Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness 4K Blu-ray Review & Comments

Casimir Harlow

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Great that Disney continues to release quality 4K discs, but why isn't the IMAX version also available too? I used to pick up every Marvel film on disc, day one, D+ has killed that off, which is a shame, it's still nice to have a physical collection. I'm wondering about selling my Blu-ray's.
 
I’m looking forward to this immensely.

This weekend or next, phone off, door locked, pizza in... and off we go.
 
watched both and the IMAX stream in my view is visually far more entertaining than the disc. Such a shame the discs are not in IMAX.
 
Nice review Cas, and I have to say, I watched the Disney + stream and it looked great, yes the Atmos mix is left wanting during streaming, but the premium tag of £25 or so for the disc, minus the IMAX footage is becoming a hard pill to swallow....on the other hand, Top Gun Maverick can be priced at whatever it wants to be when it's released on 4k disc, I will throw my money at that!!
 
Great that Disney continues to release quality 4K discs, but why isn't the IMAX version also available too? I used to pick up every Marvel film on disc, day one, D+ has killed that off, which is a shame, it's still nice to have a physical collection. I'm wondering about selling my Blu-ray's.
I think they are pretty average releases picture wise, only a few of the Marvel films have that WOW effect. For a film like Dr Strange to be shot in 8K, mastered in 4k and to look like it does, it's quite disappointing.
 
I did enjoy it at the cinema and am a sucker for physical media but think I will watch on Disney + and then just wait for the inevitable 2 for 25 offer in a few months before picking it up...did the same with Shang Chi and Black Widow
 
Saw this one recently and was pleasantly surprised. It probably helped that I'd seen a few lukewarm reviews to lower my expectations.

Interesting review Cas, I didn't really appreciate that Raimi had this cult following, but I did enjoy this film and all it's quirkiness.
 
I really enjoyed this and it is imho better enjoyed after seeing Wanda Vision and What If prior to seeing the film.

Really wanted to have the Imax version on physical disc and would happily paid extra for that on disc and as much as want to own this on physical media with high resolution Atmos sound, the Imax version on D+ will have to suffice for now.

Once seen in Imax Enhanced, I doubt anyone would want to watch this film cropped with black bars. I felt the same with Avengers Endgame and Infinity War, but I had the 4k discs prior to seeing them on Disney Plus.

And some projector owners will see a brighter image as a side effect as well with the Imax Enhanced image imo.

It's so ironic that back in the day, black bars were a good thing and 'how it was meant to be seen' and marketed as the proper way to see films shot in that format and because 4:3 pan/scan was bad etc etc.

Now we seem to have the opposite were some films are shot with a higher frame in mind and we have black bars forced onto the frame therefore covering parts of the image which were not designed to be covered by the director.

Obviously it can also be argued most cinemas showed the film in the 2.35 : 1 ratio in the cinemas and that is what we have here with the disc.
 
I really enjoyed this and it is imho better enjoyed after seeing Wanda Vision and What If prior to seeing the film.

Really wanted to have the Imax version on physical disc and would happily paid extra for that on disc and as much as want to own this on physical media with high resolution Atmos sound, the Imax version on D+ will have to suffice for now.

Once seen in Imax Enhanced, I doubt anyone would want to watch this film cropped with black bars. I felt the same with Avengers Endgame and Infinity War, but I had the 4k discs prior to seeing them on Disney Plus.

And some projector owners will see a brighter image as a side effect as well with the Imax Enhanced image imo.

It's so ironic that back in the day, black bars were a good thing and 'how it was meant to be seen' and marketed as the proper way to see films shot in that format and because 4:3 pan/scan was bad etc etc.

Now we seem to have the opposite were some films are shot with a higher frame in mind and we have black bars forced onto the frame therefore covering parts of the image which were not designed to be covered by the director.

Obviously it can also be argued most cinemas showed the film in the 2.35 : 1 ratio in the cinemas and that is what we have here with the disc.
I expect Disney to release the IMAX editions once they have milked us fully for the 2.35 ones :(
 
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Having watched the IMAX edition I honestly see no need to get the disc, the IMAX stream is definitely good enough, and the ratio is just better.

I also enjoyed this much more than Spider-man no way home, but I'd agree with the 7/10
 
I really enjoyed this and it is imho better enjoyed after seeing Wanda Vision and What If prior to seeing the film.

Really wanted to have the Imax version on physical disc and would happily paid extra for that on disc and as much as want to own this on physical media with high resolution Atmos sound, the Imax version on D+ will have to suffice for now.

Once seen in Imax Enhanced, I doubt anyone would want to watch this film cropped with black bars. I felt the same with Avengers Endgame and Infinity War, but I had the 4k discs prior to seeing them on Disney Plus.

And some projector owners will see a brighter image as a side effect as well with the Imax Enhanced image imo.

It's so ironic that back in the day, black bars were a good thing and 'how it was meant to be seen' and marketed as the proper way to see films shot in that format and because 4:3 pan/scan was bad etc etc.

Now we seem to have the opposite were some films are shot with a higher frame in mind and we have black bars forced onto the frame therefore covering parts of the image which were not designed to be covered by the director.

Obviously it can also be argued most cinemas showed the film in the 2.35 : 1 ratio in the cinemas and that is what we have here with the disc.
I absolutely agree with you the irony of “imax enhanced” basically being a modern full screen version for the home. It reminds me of films on VHS back in the day being panned and scanned where the “super 35 mm“ ones were cropped for cinema but opened up for video so worked well on tv. Best example I can think of would be Star Trek VI where you could only tell as they only did the effects in widescreen. Worst would be Dutch obviously having his “severed” arm up his shirt in the unmasked VHS Predator (I once stood next to Carl Weathers and can confirm he still has both limbs!) In the end I’m a fan of “as the director intended“ (so don’t like the look of Warner Home Movies like Mad Max 3 on Prime which appear to be a modern day screen filling “pan and scan” but I’m quite happy with a made for “Imax enhanced” not least as my PJ screen does indeed look brighter!
 
Disney is keeping the flame of 4K Blu-ray alive while simultaneously making it irrelevant. Quite the feat.
 
We watched the IMAX enhanced version on Disney+ on our JVC RS440 projector at the weekend in Dolby Atmos.

No issues at all with the presentation. It looked and sounded great.

However, neither of us enjoyed the film. We had high hopes after really enjoying Wander Vision and we were expecting a continuation of that story with a similar tone, but what we got was a Evil Dead / Army of Darkness style Zombie / Demon movie with very little story or let up.

Not what we were expecting and not something my fiancée would choose to watch. Quite pleased when it was over. We won’t be re-watching this one.

It’s good that Disney let Sami Rami make the type of movie he wanted to make, but I question whether this was the right approach for a Marvel Movie.


Regards,
James.
 
Aren't the IMAX shots all cropped though as the aspect ratio for those is 4:3ish and are being zoomed to fill the screen on these IMAX enhanced versions?
Yes, it's not the full IMAX height, but it is 1.9:1, which is one of the IMAX-spec ratios. You're getting to see a lot more than you are in the 2.35:1 versions, and a little less than the full-fat IMAX spec. I love the IMAX Enhanced versions personally as I run a 1.9:1 screen.
 
Aren't the IMAX shots all cropped though as the aspect ratio for those is 4:3ish and are being zoomed to fill the screen on these IMAX enhanced versions?

“Proper IMAX” (the type that used 70mm film and was only deployed in specialist environments such as museums) is 4:3, but IMAX for feature films is now 1.9:1 and this is what IMAX Enhanced uses.

As the majority of new movies are shot digitally, they usually capture a full frame in the camera, (rather than using anamorphic camera lens which would have been the norm in the days of film).

This means they can create a 2:40:1 native version and a 1.9:1 native version. They haven’t had to zoom or crop one version to create the other version - they are both created from the original camera capture.

Other than Christopher Nolan, there’s nobody targeting the original IMAX format for movies.

Even the original IMAX cinemas have been “upgraded” to digital projection now. The IMAX cinema at the Museum of Film, Photography and Television in Bradford had its film projector 📽 replaced with a digital system a few years ago. At least it still has a huge 4:3 screen and still shows special features in that aspect ratio.

Regards,
James.
 
I watched it last night on Disney+, my kid loves all the Marvel films but I wanted to vet this first as it's graded 14+.

Visually, as always, it's amazing. The story though, is a load of tosh. I won't spoil it but surely they could've thought of something better than the Wanda story.
 
Hated it. Needed to watch it though because it was the final nail in the coffin for me when it comes to Marvel stuff. As always, there are some impressive sequences, but at the end of the day, i found it to be generic, cut and paste bullshit like pretty much all the others.

Still, an easy recommendation for kids, insomniacs and people who enjoy watching other people play video games.
 

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