“Bitten”: The Complete First Season isn’t a horrible nor is it unwatchable, mainly because of star Laura Vandervoort, but I’ve seen this story countless times on better produced series like “Supernatural,” “The Vampire Diaries,” and “True Blood”… Well, two out of the three anyway.
“Bitten”: The Complete First Season
(2013-14)
Genre(s): Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Entertainment One | NR – 572 min. – $49.98 | August 12, 2014
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MOVIE INFO: Directed by: Various Writer(s): Kelley Armstrong (novels); Daegan Fryklind (created for television) Cast: Laura Vandervoort, Greyston Holt, Greg Bryk, Paul Greene DISC INFO: Audio: English (DTS-HD MA 5.1) |
THE MOVIE – 2.75/5
Season Summary: Elena Michaels (LAURA VANDERVOORT), the lone female werewolf in existence, is torn between two worlds: the one she was born into and the one she was bitten into… Desperate to start a new life in the city, with the man she loves, Elena instead finds herself summoned back to Stonehaven, the werewolves’ ancestral home, when a string of mysterious murders threatens the survival of her Pack.
Quick Hit Review: I tried to give “Bitten” a shot especially with someone like Laura Vandervoort, who was amazing on “Smallville” as Supergirl, and there’s really no problem with her on the show, or even the supporting actors, but instead with a tired premise culled from other shows such as “True Blood,” “The Vampire Diaries,” and even the Twilight franchise, though even I will admit, the writing on “Bitten” is better than anything in those films.
I suppose that I could be in the wrong demo, now between ages 28-35, so for those younger might get something out of the show but for me, it had a hard time holding my interest through the relatively short 13-episode season.
Episodes:
- Summons
- Prodigal
- Trespass
- Grief
- Bitten
- Committed
- Stalking
- Prisoner
- Vengeance
- Descent
- Settling
- Caged
- 13. Ready
SPECIAL FEATURES – 3.0/5
The 4-disc set, for whatever reason, comes housed in a thick Blu-ray case which side-slides into a glossy slip cover.
Episode Commentaries – Star Laura Vandervoort, Executive Producer J.B. Sugar and Executive Producer/Writer Daegan Fryklind offer thoughts on the episodes ‘Summons,’ ‘Bitten’ and ‘Ready.’
Behind the Scenes (8:42; HD) is filled with on-set interviews and footage as they discuss the source material and characters. It’s pretty thin on content and seems more suited as advertising than anything.
VFX: Behind the Wolf (4:26; HD) looks at the visual effects work done on the wolves featured on the show.
Deleted/Alternate Scenes (16:36; HD) are scenes that were cut down more than likely due to time constraints.
Stunt Choreography (8:40; HD) looks at the stunt work, via PIP comparison, over the course of the season.
VIDEO – 4.5/5
“Bitten”: The Complete First Season arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Entertainment One, shown in its original televised 1.78 widescreen aspect ratio and a 1080p high-definition transfer. Not always a given, especially for TV, this transfer’s detail levels are quite sharp and colors have a bit of a pop to them while the darker scenes show no artifacting or pixilation.
AUDIO – 4.0/5
Each episode comes with a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track has clear dialogue coming from the front channel and that’s really where most of the audio resides with some usage in the front and rear channels for ambient noises and a little bit of the score. It’s not exactly a dynamic track or anything but it is serviceable.
OVERALL – 2.75/5
Overall, “Bitten”: The Complete First Season isn’t a horrible nor is it unwatchable, mainly because of star Laura Vandervoort, but I’ve seen this story countless times on better produced series like “Supernatural,” “The Vampire Diaries,” and “True Blood”… Well, two out of the three anyway. The Blu-ray released by Entertainment One has a fair amount of special features and the audio/video transfers are both nicely done.
Published: 09/07/2014