Thor (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy)

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.

I bought this for the 3D version of the movie. It is very well done and looks good on my 3D TV. It's not the best of the Marvel superhero movies but it's a good watch.

Well, Thor: Love and Thunder is coming out in about a month so I figured it was a good time to go back and rewatch the previous trilogy of films on 4K.Thor and Loki are brothers but not equals. Thor is the chosen one to inherit his father's Odin (Hannibal Lecter) throne and rule over Asgard, the realm of the Norse gods. Problem is, Thor is a self absorbed jerk who only thinks about fighting and getting drunk. Not exactly good attributes for a king. He allows his bloodlust to get the better of him after an incursion of frost giants into Asgard which leads Thor to singlehandedly (with a few friends) start a war. As punishment Odin banishes him to earth minus his hammer and his powers! Luckily he is found by the always emaciated Natalie Portman, a scientist studying.....worm holes or something??I cannot believe it has already been 11 years since this film came out! I don't think I had watched this movie all the way through since it came out on blu-ray shortly thereafter. I enjoyed the movie. Chris Hemsworth plays a lovable blockhead that in the end isn't so stupid that he can't learn a lesson about life and what wisdom truly is. This is Tom Hiddleston's first turn as Loki and he does a good job of a god torn between two identities and also love and jealousy of his big bro. Anthony Hopkins is an actor who acts as if he is the only person in the movie. He could have done this role minus anyone with just a green screen environment, so removed is he. Natalie Portman almost salivates over Hemsworth's ripped bod and acts more like a high school girl than a mature woman, all giggles and swoons.I am definitely not a fan of Kenneth Branagh's direction. He is a master of the circling shot and that is about it. He is a fine actor. But his direction is very, very overrated. He does serviceable work here even though this was his first big budget special effects movie. I don't really count Frankenstein since I do not remember any epic set pieces or CG in that film. Mostly practical effects.Next up is Thor: The Dark World, which I remember not liking that much, but again, Thor hype! And to experience it in 4K. All the extras like featurettes, commentary and deleted scenes are only included in blu-ray format in this set. It also comes with a digital code to redeem the movie on Movies Anywhere.

on time great product 👌

Okay but seriously, in continuing with the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) (See my other reviews). Marvel not only managed to make another film as spectacular and well received as Iron Man, they did it with even more lovable characters and humour.I've always been a fan of mythological games and series, so Thor really appeals when Marvel goes to town bringing Norse mythology to the big screen with Odin and Loki. This first outing for Thor, brings a fairly childish prince through eye opening experiences as his mistakes nearly cost him universal peace.The journey eventually brings him to Midgard (Earth) where he starts to interact with the Human Race, and learns that life isn't all he thought back in the Palace of Asgard (his homeworld). Thor is forced to think and act with more than just his godly hammer in order to defeat an enemy that knows him as well as himself.With a strong cast, brilliant story and awesome effects, it is no wonder that Thor was a continuing driving force in the MCU storyline and had continuing success with the Thor sequels.

とにかく凄い。

This movie got a bad review or two and was universally panned when it came out. Now I love the work of Kenneth Branagh, whether it is Shakespeare, operatic works like the Magic Flute, his directing or his performances as an actor. This movie has a great panoramic ideal here encompassing his love of the classics and opera, you can see this in the movie. It has large tones of Wagner's 'The Ring Cycle' blended with Stan Lee's pure Thor magic. A great origin story to start an enjoyable three movie story arc that has been interwoven into the Marvel omni-verse.

Specifically a 3D review of one of my favourite Marvel films:A common complaint of Marvel 3D films when converted from 2D [in the film process] to a 3D film - is that the subsequent film is often too dark.It's all too evident with this release [one of Marvel's 1st 3D releases] - the film is dark and it only passably adequate as a 3D release, with scenes that you would think would be excellent in 3D actually being only vaguely 3-dimensional. Disappointing considering some of the other excellent Marvel 3D releases; [Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers Assemble, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War and Guardian of the Galaxy Vol 2 - being 3D highlights.]

I know it's not everyone's favourite but I just Love this film. I never really read the Thor comics when I was Young and whenever the character was played on screen he always came across as "a bit camp" but Chris Hemsworth is believable "if that's possible in a fantasy film" as the god of thunder tough guy. Also I love everyone else who has been cast in the film, they all play brilliant parts, the excellent Tom Hiddleston as Loki [devious], Anthony Hopkins as Odin [who else could be thor's dad], Idris Elba as Heimdall [well cool], Natalie Portman as Jane Foster [Beautiful], Jaimie Alexander as Sif [Hot In That Outfit], Ray Stevenson as Volstagg [always watchable] the list goes on and on. I even think the story is great with the perfect mix of action and humour, a great introduction into the world of Thor and the perfect setup for the Avengers Assemble movie. Don't look too deep into the meaning of life it's just a fantasy film, just switch off your brain and enjoy it for what it is, a fun action movie and a couple of hours of escapism.