Lost: The Complete First Season – Blu-ray Disc Review

Tags: ABC, D-BOX, Damon Lindelof, Daniel Dae Kim, Disney, Dominic Monaghan, Emilie de Ravin, Evangeline Lilly, Ian Somerhalder, J.J. Abrams, Jack Bender, Jeffrey Lieber, Jorge Garcia, Josh Holloway, Matthew Fox, Michael Giacchino, Naveen Andrews, Season Play, Terry O'Quinn, Yunjin Kim

has an average rating of 9.1 on IMDb
1080p in AVC on SEVEN 50gb discs
DTS-HD 5.1 MA & Dolby Digital 2.0
with “Season Play“, D-BOX & more!
–
– 2004
– 1068 minutes
– Disney (ABC)
–
Street Date: June 16th, 2009

Overall Verdict – You’d be ‘LOST’ Without It!

Buy it for $48.99 @ Amazon.com

— Review by: Justin Sluss & James Segars —

If you’re a fan of modern television, chances are that you’ve been accosted numerous times by friends or family as they attempt to impress upon you their new favorite show, claiming ‘it’s the BEST show EVER’. Oftentimes, the shows they’re “hooked on” never ending being anything special. Whether the show’s writing is hokey, or the acting talent is sub par, the simple fact is that most network television shows never strive for greatness — whether due to budgetary concerns, or lackluster concepts. They are, for the most part, content with mediocrity and melodrama. This is not the case with this decade’s finest network television show, LOST.

The show is so incredibly fresh, engrossing and complex that it’s almost impossible to resist popping in the next disc, or firing up another episode on ABC’s site once you’ve started. Reminiscent of the serialized mystery broadcasts of the olden days, LOST deftly blends the genres of drama, adventure, fantasy, romance, and science fiction into an unbeatable concept that thrills and delights to no end. Whether its the show’s in-depth character drama/studies, the survivors every-day struggles on the island, or questions about the mysterious nature of their new-found home, LOST is unrelenting and unlike anything you’ve ever seen. If you haven’t seen it, I can’t think of a better excuse to get started now than with this latest Blu-ray release. It looks, and sounds as good as any TV show out there — if not better — and I truly believe it’s one of the only shows you’ll ever want to, or need to, watch more than once to fully appreciate the intricacies and mysterious happenings littered throughout the show. I simply can’t recommend this one enough.

Oceanic Flight 815 crash lands on an island. Wildly off-course, and possibly thousands of miles from their final destination, the survivors have to learn to live together, or die alone as the chance of being rescued grows slimmer. However, they are quick to learn that the island isn’t quite deserted. An encounter with a polar bear, a sixteen-year-old distress call, and a locked, buried hatch suggest that there is much more to the island than they could have ever imagined.

The full 24 (total) episodes for The Complete First Season are included:

• Episode 1 : “Pilot (1)“
Writer: Damon Lindelof — Director: J.J. Abrams
Original Air Date: 9/22/04 — 9.3 rating over at TV.com
• Episode 2 : “Pilot (2)“
Writer: Damon Lindelof — Director: J.J. Abrams
Original Air Date: 9/29/04 — 9.4 rating over at TV.com
• Episode 3 : “Tabula Rasa“
Writer: Damon Lindelof — Director: Jack Bender
Original Air Date: 10/6/04 — 9.2 rating over at TV.com
• Episode 4 : “Walkabout“
Writer: David Fury — Director: Stephen Williams
Original Air Date: 10/13/04 — 9.5 rating over at TV.com
• Episode 5 : “White Rabbit“
Writer: Christian Taylor — Director: Kevin Hooks
Original Air Date: 10/20/04 — 9.0 rating over at TV.com
• Episode 6 : “House of the Rising Sun“
Writer: Javier Grillo-Marxuach — Director: Michael Zinberg
Original Air Date: 10/27/04 — 9.1 rating over at TV.com
• Episode 7 : “The Moth“
Writers: Paul Dini & Jennifer Johnson — Director: Jack Bender
Original Air Date: 11/3/04— 9.1 rating over at TV.com
• Episode 8 : “Confidence Man“
Writer: Damon Lindelof — Director: Tucker Gates
Original Air Date: 11/10/04 — 9.1 rating over at TV.com
• Episode 9 : “Solitary“
Writer: David Fury — Director: Greg Yaitanes
Original Air Date: 11/17/04 — 9.2 rating over at TV.com
• Episode 10 : “Raised by Another“
Writer: Lynne E. Litt — Director: Marita Grabiak
Original Air Date: 12/1/04 — 9.3 rating over at TV.com
• Episode 11 : “All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues“
Writer: Javier Grillo-Marxuach — Director: Stephen Williams
Original Air Date: 12/8/04— 9.2 rating over at TV.com
• Episode 12 : “Whatever the Case May Be“
Writers: Jennifer Johnson & Damon Lindelof — Director: Jack Bender
Original Air Date: 1/5/05 — 8.9 rating over at TV.com
• Episode 13 : “Hearts and Minds“
Writers: Carlton Cuse & Javier Grillo-Marxuach — Director: Rod Holcomb
Original Air Date: 1/12/05 — 9.1 rating over at TV.com
• Episode 14 : “Special“
Writer: David Fury — Director: Greg Yaitanes
Original Air Date: 1/19/05 — 8.9 rating over at TV.com
• Episode 15 : “Homecoming“
Writer: Damon Lindelof — Director: Kevin Hooks
Original Air Date: 2/9/05 — 9.0 rating over at TV.com
• Episode 16 : “Outlaws“
Writer: Drew Goddard — Director: Jack Bender
Original Air Date: 2/16/05 — 9.2 rating over at TV.com
• Episode 17 : “… In Translation“
Writers: Leonard Dick & Javier Grillo-Marxuach — Director: Tucker Gates
Original Air Date: 2/23/05 — 9.2 rating over at TV.com
• Episode 18 : “Numbers“
Writers: David Fury & Brent Fletcher — Director: Dan Tallias
Original Air Date: 3/2/05 — 9.5 rating over at TV.com
• Episode 19 : “Deus Ex Machina“
Writers: Carlton Cuse & Damon Lindelof — Director: Robert Mandel
Original Air Date: 3/30/05 — 9.4 rating over at TV.com
• Episode 20 : “Do No Harm“
Writer: Janet Tamaro — Director: Stephen Williams
Original Air Date: 4/6/05 — 9.3 rating over at TV.com
• Episode 21 : “The Greater Good“
Writer: Leonard Dick — Director: David Grossman
Original Air Date: 5/4/05 — 9.2 rating over at TV.com
• Episode 22 : “Born to Run“
Writer: Javier Grillo-Marxuach — Director: Tucker Gates
Original Air Date: 5/11/05 — 8.9 rating over at TV.com
• Episode 23 : “Exodus (1)“
Writers: Damon Lindelof & Carlton Cuse — Director: Jack Bender
Original Air Date: 5/18/05 — 9.5 rating over at TV.com
• Episode 24 : “Exodus (2)“
Writers: Damon Lindelof & Carlton Cuse — Director: Jack Bender
Original Air Date: 5/25/05 — 9.6 rating over at TV.com

Overall, despite me talking trash about people extolling the virtues of various modern TV shows, I can’t help but recommend this series and perpetuate my own hypocrisy. I honestly believe that LOST is one of those shows that is so incredibly unique and engaging that you would have to try to dislike it. Sure, people have issues with unanswered questions here and there, but if you ask me, questions are what drive life, and TV programming is no exception.

The bottom line is that LOST is THE show to own, to see again and again, so that you can sift through the layers of mystery and character connections, and here for the first time on Blu-ray, you can’t do any better than this audio/visual presentation. It is stellar. This is quite simply a “must-own” in every sense.

Video Quality on this release is 1080p in AVC MPEG-4 on SEVEN BD-50′s (50 gigabyte Blu-ray Discs) using the 1.78:1 aspect ratio. According to IMDb‘s technical specifications under aspect ratio, the show was shot on a unique combination of Panavision Gold II, Panavision Platinum Cameras, Panavision Panaflex Lightweight Camera (Steadicam) and lastly the Arri 35-3 camera for effects shots. The source here seems to be a combination as well of traditional 35mm film and digital intermediate HDTV but it makes for a very pleasant Hi-Def transfer that shows no real signs of switching between source material.

First thing you’ll notice in comparison to the DVD is a huge amount of detail, especially in close-ups early on in the first episode of the main character played by Matthew Fox. This opening few minutes of the show serves as a great example of the solid black level, the accurate fleshtones and the extremely vibrant color palette that comes thanks to the beautiful Hawaiian shooting location. The ocean, the jungle, the beach all look perfect and then you have the ugly of a recent plane crash and victims scattering everywhere in great detail to throw you off. No signs here of any problems in the video transfer like compression flaws, use of filters such as (DNR or EE) or so forth. This is the BEST you have ever seen “Lost” in it’s first season ever look. The Hi-Def version broadcast originally in 720p back in the day is finally worth deleting if you recorded it somehow off-air. This is a definite must in terms of deciding to “double dip” if you owned it previously on DVD. Speaking of which, Disney is offering a limited-time rebate on both this season and the second season of the show if you previously owned them on DVD and decide to buy the Blu-ray Disc versions to replace them.

But let me get back to the assessment of the video quality here. As I said, huge amount of detail here you never saw on DVD or even the Hi-Def broadcast on ABC. There is a very tad bit of film grain and noise present in the 35mm film source material but it doesn’t really make for any problem in terms of the consistency in the presentation itself. “Lost: The Complete First Season” earns itself an impressive “4.5 Star Rating” that is going to leave fans of the show extremely pleased and new fans of the show (like myself) having a great standard to set their expectations for video quality on future seasons — which oddly enough came out before the first and second seasons.

DISC USAGE:

Disc 1 uses 44.6GB total. Disc 2 uses 41.0GB total. Disc 3 uses 40.5GB total. Disc 4 uses 46.0GB total. Disc 5 uses 41.3GB total. Disc 6 uses 35.9GB total. Disc 7 uses 35.1GB total.

Each disc in the seven disc set contains 4 episodes, except for disc seven which only contains 3 episodes. Episodes themselves average around 9GB each. ALL 24 episodes themselves come in at around 256GB in total disc use – that is WITHOUT credits, bonus materials, menus and such factored in.

Audio Quality on this release is in both DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio and also in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo @320kbps. Obviously my recommendation goes with the DTS-HD 5.1 MA track if you are capable but it is nice to have a studio mixed stereo track as an option if you are watching the show on a 2.0 (Stereo) setup such as the speakers on your HDTV — which honestly aren’t that great. Still, it’s nice this is included as an option for that reason and even for the purists out there too. It’s safe to say that the first 7 minutes of the first episode, “Pilot (Part 1)“, are a completely intense audio listening experience and are sure to show you how much use they can make of the rear channels and bass presence especially. This totally leaves the viewer (in this case, listener) feeling like they are smack dab square in the middle of the action — in this case, dilemma of a recent plane crash on a deserted island. The sound of the engine turbines roaring is very massive while it lasts and sure to kick things off with a definite “bang” as well as flashbacks later on of the actual plane crash itself, which sound utterly terrifying to say the least.

Once things quieten down a bit, the dialogue is more the focus of the show(s) as well as the beautiful music composed by Michael Giacchino. Both the dialogue and music make excellent use of the 5.1 soundscape, all 360 degrees of it. For dialogue, it’s primarily mixed through the front center channel, with occasional chatter or voices making use of the rear channels in a few instances. Subtle and at times intense sounds of background noises like birds chirping, animals or who knows what approaching in the jungle all sound very convincing and are sure to leave you on the edge of your seat throughout. The original music by Michael Giacchino sounds amazing here, making wonderful use of the 5.1 to help deliver a very fitting vibe to the emotion of the show itself. All of the above and sound effects themselves make for some very impressive audio presentation that is sure to leave your subwoofer roaring with loud monstrous bass throughout all of the first season of “LOST“. Disney (ABC) has really done a superb job here and is very much worthy of a perfect “5 Star Rating” for overall audio quality. Fans of the show are going to be extremely excited when they get the chance to hear this.

Bonus Materials are presented in 480i Standard Definition video using MPEG-2 codec with Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo sound @192kbps.

• D-BOX motion code is included for all 24 episodes of this show. This requires the consumer to have D-BOX equipment and such, for more information on that we suggest you visit D-BOX.com. Be sure to tell them to send us review units too, while you’re there so we can actually review the D-BOX motion codes on these titles and not just offer a vague description of the feature and have to link to their website.
• “Season Play” is a feature exclusive to the Blu-ray Disc releases of TV shows from ABC (Disney). This (presumably) BD-Java feature allows you to never have a problem keeping track of where you are (which episode, disc, time stamp) on a season of the show. In a literal sense, no pun intended, it keeps you from getting “Lost” while watching a show, in this case a show that just so happens to be “Lost“. This feature has evolved over the past year or so and now allows you to create multiple “Season Play user accounts so your significant others can have their own personal account that will not interfere with yours – which we know, is the most important! I can’t begin to describe exactly how AMAZING this current version of this feature really is and how useful it is. I have seriously watched the entire season this way and have never had a problem yet! What’s really cool is that when you finish watching the 4 episodes on most all (except one) discs, it gives you a cue to insert the next disc. When you insert the next disc in the Blu-ray Disc Player (in my case PS3), it starts up the next episode on the next disc – without you ever having to hit a single button on the remote control. I’ll end my praise of “Season Play” with making a very bold statement. If I had to seriously judge right now (as of June 2009) the most innovative feature on the Blu-ray Disc format that could be considered “bonus material” — this would easily be the winner. This is extremely innovative and a very convenient way to be able to watch a season of a television show that is over 1000 minutes and seven discs in length (size).

Disc 1 includes:

• Audio Commentary on Episode ‘Pilot (Part 1)‘ by Executive Producers J.J. Abrams, Damon Lindelof & Bryan Burk
• Audio Commentary on Episode ‘Pilot (Part 2)‘ by Executive Producers J.J. Abrams, Damon Lindelof & Bryan Burk
• Audio Commentary on Episode ‘Walkabout‘ by Executive Producer Jack Bender, Co-Executive Producer David Fury & Co-star Terry O’Quinn

Disc 2 includes:

• Audio Commentary on Episode ‘The Moth‘ by Executive Producers Damon Lindelof & Bryan Burk and Co-star Dominic Monaghan

Disc 4 includes:

• Audio Commentary on Episode ‘Hearts and Minds‘ with Executive Producer Carlton Cuse, Supervising Producer Javier Grillo-Marxuach, Co-stars Maggie Grace & Ian Somerhalder

Disc 7 includes:

• “Departure” (runtime: 1 hour, 45 minutes & 41 seconds) is split up into the following sections:
“The Genesis of Lost” / “Designing A Disaster” / “Before They Were Lost” / “Welcome to Oahu: The Making of the Pilot” / “The Art of Matthew Fox” / “Lost @ Comicon“
• “Tales From the Island” (runtime: 1 hour, 2 minutes & 48 seconds) is split up into the following sections:
“Lost: On Location” / “On Set With Jimmy Kimmel” / “Backstage with Drive Shaft“
• “Lost Revealed” is split up into the following sections:
“The Lost Flashbacks” / “Deleted Scenes” / “Bloopers From the Set” / “Live from the Museum of Television & Radio” / “Flashbacks & Mythology“

Overall, the bonus materials we get here are obvious DVD ports mostly but do include some Blu-ray Disc exclusive features such as “Season Play” which is just so awesome in many, many ways and there is even D-BOX motion code included for every episode — which is nice for those fortunate enough to have the equipment to enjoy it. Fans will definitely agree with me that they get enough to keep them very busy after they finish watching the first season of the show, which is itself over 1000 minutes length (runtime). The bonus materials tally in at over 8 hours — according to the back of the box. That 8 hours though does include the five Audio Commentary tracks. That, I think is a pretty good point to end the bonus section and overall review. Hope you have enjoyed this review and enjoy the release come street date (June 16th, 2009).

Blu-ray Disc packaging:

Screenshots:

NOTE: The full-sized 1920×1080 files are in a .PNG file format and uncompressed. Bare with the slow loading times, keep in mind these files are at least 1MB (1 megabyte) in size each.

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