Haven-Complete Second Season (2011) |
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Haven-Complete Second Season (2011) |
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| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Crime |
Main Menu Audio & Animation Audio Commentary-Multiple Featurette-Making Of-multiple Interviews-Cast & Crew |
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| Rating |
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| Year Of Production | 2011 | ||
| Running Time | ? | ||
| RSDL / Flipper |
Dual Layered Multi Disc Set (4) |
Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Language Select Then Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 4 | Directed By |
Tim Southam Rachel Talalay |
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Studio
Distributor |
Entertainment One Entertainment One |
Starring |
Emily Rose Lucas Bryant Eric Balfour Jason Priestly WWE Superstar Edge |
| Case | ? | ||
| RPI | ? | Music | Shawn Pierce |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) French Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) German Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) |
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| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
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| Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles |
English for the Hearing Impaired French German |
Smoking | No |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | No | ||
I am always interested in new science fiction style television shows and was interested to see this new US television series, Haven, last year when the first season was released on DVD. I watched and enjoyed Season 1 of this interesting show which combines a cop show with supernatural elements. It has been likened to The X-Files and although I get the link this is quite a different show. The second season has now been released locally, this time by a different distributor, Hopscotch.
The premise here is that a small seaside town in Maine called Haven is a refuge for people who are afflicted with some form of supernatural power, referred to in the show as 'The Troubles'. Usually they don't set out to use their power intentionally but it is triggered by some event in their lives. This supernatural power will generally result in some major event like triggering the seven plagues of Egypt to strike the town or electrical charges to hit the local baseball field or people to start dying of mysterious illnesses. These occurrences are then investigated by the local Police Chief, Nathan Wournos (Lucas Bryant) and his partner, ex-FBI agent Audrey Parker (Emily Rose). Both Nathan and Audrey also have afflictions, with Nathan not being able to feel touch or pain and Audrey having a mysterious link to the history of the town, which she is trying to unravel across the episodes. A local preacher, Reverend Driscoll is determined to run these sinners out of town and 'cure' them. The other major character is a local smuggler and bar owner, Duke Crocker (Eric Balfour) who grew up with Nathan and is trying to unravel the history of his own family and how they may have been affected by 'The Troubles'.
This twelve episode season (plus a Christmas Special) starts with Nathan taking over from his father as chief of police and Duke's wife, Evi, returning to town after many years. The series follows the normal format for this show which is one major incident each week that the team must investigate but also significant overarching story lines. Jason Priestly and WWE Superstar Edge (actually how credited) appear as supporting recurring characters during this season. The thirteen episodes plus extras are spread over four discs.
The series originates from the US Syfy network but is filmed in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is inspired by a Stephen King novel, The Colorado Kid, however is not really completely based on it. In fact, that book did not have a supernatural element to it which has been added by the writers with the involvement and blessing of King. This is a well written show which combines interesting weekly stories with ongoing characters that have slowly revealing back stories. This makes for a very watchable series. The scenery in Nova Scotia is also a good element of the show as it has a very different look to most US shows. This show has a nice lightness of touch, with some dark humour combined with light creepiness which provides a good combination of elements. The theme tune and music by Shawn Pierce also adds to the atmosphere. The cast are competent without setting the world on fire.
I would recommend this series to those who enjoy television shows with a supernatural theme.
The video quality is very good.
The feature is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio which is the original aspect ratio. It is 16x9 enhanced.
The picture was quite clear and sharp throughout. Shadow detail was quite good.
The colour is excellent highlighting the beauty of Nova Scotia. Occasionally it is quite vivid but not in an over the top way.
From an artefacts perspective there is some edge enhancement, some occasional mild grain, some minor aliasing and motion blur during fast movement.
There are subtitles in English for the Hearing Impaired, French & German which were clear and easy to read.
There is no obvious layer change during the episodes.
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| Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
| Film Artefacts | |
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The audio quality is good.
This discs contain an English soundtrack in Dolby Digital 5.1 plus French & German tracks in Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo. The commentaries are also Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo.
Dialogue was generally easy to understand throughout although the subtitles were useful.
The music sounds good and is a significant element in the aural landscape.
The surround speakers were used for atmosphere and some mild directional effects.
The subwoofer mostly provided music support.
| Dialogue | |
| Audio Sync | |
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| Surround Channel Use | |
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| Overall | |
A large selection of extras are available, mostly on Disc 4. French subtitles are available on the extras but not English.
The menu featured music and motion.
There are a variety of commentaries available on various episodes. All the commentators are engaged and interesting. Well worth listening to.
Featurette on the writing process focusing on the finale.
Featurette on the approach to and importance of the clothes used.
Focused on the meeting they have to kick off the shooting for each episode.
'WWE Superstar Edge' talks about how the role came about and his experience on set.
Featurette on the approach to set design including props and furniture.
Featurette on the location scouting and logistics.
Covers the multiple directors approach, the fact that the cinematographer is one consistent between episodes and the actors talk about their roles.
The most substantial extra is this panel discussion at a convention featuring the co-creators & the three main cast members. They take questions from a moderator and the audience. Topics include the book, Stephen King's involvement, adding the supernatural element, casting, shooting, characters, the future of the show and more. Quite interesting especially for fans.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
Season 2 of this show does not seem to have been released in other territories yet, although is likely to be available on Blu-ray in the US, which it isn't here.
An interesting and entertaining supernatural cop show set in Maine.
The video quality is very good.
The audio quality is good.
Lots of good quality extras.
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| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | SONY BDP-S760 Blu-ray, using HDMI output |
| Display | Sharp LC52LE820X Quattron 52" Full HD LED-LCD TV . Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p. |
| Audio Decoder | Built into BD player. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. |
| Amplification | Pioneer VSX-511 |
| Speakers | Monitor Audio Bronze 2 (Front), Bronze Centre & Bronze FX (Rears) + Sony SAW2500M Subwoofer |