X-Men: Days of Future Past Dvd

X-Men: Days of Future Past is a 2014 American superhero film directed and produced by Bryan Singer and written by Simon Kinberg from a story by Kinberg, Jane Goldman, and Matthew Vaughn. A British-American venture, the film is based on the fictional X-Men characters that appear in Marvel Comics, the seventh installment of the X-Men film series and a sequel to X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), X-Men: First Class (2011) and The Wolverine (2013). It stars an ensemble cast, including Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Halle Berry, Anna Paquin, Ellen Page, Peter Dinklage, Ian McKellen, and Patrick Stewart. The story, inspired by the 1981 Uncanny X-Men storyline “Days of Future Past” by Chris Claremont and John Byrne, focuses on two time periods, with Logan traveling back in time to 1973 to change history and prevent an event that results in doom for both humans and mutants.

Vaughn had directed X-Men: First Class and was set to return in Days of Future Past before leaving for Kingsman: The Secret Service and the 2015 version of Fantastic Four. Thus Singer, who had directed the first two X-Men films, made his return as a director, and brought along most of the crew from those productions. With a budget of $205 million principal photography began in Montreal, Quebec in April 2013 and concluded in August the same year, with additional filming and pick-ups taking place in November 2013 and February 2014. Twelve companies handled the visual effects.

X-Men: Days of Future Past premiered in New York City on May 10, 2014, and was theatrically released on May 23 by 20th Century Fox. It is the second-best-reviewed film in the X-Men film series following Logan, drawing favorable notices for its story, visual effects, action scenes, score, acting, thematic elements, and Singer’s direction. During its theatrical run, the film earned over $746 million worldwide, making it the sixth-highest-grossing film of 2014, as well as the third-highest-grossing film in the series behind Deadpool and Deadpool 2. The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects, making it the first X-Men film to be nominated for an Oscar. A sequel, titled X-Men: Apocalypse, was released on May 27, 2016.

Plot

In a dystopian future, Sentinels have been programmed to identify and hunt down mutants and any humans who help them. In Moscow, a small band of X-Men survivors consisting of Shadowcat, Colossus, Blink, Warpath, Bishop, Iceman and Sunspot are attacked by the Sentinels, but Kitty sends Bishop’s consciousness back in time a few days to warn the others as to ensure their survival.

The group retreats to a remote Chinese temple where they meet up with Storm, Wolverine, Professor X, and Magneto. Xavier explains the history of the Sentinels, which were designed by Bolivar Trask, a military scientist whom Raven Darkhölme assassinated in 1973. In response, government forces captured Raven and experimented on her, using her DNA to advance the Sentinel program, thus allowing them to adapt to nearly every mutant power. Xavier and Lehnsherr plan to use Kitty’s ability to prevent Trask’s assassination and the subsequent apocalyptic future. However, Wolverine volunteers to go in Xavier’s place since his regenerative powers would allow him to survive the process.

Awakening in his younger body in 1973, Wolverine goes to the X-Mansion, learning from Hank McCoy that the school has been closed for years due to many students and staff being drafted into the Vietnam War, and Erik Lehnsherr being falsely arrested for assassinating fellow mutant John F. Kennedy. A young, broken Xavier turned to alcoholism and frequently uses a specialized serum that allows him to walk but suppresses his telepathic abilities. Hoping to reunite with Mystique, Xavier agrees to help. The trio then infiltrate The Pentagon and break Lehnsherr out of prison, aided by the newly recruited Peter Maximoff.

Raven discovers Trask has been experimenting on mutants, and in revenge, plots to assassinate him at the Paris Peace Accords; however her attempt is foiled by the intervention of Xavier, McCoy, and Logan. Lehnsherr attempts to kill Raven, believing this could prevent the Sentinel takeover. A fight ensues between McCoy and Lehnsherr, allowing Raven to escape but publicly exposing the three as mutants. Trask takes advantage of this and successfully convinces President Richard Nixon to initialize the Sentinel program.

Lehnsherr retrieves his helmet from military custody, using it to block Xavier’s psychic powers, and secretly takes control of Trask’s Sentinel prototypes by infusing them with metal. Returning to the X-Mansion, Xavier abandons the serum, regaining his abilities, and communicates with his future self, who inspires him to protect the relationship between mutants and humans. After using Cerebro to track Mystique, Xavier, McCoy, and Logan travel to Washington, D.C., to stop Raven’s plot to assassinate Trask.

At a ceremony where Nixon unveils the Sentinels, Xavier, McCoy, and Logan search for the disguised Raven. Magneto appears, controlling the Sentinels, and barricades the White House within the outer structure of Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium. During the battle, Magneto impales Logan with rebar and throws him into the Potomac River. Nixon, Trask, and a disguised Raven retreat to the White House Bunker, but Magneto rips it out of the building with the intention of killing Nixon.

In the future, the X-Men make their last stand as a large onslaught of Sentinels launched their attack on them. Many perish while attempting to buy more time, with Magneto being seriously injured. In 1973, Xavier persuades Raven to spare Trask after she saves Nixon from Magneto, altering history and erasing the Sentinels from existence. Magneto and Raven leave, and Trask is later imprisoned for attempting to sell U.S. military secrets to Vietnamese military officials.

Wolverine awakens at the mansion in 2023 to find Iceman, Colossus, Kitty, Hank, Storm, Jean Grey, Scott Summers and Xavier alive. Xavier tells a curious Wolverine they have much to discuss. Back in 1973, the younger Logan is rescued by Raven, who is disguised as Major William Stryker.

In a post-credits scene in Ancient Egypt, a crowd is seen chanting to En Sabah Nur, who telekinetically elevates building blocks to build pyramids as four horsemen observe him from afar.

Cast

The cast of X-Men: Days of Future Past promoting the film at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con International. From top to bottom: Jackman, McAvoy, Fassbender, Lawrence, Berry, Hoult, Paquin, Page, Dinklage, McKellen, Stewart, Ashmore, Sy, and Peters.
Hugh Jackman as Logan / Wolverine
A mutant with accelerated healing, heightened animal-like senses, and—in 1973—retractable bone claws; in the future, his skeleton and claws are laced with adamantium in his body, making him virtually invulnerable. His healing factor also slows his aging, allowing him to live above the lifespan of an ordinary human. Jackman noted how Wolverine driving the plot in spite of his gruff personality made for interesting story choices, as “if you want someone to go back to take someone’s head off, fantastic, but he’s really got to go back and almost act in parts as inspiration, as mentor, as guide, because he can’t do it all on his own, which is always his preferred method”.
James McAvoy (younger adult) and Patrick Stewart (adult) as Charles Xavier / Professor X
A mutant pacifist and the world’s most powerful telepath. He is also a founder of Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, and leader of the X-Men. Singer described the younger Xavier as “a very different beast from First Class’s feckless playboy. He’s a wounded animal, bearded, long-haired, filled with rage at the way the world has treated him”. Kinberg said the film was intended to be the story of the younger Xavier beginning to “become the Professor Xavier we know” as Wolverine mentored him.
Michael Fassbender (younger adult) and Ian McKellen (adult) as Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto
A powerful mutant who can manipulate magnetic fields. While he dissents with Xavier due to a wish to prove mutantkind’s superiority, they revert to being allies as adult Erik helps the X-Men battle against Sentinels in the future.
Jennifer Lawrence as Raven Darkhölme / Mystique
A mutant with the shapeshifting ability, and also Xavier’s childhood friend and adopted sister. Singer said Mystique “is less innocent, evolved, getting closer to where Mystique was in X-Men 2”. Lawrence had suffered skin irritations from the full body make-up used in First Class, and the process was changed so from the neck down it would be a bodysuit,whose zipper was digitally removed in post-production. As a result, the make-up process was reduced from eight hours to three.The make-up team at Legacy Effects sculpted Mystique’s scales digitally, making them shorter in size and placed in a way that they would accentuate Lawrence’s face.
Halle Berry as Ororo Munroe / Storm
A mutant who can manipulate weather and one of the most battle-tested and powerful X-Men. Asked if her pregnancy affected her role, Berry replied, “I wasn’t in as much as I was meant to be. My ever-growing belly was posing a constant challenge! What I could do was getting more limited so the role that I play is so different from what it could have been, due to my surprise pregnancy”. According to Kinberg, Berry had another scene in the film that was cut because of Berry’s limited schedule.
Nicholas Hoult (younger adult) and Kelsey Grammer (adult; uncredited) as Dr. Hank McCoy / Beast
A mutant with leonine attributes, super-strength, agility, reflexes and enhanced speed. Hoult plays the character in scenes set in 1973 while Grammer makes a cameo appearance as Beast in the future setting. The cameo was added because the writers felt Hoult’s Beast was “such a sweet, young character” that audiences would want to learn he survived. Once Grammer learned of this opportunity to return as Beast, a character he had enjoyed playing in The Last Stand, he called Singer asking to get involved, and was flown from New York in secret to avoid drawing attention.
Anna Paquin as Marie / Rogue
A mutant who can absorb the life force and mutant abilities of anyone she touches. Kinberg wrote a shorter part for Paquin than initially planned because she did not have much time to be on-set. During post-production, Paquin’s role was reduced to a cameo after most of her scenes were cut; these scenes were later restored on an alternate version of the film, which was released to home media. According to Kinberg, Rogue was to be rescued by the future Magneto and Xavier to provide the elder characters a mission, “something like Unforgiven”. Eventually the producers felt it was a subplot that did “not service the main story”, and reshot scenes to replace them.However, she was still featured in the film’s various promotional materials. Paquin later stated that she still had fun making the film and did not mind that the majority of her scenes had been cut from it.
Ellen Page as Kitty Pryde
A mutant who can pass through solid objects. As the youngest member of the X-Men, she plays an important role in their fight for survival.Singer described Pryde as the prime facilitator and that Pryde’s phasing ability enables time-travel to happen. Kinberg, when asked why Pryde is not the time-traveler in the film adaptation of the comic-book story, said, “[If] we tried to follow the original and use Kitty, we had a problem because Ellen is 25 years old and she’d be -20 in the First Class era”.
Peter Dinklage as Bolivar Trask
A military scientist and the head of Trask Industries who creates a range of robots called Sentinels, designed to find and destroy mutants. Dinklage said Trask “sees what he’s doing as a good thing—[his ambition is] definitely blind and he’s quite arrogant. He has striven all his life for a certain respect and attention”. He also said Trask is opposed by Richard Nixon. Singer said he is a fan of Dinklage and of the television series Game of Thrones in which Dinklage stars as Tyrion Lannister, which inspired him to cast Dinklage.
Shawn Ashmore as Bobby Drake / Iceman
A mutant who can create and manipulate ice. Ashmore said about his role, “In the first X-Men I had to make a rose for Rogue but that was the extent of the character, so it’s cool to see over these four movies going from that to X2—where you sort of see him do an ice wall—and in X3 he finally gets to battle, and in Days of Future Past we’re soldiers”.
Omar Sy as Bishop
A mutant who can absorb energy and redirect it in kinetic blasts. Singer said Bishop, along with Warpath, Sunspot and Blink, are not fresh recruits. He said, “they’re more refugees that are living day to day in this hideously ruined world. They don’t have much hope in the future. They’re on the run and they join forces with the remaining X-Men to try to do this one last attempt at fixing the world”.
Evan Peters as Peter Maximoff / Quicksilver
A mutant who can move, speak and think at supersonic speeds. Peters described Quicksilver as “very fast, he talks quick, he moves quick. Everything else is very slow compared to him, it’s like he’s always at the ATM waiting for the bastard in front of him to finish”.
Josh Helman as Major William Stryker
A military officer who hates mutants. Helman was originally chosen to play a younger version of Juggernaut before that character was removed from the script. Brian Cox, who portrayed adult Stryker in X2, appears in archive footage.
Daniel Cudmore as Peter Rasputin / Colossus
A mutant who can transform his body into organic steel, which grants him superhuman strength, stamina, and durability while in that form. Cudmore was asked whether he trained for his role, he replied, “I didn’t have a ton of time to get film ready for this. A trainer friend of mine from Vancouver put together a quick little workout program for me. Since the role was for Colossus, I was aiming to bulk up a bit and get stronger. I ended up eating a lot more. Because of how much I was eating, I had to eat every 2-3 hours to keep my calories up”.
Fan Bingbing as Blink
A mutant who has the ability to create portals to teleport. Fan said the film was the first of a five X-Men movie contract she signed with 20th Century Fox.
Adan Canto as Sunspot
A mutant with an ability to project solar energy, create flames and possesses solar-powered strength and flight.To prepare for the role, Canto researched Sunspot because when he was cast, he did not know the level of involvement his character has in the film.
Booboo Stewart as James Proudstar / Warpath
A bowie knives wielding mutant and expert tracker with super agility, reflexes, stamina, acute senses and enhanced strength. In preparation for the role, Stewart gained 50 pounds and grew his hair much longer than its usual length.