While it was far from perfect, Thor: Ragnarok was still an exciting and unapologetically fun action movie.
Not surprisingly, you can say the same about the home versions — the Blu-ray, DVD, Digital combo pack; the 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, Digital combo pack; and the DVD — which have a lot of fun extras…but should’ve been better.
For those who missed it in theaters,
Thor Ragnarok follows the titular Asgardian [Ghostbusters‘ Chris Hemsworth] as he tries to save his planet from the Goddess Of Death, Hela [The Lord Of The Rings‘ Cate Blanchett], and ends up hanging out with his brother Loki [Kong: Skull Island‘s Tom Hiddleston] and his coworker The Hulk [Now You See Me 2‘s Mark Ruffalo] on a strange alien world. Running concurrent to Captain America: Civil War and Guardians Of The Galaxy, the movie pulls liberally from a variety of comics — including Walter Simonson’s mid-’80s Thor stories, the ones drawn by Jack Kirby, Greg Pak’s Planet Hulk — for a fun if flawed romp.
Now, you can read my full review of Thor Ragnarok here, but the short version is that while the movie has the same issues that undermined Guardians Of The Galaxy and Guardians Of The Galaxy 2 — including bad use of music and needless slo-mo — it actually manages to work better by being in on the joke, and by having humor that’s more natural and situational than jokey.
Though it also helps that Thor Ragnarok has a great cast. While Hemsworth, Hiddleston, and Ruffalo are as good here as they were in Thor, Thor: Dark World, Avengers, and Avengers: Age Of Ultron, they’re joined — and in some instances, upstaged — by Blanchett, Tessa Thompson [Creed], and Jeff Goldblum [Jurassic Park].
As for the home version, the Thor Ragnarok Blu-rays and DVD obviously presents the movie with great sound and picture, especially if you get the 4K version. Unfortunately, it’s in the special features that this comes up a bit short, especially if — like me — you think the home version of a movie should be the complete picture of the film.
For starters,
while the Thor Ragnarok Blu-rays and DVD have an informative commentary by director Taika Waititi [What We Do In The Shadows], it would’ve been so much better had they invited Hemsworth, Hiddleston, Blanchett, and especially Goldblum to join.
Next, while the Thor Ragnarok Blu-rays and DVD have “Team Darryl,” the third in a series of comedic shorts about Thor’s roommate, it annoyingly doesn’t have the other two: “Team Thor” and “Team Thor: Part 2.”
Similarly, while the Thor Ragnarok Blu-rays and DVD have five deleted and extended scenes that are quite interesting — especially the ones where the unfinished special effects of The Hulk make this look like bad ’90s movie — there are others only available in the digital edition. Though it’s also irritating that the deleted and extended scenes they did include don’t have anything that explains where in the film they were cut from and why.
As if that wasn’t infuriating enough, the digital edition of Thor Ragnarok also has a featurette, “Evolution Of Thor And Hulk’s Bromance,” that’s not included in these physical editions. Though the ones they do include are pretty good. “Getting In Touch With Your Inner Thor” is a general making-of featurette; “Unstoppable Women Hela & Valkyrie,” does a semi-deep dive into these characters, both the movie versions and their comic book inspirations; “Finding Korg” is a fun look at both Waititi and the character he voices in the film; “Sakaar On The Edge Of The Known And Unknown” talks about the planet where most of the movie takes place and the characters who hang out there; while “Journey Into Mystery” is a look at the comics that inspired elements of the movie.
But the most helpful making-of videos…
on the Thor Ragnarok Blu-rays and DVD — if you’re an aspiring filmmaker, that is — are the “8-Bit Sequences,” which are test sequences they made to plan out the action scenes “Sakaar Spaceship Battle” and “Final Bridge Battle.” While crude, they do provide serious insight into how action scenes in a big budget movie are planned and executed.
Next, the Thor Ragnarok Blu-rays and DVD present a short featurette called “Marvel Studios: The First Ten Years: The Evolution Of Heroes” that looks at the Marvel Cinematic Universe, though it really needs to be longer than the five minutes allotted here.
The Thor Ragnarok Blu-rays and DVD also have the requisite gag reel, which manages to be funny despite being the same kind of shots of actors screwing up and cracking up that you get from every movie’s gag reel.
Finally, the Thor Ragnarok home versions commit that most common of Blu-ray/DVD sins: they don’t have the movie’s trailers. While this has the Black Panther one when you pop in the disc, and trailers for the video games LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2, Marvel Contest Of Champions, and Marvel Future Fight in the “Sneak Peeks” section, the ones for this film — y’know, the ones that would help these collections be a more complete picture of the movie — are M.I.A.
Despite these numerous shortcomings,
and the fact that many will probably be rectified when the twenty-fifth anniversary edition Super Ultra 16K VR version comes out in 2043, people who enjoyed Thor Ragnarok should still pick up the the Blu-ray, DVD, Digital combo pack; the 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, Digital combo pack; and the DVD now. Twenty-five years is far too long to wait to see this fun and funny action flick in the comfort of your own home.
SCORE: 7.5/10
