Ulimates animated movie on DVD?

I recently saw a commercial for an animated movie of the Ultimates (aka new-new-new-new Avengers) being released on DVD, either now or very soon.

The commercial gave no indication if it suffered from the GI Joe Syndrome where zillions of rounds of ammo can be fired, but nobody gets killed because everybody's aim is worse than a glitchy cylon's and the vehicles miraculously wait for the crews to bail out before exploding.

Can this animated Ultimates "movie" be any good if does suffer from GI Joe Syndrome?

Has anybody seen this movie, and is it worth renting beyond the novelty factor?

I have seen it. The movie is excellent. Very highly recommended (by me).

They've changed a lot of things from the comics to movie, though admittedly, it's all the smaller stuff which probably isn't suitable for young kids, such as the wife-beating Hank does.

Even so, it's done pretty well. They use guns with bullets (as opposed to Spider-Man cartoon where every cop, villain and their mothers were all armed with laser guns), for example. I don't think the Hulk gets to eat anyone though. =)

8/10 would be a good rating. =)

I have also seen it and recommend it. It follows "The Ultimates" pretty well but tames it a bit for a larger audience, like Serafita said.

I think they should make it into a regular thing. Like a weekly show. It was done well enough and there are enough stories to manage it.

There were some interesting characterizations of various heroes, but of course, it's Ultimate, so I guess that is to be expected. Also, I was just ready for the heroes to tackle the real threat of the movie when my usually unobservant friend pointed out to me that they already did that and the movie was now over.

Other than that, I really enjoyed the carton and wish that they would do more stuff like this .... which is SOOOOOOO superior to all of the, errrr, "live action" movies they've been doing.

Though I've not seen this DVD (though some friends have talked me into getting it... quit giggling, Warlock :P), I have heard about a disturbing bit on the commentary track. Quesada pretty much flat-out says:


We got together to discuss the upcoming year, and we realized the Avengers should be about our most popular heroes like it was back when they first began. But those heroes have changed now. Wolverine is like a world famous movie star now, and we figured "Why can't Wolverine be an Avenger?" And sure we had all these reasons why Spider-Man shouldn't be on the team, but then we thought, "Yeah, but what if he was?" When we announced the change, the fans on the internet went into an uproar, but you know what... The New Avengers is probably the best-selling comic we have now.


So basically a blatant admission that it was simply a case of putting the characters in the Avengers that would do the most to increase sales. I mean, we knew they did it -- like I said in another thread, the purpose of companies is to sell their product, you can't really fault them for that, it's one of the cornerstones of the Capitalist society that is America. Their methods however, are a different story. And to have no shame whatsoever about it....

I rented it and its a definate buy. And it follows the comic very well. And it is not like the G.I.Joe. People get shot they die.

I have it and thought it was pretty good even if I don't know anything about the Ultimates universe. Such as why Nick Fury is a black man? A flyer inside the dvd says Ultimate Avengers II movie and an Iron Man movie are scheduled for later this year with Doctor Strange in 2007. Animated movies that is.

Why is Ultimate Nick Fury black? Because.

well it's about time Marvel figured out you dont have to kidy-fy an animated show. I was wondering when they'd get it through their heads than Anime is big time booming and it's not just kids buying the movies.

about damn time.

"No where to hide. No place to run. Your village will BURN like the heart of the SUN!" - Richard, Head warlock of the Brotherhood of Darkness, Lord of the 13 Hells, Master of the Bones, Emperor of the Black, Lord of the Undead, Lord of the Dance.

I love the live action and so do the majority of the movie going audiences. These movies are made to make money and live action sells. Otherwise we would have seen the rest of the animated lord of the rings in the theater. As far as the general public is concerned animated movies are still for kids. Besides I feel with the new effects and make up these live actions have looked good and have been fun.

I like the live action movies too, and really, I never said otherwise. I was just saying that cartoon animation, as a single step beyond the traditional medium of comicbooks, is the medium superheroes were meant to be expressed in, ie "so superior". Somethings, such as overly colorful costumes and men in tights, simply don't IMO translate very well from one medium to another. :)

Of course, I'm still trying to get use to men having lips, and the overall "Heavy Metal" look to todays comics. I DON'T like realism in the art.

When Nick Fury was first created, the US military and America in general was definately segregated, so any high ranking elite unit officers were going to be white.

Blacks now make up a substantial percentage of the US military these days, well above thier national percentage of 13%. This is mainly because the military is often seen as a means of escaping the gang life and high crime urban neighborhoods many of them they grew up in, plus all sorts of educational incentives the US military offers to enlistees. Colon Powell is an example of that switch. (Ironically, in WW2, blacks were used as logistical support because of descrimination, and in Vietnam they alledgedly saw more front line duty than whites due to discrimination. Now blacks are back to being in more support oriented positions because they're usually in the military to learn job skills.)

As such, there's not much social or historical reason for Nick Fury to be white beyond creator preference. IMO, as a character, Ultimate Nick Fury works well as a black guy due to both good writing and the artists who are good at drawing facial expressions.

I must see it. I'm glad to see it is getting good reviews.

IIRC, it came out Tuesday, Feb 21st....at least, that's the day i picked it up...

have to say, even tho i've never been all that interested in the Ultimates, i rather enjoyed the movie...:D



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/25/2006 05:30PM by Redman II.

besides this one could be played easily by Sam Jackson.

he's a baaaaad muther....

"No where to hide. No place to run. Your village will BURN like the heart of the SUN!" - Richard, Head warlock of the Brotherhood of Darkness, Lord of the 13 Hells, Master of the Bones, Emperor of the Black, Lord of the Undead, Lord of the Dance.

In as much as the standards for super hero cartoons ranges from the real early limited animation FF4, Spider cartoons ("Spider-man! Spider-man! Does what ever a spider can! ..."), and Super Friends, and later on the various TV series of during the 80's, 90's, and today (mainly Spider-man, FF4, X-men, Batman, Batman Beyond, Static Shock, Superman, Teen Titans, and Justice League), the "standard" for good super hero animation isn't set all /that/ high.

It's more an issue of writing, length of story telling time, and whether or not the story has been "dumbed down" to satisfy psycho-moms more than quality of animation. Johnny Quest had somewhat limited animation, but the story telling and atmosphere was superb compared to most anything made since.

It sure made more sense than the live action movies making Alicia Masters black. And (amybe its just me but) it was alot more sensitive than making the Kingpin black. I mean, what, the Bigshow wouldn't have made a good Kingpin? Becasue the black guy was such an awesome actor?!?

Hey, whatever. At least they didn't make Thor black. I mean, afterall, the Irish called him Black Thor and all.

This was a good movie. I hope it does well on the market. I'd like to see more movies like this one.
I give this movie an 7.5 out of 10. If you haven't seen it, don't read any further unless you want to read the spoilers, also DO NOT read the back of the DVD. It will ruin a key surprise! I was upset I read the back of the DVD as I figured out what the suprise was in advance.

*Spoiler *

Iron man was well done. I liked Iron man in and out of his suit. Interesting character!

Captain America was well done. I forgot what a hero he was.

The Hulk was well done. A bit too powerful though.

Giant Man was a bit of a bore, but his wife the Wasp was decent.

Fury and his side kick woman were also well done.


So who was I disappointed with? Thor. He should have been able to go at least another minute vs the Hulk. Speaking of the Hulk he was way too powerful in this movie.

Be sure to catch the extras. The next movie looks like a good one as well.

That "sidekick woman" was the Black Widow. So I guess Thor has an axe instead of a hammer in the Ultimates. Whatever.