Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		5.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.5

Avengers: Infinity War 3D Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman September 18, 2018

With the plethora of great Marvel films out there, hailing any of them as "the best" is sure to cause a ruckus amongst the legion of rabid fans. But most would not argue that Avengers: Infinity War makes as strong a case as any of them for that title. The film pushes all the right buttons, leaving the characters and universe in an ever-evolving state of flux and the viewer in a constant state of amazement. Less than 10 minutes into the movie and infinity War reshapes the Marvel landscape and continues to turn the universe upside down on through to the end, an end that is not just a cliffhanger but an end that leaves the state of Marvel, and the studio's enormous fanbase, precariously teetering atop Mount Everest. The film is action-packed, sprawling, and heartfelt. The roster is huge and the story is consequential. Directors Anthony and Joe Russo, who shot the sequel immediately after shooting Infinity War, have a tall task to live up to this and to resolve the seemingly unresolvable.

Chaos rules the galaxy. The imposing, powerful Thanos (Josh Brolin) holds two of the five Infinity Stones, having just extracted the second from the Tesseract. He eyes Earth, where two of the remaining three remain. Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), privy to Thanos' plans, is transported to Earth where he warns Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) of the coming invasion. Strange, in turn, enlists the help of Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and The Avengers to defend the planet from the assault. As Earth braces for additional attacks and various heroes assemble, including Vision (Paul Bettany), who holds one of the stones, Gamora (Zoe Saldana) relives her dark past and maneuvers through an uncertain present alongside her villainous adoptive father. Meanwhile, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) finds himself seeking a new weapon to wield his powers, aided by the mischievous Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and the teenage Groot (Vin Diesel). But can the collected powers of all of The Avengers -- and many additional allies -- stop Thanos and his army from acquiring the ultimate power to wipe out half of the universe's population?

For a movie that runs well over two hours, Infinity War finds a lightning pace and never relents. For as sprawling as the film may be, connecting characters and worlds and actions and interweaving story lines and bringing unlikely allies together in various pursuits to save the universe, it's surprisingly texturally rich and easy to follow. Certainly a foundational understanding of characters and continuing storylines and familiarity with the glut of past Marvel films is helpful, but not entirely essential. The film stands on its own as a dramatic powerhouse and an action extravaganza, with both presenting in equal proportion in terms of screen time and screen merit. It's rare to find a film of so much flash and so much substance, the latter coming in the ways of seriously consequential galaxy-spanning events, the strains on intimate bonds shared between characters, and the very real possibility of failure. Themes of love, sacrifice, fate, friendship, and shared goals interweave throughout the film as The Avengers' battles against Thanos appear increasingly hopeless across each of the several battlefields upon which the "Infinity War" is fought.

As the film plays to the characters' strengths, it tests and strains them like never before. Writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely don't simply drop every drip of past Marvel movie characters and dynamics into a blender and hope for the best. The film sees constant shifts in dynamics and power and unlikely and unusual pairings that individually feel off but ultimately prove critical as the film develops, as Groot, in this film a lazy teenager glued to a handheld video game, plays a significant role in returning a hero to his former glory. Stephen Strange and Tony Stark develop an unlikely bond. Vision's relationship with Scarlet Witch is put to the ultimate test. Peter Quill faces an impossible choice with Gamora. Chaos reigns through the film, structurally and dramatically alike, and no Marvel film has pushed so hard, frayed and bloodied so many characters, and poured on the significant drama to the same extent as Infinity War. It's a highly rewarding film, particularly for those who prefer their movies bleak and always teetering on the edge of disaster. It's unrelentingly intense, offset by key outbursts of mild humor (particularly from Drax), but the darkly dramatic crux carries the film to heights previously unreached by any other Marvel film.

Digital effects dazzle. There's not a character or location or action sequence that isn't absolutely convincing. The sense of spectacle is high but the feeling of character intimacy is also significant, thanks in large part to a dedicated cast that is willing to share the screen with a Hollywood who's who that brings almost literally every Marvel hero, and numerous support figures, together in one film. Of particularly noteworthy mention is Josh Brolin, whose digital performance of the imposing Thanos is as towering as the character he portrays. The villain's own character arc, which expands significantly into the emotional realm beyond the power to reshape the universe to his liking, is the film's centerpiece. That a digital villain can carry a movie populated by countless superheroes who have individually earned billions of dollars in their own films is a testament to both Brolin's performance and Marvel's willingness to highlight its best and build around what will work rather than merely what might be most marketable.

Avengers: Infinity War 3D Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The opening Marvel collage promises good things, producing some very impressive depth/pop-out hybrid images. The film proper's first scene, prominently featuring Thanos and Loki, does not struggle to establish or reveal depth, even through burning rubble and a general lack of good light. Character separation from the environment and from one another always appears clearly defined, and a fight between Hulk and Thanos never struggles with defining character bulk, shape, and their place in the environment, even considering the quick-moving action and all of the digital renderings the 3D presentation needs to keep up with. Action scenes throughout delight with endless stage extension and some large scale moments that shine with the opportunity to expand the movie's playing field. Perhaps just as interestingly there are a number of seemingly insignificant little environmental details that in 2D go largely unnoticed but in 3D stand out as necessary objects that help to define distance between characters and their surroundings, both in largely static scenes and as battlefields evolve.There's nothing really gimmicky in play, either, just a nonstop barrage of seamless depth and some natural extension effects, whether simple things like fingers and arms or more complex moving parts during intense action.

For as good and fluid as the 3D may be when the chaos reigns, it is perhaps the stable depth and wide-open areas that most impress. When Strange and Wong put on a little show for Tony Stark, filling him in on Thanos and the Infinity Stones, the sense of depth and scale within the shot -- a hybrid of live action and digital -- is very impressive, as it is throughout all of Strange's home, which pushes and pulls with realistic stretch and space. Long stretches of city streets extend well into the distance. Spider-Man slings through the city with breathtaking 3D positioning against the urban expanse. Natural Wakandan expanses spread out far and wide. A ground level shot seen at the 43:43 mark, a scene when Thanos meets a young Gamora, offers maybe the best example of the 3D's ability to stretch a location with significant back-screen push.

The 3D presentation doesn't see any dramatic fall-off in terms of textural clarity or color compared to the standard 2D Blu-ray. It remains sharp and intimately detailed with environmental touches -- whether grassy fields or dense city rubble -- and facial and costume features alike alive with tangible, believable complexity. Colors don't see any significant subtraction to vibrance, either. For a more detailed review of what to expect in terms of color and detail, see the review for the standard Blu-ray here.

Avengers: Infinity War 3D Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Avengers: Infinity War's Blu-ray 3D release does not include the UHD's Dolby Atmos track. The disc's DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 lossless soundtrack again suffers from Disney's reduced output encoding. At this reviewer's normal calibrated listening level, the track produces a light, shallow sound, with dialogue approaching whisper levels and action lacking audible intensity. Moving the volume dial upwards alleviates the sound level, but the track's lack of low end finesse remains an issue. Battle scenes are certainly not lacking for surround activity. Once a good, representative volume is found, listeners will enjoy no shortage of sweeping sounds that convey energy and motion and throw the audience in the middle of the action. It's at an increased volume where the sound design's true strengths are found, as every blast, thump, thud, bit of scattered rubble, and any and all sonic details, critical and subtle alike, become more prominently audible and intensely engaging as the sound designers almost certainly intended. A track is not this complex with the end goal of forcing the listener to strain to hear and enjoy it or to reduce its potency. Regardless, the track is a lot of fun at its core level, and even if the low end output is not prodigious, there's enough essential power to support action. The surrounds additionally carry a good number of light but environment- and mood-critical sound elements that shape less invasive scenes. Musical delivery follows, lacking the vitality at standard volume but finding more intensity and satisfying delivery at higher outputs. Dialogue, hushed as it may be, is fine when the volume is properly adjusted.

Avengers: Infinity War 3D Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Avengers: Infinity War contains the following extras on the 2D-only Blu-ray. No DVD or digital copies are included. The release ships with an embossed slipcover.

• Intro (1080p, 1:32): Directors Joe and Anthony Russo offer a few thoughts. Available only under the "Play" menu screen option.
• Strange Alchemy (1080p, 5:08): A look at bringing together so many of the characters from the Marvel universe.
• The Mad Titan (1080p, 6:34): A focused exploration of the film's antagonist, Thanos: history in the films, motivations, Josh Brolin's performance, additional character arcs as they relate to him, and more.
• Beyond the Battle: Titan (1080p, 9:36): This piece opens with another look at bringing all of the Marvel characters together but finally moves to more closely exploring the making of the film's battle on Titan: visual style, Brolin's performance, practical photography and digital construction, end movie twists, and more.
• Beyond the Battle: Wakanda (1080p, 10:58): A look at the Georgia location that stood in for the fictional African kingdom, constructing the battle's dynamics, scope, digital constructs, and making the film's final moments.
• Deleted Scenes (1080p, 10:13 total runtime): Happy Knows Best, Hunt for the Mind Stone, The Guardians Get Their Groove Back, and A Father's Choice.
• Gag Reel (1080p, 2:05).
• Audio Commentary: Directors Joe and Anthony Russo and Writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely dive deeply into the film's story, the technical details of the shoot, interweaving plot elements from previous films, audience draw to the film, the balance between action and emotional content, editing, and much more. The track is very organic and never feels as if it's jumping from one subject to another. This is an enjoyable, free flowing discussion of the film that offers quality insight that fans should appreciate.

Avengers: Infinity War 3D Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Infinity War is a dazzling film of great emotional draw, strongly defined characters despite a sprawling roster, digital delights, and storytelling that wraps together many previous plot lines from older Marvel films while boldly headed into an unknown future for the entire universe. This is not only perhaps the best Marvel movie of them all, it's also one of the year's most agreeable movies. Disney's Blu-ray 3D release of Avengers: Infinity War, which is not available in the US but that can imported region-free, delivers a first-rate 3D experience, alive with depth and complex moving parts that alway find perfect placement across, into, and out of the 3D environment. Sound and supplements are unchanged from the US Blu-ray. Very highly recommended.