Comic Vine News

13 Comments

Doctor Strange Blu-ray Review

The Doctor will soon be in...your personal collection.

No Caption Provided

Last year's Doctor Strange took the Marvel Cinematic Universe to a new place. Despite the existence of Thor and the elements of Asgard, it wasn't fully clear where magic or mysticism fit in with the movies. Just as Guardians of the Galaxy took us away from the world of the Avengers, Doctor Strange did the same.

If you're a fan of the Marvel Studios films, you've probably already seen this movie. I won't go into a full review of the film, but if you're interested in reading one, you can check it out here.

The movie did successfully introduce us to new characters and concepts. You're probably aware that Doctor Strange will be meeting up with other Marvel characters in the very near future. It'll be interesting to see how the different worlds within the Cinematic Universe come together.

When it comes to a Blu-ray release, the obvious question is: Should you buy it? If you're like me, you want to keep adding to your collection. As much as I enjoyed the movie, the more important concern is what's included with the special features? A good movie experience is further enhanced by being able to explore what went into making it all happen. Thankfully, this release does have a lot.

No Caption Provided

Special Features

Featurettes

  • A Strange Transformation (9:42) Actors, filmmakers, and costume designer discuss bringing magic into the Marvel Universe. There's behind the scenes footage, green screen usage, on location shots in Kathmandu, and the building of huge sets. They discuss the history of the character from the comics, when he was created in the 60s. They focused on the journey of the character. Details such as the car accident scenes requiring eight different Lamborghinis is mentioned. Benedict Cumberbatch was their first choice. They pushed production back six months to let him finish performing Hamlet on stage.
  • Strange Company (12:37) Kevin Feige talks about the award-winning cast. Rachel McAdams read The Oath to prepare. There's mention of updating the cliché of the Ancient One. "Gender is in the eye of the beholder." They didn't want to pin down the Ancient one to any specific religion or gender. Wong was also updated from being simply a servant or sidekick. Other characters such as Mordo, were fleshed out.
  • The Fabric of Reality (12:32) The costume department was task wih developing a new world through clothing. We see how they created the Eye of Agamotto and having several cloaks needed for different scenes. There's a look at making the movie feel different with the locations.
  • Across Time and Space (13:21) We see how they coordinated the fight scenes and styles. They used three or four different kinds of martial arts to try to create something new and different. Dance coordinators were brought in for the movement of the hands and gestures when using magic. Benedict had to train to learn to fight and move. He wanted to do as many of the stunts as they'd let him.
  • The Score-cerer Supreme (9:51) This feature focuses on creating the music for the film. Michael Giacchino was excited to create the score. He was told the movie would be darker than the other Marvel movies. They were surprised how he immediately came up with the theme.

Marvel Studios Phase 3 Exclusive Look (7:28) A brief recap of the Marvel Studios movies. Footage from San Diego Comic-Con, Kevin Feige talking about the Avengers. He discusses how this is the culmination of what they've been doing. They're working on bringing everything together, and they've been planning this for years. They've explored street level characters and the cosmic. Now they brought in the supernatural side. They're getting ready for Thanos. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 will push things further. Thor: Ragnarok will bring in new elements and Hela. Black Panther being introduced in Civil War showed he was deserving of his own movie. Infinity War will be a very human story. We'll find out why is Thanos the biggest and baddest villain in the Marvel Universe.

Team Thor 2 (4:38) There's more to the feature than what was released online. Thor talks to a bunch of young kids in a classroom. He's taking a break from being an Avenger and moved in with Darryl in Australia.

Deleted & Extended Scenes (7:52) Five different scenes.

Gag Reel (4:12)

Audio Commentary by Director Scott Derrickson.

No Caption Provided

It's always fun watching these movies multiple times. Especially when watching on the big screen, there's the possibility of missing out on certain things. If you've been picking up the other Marvel Studios releases or comic book movies in general, you'll want to add this to your collection. The movie is already available digitally and the Blu-ray is on sale Tuesday, February 28. Let us know what your favorite part of the movie was.