Guardians of the Galaxy – Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Chris Eberle

Synopsis

Young Peter Quill is abducted from Earth as a boy and grows up become the space pirate Starlord. When he is sent to recover a mysterious orb, he is thrown into prison along with a group of misfit aliens. It turns out the orb has the power to destroy an entire planet and is being pursued by the uber-evil Ronan who is bent on destroying the Xandar race.

Peter joins Groot, Rocket, Gamora and Drax in breaking out of the prison thinking they will be able to bring the orb to a safe place but Ronan and his forces have other ideas. After he steals the orb from them it becomes an all-out dash to save Xandar and destroy it for good. When the final battle begins, the Guardians of the Galaxy have only one chance to prevent total destruction.

Commentary

This is one of the most fun science-fiction films I’ve seen in a long time. The tongue-in-cheek dialog keeps the action from getting too serious even though billions of lives hang in the balance. In fact I was sure I was watching a Joss Whedon screenplay but it was actually written by director Peter Gunn and his team. Even though it’s a Marvel film, the Guardians are not super-heroes by any stretch. They have unique abilities but they aren’t looking to save the day, they’re just looking for their next payday. Two of them exist only as CGI constructs – Rocket, a very capable raccoon and Groot, a large tree with unique powers and a limited vocabulary. Nevertheless, they portray just as much emotion and depth as any of the live actors. Sci-fi fans will love the Star-Wars-meets-Firefly vibe of this film and Trekkies even get a little love when the Xandarian pilots create a cool version of the Tholian web.

Technical

The image tends to be a little dark but never lacking in depth or detail. There are times when color looks bright and saturated but much of the action takes place in musty-looking spaceship interiors. The CGI effects blend perfectly with the live action to the point where you won’t perceive any fakery.

The DTS-HD Master audio soundtrack is mixed in 7.1 for this Blu-ray release. If you want Dolby Atmos, you’ll have to see it in a theater. While the surround envelope was suitably immersive and the bass deep, I found the sound a bit polite. There was plenty of dynamic range but the most intense scenes fell a little short of pulse-pounding. Detail in both dialog and ambient effects was excellent; I just wanted a little more slam.

Extras

Bonus material totals about 40 minutes and includes featurettes about the world of Guardians, a making-of documentary, deleted scenes, a gag reel and a two-minute look at Marvel’s upcoming Avengers: Age of Ultron. There is also audio commentary with director James Gunn.