Avengers: Infinity War Home Video 1st Impressions
Avengers: Infinity War is now available digitally and will be on Blu-ray Tuesday. The film is the culmination of the last decade of Marvel Cinematic Universe movies with all the story lines and characters coming together for an epic battle against Thanos for the Infinity Stones. For more on the film, here is Maggie’s review from the theatrical release.
This initial home release features a Digital HD, 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray version. The bonus material includes an assortment of deleted scenes, featurettes and gag reel.
Here is a quick listing:
- Strange Alchemy (5:08)– Share the thrill of characters from across the MCU meeting for the first time—and discover why some were teamed up together.
- The Mad Titan (6:34) – Explore the MCU’s biggest, baddest villain, his trail of influence through the stories, and the existential threat he represents.
- Beyond the Battle: Titan (9:36) – Dive into the climactic struggle on Thanos’ ruined world, including the epic stunts and VFX, to uncover the source of its power.
- Beyond the Battle: Wakanda (10:58) – Go behind the scenes to find out how the filmmakers pulled off the most massive and challenging battle Marvel had ever attempted.
- Deleted and Extended Scenes (10:07)
- Happy Knows Best (1:23) – Tony and Pepper spar over the details of their upcoming wedding—until a hassled Happy Hogan pulls up with an urgent request.
- Hunt for the Mind Stone (1:24) – On a darkened street, Wanda Maximoff and the wounded Vision attempt to hide from Thanos’ brutal allies.
- The Guardians Get Their Groove Back (3:20) – As Peter Quill and Drax quarrel over their failed mission to Knowhere, Mantis interrupts with news.
- A Father’s Choice (4:00) – Thanos confronts Gamora with a vision from her past—and with lying to him about the Soul Stone.
- Gag Reel (2:05)– Watch your favorite Super Heroes make super gaffes in this lighthearted collection of on-set antics.
- Audio Commentary (approx. 149 min.) by Anthony and Joe Russo, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely
- A Directors’ Roundtable (approx. 32 min.) – Eight amazing directors reflect on how their movies contribute to the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s larger storytelling adventure.
I thought the bonus material on the whole was average. The featurettes did not really seem to delve into the topics they covered to any real depth and some of the material was repeated between them. They fall short of the high bar Lucasfilm set with the recent Star Wars releases featuring full length making of documentaries. There were some interesting tidbits in the featurettes talking about the scale of the film and challenge in putting it together but those topics were not really explored. I enjoy learning more about those processes so this disappointed me. I would have liked to have seen these really expanded upon to give some more depth to the offerings. I also thought they missed an opportunity to give some context/rationale to the deleted/extended scenes, instead they just play them with no set up. The gag reel is the same as most now a days so your mileage may vary with finding it entertaining (above is a teaser for it). There is a full length commentary which provides more background and some detail on decisions made in the film. I found the most interesting feature to be the Director’s Roundtable which is a digital exclusive. They bring together eight of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s directors around a table and they talk about their experiences and the integration of the films. This half hour discussion moved rather quickly and I found it really enjoyable and wishing it was longer. One other note of interest is the trailers. On the Blu-ray all the trailers were for video games. Nothing for future films. On the digital release there are no trailers available, at least not in moviesanywhere.
If you are a fan of the Marvel films you will want to add this release to your ever growing library. The bonus material is hit and miss but as a fan you will most likely enjoy it. If you are a casual fan you may enjoy visiting the Marvel world through this release and learning a little more about the MCU. The Directors’ Round table is a standout feature worth considering the offering for if those type of conversations interest you.
Some more video clips/teasers from the release:
