UHD Review Avengers: Infinity War UHD Review (1 Viewer)

[deltamind]

Very insightful review todd, had a good read!

 

[TonyD]

Surrounds are pretty active on my setup, Atmos kicking in nicley.

This was my only concern.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Since the IMAX would basically be an open mate version, they should be able to have one version on the disc with the proper 2.39 ratio bars generated by the player. I think that would be the right way to do it, but there are a lot of things Disney hasn’t been doing right lately.

This assumes that the 2.39:1 conventional framing is always a center extract from the 1.9:1 image. I'm not sure whether that's the case or not.

I do know I loved the 1.9:1 framing in theaters, and that the 2.39:1 framing feels tight.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I wonder if the Russos requested the inclusion of the 1.9:1 version or not, or if Disney would listen to them if they made that request.

Because I will not patronize my AMC, where our only IMAX is, I've only ever seen the 2.39:1 version and it looks fine to me. But I fully understand why people would want the IMAX version to be available and wish Disney were more accommodating in providing both.

 

[Matt Hough]

I watched this one this afternoon in UHD. Solid picture, and the sound was a great improvement from the recent Disney UHD releases. Enjoyed the movie just fine but with SO many characters to service, I was kind of amazed the movie gave each some major limelight with lots of clever lines and some grand running gags (Thor calling Rocket "Rabbit" throughout the movie never got old). Of course, the movie has left all viewers with the intense curiosity to see how they get themselves out of the story corners they seem to have written themselves into. Wisely, that makes viewing next year's wrap-up entry absolutely necessary to know the end result of all this warring.

 

[Jake Lipson]

(Thor calling Rocket "Rabbit" throughout the movie never got old).

High on my wish list is for Rocket to meet an actual raccoon in Avengers 4 before he returns to space. Do they have raccoons in Wakanda? I hope so. Thor should see a rabbit, too.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I wonder if the Russos requested the inclusion of the 1.9:1 version or not, or if Disney would listen to them if they made that request.

As a general rule, I don't double-dip. But if they came out with a future release that included the 1.9:1 framing, I'd buy it.

Presumably Avengers 4 will have the same issue. It'll be interesting to see how they handle that one.

Enjoyed the movie just fine but with SO many characters to service, I was kind of amazed the movie gave each some major limelight with lots of clever lines and some grand running gags (Thor calling Rocket "Rabbit" throughout the movie never got old).

Yes, the movie is a remarkable balancing act. I thought Joss Whedon did an amazing job with the original Avengers balancing all of the stand alone characters. But the Russos had to grapple with far more characters, and they pulled it off in a really satisfying way.

The events at the conclusion of Infinity War provide a built-in mechanism to make room in Avengers 4 for the characters who weren't featured as prominently this time around, and the characters who were off-screen (Ant-Man, Captain Marvel, etc.) for Infinity War. Avengers 4 will also be the first one to feature all four original Avengers: Ant-Man, the Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, and the Wasp.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Presumably Avengers 4 will have the same issue. It'll be interesting to see how they handle that one.

I see no reason to assume they will handle it any differently than this one. 1.9:1 for IMAX theaters and 2.39:1 for Blu-ray.

Beauty and the Beast and Pirates of the Caribbean 5 were also presented in 1.9:1 for IMAX and retained only the 2.39:1 framing for Blu-ray.

 

[Sean Bryan]

This assumes that the 2.39:1 conventional framing is always a center extract from the 1.9:1 image. I'm not sure whether that's the case or not.

I do know I loved the 1.9:1 framing in theaters, and that the 2.39:1 framing feels tight.

Right. Can’t say for sure that the scope framing is always from the exact center of the open matte frame. The process could be more complex to implement if so. Maybe the use of seamless branching for such shots?

Can’t say that in my three scope theatrical viewings I ever felt that the framing was tight. But then I didn’t have any open matte IMAX viewings for comparison.

 

[Sean Bryan]

Avengers 4 will also be the first one to feature all four original Avengers: Ant-Man, the Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, and the Wasp.

Hopefully. But (Ant-Man and the Wasp spoiler)

Spoiler

depending on how the story handles the aftermath of Infinity War, the Wasp’s appearance is likely to be brief. Would be interesting if things play out against expectations and characters that share her situation are actually utilized in a significant way

 

[sleroi]

I only saw this in IMAX 3d at 1.90 and it looked great. I didn't think it looked too loose like it was framed for 2.35 with extra safe space.

But I have a more technical question. Since this was shot digitally with the arri IMAX 6k camera, (I'm not sure what the effects were rendered at), would the picture lose any resolution letterboxed or matted to 2.35?

 

[TonyD]

I think it’s odd that they don’t put the Imax version on the disc.
Mcquarrie posted on twitter that the imax version of Fallout will be on the dicpsc yesterday.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I think it’s odd that they don’t put the Imax version on the disc.

This seems to be Disney's policy. Infinity War is not the first time Disney has done this.

 

[TonyD]

Oh yeah I know that. It all seems odd.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

But I have a more technical question. Since this was shot digitally with the arri IMAX 6k camera, (I'm not sure what the effects were rendered at), would the picture lose any resolution letterboxed or matted to 2.35?

There would be fewer pixels, but it wouldn't necessarily be lower resolution. The Alexa 65 shoots at 6560x3100 resolution. I would assume that the IMAX variant does as well, and then crops to 5890x3100. If so, the 2.39:1 framing for conventional theaters would be a 5890x2464 extract from the 1.9:1 image.

However, there's no way they went through post-production at 6k. So the 5890x3100 image would have been downscaled to 4096x2160 (if post-production was completed in 4k) or 2048x1080 (if post-production was completed in 2k). The 2.39:1 version would then be either a 4096x1716 (if 4k) or 2048x858 (if 2k) extract from the 1.9:1 image. The horizontal resolution would be the same, but the pixel count would be lower because the image has less height.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

One thing I do have to say: Despite my issues with the aspect ratio, it's probably the most beautifully shot Marvel film yet. Watching it again today, I fell in love all over again with the cinematography. The lighting, the use of color, I just was frequently stunned by Trent Opaloch's choices. It doesn't look like film at all, but it's beautiful. Especially the outer space scenes, which build upon Henry Braham's often breathtaking work on Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2.

Interesting given the whole Guardians of the Galaxy brouhaha that James Gunn is featured prominently in the digital exclusive Directors' Roundtable. I was a bit frustrated by the lack of moderation; some films, like the original Iron Man, got a lot of discussion while others barely got discussed at all. I would have liked them to discuss each one of their films in turn.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Interesting given the whole Guardians of the Galaxy brouhaha that James Gunn is featured prominently in the digital exclusive Directors' Roundtable. I was a bit frustrated by the lack of moderation; some films, like the original Iron Man, got a lot of discussion while others barely got discussed at all. I would have liked them to discuss each one of their films in turn.

I think that's down to the fact that the roundtable was filmed before recent events. I was kind of surprised that they kept that supplement with him in it, rather than scrapping it after his firing, but I'm glad they did because it's really good. I actually think that (aside from the commentary) it's the best feature produced for the set, and it's the one that's not on the disc, which is disappointing. The same thing happened last year with the scene breakdowns for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

As for Iron Man getting more discussion, I think that's just a result of it having been first and establishing the model for the MCU. I would have liked the roundtable to go on longer, but I was satisfied with what was said for the length of the feature they gave us.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Just finished the audio commentary; took me a couple nights because I kept starting it tired and then nodding off.

I'm not sure I've ever listened to one quite like that one before. It's got the two directors and the two screenwriters, but it's really a commentary about the writing. There is very little about the actual production; 80 percent or more is devoted to story development, scene development, plot mechanics, etc.

There's basically never been a feature-length crossover on this scale before, with this many characters from this many separate franchises within the same shared universe. Captain America: The First Avenger was basically Raiders of the Lost Ark meets wartime propaganda -- only with superheroes. Captain America: The Winter Soldier was Three Days of the Condor -- right down to the Robert Redford of it all -- only with superheroes. Even the first Avengers was basically The Dirty Dozen -- only with superheroes, and a correspondingly higher survival count.

Here, there was no template to follow, and the pieces going to the movie made it ridiculously overstuffed out of the gate. It also had to serve as the first half of a two-part story, while also working as a standalone movie with a satisfying beginning, middle, and end. Taken together, that is a ridiculously daunting starting point.

So this audio commentary is basically two and a half hours of the Russo brothers and Markus & McFeely breaking down scene by scene how they tackled that enormous challenge. A lot of the discussion is conceptual in nature, and the goal was generally to be as comprehensible as possible as efficiently as possible, while building off of the 18 films that came before it in satisfying ways.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Watched this disc again tonight in preparation for Endgame on UHD tomorrow. Still frustrated by the 2.39:1 cropping, when the 1.9:1 framing plays so much better. Still enjoyed the hell out of the ride.

I don't know that it's my favorite MCU film, but it's definitely the best-crafted MCU film. It flows beautifully, and every single moment has a purpose. Endgame is a shaggier dog, but offers deeper pleasures.

 

[TonyD]

This may have been mentioned already but what ratio is the 3D version.

I
Might get that even though it’s not 4K if it holds the imax shape.