Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.5

The Walking Dead: The Complete Sixth Season Blu-ray Movie Review

Another 'Dead' season shuffles onto Blu-ray.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman August 25, 2016

AMC's smash hit The Walking Dead continues its march towards television history as one of the most popular, and in many ways culturally defining, shows of its time. What does that say about today's culture? Here's a show of death, decay, mistrust, and evil, but at the same time hope, humanity, friendship, love, and understanding. Doesn't it feel like the world is already there, minus the undead part? Talk about a show, and a world, seemingly existing on a razor's edge. The Walking Dead is also well on its way to passing the longevity test, too, now approaching its seventh season with six engrossing, engaging, and oftentimes unforgettable seasons behind it. Frankly, though, as entertaining, smart, crisp, and thematically deep as season six may be, the show is starting to feel just a hint repetitive -- both deeply-rooted themes and broad-stroke happenings haven't changed all that much -- but it's in the underlying details, the way the show so expertly manipulates its world, characters, and audience that keeps fans coming back for more. It's gritty, as realistic as it can be considering the supernatural powers at play in it, but its raw, unforgiving cadence and darkness, contrasted with that sometimes prominent and sometimes fleeting sense of humanity, all work together to make the show a bonafide winner of darkly evolving storytelling that continues to challenge characters and views alike in a world populated by a dangerous known and, usually, an even more dangerous unknown. Before diving into season six, newcomers should go back and start at the beginning. It's a journey well worth taking from the start. Click through each link below for season-by-season listings and reviews.

• Season One
• Season Two
• Season Three
• Season Four
• Season Five

Colt Pythons fix everything.

Official synopsis: Season six starts with Alexandria's safety shattered by multiple threats. To make it, the people of Alexandria will need to catch up with our survivors' hardness while many of Rick's people will need to take a step back from the violence and pragmatism they've needed to embrace. These reversals won't happen easily or without conflict. But now Rick's group is fighting for something more than survival...They're fighting for their home, and they will defend that at any cost, against any threat, even if that threat comes from within.

Season six sees a couple of slower stretches, the first as the season kicks off in an episode that, for a good thirty minutes, is more disorienting than it is engaging, even with the black-and-white flashbacks that help distinguish timelines, but still paint a rather clouded picture. The other comes when the season's first half story arc settles and the second commences, though the lead-up to the season finale makes for some of the more intense Walking Dead entertainment yet. The "slower" -- read: less hacking and slashing and running, more reflection and dramatic construction -- stretches are critical to character and universe expansion, and do yield what is quite possibly the finest hour of The Walking Dead in this, or any, season in "Here's Not Here." The episode drives to the heart of what the show is all about: maintaining humanity in the presence of incessant death and darkness, both in the world around and fomenting deep within each survivors' soul. The episode follows Morgan as he learns Aikido but, more, learns who he is, and who he needs to be, in the new world. The episode paints a very clear, distinct, summarizing picture of everything the show is about. It's beautifully acted, touchingly punctuated, and a pleasure in the middle of a rather dark season that, at least for its first half, leans more to being about "man vs. zombie" than "man vs. man," the latter of which is more central to the sum total of the series experience than the plot-driving and theme-facilitating walkers.

Indeed, The Walking Dead continues to be more about humanity in crisis than it is slaying zombies. The season looks at the good and the bad in the world and how Rick's group has all but fully committed to doing whatever its takes to survive. Deals are struck, and those deals mean danger and death. The line is further blurred as the show contrasts Morgan's mantra of "all lives matter" versus the concept of deadly force self defense versus the, in some ways necessary, in some ways humanity-breaking, violent means to an end. Morgan remains key through the season, and the show does take his arc to the inevitable conclusion. Rick and the rest of the Alexandria crew continue to face various hardships that push their mental, emotional, and physical limits, against both literal zombies and figurative zombies of men who have all but lost their souls.

But beyond the higher concept ideas that the series integrates into the entire arcing storyline now spanning six seasons, the show's broader appeal remains its terrifyingly grisly and raw presentation of a disintegrating world. Violence remains a cornerstone in season six. Characters die, wounds are suffered, emotional scars run as deep as ever. Relationships evolve and devolve. The series continues to be unafraid to make hard decisions with its characters and the world in which they live, and the season features one of the most daring moves in episode three and one of the great surprises in episode seven. Action is tight and relentless, particularly as the season's first-half storyline reaches its climax. The second half is a slow-burn towards a nail-biting final few minutes highlighted by a standout performance from Jeffrey Dean Morgan and a solid season ending cliffhanger that's effective but doesn't rank amongst the series' best.

The Walking Dead: The Complete Sixth Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Walking Dead: The Complete Sixth Season is another in Anchor Bay's fantastic 1080p video presentations for the hit AMC TV show. Though a handful of shots appear overly processed, and episode four features a few abnormal stylistic choices that give a few moments a distorted appearance, the image is precise and impressive. Grain is evenly distributed, a touch thick, too, but naturally filmic and enjoyably so. Details are crisp, not aggressively sharp but maintaining the series' natural complexion and revealing all sorts of fine details with ease. Close-ups showcase pores, beards, wrinkles, caked-on-dirt, sweat beads, and fresh and dried blood with impressive complexity. Filthy attire is likewise a showcase, as are leaves and wooded areas, which feature prominently throughout the season. Structural details are fantastic, and the image really shines when the camera gets close to pavement and other, rougher surface textures that reveal a practically tangible level of definition. Zombie gore is the unequivocal detailing highlight. The 1080p transfer allows viewers to soak in every makeup effect and prosthetic with remarkable clarity, a treat for those who appreciate the show's detailed and varied effects work. Colors are fine, a bit desaturated and staying within series norms, but leafy greens and bright red blood stand apart very well against some of the more earthy, flatter support colors of the otherwise dead and dying world. Nighttime black levels are fantastically deep, though the end of the final episode reveals some unsightly compression artifacts in the darker backdrops. Flesh tones hold up nicely. Episode one features a handful of black and white sequences in which only hints of banding and false colorization keep them from appearing pristine. This is a fabulous presentation from Anchor Bay.

The Walking Dead: The Complete Sixth Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Walking Dead: The Complete Sixth Season features a potent, endlessly aggressive, and effortlessly room-filling Dolby TrueHD 7.1 lossless soundtrack. This is large-scale sound that's deeply rooted with a powerful foundation of low end support. Bass rocks hard when necessary, adding depth to music and weight to action. Even with all the aggressive power, music remains well defined and effortlessly clear throughout the season, whether basic score or the series' hallmark opening title music. Spacing is always wide and immersion is complete. The track leaves no musical gaps in the delivery, even extended out to the right and left sides of the stage. Much the same can be said of action. Zombie moans and groans emanate from all over, and with terrifying, often agonizingly piercing, detail. Gunfire bursts with impressive punch from every speaker during pitch action scenes. In episode one, flares fire upwards, and even without the extra support of overhead channels, the sense of movement skyward is obvious. Also in that episode, and also halfway through episode two, a constant blaring airhorn pierces the stage with deafening realism. A heavy truck rumbles through wooded land in episode six with excellent weight and tree-crunching effects. Smaller effects, like the squishy sounds of zombies gnawing on flesh or gentle background woodland atmospherics, are very clear and well defined, with excellent placement, distinct, usually, for the former and more widely dispersed for the latter. Dialogue is clear and detailed with consistent front-center placement. This is a superb listen that accentuates the show's most dangerous moments and highlights its environment extraordinarily well.

The Walking Dead: The Complete Sixth Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Walking Dead: The Complete Sixth Season contains audio commentaries on select episodes and additional features on a dedicated supplemental disc five. A UV digital copy code is included with purchase. Note that some supplemental titles contain spoilers.

• Audio Commentaries:
• "First Time Again" (Disc One): Writer/Executive Producer Scott M. Gimple, Executive Producer/Special Effects Make-Up Artist/Director Greg Nicotero, and Actor Norman Redus.
• "Here's Not Here" (Disc One): Writer/Executive Producer Scott M. Gimple, Co-Executive Producer Denise Huth, and Actor Lennie James.
• "Start to Finish" (Disc Two): Director Michael E. Satrazemis and Actor Danai Gurira.
• "No Way Out" (Disc Three): Executive Producer Scott M. Gimple, Executive Producer/Special Effects Make-Up Artist/Director Greg Nicotero and Actors Michael Cudlitz, Lennie James and Josh McDermitt.
• "Not Tomorrow Yet" (Disc Three): Co-Executive Producer Denise Huth and Actors Alanna Masterson and Steven Yeun.
• "The Same Boat" (Disc Four): Writer Angela Kang and Actors Lauren Cohan and Melissa McBride.
• "Last Day on Earth" (Disc Four): Writer/Executive Producer Scott M. Gimple, Executive Producer/Special Effects Make-Up Artist/Director Greg Nicotero, and Actor Michael Cudlitz.
• Extended Episode (1080p, Dolby TrueHD 7.1, 1:05:40): "Last Day on Earth."
• Featurettes (1080p):
• The Making of The Walking Dead: Bite-sized behind-the-scenes insights into each episode. Included are The Making of Episode 601: 'First Time Again' (4:33), The Making of Episode 602: 'JSS' (3:26), The Making of Episode 603: 'Thank You' (3:58), The Making of Episode 604: 'Here's Not Here' (3:59), The Making of Episode 605: 'Now' (3:34), The Making of Episode 606: 'Always Accountable' (3:56), The Making of Episode 607: 'Heads Up' (3:00), The Making of Episode 608: 'Start to Finish' (3:57), The Making of Episode 609: 'No Way Out' (3:27), The Making of Episode 610: 'The Next World' (2:35), The Making of Episode 611: 'Knots Untie' (4:49), The Making of Episode 611: 'Not Tomorrow Yet' (3:34), The Making of Episode 613: 'The Same Boat' (2:57), The Making of Episode 614: 'Twice as Far' (2:23), The Making of Episode 615: 'East' (2:43), and The Making of Episode 616: 'Last Day on Earth' (2:12).
• In Memoriam (10:04): A closer look at some of the characters who perished during the course of season six.
• 601: Out of the Quarry (7:46): A more detailed look at the season's premiere episode: technically, thematically, narratively.
• Guts & Glory: The Death of Nicholas (5:03): A look at the character's arc in the season and his demise, with controversial result.
• Strength in Bonds (11:07): A discussion of what makes the group strong.
• Negan: Someone to Fear (5:18): Cast and crew speak on the season's new villain, played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan.
• The Face of Death: Iconic Walkers of the Season (3:39): As the title suggests, a closer look at some of the more interestingly designed dead from season six.
• Deleted Scenes (1080p): Scenes from Episode 601: "First Time Again" (1:03), Episode 603: "Thank You" (1:02), Episode 605: "Now" (2:46), and Episode 607: "Heads Up" (3:48).

The Walking Dead: The Complete Sixth Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Season six is a little slow to start and a bit clunky when its unofficial second half begins, but it's otherwise, again, riveting television with fewer shocks than normal but a few good scares, some surprising character and world developments, rock-solid themes, a fantastic character arc for Morgan, and a tension-filled cliffhanger that's not quite so strong as other seasons but that will leave the viewer craving the start of season seven, though no doubt it'll skirt around the elephant in the room for at least a few minutes to draw out the tension just a bit longer. The Walking Dead: The Complete Sixth Season's Blu-ray release is, once again, stellar. Video and audio are top-notch, and the package contains a healthy allotment of bonus content. As per usual, another Walking Dead season earns my highest recommendation, and it'll find a spot on the year-end top ten list.