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.

Overall | Farscape-The Complete Season One (Beyond Home Ent) (1999) | Farscape-The Complete Season Two (Beyond Home Ent) (1999) | Farscape-The Complete Season Three (Beyond Home Ent) (1999) | Farscape-The Complete Season Four (Beyond Home Ent) (1999) | Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars (Beyond Home Ent) (2004) | Farscape-The Archives (1999)

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.
Farscape-The Complete Collection (Beyond Home Ent) (2004)

Farscape-The Complete Collection (Beyond Home Ent) (2004)

If you create a user account, you can add your own review of this DVD

Released 1-Dec-2010

Cover Art

This review is sponsored by
BUY IT

Overall Package

     A marvellous box set of a great sci-fi series includes all four seasons, The Peacekeeper Wars and three more discs of extras all at a bargain price. The set is well packaged in a solid carboard box containing five separate hard cases for the discs.

    The video quality is significantly better than the previous releases. The audio quality is very good. The extras are overwhelming in quantity and very good in quality.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Daniel Bruce (Do you need a bio break?)
Monday, March 21, 2011
Other Reviews NONE
Overall | Farscape-The Complete Season One (Beyond Home Ent) (1999) | Farscape-The Complete Season Two (Beyond Home Ent) (1999) | Farscape-The Complete Season Three (Beyond Home Ent) (1999) | Farscape-The Complete Season Four (Beyond Home Ent) (1999) | Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars (Beyond Home Ent) (2004) | Farscape-The Archives (1999)

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.
Farscape-The Complete Season One (Beyond Home Ent) (1999)

Farscape-The Complete Season One (Beyond Home Ent) (1999)

If you create a user account, you can add your own review of this DVD

Released 2-Feb-2011

Cover Art

This review is sponsored by
BUY IT

Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Science Fiction Main Menu Introduction
Menu Animation & Audio
Audio Commentary-Eight Episodes
Featurette-Making Of
Featurette-In the Beginning - A Look Back with Brian Henson
Alternative Version-Directors Cut vs Broadcast Featurettes
Rating Rated MA
Year Of Production 1999
Running Time 990
RSDL / Flipper Dual Layered
Multi Disc Set (6)
Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By None Given
Studio
Distributor

Beyond Home Entertainment
Starring Ben Browder
Claudia Black
Virginia Hey
Anthony Simcoe
Jonathan Hardy
Case Slip Case
RPI $39.95 Music None Given


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame Full Frame English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.29:1
16x9 Enhancement No
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles None Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

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

Plot Synopsis

     Farscape is a well loved Sci-fi television series, made in Australia in the late 1990's, early 2000s. It has been released on DVD before by Universal back in 2005. You can find our review of this first season in that previous release here. The series is now being re-released by Beyond Home Entertainment both as individual seasons and as a box set including all four seasons plus the mini-series, The Peacekeeper Wars.

     In terms of the releases, this new one is a significant step up as it addresses the major issue with the original releases, video quality (see below for details). There are also lots of new extras, although most of the previous extras on the Universal sets have not returned (see details in extras section below). I am not planning to write lots of detail about the show, the previous review gives good coverage of the plot and most readers will only be interested in how this release compares to the previous ones. This set contains all 22 episodes of Season 1 across 6 discs.

Don't wish to see plot synopses in the future? Change your configuration.

Transfer Quality

Video

     The video quality is a big step up from the previous release although certainly not perfect.

     The feature is presented in a 1.29:1 aspect ratio which is the original aspect ratio. The picture was quite clear and sharp throughout considering the age of the show. The shadow detail was quite good. The previous editions of this series suffered from very bad MPEG compression issues resulting in regular picture break-up especially during fast motion. This new edition still has a few MPEG artefacts but nothing as drastic as the original edition. There is some mild grain at times and occasional minor MPEG artefacts. The colour is very good with no major issues to report. There was some edge enhancement from time to time but it was not overly distracting.

     There are no subtitles which is disappointing. The layer changes are fairly obvious.

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

Audio

     The audio quality is very good. This DVD set contains an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack which if anything is a little too obvious in the surrounds. There is lots of front separation as well. Dialogue was generally clear and easy to hear although subtitles would have been useful from time to time. The score by Subdivision is suitably dramatic. The surround speakers were used constantly for music, directional effects such as the worm hole and sounds of the ship. At times they were a little over the top drawing attention to themselves. The subwoofer was well used for thumps, thuds and music support.

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

Extras

    The extras on this edition seem to be mostly new, however, the making of is probably the same one as was on the Universal discs.

Menu

     The menu was functional but unexciting including music.

Audio Commentaries

     This set features eight audio commentaries, which were previously available in other regions, however were not on the Universal set, previously released in Region 4. They are all good natured, informative and easy to listen to. Great to see them on this local release. They are

Disc 6

The Making of Farscape : The Farscape Effect (22:25)

     I am guessing that this is the same making of as appeared on the previous set. It was obviously made at the time the show was made but also gives a clear indication of how much better the show is after its clean up.

In the Beginning – A Look Back with Brian Henson (38:10)

     A 2004 documentary about the show featuring Brian Henson discussing aspects such as the show’s development, difficulties selling the idea, scripting, creatures, characters and more. Also features behind the scenes footage and scenes from the show. Interesting stuff but does contain some spoilers.

Farscape in the Raw (18:52 & 23:05)

    Dissections of different versions of two episodes, The Flax and Through the Looking Glass featuring comparisons between the broadcast version and the director's cut versions. Interesting but probably only for serious fans.

R4 vs R1

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

    This seems to be the best standalone release available globally of Season 1.

Summary

     A much loved Sci-fi series gets a quality re-release which is a significant step up from the previous version. The video quality is very good and much better than the previous release. The audio quality is very good but maybe slightly overdoes the surround effects. The extras are top quality.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Daniel Bruce (Do you need a bio break?)
Friday, March 04, 2011
Review Equipment
DVDSONY BDP-S760 Blu-ray, using HDMI output
DisplayLG Scarlet 42LG61YD 106cm Full HD LCD. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p.
Audio DecoderBuilt into BD player. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum.
AmplificationPioneer VSX-511
SpeakersMonitor Audio Bronze 2 (Front), Bronze Centre & Bronze FX (Rears) + Sony SAW2500M Subwoofer

Other Reviews NONE
Overall | Farscape-The Complete Season One (Beyond Home Ent) (1999) | Farscape-The Complete Season Two (Beyond Home Ent) (1999) | Farscape-The Complete Season Three (Beyond Home Ent) (1999) | Farscape-The Complete Season Four (Beyond Home Ent) (1999) | Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars (Beyond Home Ent) (2004) | Farscape-The Archives (1999)

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.
Farscape-The Complete Season Two (Beyond Home Ent) (1999)

Farscape-The Complete Season Two (Beyond Home Ent) (1999)

If you create a user account, you can add your own review of this DVD

Released 2-Feb-2011

Cover Art

This review is sponsored by
BUY IT

Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Science Fiction Menu Animation & Audio
Audio Commentary-6 episodes
Outtakes
Alternative Version-8 episodes
Rating Rated M
Year Of Production 1999
Running Time 946
RSDL / Flipper Dual Layered
Multi Disc Set (6)
Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Andrew Prowse
Rowan Woods
Studio
Distributor

Beyond Home Entertainment
Starring Ben Browder
Claudia Black
Virginia Hey
Ben Browder
Jonathan Hardy
Gigi Edgley
Case Amaray-Transparent
RPI $34.95 Music Guy Gross
Subvision


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio None
16x9 Enhancement No
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles None Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

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

Plot Synopsis

     Farscape is a well loved Sci-fi television series, made in Australia in the late 1990's, early 2000’s. It has been released on DVD before by Universal back in 2005. You can find our review of that second season here. The series is now being re-released by Beyond Home Entertainment both as individual seasons and as a box set including all four seasons plus the mini-series, The Peacekeeper Wars.

In terms of the releases, this new one is a significant step up as it addresses the major issue with the original releases, video quality (see below for details). There are also lots of new extras, although most of the previous extras on the Universal sets have not returned (see details in extras section below). However, the box set includes a three disc set called The Farscape Archives which will be reviewed in the near future.

     I am not planning to write lots of detail about the show, the previous review gives good coverage of the plot and most readers will only be interested in how this release compares to the previous one. This set contains all 22 episodes of Season 2 across 6 discs. There are lots of well known Aussie faces who turn up in this second season such as Alex Dimitriadis, Chris Haywood, Matt Day and many more.

Don't wish to see plot synopses in the future? Change your configuration.

Transfer Quality

Video

     The video quality is a big step up from the previous release although certainly not perfect. The feature is presented in a 1.29:1 aspect ratio which is the original aspect ratio.

     The picture was quite clear and sharp throughout considering the age of the show. The shadow detail was quite good. The previous edition of this season suffered from bad MPEG compression issues resulting in picture break-up especially during fast motion (despite being a significant improvement over the original edition of season 1). This new edition still has a few MPEG artefacts but nothing as drastic as the original edition. The specific issues mentioned in the previous review relating to MPEG compression have been resolved. There is some mild grain at times and occasional minor MPEG artefacts.

     The colour is very good with no major issues to report. There was some edge enhancement from time to time but it was not overly distracting.

     There are no subtitles which is disappointing.

     The layer changes are fairly obvious.

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

Audio

     The audio quality is very good. This DVD set contains an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack which if anything is a little too obvious in the surrounds. There is lots of front separation as well. Dialogue was generally clear and easy to hear although subtitles would have been useful from time to time.

     The score by Subdivision and Guy Gross is suitably dramatic. The surround speakers were used constantly for music, directional effects such as the worm hole and sounds of the ship. At times they were a little over the top drawing attention to themselves. The subwoofer was well used for thumps, thuds and music support.

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

Extras

Menu

     The menu was functional but unexciting including music.

Audio Commentaries

     This set features six audio commentaries (four of which are repeats from the previous edition). They are all good natured, informative and easy to listen to. Great to see them on this local release. They are:

Disc 6

Season 2 Bloopers (6:36)

     Reasonably amusing set of onset silliness and stuff-ups.

Farscape in the Raw (7:39, 10:21, 7:26, 6:58, 16:51, 28:34, 13:12)

     Dissections of different versions of seven episodes featuring comparisons between the broadcast version and the Director's cut versions. Interesting but probably only for serious fans. Video quality is significantly less than the actual episodes.

R4 vs R1

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

     This seems to be the best standalone release available globally of Season 2.

Summary

     A much loved Sci-fi series gets a quality re-release which is a significant step up from the previous version.

     The video quality is very good and much better than the previous release. The audio quality is very good but maybe slightly overdoes the surround effects. The extras are good quality.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Daniel Bruce (Do you need a bio break?)
Monday, March 14, 2011
Review Equipment
DVDSONY BDP-S760 Blu-ray, using HDMI output
DisplayLG Scarlet 42LG61YD 106cm Full HD LCD. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p.
Audio DecoderBuilt into BD player. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum.
AmplificationPioneer VSX-511
SpeakersMonitor Audio Bronze 2 (Front), Bronze Centre & Bronze FX (Rears) + Sony SAW2500M Subwoofer

Other Reviews NONE
Overall | Farscape-The Complete Season One (Beyond Home Ent) (1999) | Farscape-The Complete Season Two (Beyond Home Ent) (1999) | Farscape-The Complete Season Three (Beyond Home Ent) (1999) | Farscape-The Complete Season Four (Beyond Home Ent) (1999) | Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars (Beyond Home Ent) (2004) | Farscape-The Archives (1999)

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.
Farscape-The Complete Season Three (Beyond Home Ent) (1999)

Farscape-The Complete Season Three (Beyond Home Ent) (1999)

If you create a user account, you can add your own review of this DVD

Released 2-Feb-2011

Cover Art

This review is sponsored by
BUY IT

Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Science Fiction Main Menu Audio & Animation
Featurette-A Look Back
Audio Commentary-5 episodes
Featurette-Farscape Cartoon: Revenging Angel
Featurette-Season 3 Theme
Featurette-Farscape Animation In The Making
Interviews-Crew-Sean Masterson (Puppeteer)
Featurette-Costume Design
Rating Rated M
Year Of Production 1999
Running Time 946
RSDL / Flipper Dual Layered
Multi Disc Set (6)
Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Pino Amenta
Peter Andrikidis
Ian Barry
Brian Henson
Studio
Distributor

Beyond Home Entertainment
Starring Ben Browder
Claudia Black
Virginia Hey
Anthony Simcoe
Gigi Edgley
Paul Goddard
Melissa Jaffer
Lani John Tupu
Wayne Pygram
Danny Adcock
Jonathan Hardy
Kent McCord
Murray Bartlett
Case ?
RPI $39.95 Music Guy Gross
Braedy Neal
Chris Neal


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame Full Frame English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio None
16x9 Enhancement No
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles None Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

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

Plot Synopsis

    Farscape is a well loved Sci-fi television series, made in Australia in the late 1990's, early 2000s. It has been released on DVD before by Universal back in 2005. You can find our review of this third season in that previous release here. The series is now being re-released by Beyond Home Entertainment both as individual seasons and as a box set including all four seasons plus the mini-series, The Peacekeeper Wars.

    In terms of the releases, this new one is a significant step up as it addresses the major issue with the original releases, video quality (see below for details). There are also new extras, and for this season most of the previous extras on the Universal sets have returned (see details in extras section below). The box set also includes a three disc set called The Farscape Archives which will be reviewed in the near future.

    I am not planning to write lots of detail about the show, the previous review gives good coverage of the plot and most readers will only be interested in how this release compares to the previous ones. This set contains all 22 episodes of Season 3 across 6 discs.

Don't wish to see plot synopses in the future? Change your configuration.

Transfer Quality

Video

     The video quality is a big step up from the previous release although certainly not perfect.

     The feature is presented in a 1.29:1 aspect ratio which is the original aspect ratio. The picture was quite clear and sharp throughout considering the age of the show. The shadow detail was quite good. The previous edition of this season suffered from bad MPEG compression issues resulting in picture break-up especially during fast motion (despite being a significant improvement over the original edition of season 1). This new edition still has a few MPEG artefacts but nothing as drastic as the original edition. The specific issues mentioned in the previous review relating to MPEG compression have been resolved. There is some mild grain at times and occasional minor MPEG artefacts. The colour is very good with no major issues to report. There was some edge enhancement from time to time but it was not overly distracting.

     There are no subtitles which is disappointing.

     The layer changes are fairly obvious.

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

Audio

     The audio quality is very good. This DVD set contains an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack which if anything is a little too obvious in the surrounds. There is lots of front separation as well. Dialogue was generally clear and easy to hear although subtitles would have been useful from time to time.

     The score by Subdivision and Guy Gross is suitably dramatic. The surround speakers were used constantly for music, directional effects such as the worm hole and sounds of the ship. At times they were a little over the top drawing attention to themselves. The subwoofer was well used for thumps, thuds and music support.

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

Extras

Menu

     The menu was functional but unexciting including music.

Audio Commentaries

     This set features five audio commentaries (three of which are repeats from the previous edition). They are all good natured, informative and easy to listen to. Great to see them on this local release. They are

Disc 6

Season 3 - A Look Back (44:36)

     David Kemper (Executive Producer & Writer) hosts a retrospective of the season, episode by episode, covering characters and story developments. Includes interviews with other cast & crew -Not on previous release

Season 3 Theme discussed with Guy Gross (4:32)

     Series composer Guy Gross discusses the new title theme composed for Season 3 including what the producers wanted and how he approached it -Not on previous release

Puppeteer Interview - Sean Masterton (8:36)

     The lead puppeteer for Pilot discusses the technology and issues involved in their work.

Costume Design (10:06)

     Costume Designer Terry Ryan talks us through the various costume choices for the main characters -Not on previous release

Farscape Cartoon (7:49)

     Full length version of cartoon used during one of the episodes. Funny take off of Loony Tunes.

Animation in the Making (4:36, 3:26, 2:23, 2:07, 1:53, 2:13, 3:40)

     Various comparison of animation stages for the Loony Tunes take-off from the previous extra.

R4 vs R1

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

    This seems to be the best stand alone release available globally of Season 3.

Summary

     A much loved Sci-fi series gets a quality re-release which is a significant step up from the previous version.

     The video quality is very good and much better than the previous release. The audio quality is very good but maybe slightly overdoes the surround effects. The extras are good quality, with most of the previous extras being repeated and new ones added.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Daniel Bruce (Do you need a bio break?)
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Review Equipment
DVDSONY BDP-S760 Blu-ray, using HDMI output
DisplayLG Scarlet 42LG61YD 106cm Full HD LCD. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p.
Audio DecoderBuilt into BD player. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum.
AmplificationPioneer VSX-511
SpeakersMonitor Audio Bronze 2 (Front), Bronze Centre & Bronze FX (Rears) + Sony SAW2500M Subwoofer

Other Reviews NONE
Overall | Farscape-The Complete Season One (Beyond Home Ent) (1999) | Farscape-The Complete Season Two (Beyond Home Ent) (1999) | Farscape-The Complete Season Three (Beyond Home Ent) (1999) | Farscape-The Complete Season Four (Beyond Home Ent) (1999) | Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars (Beyond Home Ent) (2004) | Farscape-The Archives (1999)

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.
Farscape-The Complete Season Four (Beyond Home Ent) (1999)

Farscape-The Complete Season Four (Beyond Home Ent) (1999)

If you create a user account, you can add your own review of this DVD

Released 2-Feb-2011

Cover Art

This review is sponsored by
BUY IT

Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Science Fiction Main Menu Audio & Animation
Audio Commentary-Crichton Kicks, John Quixote, Unrealized Reality
Audio Commentary-A Constellation Of Doubt, Bad Timing
Synopsis-The Story So Farscape
Deleted Scenes-A Constellation of Doubt
Featurette-Inside Farscape - Saving Farscape
Featurette-Season 4 Visual Effects
Rating Rated M
Year Of Production 1999
Running Time 946
RSDL / Flipper Dual Layered
Multi Disc Set (6)
Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Pino Amenta
Peter Andrikidis
Ian Barry
Geoff Bennett
Studio
Distributor
Hallmark Entertain
Beyond Home Entertainment
Starring Ben Browder
Claudia Black
Virginia Hey
Anthony Simcoe
Gigi Edgley
Paul Goddard
Wayne Pygram
Tammy McIntosh
Raelee Hill
Melissa Jaffer
David Franklin
Rebecca Riggs
Kent McCord
Case ?
RPI $34.95 Music Guy Gross
Braedy Neal
Chris Neal


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/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 None Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

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

Plot Synopsis

     Farscape is a well loved Sci-fi television series, made in Australia in the late 1990s, early 2000s. It has been released on DVD before by Universal back in 2005. The series is now being re-released by Beyond Home Entertainment both as individual seasons and as a box set including all four seasons plus the mini-series, The Peacekeeper Wars.

     In terms of the releases, this new one is a significant step up as it addresses the major issue with the original releases, video quality (see below for details).The box set also includes a three disc set called The Farscape Archives which will be reviewed in the near future.

     I am not planning to write lots of detail about the show as most readers will only be interested in how this release compares to the previous ones. This set contains all 22 episodes of Season 4 across 6 discs. The show was cancelled after Season 4, however after fan pressure a mini-series, The Peacekeeper Wars was made to round out the series.

Don't wish to see plot synopses in the future? Change your configuration.

Transfer Quality

Video

     The video quality is a big step up from the previous release although certainly not perfect. The feature is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio which is the original aspect ratio. This was the first season made for widescreen. It is 16x9 enhanced.

     The picture was quite clear and sharp throughout considering the age of the show. The shadow detail was quite good. The previous editions suffered from bad MPEG compression issues resulting in picture break-up especially during fast motion. This new edition still has a few MPEG artefacts but nothing as drastic as the original edition. There is some mild grain at times and occasional minor MPEG artefacts. The colour is very good with no major issues to report. There was some edge enhancement from time to time but it was not overly distracting.

     There are no subtitles which is disappointing.

     The layer changes are fairly obvious.

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

Audio

    The audio quality is very good.

     This DVD set contains an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack which if anything is a little too obvious in the surrounds. There is lots of front separation as well. Dialogue was generally clear and easy to hear although subtitles would have been useful from time to time.

     The score by Guy Gross is suitably dramatic.The surround speakers were used constantly for music, directional effects such as the worm hole and sounds of the ship. At times they were a little over the top drawing attention to themselves. The subwoofer was well used for thumps, thuds and music support.

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

Extras

     Many of the extras on this edition were also included on the Universal release.

Menu

     The menu was functional but unexciting including music.

Audio Commentaries

     This set features five audio commentaries (all of which are repeats from the previous edition). They are all good natured, informative and easy to listen to. They are:

Disc 6

Farscape - The Story So Far (26:30)

     Summary of the first three seasons of the show.

A Constellation of Doubt - Deleted Scenes (16:30)

     Interesting scenes but the camerawork is pretty ordinary as is the video quality Not on previous release

Farewell (17:35)

     Cast reaction to the show being cancelled.

Inside Farscape - Saving Farscape (30:39)

     4x3. Featurette about fans reaction to the show being cancelled and the campaign to have it reinstated Not on previous release.

Season 4 Visual Effects (9:34)

     The process of creating the various visual effects including comparisons Not on previous release.

R4 vs R1

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

    This seems to be the best stand alone release available globally of Season 4.

Summary

     A much loved Sci-fi series gets a quality re-release which is a significant step up from the previous version.

     The video quality is very good and much better than the previous release. The audio quality is very good but maybe slightly overdoes the surround effects. The extras are good quality, with most of the important previous extras being repeated and new ones added. Others have moved to the Farscape Archives in the box set.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Daniel Bruce (Do you need a bio break?)
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Review Equipment
DVDSONY BDP-S760 Blu-ray, using HDMI output
DisplayLG Scarlet 42LG61YD 106cm Full HD LCD. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p.
Audio DecoderBuilt into BD player. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum.
AmplificationPioneer VSX-511
SpeakersMonitor Audio Bronze 2 (Front), Bronze Centre & Bronze FX (Rears) + Sony SAW2500M Subwoofer

Other Reviews NONE
Overall | Farscape-The Complete Season One (Beyond Home Ent) (1999) | Farscape-The Complete Season Two (Beyond Home Ent) (1999) | Farscape-The Complete Season Three (Beyond Home Ent) (1999) | Farscape-The Complete Season Four (Beyond Home Ent) (1999) | Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars (Beyond Home Ent) (2004) | Farscape-The Archives (1999)

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.
Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars (Beyond Home Ent) (2004)

Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars (Beyond Home Ent) (2004)

If you create a user account, you can add your own review of this DVD

Released 8-Jun-2010

Cover Art

This review is sponsored by
BUY IT

Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Science Fiction Main Menu Audio
Interviews-Cast & Crew
Deleted Scenes
Trailer
Rating Rated M
Year Of Production 2004
Running Time 175:52
RSDL / Flipper Dual Layered
Dual Disc Set
Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Brian Henson
Studio
Distributor
Hallmark Entertain
Beyond Home Entertainment
Starring Ben Browder
Claudia Black
Anthony Simcoe
Gigi Edgley
Wayne Pygram
Raelee Hill
Melissa Jaffer
Paul Goddard
Tammy McIntosh
David Franklin
Rebecca Riggs
Duncan Young
Francesca Buller
Case ?
RPI ? Music Guy Gross


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/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 None Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

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

Plot Synopsis

     Farscape is a well loved Sci-fi television series, made in Australia in the late 1990s, early 2000s. The original four seasons of the show were released on DVD before by Universal back in 2005. This specific mini-series was previously released by Magna Pacific and more recently by Beyond as a stand alone two disc set. The whole series is now being re-released by Beyond Home Entertainment both as individual seasons and as a box set including all four seasons plus the mini-series, The Peacekeeper Wars.

     This set seems to be the same as the previously released two-disc Beyond set except that it is physically packaged with the 3-disc Farscape Archives set which will be reviewed in the near future.

     The show was cancelled after Season 4, however after fan pressure, a mini-series, The Peacekeeper Wars, was made to round out the series. This set contains the two approximately 90 minute parts of the mini-series across 2 discs. The show's plot involves a great war for the Universe between The Peacekeepers and the Scarrans. There are lots of great special effects including space battles and more.

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Transfer Quality

Video

     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. The shadow detail was quite good. There is some mild grain at times and occasional minor MPEG artefacts. The colour is very good with no major issues to report. There was some edge enhancement from time to time but it was not overly distracting.

     There are no subtitles which is disappointing.

     The layer changes are fairly obvious.

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

Audio

     The audio quality is very good. This DVD set contains an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack which if anything is a little too obvious in the surrounds. There is lots of front separation as well. Dialogue was generally clear and easy to hear although subtitles would have been useful from time to time.

     The score by Guy Gross is suitably dramatic.

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

Extras

     Many of the extras on this edition were also included on the Universal release.

Menu

     The menu was functional but unexciting including music.

Disc 1

Cast & Crew Interviews (3:38, 3:56, 3:33, 3:30, 3:43, 3:50, 3:54)

     Light interviews with Ben Browder, Claudia Black, Anthony Simcoe, Gigi Edgley, Brian Henson, David Kemper, Andrew Prowse. Topics include the story, characters and the mini-series.

Disc 2

Deleted Scenes (13:51)

     Interesting scenes but the video quality is significantly worse. Some are deleted, others extended.

Trailer (2:00)

     Decent trailer.

R4 vs R1

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

    This seems to be the best stand alone release available globally of this mini-series.

Summary

    The mini-series which rounds out Farscape.

     The video quality is very good. The audio quality is very good but maybe slightly overdoes the surround effects. The extras are decent.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Daniel Bruce (Do you need a bio break?)
Friday, March 18, 2011
Review Equipment
DVDSONY BDP-S760 Blu-ray, using HDMI output
DisplayLG Scarlet 42LG61YD 106cm Full HD LCD. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p.
Audio DecoderBuilt into BD player. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum.
AmplificationPioneer VSX-511
SpeakersMonitor Audio Bronze 2 (Front), Bronze Centre & Bronze FX (Rears) + Sony SAW2500M Subwoofer

Other Reviews NONE
Overall | Farscape-The Complete Season One (Beyond Home Ent) (1999) | Farscape-The Complete Season Two (Beyond Home Ent) (1999) | Farscape-The Complete Season Three (Beyond Home Ent) (1999) | Farscape-The Complete Season Four (Beyond Home Ent) (1999) | Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars (Beyond Home Ent) (2004) | Farscape-The Archives (1999)

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.
Farscape-The Archives (1999)

Farscape-The Archives (1999)

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Released 1-Dec-2010

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Science Fiction Main Menu Introduction
Interviews-Cast & Crew
Featurette-Numerous
Alternative Version-Season 2 Premiere
Rating Rated M
Year Of Production 1999
Running Time ?
RSDL / Flipper Dual Layered
Multi Disc Set (3)
Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By None Given
Studio
Distributor

Beyond Home Entertainment
Starring Ben Browder
Claudia Black
Virginia Hey
Anthony Simcoe
Jonathan Hardy
Case Slip Case
RPI $144.95 Music None Given


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame Full Frame English Dolby Digital 2.0 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio None
16x9 Enhancement No
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles None Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

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

Plot Synopsis

     Farscape is a well loved Sci-fi television series, made in Australia in the late 1990s, early 2000s. The original four seasons of the show were released on DVD before by Universal back in 2005. The whole series is now being re-released by Beyond Home Entertainment both as individual seasons and as a box set including all four seasons plus the mini-series, The Peacekeeper Wars. Also included in the box set is this three disc set consisting entirely of extras. There are copious extras on the various seasons but a whole raft of other stuff is included here. Some of what was included here was on previous releases of the various seasons.

     Fans of this show will love this treasure trove.

Don't wish to see plot synopses in the future? Change your configuration.

Transfer Quality

Video

     The video quality is decent but not restored like the rest of the series.

     The feature is presented in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio which is the original aspect ratio. The picture was fairly soft throughout, reminiscent of used VHS quality mostly. There is some mild grain at times and occasional minor MPEG artefacts. The colour is a bit dull. There was the usual collection of artefacts like colour bleeding, edge enhancement, etc., as you would expect from unrestored archival material.

     There are no subtitles which is disappointing.

     The layer changes are fairly obvious.

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

Audio

     The audio quality is good.

     This DVD set contains an English Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack which is nothing special but good enough for this sort of material. Dialogue was generally clear and easy to hear although subtitles would have been useful from time to time.

     The score by Guy Gross is suitably dramatic.

     The surround speakers and subwoofer were not used.

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

Extras

Menu

     The menu was functional but unexciting including music.

Disc 1

Farscape Undressed (43:58)

     A crash course in Farscape for the uninitiated. Was obviously a precursor to Season 3 being shown and features most of the cast. Really probably only of interest to big fans.

'Listen In' with composer Guy Gross (9:17, 11:20, 9:48, 10:47, 10:31, 8:34, 11:12, 8:58, 7:06, 8:03, 9:21,9:08)

     Featurettes for 12 specific episodes hosted by the composer. He discusses his music, styles used and his process. He talks about and shows specific scenes. Interesting but probably a little more than most will want as there is about 2 hours of content here.

Character Profiles (10:11, 9:35, 10:58, 9:20, 11:28)

     Each of the main actors and actresses talk about their characters. John Crichton, Aeryn Sun, Ka D'Ago, Moya & Pilot & Zhaan.

Villains (15:07)

     Featurette on the three main villains of the show, Scorpius, Crais & Grayza. The actors discuss their characters and sample scenes are shown.

Disc 2

Behind the Scenes Interviews (29:15, 22:04, 20:48, 29:10, 23:30, 16:50, 4:18)

     More natural interviews than the character profiles. They talk about their characters, the story, shooting issues, challenges and tell anecdotes. The interviews are with Anthony Simcoe (Ka D'Ago), Wayne Pygram (Scorpius), Jonathan Hardy (Voice of Rygel), Rebecca Riggs (Grayza), Lani John Tupu (Crais & Voice of Pilot), David Franklin (Capt Braca) & Paul Goddard (Stark). There is lots of material here, over two hours.

Video Profiles (19:33 & 12:04)

     Profiles of creator Rockne S O'Bannon & Executive Producer/Director David Kemper. They discuss the show, it's development, complexity, the characters and other issues.

'Zhaan Forever' with Virginia Hey (30:01)

     Featurette on the character Zhaan covering her motivations, sexuality, challenges and the various Director's views.

Disc 3

Re: Union - The Original Season 2 Premiere (43:59)

     One of the best extras is the original planned premiere for season 2, which was later replaced by another episode and then this episode was recut and became the eight episode of Season 2, Dream a Little Dream. Great to have this original cut.

Farscape in the Raw : Re:Union (8:58)

     Comparison of the theatrical cut and director's cut of the above episode.

Behind the Scenes Interviews (35:25, 27:09, 5:21, 24:16, 17:53)

     More natural interviews than the character profiles. The talk about their characters, the story, shooting issues, challenges and tell anecdotes. The interviews are with Claudia Black (Aeryn Sun), Anthony Simcoe (Ka D'Ago), Ben Browder (John Crichton), Wayne Pygram (Scorpius) & Gigi Edgley.

5.1 Music Clip (10:39)

     In 5.1 obviously, this is a clip of soundtrack music with scenes from the show.

Australian Creature Shop (9:08)

     Featurette about the Henson creature shop set up in Australia to support the show.

Make-up Tests (6:49)

     Screen tests of makeup for Ka D'Ago and Zhaan.

R4 vs R1

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

    This seems to be the only release available globally of this material.

Summary

    A great set of extra material for Farscape fans.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Daniel Bruce (Do you need a bio break?)
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Review Equipment
DVDSONY BDP-S760 Blu-ray, using HDMI output
DisplayLG Scarlet 42LG61YD 106cm Full HD LCD. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p.
Audio DecoderBuilt into BD player. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum.
AmplificationPioneer VSX-511
SpeakersMonitor Audio Bronze 2 (Front), Bronze Centre & Bronze FX (Rears) + Sony SAW2500M Subwoofer

Other Reviews NONE