8.2 | / 10 |
Users | 4.7 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.6 |
When the Tesseract, a cube of pure energy with the power to destroy the Earth, is stolen by the nefarious God of Mischief, Loki, S.H.I.E.L.D. leader Nick Fury embarks on a daring recruitment effort spanning the globe to assemble a team of the world's most powerful superheroes to get it back. Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye and The Hulk are brought together to stop Loki. But unfortunately, it'll take more than just assembling them to save the world from the brink of destruction. Based on the Marvel Comics characters.
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett JohanssonAdventure | 100% |
Action | 96% |
Sci-Fi | 77% |
Comic book | 70% |
Fantasy | 65% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 MVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: DTS-HD HR 7.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
English SDH, French, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Four-disc set (2 BDs, 2 DVDs)
Digital copy (on disc)
DVD copy
Blu-ray 3D
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
To paraphrase a quote by the redoubtable Mark Twain, reports of the death of the superhero film franchise are greatly exaggerated. Every time a superhero film arrives that doesn’t instantaneously leap tall buildings in a single bound (Green Lantern, anyone?), the press goes into hyperdrive proclaiming the end of a genre that has been a staple of film at least since the early days of Superman and Batman serials in the mid-twentieth century. While those manning adaptations of DC Comics could pretend to ignore disappointments like Green Lantern due to their stellar run with the Christopher Nolan Batman reboot (aside from the horrendous tragedy in Colorado earlier this year), they’ve had a tougher row to hoe with their proposed reboot of the Superman franchise (with the long gestating Man of Steel). That property is facing serious problems due to several lawsuits involving heirs to the estates of Superman’s creators, a tangle of litigation which may prevent any adaptation from moving forward, at least for the foreseeable future. Marvel, once the scrappy also-ran in the comic book wars, has had a much better time of it, despite the occasional misfire along the way. While Marvel may have stumbled at least a little bit with its two lackluster Hulk attempts, and with second tier fare like the Ghost Rider franchise, the past several years have seen a number of high profile superhero films culled from Marvel comics that have met both with serious critical acclaim as well as humongous boxoffice receipts. Several of these Marvel adaptations have featured huge casts aggregating several superheroes in properties including The Fantastic Four and X-Men. Still, nothing quite as immense as The Avengers had ever been tried before, and Marvel took the rather unusual step of rolling out what is set to be a major tentpole for the next several years over the course of at least a couple of other films, with co-star Samuel L. Jackson providing cameos in single superhero offerings like Iron Man 2, Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger, in a blatant if very smart attempt to whet viewers’ appetites for what was obviously going to be a major mashup of Marvel legends.
The Avengers in 3D is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Disney – Buena Vista (who distributed the film) with an MPEG-4 MVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. 3D activity here is generally consistent but suffers from the same problem which affects the film's 2D version, namely its ubiquitous darkness. Because the first half of the film especially is so intentionally murky looking, dimensionality is somewhat limited and tends to pop up mostly in foreground objects which suddenly enter the frame courtesy of Whedon's penchant for tracking shots. The second half of the film, which is considerably lighter and brighter, really explodes with some fantastic 3D action, including Hawkeye's arrows shooting toward the viewer and the massive, dinosaur like Chitauri vessels exploding through the interstellar portal and seeming to burst out of the screen. Some viewers may notice the 3D presentation will be more prone to crosstalk or ghosting on some displays, once again exacerbated by Whedon's hyperkinetic camera style. Keep your eye on the lower right side of the screen when the flying aircraft carrier is introduced and you may see a double image on one of the tether ties that extends beyond the frame. Colors are also just slightly more muted in the 3D version, though the ubiquitous blues which dot the film courtesy of the Tesseract and its accoutrements pop magnificently. But these are minor quibbles in what is overall a thrilling and immersive visual experience.
The Avengers features an astoundingly effective lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 mix. For those of you who are new to high definition audio and wonder what all the fuss about "LFE" is about, pop The Avengers in your Blu-ray player and prepare to feel the might force of interstellar energy pulse through your very being. This is one of the most fantastically robust mixes I've personally experienced, one that keeps the low frequency effects coming from virtually the first second of the film, but which never overplays its hand, allowing the listener to catch a little "breathing room" before launching off on a new sonic attack. Immersion is simply perfectly handled. Spaceships whiz through the soundfield with clear panning action, various punches and bone cracking moves are perfectly placed around the surrounds, while at the same time dialogue is never sacrificed and rings through loudly and clearly. Particular attention has been paid to various ambient effects; notice Stark's "cloistered" sounding voice when he's inside his Iron Man suit, or the creepy, bass heavy tones (very reminiscent of Darth Vader) of Loki's Chitauri collaborator. Fidelity is sterling and dynamic range is amazing in this reference quality track.
No supplements of any kind are included on the 3D version of The Avengers. The 2D version of the film includes these supplements:
The Avengers is a near-perfect "summer blockbuster", a film which weaves together a glut of previously introduced characters (and storylines) about as effortlessly as possible, while bringing a new face or two into the mix. Rousing without ever seeming manic, and wonderfully funny a lot of the time, The Avengers easily establishes Whedon as one of the most formidable writing-directing talents of his generation. The film has a couple of niggling issues, but its self-awareness helps to overcome them without any false irony. The first half of the film is awfully dark, making some of the action too hard to see, but once the final battle erupts during the final hour or so, The Avengers is just a nonstop assault of visual and aural treats. The 3D version offers consistent depth, though due to the film's darkness in its first half, some of that depth is only hinted at, mostly by objects in the foreground which are more easily discerned. Though a couple of minor issues of crosstalk which may crop up for some viewers depending on their display and/or glasses, this is overall a nice looking 3D offering which never seems artificial and in fact tends to err on the side of restraint, which actually helps augment the visual immersion, since it isn't constantly "in your face". This Blu-ray offers excellent 3D video and reference quality audio, as well as an appealing package of supplements. Highly recommended.
Empty Case
2012
Marvel's The Avengers
2012
DVD Packaging / Marvel's The Avenger
2012
Bonus Disc / Marvel's The Avengers 3D
2012
Exclusive Bonus Disc / Marvel's The Avengers
2012
Graphic Novel Gift Set | Marvel's The Avengers
2012
Gift Set
2012
Bonus Disc
2012
Marvel's The Avengers
2012
Marvel's The Avengers
2012
2012
2012
Cinematic Universe Edition
2012
2012
2012
Mondo X Series #39
2012
2015
2013
Cinematic Universe Edition
2019
2011
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2017
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2018
Cinematic Universe Edition
2014
2017
Extended and Theatrical versions
2011
Cinematic Universe Edition
2016
2009
2013
2011
2014
2004
2016
Extended TV Cut & Special Edition
1978