Despite its age, going on nine seasons, “Supernatural” is still a well made series with a good balance of fantasy, drama and dark comedy and storylines that is keeping the series fresh.
“Supernatural”: The Complete Ninth Season
(2013-14)
Genre(s): Supernatural (obviously), Fantasy, Drama
Warner Bros. | NR – 967 min. – $69.97 | September 9, 2014
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MOVIE INFO: Directed by: Various Writer(s): Eric Kripke (created by) Cast: Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Misha CollinsDISC INFO: Features: Episode Commentaries, Featurettes, Deleted Scenes, Gag Reel, Digital Copy Number of Discs: 4Audio: English (DTS-HD MA 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0) Video: 1080p/Widescreen 1.78 Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish Disc Size: Various Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Region(s): A, B, C |
THE MOVIE – 3.5/5
Season Outline (from Blu-ray back cover): With the angelic Host’s descent to Earth, Sam (JARED PADALECKI) and Dean (JENSEN ACKLES) now face a world inhabited by thousands of powerful beings, each with its own chaotic agenda. Before tackling the threat of the “loose nukes” roaming the globe, the Winchesters engage in their most personal conflict yet. Meanwhile, Castiel (MISHA COLLINS) finds he’s more vulnerable – and yet capable of more humanity – than ever. As the threat escalates, a way must be found to reopen the gates of Heaven and head off a demon insurrection in Hell. Throughout, darkness leaves its mark on Dean: has he finally crossed the line to protect his family?
Quick Hit Review: This long-running series, now in its ninth season (with a tenth coming up), “Supernatural” never was my cup of tea but it’s relatively entertaining from beginning to end with some nice mixture of fantasy, drama and even dark comedy. The cast has gelled quite nicely together headlined by of course by Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles.
Season nine is a wild ride that, despite its age, is keeping stories fresh and avoids rehashing old plots from previous years. Again, this never was my kind of show but if you like fantasy mixed with religiosity, then “Supernatural” is for you and honestly, probably can get into it even this far into the series.
Episodes:
- I Think I’m Gonna Like it Here
- Devil May Care
- I’m No Angel
- Slumber Party
- Dog Dean Afternoon
- Heaven Can’t Wait
- Bad Boys
- Rock and a Hard Place
- Holy Terror
- Road Trip
- First Born
- Sharp Teeth
- The Purge
- Captives
- #Thinman
- Blade Runners
- Mother’s Little Helper
- Meta Fiction
- Alex Annie Alexis Ann
- Bloodlines
- King of the Damned
- Stairway to Heaven
- Do You Believe in Miracles
SPECIAL FEATURES – 3.25/5
This 4-disc set comes housed in a standard Blu-ray case which slides into a glossy/reflective slip cover. Inside is a redemption code for the Digital Copy. Strangely, as with the other season sets, this one doesn’t come with DVD copies (unlike others from Warner). All features are in HD unless otherwise noted.
Episode Commentaries on ‘Blade Runners’ with Writer/Producers Brad Buckner and Eugenie Ross-Leming & Actor Mark Sheppard (Crowley); ‘Mother’s Little Helper’ with Writer/Producer Adam Glass and Actor/Director Misha Collins; and ‘Bloodlines’ with Executive Producer Jeremy Carver, Executive Producer/Director Robert Singer and Executive Producer/Writer Andrew Dabb
Behind the Scenes of “Supernatural”: A Fan’s Perspective (18:26) is a mockumentary hosted by Misha Collins, going behind-the-scenes on the set.
2013 Comic-Con Panel (28:51) – The feature has the cast and crew answering questions at the uber-popular Comic-Con Convention.
Unaired Scenes (12:58) on ‘I’m No Angel,’ ‘Rock and a Hard Place,’ ‘Road Trip,’ ‘Blade Runners,’ ‘Meta Fiction,’ ‘Bloodlines,’ ‘King of the Damned,’ ‘Stairway to Heaven’
Gag Reel (8:28) is filled with the normal on-set goofs and line flubs.
The Men of Letters Interactive Set Experience – This feature allows viewers to access numerous featurettes hidden in various rooms of the Men of Letters set:
Crow’s Nest (3:13) is a tour of part of the Men of Letters set
Library Tour (2:46) has production designing showing off the library
Men of Letters: The Winchester Legacy (15:40) gives the rich mol mythology from its Winchester roots to the hidden compound passed down to the brothers by their grandfather
Designing the Men of Letters Bunker (9:19) looks at the bunker set from concept to completion
Bound by Blood: Decisions and Consequences (21:12) is a lengthy behind-the-scenes featurette on the storyline of season nine with on-set interviews with the cast and crew.
Also included in this section are short tours of the Gallery (1:15), Dorms (1:07), Lab (1:15) and Room 7B (2:08).
VIDEO – 4.5/5
The Blu-ray set of “Supernatural” falls from Heaven presented in the show’s original 1.78 widescreen aspect ratio and a 1080p high-definition transfer. The show tends to be on the darker side but still has sharp and well defined detail levels and colors, albeit muted, still comes across nicely enough.
AUDIO – 4.0/5
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track offers up some crisp, clean and clear dialogue levels as well as some of the more action-oriented scenes which help provide some depth from each channel. Ambient noises and the score make up most of the rear channel audio.
OVERALL – 3.75/5
Overall, despite its age, going on nine seasons, “Supernatural” is still a well made series with a good balance of fantasy, drama and dark comedy and storylines that is keeping the series fresh. The Blu-ray released by Warner Home Video has solid audio and video transfers and some decently made bonus material that fans will enjoy and appreciate.
Published: 09/08/2014