{"id":10039,"date":"2015-08-10T10:56:03","date_gmt":"2015-08-10T17:56:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/?p=10039"},"modified":"2015-08-10T10:57:40","modified_gmt":"2015-08-10T17:57:40","slug":"review-htgawm-s1-dvd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/2015\/08\/review-htgawm-s1-dvd\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: How to Get Away With Murder: The Complete First Season DVD"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The first season of \u201cHow to Get Away with Murder\u201d<\/strong> is compelling from beginning to end and getting Viola Davis to headline was a brilliant move as she gives much needed weight and her ability to keep viewers off kilter helps to build momentum throughout the season.<\/p>\n

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“How to Get Away With Murder”: The Complete First Season<\/span>
\n(2014-15)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Genre(s): <\/strong>Crime, Mystery, Suspense
\nBuena Vista | TV14 \u2013 645 min. \u2013 $39.99 | August 4, 2015<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n <\/b>MOVIE INFO:
\n<\/u>Directed by: <\/strong>Various
\nWriter(s): <\/strong>Peter Nowalk (created by)
\nCast: <\/strong>Viola Davis, Alfred Enoch, Jack Falahee, Aja Naomi King, Matt McGorry, Karla Souza, Charlie Weber, Liza Weil, Katie Findlay, Tom Verica, Billy Brown<\/p>\n

DISC INFO:
\n<\/u>Features: <\/strong>Featurette, Music Video, Deleted Scenes, Gag Reel
\nDigital Copy: <\/strong>No
\nNumber of Discs: <\/strong>4<\/p>\n

Audio: <\/strong>English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
\nVideo: <\/strong>Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78
\nSubtitles: <\/strong>English SDH, French, Spanish
\nRegion(s): <\/strong>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n


\n** Click Here to Purchase “How to Get Away With Murder” Season 1 on DVD from Amazon.com<\/a><\/strong> **<\/p>\n

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THE MOVIE<\/strong> \u2013 4.0\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cHow to Get Away with Murder\u201d<\/strong> is easily one of the more interesting crime mystery shows to air taking viewers, at least halfway through its first season, back and forth in time with a great hook as four college students attempt to cover up for a crime. What that crime is won\u2019t be revealed until the season\u2019s eighth episode and even then new mysteries abound to keep viewers around for the remainder of the season.<\/p>\n

While the ensemble cast of mostly unknown actors are all great, though Alfred Enoch\u2019s Wesley reminds me a bit too much of Wes from \u201cStar Trek: The Next Generation\u201d in some ways, there\u2019s a reason Viola Davis is one well paid actress as she brings a much needed gravitas to a storyline that could become frustrating and also concerning for future seasons, not unlike \u201cPretty Little Liars\u201d where writers seem to be writing new plotlines and villains at random. Back to Davis, though, she\u2019s fantastic as high-powered defense attorney Annalise Keating, a character who isn\u2019t nearly as perfect and with a crumbling personal life cheating on her husband with a cop (BILLY BROWN) while said hubby has his own share of secrets, one involving the death of a student.<\/p>\n

Beyond Keating, the ensemble of characters, who were handpicked to be a part of Keating\u2019s research crew, include the aforementioned Wesley, perfectionist Michaela Pratt (AJA NAOMI KING), go-getter at all cost Connor Walsh (JACK FALAHEE), snob Asher Millstone (MATT MCGORRY) and smart but slutty Laurel Castillo (KARLA SOUZA) who has her share of romances including one with Keating\u2019s fixer\/associate Frank Delfino (CHARLIE WEBER).<\/p>\n

As a freshman series, \u201cHow to Get Away with Murder\u201d<\/strong> is a success thanks in large part to the cast, primarily Viola Davis, but the season long storyline is well paced and keeps viewer\u2019s hooked throughout the 15-episode stint. I do wonder where the series will go for the next few seasons but with Shonda Rhimes serving as executive producer and having \u201cScandal\u201d still going strong, it\u2019ll certainly be a fun ride.<\/p>\n

Episodes:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Pilot<\/li>\n
  2. It\u2019s All Her Fault<\/li>\n
  3. Smile, or Go to Jail<\/li>\n
  4. Let\u2019s Get to Scooping<\/li>\n
  5. We\u2019re Not Friends<\/li>\n
  6. Freakin\u2019 Whack-A-Mole<\/li>\n
  7. He Deserved to Die<\/li>\n
  8. He Has a Wife<\/li>\n
  9. Kill Me, Kill Me, Kill Me<\/li>\n
  10. Hello, Baskolnikov<\/li>\n
  11. Best Christmas Ever<\/li>\n
  12. She\u2019s a Murderer<\/li>\n
  13. Mama\u2019s Here Now<\/li>\n
  14. The Night Lila Died<\/li>\n
  15. It’s All My Fault<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    <\/a><\/p>\n

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    SPECIAL FEATURES \u2013 2.0\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    The 4-disc set is housed in a standard DVD case with a matted slip cover<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    First Year Law (14:59)<\/u><\/strong> is an introduction to the cast of characters as the actors, and crew, discuss them and what each bring to the series.<\/p>\n

    Bye Felicia Music Video (2:58)<\/u><\/strong> is a song by the character Asher Millstone.<\/p>\n

    Deleted Scenes (6:41)<\/u><\/strong> \u2013 There are nine scenes either cut down or removed for more than likely time constraints.<\/p>\n

    Bloopers (3:34)<\/u><\/strong> contains your usual flubbed lines and on-set antics.<\/p>\n

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    <\/a><\/p>\n

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    \n<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

    VIDEO \u2013 4.5\/5 | AUDIO \u2013 4.0\/5
    \n<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    \u201cHow to Get Away with Murder\u201d: The Complete First Season<\/strong> takes the stand on DVD presented in its originally televised 1.78 anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio and I imagine looks more or less how it did upon initial airings. Colors tend to be bright and even darker shots don\u2019t show major instances of artifacts.<\/p>\n

    Each episode comes with a Dolby Digital 5.1 track which is effective though nothing extraordinary. It does provide for clear dialogue levels with ambient noises and the score making use of the front and rear channels.<\/p>\n

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    \n    <\/a>
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    OVERALL \u2013 4.0\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    Overall, the first season of \u201cHow to Get Away with Murder\u201d<\/strong> is compelling from beginning to end and getting Viola Davis to headline was a brilliant move as she gives much needed weight and her ability to keep viewers off kilter helps to build momentum throughout the season. The DVD release by Buena Vista has good audio\/video transfers but the bonus features are a bit disappointing.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Published: <\/strong>08\/10\/2015<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The first season of \u201cHow to Get Away with Murder\u201d is compelling from beginning to end and getting Viola Davis to headline was a brilliant move as she gives much needed weight and her ability to keep viewers off kilter helps to build momentum throughout the season.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,970],"tags":[3931,3929,3934,3829,3930,3933,3292,3935,3932,1469],"class_list":["post-10039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dvd-reviews","category-quick-hit-reviews","tag-aja-naomi-king","tag-alfred-enoch","tag-charlie-weber","tag-how-to-get-away-with-murder","tag-jack-falahee","tag-karla-souza","tag-katie-findlay","tag-liza-weil","tag-matt-mcgorry","tag-viola-davis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10039"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10039\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10042,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10039\/revisions\/10042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}