Blu-ray Review: Farscape the Complete Series
image via geek-news.mtv.com
I recently had the good fortune of sampling the newly released Farscape: The Complete Series Blu-ray set. This was my first time watching the series, and I must say that stepping in with the Blu-ray set is a great way to experience the show.
Farscape is a sci-fi series that ran on the Sci-Fi channel (now Syfy) for four seasons, from 1999-2003. The series totaled 88 episodes in addition to a miniseries titled Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars. Produced in part by the Jim Henson Company, one of the more interesting aspects of Farscape is that its cast of actors starred alongside Henson Company puppets. Actors with major roles on the series include Ben Browder, Claudia Black, Anthony Simcoe, Virginia Hey, Jonathan Hardy (voice), Gigi Edgley, Lani Tupu (voice), Paul Goddard, and Wayne Pygram.
Although the video quality on these Blu-rays is not up to par with many other shows on Blu-ray, it is by far the best available for fans of the series. From what I’ve been able to gather, there are no high definition negatives to work with for the series, so the studio had to use a new algorithm in order to upscale the negatives they did have. With that being said, the visual quality on the Blu-rays are a solid step up from the DVD sets, and the difference will be easy to see when comparing them on an HDTV. Additionally, the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 on this set is a big upgrade over the Dolby Digital on the DVDs. I do not have a very good audio setup with my entertainment system, but even I could tell that it was very immersive and had excellent audio during their fight scenes.
Image via farscape.com
One of the most apparent reasons for purchasing a box set is for the special features available. The Blu-ray box set has an extremely diverse and sprawling amount of additional material to choose from. The over 68 hours of entertainment in the set includes special features from 31 audio commentaries with both stars and creators, multiple behind-the-scenes featurettes, cast interviews, and deleted scenes. The fact that there are so many hours of material makes this a huge dollar-to-hour of entertainment value.
At the time of this writing, the series is also available via several other means. The most notable alternative is that the series is available on Netflix’s instant streaming. Netflix has seasons 1-4 available for instant watch and the mini-series Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars is available through their DVD service.
Image via scifimafia.com
If you are already a fan of Farscape, this set is for you. With the upgraded picture and audio quality, in addition to the consolidation of the series’ special features, you really cannot beat this package. For those people who like the show but are unsure of paying the premium, or who already own the series individually on DVD, then adding it to your wish list might be for the best. Amazon recently made the Blu-ray box set the Gold Box Deal of the Day for a steep discount, and there is a chance they will do so again in the future. If you have not yet given Farscape a try and are a Netflix subscriber I recommend that you set aside some time and give it a shot.
The box set is released by A&E and is currently available through all major retailers.
I’m not a fan of Farscape. With the exception of the Scorpius/John’s Brain plot thread in the second and third season, I felt that the show was too episodic for my tastes.
That said, I could definitely see this show getting the blu ray treatment. It has some neat effects.
Going through the series right now myself. Gotta agree with you GeekInsight, there are so many opportunities for the series to serialize itself a bit more but it never happens. I thought to myself, “this isn’t a bad show, but…Babylon 5 was SO much better.” I know they don’t really share that so much in common (except aliens, I guess) but that show handled the story arc stuff so much better.
Oh, I was a massive Farscape fan and was crushed when it was canceled over the lame Stargate series on Sci-Fi (in its pre-Syffy days)! It was a great series with monsters who didn’t just look like bi-peds with forehead makeup.
That, and I can watch Claudia Black allll day long! *rawr*
Funny note, I was big into Farscape when I saw a commercial for some Fox show called “Firefly” and I recall thinking “Oh what the hell is that? It’ll never catch on.”