6.1 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.8 |
The young Norse god Thor embarks on a quest with his brother Loki to find and recover a legendary sword.
Starring: Matthew Wolf, Rick Gomez, Tara Strong, Alistair Abell, Paul DobsonAction | 100% |
Comic book | 95% |
Adventure | 83% |
Fantasy | 79% |
Animation | 66% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1
English: Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0
English, English SDH, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
"We're royalty, we're not equipped to handle adventure."
We’re getting a mini-glut of new superheroes in big screen adaptations over the next few months, though some wags might claim that these spandex-clad musclemen (and women) aren’t exactly A-listers. While Captain America and the still in development hell Wonder Woman might be rightly thought of as headliners, at least in the relative confines of the superhero universe, one has to wonder about a couple of other upcoming projects, including The Green Lantern and Thor. Early word on Thor is actually pretty promising, perhaps due to the sort of surprising participation of Kenneth Branagh as director. Industry insiders are still wondering if Thor, never one of Marvel’s standout franchises, will appeal to audiences in the same way that better known Marvel fare like Spiderman and the X Men films have, and only time will tell. But Marvel, never one to miss a cross-promotional opportunity, is releasing this animated prequel of sorts, Thor: Tales of Asgard, in order to cash in on the main Thor feature which is just now going wide internationally. (Strangely though the filmmakers tout the tie-in to the Branagh feature in their commentaries and accompanying featurettes on this Blu-ray, Thor: Tales of Asgard bears a 2009 copyright). Thor: Tales of Asgard is a fairly basic hero’s quest story that at the very least introduces the main characters of the Thor saga, while pointing the way (albeit in heavily truncated form sometimes) to major plot points which will evidently be part of the Thor feature film. Boasting pretty basic animation as well, this particular Thor may not be overly exciting in any real way, but it may be a quick and easy way for those not all that familiar with Thor’s backstory and general milieu to get up to speed before hitting the local Cineplex to take in Branagh’s feature film adaptation.
The animation itself may not exactly be state of the art, but Thor: Tales of Asgard's AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1 looks nicely sharp and relatively well detailed, given the rather basic "look" of this enterprise. The best thing about this Blu-ray is the sharpness and clarity of the picture, as well as some really nicely saturated and very robust color. The opening scenes in Asgard are mostly brown and beige, but things gets better as the films continues. Despite the main middle act taking place in the frozen climes of the Frost Giants, we get a splendid assortment of hues, including nicely burnished reds, oranges and purples. Character outlines are sharp and the occasional CGI elements (which really spring to life in a climactic battle toward the end of the film) look decent, if not spectacular. This is fairly standard looking "Saturday morning" fare, so don't expect something that will knock your socks off, visually speaking, but this is solid animation with an equally solid video presentation.
Yes, Thor: Tales of Asgard does indeed sport a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 mix. Unfortunately unless you pay attention to the audio specs listed on the keepcase insert (or accompanying slipcover), or go into the Setup Menu on the disc itself, you probably wouldn't know. While there's certainly nothing wrong with this track, and it sports excellent fidelity, it certainly is fairly anemic when it comes to completely immersive qualities, especially for a 7.1 track. Some of the LFE is nicely rendered, but on the whole, this seems like a strangely bass-light outing. There are some nice touches of surround activity in several fight sequences, and the Celtic-sounding underscore spills nicely through the soundfield a lot of the time. Voices are clear and easy to hear and the overall mix is very well handled.
Thor: Tales of Asgard is a fitfully interesting backstory enterprise that probably wouldn't attract half as much attention if it weren't being released just as Kenneth Branagh's big screen adaptation breaks wide. This animated feature is no great shakes, but it has a certain charm, and it does accomplish one salient goal: it helps fill in questioning minds to several key plot points in the Thor universe. The animation style is fairly basic, as is the Marvel Animated imprimatur's wont, but the Blu-ray presentation here is certainly very strong. If you're going to see Branagh's version and don't know your Valkyries from your Odins, this little film is Recommended.
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