Dark Angel-Season 1: Part 1 (2000)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Post Apocalyptic	Main Menu Introduction Menu Audio
Rating
Year Of Production	2000
Running Time	459:14
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Multi Disc Set (3)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Sarah Pia Anderson Joe Ann Fogle David Jackson David Nutter
Studio Distributor	Twentieth Century Fox	Starring	Jessica Alba Michael Weatherly John Savage Valarie Rae Miller Richard Gunn J.C. MacKenzie Alimi Ballard Jennifer Blanc
Case	?
RPI	$79.95	Music	Joel McNeely

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) French 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	Danish English for the Hearing Impaired Finnish French Norwegian Swedish French Titling	Smoking	Yes, usually by the bad guys.
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Taken on its own, Dark Angel is an enjoyable, if unremarkable, science fiction show about a genetically engineered super-soldier in a grimy near-future, economically depressed Seattle. The back-story says that terrorists set off an electro-magnetic pulse in the atmosphere above America's most important financial districts, and the economy went in to free-fall, turning the US from a super-power to a third-world country overnight. Putting aside the realities of EMP and economics, it is an interesting premise that plays out quite well. The central character — Max (Jessica Alba) — is actually a product of pre-"pulse" (as the terrorist attack is known) government technology. She, and a group of other super-soldiers, escaped her barbaric "father" and the military institution where she was raised and trained shortly before the pulse. Ever since, she has been living on the run, and trying to stay away from the notice of the secretive government organisation that is still chasing her. She has a lot of attitude, and no real desire to help her fellow man — that is, at least, until she becomes acquainted with the rogue investigative journalist "Eyes Only".

    Dark Angel works quite well, and brings together many of the familiar elements from other successful TV series (it is fair to say that without either Buffy or The X-Files there would be no Dark Angel) — lots of action and fighting, and a good serving of romantic tension — and combines them all with the budget that only James Cameron could have brought to a TV series. All of this produces, if not some of the greatest TV drama, some of the most stylish TV in the genre. Refreshingly, the line-up of actors and actresses are also atypical. Right down from the not-afraid-to-be-curvy Alba who appears of Hispanic descent through the many varied characters, the only skinny blonde is a man — which makes a nice change.

    This first half of the season contains episodes 1 through 11. The series starts well, and hits its pace immediately, although, as is often the case, this constant pace can become grating at times. The episodes included here are (Note for those picky about spoilers - read the following synopses at your own risk):

• Pilot (83:01) - This episode sets up the premise of the series, and introduces all the main players. It introduces the character of Max, and her escape from the government-run Manticore program, her friends at the Jam Pony bicycle courier company, and the mysterious journalist "Eyes Only". Asked by "Eyes Only" — real name, Logan Cale (Michael Weatherly) — to help keep a witness against a local businessman and crime-boss safe, Max decides that her talents are best kept hidden. Only when things go wrong and both Logan's life and that of Max's friend are put in jeopardy, does she start to consider helping out.
• Heat (40:59) - Thanks to some feline DNA in the cocktail that is her, Max is in heat — and that means that she is interested in any guy who can so much as breathe. Meanwhile, Logan has managed to track down the location of the woman who helped Max leave the area around Manticore on the night of her escape. Armed with this knowledge, and her new "boyfriend", Max sets out to thank the first woman to show her any real kindness.
• Flushed (42:03) - Max's seizures, brought about by a flaw in her genetic makeup, are getting worse. The only thing that keeps them from being lethal is the dietary supplement Trytophan. Problem is that supply is running short, and Max's friends are beginning to think the tablets are the cause of her problems. As an amusing side note, watch for the sports game being shown on TV at 39:32 - it's an AFL game...Hawthorn vs. North Melbourne I believe. It's nice to think that in the future, when the US has become a third-world economy, Australian sport will begin to dominate the globe.
• C.R.E.A.M. (42:04) - Money is the central theme of this episode, and what some people will do for it. Max's Jam Pony buddy Sketchy (Richard Gunn) finds himself in a spot of bother with some Russian gangsters when a money-drop goes wrong, while Logan has to face the fact that a man he virtually worships is not as great as he thought. This is the most enjoyable episode of the first half of the series, as it provides good drama in Logan's ordeal, but is also able to have some fun with the gangster storyline (not to mention finding a good excuse to put two gorgeous women in rather appealing outfits).
• 411 On The DL (42:03) - A PI that Max had engaged before meeting Logan tells her that he knows where to find another of the soldiers (the X-5 series) who escaped with her. Meantime, Jam Pony dispatch man Normal (J.C. MacKenzie) has decided to fire the company's best rider Herbal (Alimi Ballard) for smoking the, well, herb.
• Prodigy (41:34) - Max learns that a research scientist who is leading the field in gene therapy is coming to town to give a seminar, and with Logan's help, gets herself invited with the hope that he may be able to cure her seizures — but all is not as it seems behind the scenes at the seminar.
• Cold Comfort (42:03) - Another of those Max escaped with is in town, and she is in trouble. It seems that a rouge military group is selling the X-5 technology on the black market to the highest bidder. Meanwhile, Jam Pony is up for sale, and Normal is looking to implement sweeping changes to the way the company works — much to the horror of Max and her friends.
• Blah Blah Woof Woof (41:51) - Max's appearance has become known to Donald Lydecker (John Savage) - the head of the government agency searching for Max. After a wanted poster is put out with a $50,000 reward and her picture, Max's life becomes considerably more difficult. It seems the only safe thing to do is to cross the border to Canada — but that would mean leaving Logan behind.
• Out (41:34) - Becoming frustrated with Logan's dedication to his work, Max finally snaps when he insists they leave a dinner she has prepared to follow a lead — she wants out. Down at Jam Pony, the gang want to know exactly what type of woman would actually stoop to dating Normal — and when they find out, it isn't exactly what they expected.
• Red (42:02) - In order to bring down the corrupt mayor, Max and Logan have to protect a witness — but it just happens that he is a man they both despise for their own reasons. The only question is, will Max snap and finish him off herself before he is able to testify?

    These episodes provide a good entry into the world of Dark Angel, and are very much worth checking out by anybody who is into the genre.

Video

    Presented at the original aspect ratio of 1.78:1, this transfer is 16x9 enhanced. This is probably the biggest advantage of Dark Angel on DVD, as even via digital transmission, Channel 7 broadcast the show at 1.33:1.

    The episodes are generally quite soft, and there are only a very few instances when the image could be called clear and well defined. This is certainly not helped by the enormous harvest of grain present in the image. Virtually every episode contains a medium level of background grain, while in some — such as C.R.E.A.M., and the first half of Prodigy — it is extremely high for extended periods of time. The worst sequence however is from 22:33 to 25:00 in Cold Comfort where the screen simply crawls with grain. All this may well be an intentional choice, as the night-time scenes are considerably less grain-affected, suggesting that high-grain filmstock was used to produce a grittier look for the depressed near-future version of the US. Shadow detail, surprisingly is quite good. While there are a few examples where the darker scenes become quite murky, for the most part it is easy to make out the action in the dark — and that is quite important, as in living up to its name Dark Angel has many a night scene. There is no low level noise present.

    Colours, when present, are very good. For the most part, the production design concentrates on shades of grey, and this helps create an appropriately depressed looking world that is very effective in representing the failing economy of the post-pulse US. When flashes of colour are present, usually indoors in the richer areas of town, they are vibrant, and also often tend to the orange hues for a more contrasting effect.

    The only compression artefacts present are background pixelisation on the areas of higher grain - and given how much grain there is, that is not entirely unexpected. There is only a small amount of aliasing present, such as on the bike at 20:03 in the Pilot, and on the edge of the safe at 18:51 in 411 on the DL, which is quite understandable given the high level of grain and general softness of the image. Film artefacts are common, but generally not frequent enough, or large enough, to be a nuisance. The exceptions to this rule are from 24:38 to 25:08 in C.R.E.A.M. where the frequency of the artefacts makes the image look like it is being affected with static, and a horizontal line across the image during the Pilot at 78:36.

    The subtitles are generally accurate, although they do tend to abbreviate on a regular basis. They are not particularly easy subtitles to follow, as the dialogue is often of a rather cryptic nature, being very much of an American style, and then gone over again to give the post-pulse world a lingo all of its own — unfortunately this does not translate well to subtitles.

    These are Dual Layer discs, with the layer change taking place between episodes on all discs.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    Each episode contains two soundtracks: the original English dialogue in Dolby Digital 2.0 surround, and a French dub, also in Dolby Digital 2.0 surround.

    Dialogue is generally good, although there are a few exceptions. There are a few instances, such as at 32:14 in Cold Comfort, when dialogue is muffled, or poorly recorded, but in over 7 hours of television, that is not too bad. A bigger problem is the dialogue of the character Herbal, who is a Jamaican, and who essentially mumbles with a very thick Jamaican accent that can be quite difficult to make out. There is a slight crackle in the soundtrack at 15:09 in Blah Blah Woof Woof, but it is brief and does not recur, so does not distract too much.

    Audio sync is mostly accurate, with only the occasional obviously dubbed line causing any problems.

    The score is credited to Joel McNeely, while the theme music (the most hideous theme this side of The Practice) is credited to Chuck D. and Gary G-Wiz. The score is usually a little too over-the-top, and the theme, as mentioned, is hideous. Overall, the music is the weakest aspect of Dark Angel.

    The surround channels get as good a workout as can be expected from a TV series in Dolby Surround. Mostly they carry ambient noise, but every now and then they get something to work with, such as engine noises or gunshots.

    The subwoofer gets a surprisingly solid workout. It backs up both the score, and numerous effects noises, and really adds to the experience.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Menu

    The video quality is very grainy and flecked with a number of artefacts - but this is all most likely intentional, as it lends a far grittier feel to the production.

    The audio quality is good, with good bass levels, and a nice use of the surround channels for a TV series.

    There are no extras. This isn't really a problem, as there is little to say about this series, and at least the discs don't throw in a useless extra just for the sake of it.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall