3.5/4  My Spidey Sense says Great Movie!!
In 2002, the world was treated to the second big budget treatment of a Marvel comic book in the form of Spider-Man. Bryan Singer had opened the doors for major comic book adaptations two years prior with his adaptation of the X-Men, and he... (read full)

3.5/4  GREAT POWER...GREAT RESPONSIBILITY.
After being buried in development hell for 25 years, the SPIDER-MAN character finally comes to life! Considering a $821 million gross revenue against $140 million in production cost, I'd say they were pretty darn successful... You could ... (read full)

2.5/4  Spider-Man Quick Review
This is the only good one out of the series I thought. The second was so so and the third sucks. This was a good film though.

3.5/4  Spider-Man Quick Review
I liked it a lot. Although, it's a bit overrated. Mostly because the plot and dialogue are kinda childish. And, it could use more blood and guts. But, all in all, a very good movie.

2.5/4  Spider-Man Quick Review
I thought Magurie did a good job as the shy Peter Parker. I didn't, however, buy Dunst as his love interest. The villain was a bit corny. The special effects were surprisingly mediocre.

3/4  Spider-Man Quick Review
A very worthy effort by the actors involved. Dafoe was a perfect choice for the villain, and Maguire was born for the role. It stays very true to the comic book. Problem: A weak beginning and sappy music at times (get over your uncle). Good

3/4  Spider-Man Quick Review
I give Spiderman high marks for special effects and a origin story, but I just wasn't blown away by the film. The bad guy, while setting up the story down the road, just didn't feel right and took a lot away. A solid effort.

5/5 Spider-Man
  by Jose Lopez (Miami,Florida USA)
Spider-Man I think along with Part 2 is the Best, they are tied. Part 1 being better of course, I don't agree with some of the casting, and perhaps other things. But it was Fun To watch on The Big Screen and now fun to own and watch in the living room for any SpiderMan Fan.

4/5 The AMAZING Spider-Man!
  by Henry-Clyde (North of Nowhere, South of Everywhere, East of There, West of Here)
Recently, superhero films have been an extremely effective genre in Hollywood. It is undeniable that superhero films are the movies that endure the most hype these days. If made correctly, these kind of movies offer plenty of action, thrills, and character, while also being impressively designed and using some of the best special effects teams around. Bryan Singer's "X-MEN" was the movie that introduced the superhero film to the 21st century. It raised the bar so high, the audiences were astounded and it seemed like no other movie, superhero or otherwise, could surpass it. That bar has definitely been raised to new levels many times since then with films such as the spectacular "THE DARK KNIGHT" and, to a lesser extent, "IRON MAN". However, "SPIDER-MAN" is nothing to sneeze at either.
High school nerd Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) lives with his Aunt May (Rosemary Harris) and Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson). His next door neighbor happens to be the beautiful Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), whom Peter has loved since "before he even liked girls". Peter is also best friends with Harry Osborn (James Franco), whose dad is Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe). Norman is overly ambitious with his company, Oscorp (which supplies weapons and special equipment to the military), and wants to give Harry everything that he never had in his younger days. One life-changing day, Peter's class goes on a field trip to Columbia University's Science Department. During the tour, Peter is bitten on the hand by a genetically enhanced "super-spider" that escaped from an exhibit. That night, Norman is testing one of his company's performance enhancers on himself. The experiment goes horribly wrong, and Norman becomes the incredibly strong yet viciously insane Green Goblin. Meanwhile, Peter has undergone a night of dizziness and a stomach ache due to the spider bite. In the morning, he finds that he also has gained heightened strength, agility, can spin webs from his wrists, climb walls, and a certain "spider-sense" to warn him of danger. Mary Jane and Peter become much closer friends, despite the fact that she is now dating Harry. She also thinks she loves Spider-Man after he saves her life twice. Goblin is suspicious of Spider-Man's true identity. He also feels threatened by Parker, but has not yet made the connection between the two. They finally square off in a fantastic showdown that is also one of the best scenes in the entire movie.
But, at the end of the day, "SPIDER-MAN" still has its faults. For example, what is Goblin's plan? We understand his revenge against the Quest Aerospace officials and the Oscorp board members, but what else is there? He has a personal vendetta against Spider-Man, but why? Just to write it off as him being insane is not sufficient. Up next is the cinematography during the scenes of Spider-Man swinging through the city. They play and look like a video game, with the camera seeming to be too distant and too close at the same time. The feeling of all the tension, fear, and confusion of his new powers is actually not felt at all; he acts more like a kid in a candy shop. Instead of keeping the camera a reasonable distance from him so we can see how he uses his surroundings to display his amazing powers, the camera is tight on him, right over his shoulder most of the time. Strangely, the cinematography for the action scenes is quite good. The only scene of this kind that works in this film is the ending, which was filmed with the Spyder-Cam. It was a very effective technique that was used for all the swinging and fighting scenes in "SPIDER-MAN 2", and I would assume it was used in #3 as well, but I haven't seen that one yet. As a matter of fact, everything in #2 is improved over #1. The acting, action pieces, dialogue, and especially the villain. Nevertheless, everything in this film still comes together reasonably well, with only a few drawbacks.





SPECIAL FEATURES
- Audio commentary with director Sam Raimi & producer Grant Curtis, Kirsten Dunst and producer Laura Ziskin
- Audio commentary with special effects designer John Dykstra and visual effects crew
- "Weaving the Web" optional pop-up factoids throughout film
- "Spider-Sense" optional Web-i-sodes throughout film
- Music videos with Chad Kroeger and Josey Scott: "HERO", Sum 41: "WHAT WE'RE ALL ABOUT"
- TV Spots
- Theatrical Trailers
- Filmographies & Character Files
- DVD-ROM: Comic/Feature Comparison, Record Your Own Commentary, Countdown to "SPIDER-MAN 2", Weblinks
- HBO Making of Spider-Man
- Spider-Mania: An E! Entertainment Special
- Director Profile: Sam Raimi
- Composer Profile: Danny Elfman
- Screen Tests: Tobey Maguire, J.K. Simmons, and CGI Spider-Man
- Costume and Makeup Tests
- Gag/Outtake Reel
- Conceptual Art and Production Design Gallery
- Historical Documentary - Spider-Man: The Mythology of the 21st Century
- The Spider-Man Comic Archives
- Rogues Gallery
- The Loves of Peter Parker
- Comic Book Artist Gallery
- Activision Game: Hints & Tips
- DVD-ROM: Activision PC game with 2 playable levels, 3 exclusive Marvel dot.comics: "SPIDER-MAN: BLUE #1", "BLACK CAT #1", and "PETER PARKER: RETURN OF THE GOBLIN"
- Spider-Man Visualizer




Also Recommended: "SUPERMAN" (1978), "X-MEN" (2000), "X2" (2003), "SPIDER-MAN 2" (2004), BATMAN BEGINS (2005)




THIS REVIEW IS DEDICATED TO ANYONE, LIVING OR DEAD, INVOLVED WITH THE MAKING OF "SPIDER-MAN".

5/5 Spider man Number 1
  by
Wow what do I say so Im a big Fan of the spider man comics it's my favorite next to the Incredible Hulk and DareDevil my favorite Character is Green Goblin this is better than Starwars episode II Attack of the clones. I just wish the Goblin had won the fight and killed bug man.

4/5 Very well done
  by Blake Man
Spider-Man is one of my favorite superheroes of all time. This movie was very well done from start to finish. What makes Spider-Man so darn good isn't its action or music, its the story behind it. The story is very heart warming and touching. You connect with the hero so well that its like he really exists. Its rare to find a comic book movie that not only delivers a very good story, but a touching one as well. Unlike another film I just reviewed (Wanted), this movie tells the story of a man that learns that with great power comes great responsibility.
Setting the wonderful story aside, the rest of the movie falls into place as well. The action sequences are well done and exciting. I'd want nothing more than to be able to web sling across buildings like Spidy does. I loved the soundtrack to this film. The music is original and powerful, and it may give you goosebumps. The acting is very well done in this film as well.
I think the best part about this movie is that it feels very complete. While there is no cliffhanger at the end of the film, it successfully is left open to continue future stories. Nothing feels rushed. Nothing feels missing. Spider-Man feels like a full helping of everything good.

5/5 DVD SPIDER-MAN
  by Christine A. Griffin (Archbald, PA)
ARRIVED IN EXCELLENT CONDITION. MOVIE IS FUN AND INTERESTING. WELL WORTH THE PRICE!