Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Endgame recently became the highest grossing film of all time, bringing in almost $1 billion domestically and almost $3 billion worldwide. If this isn’t the must-own film of the year, I don’t know what is. The question isn’t to buy it or not to buy it, but rather which version to get. This review covers the Blu-Ray/Digital combo pack, but it’s also available in a 4K combo as well or digital only.
Ten years of Marvel Cinematic Universe films have led to this moment, resolving the cliffhanger ending of Avengers: Infinity War and allowing some of the franchises most beloved characters to take a bow. Whether you’ve been following the entire series or only a handful of characters, there’s a little something for every fan in Avengers: Endgame, which is no doubt the secret to its Hulk-sized success.
The world is still coping with the sudden loss of half the population following Thanos’ snap. When Ant-Man returns from the quantum realm, he reunites with the surviving Avengers with a plan that involves time travelling through past MCU events to capture the Infinity Stones before Thanos ever obtained them. But when Nebula’s mechanized parts synch with the mind of the Nebula in the past, Thanos grows wise to their plan and has another trick up his sleeve to prevent them from undoing his life’s work.
The cast of lead characters includes Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), Captain Marvel (Brie Larson), Nebula (Karen Gillan), Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper), and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen). And those are just the leads, with secondary characters that include Spider-Man (Tom Holland), Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), Pepper Potts (Gwenyth Paltrow), Star Lord (Chris Pratt), and Gamora (Zoe Saldana) just to name a few. It’s the biggest cast of big name character and actors that has ever been assembled, leading to a blockbuster the likes of which may never be repeated in this lifetime.
The film offers a fun time-travel experience through some of the most memorable moments in the MCU to date, making it feel like a celebratory retrospective with tongue-in-cheek jokes. It rewards attentive fans in spades and leads to the most touching moment in the franchise, bringing Phase Three almost to a close and wrapping up the main storylines in an epic finale worthy of a standing ovation.
The Blu-Ray release has two discs, one for the feature and another disc for bonus features. It’s not that there are so many bonuses that they wouldn’t have fit on a single disc, but merely that they wouldn’t all fit due to the length of the film.
Bonus Features
Disc 1
- Play Movie with Intro (2:33) – Anthony and Joe Russo introduce the film with spoilers, so don’t choose this on your first viewing.
- Audio Commentary (3:01:11) – The Russo Brothers are joined by Writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely who reveal the inspiration behind many of their creative decisions in the film, including discussions about filming the two movies back-to-back.
Disc 2
- Featurettes
- Remembering Stan Lee (7:16) – Archival interviews with Stan Lee from his numerous cameos are edited together into a beautiful piece that captures the exuberance of the creator and co-creator of so many Marvel characters.
- Setting the Tone: Casting Robert Downey Jr. (5:25) – RDJ’s risky casting is explored through interviews with the cast and creative team with retrospective footage, including his screen test.
- A Man Out of Time: Creating Captain America (12:19) – Kevin Feige and the crew talk about the “Backbone of the universe” and the challenges faced when bringing him to the screen, including finding the right actor to portray him.
- Black Widow: Whatever it Takes (7:25) – Natasha Romanoff’s story is explored in this featurette with Scarlett Johansson and the creative team.
- The Russo Brothers: Journey to Endgame (5:01) – The career of the Russo Brothers within the MCU is celebrated in this short retrospective.
- The Women of the MCU (4:52) – The actresses of the MCU talk about the importance of having strong heroines in a male dominated genre and the moment during the final battle where the heroines unite.
- Bro Thor (3:43) – Go behind the fat suit in this behind-the-scenes featurette about Endgame Thor, including the emotional arc of the character in this film.
- Deleted Scenes
- Goji Berries (0:37) – Tony and Pepper argue in the kitchen about how their alpaca is eating all her goji berries.
- Bombs on Board (0:30) – Steve Rogers talks to Rhodie about how the tesseract is the reason he crashed in the arctic.
- Suckiest Amy in the Galaxy (0:24) – Rocket questions why it took the Avengers so long to defeat the chitauri, who he calls the “Suckiest army in the galaxy.”
- You Used to Frickin’ Live Here (1:10) – Rocket Raccoon and Thor argue on Asgard.
- Tony and Howard (0:27) – An outtake from the scene where Tony Stark talks to his father in the past.
- Avengers Take a Knee (1:42) – A touching moment where the Avengers pay their respects to their fallen friend in battle before the funeral.
- Gag Reel (1:59) – This short blooper reel features the actors goofing off, including Chris Hemsworth rubbing the on-set Rocket Raccoon stand-in against his fat suit body and lots of Chris Evans dancing adorably.
Digital Exclusives (included with digital copy redemption)
- Avengers Script Security and the Secret Scenes of Infinity War and Endgame (6:30) – Kevin Feige and the crew talk about their efforts to keep script secrets under tight security to avoid spoilers, including fake script variations, including animated versions of alternate “Code Blue” script scenes.
- Steve and Peggy: One Last Dance (5:55) – The star crossed romance of Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter is explored, along with their second chance in Endgame through interviews with the cast and creative team.
- The Heroes
- Iron Man
- Concept Art – 1 image
- Photos – 6 images
- Captain America
- Concept Art – 1 image
- Photos – 11 images
- Black Widow
- Concept Art – 1 image
- Photos – 9 images
- Iron Man
Video
Marvel Studios films have always had demo-disc worthy Blu-Ray transfers and Avengers: Endgame is no exception. Color levels are handled extremely well, with the brightest whites and darkest blacks not feeling saturated or dilluted. Details are crisp and clear, allowing you to fully appreciate the artistry that went into the sets, props, and costumes.
Audio
The primary audio option is a 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio mix. The mix places you in the center of the action and sound travels around the room. A perfect example is Mjolnir being summoned from off screen. You hear it echo behind you, travel over your head, and appear on screen in the epic battle. Other audio options include a 2.0 descriptive track, plus French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital.
Final Thoughts
Avengers: Endgame is the kind of film that demands to be seen multiple times. With the Blu-Ray release, you don’t have to wait any longer to revisit the exciting conclusion to the stories of several of the most memorable characters in the MCU as the emphasis shifts to newer characters. With an engaging commentary track, behind-the-scenes featurettes, and deleted scenes, fans can dive deeper into the filmmaker process to feel like a member of the crew.