Blu-Ray Review: Marvel's Guardians of The Galaxy - Bring Home One of My Favorite Films of The Year!

The Tenth entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a true ensemble movie! Five anti-heroes forming a formidable team is the ingredients for one of Marvel's freshest and funniest films to date!

In a film that includes a walking tree and a talking raccoon with a machine gun, there is a strange familiarity about the story. The quest story is there and filled with scoundrels as the lead characters.

Then there is this awesome soundtrack straight from the 1970s. This is a great soundtrack and a little unconventional. One more sign that this movie is not playing by the rules. And this is a great thing. People do not always have to watch a movie told to them in metaphors. The film bring to light that  things that seem completely off the wall can exist simply because they are cool.

This story filled with rogues, assassins, thieves, and bounty hunters shows that they can find strength in one another. This a much nobler message than we get from other superhero movies. Plus, we get amazing performances from each of these characters and that should come to no surprise considering how great Marvel is at re-defining careers.

Chris Pratt is now a mainstream action hero. He is the coolest rogue since Han Solo. Brad Cooper brings his best character (Rocket) to life with just his voice. Vin Diesel brings heart and soul to a character (Groot) with a very limited vocabulary. Dave Bautista gives Drax a real soul. And Zoe Saldana, who plays Gamora, is the only major character that gets the short end of the stick. You never really get her story as we do with all the rest of the Guardians.  

Video Quality:

The 1080p AVC MPEG-4 is reference quality. The color palette is impressive from the various environments to star fields to alien skin tones. Both Rocket and Groot look totally photo realistic. This is the perfect disc to show off a new set or your current one.

Audio Quality: 

The 7.1 DTS-HD MA sounds unbelievable. The spaceship sounds and laser blasts envelope you. The classic rock music soundtrack surrounds you. Dialogue is impressive even during chaotic battle scenes. Even the audio is reference quality.

Bonus Features:

Featurettes:

Guide to the Galaxy with James Gunn: Awesome 8-bit graphics connect each of the parts of this mini documentary that covers everything from the design to makeup to set building to Easter Eggs.

The Intergalactic Visual Effects For Guardians of The Galaxy: Showing how visual effects brought to life Groot and Rocket. We also get to see how James Gunn's brother Sean did the physical acting for Rocket. Take a look at James directing his brother in the photo below.

Exclusive Look at Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron: A behind the scenes look at the making of the next Avengers. You will see the various locations around the world that the new movie takes places to give you the epic global scale of this movie. You also get an introduction to the new characters. Not a lot here that we do not already know but still a great way to build excitement for the film.

Deleted & Extended Scenes:

There are five scenes to watch with optional commentary from James Gunn.

Gag Reel:

A hilarious look at the flubs during the making of this film.

Audio Commentary with Director James Gunn:

A very insightful commentary just with the Director James Gunn.

Final Thoughts: 

Guardians of The Galaxy is one heck of a thrill ride! It combines an epic space opera with 1970s/1980s pop culture. Marvel continues to change the face of the super hero genre. The disc provide both reference quality video and audio as well as a nice package of bonus material. This is a must buy!