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Guardians (2017) - Blu-ray Review

2 beersAugmenting a person’s DNA with limited technology during the Cold War is probably not the best of ideas.  At least, for this group of soviet superheroes it isn’t.  While it does provide them with extraordinary abilities – like ground and rock manipulation, turning into a werebear, becoming a serious handler of swords, and invisibility with the uncanny ability to also walk on water – the darker aspects, like an entire Russian army hot on their heels, just don’t seem worth it.

Ridiculous.  Absurd.  With more than its fair share of ripped off moments from the past decade of Marvel movies, Guardians, a Russian-Armenian production that critically went nowhere on its home soil, finally lands stateside.  With a rock and shock attitude, the movie attempts to sell audience a bunch of hogwash without even grinning, which is the downfall for a lot of B-movies. 

Thankfully, the movie never takes itself all that seriously.  We just needed to chuckle more.  A lot can be forgiven if we are allowed to laugh alongside a flick like this.

Guardians is not a total loss, mind you, in that the music, the action, and some of the visual effects are pretty killer.  Go in expecting B-movie cheese and you will be a bit more prepared for the unfortunate dubbing and the disappointment in the story department that this one leaves you with.  I mean, Guardians is a lot of things.  We get a group of Soviet Super Soldiers coming back together to defeat a video game-like boss with the inclusion of supreme baddie of August Kuratov (Stanislav Shirin) and his Modul-1, which allows him to control any device emitting electrical waves.  Hardly seems fair, right?  It just never stops to give us a bit of humor.  

So what if Guardians is not original?!   That’s the least of my issues with this release. 

What it is missing, though, renders this release as null and void.  In a world littered with serious-minded superheroes and Donald Trump memes, the least I was hoping for was that this title could be … fun.  It’s not, though.  Sure, it has amazing action sequences and familiar-enough superheroes to know where their true origins came from, but the sense of fun in this vehicle is definitely not steering and that is a big problem. 

Sarik Andreasyan's Guardians is a super-hero movie on a budget.  It looks slick, but falls apart when it comes to its Saturday morning cartoon-like story.  Starring Anton Pampushny, Sanjar Madi, Sebastien Sisak, Alina Lanina as a sexier version of Black Widow, and Stanislav Shirin, the film is loaded with over the top action beats that are quite engaging and splendidly realized thanks to a great 1080p transfer from Shout! Factory.  It’s cool and everything; it just isn’t all that great.

Guardians, at the very least, should have been fun in that wink, wink, nudge, nudge sort of way.

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Guardians (2017) - Blu-ray Review

MPAA Rating: Unrated.
Runtime:
89 mins
Director
: Sarik Andreasyan
Writer:
Andrey Gavrilov
Cast:
Anton Pampushnyy, Sanjar Madi, Sebastien Sisak
Genre
: Action | Sci-fi
Tagline:
Otryad sovetskikh supergeroev (Squad of Soviet Superheroes).
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
December 5, 2017
Synopsis: During the Cold War, an organization called "Patriot" created a super-hero squad, which includes members of multiple soviet republics. For years, the heroes had to hide their identities, but in hard times they must show themselves again.

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[tab title="Blu-ray Review"]

Guardians (2017) - Blu-ray Review

Blu-ray

Blu-ray Details:

Home Video Distributor: Shout Factory
Available on Blu-ray
- December 5, 2017
Screen Formats: 2.35:1
Subtitles
: English
Audio:
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1; Russian: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; Single disc (1 BD-50); Digital copy
Region Encoding: Locked to Region A

Shout! Factory scoops up Guardians for its stateside release on 1080p.  It was in Wal-Mart first, but now the title is available everywhere.  With an aspect ratio of 2:35.1 and a crisp DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack, the film looks like a million bucks.   It might even shock you with its vivid display and seamless CGI.  Colors are saturated and vibrant and the special effects are pretty legit.  There are a lot of fantastical-looking action scenes and the CGI is right up there with the over the top thrills.  Blues are heavy.  Greens are scarce.   And black levels – even in the shadows – are solid.  All in all, a damn good release.

Supplements:

Commentary:

  • None

Special Features:

Not a lot of material, but the interviews are a nice touch.

  • New Interviews
  • Character Profiles
  • Image Gallery
  • Trailers

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Guardians (2017) - Blu-ray Review

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