Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Black Panther 3D Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman June 22, 2018

Black Panther was a special production for many involved in its construction, representing not just another movie about a fictional hero capable of great feats but standing as a symbol as the first superhero of African descent. The character debuted in the 1960s, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, at the height of the Civil Rights movement in the United States and has become one of the most beloved icons of the Marvel, and indeed the greater comic book, universe. The character was introduced to moviegoers in the fantastic Captain America: Civil War and is now the focus of Director Ryan Coogler's (Fruitvale Station, Creed) third feature film. Black Panther is a rip-roaring Superhero film steeped in culture and tradition while simultaneously presenting cutting-edge technology and modern-made excitement. The film's arcing plot line is a little stale, but it's a fine, fun flick that performs well above most of its cliché-riddled parts.

The king is dead, long live the king! The African nation of Wakanda, thought to be well behind the times and poverty stricken by the outside world, is actually a technologically advanced society thanks to the fortuitous arrival of a meteorite made of the alien metal "vibranium" some years ago. It has transformed Wakandan society, a transformation the people and leadership have kept secret for many years. In line to lead the nation is T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman) who fends off a tribal challenge to take his rightful seat at the nation's head and assume the identity of the Black Panther. He is immediately tested when it is revealed that an old enemy, a man his father could not defeat named Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis), has stolen a valuable vibranium sample for a museum that did not know what it had in its possession. Aiding the longtime Wakandan nemesis is N'Jadaka (Michael B. Jordan), a radical with his eyes set on a bigger prize than even the valuable vibranium.

Black Panther soars as a production steeped in its characters' culture. The film is set in the fictional nation of Wakanda, a landlocked country said to be isolated form the world and believed to be a poor, struggling third-world nation. However, the people hold a secret that has provided them radical advancements in technology, including medicine and weapons. The filmmakers have done a wonderful job of effortlessly blending together colorful, carefully considered culture and radical, but not unbelievable, technology into the film's world. It's an oftentimes breathtaking display of new and old, of characters expressing themselves, battling, and caring for one another in ways that highlight both ends of the spectrum, and that they so effortlessly, and believably, maneuver through both with nary a hiccup along the way is a testament to, certainly, their skills as actors but also the writers' vision for the world and how and why it works. For the audience, it's a dazzling display, quite unlike anything that has ever been on the screen before, and even as the film plods through a story that's as cliché as the world is visionary, the structural support carries the film beyond the crudities of its basic arc.

The film elevates considerably once the action is truly set into motion, after core story arcs begin to take shape, and character motivations and secrets are revealed. Action scenes are exciting and well choreographed, even if they often stem from fairly trite, stale dramatic circumstances. A car chase partway through the film is exceptionally well crafted, with several unique ideas executed to perfection while the sequence yields enjoyable mayhem. But the film thrives more on its character construction and less on its action, more on its arcing story and less on its point-to-point scenes. It's a film that's by-and-large predictable in execution, even as it takes a difficult dramatic turn at the end of its second act to which the characters react remarkably well and help create a sense of panic, sadness, and darkness at the new realty before them, but even still there's not much of an element of surprise at how the movie will resolve thereafter. But it's fun. It's crafted with passion on both side of the camera, the production values are everything one could want in a movie of this type, and even if the characters maneuver through stock ebbs and flows, they do so with conviction. The cast is fantastic all-around, each primary absorbed into the character and buying into the blend of traditional-meets-future. Michael B. Jordan is the film's standout as the cocky and powerful villain.

Black Panther 3D Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Black Panther's Blu-ray 3D release is awesome. The image yields some awe-inspiring perspective, fantastic area shape, and some truly stunning environmental creations. Just look at the train tracks around 110 minute mark. The camera is positioned down low on the tracks, which stretch for quite some distance. It's one of the absolute best 3D stretch shots the format has ever seen. It's one of those that will wear out the remote's pause and rewind buttons. Just soak it in (why, again, is this format dying in the United States, where this disc is not locally available?).

Strongly defined environmental shape is a regular feature. It's not just basic depth on display but rather a very tangible, a very well defined presentation of total area. The 1992-era apartment in Oakland seen in the film's opening minutes sets a very good 3D tone for the entire movie (and it only gets better!). Though the scene is fairly dark, the Blu-ray 3D disc reveals a very firm, very realistic openness and sense of distance to various objects and walls. The same holds true for a ship interior a few minutes later in which the spacing inspires a great deal of respect for its flawless perspective. The third dimension so regularly defines the shape of the film's environments that the image sometimes almost starts to feel commonplace, and then another A-list 3D scene pops in to dazzle. The waterfall atop of which battles for supremacy are fought is quite striking and perhaps the most amazing of the more extensively seen set pieces in the film (that train track shot is still the best 3D moment in the film). The large volume of the space, the jutting rock formations, the vertical stretch, the combatants standing in the water, the separation between onlookers…it's a striking visual setting that is even more so in 3D. It's one of those rare set pieces where every visual component compliments the 3D platform and its strengths to perfection. Even relatively confined spaces, such as seen in a shot of a person sitting just a couple of feet away from a bank of computer monitors at the 17:55 mark, offer a very realistic sense of measurable volume.

Some of the more core visuals that really lend themselves to a 3D presentation shine. Ships appear to fly through space with a tangible sense of distance from land, more distant sky, and one another. The holographic technology various character employ, as screens and images and readouts appear to hover over their wrists, is quite impressively shapely. Additional extra-screen goodness abounds. Rifle barrels stick out during an action scene in chapter two and plenty of extension and depth alike draws the viewer in close to the climactic battle sequence.

There are some crosstalk effects, a few of which are severe, scattered throughout the film as seen on the review Sony XBR65Z9D. Such are not enough to deteriorate the entirety of the image but enough to dampen enthusiasm for it just a little bit. Otherwise, the presentation is stellar. The 3D image loses very little, if any, of its textural integrity or color saturation. Both are very strong elements and perfectly compliment the consistently stellar 3D work on display.

Note that this 3D version of the film offers shifting aspect ratios that jump from 2.39:1 to 1.85:1.

Black Panther 3D Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Black Panther roars onto Blu-ray 3D...assuming one cranks up the sound loud enough to properly hear it. This DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 lossless soundtrack is another in a growing line of Disney films to present at a very low volume. On this reviewer's system, a -12.5db setting is generally a sweet spot, but this, and other recent Disney titles, requires cranking it up to a calibrated reference level of 0.0db to appreciate; at -12.5 the track is audible, but lacks any kind of dynamic command of the stage. Once the volume is properly set, though, the track is quite good, though not quite a beast. Bass is present but not often in any prodigious quantities. There's enough support heft to music, explosions, power flying craft, car chases, and a large-scale battle at film's end to add some dynamism to the track, but this one certainly doesn't rock the stage with any serious, big-time authority. Percussion drum beats are perhaps a notable exception, offering plenty of weight to each strike. Still, the track is never shy about engaging every speaker at its disposal. It's frequently very open, sprawling about and drawing the listener square into the middle of any given scene, from fights for supremacy to the film's climactic battle where all sorts of chaotic sound elements present but never draw the listener's attention away from the main-draw, on-screen action. Several discrete effects are very enjoyable. A tire rolls into the back right speaker following the big car chase in the middle of the film, and craft distinctly fly through the stage towards the climax. Minor atmospheric details are handled well, and dialogue is clear and detailed with natural front-center positioning and some excellent reverberation at the 97-minute mark.

Black Panther 3D Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Black Panther's Blu-ray release contains a large assortment of extra content, all of which can be found on the bundled 2D Blu-ray; the 3D disc contains no extras.

• Crowning of a New King (1080p, 5:34): A look at Black Panther's debut in Civil War, the character's place in the Avengers, the costume, the character's grounded and relatable origins, the character's journey between Civil War and this film, the character's comic origins, the film's driving story, and more.
• The Hidden Kingdom Revealed (1080p, 6:57): A closer look at the fictional realm of Wakanda, both the location and the people who inhabit it.
• The Warriors Within (1080p, 6:08): A discussion of the prominent role women play in Wakanda, with focus on several of the film's key female characters.
• Wakanda Revealed: Exploring the Technology (1080p, 6:16): This piece explores the critical role Vibranium plays in the story, including how it has helped develop the land and its use in clothing, weapons, and vehicles.
• Gag Reel (1080p, 1:38).
• Deleted Scenes (1080p, 6:53 total runtime): Included are UN Meet and Greet, Okoye and W'Kabi Discuss the Future of Wakanda, T'Challa Remembers His Father, and Voices from the Past.
• From Page to Screen: A Roundtable Discussion (1080p, 20:27): Comic Writer Christopher Priest, Comic Writer Don McGregor, Black Panther Executive Producer Nate Moore, Comic Writer Ta-Nehisi Coates, Black Panther Writer Joe Robert Cole, and Black Panther Co-Writer/Director Ryan Coogler discuss the character's history in the comics, his emergence in the Civil Rights era, the character's transition to the screen, the character and story's importance to African-Americans and general society, the character's place in contemporary America, the character's cinematic introduction in Civil War, Chadwick Boseman's performance, and more. This is the best supplement of the bunch.
• Marvel Studios: The First Ten Years -- Connecting the Universe (1080p, 8:39): A look at the crossover worlds and the sprawling character roster in the Marvel films.
• Exclusive Sneak Peek at Ant-Man and the Wasp (1080p, 2:26): A quick behind-the-scenes look at the upcoming movie with on-set footage and interview snippets.
• Audio Commentary: Director Ryan Coogler and Production Designer Hannah Beachler offer a rich, passionate, and well-versed commentary that covers all of the usual commentary essentials as well as details beyond the basics of the shoot. A very good track.
• Director Ryan Coogler Intro (1080p, 1:23): Available only under the "Play" tab. Coogler discusses the honor of bringing the character and comic to the screen, powerful women in the film, and the themes that connect to him and wide audiences alike.

Black Panther 3D Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Black Panther is not a bastion of narrative creativity, but it's done well, it's exciting, it's well acted, and it's beautifully and passionately crafted. Action, costumes, and conviction make up for a fairly linear storyline that has precious few surprises up its sleeve. It's not the best entry into the MCU, but it's a lot of fun in its exploration of one of the most interesting worlds and engaging characters on the Marvel roster. Disney's Blu-ray 3D release is oftentimes striking and consistently excellent, the one drawback being a abnormal spike in crosstalk (at least as seen on this reviewer's Sony XBR65Z9D). Audio and extras are the same as the U.S. 2D Blu-ray. Highly recommended.