The Marvels 3D Blu-ray (2023) [Region Free] [Japan only]

[the13thman]

I watched all the Marvel TV shows and while I enjoyed them all up to a point, I can't deny that their quality fluctuates massively and parts of them are so painfully bad that I actually feel ashamed for watching them. The cringe factor is off the scale far too frequently.

For it to even have a chance of succeeding as a film, The Marvels needs a very clever way of introducing the characters to everyone who didn't bother with the TV shows. Unfortunately there's not much that's clever about Marvel's scripting these days, to me this looks like just an extension of the TV shows because that's basically what it is, just with Captain Marvel thrown in.

[Telegram Sam]

The problem I've had with recent MCU films is related to the TV shows. (I say, "Problem" - but it's not really a problem as I'm not overly invested in these films to as great an extent as many people are: I've seen them all, some a couple of times, and I quite like a few of them.)

So anyway, my "problem" is this: I now have no idea what I'm supposed to know and what I'm not supposed to know. When it was just the movies, pre the TV shows, I still felt a tiny bit alienated because I often wondered if there was stuff from the comics that, if I'd known about, would have enhanced my enjoyment. That feeling is now significantly ramped up to the extent of when a new character is introduced I find myself wondering if that's someone that people who watch the streaming shows already know all about (eg the girl in Dr Strange 2). I mean, I could still follow the story, but I kept wondering if it would all be clearer if I knew more of the backstory (eg Wanda in Strange 2...).

Anyway, the upshot of all that is that I haven't even bothered watching a couple of the recent ones (Ant Man and Black Panther). The mild interest I'd previously had in the series has been killed by (the mere existence of) the TV shows. Add to that I thought there had been a real drop in quality of the films from maybe Black Widow.

I currently have the last four 3D MCU films sitting in a shopping basket at Amazon Japan, today's price delivered is about £192 (it was £175 yesterday!), which is way cheaper than it would have been if I'd bought each of them on release. I'll wait for word on the quality of The Marvels, but there's a chance I won't ever bother hitting the "Buy" button - and that's in large part thanks to the dilution of the series courtesy of all those shows. (Or, "all that product", I want to say.)

[the13thman]

Originally Posted by Telegram Sam

So anyway, my "problem" is this: I now have no idea what I'm supposed to know and what I'm not supposed to know. When it was just the movies, pre the TV shows, I still felt a tiny bit alienated because I often wondered if there was stuff from the comics that, if I'd known about, would have enhanced my enjoyment. That feeling is now significantly ramped up to the extent of when a new character is introduced I find myself wondering if that's someone that people who watch the streaming shows already know all about (eg the girl in Dr Strange 2). I mean, I could still follow the story, but I kept wondering if it would all be clearer if I knew more of the backstory (eg Wanda in Strange 2...).

Anyway, the upshot of all that is that I haven't even bothered watching a couple of the recent ones (Ant Man and Black Panther). The mild interest I'd previously had in the series has been killed by (the mere existence of) the TV shows. Add to that I thought there had been a real drop in quality of the films from maybe Black Widow.

I currently have the last four 3D MCU films sitting in a shopping basket at Amazon Japan, today's price delivered is about £192 (it was £175 yesterday!), which is way cheaper than it would have been if I'd bought each of them on release. I'll wait for word on the quality of The Marvels, but there's a chance I won't ever bother hitting the "Buy" button - and that's in large part thanks to the dilution of the series courtesy of all those shows. (Or, "all that product", I want to say.)

What you describe is a very common problem and it's down to poor scripting.

Thankfully of the recent films it's only Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness that requires viewing of WandaVision (and as a standalone film it REALLY suffers because of that).

The others don't need any prior knowledge of the TV shows but the more they integrate them the harder that's going to get. Clever scripting can address this of course, but there hasn't been any of that recently.

All the recent MCU films do look beautiful in 3D though, with the exception of Thor: Love and Thunder which you need good display equipment to get anything out of. That has some terrible effects in it too, that's another thing that The Marvels really needs to get right.

[Telegram Sam]

Originally Posted by the13thman

What you describe is a very common problem and it's down to poor scripting.

Thankfully of the recent films it's only Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness that requires viewing of WandaVision (and as a standalone film it REALLY suffers because of that).

The others don't need any prior knowledge of the TV shows but the more they integrate them the harder that's going to get. Clever scripting can address this of course, but there hasn't been any of that recently.

All the recent MCU films do look beautiful in 3D though, with the exception of Thor: Love and Thunder which you need good display equipment to get anything out of. That has some terrible effects in it too, that's another thing that The Marvels really needs to get right.

I think Love & Thunder was the last MCU film i saw at the cinema. Thought the film was really poor (although did find old Russ le Roq's greek accent as Zeus quite fun) and thought the 3D was severely disappointingly bland. I walked out of that one thinking, "I'm done with this." And there was no way I was going to drop around £80 to get that film on 3D Blu-ray.

Perhaps I should give some of those other recent ones a try. From what I know about The Marvels, it seems unlikely to be the MCU movie that brings me back into the fold, but I'll keep an open mind. (I quite enjoyed Captain Marvel - and I think that was one of the first to get a ton of hate? Fantastic 3D in that one too.)

[levcore]

It's interesting how Doctor Strange 2, as 13thman says above is easily the most dependent on seeing a show first yet that one made almost a billion at the BO. You'd think the movie would suffer at the BO due to just how confusing it arguably is if you haven't seen the Wanda show. I didn't see the show so it was a bit confusing.

Hopefully The Marvels will be good but the trailers haven't done much for me. The jokes are tired and the fx look like the standard MCU stuff of late.

[the13thman]

Originally Posted by levcore

Hopefully The Marvels will be good but the trailers haven't done much for me. The jokes are tired and the fx look like the standard MCU stuff of late.

There are three superpowered women all swapping powers throughout the movie, with that kind of plot the effects have to be A-grade for this not to look like a TV show. Naturally, 3D goes a long way to delivering that.

[b_scott]

Originally Posted by levcore

It's interesting how Doctor Strange 2, as 13thman says above is easily the most dependent on seeing a show first yet that one made almost a billion at the BO. You'd think the movie would suffer at the BO due to just how confusing it arguably is if you haven't seen the Wanda show. I didn't see the show so it was a bit confusing.

Wandavision was viewed by a LOT of people. Just because you didn't see it doesn't mean that a large percentage of Marvel fans didn't. It was the first MCU series and was right in the heart of the pandemic. It was a big deal, so much that they're making a spinoff show.

[levcore]

Originally Posted by b_scott

Wandavision was viewed by a LOT of people. Just because you didn't see it doesn't mean that a large percentage of Marvel fans didn't. It was the first MCU series and was right in the heart of the pandemic. It was a big deal, so much that they're making a spinoff show.

OK calm down ha ha. It was just a lighthearted observation. You MCU fanboys can get really over excited quite easily.

I'm sure it's a wonderful show, i know I'll never watch it though!

[b_scott]

I’m not a fanboy. Eternals, Wakanda, Thor 4, Quantumania sucked. Most of the shows aren’t great. But they’re watchable. Except Secret Invasion was really bad.

[Freakyguy666]

If this does as poorly as people expect it may go straight to Disney + after a rather short theatrical run and be the end of 3d blu’s for the MCU…

[the13thman]

Originally Posted by Freakyguy666

If this does as poorly as people expect it may go straight to Disney + after a rather short theatrical run and be the end of 3d blu’s for the MCU…

There's no way this won't get a flat release on disc.

Some of the Disney+ exclusives are now getting disc releases so clearly someone at Disney has realised there is still money to be made from discs.

Hopefully they'll wake up to the fact that there's still money to be made from 3D Blu-rays. Having said that, if this comes out only in Japan, this time I'm not pre-ordering straight away.

[3dblurayofsunshine]

An interesting thing about this movie is that it is not getting an IMAX release because of Dune 2. Which means the theatrical aspect ratio will be the definitive one, and any 3D Blu-ray will not have to feel like it is lacking something.

[Freakyguy666]

Originally Posted by the13thman

There's no way this won't get a flat release on disc.

Some of the Disney+ exclusives are now getting disc releases so clearly someone at Disney has realised there is still money to be made from discs.

Hopefully they'll wake up to the fact that there's still money to be made from 3D Blu-rays. Having said that, if this comes out only in Japan, this time I'm not pre-ordering straight away.

To be clear a straight to Disney+ release does not imply no disc…discs can & have come out subsequent to the streaming premiere date…my point was that it could negate the 3D blu release..

[Freakyguy666]

Originally Posted by 3dblurayofsunshine

An interesting thing about this movie is that it is not getting an IMAX release because of Dune 2. Which means the theatrical aspect ratio will be the definitive one, and any 3D Blu-ray will not have to feel like it is lacking something.

Dune 2 release date is up in the air however…

“ Amid two contentious Hollywood labor strikes, Warner Bros. Film Group is strongly considering pushing the Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya tentpole to next year from its current Nov. 3 slot, three individuals with knowledge of discussions told Variety”

https://variety.com/2023/film/news/d...ke-1235676007/

[b_scott]

Originally Posted by 3dblurayofsunshine

An interesting thing about this movie is that it is not getting an IMAX release because of Dune 2. Which means the theatrical aspect ratio will be the definitive one, and any 3D Blu-ray will not have to feel like it is lacking something.

Would be cool if they opened it to 1.85:1

[WaverBoy]

Originally Posted by b_scott

I’m not a fanboy. Eternals, Wakanda, Thor 4, Quantumania sucked. Most of the shows aren’t great. But they’re watchable. Except Secret Invasion was really bad.

I thought Eternals and Wandavision (and Doctor Strange 2) were all really good. Quantumania…wasn’t, although I only saw it flat, so I’m hoping the 3D might boost it a bit. I didn’t hate it, but didn’t really like it either. Pretty meh. Haven’t seen Wakanda Forever or Thor 4.

[levcore]

Eternals was amazing, i loved it. One of my favourite MCU's. Overall I've enjoyed all of them to varying degrees though.

[BLMN]

Originally Posted by Freakyguy666

If this does as poorly as people expect it may go straight to Disney + after a rather short theatrical run and be the end of 3d blu’s for the MCU…

I think this one will still come out early 2024. i am more concerned about the next ones, theatrically there is a 8 month gap (if you go By Dead Pool 3 is 6 months but its not considered MCU and also not in 3D as the previous 2 were also not) between this and the next MCU movie. Captain America Brave New World which looks like it will be the next in 3D after Marvels, we wont see another 3D bluray from Japan until close to 2025! (December 2024 ish) This huge gap will make room for speculation if The Marvels will be the last stop for the Japanese 3D bluray.

[roguejp]

Originally Posted by the13thman

There's no way this won't get a flat release on disc.

Some of the Disney+ exclusives are now getting disc releases so clearly someone at Disney has realised there is still money to be made from discs.

Hopefully they'll wake up to the fact that there's still money to be made from 3D Blu-rays. Having said that, if this comes out only in Japan, this time I'm not pre-ordering straight away.

Just curious why you won't pre-order this? Is that because you expect it not to be good?

[Jlardonio]

Originally Posted by the13thman

No, there never was one.



Nowhere. It was an erroneous listing that was subsequently amended to remove 3D.

True, but when it happened to list with 3D people jumped to get it. The problem was that it was an erroneous listing.

People want to buy, the thing is that Disney doesn't want to make money that way. :/