NCIS: Hawai'i: Season One Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

NCIS: Hawai'i: Season One Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman May 26, 2023

If NCIS: Hawai'i: Season One doesn't do great on Blu-ray, chances are Paramount only has itself to blame. The show itself is popular enough and its name alone blends together a stalwart TV icon and a legendary setting, so it's not the content. Paramount has not exactly been good to NCIS in terms of high-definition physical media releases. In 2010, Paramount released NCIS: Los Angeles, followed by...nothing. None of the subsequent 13 seasons made it to Blu-ray, leaving fans who purchased season one wondering where in the world the rest went. The studio also released the 12th season of the flagship show NCIS to Blu-ray in 2015, certainly giving fans hope that, at the minimum, all subsequent seasons would earn the same treatment (and of course hoping previous seasons would be released as well). After that release there was...nothing, again. So, now, here is NCIS: Hawai'i: Season One, actually releasing while season two is still on the air. The Blu-ray release is fine but will fans flock to it considering the spotty, at best, history the show has on the 1080p physical format?

Official synopsis: The first female Special Agent in Charge of NCIS Pearl Harbor, Jane Tennant, has thrived and risen through the ranks by equal parts confidence and strategy in a system that has pushed back on her every step of the way. Together with her unwavering team of specialists, they balance duty to family and country while investigating high-stakes crimes involving military personnel, national security and the mysteries of the sun- drenched island paradise itself.

NCIS' latest spinoff is headlined by a couple of significant observations, the first being its setting and the second being its cast. The setting itself is the bread-and-butter of the series. Certainly, this spinoff is paint-by-numbers in terms of its procedural habits and themes, and to an extent the show is inescapably trapped within a particular confine, but here it's confined in a very attractive box that allows for a few unique spins on tired formula but is essentially a backdrop for the action, just like any other alphabet soup crime show. The writers do their best to use the setting to its fullest advantage rather than just as exotic window dressing, which at times -- a lot of times -- is where things wind up, but the local flavors, customs, and characters do often allow for the material to take an unexpected turn here or there simply based on geographical and cultural peculiarities, quirks, and uniqueness that allow the standard flow to not be turned on its head, but at least upset it just enough to break away from procedural conformity and see another side of the same story.

The other area of interest is in the lead. Vanessa Lachey plays Jane Tennant, the first female lead at NCIS Hawaii, which allows, again, for a perspective change to familiar material. The lead's gender, like the setting, does not radically redefine procedure, but the fresh face and viewpoint does permit the material to break free from at least some of the tropes that fans who have been with NCIS in its various incarnations for two decades now know by heart. Here, audiences can look at things through fresh eyes and experience the leading edge with a new approach. Still, no matter the places or the people, this remains NCIS, a show locked into a particular series of expectations within a particular series of narrative executions that it does well and with just enough creative imagination in the people and the places to make it a worthwhile addition to the series, though certainly not a radical departure from the norm.

NCIS: Hawai'i: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The 1080p picture quality for NCIS: Hawai'i: Season One is fairly standard for a new release network TV show on Blu-ray. The digitally shot production delivers satisfying clarity and detail, never quite reaching the "intricate" level of super clarity that pushes the format to its limits, but there is no mistaking that this is a nice, healthy, if not unassuming, release. The picture provides rock-solid definition in close-up and good general definition at medium and long distance. Color output produces pleasant vividness to natural greens, blue skies, and assorted clothing that all offer punchy tones throughout the season run. Black levels depth is solid if sometimes seeping towards crush or paleness. Whites are sufficient and skin tones look neutral and natural. Some source noise is apparent in almost every shot. There are no other major source or encode issues to note.

NCIS: Hawai'i: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Paramount brings NCIS: Hawai'i: Season One to Blu-ray with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. This is the only available audio track (optional English SDH subtitles are also included). The track is what one would expect of a big budget modern TV production: some booming action elements, satisfying surround engagement, opportunistic discrete effects, clear music, and stable dialogue. Action scenes are indeed packed with quality low end depth, solidly defined movement, and ample use of every channel in the configuration. While bass is never quite as tight and authoritative as it could be, there's certainly a nice little sense of oomph at work that satisfies base requirements. The surround content is healthy and suitably extensive in support. Smaller atmospheric effects are likewise capable and nicely dispersed throughout the stage to bring the exotic locales to life. Musical engagement is wide along the front and offers well balanced surround content. Dialogue is consistently clear and center positioned for the duration.

NCIS: Hawai'i: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of NCIS: Hawai'i: Season One contains extras scattered throughout the five-disc set. No DVD or digital copies are included with purchase. This release does not ship with a slipcover.

Disc One:

• Extended Scene (1080p, 2:00): From "Pilot:".
• Deleted Scene (1080p, 0:47): From "Gaijin".

Disc Two:

• Deleted Scene (1080p, 0:56): From "Rescuers".

Disc Three:

• Deleted Scenes (1080p): From "The Game" (1:54) and "Spies, Part 2" (0:50).

Disc Four:

• Torres and Tennant (1080p, 7:16): Exploring the details behind the making of the crossover episodes with NCIS.

Disc Five:

• 'Ohana: Celebrating Season 1 (1080p, 17:59): Assembling the cast, characters, working through procedural tropes, logistical challenges, writing, shooting, and more.
• Creating Paradise (1080p, 4:52): Shooting in Hawaii.
• Island Wear (1080p, 7:42): Costume Designer Luke Reichle talks up costumes on the show.
• Gag Reel (1080p, 2:55): Humorous moments from the shoot.

NCIS: Hawai'i: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Fans clamoring for more NCIS on Blu-ray might be tempted to make a purchase here but...it's hard to recommend, not because the show isn't solid and not because the Blu-ray release is in any way poor but because the likelihood of this being yet another NCIS one-and-done are extremely high. Hopefully Paramount proves this hypothesis wrong, but this Blu-ray is probably stuck in that dead zone where sales will not be high enough to justify another release, but they won't be high enough at least in part because audiences are on to the studio's unwillingness to support the NCIS universe on Blu-ray. Three seasons from three different shows in 13 years isn't really a confidence booster for the Blu-ray collector. But for those who just love season one, are wanting to vote for more NCIS with their wallets, or whatever the motivation to buy may be, this five-disc Blu-ray set certainly delivers a commendable experience for the video and audio presentations in addition to a light, but acceptable, smattering of extras.