True Detective: Night Country [Blu-Ray]

Cast: Jodie Foster, Kali Reis, John Hawkes

Release Date: July 9, 2024

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Disc Rating: 7/10

Synopsis:

When the long winter night falls in Ennis, Alaska, the eight men who operate the Tsalal Arctic Research Station vanish without a trace. To solve the case, detectives Liz Danvers (Jodie Foster) and Evangeline Navarro (Kali Reis) will have to confront the darkness they carry in themselves, and dig into the haunted truths that lie buried under the eternal ice.

Welcome to Ennis, Alaska in December where the long, unending night has fallen and a murder mystery like no other has engulfed the small, quiet town as the holidays arrive. ‘True Detective: Night Country’ accompanies detective Liz Danvers and former detective, now trooper Evangeline Navarro as a group of research scientists mysteriously vanish only to reappear frozen together in the middle of the ice. When the deaths coincide with a mysterious connection to a past death that has haunted the community, Liz and Evangeline must reluctantly work together once more if they hope to stand any chance of uncovering the truth behind these two unnerving and mysterious crimes.

‘True Detective: Night Country’ serves as the fourth season of the immensely popular HBO series. ‘Night Country’ marks the first season (or installment) of ‘True Detective’ to not involve series creator Nic Pizzolatto, with Issa López taking over the reigns as creator and showrunner for the run, as well as directing and writing/co-writing every episode. The new outing offers a slightly different kind of vibe than the previous three with a few elements that are a bit more out there such as ghosts and other supernatural elements intermingled throughout and the season offers a rewardingly fresh take on the whole series that injects some new life into it, while still staying largely faithful to the formula and many of the basics.

The entire season takes place in Ennis, Alaska during the long night where the sun sets and the area remains dark for a large period of time which makes a splendid backdrop for the eerie murder mystery to play out. Filled with plenty of twists, turns and mysterious occurrences and events along its course, it offers a thrilling and beautifully crafted mystery that fans of the series won’t want to miss out on. The solid story, style and approach is only further complemented by a stellar cast that includes Jodie Foster, Kali Reis, John Hawkes, Christopher Eccleston, Fiona Shaw, Finn Bennett, Anna Lambe, Aka Niviâna, Isabella Star Lablanc, and Joel D. Montgrand.

Overall, ‘True Detective: Night Country’ is a dark, unsettling and consistently engaging new mystery that revolves around two detectives investigating an eerily odd set of deaths that just might tie into a previous local death. It’s a solid new entry in the ‘True Detective’ series that keeps much of the approach and formula similar to what we know while offering some new elements and twists along the way and fans who haven’t yet had a chance to check it out will definitely want to do so whenever possible.

Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment’s 2-disc Blu-ray release of ‘True Detective: Night Country’ features all six episodes of the new season with very nice High Definition video and audio presentations on each, as well as a limited, yet enjoyable collection of extras that delve into various aspects of the season/series. For fans of ‘True Detective: Night Country’ who are already considering a purchase and would like to physically own the latest season, the release definitely doesn’t disappoint and is recommended.

VIDEO:

The Blu-ray release of ‘True Detective: Night Country’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation with a 2.00:1 Aspect Ratio on all of the season’s episodes. The video presentations look marvelous altogether and provide clean, sharp and richly detailed presentations on every episode with no real faults or issues to be uncovered along the way. Detail is sharp throughout with character specifics, along with the empty roads and snow-covered landscapes, interiors and more all looking outstanding. Colors are clean and vibrant for the most part and black levels are rich and deep with little to no noticeable crush or absorption detected. Overall, these are wonderful high definition video presentations that hold up extremely well throughout and should have fans very pleased.

AUDIO:

The Blu-ray release features a 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on all 6 episodes. These multichannel soundtracks are very nice in their own right and deliver clean, crisp and immersive audio presentations on every episode. They take advantage of all five available channels in order to send music, along with wind whipping throughout the various speakers, in addition to other weather and action related effects and more, while always making certain that any dialogue or other audio elements that might be occurring simultaneously with one another remain clean and fully audible. Overall, these are great 5.1 DTS-HD MA soundtracks that do their job well and consistently add to the fun and tension.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Blu-ray release of ‘True Detective: Night Country’ includes a handful of brief, yet enjoyable extras spread between both discs. Included on the release are various Behind the Scenes Featurettes, cast discussions and other videos including ‘Meet the True Detectives’ (running approximately 3 minutes in length), ‘New Chapter’ (running approximately 3 minutes), ‘Exploring Indigenous Themes’ (approximately 5 minutes), a ‘Max Inkblots’ Challenge (3 minutes), and ‘Welcome to Ennis’ (2 minutes). Also included are ‘Episode Recaps’ for all six episodes (approximately 1 minute each) which are comprised of previously on and next on segments.

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They will additionally 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.

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Disc Rating: 7/10

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‘True Detective: Night Country’ is Now Available to Own on Blu-ray, DVD & Digital from HBO & Warner Bros Discovery Home Entertainment

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You can Purchase ‘True Detective: Night Country’ on Blu-ray at Amazon HERE!

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