Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.0

Maze Runner: The Death Cure Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 24, 2018

Maze Runner: The Death Cure might have reasonably been more accurately titled Maze Runner: The Severe Injury Cure, since its release was delayed rather lengthily due to injuries suffered by star Dylan O’Brien during filming. It’s actually not hard to understand how O’Brien was so seriously injured, since (according to several online articles) a version of the sequence that actually resulted in the injury ended up in the final film, in an opening vignette that should have most adrenaline junkies feeling adequately “topped off”. Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) is part of a rescue operation attempting to break into a fast moving train that has a coterie of captive Gladers (if you’re not up to speed on The Maze Runner’s sometimes obtuse verbiage, don’t worry, nothing is that hard to understand). Thomas and Vince (Barry Pepper) approach the train in a kind of dune buggy, actually driving up onto the tracks and hooking their vehicle onto the back car. It was during this sequence that O’Brien reportedly suffered a severe head injury that closed down filming for untold months (the original release date was initially slated for February 2017), but a usable take was utilized for the film, perhaps as part of a psychological or emotional “cure” for O’Brien. As exciting as this opening sequence undeniably is, it kind of unavoidably smacks of the Mad Max franchise, what with several armor plated vehicles tooling around arid wastelands that once were home to teeming metropolises. Unfortunately, that’s not the end of the derivative qualities that afflict this third film. They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder, but in this case the long gestation period between the second and third Maze Runner films may have actually whetted some fans’ appetites, even though the film did pretty huge box office globally. This is a wrap up that will probably inescapably appeal to fans who want the story to come to its conclusion, but it’s a fairly overstuffed entry (almost two and a half hours) that has a lot of typical science fiction visual allure, but which probably takes too long to get to its emotional element.

If there’s at least some hints of Mad Max running (and/or driving) rampant throughout this installment, there are also perhaps unavoidable tethers to two other YA franchises that make use of at least some of the same kinds of Dystopian plot conceits, The Hunger Games: Complete 4-Film Collection and The Divergent Series: 3-Film Collection . That’s perhaps even more obvious in this third Maze Runner film with its central conceit of a very Capital City-esque metropolis which is surrounded by wastelands. But the whole subtext of “specially gifted” young kids “fighting the power” may simply feel too familiar at this point, even to some fans of this particular iteration of the basic idea.

The WCKD headquarters are in fact pretty much interchangeable with other high tech centers of nefarious activities in either The Hunger Games or Divergent, but it’s there that Thomas and his cohorts need to infiltrate, ostensibly to rescue Minho (Ki Hong Lee). The whole pandemic element of The Maze Runner also seems tired and overused, with supposed angst filled moments involving Teresa (Kaya Scodelario), whose real motives vis a vis Thomas and a hoped for serum may or may not be duplicitous. Ava Paige (Patricia Clarkson) is similarly interchangeable with other officious rulers in those two other YA franchises, struggling to find anything new to bring to what is a type rather than an actual character.

The biggest thing confronting Maze Runner: The Death Cure is its languid pacing. The film starts by firing on all cylinders (literally, considering the cars involved), offering the sort of popcorn munching thrills that many want from even their overheated science fiction enterprises. But then there’s a lot of needless exposition which points in one necessary direction, with a surprisingly intermittent series of set pieces to spice up the proceedings. The film has a lot of visual allure, and some astounding (if again interstitial) stunts, but there’s a more devastating virus than the Flare afflicting this last installment: boredom.

Maze Runner: The Death Cure Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Maze Runner: The Death Cure is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. Digitally captured with Arri Alexa XT cameras, I'm assuming this was finished at a 2K DI, though the IMDb doesn't list any information (some other online references state that it was a 2K DI). This is a great looking presentation in high definition from the usually reliable folks at Fox, one where some of the CGI can look a bit soft (especially in some of the wider establishing shots, which can almost look like paintings at times), but where practical props and actual humans offer typically excellent detail levels. As with the two other films in the series, there are almost ping ponging grading choices between blue and yellow sequences, with a lot of the WCKD material bathed in cobalt tones that may minimally deplete fine detail levels in midrange and wide shots, but which don't really materially affect things in any major way. When not subject to artificial tweaking, the palette is rather nicely warm and beautifully suffused. There are no issues with image instability and no problems with compression anomalies.

Maze Runner: The Death Cure Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Maze Runner: The Death Cure features an effectively immersive DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 mix. There is consistently excellent discrete channelization of effects in the big standout set pieces, moments which also provide some of the film's best use of LFE, and there are some fun panning effects when, for instance, a nefarious WCKD fighter jet chases our intrepid heroes in the film's opening sequence. Long central moments in the WCKD laboratories have good engagement of the side and rear channels for more "high tech" sounds involving the experimentation going on. Dialogue is well rendered throughout, and there's some appealing change in ambient reverb when characters venture from inner lairs to outdoor environments. Fidelity is excellent and dynamic range very wide on this problem free track.

Maze Runner: The Death Cure Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Deleted and Extended Scenes (1080p; 27:51) feature optional commentary by Wes Ball, T.S. Nowlin and Joe Hartwick, Jr., but come with a warning that they also feature unfinished picture and sound.


• Unlocking the Cure (1080p; 21:34) is a well done four part set of featurettes that contain quite a bit of production information, including decent interviews and some fun behind the scenes footage.


• Going Out on Top (1080p; 4:33) has some great footage of the filming of the opening sequence.


• Gag Reel (1080p; 11:38)


• Visual Effects features optional commentary by Wes Ball on:

  Visual Effects Breakdown (1080p; 16:40)

  
  

  Visual Effects Reel (1080p; 11:21)

• Audio Commentary by Wes Ball, T.S. Nowlin and Joe Hartwick, Jr.


• Gallery

  Wes' Selects (1080p; 8:59)

  
  

  Storyboards

  Train Rescue Sequence (1080p; 16:36)

  
  

  Revised Train Rescue Sequence (1080p; 3:40)

  
  

  Minho Jungle (1080p; 00:35)

  
  

  Note: All of the galleries offer either a Manual Advance or an Auto Advance option. The timings are for the Auto Advance option.

• Theatrical Trailers (1080p; 3:27)

The keepcase also includes a collectible comic book.

Maze Runner: The Death Cure Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Even fans may find the long middle section of Maze Runner: The Death Cure more than a bit of a slog (hence that "boredom" statement above in the main body of the review), but for those who do push through to the story's final moments, there are some actually quite nicely done moments of catharsis that reconnect this series to some emotional content. This is big, noisy, but only intermittently exciting stuff, and will probably appeal most to diehard franchise aficionados. Technical merits are first rate and the supplementary package very enjoyable for those considering a purchase.