Tudors, The-Complete Fourth Season: The Final Seduction (Blu-ray) (2010)

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General		Extras
Category	TV Drama Series	Main Menu Audio & Animation Featurette-3
Rating
Year Of Production	2010
Running Time	515:18 (Case: 514)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Multi Disc Set (3)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Ciaran Donnelly Jeremy Podeswa Dearbhla Walsh Steve Shill
Studio Distributor	Sony Pictures Home Entertain	Starring	Jonathan Rhys Meyers Joss Stone Tamzin Merchant Joely Richardson Torrance Coombs David O'Hara
Case	?
RPI	$69.95	Music	Trevor Morris

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English English for the Hearing Impaired Hindi	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     The quality of television series being produced has jumped markedly over the last few years with such shows as Mad Men, Dexter, True Blood, Modern Family, Outnumbered and many more gracing television and digital discs. This series, The Tudors, is no exception being a fascinating, dramatic and very well produced series about the life and times of King Henry VIII. It is not a dry history lesson but rather it is a very lively, sexy and dramatic series featuring great acting and wonderful production values close in style to series like Charles II.

     This 3 Blu-ray set contains the 10 episodes of the final season of this show which follows Henry's (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) reign from the crowning of Catherine Howard (Tamzin Merchant) through to his death, covering her affairs, her execution, the war with France, his last marriage to Catherine Parr (Joely Richardson), ongoing reformation and anti-heretic investigations and lots of other intrigues, dramas and affairs. His relationship, post marriage, with Anne of Cleves (Joss Stone) is also covered. Other new characters in this season include the Earl of Surrey (David O'Hara), a nobleman with a chip on his shoulder, and Thomas Culpepper (Torrance Coombs), the King's groom.

     This is another excellent season for this very entertaining and interesting show which revolves around an incredibly good performance by Jonathan Rhys Meyers, which is, I believe, a career defining performance for him. The rest of the cast provide excellent support to his pivotal role and this is added to by the quality of the writing, which takes the history and fills in the gaps with creative license or guesses about what might have gone on. Costumes and locations and sets used are also great parts of the show as is the wonderful score and theme tune by Trevor Morris.

     A marvellous and highly recommended television series based on the life of Henry VIII.

Video

     The video quality is excellent. The feature is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio which is the original aspect ratio. It is 1080p native widescreen encoded with the AVC codec.

     The picture was very clear and sharp throughout with lots of detail. Outdoor scenes especially highlight the benefits of Blu-ray. The shadow detail was also excellent, although some scenes are a little murky driven by the naturalistic lighting which would have been in place during Tudor England. The colour was excellent with no colour artefacts. There were no noticeable artefacts.

     There are subtitles in English, English for the Hearing Impaired & Hindi which are clear and easy to read.

     There is no noticeable layer change during the program.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

     The audio quality is also excellent and a huge improvement on the DVD version. This Blu-ray contains an English DTS HD-MA 5.1 soundtrack.

     Dialogue was clear and easy to hear at all times, which is a big step up from the DVDs I have of previous seasons where the dialogue was hard to hear and subtitles were usually required. The subtitles are not required if you have normal hearing here.

     The score by Trevor Morris is excellent adding significantly to this series. It sounds excellent and immersive on this disc.

     The surround speakers were used constantly for music, atmosphere and battle scenes. The subwoofer is also well used supporting music, battle scenes, cannon & horses.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Menu

     The menu is exactly the same on each disc meaning that you often get the message 'See Disc 3 for more'. It contains motion and music. Subtitles are available on the extras which have 2.0 sound but are in HD.

BD-Live

     These discs are BD Live connected however there doesn't seem to be any specific Tudors content.

Illicit Affairs - Secret Romance in Henry's Court (13:05)

     A variety of historians discuss the true stories of affairs and double standards for sexuality in Tudor England. Interesting featurette which covers Culpepper, Catherine Howard, Anne of Cleves, Henry's lasciviousness and other related topics.

The Tudors after Henry - The Royal Children of Henry VIII (12:52)

     A variety of historians discuss what happened to Henry's children after his death including all three of them reigning as England's monarch for some time. Edward VI, Mary and Elizabeth's reigns are all covered but not in detail. Not bad.

Farewell to the King - Michael Hirst on The Tudors Finale (6:42)

     The series creator and writer, Michael Hirst discusses the approach taken to the final episode and how he wanted to end the series. Interesting stuff.

    This series is also available on Blu-ray in Region A however I cannot find any reviews of it to date or any specifications. So at the moment Region B wins.

     A wonderful conclusion to a great television series.

     The video quality is excellent. The audio quality is excellent. The extras are quality rather than quantity.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall