X-Men: Days of Future Past (The Rogue Cut) [Blu-Ray] 
Director: Bryan Singer
Cast: Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Hugh Jackman
Release Date: Now Available on Blu-Ray & DVD
A Review By: Kevin Lovell
Disc Rating: 9.5/10
Synopsis:
With a never-before-seen, alternate cut of the film—plus nearly 90 minutes of all-new, immersive special features, The X-Men: Days of Future Past Rogue Cut takes you deeper into the X-Men universe than ever before. Rogue makes her return as the all-star characters from the original X-Men film trilogy join forces with their younger selves and unite to battle armies of murderous Sentinel robots who are hunting down mutants and humans alike!
The long awaited and heavily discussed ‘Rogue Cut’ of ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ has finally arrived and now the fellow comic/superhero fans out there can finally see what all of the fuss is about. While I assume that if you’re reading this review you have more than likely seen the Theatrical Cut of the film, for those who have not please note that this review may include some significant spoilers for the film and will go into some detail regarding the differences between versions of the film; you’ve been warned, spoilers will follow.
The ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past – Rogue Cut’ isn’t a vastly different film than the theatrical cut, although it certainly does provide fans a deeper insight into the story and more importantly, brings Rogue (Anna Paquin) back into the mix with a fairly significant role to play. While the film does include little tidbits of additional footage from start to end, the majority of the additional footage occurring throughout the first ninety minutes or so is mostly just slightly extended scenes that may not be overly important in the overall scheme of things, yet nonetheless include some very pleasing little added moments for the hard core fans. The last hour or so of the ‘Rogue Cut’ is where the changes become far more noticeable (largely as a result of Rogue being introduced into the story) and in addition to a number of both extended and alternate scenes, we are treated to two brand new sequences. The first of which includes a tamer, more emotional moment focusing on Beast and Mystique upon Mystique’s unexpected return to the mansion, which was entirely omitted from the theatrical cut. The second new scene is one of the most rewarding moments of the ‘Rogue Cut’ and features Charles, Magneto and Bobby in the future timeline returning to the now ruined mansion in order to retrieve Rogue who is believed to still be there as a subject for apparently ongoing mutant experiments. While the sequence of these three retrieving Rogue and their subsequent escape from the mansion is a great addition, the scene prior is the real gem and the way Singer cuts between moments of these characters in the future breaking into the mansion with a scene of Eric in the past breaking into a secure facility is so perfectly seamless that it’s sure to bring a smile to your face, just as it did mine. As they return with Rogue to take Kitty’s place (due to her being accidently stabbed by Logan) Rogue takes Kitty’s power as well as her place holding Logan the past.
Fans of ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ or simply the X-Men (and/or Marvel) Universe in general will definitely want to pick up a Blu-Ray copy of ‘The Rogue Cut’ to add to their collection, especially if you don’t already own the film; nonetheless I’m sure many hardcore fans will be more than willing to double dip. The Blu-Ray release of ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past – The Rogue Cut’ delivers phenomenal high definition video and audio presentations (for both versions of the film) in addition to a solid collection of bonus content including a new 9-part Making of Documentary and more (more detailed information regarding the bonus content can be found in the special features section of the technical specification coverage below) making this a must own, especially for the hard-core fans.
VIDEO:
The Blu-Ray release of ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past – The Rogue Cut’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation utilizing the film’s original 2.40:1 Cinemascope Aspect Ratio for both versions of the film. The video presentation looks phenomenal and delivers a rich and detailed presentation throughout with no notable faults to be found within, holding up impressively even during the numerous dark and/or fast moving action sequences, never causing anything occurring on screen to become distorted or indiscernible in any way. Overall, this high definition video presentation looks absolutely fantastic and should not disappoint fans in the slightest.
AUDIO:
The Blu-Ray release features a lossless 7.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack for both versions of the film. This lossless multichannel soundtrack is quite a treat in itself and delivers an incredibly active and aggressive audio presentation throughout, utilizing all seven available channels regularly in order to surround the viewer with debris or bullets whizzing by and a great deal more; never resulting in any dialogue which may be occurring simultaneously to become negatively affected or inaudible at any point. Overall, this 7.1 channel DTS-HD MA soundtrack is a lot of fun and sounds fantastic; it hits hard and delivers in every possible way.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The Blu-Ray release of ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past – The Rogue Cut’ includes an impressive collection of bonus content, a large portion of which is also new to this release. The majority of the supplemental material is focused to disc two with the exception of the included commentary tracks naturally.
Disc One includes 2 Audio Commentary tracks, one for each version of the film. The Rogue Cut includes an Audio Commentary with Bryan Singer and John John Ottman; while the Theatrical Cut includes an Audio Commentary with Bryan Singer and Simon Kinberg.
Disc Two is dedicated solely to supplemental material and includes a number of worthwhile extras. The main attraction here would certainly have to be ‘Man vs. Machine’ which runs approximately 53 minutes in length and consists of a 9-part Making of Documentary featuring Behind the Scenes footage and interviews/comments with members of the cast and crew discussing their experiences and feelings regarding the film. Also included is a cast group interview session with the majority of the film’s stars titled ‘X-Men: Unguarded’ (approximately 30 minutes). We are also treated to a thorough Gallery including ‘Storyboards’, ‘Costumes’ and ‘Concept Art’ and lastly, a ‘Sneak Peak’ at the new ‘Fantastic Four’ film which runs just shy of two minutes in length and includes some behind the scenes footage and brief comments from the cast and crew of the upcoming film.
*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They additionally will suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.
Disc Rating: 9.5/10
‘X-Men: Days of Future Past – The Rogue Cut’ is Now Available to own on 2-Disc Blu-ray and DVD from Marvel & 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
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