8.3 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Set in the 1860s it centers on former confederate soldier Cullen Bohannan, whose quest for vengeance has led him to the Union Pacific Railroad's westward construction of the first Transcontinental Railroad.
Starring: Anson Mount, Colm Meaney, Common, Christopher Heyerdahl, Tom NoonanWestern | 100% |
Period | 18% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Adventure | 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: Dolby Digital 5.1
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Three-disc set (3 BDs)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Hell on Wheels has come under fire by some for supposedly being a Deadwood wannabe, and there are certainly at least a few passing similarities between the two series. Gritty post-Civil War setting? Check. A burgeoning town which seems at time like little more than an encampment? Check. A varied cast of characters that includes a motley crew of vagabonds, schemers, and even the occasional dreamer? Check. A morally questionable (and questioning) hero? Check. An imperious “overlord” attempting to move characters around his personal chessboard like so many pawns? Check and mate. But Hell on Wheels has seemed more and more intent on carving its own unique identity, something that comes into sharper focus in this second season. The series is still probably best in its small character moments than in its overriding story of the attempt to push westward to forge the Transcontinental Railroad. In fact, for a series supposedly focusing on trains, there’s precious little time given to them, and instead the series shifts its attention to a number of side stories that are of course tangentially linked to the building effort since the characters have been brought together by that very situation. Hell on Wheels takes a couple of bold steps in its sophomore year, including starting the season out seemingly without a central role for the series’ putative main character, grieving former Confederate soldier Cullen Bohannon (Anson Mount). Some may feel the opening two episodes of the season are therefore a bit of a cheat, since in tried and true television fashion, everything is more or less returned to its previous status after a few detours, but on another level, this perhaps questionable gambit at least allows the series to start to delve more thoroughly into some of the other extremely colorful characters that make up the large and at times ungainly cast.
Hell on Wheels: The Complete Second Season is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Entertainment One with an
AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1—well, at least some of the time. Is someone on staff at this show a fan of
number games? The reason I ask is it turns out only episodes 1, 7, and 8 are actually in a full 1.78:1 aspect ratio (get
it?: 1, 7, 8 and 1.78). The other seven episodes of this season are just ever so slightly windowboxed, as a quick look at
the screenshots accompanying this review will clearly show. Now I must admit I frankly did not notice this at all as I was
actually watching this season; it was only after I took the screenshots and saw the windowboxing that I was a bit
perplexed and investigated further, coming up with which episodes were done various ways. Why this happened
is anyone's guess. In the wild and wooly ways of television production (much like the wild and wooly ways of the era
this series depicts), things are often done under the gun and perhaps a different camera or aperture was used, either
inadvertently or otherwise. The size difference of the image is so small (our resident aspect ratio guru
Deciazulado has
calculated that it's less than a 2% difference) that it really amounts to a negligible difference, and my hunch is if I hadn't
pointed it out here (and we hadn't provided documentary evidence), few would have ever realized it.
As to the actual look of this series on Blu-ray: it continues to be one of the most impressive looking shows
currently on television. Though digitally shot, Hell on Wheels is one of the more naturally filmic looking series,
with a gritty ambience that helps offset the sometimes antiseptic appearance of high def video. Colors are toyed with
rather aggressively at times, with efforts varying from desaturation to slate grays and blues, but fine detail remains
commendable almost all of the time. The location photography is often stunning, with incredible depth of field and
unusually crisp definition even in relatively far off objects like groves of trees. The tonal range here is often astounding,
even given the color grading issue. While the series tends to delight in earth tones, muddy blacks and gritty grays, there
are lovely pops of color both in the locations as well as some of the costumes various characters wear. The wild, wild
west may indeed never have been quite this pretty (and/or relatively gussied up), but Hell on Wheels
pushes those concerns to the sidelines as it offers a really spectacular visual experience.
Hell on Wheels' lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix continues to set the same high bar that the series' first season did. Once again, there are a glut of nicely placed foley effects, and not necessarily only gunfire and the sounds of the train tracks being pounded into submission. Some of the best effects are the subtle ones, as in a chilling scene where Eva's early morning routine of hanging her laundry—with the sheets rustling peacefully in the breeze—is suddenly interrupted by the chilling far off sound of a Sioux war cry. Dialogue is cleanly presented, though occasionally the series' music overpowers individual scenes. A lot of people evidently love the quasi-contemporary blues and country songs that dot the soundtrack here; I'm not one of them. I think the series would do much better with a less anachronistic score. Either way, the music is rendered beautifully here, with crispness and precision.
I actually was rather easily caught up in Cullen's story in the first season of Hell on Wheels, though I completely understood those who thought the series was a B-grade Deadwood. My hunch is even some of the naysayers will be pleasantly surprised with some of the twists and turns this second season takes. The series still tends to work best in its intimate moments rather than its larger plot arcs, but I was continually impressed with the intelligence of the writing throughout this season. The show continues to be one of the most handsomely mounted series on television right now, and this Blu-ray offers those visuals with a high degree of excellence. The conceit that starts off the second season is fairly useless, but that's more than offset by a number of startling developments for a number of both featured and supporting characters. Highly recommended.
2011-2012
2013
with Character Cards
2013
2014
2015
2015
2014
1939
Per un Pugno di Dollari
1964
1966
2015
1971
1950
1972
1930
1965
1962
Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo
1966
Warner Archive Collection
1956
1969
2014
Standard Edition | C'era una volta il West 4K
1968
2001
1976
1961
1966