When I reviewed Fantastic 4, I commented that, “I rather enjoyed this playful and colorful romp.  It’s escapist entertainment that doesn’t require that you leave your brain at the door.  There are no pretenses here.  It doesn’t take itself seriously.  This is a comic book brought to the big screen with a sufficient budget to please the eye and please the ear.”  So it was with modest expectations that I spun Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer; I was pleasantly surprised by a sequel that was more entertaining than the original.

The film opens with a cataclysmic event that you just know is headed our way.  A planet destroying entity sends its point man to Earth in preparation for our utter destruction.  We will soon learn that this is the Silver Surfer (voiced by Laurence Fishburne; Doug Jones is in the suit).

Since the last chapter in the franchise, The Fantastic 4 have become quite rich, cashing in on their fame as superheroes.  The Human Torch (Chris Evans) is still a media whore, seeking public adulation and hot babes to bed.  The Thing (Michael Chiklis) has settled into a committed relationship with his blind girlfriend, Alicia Masters (Kerry Washington).  But it’s Fantastic Man, Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd), and The Invisible Woman, Sue Storm (Jessica Alba, looking remarkably fetching), who dominate the newspapers and the tabloids.  They’re engaged and are about to be married.  Alas, when the Silver Surfer comes to Earth, disrupting the power grids and their wedding, it’s time to don the tights.  The honeymoon will have to wait.

When their initial efforts fail, an arrogant general brings Dr. Doom (Julian McMahon) out of . . . I’m not sure.  Hibernation?  The freezer?  Retirement?  Doom seeks out the alien invader and comes away a changed man; he now appears human.  In fact, the Silver Surfer’s unique radiation also has some rather peculiar effects on our four superheroes.  Forced by the military to work together, all seem to go well until Doom sees an opening to seize ultimate power.

Will the Earth survive?  Will Doom reign havoc even before the world is attacked?  Is the Silver Surfer a good guy or a bad guy?  And how about that wedding?

You may not have to leave your brain at the door, but you won’t have to work very hard while watching this film either.  It’s very linear and straightforward and simplistic.  The heroes are personable and enjoy a camaraderie and banter that’s fun to watch.  Acting chops are not strained; it’s mostly a visual and aural treat.  I enjoyed the startlingly detailed location shots in London and Shanghai (although the lights on Shanghai’s iconic television tower move; they were static in the film – CGI?).  The pace is brisk and the action set pieces frequent.  Watch for Stan Lee to make his usual cameo; you can’t miss him since, this time, he plays himself.

Although I most enjoy the dark brooding of the Dark Knight, an occasional visit by the Fantastic 4 is a pleasant diversion, even if I’m a little annoyed by gratuitous catch phrases like “Flame on!” and "It's cloberrin' time," and the silly skywriting in the last scene.

The Video: How Does The Disc Look?

The film’s theatrical aspect ratio of 2.40:1 is presented in an absolutely spectacular high definition transfer compressed with the AVC video CODEC.  Every single video characteristic of this highly detailed and accurate presentation is just about perfection.  I’m so glad to have Fox return to releasing Blu-ray Discs.  A blemish-free transfer print has been transformed into reference quality video.  I was very impressed with the depth and stability of the transfer.  The aerial shots over the Thames are a wonder of dense detail, from the wires that hold the London Eye together to the Houses of Parliament.  Chroma is perfect, from natural flesh tones to the fiery effects of The Human Torch.  The video dynamic range is superb.  There is no crush on either end of the video dynamic range.  Shadow detail is great.  Contrast has a wonderful snap that adds a visual depth to the images.  I really admire this transfer.

The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

I also enjoyed DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Lossless track, even if my Sony BDP-S1 can only decode the high bit rate DTS core.  The surrounds are very active with discrete sounds and pans; enable EX dematrixing for the best possible listening experience.  You’ll notice seamless helicopter pans during the wedding in the first act.  The sound effects are dramatic and dynamic and completely enveloping.  Deep bass is present, but not quite as room shaking as Fox’s other recent BD release, The Day After Tomorrow.  I expected the thumping sound of the supersonic tips of the main rotors of military helicopters to be very distinct; it was not.  John Ottman’s bombastic orchestral score picks up several themes composed for the first film; it’s presented with great fidelity and with a broad soundstage created with leaks into the surrounds.  Dialog remains distinct and distortion-free throughout.  The balance among music, sound effects, and dialog is well maintained, with no one element dominating another.  This is an excellent track that compliments the visuals nicely, making Rise of the Silver Surfer an excellent candidate for demo material.

The audio is supported by subtitles in English, Spanish, French, Cantonese, Korean, and English Closed Captions.  The alternative tracks are in English, Spanish, and French, all presented in Dolby Digital 5.1.

The Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

Fox has included a generous selection of informative and entertaining extras.  The disc opens with two great looking high definition trailers for The Simpsons Movie and Die Hard 4. 

Perhaps this would be an appropriate place to mention that I did have some BD-J issues.  Since Sony’s firmware 2.5 for my BDP-S1 has yet to arrive, I had some problems.  I visited the audio setup menu before starting the film and it left two thin, black rectangles on the screen.  The only way I could get rid of them was to eject the disc and start all over again, which is painful considering the two-plus minute load time.  And a game supplement crashed the player, requiring another eject and restart.  I’m hoping the firmware update will solve those problems.  I am, however, happy to report that the inclusion of the BD+ security layer did not affect playback of the film or its video supplements.

We begin with two feature-length audio commentaries.  The first is by director Tim Story. He discusses his intent, the challenges of bringing a fan favorite character to the screen, and how the script was developed.  I enjoyed his technical comments, particularly his descriptions of how the action set pieces were staged and filmed.  And he differentiates between the comic book and the film.  For example, the slayer of worlds is more abstract and menacing in the film.  This is the better of the two audio commentaries.

The second is by producer Avi Arad, screenwriter Don Payne, and editors Peter Elliot and William Hoy.  Even though there are some interesting comments about the film’s goals, the group either lapses into long pauses or describes onscreen actions and motivations that are obvious to the viewer.  I had trouble staying awake.  Stick to the director’s commentary.

Moving on to the video supplements, you’ll find that they are in standard definition.  First up are the Deleted/Extended Scenes (9:36, aggregate).  These are the lowest visual quality extras on the disc.  In fact, many weren’t finished and are either in black and white or a combination of monochrome and color.  None of these sequences deserved to be in the film.  The superheroes are now rich, so why couldn’t they hire people to run pre-wedding errands.  And the Human Torch’s reaction when visiting a toy shop only to discover that his action figure wasn’t selling as well as The Thing’s simply emphasizes something that we already know: he craves approval and attention.  Director Tim Story’s optional commentary reveals that all were removed for pacing and continuity.

The documentary entitled Family Bonds: The Making of 'Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer (46:11) is organized into two chapters that may be played sequentially: Preproduction and Post-production.  This is a pleasant, informative, narration-free video diary of some highlights of the production.  We see location scouting, filmmaker collaboration, costume test footage, and more.  My favorite section reveals the fascinating rigs used to fly the Silver Surfer.  All the principal filmmakers and cast participate.

The Fantasticar: State Of The Art (10:37) featurette demonstrates how the power of computer aided design and computer controlled machines helped reduce the design and construction time dramatically.  We see how both a miniature and a full size car are constructed: highly complex, very efficient, and highly automated.  I was also intrigued by the hydraulic stand used for motion control during filming and the ingenious, obvious-in-hindsight controller. 

The Power Cosmic (15:10) featurette delves into the development of the Silver Surfer for the screen.  We learn that much research went onto defining the character’s iconic poses from the comic book.  WETA did the CGI and some time is spent explaining how efficient the process of reviewing CGI dailies was, even though the special effects house is on the other side of the world in New Zealand.  I was interested to learn about the artistic compromises made to the physics of reflectivity.  We also learn a bit about putting the Fantastic Man’s stretch ability and the London Eye sequence onscreen.

The Sentinel of the Spaceways: Comic Book Origins of The Silver Surfer (39:02) documentary begins with a discussion of the philosophy behind the character, an outsider observing incredibly self-destructive humanity.  Stan Lee begins the segment and contributes several pithy comments throughout.  This is a review of the evolution of the character in print and the influences various artists had on its development.  It’s punctuated with lots of stills from comic books and is very enlightening for anyone, like this writer, who knows nothing about the character.

Scoring the Fantastic Four (4:39) is an all too short featurette, an opportunity for composer John Ottman to discuss his rushed efforts on the film.  His narration over the taped scoring sessions reveals a factoid that I found quite astonishing.  The musicians in the large orchestra see the music for the first time when it’s placed on their stands for the recording session.  They sight-read.  No rehearsals.  They simply learn by doing, refining the performances during multiple takes until the composer is satisfied.  Amazing.  Also of interest is Ottman’s description of getting director’s approval for his themes and tone using synthesizers, so it wasn’t even necessary for Story to attend the orchestral sessions.

The Character Design with Spectral Motion featurette (11:34) describes the evolution of The Thing suit.  We’re whisked into the makeup room to see Michael Chiklis having appliances glued to his face and watch as he’s dressed in the new Thing suit, reported to be much more comfortable.  He provides droll blow-by-blow narration.  I was interested to learn that The Thing’s deep gravelly voice is not accomplished with electronic processing; it’s Chiklis.

Next we have three Stills Galleries: Behind the Scenes, Characters, and Concept Art.  Dozens of 4:3 pictures are presented in high definition with surrounding frames.  They sequence automatically, but you can move things along with your remote control.

There are two interactive BD-J games.  I don’t care for games, but I knew I had to sample them for this review.  Alas, as I mentioned before, my player choked on the BD-J and crashed.  I suppose I should be grateful that the film and its supplements played normally.

There are more high definition trailers, two for the feature film.  They can be played sequentially with an aggregate runtime of 3:42.  And you’ll find HD trailers for other Fox BDs: Fantastic 4; League of Extraordinary Gentlemen; and X-Men: The Last Stand.

And last, I’ll mention that this disc can drive a D-Box interface to drive vibration transducers on your seats for a more seismic experience.

The 92-minute film is organized into twenty-eight chapters.

Final Thoughts

The Fantastic 4 is perhaps the most light-hearted of the genre films based on comic book characters.  Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, The Hulk, Daredevil, Elektra . . . they all have far more angst.  And yet, the characters are personable, and the film is a feast for the eyes and ears.  Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer is a pleasant diversion presented on a reference-quality, demo-quality Blu-ray Disc that simply dazzles.  I can’t tell you how pleased I am that Fox is back.  Add substantial supplements to the superb video and audio and I must highly recommend this Blu-ray Disc.


Here’s a note about the apparent duplicate Buy Guide.  Our I.T. people are hard at work on a large project and have not yet had the time to modify the underlying site database formatting code to accommodate the new 0-to-10 rating scales.  So until they do, for HD on disc, I’ll insert this note and a Buy Guide at the end of the review text and leave the conventional 0-to-5 Buy Guide blank.