Like the other Marvel Knights animated films, The Astonishing X-Men takes the actual art printed in the graphic novels and animates them. As a result, it isn't an adaptation of the storyline with the filmmakers attempting to duplicate the art style, it is the actual artwork.
This collection starts with "Gifted" where we are not only introduced to a new character, Ord, but an old character is brought back to life, Colossus. This, of course, comes at a shock to everyone, but most of all Kitty Pryde (A.K.A. Shadowcat). By the end of this first series of episodes, the X-Men not only stop a threat that could undo mutant-kind, but they also find out that the alien Ord has been sent to Earth to find a mutant that is prophesied to destroy his homeworld.
The second collection of episodes, "Dangerous," are where exercises in the Danger Room turn deadly when something causes the room to override its security protocols and seriously tries to kill its users. Problems only escalate when it builds a body of its own and faces off against the X-Men in close-range combat. Before the end of this fast-paced, but short storyline, Danger seeks out Professor X and decides that he is to blame for the new villain's problems.
What's worse is that this particular adventure all leads up to Emma Frost revealing to the viewers that she is still in touch with the Hellfire Club and is apparently manipulating Cyclops and the rest of the X-Men for some unknown reason.
"Torn," the third storyline, is all about that deception. When the group makes it back to the Xavier Institute, Frost and the rest of the Hellfire Club attack. Each of the X-Men is paired with a particular club member, and they find themselves badly outmatched. Beast is turned feral, Wolverine reverts back to a small boy before he gained his powers and Cyclops ends up powerless. With characters like Frost and Cassandra Nova, one of the most powerful psychics around, it should go without saying that not everything is what it seems.
All three storylines lead up to the X-Men being abducted by S.W.O.R.D., an intergalactic counterterrorism organization, and being sent to Ord's homeworld, Breakworld. "Unstoppable" starts off by revealing that Breakworld has a plan to attack Earth before it can attack them. So, its up to the X-Men to travel to Breakworld and not only stop the prophecy from being fulfilled, but also stop Breakworld's pre-emptive strike.
The Astonishing X-Men Blu-ray Collection contains the special features found in the individual DVD releases. This includes a behind-the-scenes look at how Marvel Knights handles the conversion from comic book to movie, as well as interviews with Joe Quesada and Neal Adams. This particular collection comes on Blu-ray, where the individual storylines were released on DVD, and I didn't notice too much of a difference. I don't know if it is because the DVD's were done well, or there wasn't much of upscaling done for the Blu-ray release. That being said, I would still chose the Blu-ray collection over buying the individual DVDs.
The Astonishing X-Men Blu-ray Collection covers the first 24 issues of Astonishing X-Men Volume 3, and while pretty much every loose end is tied up by the end of "Unstoppable," it would be nice to see Marvel Knights continue to producing this series as it goes into the next wave of storylines. As it is, anyone who is even a minor fan of X-Men should enjoy this collection, and with Whedon's writing behind the story, it not only takes the group in some interesting directions, but it also has some amusing dialogue. My favorite part in the whole series is when the X-Men have to hold two different conversations, one verbally for all to hear and one in their heads via a psychic link. Let's just say, not everyone in the conversation pulls it off all that well.
