Landman: Season One Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		5.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.5

Landman: Season One Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman May 20, 2025

If it's Paramount, it's Taylor Sheridan. OK, so that's not exactly true, but it certainly feels like it. It's definitely the Taylor Sheridan era at Paramount, and why not: his productions have brought the studio, and its Paramount+ subscription service, seemingly unparalleled recognition and notoriety based on his Yellowstone series, its two spinoffs, not to mention his "secondary" productions like Mayor of Kingstown, Tulsa King, and Special Ops: Lioness. Now, here is Landman, billed as "giving[ing] Texas the Yellowstone treatment. Sheridan's latest brings much the same intrigue, family dynamics, and big money business to the Lone Star State in a terrific production that is spearheaded by a remarkably solid cast, headlined by the venerable Billy Bob Thornton.

Landman follows the story of the big, booming, busy, billion-dollar West Texas oil scene. The show starts Billy Bob Thornton as an oil field lifer named Tommy Norris who manages petroleum, pipes, and people, and not always in that order, under the watchful (and bottom line watching) oil field billionaire magnate Monty Miller (Jon Hamm). But Landman is as much about family management as it is oil field management. The show closely follows Monty's relationship with his wife Cami (Demi Moore), while also layering in on the crude flow of family matters in Tommy's life, too, including his son Cooper (Jacob Lofland) who works in the oil field, his college-age and very open daughter Ainsley (Michelle Randolph), and his ex wife Angela (Ali Larter) who left him for a richer man but who desires to get back with Tommy. The show follows the money and follows the inherent dangers, both internal and external, that threaten to tear it all down.

Let's not pretend that Landman sees Taylor Sheridan blazing a new trail away from the familiar notes and comfortable confines of the sorts of shows that have made him a household name. This is every bit a show in the same vein as Yellowstone, and, really, even Tulsa King. This is a show that is about big personalities, big money, big violence, big politics, big drama, and big, well, everything. Taylor Sheridan is embedded in its DNA, and I don't think that will turn away all that many people. It'll satisfy his fans and I think it might draw in a number of newcomers into his world, too, especially with the top-heavy star power heading the show, including a venerable trio of Billy Bob Thornton (one of this writer's all-time favorites), Demi Moore, and John Hamm. It doesn't hurt to bring in some great cameos and more niche names from the world of sports and Country music like Jerry Jones and Mark Collie, both of who positively contribute to the show. The cast is easily the biggest strength here, well, at least the cast working within the confines of Sheridan's big writing. But the cast makes the material its own, and while Sheridan's DNA is inside, the cast's fingerprints define the outside. It's a fine collaboration and this show is as well cast as any of Sheridan's works so far. That's unsurprising not only for the opportunity to work with him and play a big part in a surefire big hit, but knowing that they will be handed a goldmine of character development and opportunities to put out some of the best work in what are several very long and storied careers.

Of course, the big appeal of Landman is the story itself, and it's a banger. Again, it's not something altogether novel for Sheridan, and of his recent productions not named Yellowstone it shares the most in common with Yellowstone for the dynamics that work its core, yet this is still its own story, with its own geography, its own complications, its own characters, its own overall identity. Sheridan has proven a master of working in the same ballpark but playing different sports with his works, and Landman definitely proves that to be the case. The core story is compelling and crosses through a number of different threads -- from deadly cartel dealings to complicated family dynamics with millions, if not billions, of dollars at stake -- that give each minute a tangible heartbeat and sense of urgency. But the show often slows down to explore a very human side of things and the impact that money, business, and the threat of violence has on the human side of the equation, which can often be relegated to tertiary importance and deeply neglected, and often for the worse. That is what makes this, and most Sheridan works, so compelling: the look at how the big bad world dents, dings, and even threatens to destroy the most important of human needs: family.

Landman: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Landman: Season One's 1080p Blu-ray presentation is anything but "crude." It's a wonderful bit of high definition excellence, sourced from a richly realized and highly textured and detailed digital shoot. The sweaty and roughhewn West Texas world of big oil comes to life with a pristine image, one which is all but free of intrusive noise, digital artifacts, and various maladies. The presentation is alive and awash in great detail, down to the West Texas terrain elements but really sparkling on complex skin details, various clothes (from pricey suits to worn, ragged, and filthy roughneck garb), machinery, and the like. The show's very nature and setting allows for some exquisitely detailed components, and never does the Blu-ray fall even the least bit short of bringing it all to tangible, tactile, and terrifically enjoyable life. Colors are likewise full and rich, with hot, steamy tones out in the Texas sun and more refined pops and explosions of color seen in high dollar suits, revealing swimsuits, and other attire away from the rough and tumble oil fields. Skin tones are immaculate, white balance is spot on, and black levels are deep. No complaints here at all.

Landman: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Landman: Season One features the Paramount TV staple Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack. It's nothing earth-shattering, but it certainly gets the job done. The content is crisp and well defined, with music, dialogue, and effects in good working order. The show is dialogue heavy, but the supportive elements are balanced and rich, with good full stage spacing to music (score and background content alike) and lifelike depth and detail to heavier content, ranging from oil field elements to explosions and crashes and the like. Light atmosphere is nicely detailed and defined, too, with healthy, though never overwhelming, surround activity. Dialogue does drive the show, and it plays with lifelike clarity and center focused positioning for the duration.

Landman: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Paramount's three-disc Blu-ray release of Landman: Season One contains all supplements on disc three. No DVD or digital copies are included with purchase. However, Parmaount has included a non-embossed slipcover which features artwork identical to the Blu-ray case artwork.

• Constant Crisis: The Path to Landman (1080p, 30:47): This is a good, comprehensive, and compelling piece that explores the core story elements, the real oil business, the setting, characters and performances, direction, cast camaraderie, and more.
• Passion and Poise: Tommy & Angela/Cami & Monty (1080p, 10:11): A closer look at the dynamics of these four core characters and their relationships with one another.
• Welcome to the Patch: Pyrotechnics and Stunts (1080p 14:55): As the title suggests, this looks at some of the more explosive elements that go into making Landman.
• Landman: Inside the Series (1080p, 22:04): Ali Larter hosts a look inside the show's basic ebbs and flows and the real life elements that drive the series.
• Landman: Meet the Millers (1080p, 2:03): A quick sit-down with Hamm and Moore discussing the show and their characters.
• Landman: The Best of Tommy (1080p, 2:18): Key scenes collage featuring Tommy Norris.
• Roughnecking It with Billy, James, and Jacob (1080p, 1:45): Billy Bob Thornton, James Jordan, and Jacob Lofland discuss the life of a roughneck.
• Digging Deep with the Cast of Landman (1080p, 2:58): The cast answers a few humorous questions.

Landman: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I loved Landman. While Yellowstone is great, I've really gravitated to this and Tulsa King as my favorite currently running Sheridan productions. This is great stuff: It's well written, of course, but also dynamically shot and edited and of course it's packed to the brim with an exceptionally talented cast that brings it all home. Paramount's three-disc set offers high yield video and audio presentations paired with a nice array of bonus content on disc three. Very highly recommended!