical release? And is it worth the double-dip?
Because this is a double-dip, I'm going to skip most of the details of the film and stick with what is different. This will also include the extras and the technical presentation. The film takes place in two timelines, the first being in the near future, one where robotic weapons called Sentinels have killed nearly all of the mutants... and anyone whose children or even grandchildren might be mutants. The last remaining band of mutants include Professor X, Magneto, Wolverine, Storm, Blink, and others. They have managed to stay one step ahead of the Sentinels, because they can use Kitty Pride's ability to send someone's consciousness back in the past to warn them whenever the Sentinels get too close. However, this strategy isn't going to help them win the war, only survive a little longer. So they plan to send Wolverine back to 1973 to stop the incident that started the war.
In 1973, Mystique tried to assassinate Bolivar Trask, a weapons designer and anti-mutant zealot. He was trying to get his Sentinel program off the ground, but couldn't get the government funding he needed. However, her attempt failed and she was captured. As a result, Bolivar got the funding he needed. Not only that, but he experimented on her and used her shape-changing ability to create Sentinels that could adapt and mimic mutant abilities, which is what makes them so dangerous in the future. Wolverine arrives in this time and is expected to contact Charles Xavier to find a way to prevent this assassination attempt. At this point, we start to run into spoilers.
So what is the Rogue cut? There's no way to explain this without spoilers, so... in the future timeline, Kitty Pride is is injured when Wolverine lashes out in a dreamlike state after being injured in 1973. She doesn't have the strength to continue, so some of the mutants go to rescue Rogue, so that she can copy Kitty Pride's powers and continue the mission. This mission is intercut with a couple of new scenes that happen in 1973 and represent the majority of the 17 minutes added to the movie. There are also plenty of smaller changes throughout the entire movie, but it is this major change that gives the new version its name. Is the extended version better than the theatrical version? No. Not even Bryan Singer, the director, nor John Ottman, the editor, think this version is better. These scenes were originally cut for pacing reasons and if you've never seen the movie, then they do slow down the movie without adding much to the overall story. It tries to add to the stakes in a rather artificial way. On the other hand, if you've already seen the movie, then seeing the extended cut does give you a reason to watch the movie again and that's got to count for something.
Admittedly, that's not a glowing recommendation, but it is also not a scathing condemnation either. It's worth checking out, but whether or not it is worth picking up will depend on the extras.
There are two audio commentary tracks on this two-disc set, plus 90-minutes of featurettes and a trio of image galleries. Both audio commentary tracks feature Bryan Singer and John Ottman and there's one on each version of the movie. The Rogue Cut focuses mostly on the changes made between the two movies. This is great, because some changes are so small you wouldn't notice. The biggest of the featurettes is called Mutant vs. Machine and it is a multi-part, 52-minute making of featurette. As the running-time suggests, it is very in-depth. X-Men Unguarded is a 30-minute roundtable discussion with the cast and crew talking about the movie. Finally, there are galleries for storyboards, costumes, and other concept art. All of these extras are new to this set. That's awesome. None of the old extras were ported over from the old set. ... Really, Fox? Uncool.
The original Blu-ray looked and sounded amazing. There were no major complaints then and no major complaints now.
The Blu-ray costs $15, which is the same price as the DVD. Can't complain about that.
X-Men: Days of Future Past: The Rogue Cut isn't as good as the original version, but it is still good enough to check out. Additionally, there are a lot more extras on this DVD or Blu-ray than there were on the original release. That's enough value that it is worth the $15 it costs to buy.
Video on Demand
The Movie
The Extras
The Verdict
- Submitted by: C.S.Strowbridge
Filed under: Video Review, X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Fan Bingbing, Peter Dinklage, Hugh Jackman, Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy, Elliot Page, Anna Paquin, Bryan Singer, Patrick Stewart, John Ottman