8.3 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
John Crichton. Astronaut. Flung through a wormhole and lost in a galaxy far from home. He finds himself in the middle of a prison break, surrounded by hostile aliens, soaring through space inside a glorious living spaceship called Moya. Hunted by the relentless Peacekeepers, he allies himself with his unimaginably alien fellow refugees and searches for a way home. So begins the epic sci-fi classic Farscape. A fusion of live-action, state-of-the-art puppetry, prosthetics and CGI, Farscape features mind-boggling alien lifeforms, dazzling special effects, edge-of-your-seat thrills, irreverent humor and unforgettable characters — all brought to life by the creative minds at Jim Henson's Creature Shop™. No wonder it's been called the most imaginative sci-fi series in television history.
Starring: Ben Browder, Claudia Black, Anthony Simcoe, Virginia Hey, Gigi EdgleySci-Fi | 100% |
Adventure | 57% |
Action | 54% |
Foreign | 2% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1, 1.33:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1, 1.33:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English, English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Twenty two-disc set (22 BDs)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 5.0 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
The initial inspiration for Farscape (1999-2004), the little Australian sci-fi intergalactic saga that could? Co-producer Brian Henson (yep, that Brian Henson) and his love of the cantina scene in Star Wars. Now, take that wildy diverse, wickedly wretched hive of scum and villainy, slap together a crew of (mostly) like-minded space-farers on the lam, add in more than a sprinkle of everything from classic Star Trek to Doctor Who, OG Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek: The Next Generation, DS9, and the swashbuckling high-adventure serials and prosthetic-heads black-and-white sci-fi of Henson and the Farscape team's childhoods and you have an inventive, minimally formulaic epic that spans four seasons and a miniseries, features multiple planets and endless alien species, and is led from locale to locale by a normal ol' human flung across the stars and stranded in another galaxy. Whew. But the thing that makes Farscape so special -- and is responsible for its staying power with its very passionate following -- is that it's a show of big ideas. The sky, or rather the stars, are the limit. Like its greatest inspirations and best contemporaries, it's a series that ignored things like constricting budgets and countless challenges, favoring innovation and creativity above all else.
Farscape: A Succinct High Definition History
Farscape has a surprisingly long and sordid history on Blu-ray, though through no real fault of the show or the likes of Sony, A&E, Cinedigm
or any other studio or distributor that has released a complete series box set over the past thirteen years. As has been reported at length, the cause
of every forthcoming issue I'll mention is the destruction (or best case, the loss) of the original 35mm film elements. Like Firefly and other
early
2000s
sci-fi series, visual effects were completed in standard definition, as no one dreamed of a world of dazzling high definition like we've inherited. Thus
sequences
involving FX are only available as SD-sourced 480p video, upscaled here to 1080p. However, in this case even non-FX shots are hindered by
unavoidable up-conversion, and the results
follow suit. Add to that any studio, distributor or remaster wizards have no
way of starting from scratch, even if the budget were unlimited. Worse, the film elements that were destroyed were reportedly raw, pre-edited
footage; all of the edited footage was completed past that point, and without the original FX files or the pre-edited footage, assembling a new version
of Farscape that is 100% faithful to the original presentation is impossible.
Ah, but what about Star Trek and its classic and Next Generation series' from-the-ground-up
recreation and reimplementation of visual effects shots? Costly, and likely not something Farscape has the fanbase to support. Star
Trek fandom is massive. Farscape fandom is respectable but the series remains rather niche. Okay, what about cutting edge AI-
enhanced upscaling? Slow down, hoss. Maybe we'll get there. But human eyes still have to do a lot of work, even when AI is involved, to make sure
the final product is everything consumers hope it will be. We aren't that far in the future -- yet -- and even then, it would initially be quite
cost-prohibitive.
For the Farscape Faithful Who Already Own a Previous Blu-ray Set
And so we're left to squint, scan, study and determine if Shout Factory's new 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation of Farscape's four
seasons are merely comparable to the releases and transfers that have come before, or if Shout has managed to deliver a few improvements
utilizing the same source materials Sony, A&E, Cinedigm and others had at their disposal. The answer is... sort of? Maybe? A little? Without an
episode by episode, minute by minute breakdown of bitrates and encoding efficiency, it's difficult to state with certainty. But to my eyes, comparing
the 2023 set to the 2013 15th anniversary Cinedigm and 2019 20th anniversary Sony versions, Shout's 25th anniversary edition has managed to
deliver a slightly, and I mean slightly, better encode, while the show's palette and contrast are slightly, and goodness do I mean slightly, more lifelike,
which would presumably involve tweaking saturation and/or contrast leveling. Whether that was intentional or simply a happy accident, we'll not
know unless Shout details decisions made that would indeed lead to such minor differences.
My scientific method, though? Not so scientific. Wholly subjective
actually. Meaning you may walk away with the opinion that video quality is identical, or agree and note the best scenes to make a case. I
unfortunately don't have that kind of time, so I leave it to our dutiful forum members to crack the case. I'll of course keep an eye on the thread and
update my review if and when it becomes necessary with any pertinent findings. We currently don't
have a review of the 2018 Sony set -- I simply own a copy as a fan -- but I'm confident that, aside from the slight saturation and contrast
improvements over the previous three editions, other aspects of the 2023 video presentation remain virtually the same as what you already own. As
it stands, I would set my video score at a 3.25 if quarter points were an option in our system, giving the new set's presentation a fractional edge over
the past editions' dual 3.0's (reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman in
2011 and
2013). But as I'm working
with half-point increments, the video score bumps to 3.5 (as 3.25 rounds up); although it may be a touch misleading to those comparing scores of
various editions at a quick glance.
For Those Who've Never Purchased Farscape on Blu-ray Before
Originally filmed in Australia in PAL standard, Farscape's first, second and third seasons are presented at 1.33:1, while the fourth and final
season comes in at 1.78:1. The shift from full to widescreen also brings with it a bump in visual quality. Sadly, the episodes suffer from the loss of
the original film elements and any studio's inability to overhaul what survives in a way that would radically improve the transfers. Colors are decent
all things considered, though combined with decidedly inconsistent and underwhelming contrast, the output often appears muddy, weak, murky or
darker than I imagine was intended. The image actually appears quite soft more times than not. And while edge definition is reasonably precise, fine
textures lack natural crispness, clarity is all over the place, and crush is a prevailing problem that brings with it some unwanted blockiness and loss of
detail in the shadows. The worst part is you can really see what Farscape could be in an alternate 2024 where the film elements had been
preserved and a studio plunked down enough cash to give the show a full restoration. Ignoring the subpar high definition qualities (or lack thereof),
there's still a lot to love and a great deal of care that's been put into everything from ship design to world building, prosthetics, costuming and
makeup.
I'm actually a bit puzzled by how frequently Farscape is scooped up and released, re-released and re-re-released on Blu-ray. I'm a fan as
much as the next guy, but other than rights being passed to a new distributor and the desire to keep sets available for new and old fans alike... well,
I guess I just solved the mystery. We aren't talking competing Farscape sets as much as we're talking about diehard fans trying to find the
very, very best version of a beloved saga that, for the foreseeable future, isn't going to get the overhaul we all crave. The best case scenario is that,
one by one, new fans find the series, fall in love (video quality be damned), and pave the way for the smallest of small chances that AI-upscaling will
manage to advance to a place that Farscape can magically be transformed into what it's always meant to have been. Here's hoping.
Thankfully, there are some other tweaks and new content to dive into!
I was already more than pleased with Farscape's previous lossless tracks, but Shout Factory's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround mix
actually
sounds a tiny bit better to my ears. I wouldn't call it an outright upgrade or improvement, but there is a sense of depth and weight to the soundscape
here that I prefer to more crystalline sci-fi sonics. Let's call it a preference and then call it a day. Either way, the highlight of Farscape's AV
presentation is undoubtedly its audio, thanks to excellent TV-series dynamics, a (relatively remarkable modern level of fidelity, and clean intelligible
dialogue that's almost
always neatly prioritized and naturally grounded in the soundfield (barring a handful of chaotic scenes where voices can get a tad overwhelmed).
Rear
speaker activity is quite engaging -- involving even -- despite some occasional spottiness when front-heavy conversations dominate and the
surrounds
aren't so readily utilized. But goodness, once action, intrigue, a bloody battle, a tense dogfight, a shipwide emergency, or a planetary crisis storms an
episode? Whether it's by way of Guy Gross's infectious music and themes or the invasion of precision-crafted directional effects or silky smooth
starship
channel pans, the
soundfield comes to life and proves surprisingly immersive. LFE output is punchy and powerful too, with what I perceive to be a more organic sense
of
weight in this particular track, though I was already very happy with the previous editions' low-end performance. All told, there aren't many caveats
when discussing Farscape's audio, making for an aspect of the set that helps justify its price tag.
Click here or
here to read
Jeffrey
Kauffman's 2011 and 2013 reviews of Farscape's lossless audio, which he says "maintains excellent clarity and precision even in the noisiest
moments."
(Note: Shout Factory has corrected a pitch issue in "The Peacekeeper Wars" that was present on previous studios' sets. It has been corrected for
the 2023 edition.)
Shout Factory brings Farscape back to Blu-ray with a 22-disc set divided into five cases (four seasons plus "The Peacekeeper Wars"),
packaged snuggly in a slipcover-thin box. It's not the greatest or most fetching set you've ever laid eyes on -- it's as simple as it gets -- but it serves
its purpose just fine. The following is a breakdown of the
special features included across the set's 22 discs. I did my best to keep it succinct and easy to reference. Suffice to say, the hours and hours of
previously released bonus content have been ported over from past releases in their entirety, with a new high definition retrospective roundtable
included to sweeten the deal.
Oh, to buy or not to buy? That is the physical media collector's eternal question. Multiple box sets have come before, so is the Shout Factory edition worth the cost of admission? Yes... and no. Offering the slightest of video improvements to a cursed video presentation (that, due to the loss of original elements is unlikely to look any better than it does here), a single new 45-minute retrospective interview with the creators (on top of hours upon hours of previously released commentaries, documentaries, featurettes, deleted scenes and much, much more), and a terrific lossless audio track that, for all intents and purposes, is comparable to its predecessors, Shout Factory's 22-disc box set will prove to be a tough decision for fans who already own the series and a much easier prospect for newcomers. The only remaining addition that might tip the scales? Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars, the finale miniseries, is included here, unlike Sony, A&E and Cinedigm's previous editions. So what's a series fan to do? If you don't already own a Complete set, this is the one to purchase. If you do, weigh the benefits -- a slight video presentation tweak, an additional extra, and The Peacekeeper Wars in one set -- and decide accordingly.
1999-2000
15th Anniversary Edition
1999-2000
2000-2001
15 Anniversary Edition
2000-2001
2001-2002
15 Anniversary Edition
2001-2002
2002-2003
15 Anniversary Edition
2002-2003
2004
2006-2007
2004-2009
1966-1969
1993-1998
2009-2011
Budget Re-release
1987-1994
Budget Re-release
2001-2005
2016
2005
1982
40th Anniversary Edition
1984
1989
1996
Remastered
1986
2018
The Remastered Collection
1978-1980
1994
1998
2007