Avengers: Infinity War Blu-ray Review

By: Lynn Barker

Mega-villain Thanos (voice of Josh Brolin) is collecting Infinity stones and can then kill half the population of the universe in the name of his own brand of preservation. Avengers: Infinity War finds the assembled Avengers plus Guardians of the Galaxy joining the fight against the adoptive dad of Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and Nebula (Karen Gillan). Once Thanos controls Soul, Space, Time, Reality, Power and Mind, a mere snap of his fingers can achieve his awful mission.

Josh Brolin plays Thanos in motion capture gearCourtesy of Marvel Studios

Ambush

The children/followers of Thanos, (Cull Obsidian, Proxima Midnight, Corvus Glaive and Ebony Maw) ambush the Asgardian ship containing Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Hulk/Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) in search of the Space Stone, which is in the Tessaract that Loki stole before Asgard's destruction. Thanos kills most of the Asgardians aboard and defeats the Hulk. A couple of the good guys won’t survive. Heimdall (Idris Elba) uses the power of the Bifrost to send Hulk to Earth before Glaive kills him. Thanos and his Children then leave before the ship destructs.

Has Loki finally betrayed the wrong villain?Courtesy of Marvel Studios

Gathering of Heroes

Hulk crashes into the  Sanctum Sanctorum and turns back into Bruce Banner, who tells Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Wong (Benedict Wong) about Thanos' coming. Strange and Banner contact Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), who has announced his intended wedding to Pepper Potts (Gweneth Paltrow) and brief him about the Infinity Stones and Thanos. Maw and Obsidian arrive in New York to get the Time Stone from Strange.

Spider-Man climbs on a rocketCourtesy of Marvel Studios

Spider-Man/Peter Parker (Tom Holland) joins in and a battle ensues. Banner, however, is unable to transform into the Hulk. Maw incapacitates and captures Strange. Iron Man and Spider-Man chase his spaceship while Wong stays behind to protect the Sanctorum and Banner contacts the rest of the Avengers.

Ready for action vs. ThanosCourtesy of Marvel Studios

In Love in Scotland

Vision (Paul Bettany) and Wanda Maximoff/Scarlett Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) are in Scotland and in love but they are attacked by Midnight and Glaive. Enter Captain America/Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and Natasha/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) with Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthony Mackie) to drive them off. All seek shelter in the Avenger’s NYC HQ and realize they will have to reunite to fight this ultimate evil. James Rhodes/War Machine (Don Cheadle) is there too and Vision proposes that Wanda destroy the stone in his forehead to keep it from Thanos. Steve Rogers convinces them to go to Wakanda to get the stone removed safely, then Wanda can destroy it.

Scarlett Witch and Vision are in loveCourtesy of Marvel Studios

War Machine, Capt. America and Black Widow want to helpCourtesy of Marvel Studios

Here Come the Guardians

Elsewhere, Thor is rescued by the Guardians of the Galaxy, who had heard the Asgardian ship's distress call. After some awkward introductions, Thor thinks that Thanos would be after the Reality Stone, which is with the Collector (Benecio del Toro) in Knowhere, but decides to retrieve an ultimate new weapon from the Dwarf planet of Nidavellir. Rocket Raccoon (voice of Bradley Cooper) and Groot (voice of Vin Diesel) accompany Thor to Nidavellir, while Peter Quill/Star Lord (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax (Dave Bautista) and Mantis (Pom Klenmentieff) travel to Knowhere.

Star Lord and Guardians go to find GamoraCourtesy of Marvel Studios

Thanos ambushes the Guardians on Knowhere and captures Gamora sure that she has the Soul Stone. Nebula escapes and signals the remaining Guardians to meet her on Titan. Thanos and Gamora travel to the planet of the Soul Stone, where Red Skull, the Stone's keeper, informs Thanos that the Stone can only be retrieved by sacrificing someone he truly loves. What will he do?

Can Gamora meet with Thanos and live?Courtesy of Marvel Studios

Get the Gauntlet

Iron Man and Spider-Man rescue Strange after throwing Maw out of the ship. The trio go to confront Thanos on Titan, where they finally meet Quill, Drax and Mantis and form a plan to remove Thanos' gauntlet. Strange uses the Time Stone to look at all the thousand possible futures and tells the others that there is only one future in which Thanos loses. On Titan, the group manage to subdue Thanos. Quill and Nebula, arrive but Thanos defeats the group, and Strange surrenders the Time Stone to save Stark.

The Guardians, Iron Man and Spider-Man face ThanosCourtesy of Marvel Studios

On Nidavellir

Thor, Rocket and Groot arrive at an abandoned Nidavellir, where the weapons of the Gods are made but metal forger Eitri (Peter Dinklage) informs them that the dwarves were forced to make the gauntlet then Thanos destroyed them and the forge. Finally, with Thor’s help, Stormbreaker, an axe with the power of the Bi-frost, is made.

Thanos on his destroyed home worldCourtesy of Marvel Studios

Wakanda Forever!

Avengers gather in Wakanda and ask Shuri (Letitia Wright) to safely extract the Mind Stone from Vision’s forehead. Thanos' Outrider army invades Wakanda, and the Avengers united with Wakandan armies led by King T'Challa/Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) mount a defense against the attacking army. Glaive infiltrates Shuri's lab and attacks Vision.

T'Challa/Black Panther says Wakanda Forever!Courtesy of Marvel Studios

Falcon soars over the battle on WakandaCourtesy of Marvel Studios

Outcome?

The army of Outriders overwhelms the defending armies before Thor, Rocket and Groot intervene. Midnight, Obsidian and Glaive are killed, but Thanos retrieves the Mind Stone from Vision by using the Time Stone to roll back time. Thanos is then mortally injured by Thor using the impressive Stormbreaker, but teleports away. Who will live and who will die? Will Thanos succeed in wiping out half of all life in the Universe, including our heroes?

Vision has an Infinity Stone in his foreheadCourtesy of Marvel Studios

Post Credits Scene

Former S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury (Sam Jackson) and Deputy Director Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) are in deep trouble but Fury is able to send a distress message to Captain Marvel (upcoming Brie Larson). Will it be in time to help?

Iron Man battles ThanosCourtesy of Marvel Studios

Lining up to take on Thanos's armyCourtesy of Marvel Studios

Special Extra Features

This Blu-ray/DVD/Digital set is loaded with fun extras:

• Featurettes start out with Strange Alchemy in which the filmmakers focus on putting the most fun and logical heroes in scenes together to get the best chemistry. Characters that don’t normally interact in the MCU were the best choices. Interesting.
• The Mad Titan features all you need to know about Thanos, his goals and glimpses of him from previous Marvel movies. We hear from and observe Josh Brolin who plays him, in motion capture gear. Fun to see this!
• Beyond the Battle: Titan and Beyond the Battle: Wakanda examine the action sequences and where character mindsets are going into these battles. Stunts are taken apart and we see Robert and Josh work on the Iron Man vs. Thanos battle on Titan. We are told that character emotions in these scenes were as important as the action. The immense Wakandan battle was done on a real stretch of land with effects added later. Both of these are Cool!

Rocket Raccoon hates being called Rabbit by ThorCourtesy of Marvel Studios

• Deleted Scenes involve Tony and Pepper and Vision and Wanda, more with Nebula contacting the Guardians and more with Gamora and Thanos. All nice to watch.
• Gag Reel – dancing, singing, rolling eyes and messing up lines. Goats, flies and bugs disrupt scenes. Well worth a chuckle!
• Audio Commentary with the directors and writers is both interesting and funny. The decision to break our hearts by doing away with key heroes is discussed, making the CGI Thanos believable is talked about, the characters’ emotional development etc. A good track.

Can Wong and Dr. Strange hold off Thanos thugs?Courtesy of Marvel Studios

Wrapping Up

Both visually and emotionally satisfying, Avengers: Infinity War is a must collect or gift item. This Blu-ray/DVD/Digital set is quite complete. Extras are informative and fun to own; both blooper reel and a good audio commentary are included along with behind-the-scenes extras that satisfy.  We are stoked that the film slayed as much as it did and we can also go thumbs up on this home entertainment set by awarding five stars.

Avengers: Infinity War Blu-ray Rating: 

Courtesy of Marvel Studios

Take Avengers: Infinity War home now no Blu-ray & DVD!

Have Your Say

Have you collected or gifted all of the Marvel superhero films? Will this one complete your collection (so far)? Chat about Thanos and the end of heroes we hold dear below with a comment.