DVD
REVIEW:
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Season one
08/17/08
SYNOPSIS: The mother of
all destiny. Her son, the future leader of mankind. Their
protector, a terminator from the future. Together they must
take back the future as Sarah Connor (300’s Lena Headey)
prepares her son to fight the war against machines
determined to annihilate the human race. The clock is
ticking. Can they stop Judgment Day? The man-vs-machines
tale that has thrilled millions gets a reboot with this
popular series, set after the events of Terminator 2:
Judgment Day. Will John Connor (Dekker) seize his destiny?
Will a cell phone salesman’s chess program evolve into
Skynet? Can the sweet but deadly cyborg (Glau) be trusted?
Answers – and the fight for the future – are here and now!
SEASON REVIEW: The
Terminator franchise has been one of the most successful
and recognized sci-fi films in the world, with
Terminator 2 Judgment Day becoming a movie classic. When the
news came out that a television series was in the works,
expectations among fans grew. Increasing those expectations
was the fact that "The Sarah Connor Chronicles were taking
place where T2 left off. The end result was a very smart,
highly entertaining and totally absorbing television series
that left fans and non fans enjoy one of the best sci-fi
stories of all times without any limits.
Like it was expected the pilot episode plays very similar to
the Terminator 2 , Sarah and John Connor are running
away from the law and from the Terminator. Which in away was
good, because it brought back to mind the rush and the
excitement that T2 had. For many fans having that similarity
forced them to immediately compare it to Judgment Day,
without giving it a fair chance. The good thing about the
next eight episodes is that the story stops being a simple
chasing story and other factors and characters are
introduced in the series, giving it a nice turning point to
the story.
One of the things that was
really fascinating in the series was how the creators and
writers took their time analyzing every little detail from
the three films. The use of the time machine, the picture
that Sarah Connor took with her dog back in the first
Terminator and the scenes where Sarah was in Asylum, are
just some of the details that hooked fans of the movie
franchise into this television series.
The cast selection was
appropriate. For example,
Lena Headey as Sarah Connor was right on the money by
providing the energy and the toughness similar to the one
shown by Linda Hamilton in T2.
Thomas Dekker as John Connor gives a strong performance in the
series, similar to his performance in the T.V hit, Heroes.
Finally,
Summer Glau as the Terminator is hard to absorb. Her
performance is good, but at the beginning it is very hard to
see this girl replacing Arnold Schwarzenegger. However, as
the season goes on, the audience will get used to this new
female model of Terminator.
This is one of those television series that is destined to
be a success. Not only because it is based on one of the
most successfully sci-fi franchise in movie history, but it
has the right ingredients. It is fun to watch, it has
good performances and well written episodes.
This DVD is loaded with over
four hours of bonus features including commentaries from the
producers and cast , deleted scenes, gag real, extended
scenes and best of all the "Creating the Chronicles"
featurette which is by far the best feature of the DVD.
VIDEO:
Anamorphic Widescreen
AUDIO:
Dolby
Digital 5.1 Surround - English Portugues
Subtitles - English, Spanish,
French, Thai, Korean, Portuguese and Chinese
BONUS FEATURES:
“Creating the Chronicles” featurette
- an all-encompassing look at the production process
involved with every aspect of bringing Terminator: The Sarah
Connor Chronicles to television. This is the best featurette
of the DVD (38:52)
Commentaries - includes executive producers Josh
Freidman & John Wirth, cast members Summer Glau & Thomas
Dekker, and more.
Terminated Scenes (i.e. deleted scenes) A total of
six deleted scenes all recommended. (11:10)
Gag Reel (3:35)
Cast Audition Tapes - includes Lena Headey, Thomas
Dekker, and Richard T. Jones
Storyboard Animatic - featuring the storyboard
sequence of the school session where Cromartie attacks and
John narrowly escapes
Summer Glau Dance Rehearsal
Extended Director’s Cut of Episode The Demon Hand
RATING BREAK DOWN:
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