Dr. Strange 3D

Doctor Strange is the story of world-famous neurosurgeon Dr. Stephen Strange (Cumberbatch), whose life changes forever after a horrific car accident renders his hands useless. When traditional medicine fails, he travels to the remote Kamar-Taj in search of a cure, but instead discovers the mystical arts and becomes a powerful sorcerer battling dark forces bent on destroying our reality. Based on the Marvel Comics by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. (Gary Reber)

Special features include commentary by Director Scott Derrickson; five featurettes: A Strange Transformation, Strange Company, The Fabric Of Reality, Across Time And Space, and The Score-cerer Supreme; Marvel Studios Phase 3 Exclusive Look; Team Thor: Part 2; five deleted scenes; a gag reel; and a digital copy.

The 2.39:1 1080p MVC 3D is a conversion by Stereo D and Legend 3D. While photographed in Panavision® captured with the Arri Alexa 65 camera system, the aspect ratio shifts back and forth from 2.39:1 to 1.90:1 due to it being specially formatted in IMAX. The picture exhibits a wonderful production design with impressive depth, particularly in the larger set pieces. Overhead cityscapes and shifting landscapes, including the initial winding road on which Doctor Strange has his accident, are spectacular. 3D perspective is excellent and enhances the sense of realism. The imagery is quite dark in several scenes and requires a darkened viewing environment and a display capable of excellent native contrast. In the darkness, only highlights are discernible, and shadow delineation is restricted in depth. The darkness must be inherent in the interior environment of Kamar-Taj, as even what lighting there is, the glow is dim. As a result, contrast is restricted with less-than-stellar shadow delineation. Within this limitation the color palette is dubbed with an overall drab character. Hues are essentially desaturated. Still, fleshtones manage to retain naturalness. The settings outside of Kamar-Taj, such as the urban settings, mountain top, desert, ocean, and Doctor Strange's hospital operating room settings, exhibit a natural presence and color fidelity is far more vibrant. As noted, the 3D is impressively dimensional with tremendous depth and effective out-of-screen effects. Resolution is quite good, with fine detail revealed in close-ups of facial features, hair, clothing, and object, but typically backgrounds are very softly focused. Compared to the 2D version, the 3D version is a bit darker and colors are not as intense. Overall, this is an intriguing 3D visual experience that delivers unbelievable visual effects, such as structural shifting, that will thrill fans. (Gary Reber)

The DTS-HD Master Audio™ 7.1-channel soundtrack is strongly dynamic with a powerful orchestral/choral score that extends super wide across the soundstage and fully occupies the 7.1 channels. Of course, atmospherics and sound effects are incredibly powerful and directionalized with aggressive envelopment, which nicely enhances the largest scale, bending, and off-kilter action sequences. Sound effects are enhanced with deep, sub-25 Hz .1 LFE bass extension. The music and sound effects, as well as atmospherics, are well integrated with both nuanced low-level and powerful dynamic energy that ignites all eight channels. Dialogue is at times wanting in spatial integration but is overall intelligible throughout. Overall, this is a powerfully dynamic-sounding holosonic® soundtrack with exciting directionalized sound effects that deliver a sense of intense mayhem. (Gary Reber)