Game
Of Thrones: The Complete Eighth Season 4K
(2019/HBO 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray set)/Handmaid's
Tale: Season Three
(2019/MGM/Fox Blu-ray set)/The
Kominsky Method: The Complete First Season
(2018/Warner DVD)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: B+ Picture: B/B/C+ Sound: B+/B/C+
Extras: B/C/C- Episodes: C+/B/C
Here
comes the latest seasons of two big hits show, one of which is
ending, plus a new show hoping to be a hit...
First
off is Game
Of Thrones: The Complete Eighth Season 4K
(2019) in its concluding season with whomever survived (or will
survive) wrapping up what HBO is claiming to be the most successful
TV series of all time, being in 130 countries and all. If it is not
true, it is close to being among all the international hits since TV
arrived in the 1950s. Fair enough. We could now call it the most
successful fantasy live-action TV series of all time.
Other
writers who love the show much more than this writer have done an
excellent job of getting into the characters, detail and ideas that
made it a phenomenon, so I will not even begin to attempt to compete
with them and at this point, if you do not know what is going on,
you'll absolutely have to start at the very beginning of the series,
so its nice the debut season was upgraded to 4K. I liked it better
than way, despite the upscaling limits, so it comes down to that
ending that almost everyone hates.
Since
the show is so successful and has a huge number of fans, what kind of
ending should it have? It could have been funny (Seinfeld,
the British TV spy classic The
Avengers),
mysterious (The
Sopranos),
clever (St.
Elsewhere),
of wish fulfillment (Good
Times),
subtly taking a stand and breaking ground in the last scene (That
Girl),
tying things up nicely (Big
Bang Theory),
creating a loop that takes you back to the first episode (Voyage
To The Bottom Of The Sea)
or a final episode that ends as if it is just any other episode of
the series at a time when shows finished their stories in a single
show and were aware of a syndicated-only future.
After
all the amazing, shocking and bold twists and turns Thrones
offered, the second half of the last episode is truly flat, lame, a
dud and the biggest anti-climax of any TV series since The
X-Files
abandoned its big conspiracy arch as soon as Fox pumped out its first
theatrical film in the midst of the series still being produced for
TV. Without giving it away, we get a bunch of talk, no action, no
twists, no closure and it plays like it was done to save money as if
the show's budget were suddenly cut. It will remind some of the
poorer scenes in the 1963 Cleopatra
with Elizabeth Taylor when they ran out of money despite setting a
record budget they never totally recouped.
This
show had no such money, but the windup (is this the end of the
franchise?) looks like a rough draft and even I was stunned at how
comatose it was. That a show that was smart enough to have Dame
Diana Rigg on it would then let the show be such a bore in the last
reel or two is awful and now I understand the fans in their anger and
disappointment. Rumor has it that an alternate ending was planned,
but it is not here and it is not confirmed, but anything would have
been better than saving the dullest for last. Someone needs to tell
the makers that they needed to stick with dragons, not draggin' fans
down.
Extras
include another special medallion in our Limited Edition DigiPak
Steelbook release, while the discs add
Game
of Thrones: The Last Watch:
A documentary featured on DVD in two parts by filmmaker Jeanie Finlay
chronicling the making of the final season, When
Winter Falls:
Exclusive 30-minute featurette with showrunners David Benioff and
D.B. Weiss, along with major stars and behind-the-scenes players,
breaking down all that went into the colossal filming of the 'Battle
of Winterfell'
in Season 8, Episode 3, Duty
is the Death of Love:
A compelling look at how the team behind Game of Thrones and its
major stars, including Kit Harington, Peter Dinklage and Emilia
Clarke, brought the show to its conclusion in the series finale, 'The
Iron Throne.',
Audio Commentaries: 10 Audio Commentaries with cast and crew,
including the show's creators, Benioff and Weiss, on the final
season, Deleted and Extended Scenes: 5 never-before-seen deleted or
extended scenes from Season 8 (but no alternate endings) and
Histories
and Lore:
New animated pieces giving the history and background of notable
Season 8 locations and storylines.
The
Handmaid's Tale: Season Three
(2019) continues a show that is at least the equal of Thrones
as the nightmare continues of the hell, genocide, oppression and
lawlessness of Gilead and its reign of terror gets more desperate and
troubled. This time, a few plausible cracks start to occur, but I
cannot get into them without spoilers, but have to say the writers
have handled this very well and the show continues to be as timely
as ever.
On
a personal note, I still have problems with the placement of hit
records, but it was not as bad this season, while the acting and
plotting continue to move smoothly and convincingly. Very well
thought out, Aunt Lydia continues to be annoying and worse, though we
get some background on her and the storyline continues to be brutally
honest about how rotten some people can be. If you have not seen the
show yet, you should get all three Blu-ray sets and watch them back
to back before the next season,because the show is that good.
Extras
only include a Making Of featurette: Power
Play: Gilead's Women Fight Back.
Finally
we have a new sitcom of sorts in The
Kominsky Method: The Complete First Season
(2019) from super-producer Chuck Lorre (The
Big Bang Theory,
Mom,
Young
Shelton,
Two &
A Half Men)
that was too verbally graphic for regular network TV, Michael Douglas
stars as a famous acting teacher whose life is not what it used to be
and is unhappy as well with what is going on in the world around him.
Alan Arkin is his agent who is still helping him with his work and
career, but he is also dealing with age catching up with him.
The
show has some giggles and a few amusing moments, but I was surprised
how obvious and crass it could get, offering little new in the way of
insight like Mom
started out with, it tries to dig up all kinds of topics to laugh
about in old age, but that too is a compendium of cliches to some
extent and even with the leads and talent involved, gets thin and
uneven too often.
I
have been a fan of most of Lorre's work, but the show is just missing
the extra honesty, depth and humor Lorre shows usually have. Maybe
it will pick up next season, but I was a little disappointed,
especially being a Douglas fan.
A
small piece of paper with an episode guide is the only extra.
Now
for playback quality. The
2160p HEVC/H.265, 1.78 X 1, Dolby Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD
Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition image on the 4K Thrones
is better than the release of the debut season, as the show started
with older 1080p HD and upgraded the production as the series moved
along and became a huge hit. It is still dark and stylized, but that
look and approach works much better than the still-fine 1080p 1.78 X
1 digital High Definition image on the regular Blu-ray edition.
The
1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Handmaid's
Tale
is looking as good as it ever has, also with its own unique dark
look, but color and fidelity increase in the minority of times we get
flashbacks and/or the character's escape the fascist police state the
majority of the show (and its living nightmare) take place in.
That
leaves the anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on Method
a little soft, but consistent and as good as it can get for the
format, which can also be said of its lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 mixes,
so that's it though Warner Archive has an exclusive release of the
show on Blu-ray and serious home theater people might want to go for
that version instead.
As
for sound, HBO has included a very good Dolby Atmos 11.1 (Dolby
TrueHD 7.1 for older systems) soundtrack for Thrones
on both the 4K and regular Blu-ray edition, following upgrades to
other seasons, 4K and otherwise. Along with Westworld,
it remains one of the only TV series to have such a soundtrack, but
it is welcome and I would add that most TV shows just do not have the
sonics to justify such treatment. Fans will be pleased.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on Handmaid's
Tale
is also solid, if not as wide-ranging and in line with how well mixed
and well-recorded the previous season were.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
