[Blu-Ray Review] ‘Falling Skies: The Complete Second Season’; Now Available On Blu-Ray & DVD From Warner Bros & TNT

Falling Skies: The Complete Second Season [Blu-Ray]

Release Date: Now Available on Blu-Ray & DVD

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Disc Rating: 10/10

Plot Summary:

The chaotic aftermath of an alien attack has left most of the world completely incapacitated. In the six months since the initial invasion, the few survivors have banded together outside major cities to begin the difficult task of fighting back. Each day is a test of survival as citizen soldiers work to protect the people in their care while also engaging in an insurgency campaign against the occupying alien force.

*WARNING: This review contains heavy spoilers for Season One and minimal spoilers for Season Two of Falling Skies.

‘Falling Skies’ is one of those shows that (at least so far) just gets better and better as it progresses. The first season rounded out quite well, and made me a fan of this series as well as eagerly anticipating the second season. That was nothing compared to Season Two. Season Two ups the ante in almost every possible way and features some pretty amazing sequences, both breathtaking action sequences as well as truly heartfelt moments that really detail the most important part of this series, staying true to what you are, and never giving up in the fight for everything, as well as never forgetting just what you are fighting for. If you were a fan of the first season, the second season is guaranteed to blow you away, and impress far more than the first season (which was quite great in itself) and I am eagerly anticipating the premiere of the third season.

This season of ‘Falling Skies’ follows the return of Tom Mason as he finds his way back to the 2^nd mass following his willing accompaniment of the aliens onto one of their ships, leaving the 2^nd mass with no choice but to accept that he may never return, when mysteriously, he suddenly does. Naturally, as Tom has been with the enemy and no one can truly know what occurred (including himself), or to what benefit it would for the enemy to just let him go, they must assume the worst, and questions of whether Tom may be compromised without his knowledge are forced into question. The season focuses for the most part on the journey the 2^nd mass embarks upon to find a safe location and really delves into the development of the characters and the relationships that develop among them.

The second season of ‘Falling Skies’ is without a doubt a winner in my book, and far superior to the already magnificent first season. Fans of the show will definitely want to pick up a copy to add to the collection, and rest assured, the season looks and sounds quite beautiful on Blu-Ray.

VIDEO:

The video on the Blu-Ray release of ‘Falling Skies: The Complete Second Season’ is a full 1080p High Definition presentation utilizing the show’s original 1.78:1 Aspect Ratio (though the rear of the box incorrectly states it’s a 2.40:1 presentation, I can say for certain it is in fact presented in the series’ original 1.78:1 Aspect Ratio. The video presentation is quite impressive, and a very noticeable step up from the HD broadcasts in which I initially watched the second season last summer. Fans should have no qualms with the video presentation on this one.

AUDIO:

The Blu-Ray release features an uncompressed English 5.1 channel Dolby TrueHD soundtrack which really packs a wallop for a series Blu-Ray release. Once the action scenes get underway things really get kicking with the audio, the machine guns firing are noticeably detailed and discreet and the explosions really hit loud and hard. As is the case with the video, the audio is a very notable upgrade from the television broadcasts in Dolby Digital 5.1. The release also features a French audio track.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

There’s a quite adequate amount of special features on this release, which is always nice to see. The Special Features on the Blu-Ray release include: ‘One Page At A Time; Writing The 2^nd American Revolution’ ‘The Skitter Evolution’ as well as a commentaries by the cast and crew on a number of episodes, Behind the Scenes Featurettes, A Season 3 Preview and a number more. Certainly plenty of special features to keep everyone occupied far after you finish up watching the season again (or for the first time.)