Thor [Blu-ray]

Movie - 4.5Much like the first Iron Man during its theatrical run, I had very little, if any, knowledge of this franchise going in. My expectations were set somewhat high by the success and entertainment value of said Iron Man films, but having only seen Chris Hemsworth once ever in any kind of movie and only knowing (not actually experiencing) any of Kenneth Branagh's directorial works I would say I expected to at least be entertained by the special effects and action sequences, if not any more of the small pepperings of Avengers references being thrown in for the eventual mishmash to come in just a year's time. First, I'd like to address the film's setting. On a personal level, I've enjoyed all kinds of genres throughout the years: sci-fi, fantasy, the supernatural, and all other kinds of "unexplainability." With that said, Thor pulls off the fantasy element in a surprisingly epic fashion. From the very get-go of the battle against the Frost Giants to the ornately decorated kingdom of Asgard and the lavish costuming of its warriors, I was captivated within minutes. Which isn't to say that the film is all looks. Very much so like the aforementioned first Iron Man, the plot has a strong focus on the ideas of power, humility, and responsibility (something a lot of superhero stories do, but it seems to be a popular style of storytelling, no?). Right before his crowning as new king of Asgard, Thor (Chris Hemsworth), comes to a point of such vanity and hubris, that his father, Odin (Anthony Hopkins), strips him of his power and banishes him to earth. And as you can guess, Thor will eventually learn his lesson of humility amongst humans, regain his power, and stop a usurping of his father's throne back in the homeland. Linear plot aside, it's not so much the story itself that manages to impress me, but the way and fashion in which it's told. Coming from quite the Shakespearean background, I would suffice it to say that Kenneth Branagh brings a refreshing kind of Thespian quality to the film's overall atmosphere which, for me, does wonders in terms of the acting, script, and character chemistry. Additionally, Natalie Portman, Stellan Skarsgård, Kat Dennings, Jaimie Alexander, and Idris Elba give some good performances for what little screen time they have as well. And while the film clocks in at just under 2 hours, it probably could've used an extra 15-30 minutes for some better character development, but oh well.Video - 5.0- Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC- Video resolution: 1080p- Aspect ratio: 2.35:1- Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1The film was shot on 35mm but digitally processed, so it should go without saying that the transfer is flawless. A lot of the backgrounds on Asgard and Jotunheim are obviously CG'd, but as a result look absolutely stunning in HD. During it's theatrical run, I only got to see this in theaters on some dinky film projectors (once for the midnight premiere in an older Cinemark that didn't even have stadium seating, then a second time in an AMC with slightly newer projectors but still not near the quality of their digital ones). At any rate, after having the opportunity to sit down and see this in the comfort of my own home and in glorious Blu-ray, I have to say the cinematography is pure perfection. The shots in Jotunheim are particularly dark and as cold as the planet itself, but nary a bit of detail is lost. Black levels are especially well-accentuated and reveal a great amount of depth and delineation from Laufey's jagged and shadowed face down to the little cracks in the ice and even the line texturing of Thor's cape despite all that snow blowing around. When we get to Asgard the film's color scheme is most pronounced with lavish golds, silvers, and bronzes giving off a very shiny look. The lighting tends to feel slightly less natural in order to balance out the contrast for all the computer effects, but nonetheless blend together seamlessly for a very grandiose and ethereal stage design. In fact, a lot of the closeup shots are notably sharp; just look at the hair on the beards of Thor and Odin or the line detail in all the armor. Meanwhile, the shots on earth will probably look the best out of the lot. Aside from whatever visual effects they added in post-production during the action sequences or whatever, everything else in the little New Mexico town is as non-CG as can be and it results in a very fine and crisp picture. Natalie Portman never looked prettier. And if you're a girl, you'll be happy to know Chris Hemsworth's buffness really stands out, too.. Anyway, my favorite shots of the movie are the skirmish on Jotunheim for its incredible blacks and sustainable line detail, then the fight on the Bifröst around the end of the film for its colors and excellent CG integration.Audio - 5.0Languages- English: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1- French: Dolby Digital 5.1- Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1- Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1Subtitles- English, English SDH, French, Spanish, PortugueseTo this point my 3 loudest BDs have been Hellboy II, Casino Royale, and Inception (which even blew out my sub-woofer at one point). Needless to say, I think I've found my new number one by a long shot. I keep reading that people say Thor's sound design / mixing is a little too aggressive for its own good, but I say bollocks. Not only does it make Thor the sonically captivating summer blockbuster it should be but I personally think it fits the theme "god of thunder" to a tee. LFEs are easily the best part of the track with booming and thunderous (and literally) ground-shaking rumbles that range from subtle to "I can feel my butt vibrating." From the very get-go of Odin fighting the Frost Giants on earth it's a pretty clear cut example of what to expect for the rest of the movie. And when Thor actually gets to Jotunheim to battle the Frost Giants himself its even crazier and louder than that. Discrete effects and separation are there, mind you, but holy crap does the placement and directionality really excel when fights break out. Dialogue stays clear and audible in the center with music and effects being dispersed evenly through the fronts. But my biggest delight is in the fact of how well-placed the rears and backs are in terms of their directionality. Normally, a 5.1 design would have you just at the edge of the "sound bubble." However, with 7.1 you're completely enveloped by sound every which way be it from the front, side, or behind. And because of that (in addition to the awesome design / mixing efforts of Michael Babcock and Anna Behlmer), we get a terrific soundscape that has truly brought the comic and legend to life. My favorite scenes would be the battle on Jotunheim (yet again) for its resounding bass, precision directionality, and overall vibrato, and of course, the battle on or any moment that the Bifröst itself is activated. Or, for something a little less boisterous I'd recommend the scene where Thor is breaking into the S.H.E.I.L.D. compound to retrieve Mjölner. There are some instances of thunder crackling in the night sky followed by some discretely-placed rainfall that sound pretty cool.Extras - 4.0I'm actually a little disappointed with the amount of behind-the-scenes footage, here. The movie felt very epic in scope and I was hoping it would've been as extensive as Iron Man with at least a second disc of extras approximating around 2 hours. Unfortunately, it only rounds out to something like 47 minutes without the Marvel One-Shot, Deleted Scenes, or Trailers.- Audio Commentary (Director Kenneth Branagh)This is only the first time I've heard him do one, but wow Branagh is really informative and knows his stuff. He covers just about everything else you wish they would've covered in the featurettes and does so in a very professional, yet open fashion. It's a quick-paced and brisk coverage of all things related to the film that tells you about: when he was approached to direct the film and what transpired, how he wanted to tell the story when making it, some of the thematic and symbolic ideas he wanted to display with the visuals, his experience with the actors, the prospect of filming in 3D and post-converting it, how they shot and came up with ideas for the visual effects, etc. There's hardly any dead space throughout and the man just keeps bombarding you with a plethora of factoids that are all prevalent to either the movie, the Marvel Universe, or to film-making in general. It's definitely worth a listen for fans of the film.- Marvel One-Shot: The Consultant (HD; 3:57)Presented in 1080p and Dolby Digital 5.1, this is a hilarious tie-in between some of the events of Iron Man 2 and The Incredible Hulk. We see Agent Coulson talking to Agent Sitwell about how the military is trying to push The Abomination as a candidate for the Avengers. Neither of them agree with the idea of putting him in, so they decide to sabotage negotiations with General Ross by sending "The Consultant" as a patsy to screw things up intentionally. It's short, but very much in the spirit of both Tony Stark and the comedic elements of the Marvel Movie Universe franchise thus far. Definitely give this a watch.Featurettes (HD; 46:59 altogether)- From Asgard to Earth (HD; 19:42)This covers a big chunk of the film's production. It talks about things like the atmosphere of Thor, how they wanted to portray Asgard in terms of scope and design, and all the subtleties they went into for the costuming, make up, coloring, and camera work. In addition, this segment also covers some of the research done on the comic books to translate and adapt said material to look as real as possible, but also infuse the designs with enough imagination for that fantasy element. They then discuss Puente Antiguo (the little New Mexican town) and how it was completely built from scratch, as well as the design parallels to Asgard and how a lot of structures represented some of the more symbolic elements of the story's themes.- Our Fearless Leader (HD; 3:18)Talks about Kenneth Branagh's directing style from various members of the cast.- Assembling the Troupe (HD; 4:44)Discusses the casting of Thor, Jane, and Odin.- Hammer Time (HD; 6:14)Shows the various designs they went through to get the look of Mjolnir (about 200 different sketches), and how they constructed 3 different kinds of hammers for Hemsworth to using during filming.- Creating Laufey (HD; 5:33)The make up work and a little bit of discussion about the king of the Frost Giants.- Music of the Gods (HD; 2:05)A disappointingly short feature about Patrick Doyle's awesome score. I really wish this one were a lot longer.- A Conversation (HD; 2:23)Another short discussion with co-creator Stan Lee, co-producer Craig Kyle, comic book writer J. Michael Straczynski.- Road to the Avengers (HD; 2:57)A mishmash of footage from the other films in the MMU leading up The Avengers. It's nothing more than a tease, as there is no actual Avengers footage to be found.- Deleted Scenes (HD; 24:34)There is optional commentary from director Kenneth Branagh, and I think a few of those clips actually could've worked for the movie overall.- Trailers (HD; 7:25)Teaser, Theatrical, and Avengers Animated.Overall - 4.5Marvel Studios continues to churn out these very well-made pre-Avengers films. Up to this point, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, and Thor have all managed to be highly entertaining movies and still tell a very good character story to boot (well, minus Hulk, but it's a great action flick). Out of the entire lineup, though, Thor is definitely the most unique with its fantasy element and outer spacey galactic potential if the Studio ever decides to go otherworldly with another franchise (Silver Surfer by Alex Proyas would be a neat idea). Oh, and there's still Captain America to be explored (my favorite of them all, actually), but that will have to wait another month. With reference A/V quality and a decent amount of extras that are only salvaged by that kick-ass- commentary by Branagh, Thor comes highly recommended, especially for fans of the Marvel Movie Universe.

Thor is, if you are watching the MCU movies in release order, the fourth movie released after Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, and Iron Man 2. If you are watching the movies in chronological order, it is the sixth coming after Captain America, Captain Marvel, Iron Man, Iron Man 2, and The Incredible Hulk. It tells the origin story of Thor (played by Chris Hemsworth) and his brother Loki (played by Tom Hiddleston). The movie actually opens on Earth where an astrophysicist named Jane Foster (played by Natalie Portman) and Dr. Salvig (played by Stellan Skarsgard) are tracking astronomical anomalies (along with their work-study student worker Darcy, played wonderfully by Kat Dennings who steals nearly every scene she is in) hits Thor with their van when Thor is exiled from Asgard. Then the movie flashes back to show what led up to Thor's banishment, and when the movie comes back to Earth, what we get is in part a fish-out-of-water story, in part a love story, and in part a story of a superpowered frat boy becoming a hero.For those who get the 4K Blu-Ray set, there are two discs, a UHD disc with just the movie itself, and then a regular Blu-Ray disc with the special features. The movie looks very good and sounds great. People who are true videophiles who really pay attention to grain and black levels probably will not find the video quality as good as it is for the later movies, but most people will find it a step up from the Blu-Ray, especially with the Asgard colors and the New Mexico landscape. The extras are all ported over from the initial DVD/Blu-Ray release, and include a great commentary track on the movie with director Kenneth Branagh and then there are several behind-the-scenes and making-of featurettes that range from a couple of minutes to just under twenty minutes. Then, there is a Marvel one-shot that sets up the end scene of The Incredible Hulk and how Tony Stark was selected to go visit General Ross, the theatrical trailers, and a trailer for the new Avengers Animated movie. There is also a short look at the Avengers movie which was in production at the time Thor was released.Overall, the movie is really good. It has a great blend of comedy, action, and drama, with a little bit of romance between Thor and Jane, mixed in (but that is kept on the backburner for the most part and does not get too over the top). The supporting cast, including Anthony Hopkins, Renee Ruso, Idris Elba, Ray Stevenson, Jamie Alexander, and Colm Feore is great, and the movie expanded the role of Clark Gregg's Phil Coulson even more than it was expanded in Iron Man 2. The post-credits scene (this was in the days when there was not both a mid-credits and post-credits scene) set up both Captain America (which was the next movie in release order) and the storyline of The Avengers. Hemsworth did a great job in the role and got absolutely jacked for it, really looking the part of a god-like hero. It is definitely a movie worth watching and the 4k disc is worth the upgrade.