 
Buy from Amazon.com (US)
Buy from Amazon.ca (CAN)
Buy from DVDEmpire.com (US)
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| Video: |
9/10 |
| Audio: |
10/10 |
| Extras: |
1/10 |
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Just what I wanted!
by Gord Lacey (All reviews) |
4/17/2012 |
When the planet is threatened by Super Villains, time traveling conquerers, alien invaders, mythical monsters or mad robots bent on the total destruction of humanity, when the forces of evil are so overwhelming that no single hero has the power to save the world, when there is no hope left...
...the AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!
I absolutely loved this series when Disney started releasing it in volumes last year, and at the end of the review I said, "The only way they could release a better set would be on Blu-ray." Well, Disney didn't do it, but Vivendi/eOne did. Originally announced for release on November, 2011, it was delayed to January, and then to April as Vivendi was purchased by eOne.
This 2-BD set includes all 26 episodes from the first season:
Disc 1 (4:59:27)
Ironman is Born (23:07)
Thor the Mighty (23:07)
Hulk vs. the World (23:07)
Meet Captain America (23:07)
The Man in the Anthill (23:07)
Breakout Part 1 (23:07)
Breakout Part 2 (23:07)
Some Assembly Required (23:07)
Living Legend (23:07)
Everything is Wonderful (22:35)
Panther's Quest (23:07)
Gamma World Part 1 (23:07)
Gamma World Part 2 (22:35)
Disc 2 (4:53:37)
Masters of Evil (22:37)
459 (22:37)
he Man Who Stole Tomorrow (22:37)
Come the Conquerer (22:37)
The Kang Dynasty (22:37)
Widow's Sting (22:27)
The Casket of Ancient Winters (22:35)
Hail, Hydra! (22:35)
Utron-5 (22:35)
The Ultron Imperative (22:35)
This Hostage Earth (22:35)
The Fall of Asgard (22:35)
A Day Unlike any Other (22:35)
Video
Yes, yes, yes! This show looks amazing on Blu-ray, sporting a 1.78:1 1080p picture. The DVDs looked very good, but the show is simply stunning in HD. The colors are bright, and vibrant, the blacks are nice and deep... it's beautiful. The only thing keeping it from a perfect score is something quite common with animated movies - banding (colors that are part of a gradient "band" together). It's hardly severe, but it keeps the presentation from getting perfect marks. There's a "play all" option on both discs, and a chapter placed after the opening of the show. Audio
I drove my wife insane with this release. She kept coming downstairs to ask me to turn it down because "the whole house is shaking!!" Needless to say, the bass is awesome. It's not overdone (despite what my wife may claim), it just adds an extra level to the show. It's definitely on par with the quality of a blockbuster movie; wonderful directional effects from the front speakers, and the rears. It just sounds amazing, even at low volumes. Yes, the English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track sounds awesome (there's also a French DTS stereo track). Extras - How we rate extras
Interviews (12:35)
Interviews with some of the people behind the series.
Brian Bloom - Captain America (2:07)
Fred Tatasciore - Hulk (2:16)
Eric Loomis - Iron Man (2:11)
Joshua Fine - Supervising Producer (2:28)
Rick Wasserman - Thor (1:30)
Christopher Yost - Story Editor (2:03) Summary
Canadians sure lucked out with this release. Awesome audio and beautiful HD video aren't the only things to be happy about with this release; it's also a cheap way to get the entire first season. Currently $30 on Amazon.ca ($40 SRP), it's much cheaper than buying the Canadian DVD volumes ($46 for both volumes), and cheaper than the US Disney volumes (approx $50 for all 4 volumes). That makes this an exception deal... if you don't own any of the previous sets.
This is definitely on my "must watch" list for future DVD/BD releases. Hopefully future BDs will come out around the same time as the DVDs, as this was a bit of a wait, which likely means many fans have bought the DVDs. If you're a fan of the show, and live outside Canada, definitely look into buying this from Amazon.ca. They'll ship to you in the US (or elsewhere), and the disc will play fine in your BD player (Canada and the US are the same region). The extras aren't exciting at all, but the presentation is top-notch. |
