Farscape: Starburst Edition Season 2: Collection 1 - MoviePoopShoot.Com
- MoviePoopShoot.Com
- Christopher Mills
- 02/08/06
- click here
"It's a great show..."
"Recommended."
I just finished up watching the three volumes of ADV's FARSCAPE Starburst Editions for Season 2, (Sci-Fi Channel's biggest pre-GALACTICA hit) and, I have to say, the series really hit its stride with these episodes.
Among the many offbeat and fascinating events of the series' second year are: the introduction of a new villain, Scorpius (Wayne Pygram); the addition of a new regular cast member, a gray-skinned nymph named Chiana (Gigli Hedley); a sub-plot about the living starship giving birth to a heavily-armed offspring; a series-shaking three-part epic called 'Liars, Guns and Money,' which has enough plot and action for several feature films; and, finally, the main character, Earth astronaut John Crichton (Ben Browder), slowly ? and quite reasonably ? going insane.
The production values and special effects ? already among the best seen on television ? only get better as the second season progresses, and the writing takes on a sharp edge that embraces the absurd without ever making it seem anything but real and serious. Characterizations deepen, cast relationships get more maddeningly confusing (and therefore more realistic), and the Henson shop keeps coming up with cooler and cooler Muppets.
When ADV first released FARSCAPE on DVD a few years back, the whole 'TV-on-DVD' fad hadn't really taken off yet. Now that the marketplace has evolved, ADV has re-launched the series with these new 'Starburst' Editions. Each volume includes seven episodes across two discs, with on-screen liner notes and trivia for each episode. There are also cast and/or crew commentary tracks on many episodes, and a slew of video featurettes and interviews with the people behind the show.
Each episode is presented full-frame, and the transfers are damned near perfect. Sound is offered in both Dolby stereo and a more robust 5.1 surround mix. Overall, the presentation is great, but I have to mention again that in most of the first and second season sets, I encountered serious playback issues. In each set, there was always one episode that would freeze in midplay, pixelate, and reboot to the beginning of the episode or chapter. This is a frequent problem with dual-layer double-sided discs, such as the ones used in these sets and most of Universal's TV collections. Fortunately, ADV has addressed the problem, and starting with the third season sets, they're switching to single-sided discs.
It's a great show, and ADV is maintaining the high standards of the first season releases. Recommended.
Posted on Wednesday, February 08, 2006 (Archive on Wednesday, March 08, 2006)