Captain America: Brave New World Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Captain America: Brave New World Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 9, 2025

Chances are if you had anything resembling a tradition filled childhood, you probably played "telephone" in elementary school at one point, and some of you may have actually played a "written" form of that game as is described in this blog post by a teacher. I'm frankly not sure if "fold over story" is a widely accepted label for such a practice, but I can tell you from personal (probably second or third grade) experience, the results can be absolutely hilarious, since each subsequent writer is only privy to one line above theirs, and so has no sense of an overall "arc" or "narrative". In that regard, it may be salient to note that (as the frequently questionable Wikipedia states) this film is the fourth installment in the Captain America film series, a continuation of the television miniseries The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: The Complete First Season, and the (and this may be the most salient data point) 35th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The MCU has become such a sprawling "Hydra" of sorts that any writer trying to "continue" any given nook and cranny of competing storylines is probably going to be met with numerous hurdles to hop over, and things have been getting so complex over the last few years in particular with the increasing aggregation of television properties in addition to feature films, that viewers may need to come to any given MCU property with either significant background "research" or possibly some kind of portable flowchart they can refer to as things unfold.

All of the foregoing is to say, it can actually be instructive in a way to read the below linked reviews of the various Captain America properties in order, if only to get some idea of how this franchise has not been especially shy about telling viewers, "OK, we're going over here now, just get used to it and stop your belly achin'". The following list omits "guest star" and/or cameo appearances by the character in other MCU properties which probably only further complicate things:

Captain America: The First Avenger Blu- ray review

Captain America: The Winter Soldier Blu- ray review

Captain America: Civil War Blu-ray review

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: The Complete First Season Blu-ray review

The sheer patent insanity of what has almost been the viral spread (in more ways than one) of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is perhaps subliminally and even somewhat comically hinted at in an opening vignette which is more or less one of those "Previously. . .on Captain America" types of introductions, except that it deals largely with story elements that have not been a central part of any previous Captain America outing (as detailed above, in any case). Instead, we're offered Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford), a character who has been at least on the sidelines of some previous MCU outings (portrayed by the late William Hurt), who has just won the United States Presidency. A whole host of passing imminent subplot information is doled out in the quasi-montage, including a largely unexplained "feud" between Ross and Sam Wilson, AKA Captain America (Anthony Mackie).

A lot of lip service, including some in the supplementary material included on this disc, has been paid to the so-called "humanity" of Sam Wilson, who, unlike Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), is a "serum-less" superhero. That's all fine and good, except for the fact that it becomes next to impossible not to feel like that whole conceit is kind of ridiculous given this Captain America's supercharged suit, which basically makes him into a red, white and blue Iron Man. One way or the other, if Captain America and/or Sam Wilson stands alone as the unqualified focal hero of the piece (with "backup heroics" courtesy of Joaquin Torres AKA Falcon, portrayed by Danny Ramirez), the film kind of hilariously may suffer from a surplus of villainous characters, even if perceptions as to their very villainy may morph as the story unwinds.

Perhaps not inaccurately likening this film to a video game, potential "final level Big Boss" nemeses include Sidewinder (Giancarlo Esposito), a black ops leader; Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson), a kind of literal brainiac (with an external-ish brain); Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumley), a seemingly hapless vet; and, just for good measure, President Ross himself, who (no huge surprise here to anyone familiar with the MCU) has his own "AKA" to deal with. It's all largely ludicrous, with the screenplay (not surprisingly credited to a whole coterie of writers) bouncing between characters and set pieces, while also fitfully attempting to deal with Sam's "real man" and, yes "real black man" issues in becoming Captain America.

My colleague Brian Orndorf was evidently even less impressed with the film than I was. You can read Brian's thoughts here.

Captain America: Brave New World Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Captain America: Brave New World is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Disney / Buena Vista with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. Captured with Arri Alexa cameras and finished with a 4K DI, the 1080 presentation is largely outstanding, though I will cut to the chase and recommend those with an interest in this title who have the appropriate equipment to opt for Disney's 4K release (in either standard or SteelBook packaging). Detail levels are largely immaculate here, at least on practical sets, costumes and actual humans (whether or not they're buried under prosthetics), and the palette is really gorgeously suffused for the most part, but I'd argue that both detailing and especially palette probably see noticeable improvements (or actual changes in the case of palette) in the 4K UHD version. There are some fleeting moments here where the CGI looks positively undercooked, so to speak, and these may be one aspect where this 1080 version's lesser resolution actually redounds to the benefit of the overall presentation, since those moments looked maybe slightly less cartoon like than they do in the 4K version.

Captain America: Brave New World Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

While Disney opted to include a Dolby Atmos track on its 4K presentation, I have to say the DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track on this disc is a winner every step of the way, and differences between this version and the Atmos version are really not all that huge in my estimation. This track offers consistent immersive qualities, with really nice use of the side and rear channels to support both scoring and especially ambient effects throughout, not necessarily just reserved for action sequences. The set pieces offer near whirlwinds of sonic activity, and there are some really fun (and "duck worthy") panning effects when sprays of gunfire get ricocheted right back at the shooter when Cap raises his shield. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. There are some brief forced subtitles in a late showdown scene, but otherwise optional subtitles in several languages are available.

Captain America: Brave New World Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Assuming the Mantle (HD; 11:08) begins with a recap of story aspects of Sam becoming Captain America, but then gets into some production elements like costume design.


• Old Scores, New Scars (HD; 9:46) deals with some of those aforementioned villainous types.


• Gag Reel (HD; 2:12)


• Deleted Scenes (HD; 4:45)


• Audio Commentary by Julius Onah and Kramer Morgenthau

Captain America: Brave New World Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

As Brian alluded to in his review when Captain America: Brave New World screened theatrically, it's more than evident that things are being lined up for yet another Avengers outing, and so in that regard, this film may be a necessary "stepping stone" toward understanding what's going on in that future film. That said, as mentioned above, there's probably going to be an "OK, we're going over here now" element in any case, so that may make this outing missable. There are enjoyable elements here, including some fun performances and a veritably slew of villains, but the story is kind of a quagmire. Technical merits are first rate (though they're probably topped by Disney's 4K presentation) and the supplements enjoyable for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.