Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

Exclusive DVD extra: "Dr. Doom's Lab"

The Silver Surfer, the lonely, philosophical metal man who swooped down to Earth as a herald of the planet-devouring Galactus, was the most existential comic book creation of the 1960s. Both of these larger-than-life characters are in the second installment of the "Fantastic Four" franchise, an adequately mounted spectacle that serves as the big-screen equivalent of the next issue of a continuing comic. This one is a multi-issue story, complete with giant-sized issue finale and an earth-shaking climax that will, surely, be all but forgotten by the next end-of-the-world installment. Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans and Michael Chiklis are back as the colorful superhero quartet, who are so caught up in an impending wedding that they blow off the signs of an impending Armageddon until it hits them where they live. The film gets whiplash as it jerks from the sober gravity of the epic effects spectacle (much of it impressive, if dramatically inert) to slapstick supergags (most of it awkward and juvenile), and director Tim Story is unable to sustain anything resembling a mood, let alone a sense of gravity. Julian McMahon mistakes sneering and smug for darkly threatening as imperious archenemy Doctor Doom. At least actor Doug Jones (lacquered over in CGI quicksilver) and voice artist Laurence Fishburne give the Silver Surfer a majesty and dignity (if not quite the philosophical depth of his inspiration) that, for a few moments, lets this dutifully executed spectacle soar.

Both wide-screen and full-screen versions are featured on a two-sided flipper disc, with two commentary tracks: a dryly informative track by director Story (which usually happens with a solo commentary talk), and a somewhat more engaging track by producer Avi Arad, writer Don Payne and film editors Peter S. Elliot and William Hoy. The two-disc "Power Cosmic Edition" features an exclusive disc of supplements. The 46-minute documentary "Family Bonds: The Making of Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" tracks the film from preproduction with fly-on-the-wall footage that really gives you a feel of production realities. The "Extended and Deleted Scenes" (with optional commentary by Story) features the original credits sequence that Story describes in his commentary track, along with four other snipped scenes. The 15-minute "The Power Cosmic" charts the screen visualization and effects execution of the Silver Surfer, while his four-color history is explored in "Sentinel of the Spaceways: Comic Book Origins of the Silver Surfer." Also includes the featurettes "The FantastiCar: State of the Art," "Character Design With Spectral Motion," and "Scoring the Fantastic"; plus, "Interactive FantastiCar" (a souped-up gallery of production designs); galleries of behind-the-scenes shots, character stills and concept art; and trailers. Also available in Blu-ray format.