Sam and Dean Winchester are Hunters of all things bad in the supernatural world. They’ve fought ghosts, vampires and even demons. They’ve been to hell and back while the world is none the wiser. After Dean escapes purgatory, they join up again and get back into the family business but they may be not as prepared as they thought.
The Winchester’s are the consistent actors on the show are Jared Padalecki as Sam and Jason Ackles as Dean. Some of the actors that are regular guests are Misha Collins as Castiel and Jim Beaver as Bobby. The show is a horror/supernatural show on the CW that has writers that are creative enough to make 7 seasons and this eighth season is as strong as the rest. Sometimes the show gets a hint of cheese but I think that’s one of the reasons this show is so easy to watch. It just never takes itself too seriously.
Just wow. The transfer on the release is superb. It’s encoded in 1080p AVC and Warner really gave the Blu-ray their undivided attention. The series is shot digitally so when the Blu-ray is being authored, there is typically not much lost in the process. Like the entire series, this season is dark and it’s exactly the tone that goes perfectly with the show. The sharpness in the video shows every little intricate detail from the dirt on their beautiful but filthy ‘67 Chevy Impala to the stitching in their clothes. Again, the series is dark and there are plenty of low light scenes and I saw only minimal black crushing. This is a perfect example of how the process looks when it’s done right.
As I said earlier, a lot of love was put in to release and the sound is no exception. It’s in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 with both strong highs and very robust LFEs. A perfect example that’s in almost every episode of the deep bass is during the scenes with the Impala’s throaty exhaust. It has a subtle but rich rumble in the home theater and it is a great example of the consistent quality of the mix. TV shows have really stepped it up with their releases.
This release is loaded with features and they are definitely tailored for the fans. There are a few commentaries and most episodes have unaired scenes. The studio did a good job.
Supplements
-3 episode Commentaries on Select Episodes
All 23 full episodes:
1- We need to talk about Kevin
-unaired scene
2- What’s up Tiger Mommy?
-unaired scenes
3-Heartache
-unaired scenes
4- Bitten
-unaired scene
5- Blood Brother
6- Southern Comfort
7- A little slice of Kevin
8- Hunteri Heroici
-unaired scene
-Episode Commentary by Writer Andrew Dabb and Producer Todd Aronauer
9- Citizen Fang
10- Torn and Frayed
11- Larp and the Real Girl
-unaired scenes
12- As time goes by
-unaired scene
-Episode Commentary by Executive Producer Robert Singer, Jeremy Carver, and Adam Glass.
13- Everybody Hates Hitler
-unaired scene
-Episode Commentary with Executive Producer Phil Sgricca and Consulting Producer/Writer Ben Edlund
14- Trial and Error
-unarmed scene
15- Man’s best friend with benefits
16- Remember the Titans
17- Goodbye Stranger
18- Freaks and Geeks
19- Taxi Driver
-unaired scenes
20- Pac-Man Fever
-unaired scenes
21- The Great Escapist
-unaired scene
22- Clip Show
-unaired scene
23- Sacrifice
-Finding Supernatural: Creating the found footage episode: uncover the challenging storytelling and production techniques brought together in Bitten- a featurette on how that cast and crew created the found footage episode. It interviews some of the people involved.
-For the Defense of Mankind: The Tablets Revealed: cultural explorations of history’s mysterious relics inspire a new storyline- this season has introduced some new elements and this featurette breaks it down for the fans.
-Angel Warrior: The Story of Castiel explores how the legendary angel earns and blemishes his wings with Misha Collins and series creators- this featurette explores my favorite character on the show and the actor who plays him.
-Gag Reel- a very funny set of outtakes from the entire season. It shows how much fun the cast and crew has on set.
Edition Ratings
Rated TV-14
Disc Details
Region A
Video Resolution
1080p MPEG-4 AVC
Audio
English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Portuguese Dolby Digital 2.0
Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles
English SDH
French
Spanish
Portuguese
Japanese
Supernatural is an excellent show and season 8 was probably the best so far. I’ve been watching it since its debut and I honesty thought that the story could only keep the show on for so long. The acting can sometimes go over the top but I think that’s part of the appeal and it falls in line with the channel’s lineup. This release has impressed me completely with perfect video and amazing sound. If you follow the show, this is the way to watch it and the fans won’t be disappointed. It looks like Warner with the shows on the CW are really becoming contenders of high quality releases.
