Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 28, 2023

James Gunn is on hand in some supplements on the 1080 disc included in this package stating that he feels Guardians of the Galaxy was "about the mother", Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was "about the father", and this latest and supposedly last (yeah, sure) installment in the franchise is about "the self". Given that "mother" and "father" statement, one might assume the "self" in question is Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), and yet perhaps just a little hilariously, Gunn is also on hand in these supplements mentioning how he always wanted this third entry in the series to focus on Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), the raucous but somehow vulnerably loveable raccoon who is part of the team. That seeming disconnect might suggest a certain confusion as to the focus of this simultaneously exuberant and heartwarming entry, but it really isn't, since one of the things Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 addresses is how every "self" in the story (or at least the major characters) has had to find a way past trauma to get to something approaching a happy ending. And without posting any specific spoilers in that regard, let's just say that in many ways, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. is most definitely a celebratory enterprise for a very motley crew that fans have come to outright venerate.

For those wanting to catch up on "previously. . .on Guardians of the Galaxy", clicking on the following review links may help:

Guardians of the Galaxy 3D Blu-ray review

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Blu-ray review

Vis a vis the first two films in this series, some of the supplements in this release discuss how they followed each other in relatively rapid succession, and kept that same seamless segue in terms of the stories they told, with the sophomore film picking up more or less exactly from where the freshman entry had ended. In a way, that same conceit is followed here, as the supplements get into, in that this third film comes along several years after the second, and in fact the story takes that interstitial time into account in terms of what has happened to its many characters. What that ends up meaning is that this tale is perhaps best described, if I may be permitted to coin a new superlative, as being in medias res-ier than typical sequels.

Before that happens, though, a downright disturbing vignette plays out under the opening credits documenting the "transformation" of little Rocket by the so-called High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji), and in fact the film will repeatedly return to flashbacks continuing this aspect of Rocket's past after the "actual" story gets underway and Rocket is mortally wounded by one of the main antagonists in the film, Adam Warlock (Will Poulter), who, rather ironically like Rocket himself, is a "created" being, albeit in Warlock's case, by Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki), the High Priestess of the Sovereign. If this already sounding like it's going to be a daunting exercise in flowcharting characters and terminologies, it's actually quite the opposite, with quick, clearly written vignettes that my hunch is will keep even newcomers to the franchise easily up to speed with what's going on.

With that assurance in mind, a few more characters and/or franchise specific terminologies will have to be bandied about, as once the team led by Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) springs into action to try to save Rocket, they're ultimately joined by a bunch of Ravagers, including a somewhat reimagined Gamora (Zoe Saldaña), a reimagining made necessary due to what diehard fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe will know was a precipitous arc for the character in such films as Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. Rather amusingly, one of this entry's "stunt casting" moments offers Sylvester Stallone as the putative leader of the Ravagers.

As exuberantly out of control as the first two Guardians of the Galaxy films were, this third entry is arguably the trippiest, and by a goodly amount. While the first half hour or so of the film plays it at least relatively straight and narrow with an emphasis on re-introductions and (of course) at least one blistering action set piece, by the time the team arrives at what might be jokingly referred to as an Alive Star (as opposed to a Deathstar), things start to get positively psychedelic, and once the story gets into something approaching The Island of Dr. Moreau territory, it's just downright bizarre.

The unabashedly melancholic tone of not just Rocket's story but in a way Peter's as well, not to mention various traumas and tragedies suffered by Drax (Dave Bautista), Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) and Nebula (Karen Gillan), perhaps tend to work against some of the goofier aspects of the film, but there is still an ultimately joyful ebullience helping to keep things afloat. It's probably arguable that some more judicious editing might have helped the film to feel less padded, as well as to perhaps achieve an at least slightly more consistent tone, but much like how one of the supplements describes the Guardians, the film itself is kind of "imperfect perfect", in that its flaws are manifest but can't completely defeat the underlying attributes, especially the film's absolutely audacious visual sensibility.

Note: My colleague Brian Orndorf was considerably less pleased with this film than I am. You can read Brian's thoughts here.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: Screenshots are sourced from the 1080 disc in this package.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Disney / Buena Vista and Marvel Studios with an HEVC / H.265 encoded 2160p transfer in 2.39 and 1.85. Captured with Red cameras (at source capture resolutions of up to 8K), this had a 4K DI. In terms of the variant aspect ratios, those who are happy to do a little Googling will find some amazing articles in such publications as The Hollywood Reporter discussing the literally hundreds of different versions James Gunn prepared for the theatrical exhibitions of the film, including various aspect ratios (changing or otherwise). There may be some "meta" reasons for the differences in aspect ratios in this particular version which frankly escaped my understanding, but rather commendably, I just as frankly didn't experience any feeling of disjointedness when the aspect ratios changed. The 4K UHD presentation enjoys noticeable upticks in already excellent detail levels in the 1080 version, and rather interestingly, the entire 4K UHD presentation struck me as just a tad darker overall than the 1080 version, though things still pop amazingly well as in the kind of trippy sequence in Orgocorp. HDR is especially evident in providing highlights throughout the presentation, and despite what I'd call a somewhat cooler look in this 4K version (when compared to the 1080 version), there are still really appealing bursts of color in the warmer side of the spectrum. The 4K UHD version also offers a more noticeable rendering of a perhaps surprisingly organic looking digital grain field.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

As I mention in my Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Blu-ray review, I sometimes "cheat" a little when a 1080 version doesn't offer a Dolby Atmos track, giving the 1080 track a half point less of a score, but in this case there's relatively little difference between the 1080 disc's DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track and this disc's Dolby Atmos rendering. There's arguably some more vertical presence in some of the effects sequences, notably any scenes that feature either ships or even characters zooming through space, but much like the 7.1 track on the 1080 disc, this Atmos track also provides near constant immersion with really appealingly consistent engagement of the side and rear channels. There are a glut of well designed effects throughout the film, including some really fun panning and some very forceful LFE. Spatial relationships are very well defined, and even relatively quieter dialogue scenes can have a bevy of background ambient environmental sounds dotting the surround channels. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English, French and Spanish subtitles are available.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The 4K UHD disc in this package has no supplemental offerings. The 1080 disc offers the following bonus items:

• The Imperfect Perfect Family (HD; 11:08) offers some good interviews and behind the scenes footage, including some callbacks to the prior two films.


• Creating Rocket Raccoon (HD; 9:25) takes that "creating" term two ways, with some looks at the VFX, but also the actual storyline of what might be called the "chemically enhanced evolution" forced upon the character.


• Gag Reel (HD; 5:59)


• Deleted Scenes (HD; 8:27)


• Audio Commentary by director James Gunn

Additionally, a digital copy is included and packaging features a slipcover.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The old Hermetic text The Emerald Tablet offered the intriguing statement "as above, so below", and in that regard it's perhaps understandable that much like our actual universe, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is itself expanding. That wending quality may actually have led to just a bit of entropy starting to afflict this third entry in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, but I'd argue that the film offers just enough energy to counteract that feeling, at least for the most part. I can't imagine fans of the series, even if they have qualms about some of the storytelling this time round, not being generally overjoyed with how everything ends, which is not to suggest there's not going to be yet another sequel, despite what some "in the know" may be professing. Technical merits are first rate, and with a few passing caveats noted, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 comes Recommended.