Ant-Man

Director: Peyton Reed

Cast: Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll, Bobby Cannavale, Julie Greer, Abby Ryder Forston, Michael Pena, David Dastmalchain, T.I. Harris, Hayley Atwell, John Slattery, Martin Donovan, Wood Harris

Marvel is releasing ANT-MAN this week on home video, in Blu-ray and DVD formats, and also offered as a 3D Blu-ray. We had a chance to review the 3D version, and it did not disappoint. If you’d like to read our reviews of the film itself, you can click either here or here.  I found it to be surprisingly fun and for the most part very family-friendly, perhaps the safest of the Marvel Studios releases so far.  There’s a nice throwback quality to it, almost like an early 1980s family adventure film.  Paul Rudd finds a great balance of playing a man desperate to get his life back on track, while finding humor and time for jokes in the most extreme situations.  ANT-MAN was a production that took a long time to complete, and even lost original director Edgar Wright.  Some felt like the odds were against it, but it performed well and met with mostly positive criticism.  If you missed it in theaters, the home video release is packed with plenty of bonus content, making it worth a look (or, for those of you who did see it, a second look).

While I’m admittedly not the biggest fan of 3D in theatrical movies, the shrinking qualities of this superhero tale and imaginative special effects really make good use of the technology.  I always say 3D isn’t necessary unless the movie it’s being used with is really making good use of it, and ANT-MAN does.  Little moments like Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) testing out his shrinking suit for the first time in a bath tub play very well in 3D, but the scenes that really shine are sections of the story where the hero rides actual ants through pipes and even flies through the air on winged ants.  I honestly don’t remember the 3D standing out when I saw the film in theaters, but on a 3D television it really pops and compliments the movie nicely.

The film also looks really sharp with popping colors and crisp close-ups.  Director Peyton Reed gave this a really polished look, and it translates very well on the Blu-ray.  The sound mix is also excellent, and Christophe Beck’s pulse-pounding score resonates strongly as a result.  Admittedly, ANT-MAN isn’t as big and flashy as some of the other Marvel Studios films of recent years, but it looks every bit as good as those films thanks to the masterful transfer.

The sound mix is English DTS-HD MA 7.1, with optional French Dolby Digital 5.1 and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. The 3D packaging also includes a regular Blu-ray and a Digital Copy of the film.

Making Of An Ant-Sized Heist: A How-To Guide:
Set your watch and count down the action in this fast-paced behind-the-scenes look at how to pull off a heist movie, including Scott Land’s hilarious heist “family”, Ant-Man’s costume, plus amazing stunts and effects – solid behind the scenes for the production, shows how they came up with several of the ideas for the film.  Explores the various characters too.  Very satisfying.

Let’s Go To The Macroverse:
Shrink down to size in this fascinating look at creating the world from Ant-Man’s perspective, from macro photography through the subatomic – really awesome breakdowns of how they created the miniature universe shown in the story, and how they came up with some of the wild concepts.

WHIH News Front:
A hard-hitting collection of content, including a glimpse at the future of Pym Technologies with Darren Cross, anchor Christine Everhart’s interview with soon-to-be-released prisoner Scott Lang on his notorious VistaCorp heist, and more – fun news bytes that tie directly into the film, almost like lost scenes that easily could have been wrapped into the final film.  Fun seeing the Christine Everhart character return from the IRON MAN films.

Deleted & Extended Scenes
Audio Commentary by Peyton Reed and Paul Rudd – some of these are really great, and the insightful commentary by Reed and Rudd is an added bonus.  There’s a whole alternate introduction to Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) that is quite amusing.

Perhaps the most impressive bonus feature on this release is the audio commentary by Peyton Reed and Paul Rudd, which is very thorough and fun. Nothing feels off limits either. Reed discusses the departure of Edgar Wright from the film, and notes many of the elements that were held over from Wright’s original vision. It’s also discussed how Rudd and Adam McKay added comedic touches to specific scenes, and how certain moments were going to be played differently before the final version was defined. It’s a great inside look on the film, and if you’ve seen it then it works very well as a great way to watch it again and learn a lot about the production. I particularly enjoyed hearing Reed break down some of the effects shots and how the put them together, such as the scene at the beginning of the film with a “younger” Michael Douglas and how they did it. It’s amazing what you can discover when the commentary tracks are this involved, like how Ant-Man’s helmet was mostly CGI, or how certain actors were able to come up with small but ultimately important touches to add to their characters. To put it simply, make sure you make time to watch the film with the commentary, as it’s one of the best I’ve heard.

The next evolution of Marvel Cinematic Universe harnesses the tiniest but mightiest force known to man and introduces the newest member of the Avengers: Marvel’s Ant-Man.

Armed with the amazing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, mast thief Scott Lang must channel his inner hero and help his new mentor Dr. Hank Pym protect the secret behind his spectacular Ant-Man suit from a new generation of ruthless villains! With humanity’s fate in the balance, Pym and Lang must plan and pull off a daring heist against insurmountable offs. Filed with humor, awesome special effects and an exclusive bonus feature, this action-packed adventure takes you to new levels of pulse-pounding excitement!

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