Ballers: The Complete Second Season [Blu-Ray]

Cast: Dwayne Johnson, John David Washington, Omar Benson Miller

Release Date: January 31, 2017

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Disc Rating: 7.5/10

 

Synopsis:

In Season 2 of Ballers, things are getting more competitive and complicated for retired football star turned financial manager Spencer Strasmore. As the lines between professional and personal blur in his pursuit of lasting success and glory, Spencer must face demons from the past when he goes head-to-head with the biggest business manager on the scene. Meanwhile, Spencer’s closest friends and clients struggle to find their footing. A humbled Ricky (John David Washington, former pro-football player) explores his options as a free agent, while getting to know the father who left him behind; Charles (Omar Miller) tries to balance a new baby and his future in the game; and Vernon (Donovan Carter) deals with the consequences of his life off the field. Returning to help Spencer juggle lucrative deals and big personalities are his outrageous business partner, Joe (Rob Corddry), level-headed agent, Jason (Troy Garity) and girlfriend/sports reporter, Tracy (Arielle Kebbel). In a business where it’s go big or go home, Spencer and his crew are about to learn that having it all means being ready to fight for more dollars, deals and respect.

The second season of the HBO Original Series ‘Ballers’ brings viewers back into the inside world of professional football centered in Miami. Spencer (Johnson) and his faithful associates are finally beginning to garner some recognition in the world of financial management and just barely managing to balance the plethora of problems their current clients bring to the table while simultaneously attempting to land some high ticket newcomers. With plenty on their plate to handle already, once an old rival from Spencer’s past with a key controlling hand inside the world of high ticket financial investment returns into his life, things escalate to a whole new level of complicated as he brings a whole barrage of monumental troubles along with him that could potentially mean the end of their run before it really begins. That is unless they’re able to find a way to beat him at his own game; a true challenge against a man who seems to have a hand firmly planted within every angle of the business.

The sophomore season of ‘Ballers’ brings plenty of the humorous and enjoyable guilty fun of the first, and of course its share of obstacles for our characters to overcome amidst the more light hearted fun and simplicity that frequently manages to be the common tone of the series. The new troubles and issues Spencer and the others are forced to tackle this time around aren’t always more drastic or life changing in scope, yet there are a few unarguably serious topics focused upon without ever making light of their importance. Viewers naturally need the folks we cheer for on screen to have some desire or purpose worth fighting for, and it usually doesn’t hurt to have some personal demons to slay (far more so in today’s drastically different world of television), yet ‘Ballers’ wisely understands that its viewers want more simplistic fun than emotionally riveting moments and the series certainly never fails to deliver in that regard. One of the most standout aspects of the second season would undoubtedly have to be the presence of Andy Garcia who manages to deliver a delightfully despicable adversary to our lead and tends to steal the majority of scenes he occupies. I would definitely recommend those who enjoyed the first season but haven’t yet had the opportunity to check out the series’ sophomore run to make sure to catch up prior to the season three premiere later this year. It may not be a groundbreaking series destined to alter the world of television entertainment, but ‘Ballers’ certainly continues to prove itself incredibly fun television that’s further complimented by a powerful cast and well worth keeping on your schedule.

Overall, diehard fans of the HBO series and the always enjoyable Dwayne Johnson in general will likely want to consider purchasing a copy of ‘Ballers: The Complete Second Season’ on Blu-ray in order to have the ability to revisit any episode (or all of them) from its sophomore run at any time you might desire. Featuring fantastic high definition video and audio presentations and behind the scenes Featurettes taking a closer look at all ten episodes, this Blu-ray release will likely be a must own for many of the show’s fellow fans. The second season of the series once again delivers all of the fun, hilarity and tension that the first season introduced viewers to and any fans who haven’t yet had a chance to catch the latest season will definitely want to make a point of doing so when you’re able.

VIDEO:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Ballers: The Complete Second Season’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation utilizing the show’s original 1.78:1 Aspect Ratio on all of the second season’s episodes. The video presentations look outstanding as a whole and deliver sharp, detailed and gorgeous presentations on every episode of the sophomore season. They hold up admirably even during the fast moving and heavily populated sequences, never resulting in anything occurring on screen to become negatively affected or rendered indiscernible. Overall, these are fantastic high definition video presentations complimented by more than sufficient bitrates that should easily thrill fans of the series.

AUDIO:

The Blu-ray release features a lossless 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on all 10 Season Two episodes. These lossless multichannel soundtracks provide consistently crisp, clean and notably active audio presentations on each episode. Regularly taking advantage of all five available channels in order to allow the music to surround the viewer, in addition to sending plenty of crowd chatter, various natural elements and more throughout the various speakers, and never causing any dialogue which may be occurring simultaneously to become distorted or rendered inaudible. Overall, these are wonderful 5.1 channel DTS-HD MA soundtracks that contribute an extra layer of fun to the viewing experience and should easily please.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Ballers: The Complete Second Season’ includes ‘Ballers: Inside the Episode’ episode Featurettes for every episode in the season (running approximately 30 minutes in length altogether) that take you deeper into each episode and include interviews/comments with the cast and crew, plus more.

*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.

Disc Rating: 7.5/10

‘Ballers: The Complete Second Season’ is Now Available to Own on Blu-ray & DVD from HBO Home Entertainment.

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