7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Sport | 100% |
Comedy | 8% |
Drama | 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
French: DTS 5.1
Spanish: DTS 2.0
German: DTS 5.1
English SDH, French, German, Spanish, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
UV digital copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
One of the standard lines that tends to be used in defense of the outlandish salaries granted athletes in any of a number of professional sports is that the “shelf life” of their careers is shorter than that of the average working stiff. Yeah, right—like any given cubicle jockey wouldn’t give their eye teeth for one year at $25 million or so, let alone several. But the fact remains that except for a tiny minority of professional athletes, a run of a decade is considered “long lasting”, and there are scores of former jocks who end up finding “retirement” unmanageable, and not necessarily for financial reasons. That’s all part of the subtext of the generally agreeable if at times formulaic Ballers, an HBO offering that features Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as erstwhile National Football League superstar Spencer Strasmore, a guy who is still haunted by glories (and tackles) from his former life, and who is attempting to make a none too smooth transition into “ordinary” life as a financial manager. While played (at least at times) for laughs, Ballers has a kind of melancholic subtext which may recommend it to those who have reached middle age without realizing their dreams. Ironically, that’s because Ballers shows a guy at the cusp of middle age who did realize his dreams, but who now finds himself afloat in the sea of industry, more or less rudderless. The show tends to celebrate the testosterone fueled exploits of “boys behaving badly”, but at the same time it tends to peel back that facade to reveal both the ridiculousness and even the pettiness that often underlie such shenanigans. The first season of Ballers tends to meander a bit, going off onto various tangents to supposedly explore the show’s large (perhaps too large) supporting cast, but Johnson is such an affable presence that most fans probably won’t mind too much.
Ballers: The Complete First Season is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of HBO with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. The IMDb lists this series as having been digitally shot with one of the newer Arri lines, the Amira, but those familiar with the look of the Arri Alexa will find themselves right at home with the visual presentation on display throughout the first season. Arri's own press for the Amira states that the technology offers "dynamic range of more than 14 stops, low noise levels, subtle highlight handling, natural color rendering, breathtaking skin tones and speeds of up to 200 fps." The look throughout Ballers is typically sleek and smooth, with excellent detail levels, especially in close-ups. While noise is indeed a non-issue here, I'm not so sure about the "subtle highlight handling", especially since the directors and/or cinematographers of the first season tend to shoot into (or at least toward) bright light sources so much of the time, leading to near blooming and a loss of fine detail at times (see screenshots 18 and 19). The series is undeniably scenic, though, and the bright outdoor scenes (which are numerous) pop quite winningly.
Ballers: The Complete First Season has an intermittently raucous DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. Surround activity perks up in expected sequences like big party scenes or even practices on the field, where good attention is paid to discrete placement of ambient environmental effects and background hubbub. While not basking in any kind of superb immersion, quieter dialogue scenes also resonate effectively, with excellent fidelity. There's considerable "oomph" to elements like the bone crunching sounds of tackles or even the roar of sports cars.
Disc One
Ballers: The Complete First Season may not be "must see TV", but with the undeniable charisma of Johnson front and center, it's often an ingratiating enterprise, and one that has a certain ring of truth about it even when it's exploiting some fairly fanciful plot turns. The show might do better to concentrate on just three or four characters, rather than zinging off into innumerable sidebars, but the good news is that virtually all of the characters introduced in the first season are interesting in their own right. Technical merits are excellent and even without much in the way of supplemental features, Ballers: The Complete First Season comes Recommended.
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