6.4 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
A high-school Spanish teacher becomes the director of the school's Glee club, hoping to restore it to its former glory.
Starring: Lea Michele, Jane Lynch, Chris Colfer, Matthew Morrison, Kevin McHaleComedy | 100% |
Romance | 95% |
Musical | 65% |
Teen | 58% |
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
English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Four-disc set (4 BDs)
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
My personal high school “career” lasted only three years, since where I lived elementary school was comprised of
kindergarten through sixth grade, what was then called junior high was seventh through ninth, and high school itself
was tenth through twelfth. My own sons are both in high school now, but here in the Pacific Northwest where we live
the
layout of the divisions between grades is a bit different. Elementary school only runs through fifth grade, middle school
(the new, improved
name for junior high) is sixth through eighth, and high school is ninth through twelfth. It may not seem like a sea
change, but for those of us who had to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous unpopular fortune in high school, one
more year of that environment might have seemed like an eternity. The world of Glee has itself begun to
confront the
built in shelf life of its format by moving several major characters of previous seasons—notably Lea Michele’s Rachel—off
onto the next phases of their lives, while still attempting to maintain a central focus on Lima, Ohio’s rather improbable
McKinley High. That means that there’s a “new” Rachel (of sorts, anyway, and in fact this season's premiere episode is
actually titled "The New Rachel") on hand in featured character Marley (Melissa
Benoist), as well as several other recruits to the New Directions glee club. Glee is one of those shows which
exploded into pop cultural omnipresence seemingly immediately after its premiere, and then has had something of a
hard time maintaining its “relevance” (whatever that might consist of) and momentum over its ensuing years. That
tendency continues throughout the fourth season, which sees some interesting developments and has some nice guest
star turns, but which also suffers from a seemingly insurmountable fractured ambience stemming from having to deal
with too many characters (something the show has always struggled with), now exacerbated by the fact that at least
some of them aren’t in Lima anymore. For those who want to catch up on the Glee story thus far, I highly
recommend checking out my colleague Casey Broadwater's reviews of the previous three seasons on Blu-ray:
Glee: The
Complete First Season Blu-ray review
Glee: The
Complete Second Season Blu-ray review
Glee: The
Complete Third Season Blu-ray review
Glee: The Complete Fourth Season is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. As my colleague Casey Broadwater has pointed out in his reviews of previous seasons, Glee is bucking the trend of digitally shot series television, continuing to film the show in the Super 35 format. This gives a nice texture and added density to scenes, where some of the "stage lighting" for some of dance sequences is especially impressive looking (see screenshot 13 for a nice example). The series has a tendency therefore to look a bit soft at times, at least when compared to the ultra-sleek appearances of shows shot with the Red or Arri Alexa systems. Fine detail is quite admirable, especially in close-ups, though, again as Casey pointed out in one of his reviews, there are occasional anomalies like the blue chroma noise which crops up from time to time (you can see it quite clearly in the opening sequence of the Diva episode). Glee's visual style is typically hyperkinetic in the dance and sung elements, and while some fans have tended not to like the relatively soft and grain infused look of the series, to my personal taste the choice to film this series seems astute and generally well managed.
Glee: The Complete Fourth Season continues the tradition of offering a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix on Blu- ray. I am perhaps marginally more impressed by this mix than Casey was by previous seasons, an approval which is however frankly relegated almost exclusively to the musical moments. In this sequences, the soundtrack is fully engaging and fully engaged—employing the surround channels to often delirious effect. While there's certainly good use of immersion in other non-musical scenes—the crowded halls or lunchroom of McKinley High, or some of the ambient environmental noises employed in the Manhattan locations—dialogue still tends to be fairly centrally anchored. That said, fidelity is excellent throughout this presentation, and dynamic range is extremely wide, given the gamut of musical styles explored.
Disc One
It might be tempting to say that Glee has finally jumped the shark, except given this show's fascination with musical theater, it's probably more appropriate to say that the show has jumped the Jets and the Sharks (sorry, couldn't resist). That assessment may be a bit premature, but the death of Monteith is certainly going to be a wake up call for the series. How they handle that, and the continuing attrition of their "first class" of stars is going to tell the tale of whether Glee was, to paraphrase one of their previous seasons' themes, a "one hit" (and/or "one season") wonder, or if, as Variety likes to say, the show has "legs". The musical moments continue to be stunning little mini-masterpieces at times, well sung and often imaginatively staged. The other elements of this series, while fitfully engaging (and relying on a bit of stunt casting now and again), seem more and more like they should have closed out of town. Fans will no doubt still want to pick up this package, as it offers generally great video, superb audio and a nice array of supplementary materials.
2009-2010
w/ Bonus Disc
2009-2010
2009-2010
2010-2011
with Vudu eCopy Of Season One Finale
2010-2011
2010-2011
2011-2012
2013-2014
Rockin' Rydell Edition
1978
2009
2018
2-Disc Shake and Shimmy Edition
2007
Sing-Along Edition
2018
10th Anniversary Edition
2008
Extended Dance Edition
2009
20th Anniversary Limited Edition Packaging
2004
2010
2006
2015
2005
2011
2008
15th Anniversary Edition
2006
2010
2016
Remastered
1984
1999
2015