Many years in the making, Marvel Studios finally debuted their long awaited adaptation of their Avengers comic book earlier this year to rave reviews and extraordinary box office (the current count in the US nears $620 million) but was the film itself deserving of such amazing success?
Well to me yes, yes it was mainly because this feels like a film that Marvel took their time in making starting with 2008's Iron Man and continuing with that year's The Incredible Hulk, 2010's Iron Man 2 and 2011's Thor and Captain America, each one playing their role in leading to this culmination in the Avengers in terms of lead characters, plot points and villains.
But such a daunting task needs an ambitious taskmaster to take the helm and steady the ship through such uncharted waters to the final stop of cinema screens all over the world and here was where Marvel pulled its ace in the hole and that was hiring writer/director Joss Whedon to helm the film in terms of directing and co-writing the script.
And an inspired choice he was, coming from hit TV series like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the cult sci-fi series Firefly, he specialized in writing ensemble character pieces and flavouring pop culture references in them as well, though this initially didn't translate into a successful film career as 2005's Serenity failed to click with audiences but Marvel like to take risks with their films and they bet it all on Whedon to deliver the goods, which he certainly did in more ways than one, now having more freedom to not only do anything he wants but also have it be more than he ever dreamed of.
The Image:
Being a recent release, this should certainly come up well on Blu-Ray and it certainly does as this transfer is nigh on perfect and really highlights Seamus McGarvey's work as cinematographer on the film, the night scenes look particularly good with many details such as the cliffs and bush land able to be noticed and the action scenes in the sunlit streets of New York showcasing the seamless effects work between the CGI and Stunts.
The Sound:
As good as the Image is, its backed up by an equally good 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track and it's a fantastic audio mix that nicely balances the quiet scenes of dialogue and the full on mayhem in the film's final act, this will be a Blu-Ray that will become a showcase disc for some time and I can't say I would disagree with the reasons why as both the sound and image are near perfect.
The Extras:
But as so often with some disc releases, it becomes a case of two steps forward one step backward and its in the special features department where this disc comes up short, still let's take a look at what's here first off:
"Item 47" Short Film: An 11 minute Short Film kicks off proceedings here and it concerns a couple played by Lizzy Kaplan and Jessie Bradford finding a Chi'-Tauri weapon and using it to rob banks Bonnie and Clyde style but this attracts the attention of SHIELD who start to follow their trail, this is a fun little short with some good laughs to be found in it.
Deleted Scenes: 8 Deleted and Alternate Scenes are found here and I'll now look at each of them:
Alternate Opening and Ending: Both feature the SHIELD agent Maria Hill (played by Cobie Smulders, Aunt Robin from How I Met your Mother) and she is giving a briefing to the Security Council Fury talks to in the final film, both were clearly intended to book end the film's events and while it's a nice scene and it gives Hill more of a part in the film it's easy to see why they were cut as the film opens and ends nicely without them dragging down the length.
Loki and Barton Strategize: This scene however I wish had stayed in the film as it helps to give Loki's plan a little more depth and give Barton more screen time as a character rather than the strategic archer part he plays in the final film though its easy to see why it was cut out to begin with I wish it hadn't as it helped to deepen those two characters somewhat.
Steve Rogers - A Man out of Time: One of the deleted scenes that Whedon talked about while promoting the film was the scene with Rogers adjusting to life in the modern day world, it's a very nice scene that's wonderfully played by Evans and also gives you a bit more background about the cafe that's attacked in the final film but again its easy to see why it was cut out.
Nick Fury and the World Security Council: In this cut scene we see Fury give a longer talk to the Security Council about Barton falling under Loki's spell and needing a response team to fight Loki, this scene also shows some early Security Council footage and again it was best left on the cutting from floor.
Extended Viaduct fight: A slight extension of a fight scene in the film's climax between Hawkeye, Black Widow and some of the alien army on the New York Streets, this scene shows off some of the early green screen work and the actors standing in for the alien army in the production footage, again this was rightly cut out of the movie.
Fury and Hill Discuss the World Security Council: A short extension of a scene inside the Helicarrier between Hill and Fury discussing the World Security Council, not at all missed in the final film and am glad it was cut out.
Banner and Security Guard: An extended version of the conversation Dr. Banner has with the security guard in the warehouse (played by Harry Dean Stanton), it's a nice scene that helps to deepen Dr. Banner somewhat and give some clues as to how he could become the Hulk in the climax as well as reveal where the motorbike he used to get to NYC came from, length reasons would be the main reason this got the chop and I can't say I would want it back in the film.
Gag Reel: A 4 minute gag reel is included here and has some very funny moments, two of which featuring Tom Hiddelston and Mark Ruffalo almost stole the show as was a moment regarding Chris Hemsworth and his Hammer, well worth watching.
Featurette - A Visual Journey: A short featurette regarding some of the visual design of the films in terms of the sets of both the SHIELD complex at the beginning of the film and the heli-carrier, its a somewhat interesting featurette though you will most likely watch it only once.
And those sadly are the extras on this local Blu-Ray release, missing is a commentary track by Joss Whedon, a "Assembling the Ultimate Team" making of featurette, the "Live to Rise" music video by Soundgarden and an exclusive 95 minute documentary called "The Avengers - Building a Cinematic Universe."
All of them combined plus the addition of the film's trailers would've helped to make this a rather memorable release similar to this year's Blu-Ray release of Girl with the Dragon Tattoo as it would've had a nice balance of informative and promotional extras, as it stands though those omissions from this release are very much felt as you go through the disc.
Then again given the film's enormous popularity it's hard not to think that there will be a proper special edition release of the film in the future which will delve more into the making of the film and the journey to bring the Avengers to the big screen to begin with, I hope that will happen.
The Verdict:
Despite the missing extras, there's plenty to like about this disc release, a rollicking adventure gets near perfect A/V quality and the deleted scenes and the short film help to lift a half complete selection of extras.
So I know what you're saying now "should I buy this disc", well that's the trick for chances are you've bought it already and it will give you a happy face as you watch it.
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