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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Breaking Bad-The Fifth Season (2012)

Breaking Bad-The Fifth Season (2012)

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Released 6-Jun-2013

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category TV Drama Series Main Menu Audio & Animation-Live action plus music from series.
Audio Commentary-On all eight episodes with cast and crew.
Interviews-Cast & Crew-Inside Breaking Bad (89:14)
Deleted Scenes-Extended Scenes (6:36)
Deleted Scenes-Deleted Scenes (4:56)
Unseen Footage-Exclusive Scene: Chicks 'n' Guns (7:53)
Featurette-Behind The Scenes-Chicks 'n' Guns:Behind The Scenes (6:41)
Featurette-Behind The Scenes-Writers' Room Timelapse (8:17)
Featurette-Behind The Scenes-Jesse Plemons Audition Footage (3:14)
Featurette-Behind The Scenes-Laura Fraser Audition Footage (3:59)
Outtakes-Gag Reel (3:09)
Featurette-Behind The Scenes-Nothing Stops This Train (15:00)
Featurette-Gallery 1988 Art Show (3:26)
Interviews-Cast & Crew-The Cleaner: Jonathan Banks as Mike (7:56)
Featurette-Chris Hardwick's All-Star Celebrity Bowling (10:33)
Featurette-Behind The Scenes-Prison Stunt Rehearsal (1:26)
Rating Rated MA
Year Of Production 2012
Running Time 359:58
RSDL / Flipper RSDL
Multi Disc Set (3)
Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Adam Bernstein
Bryan Cranston
Terry McDonough
Studio
Distributor
Sony Pictures TV
Universal Sony
Starring Bryan Cranston
Aaron Paul
Anna Gunn
RJ Mitte
Dean Norris
Betsy Brandt
Bob Odenkirk
Jonathan Banks
Christopher Cousins
Steven Michael Quezada
Jim Beaver
Larry Hankin
JB Blanc
Case Amaray-Transparent
RPI $49.95 Music Dave Porter


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
French Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.78:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles English
English for the Hearing Impaired
Arabic
Dutch
French
Hindi
Polish
Spanish
English Audio Commentary
Dutch Audio Commentary
French Audio Commentary
Spanish Audio Commentary
Smoking Yes
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits Yes

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

     The new Blu-ray/DVD release of Breaking Bad is advertised as 'The Fifth Season' but it actually is only the first half of the fifth season and is comprised of just eight episodes. The final eight episodes are scheduled to begin airing on AMC in the United States, in August, with the final eight episodes released on Blu-ray and DVD probably in early 2014 as the final season.

     The first episode of Season Five gives us a brief glimpse of the end of series, that is, what is coming up in the final eight episodes. Walt (Bryan Cranston) is having breakfast at Denny's. His hair has grown back and he has a full beard. He has a new identity. Walt conducts a business transaction in the men's room with another man who enters the restaurant. He provides the drugs and, in turn, buys a new car and a m60 machine gun with ammunition. Is this a precursor to a final shootout?

     Breaking Bad is compelling television, leaving you second guessing what will happen next. At the present time in Season Five, Walt goes back to cooking meth because his money is gone. Skyler (Anna Gunn), his wife and an accountant, had helped out her former boss and lover, Ted Beneke (Christopher Cousins). Ted owed the Internal Revenue Service (i.e. the IRS - the American taxation office) in unpaid tax and Skyler knew that any subsequent investigation will implicate her in partaking in criminal activity, so she took most of Walt's money, $US600,000 - and used it to pay Ted's taxes. Walt convinces Jesse to work with him again, and in turn they get Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks - a featurette on his character is presented on the 3rd disc of this DVD set) to become a partner responsible for distribution. With Gus Fring's meth lab destroyed, they devise a new way for cooking meth without been discovered. Season Five introduces us to two new recurring characters. Lydia Rodarte-Quayle (Laura Fraser), an employee at Madrigal, the German company which had been Gus Fring's source of the chemical methylamine, and Todd (Jesse Plemons), who becomes a major character after a turn of events forces him to become a partner. Lydia is concerned that she will be implicated in Gus Fring's criminal activities at Madrigal. She eventually becomes involved in Walt, Jesse and Mike's new business scheme, all the while fluctuating between acting as an ally and acting as a foe to Walt. Both these new characters have their audition footage included on the 1st disc of this DVD set.

     Breaking Bad is a fascinating study of what happens when people are painted into a potentially violent corner. What started as a superannuation/life insurance plan by Walter for his family in the show's first season, after being diagnosed with lung cancer, by cooking and selling meth on the side, has become an entangled series of tests in relation to loyalty and morality, as Walt's business ventures begin to completely take over his whole life.

     The essence of what makes Breaking Bad so enticing for its audience, and the reason why it is so highly-rated critically, is the balance each episode achieves in producing potentially bright outcomes, tinged by equally potential disastrous circumstances lurking 'around the corner'. For some, the twist in how Walt overcomes each new obstacle to his ever-increasing series of complications he encounters is what draws them into the premise of each new episode. This all leaves us fans with an exciting final eight episodes to conclude the series in 2013.

     A short synopsis of each episode is below. Excepting episode one, which is 41minutes in length, each episode of Season Five is about 45 minutes in length.

     Season 5 Episode 1 - Live Free or Die (41:18)

     Walt heads over to see his family, still being kept under guard, while dealing with the aftermath of the explosion at Casa Tranquila. News of the three deaths at the senior centre spreads while Walt plots his next move in order to ensure that his family and his secrets are kept safe.

     Season 5 Episode 2 - Madrigal (45:24)

     A German businessman commits suicide to evade questioning about his ties to Gus Fring. In order to rebuild their lives and form a new profitable drug business, Walt and Jesse decide to look for a new potential partner to aid them in their latest venture. The DEA filters through various leads in hopes of finding something.

     Season 5 Episode 3 - Hazard Pay (45:22)

     Walter moves back into the house, to Skyler's dismay. Walter, Mike and Jesse meet with Saul to discuss finding a new place to "cook." The group visits potential locations for a laboratory, but none is quite right. Walter decides they should use a pest control business as a cover. They will cook in the houses that have been tented over by the pest control business. When it comes time to divide the spoils of their first cook, Mike says that much of the money must go to his former men, whose assets were seized when they were arrested. Walter reluctantly accepts this, but hints to Jesse that he may consider an attempt to remedy this situation.

     Season 5 Episode 4 - Fifty-One (45:31)

     Lydia offers up her own employee to the DEA and Mike offers her a replacement — Jesse. Together, she and Jesse spot a tracking device on a barrel of methylamine. Mike believes she placed the device herself. Since Walt admits cooking again to Skyler, they discuss the safety of the children.

     Season 5 Episode 5 - Dead Freight (46:06)

     Mike and Lydia work to get the methylamine delivered for the operation. Walt and Jesse try to work through several ideas to keep undercover.

     Season 5 Episode 6 - Buyout (45:29)

Walter, Jesse, Mike, and their associate deal with the aftermath of the methylamine train heist. Mike is experiencing increased pressure because he is under constant DEA surveillance. He and Jesse begin to have doubts about their ability to continue in the illegal drug business. Mike strikes a buyout deal, which Jesse phones Walter to discuss. Walter invites Jesse to his home to talk, and confides in Jesse his regret about selling out of Gray Matter for $5,000 and his plans to build another empire. When Skyler arrives, Walter insists Jesse dine with them. At dinner, Skyler reveals she knows that Walter told Marie about her affair with Ted Beneke. Talking after dinner, Walter tells Jesse that Skyler sent their children to live elsewhere and is waiting for his "cancer to come back", and that he intends to continue cooking meth at all costs, because "the business" is all he has left.

     Season 5 Episode 7 - Say My Name (45:22)

     Walter, Jesse and Mike meet with Declan, without the methylamine. Walter suggests that he cook for them, while they take a 35% cut and pay off the $5,000,000 to Mike. Jesse still wants to quit cooking meth after he has seen so much bloodshed and, after a dispute, Walter eventually lets him leave but is not willing to pay Jesse any of the "dirty money" he has earned. Meanwhile Hank has been told to end his pursuit of Mike, so instead he follows the lawyer, Dan Wachsberger, who is laundering Mike's money. Dan gives in to the DEA, but Walter finds out and warns Mike, who tells him to get the emergency getaway bag he left at the airport. When they meet, Walter demands that Mike tell him the names of the nine people in prison whose silence Mike has been paying for. Mike refuses to meet Walt's demand, so Walter shoots him using a gun he found in Mike's bag. Mike appears to escape, but Walt finds him. He then realizes aloud that he could have gotten the names from Lydia, and apologizes to Mike, who then tells Walt, "Shut the f*** up, and let me die in peace." Within a few moments, Mike dies and falls to the ground.

     Season 5 Episode 8 - Gliding Over All (45:26)

     Walter meets with Lydia to obtain the names of Mike's associates. Lydia suspects that Walter will dispose of her once he obtains the names unless she becomes useful in another way, so she pleads, succeeds, and partners with him to expand his distribution overseas to the Czech Republic. Walter takes the names to Todd's uncle, who has ties with Aryan Brotherhood gangs operating in the prisons. The nine prisoners and Mike's lawyer, including at least one ready to flip for Hank, are killed. Walter's meth production runs profitably and uninhibited. Skyler makes another effort to convince Walter to give up meth production, and Walter ultimately relents. Walter pays back Jesse his cut of the planned methylamine sale, and apparently ceases the production and distribution of his methamphetamine. The Whites' children move back in, and the family seems to be back in order. During a lunch by the pool, Hank skims through Walter's copy of Leaves of Grass, left in the bathroom, and notices a note on the inside cover is addressed from "G.B." to "my other favourite W. W.". Hank remembers when he had read Gale Boetticher's notebook with W.W. initials on. Hank looks on in surprise, seeing clearly that Walter is Heisenberg.

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Transfer Quality

Video

     The series comes on three dual-layered DVD discs. The first disc is 7.26gb in size and contains the first three episodes, the second disc is 7.24 gb in size and contains episodes four to six. The third disc contains the final two episodes and is 6.43 gb in size.

     The aspect ratio is 1:78:1, 16x9 enhanced for widescreen televisions, which is the modern aspect ratio for television shows.

     Breaking Bad is shot on 35mm film and for the past four seasons it has looked quite good on DVD, with Season Five proving no exception to this standard. The average bitrate of each of the eight episodes is between 5.22 m/b per sec and 5.49 m/b per sec for the first six episodes on discs one and two. The final two episodes average 5.9 m/b per sec on the third disc. This is about average for DVD.

     Scenes in the desert are saturated with sepia tones. There are more scenes in the dark in this season as Walt's character himself becomes darker. Shadow detail is good, as is fine detail in close-up shots.

     There are no film or video artefacts present across the three discs.

     Optional subtitles are provided in English, English for the hard of hearing, Arabic, Dutch, French, Hindi, Polish and Spanish. Additional subtitles are available for each episode commentary and for the extras in English, Dutch, French and Spanish.

     The RSDL change on each disc is conveniently located in-between the episodes and extras on each disc, so fans can watch each episode on DVD without a layer change.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     Breaking Bad includes a dynamic soundtrack in each episode, unlike other television series. These audio mixes are exemplary, equal in quality to modest budget and above Hollywood feature films.

     There are four audio streams for each episode. The main audio track for each episode is an English Dolby Digital 5.1 track, encoded at 448 kbps. Secondary audio tracks are available in a French and Spanish dub. These are encoded in Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo at 192 kbps, as is each of the commentary tracks.

     Dialogue is crisp, audible and synchronised.

     David Porter continues to offer up Latin-themed musical arrangements in Season Five, which can be intense and dynamic at times!

     There's plenty of surround-sound activity in the front and rear channels during the fifth season. We get subtle ambience at times, juxtaposed with intense action featuring gun shots and physical threats and conflicts.

     The subwoofer supports the low-end sounds amply throughout. In fact, I would say that bass effects have been amplified during Season Five in comparison to previous seasons.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

Main Menu

     The main menu contains live action shots with music from the series.

Audio Commentaries

     All eight episodes contain commentaries. The participants are as follows:

     Disc One (Episodes 1-3):

     Disc Two (Episodes 4-6):

     Disc Three (Episodes 7-8):

     The commentary tracks are insightful and entertaining. We get to hear from the main cast and crew, as well as other crew such as costume designers, editors and special effects technicians. Discussion centres on character development, aspects of shooting such as photography and other behind-the-scenes elements. Fans of the show will not be disappointed with the wealth of information on offer here in these commentaries!

Inside Breaking Bad (89:14)

     Each episode includes features called 'Inside Breaking Bad' where members of the cast and crew discuss how the show was produced, character development and other behind-the-scenes elements that goes into making the show. These mini-documentaries can be played sequentially with a 'play-all' option, or individually. The breakdown of each 'Inside Breaking Bad' featurette is as follows:

     Disc One: 9 episodes (38:18)

  1. Live Free or Die (5:20)
  2. Making of the Season 5 Premiere (5:09)
  3. Madrigal (5:18)
  4. Making of Episode 502: Madrigal (4:15)
  5. Hazard Pay (5:13)
  6. Making of Episode 503: Hazard Pay (3:36)
  7. Where Season 4 Left Off (4:12)
  8. Season 5: The Cast Looks Ahead (3:46)
  9. On The Season 5 set with Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul (1:29)

     Disc Two: 6 episodes (29:03)

  1. Fifty-One (5:28)
  2. Making of Episode 504: Fifty-One (4:23)
  3. Dead Freight (4:41)
  4. Making of Episode 505: Dead Freight (4:19)
  5. Buyout (5:42)
  6. Making of Episode 506: Buyout (4:30)

     Disc Three: 4 episodes (21:53)

  1. Say My Name (4:44)
  2. Making of Episode 507: Say My Name (5:01)
  3. Gliding Over All (6:12)
  4. Making of Episode 508: Gliding Over All (5:56)

Extended Scenes (6:36)

     Each disc contains one extended scene. It Gets Easier (Extra Icky Version) (3:29) comes from Madrigal (episode two), We'll Be Careful (0:53) comes from Buyout (episode six) and I'm Gonna Kill That Guy (2:13) comes from Say My Name (episode seven).

Deleted Scenes (4:56)

     These three deleted scenes are included on disc two, and are well worth a watch. They can be played sequentially, with a 'play all' option, or individually. The deleted scenes are: I'm Just Tired (0:55), Jesse James (1:53) and Babe Ruth (2:08).

Exclusive Scene: Chicks 'n' Guns (7:53)

     This is an entertaining scene which contains nudity and colourful language. It features Jesse Pinkman, Skinny Pete and Saul Goodman and was left out of the episode, Gliding Over All. It includes some back story about Jesse Pinkman and Saul Goodman and their motivations for their future actions leading into the final season.

Chicks 'n' Guns: Behind The Scenes (6:41)

     This featurette shows how this closed-set scene was shot and where it belongs in the context of Season Five.

Writers' Room Timelapse (8:17)

     This 12-day timelapse shows the writers piecing together Episode 504: Fifty-One. This is not the final draft, rather an outline of each scene included in the episode. After the 12 days are finished, one of the writers completes the final draft. Several of the writers contribute to the narration within this featurette.

Jesse Plemons Audition Footage (3:14)

     An alternate version of the script was used for Plemons' audition to prevent plot details leaking in relation to Jesse's character.

Laura Fraser Audition Footage (3:59)

     Laura Fraser auditions for the part of Lydia.

Gag Reel (3:09)

     Outtakes of mostly the cast sharing laughs.

Nothing Stops This Train (15:00)

     This featurette shows the planning, preparation, shooting and problems encountered for the freight train scene in the desert near Santa Fe for Episode Five: Dead Freight.

Gallery 1988 Art Show (3:26)

     Artistic fans of the show display their creations at a Los Angeles art gallery. Cast and crew show up for the event!

The Cleaner: Jonathan Banks as Mike (7:56)

     We get a look inside one of the series' best and toughest characters, from his introduction in Season Two through to his outcome in Season Five.

Chris Hardwick's All-Star Celebrity Bowling (10:33)

     Chris Hardwick is a self-professed internet geek and host of AMC's 'The Talking Dead'. He teams up with some other geeks to take on a Breaking Bad cast team consisting of Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Betsy Brandt and R.J. Mitte for a charity bowling match.

Prison Stunt Rehearsal (1:26)

     The stunt team choreograph the violent gaol scene in the final episode of Season Five, Gliding Over All.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    Season Five of Breaking Bad has been released in the United States on DVD at around the same time as the Region 4 Australian release. Both releases are identical in extras and audio options, differing only in subtitling options. The Region 1 DVD set offers Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, and Thai subtitles.

Summary

     With a score of 99 out of 100 at metacritic.com, and boasting over 8 hours of extras (with commentaries it comes to 8 hours and fifty-two minutes), together with superlative visuals and audio transfers for each of the eight episodes, why wouldn't you get this Season Five DVD of Breaking Bad?

     If you can stand the fact that the final season has been split into two lots of eight episodes for release on Blu-ray and DVD, this still is an excellent DVD release for an equally outstanding and unique television show.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© John Stivaktas (I like my bio)
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Review Equipment
DVDSony BDP-S550 (Firmware updated Version 020), using HDMI output
DisplaySamsung LA46A650 46 Inch LCD TV Series 6 FullHD 1080P 100Hz. Calibrated with THX Optimizer. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio DecoderSony STR-K1000P. Calibrated with THX Optimizer.
AmplificationSony HTDDW1000
SpeakersSony 6.2 Surround (Left, Front, Right, Surround Left, Surround Back, Surround Right, 2 subwoofers)

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