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DVD Review

Sanctuary: The Complete First Season

Official Synopsis:

The enigmatic Dr. Helen Magnus (Amanda Tapping) and her Sanctuary team are on a quest to study and protect the strange and terrifying creatures that secretly populate our world. Along with their newest recruit, forensic psychiatrist Will Zimmerman (Robin Dunne), the group must face their darkest fears and their worst nightmares in order to provide a safe haven for the monsters that lurk in the shadows. As seen on SciFi Channel. From the writers and producers of Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis.

Our Take:

I missed the first few episodes of Sanctuary when it first debuted on the Sci-Fi Channel (I still can't bring myself to call them SyFy), and being the obsessive TV watcher I am, I decided to wait for the DVD release rather than watch the episodes out of order. I was interested more because of the talent involved than I was the concept, which is sort of a Torchwood meets X-Files plotline. I mean, that sounds cool and all, but it's not as if there's a shortage of shows right now that deal with similar concepts. However, the show is also kind of a Stargate reunion of sorts, as it was created by Damian Kindler and has several episodes directed by Martin Wood, both of whom were instrumental in developing the two Stargate shows. As a Stargate fan, watching the credits reveals a lot of familiar names from the two Sci-Fi shows. In addition, Stargate actress Amanda Tapping has the lead role here, so of course this was a show I wanted to see.

The results are pretty good, too. It's not a slam dunk show, but it has a lot of potential. In fact, it feels a lot like the first seasons of the Stargate shows; it doesn't quite have its footing yet, but it improves as the season goes on. What's interesting is the decision to create all of the show's backgrounds virtually. Almost every scene in the film has a CGI background, and it gives the show an interesting look. On the one hand, some of them are pretty indistinguishable from the real thing. On the other hand, on some of the close-up shots, the fake walls and such can be a bit distracting. I assume it's done for budgetary rather than creative reasons, but once you accept the overall look of the show, it sort of becomes part of the overall aesthetic.

Special Features:

Audio Commentaries on all 13 Episodes with Cast and Crew including Amanda Tapping, Creator Damian Kindler, Director martin Wood and more.
Sanctuary The Origin: Webisodes
3 Making-Of Featurettes
Bloopers
Behind-the-Scenes Photo Gallery
Season Two Sneak Peek

Conclusion:

Overall, Sanctuary is a first season sci-fi show, meaning it's not as great as it could be yet, but the seeds are there for this to become a truly exciting genre series. It appears that SyFy (okay, fine, I'll call them SyFy) has renewed it for another season, so I look forward to watching the show continue to improve.

Overall Picture:

Show: B
Extra Features: A-

- Mike Spring
Editor