In Marvel Studios’ action-packed spy thriller Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff — aka Black Widow — confronts the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Natasha must deal with her history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger. Scarlett Johansson reprises her role as Natasha/Black Widow, Florence Pugh stars as Yelena, David Harbour portrays Alexei/The Red Guardian, and Rachel Weisz is Melina. Black Widow — the first film in Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe — is directed by Cate Shortland and produced by Kevin Feige.
For in-depth thoughts on Black Widow, please see my colleague Tia Fabi’s review from its original theatrical release here.
Video Quality
Black Widow debuts on Blu-Ray with an AVC encoded 1080p presentation in 1:85:1 that does an excellent job of bringing this world to life. Skin tones appear natural with healthy doses of crisp detail apparent on faces such as pores. The range of the color spectrum is stunning to behold with this world dazzling in its vibrancy. From beginning to end, the disc delivers bold colors within the production design and costumes which really blow you away. Just take a moment to delight in the vividness of the Red Guardian suit. The highlights in the film are finely delineated with whites pure and balanced with no instances of blooming to be found. Elements in the film taking place in the cover of darkness are more vivid and stable. The black levels are especially strong in this presentation, staying deep and inky with great detail. This Blu-Ray release pushes the format to its limits in terms of technical excellence. There is a 4K UHD Blu-Ray also available that was not offered to me for review.
Audio Quality
The movie comes to Blu-Ray with a commendable DTS-HD 7.1 Master Audio track that is pretty dynamic in its execution but slightly lacking in depth. The movie is action-packed from beginning to end, but with the way the track is mixed you will have to turn up the volume a little louder than normal to feel it is properly effective. The low end of the track is active during the majority of the film with a bit of wall shaking happening. The dialogue and sound effects are appropriately balanced with the thrilling score where nothing gets lost in the track. Surround channels get some nice activity during the nature scenes and moments of chaotic action with bullets flying and the roar of engines passing by. This track gets the job done, but could be much more effective under different circumstances. Those with an interest in upgraded audio will want to check out the 4K UHD Blu-Ray for a Dolby Atmos presentation.
Special Features
- Filmmaker Introduction: A minute-long introduction from Director Cate Shortland in which she explains her vision for the film and what she hopes audiences gain from the film.
- Sisters Gonna Work It Out: A nearly six-minute featurette in which the cast and crew discuss the characters, rigorous training, and building the dynamic between the two fearsome siblings. This is fairly standard promotional material, but there are some fun insights sprinkled throughout.
- Go Big If You’re Going Home: A nine-minute featurette in which the cast and crew discuss what they wanted to accomplish with this solo film, the size and scale of the production, shooting around the world, the intricacies of stunts and much more.
- Gag Reel: A three-minute collection of moments featuring some goofing around, forgotten lines, ruined takes and more moments that are a lot of fun.
- Deleted Scenes: Nine unused scenes totaling fourteen minutes are provided here featuring Nat grocery shopping, an extended bike chase sequence, a longer fight with Alexei during his escape and more. There is some really good stuff in here that is worth checking out.
Final Thoughts
Black Widow never feels like a truly essential Marvel film, yet it proves to be very entertaining while finally giving a beloved character the solo film she has always deserved. Scarlett Johansson does a fine job in this sendoff, but it is actually Florence Pugh who steals the movie away from her. At the end of the day, this is mid-tier Marvel, which is still a strong place to be. Disney Home Entertainment has given this film a Blu-Ray release featuring a fantastic video presentation but slightly lacking audio. The special features provided are decent but could stand to be a bit more substantial. Those MCU fans looking to add this to their collection should not be disappointed, although they may want to go for the 4K UHD option if they are capable. Recommended
Black Widow is currently available to purchase on 4K UHD Blu-Ray, Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Disney Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
