Falling Skies Season 1 Blu-Ray Review

The season 1 blu-ray for Falling Skies was just released yesterday and we have had a chance to look at the special features and give you some insight on why blu-ray is the way to go. We will rate the season set on a number of factors including audio quality, video quality, special features and price.

Of course we are huge fans of the series, and if you are too this is a must buy no matter what. The first advantage is that up until now the only way you could get season 1 was on iTunes in standard edition, not HD. This will be the first release of the show in HD other then when it was broadcast.

Special Features

The 2-disk blu-ray set consists of all 10 episodes in HD, Animating a Skitter featurette, Falling Skies Panel from Comic Con 2011, Behind the scenes featurettes, Audio Commentaries, Unanswered Questions: Season 2 Sneak Peek.

One of my favorite behind the scenes videos is called “The Unknown” which reveals some new behind the scenes footage we haven’t seen before.

The audio commentaries feature Director Greg Beeman for 2 episodes in the first half of the season. The last 3 cover the final 3 episodes of the season and feature Noah Wyle (Tom Mason), Writer Mark Veheiden and Director Greg Beeman.

Most of the rest of the features are things we saw online during season 1 and are not new for dedicated fans but will still be worth while for new viewers.

The best feature is an exclusive behind the scenes featurette called Falling Skies from Pencils to Print: The Dark Horse Comic Book Revealed. This is exclusive to blu-ray and is a really cool look at Dark Horse Comics and how they bring the story to the comic book stage.

Video Quality

Blu-ray does justice to Falling Skies and the SFX that were done in season 1. Some of the areas that may have looked a bit off on TV look much better in Blu-Ray and add to the realism of the show. During our set visit for season 2, the SFX director touted the fact that they use puppets for the Skitters whenever possible. Making unclose shots real, as its an actual person in a suit that you and the actors are looking at.

Audio Quality

This is a huge advantage not only for those choosing between blu-ray and dvd but in doing the show justice from the effect stand point. The clear sound quality lends to you being emerged even deeper into the experience of each episode and you jump every time you hear the skitter behind you or the sound of a mech pounding its way towards you.

Price

Like more recent SciFi shows (Game of Thrones), Falling Skies is only 10 episodes. While this lends to greater story telling, and less fillers it also means the price will play a factor in purchasing. The price was set a bit high at the start of preorders but is now down to a reasonable $22.99 on Amazon that I feel does the series justice and makes it affordable for new viewers to pickup.

Don’t forget we are giving a copy away, Go here to enter now to win a copy.

If you don’t want to wait you can purchase now from Amazon through the link below.

Overall Grade: 4.8 Stars

Special Features: 4 Stars – The blu-ray exclusive from Dark Horse Comics is worth it all on its own.

Video Quality: 5 Stars – HD is the best way to watch Falling Skies and experience the FX.

Audio Quality: 5 Stars

Price: 5 Stars – The pricing on Amazon is reasonable and appropriate.

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