Avengers: Endgame 4K Blu-ray Review
By Chris Heinonen on
Audio Quality
Video Quality
Overall
Avengers: Endgame Summary
The fourth installment of the Avengers series is the once-in-a-lifetime culmination of 22 interconnected films and the climax of an epic journey. Earth’s heroes will finally understand how fragile our reality is–and the sacrifices that must be made to uphold it–in a story of friendship, teamwork, and setting aside differences to overcome an impossible obstacle.
Avengers: Endgame Movie Review
Given that Avengers: Endgame is the most successful movie in box office history, I’ll assume everyone has seen it (though I haven’t seen the previous champ, Avatar, still). When you’re given 22 films to develop characters, a backstory, and have at all lead up to a final film, it gives you the ability to make a very powerful movie. Clocking in at three hours, Endgame is long but it is entirely deserved and never feels boring. There is a bit of humor mixed in but most of the film is fairly serious, even with all the action going on.
If you haven’t seen Endgame or the prior Marvel Universe films, then I highly recommend starting earlier and working up to Endgame. I hadn’t seen Captain Marvel before Endgame and just missing that piece left me a bit confused about some things, so you don’t want to come in blind. But Endgame is a fantastic piece of filmmaking and was as enjoyable to watch at home again as it was in theaters for the first time.
Avengers: Endgame Technical Review
Avengers: Endgame was shot on ARRI Alexa 65 cameras we 6.5K resolution but it doesn’t appear that we get all that resolution at home. The digital cinema files for release were only 2K resolution, so we likely have a 2K digital intermediate here, and there is no Dolby Vision on the disc but it is available in Dolby Vision via streaming. It also features the 2.39:1 aspect ratio and not the 1.90:1 aspect ratio of IMAX, which I’m sure will leave some fans disappointed, including myself as the absolute best looking 4K footage I’ve seen at home is in the IMAX aspect ratio.
Moving beyond that, the transfer for Avengers: Endgame leaves me nothing to be disappointed about. There is some phenomenal use of HDR and WCG, but much of the film is also quite dark and here it shines. The shadow details are fantastic, without any murkiness or crushing, and subtle shades of color are easy to pick out here as well. Some of the CGI can look worse here, but only because you can pick out the lack of resolution in the work when you see it at 4K on a large TV. If this was a true 4K DI and had Dolby Vision, I would give this a perfect rating, but it’s not quite there because of that but still looks as good as possible given the source.
The soundtrack doesn’t suffer from any flaws, and certainly not the issues with audio compression that some Disney titles have had in the past. The subwoofer is used early and often, while the Atmos channels are also engaged frequently. Voices are easy to understand, much more so than when I saw it in the theater, and it truly is a reference class title for showing off your home theater.
Additionally, I noted some scenes during the film that were particularly good for audio and video quality to refer back to. I can’t promise that I will do this in the future every time, but I’ll try so you can easily skip around after watching and try to show off what your theater can do.
- 54:30 Tokyo scene. Nice HDR with bright highlights at night, good use of Atmos to surround you during the battle, raindrops falling all around you while that metallic sound of the swords hitting each other is clear.
- 1:05:49 Nice shot with a sunrise in the background but still loads of shadow details are visible on the screen, which in SDR would be either crushed, or the dynamic range would be so much worse.
- 1:12:50 Nice use of HDR and WCG for traveling through space, with sound effects using all the channels and good, deep bass from the subwoofer.
- 1:32:36 Soundtrack is great here filling every speaker, crystal clear vocals, instrument separation, great bass response. Immediately after there is some fantastic HDR with dark shadows and bright HDR highlights.
- 2:00:30 The gauntlet with the stones has a very impressive selection of highlights in all colors going on. And less than two minutes later with the attack on the Avengers compound, you will hear exactly what your surround system is capable of.
- 2:09:00 Battle with Thanos. Very dark but so much detail, lots of HDR effects with lightning, Thor’s weapons, fires in the background, Iron Man’s attack, and the glints of gold on Thanos.
Avengers: Endgame Special Features
- Remembering Stan Lee – Filmmakers and cast honor the great Stan Lee in a fond look back at his MCU movie cameos.
- Setting The Tone: Casting Robert Downey Jr. – Hear the tale of how Robert Downey Jr. was cast as Tony Stark in the original “Iron Man” — and launched the MCU.
- A Man Out of Time: Creating Captain America – Trace the evolution of Captain America with those who helped shape the look, feel and character of this compelling hero.
- Black Widow: Whatever It Takes – Follow Black Widow’s journey both within and outside the Avengers, including the challenges she faced and overcame along the way.
- The Russo Brothers: Journey to Endgame – See how Anthony and Joe Russo met the challenge of helming two of the biggest films in cinematic history … back-to-back!
- The Women of the MCU – MCU women share what it was like to join forces for the first time in an epic battle scene — and be part of such a historic ensemble.
- Bro Thor – His appearance has changed but his heroism remains! Go behind the scenes to see how Bro Thor was created.
- Six Deleted Scenes – “Goji Berries,” “Bombs on Board,” “Suckiest Army in the Galaxy,” “You Used to Frickin’ Live Here,” “Tony and Howard” and “Avengers Take a Knee.”
- Gag Reel – Laugh along with the cast in this epic collection of flubs, goofs and gaffes from set.
- Visionary Intro – Intro by directors Joe and Anthony Russo.
- Audio Commentary – Audio commentary by directors Anthony and Joe Russo, and writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely.
Avengers: Endgame Review System
Vizio 65” P-Series Quantum X TV, Panasonic UB820 UltraHD Blu-ray Player, KEF Ci5160RL-THX Fronts, Ci3160RL-THX Center, 2x Ci200RR-THX Surrounds, 4x CI200RR-THX Atmos Speakers, Anthem MRX 1120 Receiver, Power Sound Audio Subwoofer.
Pros
A fantastic film that is a great climax to the series, reference quality soundtrack, the image is as good as you can get with the source elements.
Cons
No true 4K transfer or Dolby Vision on the disc.
Summary
Avengers: Endgame is a fantastic film and one that was just as good watching again as it was in the theater. The audio and video are both improved compared to seeing it in the theater, and it is a fantastic title for showing off what your home theater is capable of.
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