7.6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
The story of Piper Chapman, a woman in her thirties who is sentenced to fifteen months in prison after being convicted of a decade-old crime of transporting money to her drug-dealing girlfriend.
Starring: Taylor Schilling, Michael Harney, Kate Mulgrew, Danielle Brooks (IV), Uzo AdubaComedy | 100% |
Biography | 18% |
Dark humor | 6% |
Drama | 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
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
English SDH, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Three-disc set (3 BDs)
UV digital copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
It can be a little hard at times to know what to think about the fifth season of Orange is the New Black, but Baby Boomers with a long
memory may be prone to call what transpires this season evidence of a “Hogan's
Heroes effect,” meaning that the setting of a place of confinement is so increasingly ludicrous (given what happens in the show) that it
almost seems unnecessary. Orange is the New Black has wended and weaved its way through innumerable story lines by this time, to the
point that what seemed like the show’s initial focus, mainly the disconnect between white collar “criminal” Piper Chapman (Taylor
Schilling) and a somewhat less “privileged” population filling the crowded rooms and hallways of Litchfield Prison, has become almost tangential to
the plot proceedings, at least at times. Piper is certainly still around, but once again Orange is the New Black darts off on a
dizzying array of not just “current” stories involving many of the inmates, but supposedly revelatory flashbacks which attempt to give insight into
their characters. The show started by toeing a rather delicate line between “realism” and near farce, but this season feels like it’s tipped pretty
generally into fare that at least pushes suspension of disbelief to the breaking point. That’s kind of an odd reaction, frankly, given that the series
continues to mine all sorts of weighty subjects, even while it lampoons certain behaviors.
For those wanting to either introduce themselves to those aforementioned wending plot strands, or who might like a bit of a brush up on some of
what's transpired in the series thus far, our reviews of Orange is the New Black's previous seasons can be accessed by clicking on the
following links:
Orange Is the New Black: Season One
Blu-ray review
Orange Is the New Black: Season
Two Blu-ray review
Orange Is the New Black: Season
Three Blu-ray review
Orange Is the New Black: Season
Four Blu-ray review
Orange is the New Black: Season Five is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. While the show continues to offer above average detail levels throughout the episodes of this season, this year is almost relentlessly dark (as in dimly lit), along with frequent uses of "jiggly cam", all of which tends to lead to at least the perception of softness and a lack of fine detail at times. (The season has so many darker scenes that I actually got a little frustrated trying to find adequately lit moments to feature in screenshots.) Once again there's a bit of a disconnect between the Litchfield scenes, especially since the lights are off throughout at least some of the riot, and some of the "extracurricular" moments, notably a lot of the flashbacks. When the show gets out and about, and especially utilizes normal (or close to it) lighting, the palette warms up considerably and detail levels also rise. That said, however, there are some kind of curious (if not unappealing) grading choices made in some of the "outside" material this year, including a kind of blue-green look to some forest scenes that accrue in a sidebar featuring some Girl Scouts.
Orange is the New Black: Season Five has the same generally excellent DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that has been a staple of the series, and this year does feature good, if sometimes claustrophobic, surround activity as chaos descends upon Litchfield. There's discrete channelization afforded sound effects and even snippets of dialogue that really nicely convey the winding halls and nooks and crannies of the prison under seige. Dialogue is routinely rendered without any problems, though occasional lines can get just slightly buried in the morass of sound that tends to afflict noisier scenes. There are no issues with dropouts, damage or distortion.
Disc 2
Orange is the New Black already has its "greenlight" for at least a couple more seasons, and so fans of the show are assured more "adventures" for Piper (if you can find her) and her cohorts. I personally am becoming less and less engaged with this show, and wish it would decide exactly what tone it wants to pursue. As it stands, the drama repeatedly sidles up to the comedy in a rather discomfiting fashion, and as a result the season tends to kind of lurch back and forth between vignettes that work and quite a few that seem extraneous. Fans of the series will still probably find more than enough to keep them entertained, and for those folks the good news is the technical merits here are fine.
2013
w/Bonus Disc
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Director's Cut
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