7.3 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Miami Beach, 1959. As Ike Evans rings in the New Year at his luxurious Miramar Playa Hotel, Havana falls to Castro’s rebels. It’s a turbulent time in Miami, but it’s THE place to be. The Kennedys, the mob and the CIA all hold court here. And Ike, he’s the star of his hotel. But everything comes at a price. To finance his dream, he sold his soul to mob boss Ben “The Butcher” Diamond. Ike’s wife Vera, a former showgirl, and his three kids think he’s an honorable man, but he can’t break his pact with the devil. His life is a façade. In fact, nothing at the Miramar Playa is what it seems. By day, it’s diving clowns and cha-cha lessons. By night, escorts have secret liaisons with husbands in the family cabanas, while Miami’s seedier residents and the law drift together to hear legendary singers, musicians and comics. As Ike’s world threatens to implode, he fights for his family, and the Miramar Playa, in Magic City.
Starring: Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Olga Kurylenko, Steven Strait, Jessica Marais, Christian CookeDrama | 100% |
Crime | 64% |
Period | 37% |
Mystery | 23% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital Mono
English SDH, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Three-disc set (3 BDs)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (C untested)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
I will do whatever I have to do to stay alive.
Late 1950s Miami is the backdrop for the new Starz original series Magic City, a flashy but rather empty program that follows the lavish and
sexy beachside hotel business and the darker underbelly and shady characters that keep it running behind the scenes. That sounds like a rather juicy
premise for a series -- and it is -- but Magic City never finds its stride through season one, getting the glitz and glamour just right but offering
a rather empty-headed wannabe dark and complex family narrative and business drama. Series creator Mitch Glazer sources the program from both
fiction and historical fact. The series admirably builds up a convincing exterior that effortlessly lures audiences into the sex and flash of the place and
period, but the rest of the program never gels, working through bland plot arcs and uninteresting stock-like characters who fail to give the series the
sort of teeth it really needs to ascend to the top of the television heap where equally lavish programs like Spartacus and more dramatically satisfying fare like Breaking Bad reside.
Ike soaks up the atmosphere.
Magic City: The Complete First Season rolls onto Blu-ray with a polished and pleasant 1080p transfer. Anchor Bay's Blu-ray presentation handles the golden-tinged series nicely, displaying colors with brilliance and exacting precision. Whether lavish poolside scenes that offer brilliant blue water and a multitude of bright clothing shades or darker, moodier interiors that hang on to that golden tint, the transfer displays the series' color palette with commendable ease and efficiency. Detail is often striking; facial lines, fine clothing seams, and the pinpoint textures in and around the hotel dazzle with their complexity and natural appearance. The HD video production does go somewhat glossy and flat at times, but fine detail is rarely lacking. Lower light scenes can reveal some troublesome color gradations across faces, but shadow detail is otherwise strong and skin tones are largely natural and reflective of various lighting conditions. Minimal banding and light noise are the only other negative aspects of note. Altogether, this is a very strong, balanced, and attractive transfer that suits the series very well.
Magic City: The Complete First Season features a high quality Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The presentation offers a clear, clean, sometimes robust, and consistently pleasant and natural sound presentation. Music drifts nicely off to the sides, and listeners are greeted with a rich, accurate sound presentation from the beginning. Music is smooth and nicely detailed through the entire range. The surrounds don't carry too much musical information, but the spacing and clarity up front are superb. The track offers plenty of light but mood-critical ambience. Whether beachside waves, general sounds within the hotel lobby, or rolling thunder and light rains, Anchor Bay's presentation does well to gently envelop the listener in the various Miami environments and situations. For the most part, dialogue is clear and accurate as it flows from the center. There are a few minor instances when it sounds a little harsh and detached, but such are certainly outliers in what is, overall, a very nice presentation.
All of the Magic City: The Complete First Season supplements appear on disc three.
It's a shame that Magic City cannot find a more dynamic plot and superior characters in light of the first-rate work that shapes the series' superficial qualities. Magic City might be the most glamorous program on television, unsurpassed in its production design and unequaled in its ability to effortlessly draw its audience into a fabulously recreated era of power, sex, and prestige. Unfortunately, the series flubs both its characters and its story, making the former stock and the latter pulled from the Book of Unimaginative Scriptwriting. Fans deserve more than what often feels like Mad Men meets The Sopranos but without the great characters and alluring plot arcs to set it apart. Magic City: The Complete First Season features strong video and audio but only a handful of low-effort supplements. The relatively low asking price makes this worthy of a purchase should fans be so inclined, but the curious viewer would be smart to rent before committing to a purchase.
2010
2019
2009
1997
10th Anniversary
2013
1955
1954
2002-2008
1956
2016
2006
1956
1995
1992
1987-1990
1995
2012
Collector's Edition | Theatrical on BD
1991
2009
2007