Rating summary
| Movie |  | 2.5 |
| Video |  | 4.0 |
| Audio | | 4.0 |
| Extras | | 2.5 |
| Overall | | 2.5 |
Stan Lee's Mighty 7: Beginnings Blu-ray Movie Review
Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 16, 2014
My, my, my what a difference a few years—well, maybe more than just a few—can make. When I was growing up, DC was
the undisputed master of the comics realm, due partly to the then relatively recent success of the television version of
Batman as well as to the first of the Christopher Reeve Superman films (The Superman Motion Picture Anthology
). Marvel was seen in those days as a kind of B-movie version of DC, although I personally loved a lot of their
offerings back then, many of which featured unusual heroes like The Silver Surfer. Marvel now dwarfs DC in magazine
sales and perhaps more importantly in the worldwide box office of its many film franchises, and I’d posit that one of the
main reasons for this unparalleled success is the fact that the brand has a readily recognizable figurehead in the person of
Stan Lee. Can even a major comic book fan come up with any given executive at DC who approaches Lee’s renown? That
renown gives Stan Lee’s Mighty 7: Beginnings a certain “meta” quality, for an animated version of Lee (voiced by
Lee himself) appears in this pilot for a would be new animated series.
Unfortunately, Lee’s “appearance” in this outing is about its only notable feature.
Mighty 7, as might be inferred
from its very title, amounts to little more than
The Fantastic Four plus three. Lee is out driving in the desert one
evening trying to come up with an idea for a new comic when an alien ship crash lands and the titular seven appear, soon
taking up residence in a private Lee hideaway. The plot continues to amble along in fairly predictable fashion, with the
seven—supposedly wanted fugitives—having to battle aliens while also adapting to an Earthbound existence, with Lee as
their mentor.
Stan Lee's Mighty 7: Beginnings Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality
Stan Lee's Mighty 7: Beginnings is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Cinedigm with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer
in 1.78:1. While there's nothing overly distinctive about the animation on display here, this high definition presentation
boasts excellently sharp and clear line detail as well as some boldly saturated colors. Contrast is also consistent and strong
and the relatively short feature (barely over an hour) rests quite comfortably on a BD-25 with no overt compression
artifacts.
Stan Lee's Mighty 7: Beginnings Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality
The lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 on the disc is rather aggressive at times, providing good surround activity in the many
action sequences as well as the (perhaps too ubiquitous) use of underscore. Fidelity is excellent and dynamic range is quite
wide.
Stan Lee's Mighty 7: Beginnings Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras
- Interview with Stan (1080p; 4:25)
- Stan's Rants (1080p; 1:59)
- Script to Screen (1080p; 00:34) is an introduction that then branches to multi-screen featurettes showing
various sequences:
- Stan the Man (1080p; 1:21)
- The Escape Plan (1080p; 1:25)
- The Final Showdown (1080p; 1:26)
- Extended Scenes include:
- Beach House Brawl (1080p; 1:54)
- Lazer Lord Unmasks Xanar (1080p; 2:27)
- The Final Showdown (1080p; 1:02)
- Slam 7 Trailer (1080p; 2:13)
- Stan Lee Trivia Game
- Production Sketches Gallery (1080p)
- Composer's Favorite Music Cues includes "Stan the Man", "Crash Landing", "The Oil Refinery", "Surprise
Attack: The Laboratory",
and "Final Battle" (non are authored to show elapsed time).
Stan Lee's Mighty 7: Beginnings Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation
Rabid completists in the Marvel universe or big Lee fans may well want to check out this release, but it's pretty standard
fare. Even an initially announced series has been backtracked on, perhaps offering the best evidence that the Mighty
7 aren't quite ready for prime time (and/or Saturday morning), even with the help of the perspicacious Mr. Lee.
