More than a few critics hailed Spider-Man 2 as "the best superhero movie ever," and there's no compelling reason to argue--thanks to a bigger budget, better special effects, and a dynamic, character-driven plot, it's a notch above Spider-Man in terms of emotional depth and rich comic-book sensibility. Ordinary People Oscar-winner Alvin Sargent received screenplay credit, and celebrated author and comic-book expert Michael Chabon worked on the story, but it's director Sam Raimi's affinity for the material that brings Spidey 2 to vivid life. When a fusion experiment goes terribly wrong, a brilliant physicist (Alfred Molina) is turned into Spidey's newest nemesis, the deranged, mechanically tentacled "Doctor Octopus," obsessed with completing his experiment and killing Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire) in the process. Even more compelling is Peter Parker's urgent dilemma: continue his burdensome, lonely life of crime-fighting as Spider-Man, or pursue love and happiness with Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst)? Molina's outstanding as a tragic villain controlled by his own invention, and the action sequences are nothing less than breathtaking, but the real success of Spider-Man 2 is its sense of priorities. With all of Hollywood's biggest and best toys at his disposal, Raimi and his writers stay true to the Marvel mythology, honoring Spider-Man creators Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, and setting the bar impressively high for the challenge of Spider-Man 3.

Actors: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Alfred Molina, James Franco, Rosemary Harris Directors: Sam Raimi Writers: Alfred Gough, Alvin Sargent, Michael Chabon, Miles Millar, Stan Lee Producers: Avi Arad Format: Widescreen, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Dolby, Color, NTSC Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround) Subtitles: English, Spanish, French Region: Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only) PLEASE NOTE: Some Region 1 DVDs may contain Regional Coding Enhancement (RCE). Some, but not all, of our international customers have had problems playing these enhanced discs on what are called "region-free" DVD players. For more information on RCE, click here. Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 Number of discs: 2 Rated: PG-13 Studio: Sony Pictures DVD Release Date: November 30, 2004 Run Time: 127 minutes DVD Features:   Special Features "Spidey Sense 2" pop-up trivia track Blooper reel Four Web-isodes: original online featurettes Train music video: "Ordinary" Disc 2: "Making the Amazing": 12-part documentary "Hero in Crisis": a deeper look into Peter Parker and his personal battles "Ock-umentary: Eight Arms to Hold You" "Interwoven: The Women of Spider-Man" "Enter the Web": groundbreaking multi-angle look behind the scenes Art gallery Behind-the-scenes look at the Activision game