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Marvel Animated: Features 3-Movie Collection Blu-ray Review

  • Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
  • Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
  • Resolution: 1080p/24 (23.976Hz)
  • Audio Codec: English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 (48kHz/24-bit), Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 (Planet Hulk), English and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 EX (Invincible Iron Man and Doctor Strange)
  • Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
  • Region: ABC (Region-Free); A (Region-Locked) (Planet Hulk)
  • Rating: PG-13 and Not Rated (Planet Hulk)
  • Discs: 3 (3 x Blu-ray )
  • Run Time: 139 Mins.
  • Studio: Lionsgate
  • Blu-ray Release Date: April 24, 2012
  • List Price: $19.99

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Purchase Marvel Animated Features: 3-Movie Collection on Blu-ray at CD Universe

Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com

Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Films
[Rating:3.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2.5/5]

Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures

(All TheaterByte screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG at 100% quality setting and are meant as a general representation of the content. They do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)

The Films

[Rating:3.5/5]

The Marvel Animated Features: 3-Movie Collection is another set from Marvel and Lionsgate that brings together the direct-to-video Marvel animated features that have been previously released in one set. Here we have an odd collection of titles to marry together, including Planet Hulk, Doctor Strange, and The Invincible Iron Man. The two latter titles are updated origin stories for Doctor Strange and Iron Man, although the Iron Man title is shamelessly familiar to anyone who has seen the live action theatrical versions starring Robert Downey, Jr. Planet Hulk finds Hulk being banished to isolation on an alien planet by Tony Stark/Iron Man, only to find himself crash landing in strange alien civilization not unlike a mixture of ancient Rome and Egypt being ruled by a tyrannical king. There he is forced to do battle as a gladiator in an arena with fellow slaves to gain his freedom. In Doctor Strange, the Doctor travels all the way to tibet after a car accident leaves him without the use of his hands. There he learns the ways of mysticism just in time to help fight an evil force looking to break through from another dimension and wreak havoc. Neither feature is very memorable or completely true to the original sources, but of the three, Doctor Strange offers the best entertainment value and animation.

Video Quality

[Rating:4/5]

All three features are granted solid 1080p/24 AVC/MPEG-4 encodements on BD-25 discs from Lionsgate. Colors are vibrant and detail in line art is strong, even if sometimes the source itself looks a little jagged. There are issues with the overall image sometimes getting little soft, especially in parts of Doctor Strange, however.

Audio Quality

[Rating:4.5/5]

Audio is really good all around, as per usual with these Marvel releases from Lionsgate. Aggressive from the beginning, each title, mixed in DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 (48kHz/24-bit), makes full use of the surround and back channels for discrete effects and lush ambience, there is deep, resounding bass, wide stereo panning across the front and clean, clear dialogue.

Supplemental Materials

[Rating:3/5]

While there are a mixture of standard definition and high definition featurettes amongst the extras in this set, much of the space is taken up by “first looks” of other Marvel features, which won’t be necessary if you already own them.

The supplements:

Planet Hulk:

  • Audio Commentary with Joshua Fine and Greg Johnson
  • Audio Commentary with Sam Liu, Philip Bourassa and Steve Nicodermus
  • A Whole World of Hurt: The Making of Planet Hulk (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 00:21:43)
  • Let the Smashing Commence! The Saga of Planet Hulk (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 00:11:27)
  • Opening Sequence: Thor: Tales of Asgard (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 00:06:14)
  • Wolverine and the X-Men: “Wolverine vs. Hulk” Episode (1.78:1; SD; 00:21:51)
  • Spider-Woman: Agent of S.W.O.R.D. Motion Comic (1.78:1; SD; 00:10:20)
  • Astonishing X-Men: Gifted Motion Comic (1.78:1; SD; 00:14:11)
  • “Watch Your Step” – Spider-Woman Music Video (1.78:1; SD; 00:03:09)
  • “Rise Up” Astonishing X-Men Music Video (1.78:1; SD; 00:02:40)
  • Hulk Online Games Trailer (1.78:1; 1080i/60)

Doctor Strange:

  • Marvel Video Game Cinematics:
  • Best Of
  • X-Men Legends 2
  • Marvel Ultimate Alliance
  • The Origin of Doctor Strange (1.78:1; 00:14:02)
  • A First Look at Avengers Reborn (1.78:1; 00:05:45)
  • Doctor Strange Concept Art (1.78:1; 00:02:18)

The Invincible Iron Man:

  • First Look: Hulk vs. Wolverine (1.78:1; 1080i; 00:03:52)
  • First Look: Hulk vs. Thor (1.78:1; 1080i; 00:03:15)
  • Alternate Opening Sequence (1.78:1; SD; 00:03:11)
  • The Origin of Iron Man (1.78:1; SD; 00:11:58)
  • The Hall of Iron Man Armor (HD)
  • Iron Man Concept Art (1.78:1; SD; 00:02:58)

The Definitive Word

Overall:

[Rating:4/5]

This set is no more than a reissue collection so many Marvel fans will already own the material here. For those who don’t, the broad may find the broad reinterpretations of their favorite characters and the often confused story lines very disappointing.

Additional Screen Captures

Planet Hulk:

Doctor Strange:

The Invincible Iron Man:

[amazon-product]B0077HQD2S[/amazon-product]

Purchase Marvel Animated Features: 3-Movie Collection on Blu-ray at CD Universe

Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com

Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Films
[Rating:3.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2.5/5]

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