Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

Da Vinci's Demons: The Complete Third Season Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman January 23, 2016

Perhaps I am unwilling to put all my faith and future in some tinkerer.

Imagination is both plentiful and provided in scant amounts in Da Vinci's Demons, Creator David S. Goyer's Starz original series that goes back to famed inventor and artist Leonardo Da Vinci's drawing boards for a story that explores the title character's creative genius but frequently just covers the same tired ground that's been well tread by many more of today's hottest TV properties. Starz has found a fair bit of success with television shows that trace the steps of some of history's, and historical literature's, most famous individuals -- Spartacus, Marco Polo, characters inspired from Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island -- but like Da Vinci's Demons, each courses with common themes of complexly woven and often overly flamboyant drama, intricate and oftentimes nasty or salacious character relationships, graphic sex, bloody violence, and course language. None of those are particularly problematic, but in large quantities and spread over multiple shows that do little more than rearrange the furniture, it starts to wear a little thin. Season three, and the final go-round for Leo and co., stays the course with plenty of outlandish, but somehow nevertheless interesting and, even occasionally, captivating, forays into the fire as it sprints to the finish line, trying to maintain its momentum, and gain some more, right on through to the end.

There's no better test subject...

Official synopsis: Leonardo Da Vinci's (Tom Riley) world comes crashing down when the city of Otranto is torn apart by an Ottoman invasion. On the battlefield, the Turks use Da Vinci's own weapons against him...the designs for which were stolen by someone he trusted. This betrayal will haunt Leo long after the battle is decided, as will the deaths of loved ones lost in the fighting. When Rome instigates a Crusade against the Turks, he seizes the opportunity to join, but his mission is complicated by a series of grisly murders that terrorize Italy and threaten the Crusade itself...

Less a story of the ideas and influences that gave the world one of its most cherished and important historical figures and more a sprawling tale of treachery, high drama, sex, science, religion, war, and politics, Da Vinci's Demons was never about telling the true -- or, at least, as true as ancient history will allow -- tale of arguably the world's most beloved artist and most impressively forward-thinking inventor. The series, built on whims of fancy and spectacle mixed with a very loose interpretation of history, is more about borrowing the name and reinventing the legacy to capture interest and introduce wild ideas to keep audiences interested. And as a TV show that operates with more influence from the modern TV landscape than it does actual historical facts and figures, the show will only really work for audiences willing to go along with revisionist history and enjoy the ride, the lessons they learned in school or gleaned from a history text be damned. What the shows does well is work progressive social and scientific thought into a time where both were heretical and explore the fallout thereof, on grand and intimate scales alike.

Season three pushes the envelope further, seeing Da Vinci transform into something of a hybrid action hero and Soap Opera star whether on the field of battle, where Da Vinci must face the fury of his own creations, or in numerous interludes that test the character in new ways. The show, and the season, often proves far too labyrinthine for its own good, working in so many characters, angles, allegiances, ideas, conflicts, and themes that it's sometimes a struggle to keep it all in line while absorbing all of the new material the season throws at its viewers. But Da Vinci is more enjoyable when absorbed not so much on its depth but rather its surface, to go along for the ride and explore what wild-eyed oddities and twisting curves will pop up next. That's also the real problem, though. That describes, it seems, half of the shows airing today. For all of the history, novelty, and good ideas at its disposal and, frequently, integrated into the show, Da Vinci's Demons never did arise beyond the superficial, failing to capture the imagination in any new and meaningful way, content to instead play "follow the leader" while showing off its own unique surface wares.

Da Vinci's Demons: The Complete Third Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Da Vinci's Demons: The Complete Third Season features another razor-sharp, digitally sourced 1080p TV transfer from Anchor Bay. For absolute definition and attention to intricate detail, this release is about on par with Black Sails, one of the best in the business. There's nothing left to the imagination. Every pore, bit of beard and stubble, and accumulated grime on faces are breathtakingly detailed. Stone textures, iron bars, grasses, dirt, ornate decorations, precision military uniforms, frayed peasant garb, practically everything in each frame springs to life with tactile texturing. Colors are lively and bright. The palette pushes slightly warm but finds a constant barrage of popping hues, whether earthy supports or dazzling primaries. Noise, banding, aliasing, macroblocking, and other maladies are essentially no-shows. The only real fault here comes by way of blacks that are so dark and dense that they're prone to crush. Otherwise, this is a real looker from Anchor Bay.

Da Vinci's Demons: The Complete Third Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Da Vinci's Demons: The Complete Third Season features an impressively wide-open and accurate Dolby TrueHD 7.1 lossless soundtrack. Few sonic details are left to the imagination. Bear McCreary's Emmy-winning theme music presents richly and robustly, conveying every note with all of the critical details and intimate instrumental nuances while positioned around a wide, enveloping stage that benefits from the added back channels. Battle effects -- hefty cannon fire, explosions, chaotic throngs of soldiers -- maneuver effortlessly about the stage and envelop the listener with appropriate weight and detail alike. Ambient effects are effortlessly enveloping, naturally positioned, and realistic. Whether more aggressive ringing bells or raging fires or finer details like flickering flames, buzzing insects, or just a sense of either wide-open terrain or hushed intimate close quarters, the track never wants for a more realistic representation of its environment. Dialogue presents with effortless clarity and prioritization with natural center placement. This is yet another terrific TV show listen from Anchor Bay.

Da Vinci's Demons: The Complete Third Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Da Vinci's Demons: The Complete Third Season contains no supplemental content.

Da Vinci's Demons: The Complete Third Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Da Vinci's Demons always feels on the precipice of something significant. Beyond its impressive superficialities -- Bear McCreary's terrific score, an amazing opening title sequence that's worthy of a frame-by-frame examination, soaring production values, and a fascinating lead character actively shaping the world around him in a time of historical high drama -- there's never any substantial depth to it. Season three doesn't really try, either, going all-in on the mayhem and Johnny-come-lately approach to drama. It's a fun watch, no doubt about it, and season three is particularly robust, but it's not the kind of show most audiences will be returning to all that often, at least not to satisfy a want for more impacting and meaningful storytelling. Anchor Bay's Blu-ray release of Da Vinci's Demons: The Complete Third Season yields, like its seasons one and two predecessors, terrific video and audio. Unlike those seasons, however, there's not a supplement to be found: no commentaries, no featurettes, no deleted scenes, nothing. Fans itching to round out the series collection will find tech specs worthy of a purchase.