Avengers - Endgame

Director– Joe Russo, Anthony Russo

Starring – Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans


Country of Origin- U.S.

Distributor - Disney/Marvel

Number of Discs - 2

Reviewed by - Scott MacDonald

Date- 09/02/2019

    Some of my favorite film series' of all-time are things such as Francois Truffaut's Doinel cycle, and Linklater's Before Trilogy.  It is interesting to me to take a character or group of characters, and watch them grow and develop over time. Mainstream cinema has previously had an equivalent with the Harry Potter films which showed its young protagonists age and develop through their late-childhood and teenage years.  Since 2008 we have had the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which has created a full on series, similar to the comics as we watch characters develop in the long-term.  Marvel's 21st film is Avengers - Endgame, and acts as the direct follow up to their smash hit Infinity War (Based on the Infinity Gauntlet comic).

    Avengers - Endgame opens with the dramatic scene that sees Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), sending his last wishes to his wife Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), before being discovered at the last minute by Captain Marvel (Brie Larson). He is brought back, and is angry following the events of Infinity War which has seen half the universe's living things dusted in seconds by Thanos. The team get a reading on Thanos' whereabouts, but are too late to undo "The Snap", as Thanos has used the Infinity Stones, to destroy Infinity Stones.

    The story picks up 5 years later, everyone is trying to learn to live in this new, post-apocalyptic landscape. Many, including, Tony Stark and Thor are traumatized by the events of Infinity War. However, with the arrival of Ant-Man, returning from the Quantum Realm after being trapped for 5 years, the group realizes time travel is a possibility, and the group can possibly undo the mess that had been done 5 years ago, save their friends, and civilization.

    Avengers - Endgame successfully concludes the first of Marvel Studio's epic story-arcs. The film is a non-stop storytelling and action extravaganza. Endgame runs around the 3 hour mark, and honestly never waste a moment.  I've seen the film in conjunction with Infinity War at least 3-4x times now, and it works well on so many levels from action, to story, and the conclusion of the performances by a few of the MCU's favorite characters. 

    The Blu-ray from Disney presents Avengers - Endgame in a 2:39:1 1080p AVC encoded transfer. Everything here looks fantastic, the visuals are crisp and clear, colors pop, and detail is all around excellent. Audio is presented DTS-HD MA 7.1, and sounds excellent, well-balanced, and clear. Extras include a director's commentary and introduction, a series of featurettes paying homage to Stan Lee, and looking back at the MCU characters that populated this film, and concluded with it. There is also a handful of additional behind the scenes material, deleted scenes, and MORE.  Avengers Endgame is an excellent conclusion to a series of blockbusters that will be remembered for decades to come. The Blu-ray is an excellent representation of the film and comes highly recommended.