The Season 4 Blu-ray and DVD sets for the TNT alien invasion drama Falling Skies came out last week, a few weeks ahead of the Season 5 premiere on June 28.
What did we think?
The Episodes: All 12 episodes of Falling Skies Season 4 are included in the set, and watching them, it’s kind of amazing that this show has gone so far and been allowed to continue for so many seasons in a world where sci-fi dramas are often cut short before reaching their intended goal. Tom Mason and his kids, especially, have grown up so much over the years — a notion that is covered in one of the extra features. Perhaps no character has grown and changed more than “baby” Lexi, who becomes… something else in Season 4, fueling a lot of the show’s mysteries and conflict for the year.
Falling Skies is one of the most VFX-intensive shows on television, and it looks great on Blu-ray, though sometimes you can tell it is indeed a visual effect. On Blu-ray, the picture is crisp and the sound is clear, making the show a more immersive experience.
The Extras: Both this set and the recent release of TNT buddy The Last Ship offer a LOT of extras. I particularly like the “Inside The Episode” features, but also, a 20 (or so) minute featurette about Noah Wyle’s Tom Mason is a highlight. In that featurette “Tom Mason: A Man Of Tomorrow,” Wyle is interviewed, as are other cast members including Maxim Knight, Connor Jessup, Colin Cunningham, and Moon Bloodgood. It’s a great look at Tom’s journey through to Season 4, and it’s a recap that could and would get audiences excited for the new season. There are other features as well, including a Comic-Con panel feature and episode prequels.
I was surprised that there don’t seem to be commentaries on this set.
The Packaging: The Falling Skies set does that thing that bugs me with so many Blu-ray sets: Nowhere (that I can tell) can I find a guide to what features are on which disc. Granted, the Blu-ray is only a two-disc set, but it’d be nice to know what I’m looking for before I go in. The box art and the disc art are nice, as are the menu screens. Easy to navigate.
Is It Worth It? A box set like this is the best possible way to get caught up before a new season. It looks go, the show and the episodes are fun… I’d recommend buying this and continuing the adventure.
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