7.9 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Carrie Mathison, a brilliant but volatile CIA agent, suspects that a rescued U.S. POW may not be what he seems. Is Marine Sgt. Nicholas Brody a war hero...or an Al Qaeda sleeper agent plotting a spectacular terrorist attack on U.S. soil? Following her instincts, Mathison will risk everything to uncover the truth - her reputation, her career and even her sanity. Packed with multiple layers and hidden clues, Season One offers something new every time you see it...watch carefully.
Starring: Claire Danes, Mandy Patinkin, Rupert Friend, F. Murray Abraham, Damian LewisCrime | 100% |
Drama | 90% |
War | 68% |
Psychological thriller | 44% |
Mystery | 37% |
Thriller | 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 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Japanese: DTS 5.1
Japanese only available on Japanese menu settings
English SDH, French, Japanese, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Three-disc set (3 BDs)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Note: If you haven't watched the first season of Homeland yet, you probably don't want to read this
review, as it discusses several major plot points in that season, including at least one major spoiler, and how they ripple
into the current season.
There was an old Clairol hair coloring ad campaign that made the phrase “Does she or doesn’t she?” instantly
recognizable. Fans of Showtime’s Homeland might be forgiven if they slightly tweaked that tagline, asking “Is he
or isn’t he?” as the series played out its first season in a tantalizing tease surrounding long lost (and presumed dead)
POW Nicholas Brody (Damien Lewis), who is found after close to a decade, and who is ostensibly rematriculated into a
picture perfect American life. Of course as anyone might be able to guess, the picture is in fact far from perfect, and FBI
Agent Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) thinks she knows why: Brody has been “turned” by his Al Qaeda captors and is in
fact now a kind of Fifth Columnist, or post-modern Manchurian Candidate. But Homeland played its first season cards very
close to its vest, not giving up solid answers about Brody’s true motivations easily, and further muddying the waters by
revealing that Carrie herself suffers from mental issues, something that may be clouding her judgment. The first season
of Homeland gave us a rather artful, and ultimately incredibly tense, cat and mouse game between
Carrie and Brody, as they became romantically involved while also warily circling each other in an ever increasing arc of
paranoia and duplicity. When the actual truth was revealed well into the season, it was further colored by some
typically smart irony, something this series tends to exploit with fair regularity. Carrie had spent most of the season
unsuccessfully trying to convince everyone who would listen that Brody was a terrorist, ultimately only seemingly proving
that she was bat guano crazy. When we finally realize that Brody is in fact an Al Qaeda operative, the
knowledge comes too late to help Carrie, who has checked herself into a mental hospital to have her memory erased
with electroconvulsive shock therapy.
Homeland 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 discussed in his Homeland: The Complete First Season Blu-ray review, this series is digitally shot in native HD and boasts an extremely strong presentation. I in fact may be marginally more impressed with Homeland's overall look, and thus my video score is a bit higher than the first season review. Colors are very accurate looking and while some sequences have been moderately color graded, overall this series offers a very natural looking palette that pops very well throughout this season. There's some excellent use of locations in this season, including everything from bustling Israeli urban environments to some sylvan climes outside of Washington, and they all look great, without any stability issues to report. As Casey noted in his first season review, some of the darker scenes have very minor crush, but this seems to be an intentional approach on the part of the creative staff, an appropriate visual metaphor for never really being able to see the whole picture.
Homeland's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix gets a definite workout in at least a couple of big set pieces in this season, and during those it really springs to vivid life with abundant surround activity and some great LFE. But this is often a very quiet, dialogue driven series, and one that in fact tends to deal in hushed whispers and intense private conversations, something that this track also supports very well. Even some of these quieter sequences boast some great immersion, including the cabin scenes where Carrie and Brody have their trysts in the latter part of the season. Fidelity is excellent and dynamic range is extremely wide.
Disc One
Homeland continued to deliver visceral, thought provoking entertainment in its second season, but it also had a few admittedly minor stumbles. This season, much like the first, keeps the viewer guessing what will happen next, and few will probably predict the denouement that makes the final episode such an emotionally wrenching experience. We live in dangerous times, and we frequently wonder whom to trust. Homeland plays brilliantly on those fears, but it may have produced a few fears of its own in some audience members. Is this series going to become a soap opera? The third season will tell the tale. In the meantime, this great looking and sounding Blu-ray set comes Highly recommended.
2011
Bonus Disc
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Collectible Artwork
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2015
2017
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2009
Se7en
1995
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2011
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1993
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1944
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25th Anniversary Edition
1992
1965
2019-2020
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