X-Men (2000)

Share this quote on facebook [before Stu begins a cage-fight with Wolverine]
Emcee: Whatever you do, don't hit him in the balls.
Stu: You said "anything goes".
Emcee: Anything goes, but... he'll take it personally.

Share this quote on facebook Magneto: Are you a God-fearing man, Senator? It's such a strange phrase. I've always thought of God as a teacher. As a bringer of light, wisdom and understanding. You see, l think what you really are afraid of is me. Me and my kind. The brotherhood of mutants. It's not so surprising, really. Mankind has always feared what it doesn't understand. Well, don't fear God, Senator, and certainly don't fear me. Not any more

Share this quote on facebook [Professor Xavier, Jean, Cyclops, and Storm go over Wolverine's x-ray]
Jean Grey: The metal is an alloy called adamantium. Supposedly indestructible. It's surgically grafted onto his entire skeleton.
Storm: How could he have survived a procedure like that?
Jean Grey: His mutation. He has uncharted regenerative capability, which enable him to heal rapidly. It also makes his age impossible to determine. He could very well be older than you, Professor.
Cyclops: Who did this to him?
Jean Grey: He doesn't know nor can he remember anything about his life before it happened.
Professor Xavier: Experimentation on mutants. It's not unheard of, but I have never seen anything like this before.

Share this quote on facebook [Cyclops is not comfortable with Wolverine around Jean Grey]
Wolverine: You gonna tell me to stay away from your girl?
Cyclops: If I had to do that, she wouldn't be my girl.
Wolverine: Well then, I guess you've got nothing to worry about, do you, Cyclops?
Cyclops: It must burn you up that a boy like me saved your life, huh? Better be careful. I might not be there next time. Oh, and Logan – [grins] stay away from my girl.

Share this quote on facebook Magneto: You homo sapiens and your guns.
Sabretooth: [Grabs Magneto's throat] That's enough Erik.
Toad: Let them go.
Magneto: Why not come out where I can see you, Charles?
Xavier: (speaking through Sabretooth) What do you want her for?
Magneto: Can't you read my mind? [tapping his helmet] And what now, save the girl? You'll have to kill me Charles, and what would that accomplish? Let them pass that law and they'll have you in chains with a number burned into your forehead!
Xavier: (through Sabretooth) It won't be that way.
Magneto: Then kill me and find out. No? Then release me.
[Sabertooth doesn't move, Toad starts walking off with Rogue]
Magneto: Fine. [magnetically fires a bullet and stops it just before it goes through a cop's head] Care to press your luck, Charles? I don't think I can stop them all. [Xavier reluctantly releases his control over Toad and Sabretooth] Still unwilling to make sacrifices. That's what makes you weak. Goodbye, Charles.

Share this quote on facebook Storm: Logan, you can't do this alone!
Wolverine: Who's gonna help me, you? So far, you've all done a bang-up job.
Storm: Then join us. Fight with us!
Wolverine: Fight with you? Join the team? Be an 'X-Man'? Who the hell do you think you are? You're a mutant. The whole world out there is full of people that hate and fear you, and you're wasting your time trying to protect them? I got better things to do. (starts to leave, then turns back) You know, Magneto's right: there's a war coming. Are you sure you're on the right side?
Storm: At least I've chosen a side.

Share this quote on facebook [Commenting on the X-Men uniforms.]
Wolverine: You actually go outside in these things?
Cyclops: Well, what would you prefer? Yellow spandex?

Share this quote on facebook [Storm arrives and walks to Logan.]
Storm: Logan, is that you?
Wolverine: Shhh. [Storm stumbles further to Logan, who sniffs the air] The other one ain't far away.
Storm: [walks up behind him] Come on. We have to regroup.
Wolverine: I know but there's a problem. [turns and stabs Storm with his claws] You're not part of the group! [Storm attempts to attack Wolverine, later reveals herself to be Mystique in disguise and collapses to the ground before shifting back to her original form.]

Share this quote on facebook Wolverine: [To the startled Storm and Cyclops after battle with Mystique] Hey, hey, hey, it's me.
Cyclops: [Holding onto his visor] Prove it.
Wolverine: You're a dick.
Cyclops: [Releases his visor, amused] Okay.

Share this quote on facebook [Xavier and Magneto play a game of chess at Magneto's cell]
Magneto: Doesn't it ever wake you in the middle of the night? The feeling that someday they will pass that foolish law, or one just like it, and come for you and your children?
Professor Xavier: It does, indeed.
Magneto: What do you do when you wake up to that?
Professor Xavier: I feel a great swell of pity for the poor soul who comes to that school looking for trouble.
Magneto: [halts the game, sighs] Why do you come here, Charles?
Professor Xavier: Why do you ask questions to which you already know the answer? [motions the guard to take Xavier away.]
Magneto: Ah yes, your continuing search for hope. [pause] You know this plastic prison of theirs won't hold me forever. The war is still coming, Charles, and I intend to fight it, by any means necessary.
Professor Xavier: And I will always be there, old friend.
[Erik concedes the game, knocking over his king]

Share this quote on facebook "X-Men" is at least not a manic editing frenzy for atrophied attention spans. It's restrained and introspective for a superhero epic, and fans of the comic books may like that. Graphic novels (as they sometimes deserve to be called) take themselves as seriously as the ones without pictures, and you can tell that here when the opening scene shows Jews being forced into death camps in Poland in 1944. One could argue that the Holocaust is not appropriate subject matter for an action movie based on a comic book, but having talked to some "X-Men" fans I believe that in their minds the medium is as deep and portentous as, say, "Sophie's Choice." The Holocaust scene introduces Magneto (Ian McKellen) as a child; his mental powers twist iron gates out of shape. The narrator informs us that "evolution takes thousands and thousands of years," which is putting it mildly, and that we live in an age of great evolutionary leaps forward. Some of the X-Men develop paranormal powers which cannot be accounted for by the strictly physical mutations which form the basis of Darwinian theory; I get restless when real science is evoked in the name of pseudoscience, but, hey, that's just me.
Magneto's opponent in "X-Men" is Xavier (Patrick Stewart), another mutant of the same generation. They aren't enemies so much as ideological opposites. Magneto, having seen the Holocaust, has a deep pessimism about human nature. Xavier, who runs a school for mutants in Westchester County, where it doubtless seems no stranger than the other private schools, hopes these new powers can be used for good. Bruce Davison plays the McCarthy-like senator who waves a list of "known mutants" during a congressional hearing and wants them all registered—no doubt for dire purposes. Magneto wants to counter by using a device which can convert world leaders to mutants. (The world leaders are conveniently meeting on an island near Ellis Island, so the Statue of Liberty can be a prop.) How a machine could create a desired mutation within a generation is not much explored by the movie, which also eludes the question of why you would want to invest your enemies with your powers. No matter; Xavier, who can read minds, leads his good mutants in a battle to foil Magneto, and that's the plot, or most of it.

Share this quote on facebook I started out liking this movie, while waiting for something really interesting to happen. When nothing did, I still didn't dislike it; I assume the X-Men will further develop their personalities if there is a sequel, and maybe find time to get involved in a story. No doubt fans of the comics will understand subtle allusions and fine points of behavior; they should linger in the lobby after each screening to answer questions.

Share this quote on facebook Q: How did you decide Wolverine would be the star of the piece even more so than Xavier or Magneto?

Share this quote on facebook A: He is the fulcrum of X-Men. The earlier X-Men group was a brilliant creation of Stan Lee's, but when Len Wein created Wolverine and they brought him into the X-Men, it was the perfect fulcrum between Professor X's philosophy and Magneto's philosophy. The fact that the wasn't bound by either gave him such a wild, attractive freedom that it was obvious that was the character that the series needed to revolve around. It was originally supposed to be Mel Gibson. Back when I got hired all of our concept art was Mel Gibson.

Share this quote on facebook Q: Some fans complained Storm wasn't given her due in the first X-Men movie, and then became better over time. Did you pay attention to those concerns and how did that happen that she was given more to do in X2?

Share this quote on facebook I of course studied the comic books. In fact I think it was some of the most relaxing research I've ever had to do on a movie. Usually the kind of projects that I've been involved in I end up with heavy novels and background research. But in this case the studio just sent over a box of comic books.

Share this quote on facebook I wanted to get some of the history of the character of course, particularly with his relationship with Magneto, but also to feel how Stan Lee had got inside the mind of Xavier from the very beginning. That was valuable. But it's true, like Bryan, when we had the final draft of the shooting script that's what we worked on.

Share this quote on facebook DS: Did you find it limiting as an actor to be stuck in that chair [as Professor Xavier]?

Share this quote on facebook PS: Yes I did. It's a little bit like the play I'm doing at the moment where I spend half of the play immobilized in a hospital bed. Certainly for an actor like me who is accustomed to using his whole body in developing a role and creating a scene and expressing feelings. And it was restricting. In fact for a couple of days Bryan had been saying to me "Less, less. Do less. You're loud. You're speaking too loudly. Quieter, quieter.

Share this quote on facebook PS: Bryan set out to make a serious movie. That was his intention from the very beginning. Which also happens to be very exciting and very colorful, funny and so forth. It wasn't only Xavier, but having Magneto also as an individual of substance, of great strength and power was important. And who better than Sir Ian to do that. It was a very sensible idea.

Share this quote on facebook Join the Evolution.

Share this quote on facebook Protecting Those Who Fear Them.

Share this quote on facebook The time is coming when all that we are afraid of will be all that can save us.

Share this quote on facebook Trust a few. Fear the rest.

Share this quote on facebook We're Not What You Think.

Share this quote on facebook The future is here.