It’s a big week for Marvel fans, as the company has released Guardians of the Galaxy just in time for the holidays. The Blu-ray and DVD release comes jam-packed with extras, but it’s not the only new set you can nab as a stocking stuffer. Check out the rest of this week’s releases, below. You’re welcome.
Guardians of the Galaxy Blu-ray
It’s hard to believe that Guardians of the Galaxy is already well out of theaters and available on Digital, Blu-ray and DVD. It feels like Groot, Star Lord and the rest of the gang just entered our lives recently, but we’ve actually been talking about the feel good flick of the summer for several months. Now, we’ve been given the chance to bring the gang into our own homes.
Guardians of the Galaxy follows five oddball antiheroes, Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Rocket (Bradley Cooper), Groot (Vin Diesel) and Drax (Dave Bautista), who cross paths thanks to a mysterious orb that contains powers so important that multiple bad guys are after it, and in extension, them. These bad guys include Ronan (Lee Pace) and Yondu (Michael Rooker), two men with very different motivations. After a few mishaps and a jail stint, our heroes learn they are the only individuals capable of saving the population of a large world. It’s a pretty solid action flick, but funny, too, thanks to a script co-written by Director James Gunn and Nicole Perlman.
In most ways, Guardians of the Galaxy offers its own tone and flavor. With a space setting, a rocking soundtrack filled with seventies music and unique comedic sensibilities, it’s no surprise the flick was ultimately a hit. As if fans weren’t already planning to purchase this beauty, Marvel’s set will give you plenty of added reasons to. The easy-to-navigate menu is set up like a media play center, which fits, as Awesome Mix Vol. 1 plays in the background. Extras are split between featurettes and other extras. If you haven’t already taken a look at the "Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Utron exclusive footage, we suggest you do so now, but the disc is full of plenty of stuff that hasn’t been released in its entirety.
This includes a slew of deleted and extended scenes that show more badassery from Gamora, as well as more confrontations between Gamora and Nebula (Karen Gillan), and a few not-yet fully animated sequences from the film. The audio commentary features plenty of background information from Gunn. It's a mixed bag, though. Some of that info is pretty dry and literally states what is happening in scenes, some of it will be pretty basic info for Guardians comic fans and some of the information is incredibly enthusiastic stuff from Gunn that’s totally worth checking out. Or you can just read our interesting facts round-up about the set. Regardless of your reasons for choosing the Guardians of the Galaxy Blu-ray, there’s a lot of stuff to like. You can order Marvel Studios’ latest over at Amazon (Don’t forget to choose you cover wisely).
Full List Of Extras:
"Guide to the Galaxy with James Gunn"
"The Intergalactic Visual Effects for Guardians of the Galaxy
Deleted and Extended Scenes (with or without audio commentary)
"Exclusive Look at Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron
Gag Reel
Audio Commentary with James Gunn
When The Game Stands Tall Blu-ray
The formula for successful sports films has been around for a long time. Bring in a great actor to play the coach, throw in a few interesting sports plays and then add enough rousing dialogue to invest audiences for an hour and a half. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment’s brand new sports movie When The Game Stands Tall offers each of these elements, but it doesn’t always come together into an entertaining film.
Part of the problem is that When the Game Stands Tall is based on a true story, following a 2004 high school football team that was riding high after a 151-game winning streak but is forced to deal with an intensely difficult season after tragedy strikes. Jim Caviezel plays real-life coach Bob Ladouceur, a soft-spoken coach with an intense love for the game, and actors Matthew Daddario, Stephen James, Alexander Ludwig, Jessie Usher, Joe Massingill and Ser’Darius Blain are all effective as football players onscreen. Regardless, it does take a while to get through the exposition and into the real grind of the football season, which is where the movie shines.
The film's biggest success is its portrayal of the game on the field. Director Thomas Carter has a good handle on the high school football game and atmosphere. It helps that he had access to the real Ladouceur, as well as footage from the team from the early 2000s to work with. And as a nice bonus for fans, there’s an excellent segment on the disc that features Carter and Ladouceur chatting about football plays and what really went down during the rough season (it’s a pretty long segment, however).
You can order When The Game Stands Tall over at
[[ ahref http b00mamwouu dp ref sr_1_2_twi_2_twi_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1418180594&sr=8-2&keywords=when+the+game+stands+tall when-game-stands-tall-blu-ray www.amazon.com ]] Amazon.
Full List of Extras:
Commentary with Director Thomas Carter
Select Scenes Commentary with Director Thomas Carter and Bob Ladouceur
Deleted and Extended Scenes
"Undefeated: Making When The Game Stands Tall"
"Gridiron Action"
Other December 9 Releases
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is light on releases this week, but if you—or more predictably your kids—are into the Dolphin Tale franchise, Dolphin Tale 2 is out on Blu-ray and DVD this week, and the Blu-ray is worth the extra couple of bucks. The flick has some fun extras for kids, including music videos, a cool segment featuring new cast member Bethany Hamilton meeting with dolphin Winter and much, much more.
You can check out some more of this week’s releases, below. Unless otherwise noted, sets are available on both Blu-ray and DVD.
Dolphin Tale 2
Frank
Doctor Who: The Complete Eighth Series
Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead
Calvary
In Search of Aliens: Season One
Batman 25th Anniversary: Diamond Luxe Edition Blu-ray
Under The Dome: Season 2
Fox Searchlight Pictures: 20th Anniversary Collection Blu-ray
Mork and Mindy: The Complete Series DVD
