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A view on Blu-ray by Gary W. Tooze

The Amazing Spider-man (Four-Disc Combo: Blu-ray 3D/Blu-ray/DVD + UltraViolet Digital Copy) [Blu-ray]

 

(Marc Webb, 2012)

 

Also comes in a 'standard' Blu-ray edition:

   

   

   

 

Review by Gary Tooze

 

Production:

Theatrical: Columbia Pictures

Video: Sony

 

Disc:

Region: FREE! (as verified by the Momitsu region FREE Blu-ray player)

Runtime: 2:16:17.169

Disc Size: 43,307,237,124 bytes

Feature Size: 38,671,607,808 bytes

Video Bitrate: 25.39 Mbps

Chapters: 16

Case: Transparent thick (double) Blu-ray case inside cardboard box

Release date: November 9th, 2012

 

Video:

Aspect ratio: 2.40:1

Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps

Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Audio:

DTS-HD Master Audio English 2321 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 2321 kbps / 16-bit (DTS
Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)
DTS-HD Master Audio French 2331 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 2331 kbps / 16-bit (DTS
Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)
DTS-HD Master Audio Portuguese 2331 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 2331 kbps / 16-bit (DTS
Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)
Dolby Digital Audio Chinese 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio Spanish 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio Thai 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps
Commentary: Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / Dolby Surround
Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / Dolby Surround

 

Subtitles:

English (SDH), English, Chinese, French, Indonesian, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai, none

 

Extras:

Feature Disc:

• Audio Commentaries with Marc Webb, Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach (with subtitles options)

 

Special Features Blu-ray Disc (has optional subtitles):

• Deleted Scenes and Alternate Takes (16:50)

• Rires of Passage: Spider-man Reborn (149:28)

Pre-visualization (39:09)
The Oscorp Archives – Art and Promotional Materials Gallery (Spider-man - 5:28, The Lizard - 2:52, Environments - 2:04)

Image Progression Reels with commentary (11:51)
Stunt Rehearsals (11:52)

• Development of The Amazing Spider-man Video Game (3:20)
 

Both 3D, 2D Blu-ray versions of the film and included DVD
Interactive 3D Film School with Director Marc Webb

 

Bitrate:

 

 

Description: The Amazing Spider-Man is the story of Peter Parker (Garfield), an outcast high schooler who was abandoned by his parents as a boy, leaving him to be raised by his Uncle Ben (Sheen) and Aunt May (Field). Like most teenagers, Peter is trying to figure out who he is and how he got to be the person he is today. Peter is also finding his way with his first high school crush, Gwen Stacy (Stone), and together, they struggle with love, commitment, and secrets. As Peter discovers a mysterious briefcase that belonged to his father, he begins a quest to understand his parents' disappearance - leading him directly to Oscorp and the lab of Dr. Curt Connors (Ifans), his father's former partner. As Spider-Man is set on a collision course with Connors' alter-ego, The Lizard, Peter will make life-altering choices to use his powers and shape his destiny to become a hero.

***

Typical teenager Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) embraces his incredible destiny after uncovering one of his father's most carefully guarded secrets as Columbia Pictures reboots the Spider-Man franchise with the help of director Mark Webb ((500) Days of Summer) and screenwriter James Vanderbilt (Zodiac). Sally Field, Rhys Ifans, Denis Leary, Martin Sheen, and Emma Stone co-star.

 

 

The Film:

Mr. Webb’s Spider-Man movie works only because he keeps the whole package, at least until the requisite final blowout, tethered to his two appealing leads. Both look too old for high school (Mr. Garfield turns 29 in August, and Ms. Stone hits the big 24 in November), but then so did the characters introduced by the pen-and-ink legends Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in 1962. If the readers who embraced the square-looking Peter Parker didn’t mind, maybe it was partly because this awkward outsider spoke to his times, having been bitten by a radioactive spider the same year the United States conducted 36 atmospheric nuclear weapon tests over the Pacific.

Excerpt from the NY Times located HERE

 

Orphaned as a child and taken in by his kindly Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) and Aunt May (Sally Field), lonely outsider Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) has spent his life wondering what happened to his parents. After clues lead him to his father’s former partner, eminent scientist Dr Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans), Peter is bitten by a genetically-engineered spider which imbues him with super-human abilities. As Peter uses these abilities to become a masked vigilante known as Spider-man, he attempts to romance classmate Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone), whose father (Denis Leary) is Captain of the Police, while Connors’ reptilian experiments transform him into a savage creature.

While it doesn’t offer the “untold story” that we were promised - one of the many plot threads which seems to get forgotten about - there are a few key differences here. This time there’s no Norman or Harry Osborn (although the former casts a shadow), no MJ Watson and no J Jonah Jameson (which is probably a good move, since following JK Simmons’ version would be thankless). While Raimi’s Spidey was primarily inspired by the classic modellings of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, Webb blends a welcome hybrid of Nolan’s Bat-verse and Brian Michael Bendis’ rightly-acclaimed Ultimate Spider-man run. Where Raimi’s approach was energetic, quirky and comic book-y, Webb’s is a modern, edgier, hipster version. This friendly neighbourhood you-know-who has a mobile phone, and he’s not afraid to use it.

Excerpt from Eye for Film located HERE

Image :    NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

As anticipated, The Amazing Spider-man looks extremely impressive on Blu-ray from Sony. Some refer to this as 'Part 4' but it is really an alternate re-telling of the origin with a totally fresh cast and director from the Tobey Maguire/Sam Raimi ones. There is nothing to critique. The 2-hour 15 minutes feature is transferred to a dual-format 1080P disc with a separate Blu-ray disc of the extensive special features. It has a solid bitrate. The visuals are very pleasing with contrast exhibiting healthy, rich black levels. The film has many dark scenes but the Blu-ray has no noise and there is a lot of depth. This Blu-ray is solid on every front without a major, or even minor, flaw.  One area of extra-positives are the special effects which are totally seamless - more credit to technology, I suppose. This Blu-ray gives a state-of-the-art presentation with a magnificent video - worthy of Home Theater demonstration levels.

 

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Audio :

The DTS-HD Master 5.1 surround track at 2321 kbps is likewise flawless. Some may find it a shade passive, for their expectations, but the James Horner's excellent score is very supportive of the on-screen action and becomes an integral part of the presentation. Effects are handled discreetly with only a handful of examples of demonstrative bass. Separation is there but - mostly on the subtle end. I prefer this type of audio transfer as I find it adds more to the feature - rather than eclipsing the narrative with verbose ear-drum rattling explosions of sound. There are optional subtitles and my Momitsu has identified it as being a region FREE disc playable on Blu-ray machines worldwide.

 

Extras :

We get a lengthy and revealing audio commentary with director Marc Webb and producers Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach (with subtitles options) who discuss the production details from most angles. The Feature Blu-ray also has some untested interactive features ex. downloading a screen app for your iPad etc. There is an entire second Blu-ray of special features and it should be noted that it has plenty of optional subtitles. There are Deleted Scenes and Alternate Takes, a 40-minute Pre-visualization, the The Oscorp Archives – Art and Promotional Materials Gallery (Spider-man - 5:28, The Lizard - 2:52, Environments - 2:04) but the main supplement is a 1.5 hour documentary entitled Rites of Passage: Spider-man Reborn that has cast, crew and director giving sound -bites of the re-invention of the origin. There are also some Stunt Rehearsals, and a dozen minutes of Image Progression Reels with commentary. Included in this package are both 3D, 2D Blu-ray versions of the film, this Special Features disc and a separate DVD disc. I didn't look at the 3D Blu-ray but understand there are further interactive features on that including a 3D Film School with Director Marc Webb.

 

Special Features Blu-ray

 

BOTTOM LINE:
I'm a big Marvel super-hero fan and I thought this was the second best Spidey flic after film #2. I liked the direction they took with the story - perhaps a bit liberal in some areas but the origin is so iconic it is nice to see a re-telling. The Blu-ray package does it all and those keen should be confident in this or the leaner Blu-ray package which undoubtedly has the same impressive transfer. With two young boys this will get a ton of re-play in our house and we can surely recommend to all the small, and big, boys who like a masterfully told adventure tale. 

Gary Tooze

October 27th, 2012

Also comes in a 'standard' Blu-ray edition:

   

   

   

 


 

About the Reviewer: Hello, fellow Beavers! I have been interested in film since I viewed a Chaplin festival on PBS when I was around 9 years old. I credit DVD with expanding my horizons to fill an almost ravenous desire to seek out new film experiences. I currently own approximately 9500 DVDs and have reviewed over 5000 myself. I appreciate my discussion Listserv for furthering my film education and inspiring me to continue running DVDBeaver. Plus a healthy thanks to those who donate and use our Amazon links.

Although I never wanted to become one of those guys who focused 'too much' on image and sound quality - I find HD is swiftly pushing me in that direction.

Gary's Home Theatre:

60-Inch Class (59.58” Diagonal) 1080p Pioneer KURO Plasma Flat Panel HDTV PDP6020-FD

Oppo Digital BDP-83 Universal Region FREE Blu-ray/SACD Player
Momitsu - BDP-899 Region FREE Blu-ray player
Marantz SA8001 Super Audio CD Player
Marantz SR7002 THX Select2 Surround Receiver
Tannoy DC6-T (fronts) + Energy (centre, rear, subwoofer) speakers (5.1)

APC AV 1.5 kVA H Type Power Conditioner 120V

Gary W. Tooze

 

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