Fantastic Four is a 2005 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics comic Fantastic Four. It was directed by Tim Story, and released by 20th Century Fox. It is the second live-action Fantastic Four film to be filmed. The previous attempt, a B-movie produced by Roger Corman only for the purpose of retaining the film rights, was never intended for a theatrical release. Despite getting major hype on its release and becoming a box office success, the film was negatively received by critics. The film was released in the United States on July 8, 2005. It was the third superhero film of the year, after Elektra and Batman Begins. In 2007, a sequel, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, was released.
Plot
To Be Added
Cast
- Ioan Gruffudd as Dr. Reed Richards / Mr. Fantastic
- Jessica Alba as Susan Storm / Invisible Woman
- Chris Evans as Johnny Storm / Human Torch
- Michael Chiklis as Ben Grimm / The Thing
- Julian McMahon as Victor Von Doom / Dr. Doom
- Hamish Linklater as Leonard
- Kerry Washington as Alicia Masters
- Laurie Holden as Debbie McIlvane
- Kevin McNulty as Jimmy O'Hoolihan
- Maria Menounos as Nurse
- Michael Kopsa as Ned Cecil
- Stan Lee as Willie Lumpkin
Release
The film's American release was moved from July 1, 2005 to the following week, July 8, in order to avoid competition with Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds. It opened in 3,602 theaters, and eventually expanded to 3,619 the following week for its widest release.
Critical Reception
Fantastic Four received mostly negative reviews from critics. The film scored a 27% rating at the critics-aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes and 40 out of 100 at Metacritic. The movie was criticized for poor science, undeveloped characters, and having less action than some people would have liked. The plot was also criticised for the perceived imbalance of pitting four superheroes against one villain.
Box office performance
At the box office it was a commercial success, Fantastic Four held the #1 position with $56,061,504 during its opening weekend. By September 2005, the film had grossed over $330,579,719 worldwide, with a domestic gross of $154,696,080.
Home Release
The main dvd version of the film was released in December 2005 which had changes from what was shown in theaters. Changes include:
- There is a scene where Reed and Sue are in a storage room of the Baxter Building where we see on one of the shelves is a robot that is supposed to be H.E.R.B.I.E. from the 1970s Fantastic Four cartoon.
- The biggest change is in the theatrical version showed a scene with Jessica Alba and Ioan Gruffudd's character looking toward the Statue Of Liberty. Similar lines are used that was in the dvd version but it ends with Alba's Susan turning invisible before Gruffudd's Reed can kiss her. When Reed described Victor as a "a stronger man" he creates a square jaw emphasizing that. The dvd version replaces that with the pair in the planetarium, where they communicate their feelings for each other without an argumentative tone. The dvd includes the theatrical version as a bonus feature but instead of the square jaw he makes his skin look like X-Men's Wolverine. Actor Gruffudd breaks the fourth wall and looks directly at the camera as he does this. The extended cut includes this as part of the movie along with a longer version of the planetarium scene.
- When Doom fires the heat-seeking missile, there is no beep sound before it.
- The theatrical version shows Doom saying "And to think I was going to spend the rest of my life with you" when attacking Sue Storm but in the dvd version it depicts him laughing instead.
- Three slightly modified scenes concerning the attack on Doctor Doom - one in which Reed uses his body as a funnel to direct a stream of water at Doom, one in which he doesn't, and one in which Doctor Doom's line "Is that the best you can do, a little heat?" is cut short, having the "..a little heat?" portion removed.
The novelization of the film contained a number of scenes not in the final cut, including a small number of scenes that developed the character of Alicia Masters.
Extended Cut
In June 2007, an extended cut of the film was released, incorporating over 20 minutes of deleted scenes and also includes a preview of Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. It expands on the Thing's relationships with Alicia Masters, Doctor Doom's manipulations to break up the group and the Human's Torch's womanizing and how it backfires among other scenes.
Gallery
Soundtrack
Fantastic 4: The Album is the official soundtrack to the movie Fantastic Four. The soundtrack features two supergroups that were formed specifically for the album: Loser (former Marilyn Manson guitarist/writer John 5) and T.F.F. (featuring Brody Dalle of The Distillers, Chris Cester of Jet, Nick Zinner of The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Dolf de Datsun of the Datsuns.
1."Come On, Come In" - Velvet Revolver 3:50
2."Error: Operator" (demo version) - Taking Back Sunday 3:09
3."Relax" - Chingy 3:31
4."What Ever Happened to the Heroes" - Joss Stone 3:56
5."Waiting (Save Your Life)" - Omnisoul 4:02
6."Always Come Back to You" - Ryan Cabrera 3:33
7."Everything Burns" (feat. Anastacia) - Ben Moody 3:41
8."New World Symphony" (feat. Pharoahe Monch) - Miri Ben-Ari 4:01
9."Die for You" (Fantastic Four mix) - Megan McCauley 3:49
10."Noots" - Sum 41 3:49
11."Surrender" (Cheap Trick cover) - Simple Plan 2:58
12."I'll Take You Down" - T.F.F. 2:50
13."On Fire" - Lloyd Banks 3:07
14."Reverie" - Megan McCauley 3:55
15."Goodbye to You" - Breaking Point 3:51
16."Shed My Skin" - Alter Bridge 5:08
17."In Due Time" - Submersed 4:04
18."Disposable Sunshine" - Loser 3:27
19."Now You Know" (feat. Classic) - Miss Eighty 6 3:03
20."Kirikirimai" (Fantastic Four remix) - Orange Range 3:14
| Story Series | |
|---|---|
| Films: | Fantastic Four | Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer |
| Characters: | Mr. Fantastic | Invisible Woman | Human Torch | The Thing | Alicia Masters | Willie Lumpkin | Frankie Raye | General Hager | Jimmy O'Hoolihan | Debbie McIlvane | Leonard Kirk | Ned Cecil | Ziegfred Von Doom |
| Enemies: | Doctor Doom | Silver Surfer | Galactus |
| Locations: | Baxter Building | Latveria | Castle Von Doom | Von Doom Industries |
| Video Games: | Fantastic Four | Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer | Fantastic Four Activity Studio |