Beginning with a pixelated Atari-like Universal logo, complete with the familiar sounding bleeps and squawks from that gaming system as it blips out the usually orchestrated Universal Studios theme music, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World announces its thunderously playful attitude as a sugary sweet twenty-something romantic comedy to its unsuspecting audiences. It is a technically marvelous film that, without apologies or explanations, consistently operates as a ceremonious tribute to the wonderful world of video games and anime.

Directed by fellow Grindhouse alumnus Edgar Wright (Spaced, Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and Don’t), Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is a razor-sharp film that, with one hand, masterfully serves up thick slices of goopy pop culture relativity while balancing, with the other hand, a narratively inclined bildungsroman about a boy, a girl, his other girl and her seven evil exes.

Adapted from the beloved graphic novels written by Bryan Lee O’Malley, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World tells the story of one 23-year-old’s conversion from slacker to go-getter (with special emphasis on the “go get her” part of that transformation). Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) is own rock star hero. He plays bass for the The Sex Bob-ombs and juvenilely pals around town with an underage girlfriend named Knives Chau (Ellen Wong). Living in Toronto with his sarcastic gay roommate Wallace Wells (Kieran Culkin), Pilgrim, as a slacker, doesn’t aim for anything real and just lives, finding himself mostly “booooooorrrrrrred” to piss by everything.

That is until a dream, starring one Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), awakens him from his slacker anthem and calls him to a life of duty. Once convinced that Ramona is real, Pilgrim spends most of his time thinking about her and ways to hang with her, the way young lovers do. Once this is humorously accomplished, Pilgrim and Flowers enjoy a few days together, though he can’t bring himself to break things off with swooning Knives. Yet, when Ramona’s ex-boyfriends (and one girlfriend) randomly show up and challenge Pilgrim to epically duel – in video game fashion - for the right to date her, he discovers that, in life, some things are definitely worth fighting for.

Wright’s transwarped love affair with quick cuts, clever transitions, campy wit, and pop-culture relativity is amazingly slapped all over this picture. With skill. With control. With a clear vision and comedic purpose. This is true art, frame by frame. Packing a solid punch of cartoonishly glazed color in every detail, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World sneaks its way along, minute by minute, until you are left with nothing short of a pioneering film destined to inspire a whole new generation of technical filmmakers.

Yeah, it’s that remarkable of a film. And since comparisons are bound to be made, let me go right ahead and open the door. While Nolan’s Inception has its classically-timed calculations and Bond-like appeal, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World has the pop and fizzle freshness of a cool can of soda on a hot summer day. Both are epic and grand. Both spot-on in tone, texture and triumph. Both are wicked-smart forms of entertainment and sorely needed in a humdrum summer of lackadaisical releases. Even still, both dazzle the senses with neither being better than the other. That being said, I guess you could call Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, since there is a narrowness in its respective audience, the shoegazer’s version of the high-browed intelligence in Nolan’s Inception.

Cera, still the ultimate Charlie Brown in human form, certainly doesn’t add a significant amount of layer to his well-known screen persona. He doesn’t have to, folks. His movies make money because people want to see him to his shtick. But, if anything, Wright manages to transform Cera’s spineless energy into a sword-carrying action star of Kung Fu cinema. Volleying over his opponents in ballet-like feats of skilled precision, Cera absolutely pulls off the physical demands of the role and furrows the brow as well as any tough guy Hollywood star.

In fact, all of the film’s stars – including its female leads - pull off some pretty glamorously ingenious fight scenes throughout the movie, making this movie an equal opportunity employer. Winstead, in the role as Pilgrim’s muse, gets to roll around, swing a giant hammer, do black flips, high kicks, and fall down a flight of stairs just like the boys do. Yet, just like the changing colors of her hair, she morphs on screen with stunning results. When called to be coyly aloof she absolutely delivers and then, when the two starry-eyed lovers share a few private moments together, she’s sexy as hell, leaving me to believe Winstead might be the break-out star of Wright’s movie.

But let’s get this straight, Wright is a genius young filmmaker. He might even be the best of the new wave of cinematic storytellers. The video game and cultural textures he adds to the film – transferring one scene in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World into a full-on Seinfeld skit complete with the familiar music cues – are extensively detailed and carefully planned. With meticulous precision, he can deconstruct and reorganize an action scene into a viscous onslaught of mythical proportions. Yet, each scene seems so characteristically anarchistic. That’s the real beauty in his work. He makes everything about them seem so effortlessly rich in entertainment and never selfish in rationale. Certainly, this film is the bubblegum masterpiece Michael Bay wishes he had the intelligence to make.

Those interested in a traditionally told narrative need not apply. Seriously. Once whipped into its conceptualized fury, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is a colossal juggernaut of cinematic zeroes and ones that will probably put off audiences looking for something a bit more subtle and straight-forward in approach. Poised to produce some pretty polarizing critical and fan-garnered opinions, it might be best to describe Edgar Wright’s movie as being the Blade Runner of the hipster genre. While it looks nothing like Ridley Scott’s misunderstood masterpiece from 1982, I have a feeling, much like what happened to Blade Runner, that it is bound to be celebrated more and more as a revolutionary film the further away we get from its year of release.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is sharply written and thrillingly rendered; it’s visually rich and vibrant and sonically superior to most films and now the technology has caught up with it because the 4K resolution is the DEFINITIVE way to see this CLASSIC. While it might be narrow in that its true heart speaks to audiences raised on video games and MTV, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is a true convergence of sound and energy not to be missed by those interested in seeing the future of filmmaking.

4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital HD

Home Video Distributor: Universal Studios
Available on Blu-ray - July 6, 2021
Screen Formats: 1.85:1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos; English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1; Spanish: DTS 5.1; French: DTS 5.1
Discs: 4K Ultra HD; Blu-ray Disc; Two-disc set
Region Encoding: 4K region-free; blu-ray region-free

Game on! Scott Pilgrim just met the girl of his dreams - literally. But in order for them to date, he must defeat her seven evil exes rogues' gallery, including an infamous skateboarder, a vegan rock star and fearsome identical twins! From the genre-smashing director of Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead comes Scott Pilgrim vs. The World! Powered-up by wit, action and groundbreaking visuals that you will want to watch again as soon as it's over! Includes 4K UHD, Blu-ray and a digital copy of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and Features Dolby Vision and HDR10 for Brighter, Deeper, More Lifelike Color!

Video:

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World kicks into the HD world with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. It’s a festive celebration of warm colors and pop kitsch, yet retains – in some scenes – the lo-fi appearance Wright and Pope intended. The effects are splendidly rendered and keep the film zooming from one sequence to the next with video game flash-and-bang precision and palette. The new transfer is a stunning display of colors and context as black levels for deeper, the neons soak up more of the screen, and the power-up punches hit harder than ever before.

Audio:

The lossless Dolby Vision and HDR10 audio mix is a treasure itself; revealing a great layer of sound that few theaters could ever do justice. The surround sound is nonstop and immersive and the bass rocks the floor with the whooping of man-to-man battles.

Supplements:

Commentary:

• The filmmakers know exactly what they have here and, as a result, share their experiences working on this masterpiece in no less than FOUR commentaries. They are 1) Wright, co-writer Michael Bacall and original graphic novel author Bryan Lee O'Malley, 2) Technical Commentary with Wright and DP Bill Pope, 3) Cast commentary with Cera, Schwartzman, Winstead, Wong and Routh, and 4) Cast commentary with Kendrick, Plaza, Culkin and Webber.

Special Features:

The splendidly favorable offerings continue with a healthy dose of supplemental features encompassing the making of the film and the experience of rendering some of the effects shots. It also comes loaded with information about the music and a virtual guitar lesson. The Blu-ray is BDLive enabled and features UControl which offers some nice PIP storyboards. There is also a trivia track and several publicity galleries.
The extensive collection of supplements are as follows:

• Includes 4K UHD, Blu-ray and a digital copy of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (Subject to expiration. Go to NBCUCodes.com for details.)
• Features Dolby Vision and HDR10 for Brighter, Deeper, More Lifelike Color
• Deleted Scenes
• Scott Pilgrim vs. The Bloopers
• Documentaries
• Alternative Footage
• Pre-Production
• Music Promos
• Visual Effects
• Soundworks Collection: Sound for Film Profile
• Trailers
• Adult Swim: Scott Pilgrim vs. The Animation
• Scott Pilgrim vs. the Censors: TV Safe Version
• Blogs
• Galleries
• Trivia Track - Subtitle Track
• Credits - Static
• Cast Commentary with Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza, Kieran Culkin & Mark Webber
• Feature Commentary with Director/Co-Writer Edgar Wright & Co-Writer Michael Bacall and Author Bryan Lee O'Malley
• Cast Commentary with Michael Cera, Jason Schwartsman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ellen Wong & Brandon Routh
• Technical Commentary with Director/Co-Writer Edgar Wright and Director of Photography Bill Pope
• Deleted Scenes Commentary by DirectorCo-Writer Edgar Wright
• U-Control: Storyboard Picture in Picture
• Scott Pilgrim vs. The Bloopers
• Making of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
• Music Featurette
• You Too Can Be Sex Bob-Omb
• Alternative Edits
• Bits and Pieces
• Pre-Production Footage
• Animatics
• Rehearsal Videos
• Props, Rigs and Set Montage
• Casting Tapes
• Hair and Make-up Footage
• Music Videos
• OSYMYSO Remixes
• VFX Before & After
• Foxy Fight / Ribbon Version
• Phantom Montage: Hi Speed Footage
• Theatrical Trailers
• TV Spots
• Video Game Trailers
• Adult Swim: Scott Pilgrim vs. The Animation
• Scott Pilgrim vs. The Censors: TV Safe Version
• Trivia Track
• Cast Commentary with Michael Cera, Jason Schwartzman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ellen Wong & Brandon Routh
• Cast Commentary with Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza, Kieran Culkin & Mark Webber

	Movie
	Video
	Audio
	Extras
Composite Blu-ray Grade

MPAA Rating: PG-13 for stylized violence, sexual content, language and drug references.
Runtime: 112 mins
Director: Edgar Wright
Writer: Michael Bacall; Edgar Wright
Cast: Michael Cera; Mary Elizabeth Winstead; Kieran Culkin
Genre: Comedy | Action
Tagline: An epic of epic epicness.
Memorable Movie Quote: "We are Sex Bob-Omb and we are here to make you think about death and get sad and stuff."
Theatrical Distributor: Universal Studios
Official Site:
Release Date: August 13, 2010.
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: July 6, 2021.
Synopsis: In a magically realistic version of Toronto, a young man must defeat his new girlfriend's seven evil exes one by one in order to win her heart.