8 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Power, politics, money...it's all in the family in Season 1 of this provocative, bitingly funny drama series about a highly dysfunctional dynasty. When aging, uber-wealthy patriarch Logan Roy (Brian Cox), CEO of one of the world's largest media and entertainment conglomerates, decides to retire, each of his four grown children follows a personal agenda that doesn't always sync with those of their siblings--or of their father. After Logan changes his mind about stepping down, he endures the often-childish bickering of his heirs while others in their orbit position themselves for a post-Logan world that seems imminent, though not predestined. Jeremy Strong, Kieran Culkin, Sarah Snook and Alan Ruck co-star as Logan's children; also with Hiam Abbass, Nicholas Braun and Matthew Macfadyen.
Starring: Brian Cox, Jeremy Strong, Kieran Culkin, Sarah Snook, Nicholas BraunDrama | 100% |
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
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Twelve-disc set (12 BDs)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
It's maybe just a little bit funny that in our Succession: The Complete First Season Blu-ray review from several years ago now I mentioned how the erstwhile 20th
Century Fox just pretty much
forgot about promoting a once hot series after releasing Empire: The Complete First Season on Blu-ray in 2015. That is relevant because that particular show lasted for more
than one season
(even
if its pop culture
zeitgeist quotient diminished pretty rapidly), and fans probably were a bit disappointed that no follow up high definition releases were ever
forthcoming. Something at least somewhat similar seems to have happened with HBO and the series currently
under discussion, as evidenced by the very
fact that there have been no intervening releases on Blu-ray (that I'm aware of, anyway) of the second, third and/or fourth seasons of
this
series, other than this relatively newly released compendium of the whole megillah. If that particular release strategy may seem at least a bit
confounding, the good news is now fans of the series do have the whole megillah, including not just the never before released seasons,
but
attendant Inside the Episode supplements for season two episodes, along with some similar Controlling the Narrative
supplements for
seasons three and four, in addition to a few other supplements (the first season's standalone release
only offered one sole supplement on
its third disc, something
that's repeated here in this collection).
For my thoughts on the first season, you can click on the review link above.
Succession: The Complete Series is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of HBO and Warner Brothers Home Entertainment with AVC encoded 1080p transfers in 1.78:1. I highly recommend those interested to revisit the link I offer in the video section of my review of the first season, as it gives some really interesting background on the shooting of the series, including the increasingly unusual use of 35mm film. The second through fourth seasons offer the same general excellence that I discuss in our review of the first season, though there are some of the same deficits in shadow and fine detail in some of the more dimly lit moments (kind of interestingly, in some ways I'd call the first season the "darkest" of the series, in more ways than one). In more fulsomely lit moments, detail levels are typically excellent, though even with the show's emphasis on the lifestyles of the rich and famous (so to speak), there's really not a surplus of luxe costuming or set designs. Close-ups typically feature really excellent fine detail levels on everything from fabrics to Brian Cox's impressively cragged face. The palette looks natural throughout, and I noticed no problematic compression issues, though occasionally the darkest scenes can hint at noise.
As with the original first season release, this set features DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 tracks on all episodes which may admittedly not be a whirlwind of surround activity, but which consistently place ambient environmental sounds in the side and rear channels, while also offering some nicely spacious accounts of underscore. Commendably, the use of ambient environmental sounds isn't limited to outdoor urban environments, and even within several cloistered Roy locales (both home and office), there is clearly discrete channelization of effects, if admittedly interstitially at times. Dialogue is always rendered cleanly and clearly. Optional English subtitles are available.
Season One, Disc Three
If binging all four seasons of this acclaimed series may frankly not be the wisest decision, as someone who did in fact binge in preparation for writing this review, I can say I was actually almost surprised that despite the somewhat wending quality of the narrative in the second and third seasons in particular, I was probably more impressed with the overall trajectory of the series as it moved along. It's undeniably odd that HBO and Warner Brothers Home Entertainment chose to release a standalone first season, forget about the next three individual seasons, and then release this complete series collection, but that said, I'm sure fans will be delighted to finally have the entire Roy saga at their fingertips. Technical merits are generally solid and the supplements, while kind of individually short, are often quite funny and enjoyable. Recommended.
2022
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1960
Limited Edition to 3000 - SOLD OUT
1959
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2008
2013
2009
1969
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2009
1997
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1980
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1989
Signed Limited Edition to 100 Copies - SOLD OUT
2015
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