The Originals: The Complete First Season [Blu-Ray]
Cast: Joseph Morgan, Daniel Gillies, Phoebe Tonkin
Release Date: Own It Today On Blu-ray™ Combo & DVD
A Review By: Kevin Lovell
Disc Rating: 10/10
Synopsis:
A spin-off from The Vampire Diaries and set in New Orleans, The Originals centers on the Mikaelson siblings, otherwise known as the world’s original vampires: Klaus (Joseph Morgan), Elijah (Daniel Gillies), and Rebekah (Claire Holt). Now Klaus must take down his protégé, Marcel (Charles Michael Davis), who is now in charge of New Orleans, in order to re-take his city, as he originally built New Orleans. Klaus departed from the city after being chased down by his father Mikael, while it was being constructed and Marcel took charge. As Klaus has returned after many years, his ego has provoked him to become the king of the city. “Every King needs an heir” says Klaus, accepting the unborn child. The child is a first to be born to a hybrid (part vampire, part werewolf) and a werewolf (Hayley).
For those who aren’t familiar with the series ‘The Originals’ it’s a spin-off from the series ‘The Vampire Diaries’ and takes place in New Orleans following the three Originals Klaus, Rebekah and Elijah as they return to the town they once called their own. Upon returning, Klaus discovers that an old protégé of his Marcel has taken over control of the city, making himself the so-called King of New Orleans, a spot which Klaus believes to be rightfully his. Somehow Marcel has even figured out a way to control the witches, able to miraculously know every time they conduct magic. Klaus therefore befriends Marcel once again and begins manipulating him as only he does best, while he and his family must also deal with a bargain they made with the witches in order to protect Klaus’ unborn child and its mother.
Fans of ‘The Vampire Diaries’ and this spin-off series both will definitely want to pick up a copy of the first season of ‘The Originals’ on Blu-Ray. The series delivers all of the excitement, action, intensity and just downright fun of ‘The Vampire Diaries’ and in many ways is actually superior, removing so many of the more immature elements thanks in most part to the age of its lead characters. If you haven’t yet had the pleasure of the series but are a fan of ‘The Vampire Diaries’ I would highly recommend giving this spin-off a shot, I think you will likely be very impressed and it certainly wouldn’t be a bad blind buy for said fans either. The Blu-Ray release delivers top notch video and audio quality as well as a pretty fair amount of bonus content (more detailed information regarding the bonus content can be found in the special features section of the technical specification coverage below) so it’s definitely the version to pick up.
VIDEO:
The Blu-Ray release of ‘The Originals: The Complete First Season’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation utilizing the show’s original 1.78:1 Aspect Ratio on all of the first seasons episodes. The video presentation on the episodes is outstanding and this is definitely the best the season has looked, without question far superior to the initial HD broadcasts. The colors are bright and distinct; the picture is clear and no noticeable faults could be found within on my end, even the frequently fast moving sequences continually hold up and look fantastic. Warner once again delivers impressive high definition video presentations on the Blu-Ray release that should leave everyone more than pleased.
AUDIO:
The Blu-Ray release features a lossless 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on all 22 Season One episodes. We are treated here once again with some impressively active and discrete lossless soundtracks for the episodes. The fast moving whooshes and frenetic action occurring so frequently in most of the episodes all find its way throughout the five channels and sounds pretty fantastic in doing so. These are overall top notch DTS-HD MA soundtracks that I’m pretty confident most folks will really enjoy.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The Blu-Ray release of ‘The Originals: The Complete First Season’ also includes a pretty nice collection of bonus content. Included on the release are deleted scenes on over half of the season’s episodes, an audio commentary track with Creator Julie Plec and Director Chris Grismer on the pilot episode. Also included are five new featurettes: ‘2013 Comic-Con Panel’; ‘The Originals: Origins’; ‘The Original Vampires: A Bite-Sized Backstory’; ‘The Originals: Re-mixing History’ and ‘The Originals Panel at PaleyFest 2014.
*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They additionally will suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.