Blu-ray Review: Legends of Tomorrow: The Complete First Season

The Complete First Season Blu-ray and DVD box sets for DC’s Legends of Tomorrow hit stores on Tuesday, August 23. The two-disc Blu-ray set contains all 16 episodes from the first season of the time-traveling DC team-up series.

Here is a review. Per FTC regulations, it will be pointed out that KSiteTV was provided with a copy of this Blu-ray by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, and the opinions within are those of this writer, Craig Byrne.

The Episodes: The first thing I need to get out of the way when reviewing the episodes on this site: DC’s Legends of Tomorrow looked great on my TV, but in the high definition of Blu-ray, there was some serious movie-quality action going on. Armen Kevorkian and his VFX team really did a great job on this show, and if you only saw it on TV or a computer screen before, you’ll be in for a treat.

As for the show itself, which of course combines characters from The Flash and Arrow and sends them through time after the madman Vandal Savage: I do feel that the show took a little bit of time to find itself. It isn’t quite there out the gate, though even the early episodes do have some good character moments. I had a little bit of trouble getting invested at first, as I only cared about a handful of them, but as the season progressed, I came to care a lot more. The characters of Captain Cold and Heat Wave, for example, I saw as comic booky and over-the-top initially; fortunately, they both became more fleshed out and actors Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell surely had a lot to do with that, creating subtleties that I didn’t catch immediately.

Legends of Tomorrow features national treasure Victor Garber in its cast, and I’ll always appreciate SpyDaddy in anything. The show also gave us a chance to see more of the Sara Lance character from Arrow, as played by Caity Lotz. Brandon Routh, the onetime Superman, gets to do more (and finally shrink!) as Ray Palmer. While I loved Arthur Darvill in Doctor Who, I admit I kind of wish Rip Hunter had been female or had some other twist this time around; Rip is still the hardest character for me to warm up to, and I’m not sure I ever really did. And did I mention Ciara Renee’s Hawkgirl used to be a barista?

While any die-hard fan will want to watch the whole set, the best episodes in the series are definitely “Star City 2046” featuring a Green Arrow of the future, excellently played by guest star Joseph David-Jones. Another favorite, “The Magnificent Eight,” is also wonderful thanks to its guest star, Johnathon Schaech as the legendary Jonah Hex. I also really liked “Night of the Hawk” directed by Joe Dante which also had some really good social commentary mixed in with the science fiction, as all great science fiction things probably should.

The Extras: There are some great interviews on this set, including Executive Producers Marc Guggenheim and Phil Klemmer. There are some great insights on the show’s sets and designs by production designer Ian Thomas who did such an amazing job with the series’ Waverider set. One of the features, titled “Hex Marks The Spot,” explores the Jonah Hex episode and features some interview material with guest star Johnathon Scheach, and the “Touring the Waverider Set” and “History in the Making” featurettes are great. But something’s missing: The show’s regular cast. I understand if the production schedule kept such things from happening, but it’s kind of strange to not have (to my memory) a single member of this large cast talking about what it’s like to do the show.

Beyond that, in 16 episodes, there are no deleted scenes, which also surprised me, because I was hoping for some more Legends goodness. No commentaries, either.

There is a gag reel, with one of my favorite “extras” on the set: A sequence edited together like the credits of a bad 1980’s TV show. The gag reel itself is admittedly not very funny.

Packaging and Design: This is one of the nicest looking Blu-ray or DVD sets I’ve had in my collection. Even the disc art, with the icons of the characters, is nice to look at, and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is almost always sure to include a booklet inside so we know what’s what. The new DC Bullet is featured on it, too!

Is It Worth It? With the Justice Society on the horizon for what sounds like a good Season 2, it would be worth catching up. If you have to pick and choose, though, check out those episodes that I recommended. Like any TV show, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow is evolving, and you can see that evolution just from binging these first 16 shows.

As for the set itself, there’s a lot to like, though I would have liked some actor interviews and/or deleted scenes at the very least.

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