Farscape-The Complete Collection (Beyond Home Ent) (2004) |
BUY IT |
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.
Video | |
Audio | |
Extras | |
Plot | |
Overall |
Farscape-The Complete Season One (Beyond Home Ent) (1999) |
BUY IT |
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 | |||
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 |
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.
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.
Sharpness | |
Shadow Detail | |
Colour | |
Grain/Pixelization | |
Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
Film Artefacts | |
Overall |
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.
Dialogue | |
Audio Sync | |
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts | |
Surround Channel Use | |
Subwoofer | |
Overall |
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.
The menu was functional but unexciting including music.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Video | |
Audio | |
Extras | |
Plot | |
Overall |
Review Equipment | |
DVD | SONY BDP-S760 Blu-ray, using HDMI output |
Display | LG 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 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 |
Farscape-The Complete Season Two (Beyond Home Ent) (1999) |
BUY IT |
General | Extras | ||
Category | Science Fiction |
Menu Animation & Audio Audio Commentary-6 episodes Outtakes Alternative Version-8 episodes |
|
Rating | |||
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 |
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.
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.
Sharpness | |
Shadow Detail | |
Colour | |
Grain/Pixelization | |
Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
Film Artefacts | |
Overall |
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.
Dialogue | |
Audio Sync | |
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts | |
Surround Channel Use | |
Subwoofer | |
Overall |
The menu was functional but unexciting including music.
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:
Episode 1 – Andrew Prowse, David Kemper & Lani Tupu
Episode 4 – Claudia Black & Ian Watson (Not on previous edition)
Episode 5 – Guy Gross (Composer)
Episode 5 – Ben Browder & Claudia Black (Not on previous edition)
Episode 15 – David Kemper & Rohan Woods
Episode 22 – David Kemper & Rohan Woods
Reasonably amusing set of onset silliness and stuff-ups.
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.
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.
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.
Video | |
Audio | |
Extras | |
Plot | |
Overall |
Review Equipment | |
DVD | SONY BDP-S760 Blu-ray, using HDMI output |
Display | LG 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 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 |
Farscape-The Complete Season Three (Beyond Home Ent) (1999) |
BUY IT |
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 | |||
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 |
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.
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.
Sharpness | |
Shadow Detail | |
Colour | |
Grain/Pixelization | |
Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
Film Artefacts | |
Overall |
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.
Dialogue | |
Audio Sync | |
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts | |
Surround Channel Use | |
Subwoofer | |
Overall |
The menu was functional but unexciting including music.
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
Episode 6 – Guy Gross
Episode 8 – Ben Browder & Tony Tilse (Not on previous edition)
Episode 10 – Lani Tupu & Peter Andrikidis (Not on previous edition)
Episode 16 – Rodney Whitham, Athol Henry & Pablo De La Torre
Episode 17 – Rohan Woods & Justin Monjo
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
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
The lead puppeteer for Pilot discusses the technology and issues involved in their work.
Costume Designer Terry Ryan talks us through the various costume choices for the main characters -Not on previous release
Full length version of cartoon used during one of the episodes. Funny take off of Loony Tunes.
Various comparison of animation stages for the Loony Tunes take-off from the previous extra.
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.
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.
Video | |
Audio | |
Extras | |
Plot | |
Overall |
Review Equipment | |
DVD | SONY BDP-S760 Blu-ray, using HDMI output |
Display | LG 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 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 |
Farscape-The Complete Season Four (Beyond Home Ent) (1999) |
BUY IT |
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 | |||
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 |
|
||
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 |
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.
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.
Sharpness | |
Shadow Detail | |
Colour | |
Grain/Pixelization | |
Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
Film Artefacts | |
Overall |
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.
Dialogue | |
Audio Sync | |
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts | |
Surround Channel Use | |
Subwoofer | |
Overall |
Many of the extras on this edition were also included on the Universal release.
The menu was functional but unexciting including music.
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:
Episode 1 – Andrew Prowse & Gigi Edgley
Episode 7 – Sean Masterton & Tony Tilse
Episode 11 – Andrew Prowse & Anthony Simcoe
Episode 17 – Andrew Prowse & Anthony Simcoe
Episode 22 – Andrew Prowse & Gigi Edgley
Summary of the first three seasons of the show.
Interesting scenes but the camerawork is pretty ordinary as is the video quality Not on previous release
Cast reaction to the show being cancelled.
4x3. Featurette about fans reaction to the show being cancelled and the campaign to have it reinstated Not on previous release.
The process of creating the various visual effects including comparisons Not on previous release.
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.
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.
Video | |
Audio | |
Extras | |
Plot | |
Overall |
Review Equipment | |
DVD | SONY BDP-S760 Blu-ray, using HDMI output |
Display | LG 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 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 |
Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars (Beyond Home Ent) (2004) |
BUY IT |
General | Extras | ||
Category | Science Fiction |
Main Menu Audio Interviews-Cast & Crew Deleted Scenes Trailer |
|
Rating | |||
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 |
|
||
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 |
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.
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.
Sharpness | |
Shadow Detail | |
Colour | |
Grain/Pixelization | |
Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
Film Artefacts | |
Overall |
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.
Dialogue | |
Audio Sync | |
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts | |
Surround Channel Use | |
Subwoofer | |
Overall |
Many of the extras on this edition were also included on the Universal release.
The menu was functional but unexciting including music.
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.
Interesting scenes but the video quality is significantly worse. Some are deleted, others extended.
Decent trailer.
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.
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.
Video | |
Audio | |
Extras | |
Plot | |
Overall |
Review Equipment | |
DVD | SONY BDP-S760 Blu-ray, using HDMI output |
Display | LG 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 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 |
Farscape-The Archives (1999) |
BUY IT |
General | Extras | ||
Category | Science Fiction |
Main Menu Introduction Interviews-Cast & Crew Featurette-Numerous Alternative Version-Season 2 Premiere |
|
Rating | |||
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 |
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.
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.
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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.
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The menu was functional but unexciting including music.
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.
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.
Each of the main actors and actresses talk about their characters. John Crichton, Aeryn Sun, Ka D'Ago, Moya & Pilot & Zhaan.
Featurette on the three main villains of the show, Scorpius, Crais & Grayza. The actors discuss their characters and sample scenes are shown.
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.
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.
Featurette on the character Zhaan covering her motivations, sexuality, challenges and the various Director's views.
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.
Comparison of the theatrical cut and director's cut of the above episode.
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.
In 5.1 obviously, this is a clip of soundtrack music with scenes from the show.
Featurette about the Henson creature shop set up in Australia to support the show.
Screen tests of makeup for Ka D'Ago and Zhaan.
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.
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Review Equipment | |
DVD | SONY BDP-S760 Blu-ray, using HDMI output |
Display | LG 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 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 |