[REVIEW] ‘Doctor Strange’ Blu-ray

Doctor Strange is the newest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, featuring Benedict Cumberbatch as the eponymous Doctor Strange himself. The movie is great, but do the bonus features on the Blu-ray release live up?

Bonus Features ✮✮✮✮

Final Thoughts

• Featurettes – The Blu-ray contains five featurettes, each lasting a few minutes, that discuss different parts of the making of the film. You can watch them all together to create a mini making-of bonus feature that is nearly an hour long. These include interviews with various members of the crew from such as the director, producer, composer, and actors.
  • A Strange Transformation – Since the Doctor Strange world is a unique one for Marvel Studios to tackle, there were a variety of choices the production team had to make in order to make this film’s blend of science and mysticism feel authentic. This featurette gives us a glimpse at how the filmmakers brought one of comic books’ greatest characters to life.
  • Strange Company –  Here we learn about the challenges casting the characters in Doctor Strange, as we hear from the director and stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Rachel McAdams, Tilda Swinton, and Mads Mikkelsen.
  • The Fabric of Reality – This featurette highlights the look and feel of the film as we explore the film’s vast sets, locations, and meticulously crafted costumes. For example, the film’s Costume Designer, Alexandra Byrne, talks about what decisions she made in order to bring Doctor Strange’s signature elements from the comics to life, including the challenges with bringing the Cloak of Levitation.
  • Across Time and Space – Go behind-the-scenes to watch the actors train countless hours in dance, martial arts, and acrobatics in order to get the fight choreography perfect.
  • The Score-cerer Supreme – One of the most important pieces in making a movie complete is music. In this featurette, we follow Composer Michael Giacchino and a full orchestra during live recording sessions, and experience the movie’s mind-bending music.
• Marvel Studios Phase 3 Exclusive Look – One of the perks of being a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is that we get to enjoy sneak peeks of upcoming MCU releases. This time, we get four killer sneak peeks including Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther, and Avengers: Infinity War.
• Team Thor: Part 2 – In this fun satirical short, we learn of the hilarious relationship between Thor and his roommate, Darryl. We see Thor trying to pay rent with Asgardian coins, losing it over Connect Four, and sharing the cooking and cleaning responsibilities. It doesn’t have much to do with Doctor Strange, but it’s a great little short nonetheless.
• Deleted Scenes – A staple in Blu-ray releases, we get:
  • “Strange Meets Daniel Drumm”
  • “Kaecilius Searches for Answers”
  • “The Kamar-Taj Courtyard”
  • “Making Contact”
  • “Lost in Kathmandu”
• Gag Reel – A fun montage of all the gags and mess ups taken during filming.

• Audio Commentary by Director Scott Derrickson – The director’s commentary used to be commonplace in DVD releases, but recently has become an enigma, especially from releases from Disney. It’s a treat to have director Scott Derrickson, who is a huge Doctor Strange fan (with the character being his favorite comic book character in all of comics), talk about the making of the film and share behind-the-scenes stories from production.

Final Thoughts

This Blu-ray is packed with all the extras and tidbits you could ask for. Definitely pick it up!

Purchase Doctor Strange

• Amazon:
  • Blu-ray + DVD + Digital
  • 3D Blu-ray + Blu-ray + DVD + Digital HD
  • DVD
  • Digital HD
  • Digital HD + Bonus Features
  • Rent
• Target: 3D Blu-ray + Blu-ray + DVD + Digital HD (+ Ex
• iTunes: Digital HD
• Disney Movies Anywhere: Digital HD

Edited by: Hannah Wilkes