Author: Robert Greenberger

Many of the comment that follow are lifted directly from a blog post I wrote after seeing Marvel’s The Avengers opening weekend. I stand by these words and note that I have since then seen it in 2-D in a theater and on my home screen via the just-released Combo Pack. The movie is so well-crafted as to remain entertaining on repeated viewings.

Disney Home Entertainment has released this in a dizzying assortment of collections, some exclusive to certain retailers, such as the Walmart one that comes with a graphic novel by Peter David and an army of artists. The four-disc commercial set comes with the 3-D and 2-D Blu-ray discs, standard DVD, and digital copy. This one also has a link to download music inspired by the film. What I was sent for review is the slightly less spiffy two disc set (Blu-ray and DVD) but it is certainly sufficient.

The major success that was not being discussed during the May release is that for the first time, four franchises have been strategically designed and executed to culminate in the launch of a fourth franchise. There have been numerous all-star films where actors arrive and perform thinly veiled versions of their famous screen personas (and we had a trailer for the latest such examples, The Expendables 2) but this move is unprecedented. While there have been previous winks and nods to a larger universe in other films and television series based on comic books, this team film was carefully planned, laid out, and executed.

Starting four years ago with Iron Man, the Marvel Movie Universe has been carefully structured, taking the very core elements from the 1960s comics, filtered through the 2000 Ultimate Universe and distilled in an easily adaptable essence. Each film was not without its flaws and they didn’t all work with Hulk going 0 for 2 but still considered a key piece of the puzzle. But, when we first saw Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) waiting for Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) after the first film’s credits and heard about “The Avengers Initiative” we knew what was coming.

The question was then: could Marvel Studios deliver on such high expectations The answer is a resounding yes but let’s look at why. First, Kevin Feige gets it. He understands the comics and the characters, but also understands film and how changes need to be made. As studio head, he made certain the egos and budgets were kept in check, focusing squarely on bringing the four-color characters to cinematic glory. That he’s remained in place has helped tremendously. So has Feige using the resources at his disposal and involving former EIC Joe Quesada from the outset, and setting up the writers committee that allowed the current architects of the print universe to help make the movies hew closely to the status quo and assure the storylines were strong.

Zak Penn also gets it. He’s clearly grown as a writer, going from things like Last Action Hero and Elektra to X2 and The Incredible Hulk. As a result, he was able to help set up the threads in the other franchises to dovetail in The Avengers. Then it was handed off to Joss Whedon, who clearly is comfortable with scope, scale, comics, and movies. He entered the Marvel orbits with Astonishing X-Men beginning a relationship that led his doing uncredited script work on Captain America which had him in mind when the current film came up. There was comfort between Feige and Whedon which led to entrusting him with a $215 million production, Marvel’s most expensive, despite Whedon only previously directing the commercially disappointing Serenity.

Fans got what they wanted: all their favorite film heroes together in one rousing story with the fate of the world counting on them. They also wanted to see the heroes bicker and battle one another, a Marvel staple dating back to the first Human Torch/Sub-Mariner squabble. They wanted tidbits connecting the film to the greater universe and got that in the form of the Chitauri (the Ultimate Universe version of the Skrulls). The general moviegoer got spectacle, humor, action, carnage, and adventure.

Given what got accomplished, the 2:23 running time is fairly tidy, especially considering how many alpha characters had to be juggled and spotlit. But that’s where Whedon excels; working with an ensemble of quirky people, each putting their foibles on display until it was time to demonstrate why should care about them. As cool as it was to watch Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo, CGI, voiced by Lou Ferrigno) duke it out, the confrontation between Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Black Widow (Scarlet Johansson) was equally satisfying.

Each character was true to themselves, which was perhaps the trickiest aspect of bringing these franchises together, since their motivations varied and it required Fury to wheedle, cajole, and manipulate them into coming together to save the Earth. The parallel of Fury’s efforts with Loki’s need to keep them distracted and in-fighting was well handed, putting the emotions on display. Similarly, just as Loki cut a deal with the Chitauri to gain control of the limitless power contained within the Tesseract and the Chitauri answered to Thanos (as seen in the first of two wonderful end credit sequences), Fury answered to the international council (Powers Boothe, Jenny Agutter, Arthur Darbinyan, Donald Li) and if the film had any false notes, it was the usual cluelessness displayed by his superiors.

Loki is fittingly the foe given his role in the team coming together in the 1963 comic book and his ability to elicit sympathy from the audience given his tortured past and wounded pride. His scenes one on one with Fury, Widow, and eventually Stark are terrific and most of the credit goes to Hiddleston.

It was also good to have moments directly connecting The Avengers to the other films such as the wonderful cameo of Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), a reference to the whereabouts of Jane Foster, and the display of Hydra weaponry.

The change from Edward Norton to Ruffalo for Bruce Banner brought a level of sympathy to the scientist that was missing from the previous two film attempts. He was clearly channeling the late, great Bill Bixby and the CGI Hulk was a near-Neanderthal brute that finally looked and acted spot on. When he was ordered to smash and smiled before cutting loose, it was a clue we were in for some unbridled destruction. His confrontation with Loki may stand out as one of the single best film moments this year.

The entire second act is introspective, explosive, and fun to watch the actors put through their paces, but once the Tesseract is engaged to open the door to the Chitauri, the film puts things into fourth gear and never looks back. The final act is breathless, heroic, and tremendously exciting to watch.

This was war and with it come sacrifices. Despite all of Stark’s hubris and arrogance, when the time came, he was ready to give his life to save Earth and that changed how everyone around him looked at him. But there had to be some loss, something to make the victory bittersweet and the death that came was not unexpected but it was heroic and sad all at the same time. Clark Gregg was part of the glue that held the films together and his confident, somewhat geeky Agent Phil Coulson will be missed. We were introduced to Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders), clearly set up to be his replacement going forward, but if any character lacked Whedon’s dialogue flair, it was her and it’s shame because she looked ready to rock.

Apparently, that wasn’t always the case as is revealed in one of the many worthwhile extras included in the set. There is a nice assortment of Deleted and Extended Scenes (14:59) that includes alternate opening and closing scenes with Hill that actually gave her a more important role. I can sort of see why Whedon excised them and would have added yet another layer to the goings on. There’s also an extended vignette of the isolation Steve Rogers feels in the 21^st Century but it would have dragged the film’s pacing so while it’s missed, it made sense. Similarly, there’s a nice exchange between Mark Ruffalo and Harry Dean Stanton that also was dropped since the pacing of the final act demanded speed.

New to the disc is the first of the Marvel One Shot original stories intended to explore the new cinematic universe. “Item 47″ (11:20) stars Jesse Bradford (Bring It On) and Lizzy Caplan (True Blood) as would-be bank robbers using a Chitauri weapon they managed to recover and make work. Agent Sitwell (Maximiliano Hernández) is sent after them while Agent Titus Welliver deals with the paperwork. It might be the merest hint of what’s to come with the proposed ABC SHIELD series for next season.

The gag reel (4:05) is the usual jolly stuff. There are just two featurettes: “A Visual Journey”, on the visuals coming from page to screen; and “Assembling the Ultimate Team” (14:37), which is the usual cast and crew saying nice things about one another. Whedon’s commentary, as it was on Cabin in the Woods, is dry, funny, and insightful.

Finally, there’s the Soundgarden Music Video “Live to Rise” (4:49). which I didn’t need since their music does nothing for me.

I couldn’t check out The Avengers Initiative: A Marvel Second Screen Experience since it only goes live tomorrow, release day.

George Lucas and Steven Spielberg were two of a generation of filmmakers that studied their craft in the late 1960s, having been raised on a steady diet of science fiction and comic book action courtesy of the 1930s movies and serials making the rounds of television. Their sense of storytelling and pacing clearly harkens back to the breathless sense of adventure found in the 15-chapter matinee events and the chills that Universal’s monsters offered. They cut their teeth in film and television, respectively, paying their dues and exploring at a time when almost anything was possible in Hollywood. When their friendship blossomed and the notion of collaborating on a film came up, it seemed obvious they would explore those common sources of inspiration.

Thirty years ago, we were treated to the first result and collectively, we were blown away. Everything felt pitch perfect about Raiders of the Lost Ark, from John Williams’ rousing score to Harrison Ford’s casting and appearance. It demonstrated new facets of their craft and proved a commercial blockbuster—the right film at the right time during a magical summer when almost everything else was pretty spectacular.

The success led to more sequels of varying quality but the fedora, the whip, and the theme music have been burned into our collective consciousness, making us want more. After the disappointing fourth installment, the films were packaged as the Complete Adventures and this week, Paramount Home Video brings Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures out entirely in Blu-ray along with a fifth bonus disc of extra material. It’s a handsome package, complete with terrific Jason Palmer paintings to decorate each sleeve.

Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull are all here in their gorgeous high definition glory. The first film, making its Blu-ray debut, was meticulously restored and looks amazing. This alone makes the set worth having because it’s like watching it again for the first time and you revel in the subtleties. Each disc comes with the theatrical trailers, saving the remaining extras from the previous editions plus new material for the fifth disc.

Let’s get right to the new material so you can judge whether or not this is worth buying one more time. Your get a brand new “On Set with Raiders of the Lost Ark” “From Jungle to Desert” (29:35) offers up new footage, beginning with location scouting and including chronological footage of the making of various scenes, intercut with remastered clips from the film. All of this is supplemented with interviews from Spielberg, Ford, and company. You get some bloopers and deleted moments including yes, the almost gun versus scimitar scene. The second part, “From Adventure to Legend” (28:17) goes on to explore storyboarding, set construction and scene preparation for the “Well of Souls” sequence. We then get treated to the details behind the “flying wing” fight sequence, the truck chase, and so on. The Legend part allows them to weave in outtakes and deleted scenes from the next three films. Like the films and creators, these two offer you some new information and additional moments to watch.

Also new is the 1981 “Making of Raiders of the Lost Ark” making its home video debut. The other features from the various DVDs are here although none converted to high definition.

Indiana Jones is far from your everyman considering his wide range of skills and knowledge. He’s a globetrotter during an era when that was romanticized in fiction and film and encountered famous personages with great regularity. And yet, all he wants to do is preserve the past and teach at the University, charmingly oblivious to the dreamy stares his co-eds shoot his way. Indy is charming in a regular guy way, with that sly smile that shows he’s in charge of the situation. He’s also flawed, giving Ford something to work with. His complicated relationship with his father, explored nicely in the third film, frames his character and might explain how he managed to sabotage his romance with Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), the one great love he spent decades missing before finally marrying her. By then, he’s discovered his illegitimate son “Mutt” (Shia LaBeouf) and feels the responsibility to make up the lost years and have a vastly different relationship than he had with his father.

The legends and lore that propel each story work well with the different time periods each film is set in, allowing a rich, textured world for Indy and his pals to explore. Spielberg and Lucas have wisely avoided filling each movie with too many special effects, keeping their appearance generally for each climax.

Of course, there’s comic relief, which worked well in the first film with Sallah (John Rhys-Davies) and less so with others such as Short Round (Jonathan Ke Quan). The opponents also varied in quality from his mirror self in Belloq (Paul Freeman) to the unconvincing Elsa Schneider (Alison Doody). It’s a shame the films are so uneven given how great the main character is but Spielberg’s tastes take a back seat to Lucas’ concepts and by now it‘s clear he is great with some high concept notions and less great with the details and pacing, making you wish he’d collaborate more with the likes of Lawrence Kasdan, who helped make that first one so memorable.

The third film wrapped up many threads and actually made for a fitting end, a satisfying conclusion to the film trilogy so the gap between that and the less successful Crystal Skull burnishes the former’s appeal all the more. It’s a shame since the older but not necessarily wiser Indy dealing with government conspiracies and UFOs during the 1950s felt like a perfect launching point.

While uneven, the skill of the cast and crew make even the weaker installments worth repeated viewing. This is a handsome package, stuffed with wonders and well worth adding to your video library.