Avengers: Endgame [Blu-Ray]

Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo

Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo

Release Date: August 13, 2019

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Film Rating: 9/10
Disc Rating: 8.5/10

Synopsis:

The fourth installment in the Avengers saga is the culmination of 22 interconnected Marvel films and the climax of an epic journey. The world’s greatest heroes will finally understand just how fragile our reality is – and the sacrifices that must be made to uphold it – in a story of friendship, teamwork and setting aside differences to overcome an impossible obstacle.

With a decade of interconnecting films spanning from ‘Iron Man’ to ‘Captain Marvel’, it all comes down to this. The culmination of every film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the direct continuation to ‘Avengers: Infinity War’, ‘Avengers: Endgame’ sees our remaining heroes struggling to accept their defeat at the hands of Thanos and the unimaginable losses that resulted from it. As some still find themselves trying to help wherever needed and generally attempting to do good, others have taken darker paths following their losses. But when the slim possibility of a second chance arises no matter how small, the remaining Avengers will reform the team and do everything possible to make it succeed, whatever it takes!

Once again directed by the talented duo of Anthony and Joe Russo (Avengers: Infinity War, Captain America: Civil War) and once more from a screenplay by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely (Avengers: Infinity War, Captain America: Civil War), the Russo brothers do a fantastic job at the helm of ‘Avengers: Endgame’ capably guiding the film along with style and heart, while doing a notable job of smoothly balancing the numerous storylines and characters throughout. The film also owes its share of credit to the star studded cast which includes Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Paul Rudd, Brie Larson, Karen Gillan, Danai Gurira, Gwyneth Paltrow and Josh Brolin in addition to many more, and nearly all providing solid overall performances for the most part in each of their respective roles.

‘Avengers: Endgame’ is a breathtaking, visually magnificent and unforgettable conclusion to the ongoing Marvel Cinematic Universe that should leave fans blown away and anything but disappointed by this outstanding film that carefully concludes the world so far, sending it off with quite the bang and plenty of surprises along the way. It does a remarkable job of capably bringing the numerous storylines, characters and elements together for a smooth and wisely constructed conclusion that does justice to the material and stars of the various MCU films in nearly every way. While somehow also managing to combine all of this into one massive and epic three hour film that miraculously doesn’t feel overly jumbled or forced; an impressive feat in its own right to say the least. The talented filmmaking duo of Anthony and Joe Russo certainly deserve some high praise for managing to balance this one so smoothly considering the plethora of content to manage and stay faithful to, and their fantastic work at the helm is also greatly complimented by a powerhouse collection of stars comprising the expansive cast.  I can’t encourage fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe strongly enough to make a point of going out of your way to check this one out as soon as possible if you haven’t already had the pleasure. It’s a magnificent and incredibly well done conclusion to this massive saga we’ve been following for a decade and any fan of Marvel’s movie universe definitely won’t want to miss out on this monumental event so many years (and films) in the making.

Overall, ‘Avengers: Endgame’ is a powerful, stunning and incredibly entertaining conclusion to the last decade of MCU films that comes loaded with plenty of stunning action, surprises and unforgettable moments, combining into a magnificent and rewarding final chapter from the capable hands of directors Anthony and Joe Russo. ‘Avengers: Endgame’ is definitely highly recommended for fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe who won’t even want to consider missing out on this spectacular finale that delivers a more fitting and heartfelt climax to the massive saga than fans could have hoped for. At the absolute least it should have no trouble whatsoever proving well worth three hours of your time and the cost of a rental, and those who collect the films yet might have missed this one in theaters shouldn’t find themselves even the slightest bit disappointed if coughing up the funds for a blind purchase.

VIDEO:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Avengers: Endgame’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation utilizing a 2.39:1 Cinemascope Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks great as a whole and provides a sharp, smooth and richly colored presentation from start to finish, and while many are disappointed by Disney’s choice to use the cropped cinemascope ratio as opposed the full IMAX ratio in which this and Infinity War were shot for their home entertainment releases, the presentation nonetheless still delivers admirably quality wise, even holding up impressively during the various darkly lit, heavily populated and fast moving sequences throughout, and never causing anything occurring onscreen to become negatively affected or rendered indiscernible. Overall, this is a pretty fantastic high definition video presentation that looks smooth and gorgeous throughout and should more than satisfy the majority of fans.

AUDIO:

The Blu-ray release features a 7.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. This multichannel soundtrack delivers a crisp, clean and hard hitting audio presentation throughout that contributes splendidly to the overall fun. It constantly takes full advantage of all seven available channels in order to send music, bullets, flying individuals and vehicles and a great deal more action and spacefaring effects along with plenty of additional audio content consistently zipping throughout the various speakers, while never allowing any dialogue or other audio elements that might be occurring simultaneously to become distorted or rendered inaudible in the process. Overall, this is a wonderful and aggressive 7.1 DTS-HD MA soundtrack that sounds magnificent from start to finish and definitely shouldn’t disappoint.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Avengers: Endgame’ includes a number of solid extras, the majority of which can be found on the designated BONUS disc, aside from an ‘Audio Commentary by directors Anthony and Joe Russo, and writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely’, and a ‘Movie Introduction by directors Joe and Anthony Russo’ (running approximately 2 minutes) which are both included on the Feature Film disc. The Bonus disc features other various bonus goodies including some ‘Deleted Scenes’ from the film (running approximately 5 minutes in length altogether), in addition to a ‘Gag Reel’ (running approximately 2 minutes) and a collection of Behind the Scenes Featurettes that include interviews/comments with members of the cast and crew, plus behind the scenes footage and more. The included Featurettes are: ‘Remembering Stan Lee’ (running approximately 7 minutes), ‘Setting the Tone: Casting Robert Downey Jr. (approximately 5 minutes), ‘A Man Out of Time: Creating Captain America’ (12 minutes), ‘Black Widow: Whatever it Takes’ (7 minutes), ‘The Russo Brothers: Journey to Endgame’ (5 minutes), ‘The Women of the MCU’ (5 minutes) and ‘Bro Thor’ (4 minutes).

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They will additionally suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

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Film Rating: 9/10
Disc Rating: 8.5/10

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Marvel’s ‘Avengers: Endgame’ is Now Available to Own on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD & Digital from Disney & Marvel Studios