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Captain America: Civil War - Collector's Edition
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - America - Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak (9th October 2016). |
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The Film
 2016 has been a solid year for Disney, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" raked in the majority of its dominant box office this year, "Zootopia" was a monster hit, as was "Finding Dory" and "Captain America: Civil War", cumulatively these films earned $6+ billion at the worldwide box office. That's not including the licensing. The investment to purchase both Lucasfilm and Marvel has already paid off, from this point onwards it's just gravy as long as they continue to produce good movies from their properties. "Captain America: Civil War" certainly falls into that category, however it does fall short in some spots. It's certainly the best superhero movie that's come out this year, easily surpassing the efforts released by Warner Brothers and their DC cinematic universe, which has been savaged by critics and fans alike. Marvel on the other hand has been the darling, delivering films that both critics (90% freshness rating on rottentomatoes) and fans have enjoyed. "Captain America: Civil War" follows the events of "Avengers: Age of Ultron" (2015), Governments and the civilians have become fearful of super heroes, saving the planet also meant to the death and destruction of cities and countries. These actions cannot be condoned anymore, so the government decides to implement the Hero Registration Act, this new law would limit the actions of heroes and would have them register their identities. The purpose is to keep these super heroes in check and monitor them so further devastation could be avoided. This new law causes a rift between the Avengers. Captain America (Chris Evans) and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) have taken polar stances and formed their teams, Iron Man agrees they need to be held responsible for their actions and is for the act, while Cap believes that it's their duty to save the world and cannot simply rely on the government to save the world. These stances escalate into a civil war between the Avengers, Team Iron Man includes Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), Vision (Paul Bettany), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), War Machine (Don Cheadle), and Spider-Man (Tom Holland) and Team Captain America includes Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp), Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), and Ant Man (Paul Rudd), they fight each other as a new villain Baron Zemo (Daniel Brühl) emerges in the background pulling the strings of the Avengers' ultimate destruction. Much like Disney's other studio, Pixar, Marvel are on a bit of a roll recently. While "Avengers: Age of Ultron" (2015) may not have been the strongest entry in the MCU it was still entertaining enough and introduced audiences to a cool new villain. "Civil War" marks another bright spot for Marvel, while its competitor DC wallows in darkness and fan disapproval. "Civil War" is the top grossing film of the year so far, and managed to introduce Spider-Man into the MCU after an arduous negotiation process with rights holder Sony. The fan favorite character makes a welcomed addition here in what can be seen as one of the best iterations of the character since the first Sam Raimi film. Directors Anthony Russo and Joe Russo have taken the story lines from the comic and developed their own take on the Civil War event, crafting an enjoyable action adventure that sees friends form alliances and be torn apart, little do they know they are being manipulated in the darkness by Zemo. The result is a battle for the ages that results in some deep consequences for our heroes. The culmination is an epic showdown that leaves our heroes changed forever. Some critics and fans have been vocal about the lack of death in this film, the original comic story line led to the death of Captain America, which was address by the directors in a recent interview (here), apparently they didn't want audiences to feel empathy, claiming that the true tragedy of the film is that the family has fallen apart and not that the family has fallen apart and then dies. I can certainly understand their reasoning here, after all even if a major character like Cap was killed, how long do you think before the character is resurrected? Everyone knows that death is never finite in the comic world and having a key death in the film would feel like a gimmick. Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) anyone? The film includes some stunning introductions, Chadwick Boseman's Black Panther bursts onto the screen in exciting fashion and is involved in one of the coolest action sequences of the film, Tom Holland brings his Spider-Man for the first time in an MCU film and it's totally welcomed especially after the incredibly average Andrew Garfield films, it's nice to finally see a true-to-the-comics version of the character. I must admit there was some early trepidation when he was revealed in a trailer - the CGI costume brought back some "Green Lantern" (2011) fears. But, the finished version looked great and Holland nailed the character for sure. Zemo was mostly underused, working in the background. He is still out there and creating havoc in the darkness, perhaps he will become more prominent in the upcoming "Avengers" films where Thanos (Josh Brolin) will finally make his mark on the MCU. Overall "Captain America: Civil War" felt less like a Cap adventure and more like an "Avengers 2.5" film, I would like the stand alone films to be just that, stand alone with some connection to the greater shared universe, but wold building is exhaustive work and sometimes you need many movies in a series to get it right. This one, for the most part does and I for one can't wait for more MCU films to come.
Video
Presented in the film's original theatrical ratio of 2.40:1 widescreen in 1080p 24/fps high definition, this image is practically perfect. The image is sharp, colorful, displays depth brilliantly and black levels are solid. The HD image features a pristine presentation that we've come to expect from Marvel and Disney. Reference quality. There's also a 3D version presented in the film's original theatrical ratio of 2.40:1 widescreen in 1080p 24/fps high definition. The 3D looks great considering it's a conversion. The film was shot 2D then given the Stereoscopic treatment. These films are looking better and better in 3D, shame that the technology has improved at the tail end of this trend.
Audio
Three audio tracks are presented here in English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 surround (24bit-48kHz), French Dolby Digital 5.1 surround, and Spanish (Latin) Dolby Digital 5.1 surround. For the purposes of this review I chose to view the film with its English DTS track. Much like the image the audio is equally splendid. The active surround channels blast through the film's actions scenes with terrific balance, ambience, and activity. The dialogue is crisp and clean and the film's score envelopes the viewer. Optional subtitles are included in English for the hearing impaired, French, and Spanish (Latin).
Extras
Marvel and Disney has delivered a solid set of supplements on this disc, which includes an audio commentary, a collection of featurettes, an exclusive preview, some deleted scenes, a gag reel, and bonus trailers. Below is a closer look at these extras. DISC ONE: 3D BLU-RAY This disc features the 3D version of the film only. DISC TWO: BLU-RAY This disc features the 2D version of the film plus all the supplements: First up we've got a feature-length audio commentary with directors Anthony Russo and Joe Russo and screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. These participants talk about their love for the MCU as well as the challenges of building and working within a shared cinematic universe, more importantly why the MCU works. They comment on working with this incredible ensemble cast, their favorite scenes and introducing Spider-Man and The Black Panther to audiences among other things. Next up is a 2-part featurette entitled "United We Stand, Divided We Fall - The Making of Captain America: Civil War" Part 1 runs for 22 minutes 25 seconds and takes a closer look at the comic book and the stories that influenced this film, the characters and on the complexities of shooting a film like this, with complicated stunts and visual effects. Part 2 runs for 23 minutes 18 seconds, this focuses on the Vision, Black Panther and Spider-Man, shooting the showdown and a look at the film's villian. "Captain America: The Road to Civil War" featurette runs for 4 minutes 11 seconds, this is an EPK clip that takes a closer look at the film's title character and the dilemma he faces. "Iron Man: The Road to Civil War" featurette runs for 4 minutes 27 seconds, this EPK clip takes a look at Iron Man's side of the war and his relationship with Cap. "Open Your Mind: Marvel's Doctor Strange" is an exclusive sneak peek that runs for 4 minutes 2 seconds, this is an early look at Marvel's next big feature. There are a collection of 4 deleted & extended scenes that can be viewed with a 'play all' option that runs for 7 minutes 52 seconds, or can be viewed individually, the scenes included are: - "Extended Peggy's Funeral" which runs for 5 minutes 57 seconds. - "Zemo Meets Doctor Broussard" which runs for 33 seconds. - ""You are not used to the truth" which runs for 52 seconds. - "Gotta get me one of those" which runs for 29 seconds. A gag reel is also included and runs for 2 minutes 53 seconds and features the usual bloopers and line flubs. The disc opens with bonus trailers for: - "Doctor Strange" - "Audi" promo spot - "Marvels Contest of Champions" video game spot Included in he package is a download code for a digital copy version of the film.
Packaging
Packaged in a 2-disc blu-ray case housed in a cardboard slip-case.
Overall
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