Avengers Infinity War Blu-ray 4K Review
2018 – Avengers Infinity Wars
Disney/Buena Vista 2018
PG13 | 2hrs 29 mins | Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi
HD | 1080P | Dolby TrueHD 7.1
4K | 2160P | HDR10 | Dolby Vision | Dolby Atmos | Dolby TrueHD 7.1
2.40:1 Aspect Ratio
Staring: Chris Hemsworth | Robert Downey Jr. | Mark Ruffalo | Chris Evans | Scarlett Johansson | Don Cheaadle
Directed by: Anthony Russo | Joe Russo
Ratings & Reviews
Please see here for my comments on reviewing movies.
My ratings are simple being marked out of a maximum of 5+. My reviews are biased towards the technical production aspects of the film with brief comments about the story line. Extras, sorry, that’s just not my ‘bag’.
Not having Immersive audio yet, what did the 4K version sound like? Lack luster and lacked bottom end punch, and the image? Excellent
Entertainment: 5-
Video: 5-
Audio: 4+
Technical Review – 4K UHD HDR10
Avengers:Infinity War was shot digitally on Arri Alexa IMAX and RED Weapon cameras in 6.5K with digital intermediates at 2K. This movie really shines on 4K and showing what the better 4K productions can look like. It is often an excellent visual presentation and should impress anybody that enters your home theater. Image sharpness is excellent throughout, and the digital photography provides excellent details whether it is on earth or a far distant planet. Skin tones and textures are well executed, whether human or alien, real or digital, showing exceptional detail and natural coloring. Colors and their saturation run the full gambit from warm earthy tones to dazzling costume colors, all befitting the environments and characters, from the intense battle sequences on earth to those in the far reaches of space. Black levels, contrast and shadow detail are all first rate. Taken together with the tremendous details, and depth of image provided by the various surfaces, fabrics and sets, created a stunning visual feast, some of which were almost tactile in nature. There were no intrusive compression artifacts or noise and the CGI integration was excellent.
Avengers: Infinity War offers a Dolby Atmos 7.1.4 track that defaults to Dolby TrueHD 7.1 in my system. Let me say that this was a disappointing soundtrack and in no way matched the stellar visual presentation. At reference level the speech was almost a whisper, the sound was shallow, and there were no dynamics or punch for the action sequences that would have benefitted from an impactful and extended bottom end. Even moving the level up by +10dB still didn’t create that bottom end punch and slam that the movie deserved. At this higher level, there is plenty of surround engagement for the various environments, in particularly during battle scenes that put you right in the center of the action and keeps you there, with a myriad of bangs, clatters, bumps and whooshes. The musical imaging and environmental effects such as lightning and thunderous explosions surround the listener. Dialogue is clear and detailed with solid front-center imaging and prioritization. While the movie sound track is rich with effects and full of detail and clarity, at reference level the soundtrack is weak at best. However, at +10dB above reference the sound track posses enough impact and bottom end to fully engage the listener and provide an enjoyable ride.
Story Overview
As Thor and his team of Avengers continue to protect the world a new threat looms on the horizon: Thanos. This mad man is on a mission to collect all six infinity stones and cleanse the universe of all beings. Even Thor together with the entire team of Avengers powers are no match for bad ass boy Thanos. It is a race against time for the survival of the population of the entire universe. A cliff hanger finish leaving me in limbo. Even the trailer at the end of the credits didn’t help.
What is Disney doing with these sound tracks? Maybe they should include two mixes; one for the family and one for the home theater die hards. Giving those users with less capable systems with their sound bars the ability to select the less dynamic mix with restricted sub action and those with full fledged HT systems the option to engage the full unthrottled version. This action packed franchise deserves the very best sound track to support the excellent video and give the HT enthusiast the full sound and video experience. Turning up the volume by 10dB just doesn’t turn the mix into what it should be. I understood that all Dolby and DTS mixes had to be created to the same reference levels so how is Disney getting away with this? Are these companies representatives all asleep “at the wheel”?
This is a good fun movie, and provides plenty of eye candy. It definetely has the Disney touch with that rock ’em sock ’em feel and some humorous moments. It’s very entertaining, and packs in many comedic and action momments into its 149 minutes. All of which go by very fast. Its just such a pity that a movie with its many positive visual attributes had such a lack luster sound track.
Despite my reservations on the soundtrack, this is a movie that is well worth seeing and owning. How long do we now have to wait for Part 2 and the conclusion to saving the Universe?
