7.7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
After being recruited to a secretive academy, a group of students discover that the magic they read about as children is very real-and more dangerous than they ever imagined.
Starring: Jason Ralph, Stella Maeve, Olivia Taylor Dudley, Hale Appleman, Arjun GuptaFantasy | 100% |
Supernatural | 50% |
Teen | 27% |
Horror | Insignificant |
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
English SDH, French, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish
Blu-ray Disc
Three-disc set (3 BDs)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
If anyone is considering, for whatever reason, jumping into The Magicians with season three...don’t. It’ll be an exercise in frustration. But that’s a given with nearly any show, at least one that builds and works through a single arcing narrative and various subplot constructs that have their origins much earlier in the run and promise to build towards future endeavors. But for those who have been with The Magicians through both seasons one and two, season three is a treat. Its multi-tentacled narratives not only work through established ideas and loose plot threads but weave new directions for the show to take through this 13-episode arc and beyond. It’s never shy about either looking back or hinting at the future, overtly and subtly, while season three looks to bring magic back to Brakebills and build towards the future for a fourth season that was recently ordered to air next year.
The Magicians: Season Three conjures up a well-rounded, but certainly imperfect, 1080p transfer framed at the broadcast 1.78:1 aspect ratio. The entire season is fairly dark with some bursts of more forgiving light here and there, but generally it's just different degrees of "dark." Black levels are a strength, maintaining integrity and depth in darker corners. Crush is kept to an agreeable minimum, and what's here is at least tonally complimentary to various scenes, particularly in terms of stylistic tone and the feel and flavor of any given scene or sequence or even entire episodes. The image does reveal some banding, at times, though it's largely unobtrusive. Colors are well saturated as they're prominent enough to matter, which is most of the show, even in low light. Clothing is full and nicely saturated, exteriors reveal enough firm and balanced punch to please, and flesh tones satisfy though they can vary, of course, based on location and lighting circumstances which can push them warm, cold, or lightly gray or even slightly green. The digitally sourced image is a little flat and smooth. Essential skin textures are adequately revealing. Clothes are suitably sharp and environments are generally crisp but complexity is certainly not at format pinnacle. A good example is character hair, where there's often not a significant level of fine, individual strand detail to be seen. Overall clarity is quite good; there are no signifiant examples of unsharp objects, even at distance. Light noise interferes but never rises to a level of distraction. This is a good overall image that's largely in-line with previous seasons.
The Magicians: Season Three's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack delivers a quality listening experience, though one that is not necessarily of pristine, absolute excellence. It's fairly unassuming, really, a talk-heavy track with modest atmospherics and occasional bursts of activity to break up the monotony. More prominent effects, such as big swirling sounds and rising energy during key moments, extend into the back and engage the subwoofer as necessary, creating fairly convincing bursts of activity that punctuate key moments throughout the season. There are some positive atmospherics here and there across various locales and a nice weight to the airship as it moves about. Musical definition is fine, playing with good front-side width but not a massive amount of surround content. Dialogue has a mild boom to it but is otherwise well defined, clear, and seamlessly integrated with good prioritization and firm front-center placement.
The Magicians: Season Three contains one supplement, a gag reel (1080p, 6:27), on disc three. No DVD or digital versions are included, but the release does ship with a nifty embossed slipcover.
Season three is the most complex and convoluted but also the most rewarding and arguably the most enjoyable and humorous yet. It begins with most everyone in trouble and ends with a substantial turn for nearly everyone involved in the story, setting the table for a fourth season that has quite some large shoes to fill if it's going to match the insane excellence of this third season. Universal's three-disc Blu-ray set is nearly featureless, but video and audio remain good-quality series stalwarts. Recommended in conjunction with seasons one and two.
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By Nightwish
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Special Edition
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Special Edition - Theatrical Version
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