Avengers: Infinity War 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		5.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Avengers: Infinity War 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman August 3, 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 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The included screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray disc. Watch for 4K screenshots at a later date.

Avengers: Infinity War's UHD release offers less a dramatic increase in visual excellence over the Blu-ray and instead delivers a mild, but appreciable and very welcome, boost to basic textural clarity and color saturation. The UHD image appears a slight bit more glossy than the companion Blu-ray image. The net result is deeper and more intense colors, modestly more balanced blacks, slightly improved shadow detail, and a firmer accuracy to skin tones, though there are, in the latter's case, some drastic alterations (look at a shot of Captain America standing ready on the Wakandan battlefield at the 1:39:31 mark; the character's skin transitions from a fairly flat and a little creamy appearance on Blu-ray to a shade of near-gray, and makeup application is very easy to see). Little in select scene comparisons, or in simply watching the movie the entire way through, really stands out as a major benefactor of the HDR-10 color grading beyond the aforementioned various and incremental improvements. But natural greens do enjoy a little more depth, colorful clothes in Wakanda see improved saturation, and various Superhero odds and ends (Strange's and Wong's wizardry, laser blasts, even conventional weapons like explosions that are result of War Machine dropping bombs on the battlefield, which yield more darkly orange fireballs rather than the Blu-ray's yellow-dominant presentation thereof) enjoy a boost in color intensity.

Textural improvements are relatively minor as well. Though the movie was reportedly photographed at a resolution of 6.5K, it was finished at 2K (UPDATE: several days after posting this review the IMDB spec page was updated to list this as a native 4K digital intermediate, and several days later the page was again updated to re-list the 2K DI). Skin tones and costumes are both modestly more firm and slightly more revealing of intimate pores or fabric textures, not to mention generalized wear and fabric density. Overall image sharpness is improved, and distant details enjoy an increase in firmness and clarity even well beyond the near field. Make no mistake, this is a very impressive image. Grading it on its own it's a very positive viewing experience, though not necessarily a format standout. Compared to the Blu-ray, the UHD improves in all areas but rarely to any drastic degree. But the solidified colors, image stabilization, and increased sharpness do make this the version to watch amongst the two, without question.

Avengers: Infinity War 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Like the companion Blu-ray's DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 lossless soundtrack, Avengers: Infinity War's UHD Dolby Atmos audio presentation suffers Disney-itis, meaning a generalized low volume and reduction in low end output. At normal reference listening levels, the sound plays low. Dialogue sometimes approaches a hush, music and action are not dynamic, and there's barely an appreciable low end response. Increasing the volume helps, allowing the listener to more fully appreciate the movie's dynamic sound design. That said, the track is a lot of fun with the volume cranked, imperfect as it may be. All of that surround information truly flies around the listener, and battle scenes in particular are invigorating with not only the sheer volume of activity but the precision and clarity of delivery as well. The additional overhead channels don't often deliver fully discrete sound details but do add a helpful layer in the sonic playground, a complimentary boost that enriches the listening experience. Low end response lacks the dynamic intensity and chest-pounding thump one might rightly expect of a movie like this, where action is just as critical as the more intimate story-driving character moments. It's a shame, because there's ample opportunity for legendary low end extension that is instead more timid than track defining. Music largely follows suit. Less demanding atmospherics are nicely integrated and immersive and dialogue does present with solid, but sometimes a little boomy and chunky, front-center positioning. Again, be sure to turn it up, because the spoken word will likely be a little challenging at one's normal listening levels.

Perhaps in the future Disney would be wise to prominently include a track labeled "Family" in the audio options -- default to it, even; home theater aficionados are wise enough to choose and more than capable of selecting their desired sound presentation from a menu screen -- that's more appropriate for the living room sound bar while still leaving the unblemished and full-throttle lossless tracks to their full capabilities for those with proper home theater setups and listening environments, because in franchises like Marvel and Star Wars Disney certainly has some of the most sound-intensive films on the market. It's a shame to neuter them and rob them, and their listeners, of the full experience and sonic excellence.

Avengers: Infinity War 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

All of the Avengers: Infinity War supplements can be found on the bundled Blu-ray disc. A Movies Anywhere digital copy code is included with purchase.

• 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 4K 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 release of Avengers: Infinity War's UHD delivers a solid 4K/HDR picture, a typically reserved Disney soundtrack, and several extras. Highly recommended, but Disney does need to do something about these soundtracks.