7.7 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.6 |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Sci-Fi | Insignificant |
Drama | Insignificant |
Adventure | Insignificant |
Mystery | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
None
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
In 2015 SyFy launched 12 Monkeys, an exciting new TV show based on a similar concept explored in Terry Gilliam's wonderful 1995 film of the same name. The television medium afforded the show an opportunity to more richly explore the paradoxes of time and the very real consequences of exploiting it. Following seasons one and two, season three pushes the narrative forward with exciting new stories while revealing previously hidden secrets certain to redefine the show's landscape moving forward to its fourth, and final, season.
12 Monkeys: Season Three's 1080p presentation is good, though not quite perfect. Light noise permeates some of the darker scenes and minor, sometimes pushing to modest, compression artifacts are visible. Those who want to scrutinize the picture up close will find the macroblocking a little more distracting, but watching at a normal distance the issue is not seriously pervasive, though still certainly evident to some degree in many lower light scenes. Overall, however, the picture is clear and well defined, yielding firm facial textures and impressively complex props and environments. Certainly the material cannot match the absolute finest major productions for overall visual expressiveness but there's enough general textural complexity to satisfy. The picture is oftentimes bleak and gray, yielding a cold, unwelcoming contrast in many scenes. There are other color grading scenarios in play though. Some scenes push very warm, others decidedly bronze, particularly those which take place in the past. But the palette is at least consistent scene to scene regardless of color timing. Black levels are solid and skin tones are fine within any scene or sequence's parameters. Overall this is good transfer, nothing super high end but it serves the material quite well.
The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack is the only audio option for this set (there are also no subtitle options). The presentation is exceedingly excellent across all elements -- music, action, atmosphere -- offering organic, spacious content with precision fidelity and wonderful front side engagement, supported by balanced back channel output and a healthy, but not overbearing, subwoofer support. Music soars with robust volume and wonderful spacial awareness. Other elements are quite expressive, too, with some wonderfully spacious reverb in some key cavernous locations, such as a crypt at the beginning of the season's final episode. In that same locale in the opening moments, the subwoofer pushes hard with some tight, dense rumbling that's balanced rather than unkempt, deep rather than timid. With some other content nowadays seeming to shy away from extensive subwoofer usage, it's nice to find a track -- and a TV show track at that -- that isn't afraid to push some low end elements for all they're worth. There are some terrific action effects, too. A time jump into World War II in the final episode offers extreme movement as airplanes zip with a tangible feeling of overhead engagement and very obvious surround madness playing out in every direction. Gunfire tears through as well with remarkable impact and clarity. Later in the episode, gunshots rip through the stage in a different place and time, again to superb effect. Additional support elements -- beeping computer consoles and the like -- bring necessary life to several vital locations throughout. Dialogue is clear and exacting, well prioritized and focused in the front-center beyond those surprisingly frequent opportunities for more spacious expansion. This is a wonderful track, one of the best one will find on a TV show.
This two-disc Blu-ray release contains several deleted scenes on both Blu-ray discs and trailers on disc two. Unfortunately, the deleted scenes are
presented without any titles or other identifying markers other than the episodes to which they belong. Otherwise, it's as bare-bones as a two-disc set
can get. There are no DVDs, digital codes, slipcovers, or inner prints. The main menu screen only offers options to select any of the episodes and the
deleted scenes included on each disc.
Disc One:
12 Monkeys' third season is in many ways all about the Witness, and particularly the character's identity as much as, if not more so, the character's actions and the wide-ranging consequences thereof. But that character is not the sole focus. Engaging plot arcs and wonderful character beats -- and actor performances -- abound and there's rarely a dull moment or a scene or stretch when the writers were obviously aiming to fill time, so to speak. At 10 episodes, the season is particularly binge-worthy, certainly for length and access but also for the story, the surprises, and the overall quality of the production. Universal's Blu-ray is a very capable, if not overpriced, two-disc set that features a handful of deleted scenes, solid video, and sublime audio presentations. It's clear that the studio decided to cut a few corners between this release and the season two set, but the quality of the program, and the soundtrack, more than makes up for any ancillary shortcomings. Recommended.
2015
2015
2015-2018
2016
2018
2013
2006
50th Anniversary Special
2013
Masterpiece Classic: Page Eight
2011
2011
1995
2007
2014
2016
2001-2006
2016
1986
2016
2015
The George Lucas Director's Cut
1971
The Final Season
2010
2016
1983
2015
2011