Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.5

Silicon Valley: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie Review

"I’m already smiling. Do you really have to paint me giving the thumbs-up? It’s gratuitous."

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown March 30, 2015

In an era when a killer app can earn hundreds of millions and the latest technological innovation can transform a startup into a household name, nerdom cries out for a newly anointed sitcom. Forget The Big Bang Theory. It doesn't like you anyway. Don't be distracted by Sheldon's T-shirts, comic shop convos, and theoretical physics. It's smirking behind your back, secretly mocking everything you love. Forget The IT Crowd. Great show, but you've already binge-watched the entire series. Twice. (You haven't? Get on that.) No, look instead to HBO and Office Space mastermind Mike Judge. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Silicon Valley. The next great nerd-com is here... arms open, laughs primed and at the ready, and buzz and critical acclaim swirling, already eager to launch its second season on April 12th. And if Judge's hilarious, eight-episode first season is any indication, the series is about to solidify its place in the TechCrunch lexicon.

Set in the high-tech gold rush of modern Silicon Valley, where the people most qualified to succeed are the least capable of handling success, Mike Judge's HBO series charts the rising fortunes of Richard (Thomas Middleditch), an introverted computer programmer who lives in entrepreneur Erlich Bachman's (T.J. Miller) "Hacker Hostel" startup incubator, along with his friends Big Head (Josh Brener), Gilfoyle (Martin Starr) and Dinesh (Kumail Nanjiani). But when a mid-level Hooli executive named Jared (Zach Woods) discovers the value of the novel compression algorithm in a site Richard has created, Richard finds himself caught in the middle of an extreme bidding war between Hooli founder Gavin Belson (Matt Ross) and independent billionaire venture capitalist Peter Gregory (Christopher Evan Welch).

Silicon Valley's pilot grabbed me from the start and had me laughing, on the verge of tears actually, by episode's end. It took my wife a bit longer to warm to the Hacker Hostel hijinks -- roughly three episodes, if memory serves -- but she was drawn in soon enough, and just as deeply. Suddenly we found ourselves at the season finale's doorstep, doubled over, cackling and cheering as Richard took the Battlefield stage to present his team's eleventh hour compression quality score. And don't worry. If the words "compression quality score" just sent your eyebrows skyward and furrowed your brow, you aren't the only one drawing a blank. Like Office Space, Silicon Valley will be a funnier ride for those familiar with its industry, but its joys aren't limited to those in the know. The ins and outs of programming and number-crunching algorithms are laid out carefully but casually, inviting everyone in before indulging in too many inside jokes. It only helps that the rhythm, chemistry, timing and rapidfire dialogue that frames each conversation and techie showdown is nothing short of infectious, making each successive episode a bigger riot than the last.

Of course, it would all be for nothing without the right actors, and it's here that Silicon Valley really excels. Middleditch, Miller, Brener, Starr and Nanjiani embrace their individual nerd archetypes and even have a good deal of fun with their characters' personal lives (or lack thereof). But it's never mean-spirited. No joke comes at the expense of the show's target audience. Cheap shots are the absolute exception, and there's an intelligence to Judge's comedy that really gets the highs, lows and trials of a struggling programmer. Richard and his friends aren't reduced to caricatures or glaring stereotypes, no matter how close to home a gag lands. And you'll love 'em. Even if you're irritated at first -- and if you're anything like my wife, you will be -- you'll come around. Richard is easy to like, and through rooting for him, gravitating to him, you'll soon begin to see what he sees in the other residents of the Hacker Hostel. No, Silicon Valley isn't for everyone. (What comedy is?) But it is Judge at a level he hasn't been at since Office Space, and fans of his best work will be delighted to see him operating at peak capacity.

Silicon Valley: The Complete First Season features eight episodes spread across two BD-50 discs:

• Minimum Viable Product: Richard and his computer programmer friends dream of making it big. Instead, they're living in the communal Hacker Hostel owned by former programmer Erlich, who gets to claim ten percent of anything they invent there. When it becomes clear that Richard has developed a powerful compression algorithm for his website, Pied Piper, he finds himself courted by Gavin Belson, his egomaniacal corporate boss, who offers a $10 million buyout by his firm, Hooli. But Richard holds back when well-known investor Peter Gregory makes a counteroffer.
• The Cap Table: After a celebratory party at the Hacker Hostel, Richard and Erlich learn that Peter Gregory won't pay up until they deliver a viable business plan that includes a slimmed-downed staff. A desperate Richard hires former Belson underling Jared, and they set about trying to trim the fat. While Gilfoyle and Dinesh prove essential, Big Head's place in the company is less certain.
• Articles of Incorporation: While Gavin Belson begins to hype Nucleus, a competing compression platform, Richard learns that the name Pied Piper is already registered to a sprinkler company, forcing him to negotiate. Meanwhile, Erlich goes on a vision quest for a new company name, and Peter Gregory proves elusive when one of his companies asks for money.
• Fiduciary Duties: At Peter's toga party, Richard drunkenly promises to make Erlich a board member, which he regrets the next morning. After being unassigned at Hooli, Big Head finds others like him who have made careers out of doing nothing. Richard struggles to put Pied Piper's vision into words for a presentation without Erlich; later, he discovers an interesting connection between Peter and Gavin Belson.
• Signaling Risk: Erlich asks a graffiti artist to design Pied Piper's logo with some controversial results. Richard finds out that he doesn't have much time to get ready for a live demonstration at TechCrunch Disrupt.
• Third Party Insourcing: A hacker called 'The Carver' is hired by the team, when Pied Piper's cloud needs some help. Richard is on edge because of the reputation the hacker has. Jared is determined to get Peter's signature. Dinesh gets caught up in a sexual dilemma.
• Proof of Concept: Richard is concerned he won't finish his demo in time as TechCrunch Disrupt opens. He soon gets distracted by the rumors a ex-girlfriend is spreading about him. Jared isn't happy with the position that Amanda has been given within the company. Dinesh falls in love. Erlich's connection to a scandalous judge may ruin the Pied Piper's chances.
• Optimal Tip-to-Tip Efficiency: Pied Piper competes against Gavin Belson at TechCrunch Disrupt, but their rival's presentation leaves Richard and his friends reeling. With little time to regroup, they'll discover if they have what it takes or if they've come all this way for nothing.

Silicon Valley: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Pale skin and pallid complexion have never looked so good. The Blu-ray release of Silicon Valley features a terrific 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation, free from artifacting, banding, errant noise and other nuisances. Colors are strong and warmly saturated, with vibrant primaries, lifelike skintones, deep blacks, and somewhat hot but consistently striking contrast. Detail is excellent too. Edge definition is crisp and clean, fine textures are nicely resolved, and delineation is quite good in all but a handful of scenes. (A toga party, stripper visit, Kid Rock concert, and other starkly lit events are prone to crush and other issues, but none of it is the product of the encode.) Close-ups are revealing without resorting to unnatural artificial sharpening, and midrange shots, though occasionally a tad soft, rarely, if ever, disappoint. Bottom line: Silicon Valley's first season nails its high definition debut.

Silicon Valley: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

No complaints here either. HBO's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track does a fine job creating an immersive Hacker Hostel, thanks to engaging ambience, convincing directionality, and a full, involving soundfield that drops the listener into the series' programming nooks, conference rooms, computer-packed houses, and Hooli offices. LFE output and rear speaker activity are reserved for the most part, but key scenes make the most of the six-channel experience with pulsing music, chattering crowds, packed Battlefield auditoriums, and the occasional unruly shenanigan. Dialogue is clean and clear at all times as well, grounding itself in the already perfectly prioritized soundscape with ease. Silicon Valley's AV presentation isn't exactly stunning, but it is remarkable, and frankly far more impressive than I expected.

Silicon Valley: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentaries: Eight audio commentaries anchor the series' first season supplemental package, each one featuring creator Mike Judge who's joined by various members of the cast and crew, among them executive producer Alec Berg and actors Thomas Middleditch, Zach Woods, T.J. Miller, Martin Starr and Kumail Nanjiani.
• Making Silicon Valley (HD, 13 minutes): Go behind the scenes, inside the writer's room, and beneath the labels "nerd" and "geek" as the show's production is laid semi-bare. It's not exactly insightful, but fans will find it entertaining enough to warrant a quick look.
• TechCrunch: Disrupt (HD, 4 minutes): How Silicon Valley landed TechCrunch and earned the technology media property's involvement in the series.
• The Hacker Hostel (HD, 6 minutes): Miller provides a tour of Pied Piper's HQ.

Silicon Valley: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"For thousands of years, guys like us have gotten the shit kicked out of us. But now, for the first time, we're living in an era when we can be in charge. And build empires! We could be the Vikings of our day."

Silicon Valley knows what is, where it's headed, and how far to push its ragtag startup, and without resorting to the cheap shots and tired jabs that would make fun of Richard and his friends rather than find humor in their shaky, socially awkward rise to the top. It's hilarious, yes, but it's the right kind of hilarious, striking a near-perfect balance between self-effacing comedy and impassioned nerd-com. HBO's Blu-ray release delivers too, with a surprisingly strong AV presentation and a generous collection of extras (among them eight audio commentaries). This one comes highly recommended.