Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital

I'm a big fan of James Dashner's Maze Runner series of books. Last year's movie release of the first book was really well done in my opinion. I've been waiting to watch the second book to movie - Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials. Christmas vacation was the right time! Now, would it be as good? For this viewer, the answer is yes!

Fox Home Entertainment has just released the Blu-ray/DVD combo on December 15th.

Now, I'm just going to say right up front - if you're looking for the movie to be absolutely faithful to every incident/plot point in the book you're going to be a bit disappointed. But if you're looking to be entertained and on the edge of your seat for the entire 129 minutes, well, you're going to love it.

Scorch Trials picks up right where Maze Runner left off. I was immediately re-immersed in the story. Familiar (but not many) faces from Thomas's glade are back, having found safety at the end of the first movie. (This is a great ensemble) But have they found safety? Still running, the gladers are thrust into the Scorch - a no man's land of ruined cities of the past, heat, sand and cranks......those who have the Flare - a zombie like illness. I gotta tell ya - those with the Flare in this movie were infinitely more terrifying than the zombies from The Walking Dead. There's a lot of scary in the Scorch Trials - from the creepy undergrounds, to the abandoned buildings, but especially those infected. I had a couple of jumpy, heart tripping, gotcha moments.

The sense of danger, the pacing, the what-next, made for an edge of your seat viewing. The Scorch Trials does have more of an 'adult' feel to it than The Maze Runner - there's more overt violence and some more 'adult' situations (the drunken dance party for example). And of course, there's lots of running - lots and lots of running - from cranks, from WCKD (yep what you thought at the end of the last movie - rethink it.) and from danger of many sorts, sizes and shapes. 

There were lots of extras included as well - audio commentary, gag reel, deleted and extended scenes, added videos, documentary, visual effects and more.

So, yes I've read the books. And yes, there are differences. And no, it doesn't upset me at all. I thought The Scorch Trials was wonderfully entertaining. And yes, I can't wait for the release of The Death Cure movie, coming in February 2017. Check out the trailer for The Scorch Trials below.