Comments on: Farscape: The Complete Series

By: Robert Moore

Robert Moore — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 17:14:05 +0000

263 of 299 people found the following review helpful

Not just a great Sci-fi series, but a great series, August 27, 2009

Robert Moore (Chicago, IL USA) -

This review is from: Farscape: The Complete Series (DVD)

A year or two ago, when I heard that the rights to FARSCAPE had been sold and would be rereleased on the A&E imprint, I was delighted. I bought the entirety of the series on the way-too-expensive Starburst edition, which was, as expensive as it was, vastly cheaper than the original DVDs. FARSCAPE as originally released was one of the most expensive series ever sold on DVD. I've lent my DVDs out to several people as part of an effort to help more people learn about this wonder series. Now I can recommend that people buy it.

FARSCAPE is, after only BATTLESTAR GALACTICA and FIREFLY, my all time favorite Sci-fi series. It is unique in that women tend to love it as much as men (or perhaps I should say younger male viewers, who usually form a huge percentage of the Sci-fi demographic), largely because of the great character development that occurs on the show, and the main romance, which I honestly think is as grand and epic as any romance on any mainstream or nongenre series. To this day, when TV Guide or Entertainment Weekly or other such mainstream publications do lists of the great TV romances of all time, people who do not know FARSCAPE are surprised and baffled to see John and Aeryn make the list.

In a way, it is amazing that I love this show so much. It contains many of the things I most detest about Sci-fi series, such as aliens (in fact, the aliens in FARSCAPE are more extreme than usual because it was produced by the Jim Henson Company as a platform for putting some of its more extreme puppet creations before the public eye), pulse weapons, shields ("Shields down to 20%"), and what I call "magic science," where something extraordinary takes place that beggars the laws of physics and some equally extraordinary scientific solution is proffered to set things right. I hate these things! But I forgave them in FARSCAPE because it got so many other things right. Like what? Well, primarily character development. My complaint with all of the STAR WAR franchise series is that on all of them (with some exceptions like 7 of 9 or some of the characters in ST:DS9) there is no character development. I love Jean-Luc Picard, but he is pretty close to the same character on the final episode as on the first. Contrast that, say, with BUFFY, where every character has undergone an astonishing journey of transformation (e.g., just look atCordelia Chase in Season One, then where she was in Season Three, and then where she ended up in Season Three of ANGEL -- we'll just ignore Season Four of the latter). D'Argo may be a huge alien with tentacles hanging from his head, but he becomes a rich, wonderfully nuanced character. Aeryn Sun -- one of the great female heroes that TV has produced -- stars off as essentially a space nazi, but ends a complex, caring, passionate (despite herself) human being. Scorpius is one of the great, most complex villains that television has produced, original in ways that only a few character in television have ever managed to be. Moreover, the show tells a great story over the course of its four seasons. The first two seasons it stays close to a standalone format, even while developing a longer term arc, but Seasons Three and Four develop a great long story arc.

Season Three. What can you say about it? On the Internet you often see lists of the greatest seasons of shows in TV history. Season Three of FARSCAPE almost always makes such lists. I don't want to give anything away by explaining why it is so great, since much of the joy is in the way the wonderfully original plot twists, but beginning with the wonderful resolution of the great cliffhanger ending Season Two through the heartbreaking twists and plot shockers from the middle of the season, to the new cliffhanger that ended the season, it was a season for the ages. I've told friend that even if you don't like the first two seasons of FARSCAPE, it is worth watching just for Season Three. Definitely one of the great seasons I've ever seen.

A lot of people did not give the series a shot because they were repulsed by the use of two animatronic puppets in the show. I can understand this feeling, but it is not supported by an actual viewing of the show. I never came to enjoy the smaller of the two main Muppets in the show, Rygel. He was actually the more complex of the two Muppets, largely because his face was more expressive. But I personally vastly preferred Pilot, a staggering huge puppet who nonetheless is enormously endearing in a way the small, unhuggable Rygel is not. There are a few other animatronic puppets on the show, but these tow are the main ones. I won't say everyone who gives the show will come to like Rygel, but I do think that Pilot is different, and I don't think even Rygel will alter how one feels about the show overall. In other words, if you don't like this show, the Muppets won't be a factor.

One other thing that I very much love about this... Read more

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you?

Comments (14)

By: David Jerrard "Gadgetus Collectivus"

David Jerrard "Gadgetus Collectivus" — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 16:56:38 +0000

322 of 349 people found the following review helpful

A nice set, but it won't be replacing my ADV discs, January 17, 2010

David Jerrard "Gadgetus Collectivus" (Burbank, California, United States) -

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Farscape: The Complete Series (DVD)

First of all, this is a nice, and very convenient set, well worth the money. If you've never bought any Farscape episodes before, or you have limited space to store a collection, then this set is probably for you. That said, there are some caveats. I did a back to back comparison of the original ADV discs and the newer ones in this set. There's three things that jump out.

1. The bit rate is about 2/3 of the ADV discs. I expected this to be lower since A&E is squeezing about twice the number of episodes onto a disc - ADV put two episodes while this set piles on four per disc. The only way to do this is to compress the programs more. Quality-wise, the image is still remarkably good, and I didn't hear any differences in the audio quality.

2. Unlike the ADV discs, these are not progressive scan encoded - the video is interlaced. Some players don't handle interlaced video properly when they try to convert it to progressive scan output, and jittering can appear in motion. This drops the image quality on players that are outputting a progressive video.

3. For some reason, A&E didn't bother using the original source material, and instead, used their broadcast edits. At the beginning of each episode, they have the "Dolby Surround Where Available" bug in the lower right corner, which is unacceptable to me. This just makes it look like they recorded it off TV.

On the bright side, the set takes up about a tenth of the space of the entire ADV set does (the main reason I even bothered to buy this set), and has some extra features the original doesn't. It also costs about as much as about 10 of the ADV episodes did. The cases also use the new Bluray style clips that hold the discs in place, so there's much less risk of getting a set with loose (and thus, scratched) discs.

If you're not a big stickler for quality, then this set is for you - the price is just amazing, and most people won't care about the lower bitrate or encoding method. Videophiles, however, should probably steer clear and stick with the ADV sets, or wait until a new set is released with higher quality.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you?

Comments (31)

By: K. A. Walsh

K. A. Walsh — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 16:25:45 +0000

488 of 498 people found the following review helpful

A Fantastic Show With A Fantastic Makeover, November 29, 2009

K. A. Walsh (Eatontown, NJ, USA) -

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Farscape: The Complete Series (DVD)

I first started watching this program somewhere in the Second Season during its initial run on the SyFy Channel at the urging of my wife, who had been an avid viewer since day one. I had seen the Pilot when it was first broadcast, but never watched with regularity (at the time I was working a lot of overtime on Friday nights). I did come away from the Pilot very impressed by what appeared to be a great premise, excellent special effects, and potentially some great characters. Eventually my Friday evening schedule cleared up and once I started watching a couple of episodes I was completely hooked.

There is a definite 4 year story arc here; most of the episodes do tie together as the later seasons demonstrate. I won't elaborate on all the details of the program, mainly because there are many reviews here that do just that. What I will discuss is the quality of the box set that A&E has released, and has done an outstanding job of packaging and remastering the episodes. I had collected the old ADV releases over the years, and they did a good job of reproducing very good audio and video for the most part. What this set has done is go WAY beyond anything that has been on DVD previously. I don't know if this is the case, but it certainly looks as if A&E did a complete makeover on the video and audio on this set, and it is nothing short of SPECTACULAR.

Some quick notes about this wonderful package:

VIDEO: These episodes are presented in their original aspect ratios of 4:3 for Seasons 1-3 and 1:78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen for Season 4. Do not be mislead by other reviewers who claim that the final season of the show (which was indeed the only one filmed in widescreen) is not in its proper format. The quality of the video is STUNNING: details of all levels of color jump out at you, and the detail in close-ups and special effects are truly amazing. (A note here: I watched this on an Oppo BD-83 Blu Ray player which upscales standard DVDs to 1080i). The video is so good, I would swear I was watching a Blu Ray at times; THAT's how good it is. It is a remarkable improvement from the ADV releases of a few years ago (which up until the release of this set, were fetching a hefty price on eBay). I truly was stunned at the video...I don't think this show ever looked this good.

AUDIO: One word: phenomenal. The 5.1 mix totally immerses you in the story. All speakers and the sub-woofer are used perfectly and to to any extremes. The ADV releases had a very good 5.1 soundtrack, but the new A&E version has absolutely jaw dropping audio. Yes, it is THAT good.

PACKAGING: 5 "sets" of DVDs gathered in one glossy box keeping them all together. Each Season has its own "set" with the final set being reserved for a number of special features ("making of" documentaries, mostly). The other Special Features as promised in the description of the set here, are scattered throughout the various discs. I wish the glossy box was a bit more sturdy and easier to access the sets (do you open from the left or right? you decide). A minor quibble though compared to the overall satisfaction I've gotten so far from this new A&E release.

BOTTOM LINE: "Farscape" is truly an incredible show with excellent writing and some fine acting throughout its 4 year run. It would have been nice to have the final 3 hour installment "The Peacekeeper Wars" (which somewhat neatly ties up and concludes the series) included in the box, but rights issues prevented that from happening. You can certainly buy it separately on Amazon (and you REALLY must do so in order to see the conclusion of the show) and keep it next to this on your shelf. Speaking of which, the amount of shelf space saved with this package compared to the original 2 disc ADV volumes is incredible. Even if you own every ADV release like I do, this set is more than worth getting. The video and audio are markedly improved (even though it is never mentioned that the episodes are remastered, one look and you will be able to tell in an instant); and it truly does make a HUGE difference compared with the original ADV releases. The aforementioned amount of shelf space saved is indeed a plus.

Overall, 5 stars for the quality of the show, and this incredible new release with remastered video and audio. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you?

Comments (20)