Spider Man - The Ultimate Villain Showdown

Starring: Tobey Maguire, Willem Dafoe Director: Sam Raimi Original UK Premiere: 2002 Dvd Release: 27th May, 2002 Number Of Discs: 1 Format: Animated, PAL, Region 2 Encoding Subtitled In: English

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Spider-Man is the name of an extremely successful movie which stars Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst & Willem Dafoe & was directed by Sam Raimi. It is an adaptation of the story of how the Marvel Comics superhero Spider-Man came to be & his fight against his first major enemy, the Green Goblin even while he struggles to show his feelings to his love, Mary Jane. A sequel to the film, Spider-Man 2 was released on June 30 of 2004. The hero of the story is Peter Parker, who is a precocious teenager, but also a complete social outcast who is too shy to even approach Mary Jane, a girl from next door with whom he is smitten. His only friend is Harry Osborn & even their friendship is tainted with jealousy by the fact that Harrys successful father, Norman, favors the brilliant Peter over Harry himself. Parker lives in Queens, New York City, New York. On a student tour of a genetics laboratory at Columbia University, Peter is bitten by an escaped experimental spider that has been created with various extraordinary traits from a variety of spiders.

DVD Extras: there's limited bonus material on the DVD but what's there is generally worthwhile & entertaining. In addition to an extra episode, Return of the Green Goblin, a Rogues Dossier gives an interactive guide to Spider-Man's foes with statistics, trivia & video interviews with our hero's creator Stan Lee. Lee crops up again in the highlight of the bonus material, Stan Lee's Soapbox, an engaging 20-minute insight into all things Spidey from a man who obviously loves his job.

The action comes thick & fast in Spider-Man, The Ultimate Villain Showdown as the web-slinging hero faces a host of fearsome foes, not least of which is his own torturous self-doubt. Kingpin, Dr Octopus & the Green Goblin all put in spirited performances in these animated tales from the 1990s, while a flashback to Spider-Mans origins ties the action together neatly.

The writing is somewhat heavy-handed in places & the animation cranky, but the four featured episodes are pacy, the villains suitably evil & a hint of darkness lends a pleasing frisson to the drama.

Tobias Vincent Maguire is an American film actor. Working as a child actor since his early teens, he appeared in a variety of commercials & TV & movie roles. He auditioned for a part in the series Parenthood, where he met best friend actor Leonardo DiCaprio. Maguire gained significant attention for with his role in the film The Ice Storm, directed by Ang Lee. This soon was parlayed in a variety of lead roles where he played a thoughtful boy coming of age in a variety of films such as Pleasantville, The Cider House Rules & Wonder Boys. In 2002, he shot to stardom in the title role in Spider-Man, where he was praised for his performance of the troubled superhero. He further solidified his stardom in 2003 with a leading role as the jockey, Jonathan Red Pollard, in an acclaimed film about the famous American racehorse, Seabiscuit. Spider-Man 2, the sequel to the original blockbuster, was released in 2004. In 2004 Maguire also took up tournament poker. He has finished in the money in several events & has been tutored by poker pro Daniel Negreanu. Posters Of Tobey Maguire

Editors Choice: Seabiscuit, Spider Man, Spider Man 2, The Cider House Rules, Wonder Boys, Pleasantville, The Ultimate Villain Showdown, Ride With The Devil, View DVDology

Willem Dafoe is a versatile American actor. He is a founding member of the experimental theatre company The Wooster Group. Born William Dafoe Jr. in Appleton, Wisconsin, the seventh of eight children, he acquired the nickname Willem in childhood. He studied drama at the University of Wisconsin, but left before graduation in order to join the newly formed avant-garde group Theatre X After touring with Theatre X for four years in the United States & Europe, he moved to New York City & joined the Performance Group, where he met director Elizabeth Lecompte. Lecompte & Dafoe left the Performance Group together & became both collaborators & life partners; they are not married, but have a son. Dafoes film career began in 1981, when he was cast in Heavens Gate, but his role was removed from the film during editing. A year later he starred as the leader of a motorcycle gang in The Loveless, but his first breakthrough film role was as Sergeant Elias in Platoon. Posters Of Auto Focus

Editors Choice: Spider Man, Animal Factory, Auto Focus, Pavilion Of Women, Shadow Of The Vampire, The Ultimate Villain Showdown, The Boondock Saints, Clear And Present Danger, View DVDology

Sam Raimi is an American director, producer & movie writer. Raimi came to the attention of horror movie fans as the director & producer of the horror/slapstick Evil Dead movies starring Bruce Campbell. In the 1990s Raimi directed such films as A Simple Plan & For Love of the Game. Raimis career as a director of big-budget Hollywood movies culminated with the 2002 blockbuster Spider-Man, which was adapted from the comic book series of the same name. The movie has grossed over $400 million. The Legendary Journeys & Jack of All Trades. Raimis acting credits include Army of Darkness, Journey to the Center of the Earth & Spies Like Us. In his film & television projects, Sam Raimis brother Ted & his friend Bruce Campbell are often included in on-screen roles, though these appearances are often just short cameos. He has also featured his car, The Classic, in most of his films. He is also an alumnus from Michigan State University Posters Of Army Of Darkness

Editors Choice: Spider Man, For Love Of The Game, Spider Man 2, The Gift, The Ultimate Villain Showdown, Army Of Darkness, The Quick And The Dead, Darkman, View DVDology

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