7.7 | / 10 |
Users | 4.7 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
In the beginning, Penny moved into the apartment across from Leonard and Sheldon, and hilarity ensued.
Starring: Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, Simon Helberg, Kunal NayyarComedy | 100% |
Romance | 29% |
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
German: Dolby Digital 2.0
Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0
English SDH, French, German SDH, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Five-disc set (2 BDs, 3 DVDs)
UV digital copy
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
As I write this review, The Big Bang Theory's Jim Parsons is spending the show's summer hiatus starring in a Broadway revival of Harvey, where his entrance at every performance is greeted by the roar of applause reserved for established Broadway headliners and major stars of film and TV. Theatrical producers often hire such stars, because their name on the marquee sells tickets, but many of the fans who come to see their idol in person never actually experience the play in which the star is appearing, because they can't see past the actor's familiar persona from other roles. In Parsons' case, though, it only takes a few minutes before he completely banishes Dr. Sheldon Cooper from the audience's mind and replaces him with Ellwood P. Dowd, the gentle, charming bachelor from Colorado whose best friend is an invisible six-foot tall white rabbit. Only during the curtain call, when Parsons abandons Ellwood's slightly stooped posture and stands up straight again, do you remember he also plays the OCD übernerd who's a theoretical physicist prodigy on Big Bang. Parsons' ability to disappear so thoroughly into another personality is the mark of a talented and hard-working actor, and it's not surprising that he became Big Bang's breakout star, wracking up accolades and awards during the show's five seasons to date. It also doesn't hurt that his character, Sheldon, gets a disproportionate share of the laugh lines, and those that go to others are frequently at Sheldon's expense. But it was already evident during Big Bang's first season that the show was essentially an ensemble effort, as are all the best and most durable comedies. Indeed, the first, unaired pilot included only Parsons and co-star Johnny Galecki (as Dr. Leonard Hofstadter) from the current cast, and co-creator Chuck Lorre has said that he and partner Bill Prady retained those two because they were the only part that worked. As Lorre says on the featurette accompanying this Blu-ray set, the best material in the world is no more than "landfill" unless you have the right cast to play it. Like so many TV series, Big Bang began its Blu-ray releases in medias res with season 3 in 2010, day and date with the DVD set. Blu-ray and DVD releases have appeared simultaneously since then. Warner Home Video has now gone back to fill in the gap by releasing the first two seasons on Blu-ray.
As best as I have been able to determine, season 1 of The Big Bang Theory was shot on film. With one exception discussed below, the image on Warner's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray discs for season 1 is clean, sharp, colorful and well-defined, with a fine but natural grain pattern. Fine detail is evident throughout, which is essential for a series that routinely crams its sets with nerd-specific bric-a-brac. The series is famous for its bright colors, and the Blu-ray image captures this aspect of the production capably. The only episode that looks any different is the pilot, which has a somewhat coarser grain structure than the regular episodes, possibly due to different lighting conditions, or perhaps because of budget constraints. The difference is not so dramatic that it should interfere with anyone's viewing enjoyment; indeed, it might not even be noticeable if the pilot were not juxtaposed with episodes produced later, after the series was greenlit. Warner is certainly to be commended for not applying any sort of filtering or degraining software in an attempt to placate grainophobes by making the pilot look more like later episodes, but thereby sacrificing picture detail in the process.
The DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack isn't called upon to do any heavy lifting, as Big Bang's soundtrack is almost entirely made up of dialogue, which remains clear and centered, and the (no doubt heavily edited) reaction of the live audience before which the show is filmed. The audience is heard to the sides and slightly to the rear. Two specific elements place a greater demand on the audio system. The first is the show's signature theme song by Barenaked Ladies, which is heard during the opening titles and, in an instrumental version, over the closing credits. The sound engages the entire 5.1 system and fills the listening space, with solid bass extension. The second element is the graphic featuring planetary (or molecular) rotation that is used as a transition between scenes. The accompanying audio also reaches out into the listening space with a deep rumble, creating a sonic break to accompany the visual one. If you don't have either a subwoofer or full-range left and right main speakers, you're missing out on some of the highlights of this soundtrack.
Fans have waited a long time for the early seasons of The Big Bang Theory to arrive on Blu-ray. Now that they're here, the technical quality is everything fans could have hoped for. As for the quality of the show, there's a reason it became an immediate hit—five reasons, in fact, and that's just in front of the camera. The show hardly needs my endorsement, but I'll give it anyway: Highly recommended.
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