The Avengers Blu-Ray
The Avengers (2012): Blu-Ray
+ DVD Combo Pack - Page 1
Published September 27, 2012
By Albert Gutierrez

"Raise the mizzenmast. Jib the
topsails. That man is playing Galaga; he thought
we wouldn't notice, but we did." - Tony Stark
"And Hulk.. smash!" - Steve
Rogers
"I am a god, you dull creature."
- Loki

The Avengers: Blu-Ray + DVD
Original Release: May 4,
2012
Blu-Ray Release: September
25, 2012
Film Length: 143 minutes

The Movie:
In the aftermath of the films
"Thor" and "Captain America: The First Avenger,"
the exiled Loki has formed an alliance with the
Chitauri, intent of taking over Earth. Using the
power of the Tesseract, he materializes deep
inside S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, where he takes
control of Clint "Hawkeye" Barton and Doctor
Eric Selvig. They steal the Tesseract and make
their way to Europe, in order to acquire iridium
to help stabilize it. Nick Fury and his agents -
including Phil Coulson and Maria Hill - recruit
a response team to stop Loki. This includes
Natasha "Black Widow" Romanov, Tony "Iron Man"
Stark, and Doctor Bruce "Hulk" Banner. Also
brought in is the recently-revived Captain Steve
Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America.
Romanov, Stark, and Rogers
capture Loki, but nearly lose him when Thor
arrives from Asgard to bring him back. They
re-group on the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier, now
strategizing a way to recover the Tesseract,
while keeping Loki in a containment cell. Their
differences ultimately prevent them from
properly working together, which allows for
Loki's escape, Bruce's transformation into Hulk,
Thor dropped from the helicarrier in Loki's
cell, and the death of a prominent S.H.I.E.L.D.
agent. Fury wonders whether he should have
brought these superheroes together, since they
cannot work together at all.
The remaining team - including
the returning Hawkeye - realize what is at
stake, and put their differences aside in order
to stop Loki, who's sent his Chitauri army into
New York City. The epic battle throughout the
streets of New York are the highlights of the
film, with Thor and a more controlled Hulk
returning to help.

My Thoughts:
Marvel's burgeoning "Cinematic
Universe" began in 2008 with Iron Man and
The Incredible Hulk, the latter a reboot
of 2003's Hulk. This was followed up in
2010 with Iron Man 2, while 2011 gave us
two more films: Thor and Captain
America: The First Avenger. These five films
were released in four years, all leading up to
the May 4, 2012 theatrical release of The
Avengers. For all intents and purposes, this
is the sixth film in a series. If Hollywood
history is anything to go by, The Avengers
shouldn't have worked. Most modern movie
franchises barely last beyond four entries. The
ones that do either have a built-in audience and
inevitable end (the Harry Potter films),
occasionally shake things up to keep the general
audience interested (all eleven Star Trek
films), or simply keep churning out movies
because they're fast, cheap, and fun (Police
Academy). By the time Movie #6 hits
theatres, one would expect both the audience and
filmmakers to be tired of the same characters in
the same types of situations, with the same type
of ending. And yet, with The Avengers, it
works.
Perhaps we can attribute the
film's success to the heightened expectations
and slow build-up to its release. Even I have to
admit that when such plans for a film series was
announced, I had my own skepticisms. Any one
movie could be a flop, thus hindering the
chances of a "team-up" film down the line.
Fortunately, each film was successful enough -
financially, if not critically - to justify the
eventual conclusion of "Phase One" for Marvel's
series. The Avengers manages to blend
together everything that worked in the previous
films, creating a "super-film" that masterfully
balances an exciting story, stunning effects,
and winning humor with familiar and likable
characters. It's not the be-all, end-all
superhero film of the decade, but it sure is a
lot of fun.

For me, this film belongs to two
characters: Steve Rogers (Captain America) and
Loki. They carry the emotional crux of the
storyline, as both are men who have been taken
out of their time - Wartime America for Steve,
Asgard for Loki - and forced to deal with a new
reality. While other characters do get their
fair share of screen time and development, every
viewing of the film has always steered me back
towards Steve and Loki. They have the most to
prove, either to themselves or to the rest of
the world, and function much more as a "two
halves of the same coin" than their expected
contemporaries. Loki and Thor's brotherly
relationship was masterfully developed in 2011's
Thor, but generally becomes a background detail
here. Thor's line of "he is adopted" is played
more for laughs than for a reminder of the
differences that still united them. Of the five
Avengers in the film, I felt Thor was given the
least to do. There should have been more
Thor/Loki scenes than there were, though perhaps
such character growth is better saved for
Thor: The Dark World (coming out November
2013). In a crowded picture like The Avengers,
it's probably best to keep the story as broad as
possible.
Broad it may be, The Avengers
acts most directly as the unofficial sequel to
Captain America: The First Avenger. We
follow the events of that film almost
immediately, since we see just how Steve has
tried adjusting to the new world. He has lost
all that was familiar to him, and so his only
tangible connection to anyone would be Tony
Stark, son of his good friend Howard Stark. Yet
Tony is always in a world of his own, where his
smug-but-still-charming self is not as concerned
about the impact of Steve losing the past
seventy years of his life. Steve and Tony's
banter is some of the best in the film, as we
see two vastly different worlds colliding. Steve
will "ma'am" and "sir" everyone, while Tony will
likely pinch the girl's butt and punch the guy's
face. Ultimately, Steve's journey through the
film is not fully resolved. Again, we have to
remember that this is a broad "alien takeover
thwarted by superheroes" story. The individual
films for each character is where we would
expect their more-developed character arcs to
take place.

That's not to say that the story
is intentionally weaker. The Avengers is
an ensemble piece, with a story crafted to show
how unique personalities clash, before finding
the common ground needed to defeat the enemy at
hand. Every character gets their moment to
shine, be it an interrogation with Black Widow,
the redemption of Hawkeye, or even just a
bewildered Bruce Banner talking to
not-bewildered-at-all Harry Dean Stanton. They
are parts of the whole, which add together to
create a film that best exemplifies the old
adage "in unity, there is strength." We've seen
this story before, whether it be a western like
The Magnificent Seven (guns for hire
protect a town) or a musical like The Pajama
Game (laborers strike to get a raise). It
essentially boils down to characters learning of
and destroying a great evil, or "overcoming the
monster" as coined by Christopher Booker (The
Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories).
Yet, we as an audience still flock to see such
familiar stories. We're comfortable with them,
even when online internet "critics" will decry
and proclaim "give me something original!"
What's important is not that the
same story has been told again, but that it's
been told through new storytellers. Every
storyteller brings something of their own into
the mix. No story is ever a direct regurgitation
of the last. With The Avengers, we get to
play in Joss Whedon's world, looking at his
interpretation of these characters. At the same
time, Whedon is still faithful to what has
already been established in the previous five
films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Thus,
our story has already been treated to multiple
authors: the original comic book creators,
previous attempts over the years to bring these
characters to the screen, the individual films'
screenwriters and directors, and finally,
Whedon's turn at the wheel. Whose story is it?
That's the beauty of filmmaking. It's a
collaborative effort, guided by one all-purpose
eyes and ears. With The Avengers,
Whedon's masterfully crafted a film that's taken
all the elements available to him from the
previous films, and still gave us something new.

The Disc:
Video: 1.85:1 Widescreen
Audio: English 7.1 DTS-HD MA
(1), English Descriptive Video Service 2.0 Dolby
Surround (2), French 7.1 DTS-HD HR (3), Spanish
5.1 Dolby Digital (4), Commentary 2.0 Dolby
Surround (5)
Subtitles: English (1),
French (2), Spanish (3), Commentary (4), English
- Foreign Language Subs (5), French - Foreign
Language Subs (5), Spanish - Foreign Language
Subs (5)
Chapters: 20
The Avengers is presented in
1.85:1 widescreen, faithful to its original
theatrical and IMAX aspect ratios. Both the Blu-Ray
and DVD feature imagery that's highly detailed
and sharp, with colors that are vivid and
accurate to its theatrical screenings. I had
assumed that watching this film in the close
quarters of a home theatre would reduce the
impact of the film's cinematography, especially
since Whedon shot in 1.85:1 and most action
films use the wider 2.35:1 ratio. Fortunately,
the intimacy of watching this film at home
actually enhances the viewer's immersion into
the world. Naturally, the DVD's
standard-definition resolution makes the image
softer and less precise than the Blu-Ray, but is
perfectly serviceable for portable viewing.
The audio options include
English, French, & Spanish, along with a
Descriptive Video Service for blind viewers. We
get a nicely-balanced aural experience here, not
quite as immersive as the theatres, but with
dialogue clear, front and center. Nothing's
overshadowed by the music or effects, both of
which get distributed nicely in the side and
rear channels.
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