Tulsa King: Season Two Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Tulsa King: Season Two Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman April 25, 2025

One of the true joys of my 40-year movie fandom has been watching how the actors I loved as a child, teenager, and young adult have grown, matured, fizzled out, fallen away, or just let themselves go. As a child of the 80s, my life revolved around movies with musclemen leads; I watched anything and everything with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone on loop, and it's been a pleasure to see Stallone in particular age like fine wine. He's always been a really good actor (some of his flubs not withstanding, but you know, nearly every actor has his or her down moments)...there's no denying his excellence in Rocky, First Blood, and even in films like Cobra and Demolition Man. And here many decades later is Tulsa King, and Sly's still got it, maybe not wasting bad guys, making quips and one liners, or doing his deepest work, but delivering a tight, nuanced, engaging, and entertaining turn as a mob boss (a role for which he's perfectly cast) operating in something of a backwater community and making the most of an undesirable (for the mafioso sort, at least) situation. He runs with the material and has shot the show to near the top of my current favorites.

In season two, Dwight find himself working new, and legitimate, businesses in addition to (and beside or intertwined and intermingled with) the underhanded, illegal ventures. So the show has taken something of a more traditional Mafia story route, just with different (and unique) window dressing. While there is still some element of Dwight being "out of his element" in season two he has brought the element to him, even if it looks, sounds, and feels a little different to what he was accustomed to back in New York. But season two in particular shows that the love for money and the human ability to do anything for it is not just exclusive to big city folk but very much a characteristic of country folk, too.

Tulsa King's second season is not quite as dynamic as its first season but...that's OK. The show has not lost its edge, but here in season two the novelty has worn off just a hair. Season one delivered a near brilliant telling of the classic "fish out of water" story, but here in season two the fish is more accustomed to its new environment, and that new environment is ever so slightly beginning to bend and mold into the image of the fish's more familiar surroundings. Sure, Tulsa still ain't NYC, but Dwight has definitely brought, continues to bring, and will keep bringing the big city crime goings-on to his new, more "out of the way" territory. The season is full of typical mafioso sleezeball sorts, more here than in season one, with all sorts of untoward and ne'er-do-well sorts who gravitate towards wherever it takes to follow the money and, now, that place is Tulsa. So season two lacks the real pull of the original novelty, but...

...it does still deliver on the promise of Sly as a captivating and entertaining mob boss who is working hard to work over his enemies, work on his territory, and work up a life for himself in Tulsa. He's terrific in the role, every bit as dynamic as he was in season one. He inhabits the character with charm, charisma, humor, heart, and fierceness, all of which play off of one another to create one of the more richly dynamic and memorable antihero sorts the screen has seen in a while. This will never be his signature character, but it might just be the signature character in the tighter confines of the twilight of his career. Neal McDonough is a bright spot, as he always seems to be, and the collection of both returning and new support characters are nicely interwoven into the story as well. The season blends plenty of humor -- more so than season one -- and violence, paired with some rich drama and surprisingly deep and dense characterization that make this maybe not quite so memorable, powerful, and impactful as season one but still a well worthwhile journey into territory that is growing more familiar but still with a uniquely and finely honed edge that sets its apart from otherwise similar content.

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

Paramount brings Tulsa King's second season to Blu-ray with a sharp and attractive 1080p transfer. The image was digitally shot (no surprise at this point in time) and shows precision clarity across the full spectrum of content, including faces and skin, clothing, and dense locales both interior and exterior alike. The 1080p resolution leaves nearly nothing to the imagination, capably bringing high end definition to the screen, allowing viewers to soak in every last morsel of content in every location. There are times when the sharpness can look a bit aggressive and jacked up a bit, especially evident on faces. This gives dense pores and fine lines opportunity to really stand out, for better or for worse, but for the most part there is not a real sense of gross oversimplification of details. Colors are nicely saturated, never looking pale and underdeveloped nor overcooked and pushing warm or hot. There's a good, satisfying neutrality to the palette and plenty of life to various clothing elements, interior sets, and natural outdoor elements. Black levels are nice but could maybe stand to go a hair deeper. I did not notice any significant bursts of noise, and the encode appears to be in fine shape.

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

There's not a lot of standout type content here, but the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack certainly handles the show's audio needs quite nicely. It's a seamlessly rich and full experience, boasting plenty of clarity and stage fill. Music is spacious and richly realized, with healthy front spread and well balanced surround output. Environmental supports, both more elevated and subtle, are always nicely integrated. Action elements, which are more scattered than they are commonplace, present with healthy clarity, surround usage as necessary, and a balanced low end support. Dialogue is the real name of the game here, and the spoken word is center grounded, clear, and well prioritized for the duration.

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

This Blu-ray release of Tulsa King's second season contains a handful of extras on disc two. No DVD or digital copies are included with purchase. This release does ship with a non-embossed slipcover.

• The Boss Is Back (1080p, 29:31): Returning for season two, Stallone's performance, the season's slightly more comedic tone, plot and character essentials, new characters, new story details in season two, and plenty more, especially on the character exploration side of things.
• Mob Rules: Writing a Season of Crime (1080p, 12:26): As the title suggests, this supplement explores the edgy writing at work to make season two sing and develop the characters and story across the ten season episodes.
• Who Said It? (1080p, 4:27): Cast attempt to figure out who said what in the show.
• Meet the Rivals (1080p, 2:23): A quick Look at some of the key characters in the show (some material is recycled from the first supplement).
• Best in Crew (1080p, 2:06): Cast answers some fun questions about who would be best in certain situations.

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

Fans of the first season of Tulsa King (and who besides those who haven't seen season one are not fans?) will find much to like about season two. While it's not quite as novel or edgy, the season two narrative elements see more sprawl and expansion that help cover up some of the loss of luster and newness. Sly is as good as he was in season one and, really, just about as good as ever, and his supporting cast brings a collective A game to the material as well. Funny, violent, dramatic, and at time seven touching, season two is a worthy successor to season one and it leaves plenty on the table for season three. Paramount's Blu-ray delivers the expectedly fine video and audio components, paired with a nice allotment of extra material own disc two. Highly recommended!