Tulsa King: Season One Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Tulsa King: Season One Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman June 22, 2023

Tulsa King clearly has Taylor Sheridan's fingerprints all over it. The man behind the smash hit TV show Yellowstone brings a certain juxtaposition to the screen that is plainly "him," blending the old with the new to great effect. In Yellowstone, it's modern family dynamics and politics in a rural setting. In Tulsa King, it's modern gangster life in the Midwest. The two effectively merge, making for a very satisfying show that stars Sylvester Stallone in a lead role that will not define his career but certainly be a highlight for the now graying actor who still commands the screen as well in Mafioso threads as he did without his shirt on decades ago.

Official synopsis: 'Tulsa King' follows New York mafia capo Dwight 'The General' Manfredi (Stallone) just after he is released from prison after 25 years and unceremoniously exiled by his boss to set up shop in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Realizing that his mob family may not have his best interests in mind, Dwight slowly builds a 'crew' from a group of unlikely characters to help him establish a new criminal empire in a place that to him might as well be another planet.

Tulsa King thrives by dropping familiar content in an unfamiliar location. In a TV and cinema landscape that's fairly bereft of new ideas, this one at least does something different that ultimately sees it teeter on the edge of something special. The show thoroughly explores the dynamics of quaint Middle America living with the hard edge of city gangsterism. There are plenty of opportunities for high dollar crime and extortion even in a smaller city, as Dwight discovers, but the question is whether a man like him can be satisfied in a place like this. It takes him precious little time to make his first score and build some necessary support underneath him, but he will soon discover that no competition doesn't mean that other opportunists won't still smell blood. The show focuses on this side of the ledger, but it also plays to Dwight's need to reconnect with the emotional side of his old life as well. The writers have done their best to build a 3-D character out of 2-D components, and the result is a show that truly satisfies across the full entertainment spectrum.

The following episode comprise season one. Summaries are courtesy of the Blu-ray packaging.

Disc One:

• Go West, Old Man: Dwight, blindsided by the news that his mob family has nothing left for him in New York, is sent to Tulsa, Oklahoma. As he settles in and surveys his new surroundings, Dwight wastes no time making new associates.
• Center of the Universe: Dwight, Tyson, and Bodhi go on a road trip to take care of some business, and the group later takes a spontaneous detour. Stacy does some digging into Dwight's past.
• Caprice: Dwight takes note of a possible new business opportunity. Later, a routine errand has an explosive, unexpected outcome. Stacy opens up to Dwight about what led her to Tulsa.
• Visitation Place: At the Tulsa Arena, Dwight and company test out their new plan, until a roadblock forces them to adjust and defend their turf. Tyson and his father argue about his future. Dwight gets an unexpected call.
• Token Joe: Dwight returns to New York under unfortunate circumstances, where his reunion with his daughter and family doesn't go quite as expected. Back in Tulsa, Tyson runs into some trouble. Armand gets some news from Roxy.

Disc Two:

• Stable: Dwight visits Tina before returning to Tulsa. Pete agrees to send Goodie to Oklahoma, while Roxy tries to keep the FBI at bay. Dwight has an offer for Mitch.
• Warr Acres: Stacy makes a decision that has serious consequences. Dwight and Armand dispose of evidence, and Bodhi proposes a new plan. Tina contemplates her future.
• Adobe Walls: Dwight and Bodhi lay out the casino plan for Jimmy. As pressure increases, Dwight, Mitch, and Tyson assemble their team. Stacy confronts Waltrip.
• Happy Trails: It's all hands on deck as tensions between Dwight's crew and Waltrip escalate past the point of no return. Elsewhere, a flashback reveals what sent Dwight to prison 25 years ago.

Tulsa King: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The digitally photographed Tulsa King looks great on Blu-ray. The picture is clean and efficient with minimal noise and only the odd softer shot which is soft at the source. The picture generally yields impressive detail and clarity, opening up the world of Tulsa to visual exploration, capturing local flavor, such as attire and locations, with more than satisfying definition. Close-ups offer endless opportunity for facial detail study and with every hair and pore plainly visible. Colors are rich with healthy in terms of depth, vividness, and fine gradations. Tones that should pop, pop. Tones that are more subdued are natural in their lesser expression. Skin tones are fine and black levels present with healthy depth and accuracy. This is a very nice-looking image from Paramount.

Tulsa King: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Paramount brings Tulsa King to Blu-ray with a proficient Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The presentation is solid enough, offering professional-level clarity and satisfying surround wrap. The track does offer more front-end content than back-channel expression, but everything is in decent enough balance. The prominent content -- music, dialogue -- play with impressive fidelity and lifelike accuracy, respectively, with the former presenting refined detail and nice low-end support and the latter presenting with lifelike detail and firm front-center placement. The track springs to life with some quality atmosphere and potent punches, rocking explosions, and booming gunfire. The track would have benefitted from a larger channel configuration, but even at 5.1 the track is secure and well capable of delivering the core Tulsa King audio experience to pleasing richness and accuracy.

Tulsa King: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of Tulsa King's first season includes episode summary/behind-the-scenes vignettes on both discs and a handful of featurettes on disc two. No DVD or digital copies are included. This release does ship with a non-embossed slipcover.

Disc One:

• Behind the Story (1080p): Short pieces that explore a few character points, plot dynamics, and key moments from each episode. Included are extras covering the episodes "Go West, Old Man" (5:16), "Center of the Universe" (4:03), "Caprice" (5:30), "Visitation Place" (6:15), and "Token Joe" (6:21).

Disc Two:

• Behind the Story (1080p): Short pieces that explore a few character points, plot dynamics, and key moments from each episode. Included are extras covering the episodes "Stable" (5:51), "Warr Acres" (6:39), "Adobe Walls" (5:37), and "Happy Trails" (7:19).
• Stranger in a Strange Land: Genesis (1080p, 8:30): Looking at project origins as Taylor Sheridan's brainchild, Stallone's casting in the series, Terrence Winter's work on the show, genres, narrative elements, character details, and more.
• Carpe D.M.: Stallone (1080p, 8:19): Looking at Stallone's long desire to be in a story such as this, the character, Stallone's work and presence, and more.
• Mercy and Malice: The Cast (1080p, 12:24): Story themes and how the array of support characters, and the actors who play them, fit into the show's universe.
• Haberdashery: Costume Design (1080p, 9:39): As the title suggests, this piece looks at costumes, both the New York mafia fashions and the local flavor Oklahoma threads.
• Outthink Your Enemy: Stunts (1080p, 10:52): Again, as the title suggests, this looks at some key stunt work in the show: a major shootout, hand-to-hand combat, blowing up a house, car stunts, and more.
• The Here and Now: On Location in Tulsa (1080p, 8:23): The advantages of shooting in Tulsa.

Tulsa King: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Tulsa King grabs the audience's attention from the moment Dwight lands in Tulsa and on through to the season finale. Stallone does some of his best work in the show, and while one cannot claim it to be career-defining for an actor with two career-defining roles on his resume (Rocky and Rambo), there is no denying that this will be remembered as some of his best work and at least the defining role for his twilight years. Paramount's two-disc Blu-ray is very good, offering excellent video and audio along with a healthy portion of extras. Highly recommended!