X-Men (2000 film)

## Plot

In Nazi-occupied Poland, in 1944, young Erik Lehnsherr is separated from his parents upon entrance into the Auschwitz concentration camp. While he attempts to reach them, he causes a set of metal gates to bend toward him. This is the result of a mutant ability to create magnetic fields and control metal manifesting, but he is knocked out by the guards.

In the present day, police officers attempt to arrest a young man suspected of involvement in a recent crime. As they cuff his wrists and beat him with nightsticks, a riot ensues as an angry crowd forms around the officers. Suddenly, the young man's eyes glow blue, and powerful bolts of electricity fly from his hands, electrocuting the nearest officer on the spot. A giant robot appears and fires at the handcuffed young man.

17-year-old Jean Grey watches footage of the riot on the evening news. Afterward, government scientist Dr. Bolivar Trask speaks about the supposed threat of "Mutants". Political activist Professor Charles Xavier argues that Mutants are just ordinary people with extraordinary powers, and they deserve just as much tolerance and compassion as anyone else. But in an address to the American people, Trask speaks in defense of "The Sentinel Project", a military operation to develop armed robotic exoskeletons specially designed to hunt down and capture potentially dangerous Mutants.

The government has declared a State of Emergency over "The Mutant Question", ordering Sentinels to capture and detain all Mutants on sight. Much to her shock, Jean discovers her own latent Mutant abilities when she sees her parents' dreams one night and realizes that she possesses telepathic abilities. Using her telepathy, she discovers—much to her horror—that her parents suspect that she's a Mutant, and they're considering reporting her to the authorities. Shaken by this revelation, Jean runs away from home. In Alberta, she meets Logan, also known as "Wolverine", a mutant who possesses superhuman healing abilities and metal "claws" that protrude from between his knuckles. They are attacked on the road by a squad of Sentinels, who run the car off the road and attempt to detain the two mutants. Ultimately, Scott Summers ("Cyclops") and Hank McCoy arrive and save them. Logan and Jean are brought to Xavier's mansion and school for mutants in Westchester County, New York.

As she adjusts to life at Xavier's School, Jean begins training with Xavier's other students, and soon finds herself in a romantic relationship with the shy Scott Summers, while bonding with Hank McCoy, Warren Worthington ("Angel"), and Bobby Drake ("Iceman"). Meanwhile, the Sentinels set out to capture a particularly dangerous fugitive Mutant, who they keep in solitary confinement in a remote Mutant detention facility.

One night at the mansion, during a combat simulation in the "Danger Room", Jean loses control of her telekinesis and accidentally injures Hank when she knocks off Scott's glasses—leaving him unable to control his optic blasts. When Scott tries to calm her down after the training exercise, she similarly loses control of her telepathy and finds herself probing Scott's mind, forcing him to relive his childhood memories of losing his parents in a plane crash. Guilt-ridden over the incident, Jean runs away from the school, deciding that her powers are too dangerous and volatile to control. Logan finds Jean and convinces her to return to the school. Before they can leave, the Sentinels arrive and finally capture Jean. Determined to bring her back home, the X-Men fly off in the Blackbird.

While held in a Mutant detention facility, Jean is confronted by Trask himself, who wants to exploit her telepathic abilities to track down Mutants in hiding. Soon after, she encounters the Mutant prisoner who turns out to be Lehnsherr ("Magneto"). As Jean tells him about the incident that led her to flee Xavier's School, Magneto consoles her and offers his own help in mentoring her. He reveals that he has the ability to control magnetic fields, and he uses his powers to rip down the door of their holding cell. As they make their way through the detention facility, fighting their way through guards every step of the way, they eventually run into Scott and the rest of the team, who have broken into the facility to rescue Jean. Recognizing the others as students of Xavier's School, Magneto reveals that he's very familiar with Charles Xavier—and he considers him an idealistic fool. As the Sentinel Project gets bigger and more powerful, he argues, Xavier's naive calls for peace will not save Mutants from a hostile government that wants them dead. Instead, Mutants must be willing to fight for their freedom.

As Trask stumbles upon the escaping prisoners, the X-Men watch in horror as Magneto brutally murders him by strangling him with a metal chain. As a fight ensues, Magneto reveals the full extent of his powers and nearly destroys the detention facility as the X-Men struggle to hold their own against him. Though they survive, they have no choice but to let Magneto go as he makes his escape—promising that he won't be so merciful if they meet again. As Magneto leaves, the Sentinels descend on the X-Men, resulting in a long and intense battle before the team escapes in the Blackbird.

Later, after Jean tells the Professor about their fight with the mysterious "Magneto", she learns that he and Magneto know each other personally, and were once close friends before their ideological differences drove a wedge between them. She also realizes that—for all the Professor's talk of peace—he longs for revenge against Magneto, and might be willing to use his students to get it.
Before Jean leaves the Professor's office, he cryptically tells her to be ready for Magneto when he returns. Xavier gives Logan a lead to his past at an abandoned military installation in Canada.

## Cast

* Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier / Professor X
* Hugh Jackman as Logan / Wolverine
* Ian McKellen as Erik Lensherr / Magneto
* Halle Berry as Ororo Munroe / Storm
* Kelsey Grammer as Hank McCoy / Beast
* Michelle Williams as Jean Grey
* Josh Hartnett as Scott Summers / Cyclops
* Ryan Gosling as Warren Worthington III / Angel
* Shawn Ashmore as Bobby Drake / Iceman
* Richard Gere as Dr. Bolivar Trask

## Production

Principal photography began on July 3, 1999, and wrapped on December 21. The visual effects were created by Manex and The Mill.

## Marketing

The film's first teaser trailer made its debut in theaters with *Double Jeopardy* during its second weekend. It was also attached to *Fight Club*, *Pokémon: The First Movie*, and *The World Is Not Enough.* New teaser posters were unveiled on January 29, 2000. A new trailer aired on March 2, 2000 during Fox's airing of *Bad Boys*. It was released online shortly afterwards, and was attached to *Erin Brockovich*, *Whatever It Takes*, *Here on Earth*, *The Skulls*, *Love & Basketball*, *Where the Heart Is*, *Mission: Impossible 2*, and *Big Momma's House*. The final trailer premiered online on June 14, 2000, and was shown in theaters with *Gone in 60 Seconds* during its second weekend. It was also shown before *Titan A.E.* and *The Perfect Storm*.

The weekend before the film's release, the Fox network aired a half-hour special on the film, the first third of which was a spoof news report on the events that happen in the film.

Marvel spent US$20 million on the film's advertising campaign. A novelization was published on June 21, 2000. It includes some scenes that are not in the film and foreshadows pending developments in the future installments of the series. A four-issue comic book adaptation was published by Marvel Comics. A video game adaptation was released for Microsoft Windows. The fighting tie-in, *X-Men: Mutant Academy*, was released on July 18, 2000 for Dreamcast, Game Boy Color, Nintendo 64, and PlayStation. A pinball machine was created by WMS Industries.

## Release

### Theatrical

On June 27, tickets went on sale. The film held its world premiere on July 17, 2000 at the Mann Village Theater in Los Angeles.

### Home media

*X-Men* was released on January 9, 2001 on DVD and VHS. Special features for the DVD include deleted scenes, trailers, documentaries, commentaries, storyboards, image galleries, Easter eggs, and cast auditions.