Da Vinci's Demons-Season 2 (2013)

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General		Extras
Category	TV Series	None
Rating
Year Of Production	2013
Running Time	418:11
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Multi Disc Set (4)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Charles Sturridge Peter Hoar Jon Jones
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Tom Riley Laura Haddock Blake Ritson Elliot Cowan David Schofield Allan Corduner Gregg Chillin Eros Vlahos Tom Bateman Hera Hilmar
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	Bear McCreary

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

"a worse thing is crouching in the shadows than Riario"

     Da Vinci’s Demons Series 2 commences with two bloodied and dishevelled men, Leonardo da Vinci (Tom Riley) and the Pope’s murderous nephew Girolamo Riario (Blake Ritson), about to be participants in an Inca blood sacrifice ritual; it then switches back six months to the cliff-hanging events that concluded Series 1. The Pazzi rebellion in Florence against Duke Lorenzo Medici (Elliot Cowan), encouraged by Pope Sixtus IV (James Faulkner) in Rome, is in full swing, Lorenzo’s brother Giuliano (Tom Bateman) has been killed and outside the gates of Florence the mercenaries of the Duke of Urbino (Vincent Riotta) wait to be set loose.

     However, the Pazzi insurrection is defeated and the lives of the main characters from series 1 diverge into different plot streams; indeed, series 2 evolves into four separate stories, some more based upon fact and reality than others. Leonardo’s father (Paul Schofield) and Lorenzo leave Florence on a secret mission to Naples to try to undermine the alliance between Rome and the mad and sadistic King Ferrante of Naples (Matthew Marsh) where Leonardo faces a horrible death and meets again his first love Ippolita (Jeany Spark), who is married to Ferrante’s warrior son Alfonso (Kieran Bew). In Florence, Lorenzo’s wife Clarice Orsini (Lara Pulver), helped by a newly discovered cousin Carlo de Medici (Ray Fearon), is left to consolidate the Medici power in the city and face the machinations of the governors of the Medici bank and the mercenaries outside the city gates.

     Elsewhere, Leonardo’s lover and Lorenzo’s mistress Lucrezia Donati (Laura Haddock) seeks to reveal a secret that goes to the heart of the Papacy, travelling to Rome then onto Constantinople to meet with Bayezid (Akin Gazi), heir to the Ottoman Empire. Finally, the fantasy elements of series 1 come to the fore as Leonardo, Nico (Eros Vlahos), Zoroaster (Gregg Chillin), Amerigo Vespucci (Lee Boardman) and Riario, by diverse means, take ship to the undiscovered land to the west (South America) in search of the Vault of Heaven and the fabled Book of Leaves. There in the jungles and mountains they find the new world and gold encrusted native peoples including a High Priestess, Ima Kama (Carolina Guerra), who not only speaks their language but has information about da Vinci’s mother. There Leonardo tries to unlock the traps and riddles that guard the Vault of Heaven and the Book of Leaves while avoiding being sacrificed to the Inca gods. And in the background of all plotlines is the mysterious group called The Labyrinth, deadly enemies of the Sons of Mithras and seekers of the Book of Leaves themselves.

     Written partly by David S. Goyer, screenwriter of films such as Batman Begins (2005), Jumper (2008) and Man of Steel (2013), Da Vinci’s Demons is not a realistic look at the life of Leonardo da Vinci but a da Vinci as a Byronic hero: painter, lover, inventor, ambidextrous swordsman and explorer. As played by Tom Riley he is still all twitches and manic action, but maybe I am getting used to him as I did not find this as annoying as in series 1. In series 2 mysticism and the Book of Leaves plotline, including the voyage of discovery to the New World, takes centre stage, the other stories receiving less time. I have no problem with fantasy elements in history but with da Vinci’s known inventions and paintings, plus the colourful characters and the political times in Renaissance Italy at the time, there is a myriad of stories that could have been told without this journey to a world where the women wear the briefest of fantastical costumes, such as gold bras that De Mille would have appreciated. With so many different story strands, the episodes in series 2 are more uneven than series 1, with some bleak and powerful while others seem to contain a lot of travelling without advancing the plot a great deal.

     Da Vinci’s Demons Series 2 remains brutal and bloody, slowing fights with edged weapons that sever necks, clubs that batter heads to a bloody pulp and quite graphic torture. On the other hand, some of the dialogue is very funny and one can only love the comment by Amerigo Vespucci about what he intends to name the continent they have just discovered. The sets of Da Vinci’s Demons are finely detailed and varied from the low life slums and taverns, full of dirt, filth, animals and rodents, to the opulent palaces of the nobility in Florence and Rome, to the mountains of the Andes. The costumes of the noble families are detailed and extravagant, the Incas fantastical. The series is also not short on male and female nudity and sex scenes.

     Da Vinci’s Demons is opulent, inventive, bloody, romantic and exuberant: it may not be history but it is fun. The final episode of series 2 ends with the Ottoman fleet attacking the Kingdom of Naples, Leonardo receiving a revelation about his mother and a crisis of conscience for Riario. In series 3 I image The Labyrinth will come to the fore.

Video

     Da Vinci’s Demons is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, the original broadcast ratio, and is16x9 enhanced.

     Filmed using digital cameras, detail throughout the series is very sharp and crisp, with close-ups showing every hair, speck of dirt and blood in the torture scenes and fights. CGI backgrounds of the cityscapes of the spires and domes of Florence and Rome and the terraces and mountains of the Andes are less sharp, but do look colourful. Indeed, the colours have that digital glossy richness and the costumes are spectacular. Blacks are deep and rich and shadow detail is generally very good. Brightness and contrast is consistent.

     There are no marks or scratches but ghosting is prevalent and the authoring struggles when flame is shown against stonework when macro blocking becomes a problem (see episode 2 36:30)

     English subtitles are in a white font and were accurate in the portions I sampled.

     In disc 1 episode 2 at 25:34 and disc 2 episode 5 at 25:39 the layer change occurred at a scene change and resulted in a slight pause. Disc 3 and 4 changes were between episodes and not noticeable.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

     Audio is an English Dolby Digital 5.1 at 448 Kbps.

     Dialogue is mostly easy to hear and understand although some lines from Tom Riley are indistinct. The surrounds and rears are constantly used for music, ambience, voices, crowds, weather effects such as the storm at sea, bird cries and the creak of ship’s timbers, the clash of blades and other fighting sounds. The sub-woofer added bass to the music, the storm, rumbles to the submarine sequence and fireworks but was not overdone.

     The score by Bear McCreary is very good. It is epic in tone which fits the series well.

     I did not notice any lip synchronization problems.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

     While Da Vinci’s Demons Series 1 came with four audio commentaries, deleted scenes interviews and a behind the scenes featurette, Da Vinci’s Demons Series 2 has no extras at all.

     These discs of Da Vinci’s Demons Series 2 from Roadshow are Region 2 / 4 coded, although in Region 2 UK the series is not due to be released until April 2015. The Region 1 US version is also not released as at this time. Region 4 gets an early present.

     With romance, torture, betrayals, blood and gore, nudity, sex, fantasy elements and a Leonardo da Vinci who is a Byronic hero, Da Vinci’s Demons is not one for those who like their history or romances straight. However, while it may not be history, it is exuberant, colourful and fun. This four disc set contains the ten episodes of Series 2 which aired on Starz Cable Channel. Series 3 is currently in production.

     The video and audio are good. No extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall