Captain America: The First Avenger Blu-ray, Video Quality
Captain America leaps onto Blu-ray with a gorgeous 1080p transfer. The image appears rather subdued by design; fine detail is extensive but not always redly evident, and colors are dull throughout. That doesn't make this any less of a looker. Paramount's transfer is extraordinarily stable, crisp, and yields breathtaking clarity and cleanliness.
Detailing is astounding in spots; complex facial textures are evident in both the brightest shots and the lowest-light conditions alike, but the picture's sepia-toned shots do lend a rather pasty look to faces where shadowy corners occasionally struggle with smooth color transition. Nevertheless, textures on military helmets, Captain America's complex suit, concrete and brick façades, and the like are all outstanding. The digital photography occasionally produces minor banding, but the image is otherwise pristine and free of any perceptible digital anomalies. Blacks are sturdy and inky, yielding richly-texrtured dark scenes and never crushing out details. Some viewers may be turned off by the absence of "eye candy" visuals; the color palette in particular appears always drained and favoring a dark gray, black, blue, or sepia-toned structure.
There's no denying that this is another first-rate Blu-ray transfer from Paramount.
Captain America: The First Avenger Blu-ray, Audio Quality
Captain America blasts onto Blu-ray with a well-rounded DTS-HD MA 7.1 lossless soundtrack. This is a balanced but still exciting track that handles every extreme thrown its way with ease. Whether a chilled Arctic wind that blows through the listening area at film's start or minor ambience like Brooklyn traffic, buzzing insects, or the rumble of a prop plane as heard inside the cabin, the track never fails to surround the listener with mood- and scene-critical atmospherics. At the same time, there's no shortage of high-energy sound, either. The action proves totally immersive; gunfire -- from conventional and fictitious energy weapons alike -- erupts from every corner of the listening area during shootouts.
Explosions are hefty and built through strong, but not excessive, bass. The surround speakers carry much of the action, helping to immerse the audience in the film's most dangerous scenes.
Music is strong, balanced, spacious, and incredibly clear. It's carried by the front but, like everything else, enjoys some measure of surround support. Dialogue remains grounded up the middle in every scene; it's clear and never lost through any of the supporting elements, heavy or otherwise. It's not quite on the level of
spectacular, but this is pretty much everything an action-oriented, fresh-from-theaters soundtrack should be.
