Captain America: The First Avenger - Blu-ray Review

4.6 Stars (out of 5)

Synopsis

Marvel launches another super franchise with this action-packed origin story, which follows Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) as he volunteers for a secret experiment during World War II. Transformed into a superhero named Captain America, Steve goes after the Axis. With his perfect physique and heightened reflexes -- and his sidekick, Bucky (Sebastian Stan) -- Steve battles the Red Skull (Hugo Weaving), a super soldier created by Italian fascists. Buy Now $24.99

Starring:

Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving, Natalie Dormer, Stanley Tucci, Dominic Cooper, Tommy Lee Jones, Hayley Atwell, Richard Armitage, Sebastian Stan

Director:

Joe Johnston

Blu-ray Release Date:

October 25, 2011

Subtitles:

English, English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese

Rating

Overall rating weighted as follows:
Audio 40%, Video 40%, Special Features 20%, Movie - its just our opinion so take it with a grain of salt

Audio 4.6 Stars (out of 5)

Dolby and DTS Demo Discs used as basis for comparison

• Subwoofer - 4.0 Stars
• Dialog - 4.5 Stars
• Surround Effects - 5.0 Stars
• Dynamic Range - 5.0 Stars

English: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1, French: Dolby Digital 5.1, Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1,
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1

Captain America comes to life with an impressive surround sound performance. Subtle ambient sounds like rain, cheering crowds, and wind help draw you into the film by surrounding you with audio scenery. Bombastic effects like bombs, airplane propellers, roaring motorcycles, and of course whizzing bullets fill the room with comic book action. I would have liked to hear more weight and power in the subwoofer, however it was enough to help bring the action to life. Punches still land with heft, gunshots sound powerful, and explosions resonate with bass. The  cosmic cube powered guns sound uniquely awesome when fired, and Cap's shield has some great swooshing sounds when thrown. This mix also does a great job panning the action across the room helping you remember that the front speakers are the most important part of any audio mix.

Video  4.8 Stars (out of 5)

Spears & Munsil Benchmark Blu-ray Edition used as basis for comparison

• Color Accuracy  - 5.0 Stars
• Shadow detail - 4.5 Stars
• Clarity - 4.5 Stars
• Skin tones - 5.0 Stars
• Compression - 5.0 Stars

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC, Resolution: 1080p, Aspect Aatio: 2.35:1, Original Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1

Have you ever wanted to see how bristly and long Tommy Lee Jones' eyebrows are? Well your in luck, this Blu-ray has good enough clarity to present them in all their glory. Wrinkles, sunspots, and clothing textures all benefit from the clean video presentation on this Blu-ray. The film seems to have a slight tan tint, but it somehow it makes since for the 1940s. It also helps the skin tones appear more natural looking and evenly colored. Thankfully they didn't go overboard with film grain to make it feel like you are watching a movie from the forties. It had just the right amount of grain to make the film feel a little warm. Dark scenes lose only a few details in the shadows, and the film is a little darker than I expected. However, the overall video performance of this Blu-ray is on par with some of the best of this year's summer releases.

Bonus Features 4.0 Stars (out of 5)

• Feature film with commentary by director Joe Johnston, director of photography Shelly Johnson and editor Jeff Ford
• Marvel One-Shot: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer (1080p, 4:03)
• Featurettes:
  • Outfitting a Hero (1080p, 10:52)
  • Howling Commandos (1080p, 6:07)
  • Heightened Technology (1080p, 5:43)
  • The Transformation (1080p, 8:50)
  • Behind the Skull (1080p, 10:24)
  • Captain America Origins (1080p, 3:55)
  • The Assembly Begins (1080p, 1:46)
• Deleted Scenes with commentary by director Joe Johnston, director of photography Shelly Johnson and editor Jeff Ford (1080p, 5:32) Four different scenes.
• Trailers

Movie - 4.0 Stars (out of 5)

Review

When I first heard they were going to make a Captain America movie I doubted it would be any good. I thought it would be too difficult to make a superhero movie set 1940's without it feeling corny or out of place. Boy was I wrong. This film comes off genuine and seems placed in the real world. Yes, they did take a few artistic liberties when it came to some of the weapons and vehicles. Nevertheless, I felt they represented the 40's the best way they could. It also fits solidly into the Marvel comic book universe, and helps ramp up for next year's blockbuster, The Avengers.

This film was casted perfectly. Chris Evans does an outstanding job of portraying Cap as a decent honorable man that just happens to be a superhero. It makes it real easy to root for him. It was also well written with a good balance of heart, seriousness, and comedy which makes it a perfect movie to watch with the family. However it's not perfect. Hugo Weaving gives a good performance as Red Skull, however when placed against the rest of the cast's performances, he seems a bit over the top. The climatic scene of the film is a little muddy and leaves you wondering why it happened, but I've never had anyone question me about it. Maybe its because the rest of the movie is so good it's easily overlooked.