DVD SNAPSHOT

Blu-ray Review

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete Second Season

Official Synopsis:

The hunt is on in a season of powerful revelations, breathless pursuits and bravura effects. A mysterious 3-dot symbol (do UFOs provide a clue?), a girlfriend for John (is Cameron jealous?), a mysterious tech company ZeiraCorp (can it master the renegade software called Turk?) - Season 2's 5-disc action arsenal is locked, loaded, ready to amaze.

Our Take:

As a science fiction fan, I love Fox lately for renewing Dollhouse and Fringe. Yay, Fox!

On the other hand, I can't help but lament the fact that they also canceled Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. I understand it, though. The ratings just weren't there, and the network gave the show pretty much a full two seasons to find its footing. Of course, the Friday night time slot didn't help any, but you can't say they didn't give the show a fair shake. It's too bad, though.

Like (apparently) a lot of people, I tuned in with excitement when the show premiered, only to quickly lose interest. The first few episodes just weren't that good, so I understand why people stopped watching it. After all, I stopped watching it, so I can't criticize others for doing the same thing. Of course, I got the chance to revisit the show when the Blu-ray set of Season 1 was released, and I quickly realized that despite its slow start, the show's creators were on to something good here. The series quickly improved and started to develop its own fascinating mythology. It's different from the movies, but with enough of the plot points and the flavor of the films to fit nicely as a sort of alternate-Terminator timeline.

With the addition of Brian Austin Green (of all people) to the cast, the show finally clicked into place. Season Two is the show at its most addicting, and I really got sucked into it. The mythology continues to develop, the action sequences are fantastic, and the show finally started to live up to its Terminator legacy. And now it's canceled. Sigh. I wish more people had tuned in, and even though I'll recommend you pick up this DVD set and enjoy this fantastic sci-fi series, it won't do any good. The Terminator franchise is as close to being dead as it can be. Long live The Terminator.

Audio & Video:

Technically speaking, the Blu-ray presentation here is very similar to Season One's. For the most part, image clarity is very nice, but there is some occasional softness. Colors are vibrant enough, but they don’t really pop off the screen, which is a shame since the show doesn’t rely solely on monochromatic visuals but rather has a nice, warm color palette. With nice contrasts and solid blacks, the show looks pretty good on Blu-ray; not as good as the movies, but certainly pretty good for a TV effort.

Once again, Warner drops the ball on the soundtrack, though, offering only a Dolby Digital 5.1 effort whereas a TrueHD mix should have been included. There is some surround action, but the speakers mostly pipe up only when you’d expect them to (big action sequences) so it's not very layered or nuanced. There’s no real atmosphere to the mix, although dialogue is crisp and clean and the well-crafted score sounds very smooth.

Special Features (Blu-ray Exclusive):

Collision with the Future: Deconstructing the Hunter Killer Attack

Special Features (Standard):

Commentary On 4 Key Episodes By Executive Producer Josh Friedman And Cast/Crew
The Continuing Chronicles - Terminator 8-Part Featruette
Terminated Scenes: Unaried Moments
The Storyboard Process
Cameron Vs. Rosie Fight Rehearsal
Gag Reel

Conclusion:

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles is an excellent show that unfortunately took too long to find its audience. It will be missed.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Overall Picture:

Movie: A-
Video: B+
Audio: C
Extra Features: A-

- Mike Spring
Editor