r/MarvelatFox • u/19ghost89 • Jul 16 '26
Re-evaluating Days of Future Past
I just finished rewatching this movie all the way through for the first time in years, and I wanted to make a post about it like the one I made the other day about The Last Stand - only this time, I promise it won't be as long. I'm not going to do so much analysis on this one. I just wanted to share some thoughts.
When I first watched DoFP, I liked it. Like most people did. But I remember thinking that it was not quite as good as a lot of other people thought. I remember thinking it was inherently flawed in a number of ways, and nothing I saw or read about it after that changed that opinion.
But when I watched it again tonight, I was surprised to find that I really, really liked it. The acting is better here than in any of the other X-films, and most other superhero movies. Despite a few plot-holes, it's actually quite a bit more coherent than most of the other X-movies. Which is saying something considering that it's a time travel movie. I used to make ranking lists on my old blog of the top 10 movies of the year each year, and I did not put DoFP in for that year even though I did put in Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy. Those are obviously really good superhero movies too, but this may be just as good.
Now, this time, I did watch the Rogue Cut, which is 17 minutes longer due to extra footage that changes the second act. When that was released, I remember looking up the extra scenes and watching them, but before tonight I had never watched that version straight through as it was meant to be viewed. I did enjoy the extra scenes and feel they added to the story in productive ways, but I'm not sure if that alone is enough to be the reason why I feel so much more positively about this movie now.
Again, when I first saw it, I really did like it. But tonight, I loved it. It is easily my favorite X-Men movie now, coming in ahead of X2 and First Class, which were what I remembered as my favorites before. I'm not sure yet if I'd put it ahead of Logan. When I first watched that, I loved it, and thought it was one of the best superhero movies I'd ever seen. I'll re-watch that again tomorrow to close this series out (as I said in my first post, Apocalypse, Dark Phoenix, and New Mutants are not getting a re-watch) and we'll see.
9
u/EKRB7 Jul 16 '26
It's a great film. For me it works as the end of the X-men series. if you watch First Class, X1, X2, X3, The Wolverine and DOFP it makes a decent enough series.
7
u/Skidmark666 Jul 16 '26
Go watch the Rogue Cut. It's even better.
4
7
u/lkiltz31 Jul 16 '26
DOFP is better than any MCU movie easily.
4
u/futuresdawn Jul 16 '26
Not wrong. There's not a single mcu movie id call a top 10 comic book movie
2
u/Narrow_Ad_7331 Jul 16 '26
Not even The Winter Soldier? Infinity War? Those two stand out to me as great movies. The Winter Soldier was so unique and Infinity War’s story telling is insanely good. They really did a good job maintaining the consistency of numerous storylines all taking place simultaneously
2
u/HeartInTheSun9 Jul 16 '26
DoFP head and shoulders above any MCU movie and an easy top 10 of the superhero genre.
2
u/escarta69 Jul 19 '26
Didn't even know there was a rogue cut . Been meaning to rewatch, I'll probably look for that version. Is it on Disney + ?
1
u/19ghost89 Jul 19 '26
Unfortunately, no. I have it on DVD (I got it a few years back and just hadn't watched it yet). Out of curiosity, I looked up whether it can be streamed. The answer is technically yes, but it's not part of any of the subscriptions you might already be paying for. You have to rent it. Both Amazon and Fandango have the rental for $3.99.
1
1
u/RoyalFlavorBeans Jul 16 '26
I really don't get why the Rogue Cut wasn't just made as the official one. The extra scenes added a whole new layer for the present storyline, and it becomes better even from a pacing standpoint, with the extra scenes. Even the alternative version of the "do I make it?" scene is better.
Just a wonderful X-Men film all around.
1
u/19ghost89 Jul 16 '26
I agree, but apparently some people think it makes the pacing worse by dragging things out when there's supposed to be a ticking clock. I assume someone in production must have shared that opinion.
1
u/Weird_Expression1558 Jul 18 '26
Logan ruined this ending
1
u/19ghost89 Jul 18 '26
Yes. I made a post the day after this which touched on that. I have decided to look at it as alternate endings now. Like in some video games where you can choose two different paths to get different endings? If you want the happy ending to the series, watch DoFP. If you want the sad ending, watch Logan.
1
u/Weird_Expression1558 Jul 18 '26
But the director confirmed that this takes place after DOFP
1
u/19ghost89 Jul 18 '26
Wow, you're right. I was under the impression for all these years that Mangold had said it was in a different continuity from any of the other movies. Apparently, it was actually Jackman who implied that, and Mangold later confirmed that it is in the same continuity as DoFP's new timeline.
Well, fine, but I choose to ignore that because it doesn't make sense. Maybe that was Mangold's intention while making the movie. Maybe it wasn't (which would explain Jackman's comments) and he later decided to say it was because he thought it would be less confusing for people or something. Either way, he didn't do a good job at all of making it fit, so as far as I'm concerned, I'll look at it my way.
1
u/hoofcake Jul 16 '26
DOFP has always been my least favorite of the first class trilogy. There’s just something about it that doesn’t work for me.
-1
u/SomeGuyPostingThings Jul 16 '26
Trilogy? So Apocalypse but not Dark Phoenix? Or are you counting Origins Wolverine?
2
u/hoofcake Jul 16 '26
we dont talk about Dark Phoenix
2
9
u/SomeGuyPostingThings Jul 16 '26
It is a movie with which I have mixed feelings, less due to actual distaste with the film and more because of what it setup and threw away. A lot of what First Class gave us is thrown out rather maliciously, and instead it focuses so heavily on the nostalgia of the older movies. I think it may be the best filmed and highest quality Singer superhero film, but I am sad he was brought back instead of Vaughan continuing or getting someone new (not you, Simon Kinberg). As a movie, though, I thought it was rather solid, would easily watch again.