{"id":7447,"date":"2014-01-21T15:27:26","date_gmt":"2014-01-21T23:27:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/?p=7447"},"modified":"2021-12-30T19:48:16","modified_gmt":"2021-12-31T03:48:16","slug":"review-following-s1-bd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/2014\/01\/review-following-s1-bd\/","title":{"rendered":"The Following: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The Following\u201d: The Complete First Season<\/strong> had plenty of potential with fine performances, a decent enough story but it\u2019s squandered with inept characters and frustrating subplots that are more filler and don\u2019t go anywhere. Still, it\u2019s not a complete waste of time and with only 15 episodes, is at least worth the time commitment.<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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“The Following”: The Complete First Season<\/span>
\n(2013)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Genre(s): <\/strong>Crime, Suspense, Drama
\nWarner Home Video | NR \u2013 654 min. \u2013 $49.99 | January 7, 2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n <\/b>MOVIE INFO:<\/span>
\nDirected by: <\/strong>Various
\nWriter(s): <\/strong>Kevin Williamson (created by)
\nCast: <\/strong>Kevin Bacon, James Purefoy, Natalie Zea, Shawn Ashmore, Valorie Curry, Nico Tortorella, Kyle Catlett, Annie ParisseDISC INFO:<\/span>
\nFeatures: <\/strong>2 Episode Commentaries, Featurettes, Deleted Scenes, DVD Copies, Digital Copy
\nNumber of Discs: <\/strong>7Audio: <\/strong>English (DTS-HD MA 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0)
\nVideo: <\/strong>1080p\/Widescreen 1.78
\nSubtitles: <\/strong>English SDH, French, Spanish
\nDisc Size: <\/strong>Various
\nCodec: <\/strong>MPEG-4 AVC
\nRegion(s): <\/strong>A, B, C<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

PLOT SUMMARY<\/strong><\/h2>\n

When notorious serial killer Joe Carroll (JAMES PUREFOY) escapes from Death Row and embarks on a new killing spree, the FBI recruits former agent Ryan Hardy (KEVIN BACON), the scarred veteran who captured Carroll nine years earlier. Working closely with FBI Specialist Debra Parker (ANNIE PARISSE) and sharp upstart Mike Weston (SHAWN ASHMORE), Hardy quickly discovers that Carroll has masterminded a network of devoted followers who might appear at any place or time to carry out their leader\u2019s diabolical mission. As Carroll\u2019s web tightens around his ex-wife (CONNIE NIELSEN), his son and Hardy himself, Hardy struggles to protect the innocent, thwart his nemesis and bring down the twisted cult of serial killers.<\/p>\n

QUICK HIT REVIEW \u2014 3.0\/5
\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n

After watching the pilot episode for Fox\u2019s latest serialized series, \u201cThe Following\u201d<\/strong>, I was quite excited to see where the story would go and in particular, what kind of cat-and-mouse game we would get between Kevin Bacon\u2019s burned-out former FBI Agent Ryan Harding and James Purefoy\u2019s devilishly hypnotic Poe-obsessed serial killer Joe Carroll. Unfortunately while it had a strong start, over the course of the 15-episode first season, it got bogged down by inane subplots and side characters, especially on the authorities side, who are utterly inept which is only amplified due to the fact the followers\u2019 incompetence was astonishing.<\/p>\n

On the positive front, both Kevin Bacon and James Purefoy give incredible performances and work so well off one another in a season of cat-and-mouse, often with Bacon himself being the mouse. The supporting cast, starting with a guest appearance by Maggie Grace, was well cast and work well opposite either Bacon or Purefoy depending on which side of the law. Also to the script\u2019s credit, the guessing of who\u2019s on which side, a la \u201c24\u201d, is well done even if the characters aren\u2019t, as mentioned above, the most cleverly written.<\/p>\n

Episodes:
\n<\/strong>1. Pilot
\n2. Chapter Two
\n3. The Poet\u2019s Fire
\n4. Mad Love
\n5. The Siege
\n6. The Fall
\n7. Let Me Go
\n8. Welcome Home
\n9. Love Hurts
\n10. Guilt
\n11. Whips and Regret
\n12. The Curse
\n13. Havenport
\n14. The End is Near
\n15. The Final Chapter<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

SPECIAL FEATURES \u2013 4.0\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The 7-discs (3 Blu-rays, 4 DVDs) come housed in a thick HD Keep Case which comes with a side-sliding slip cover<\/strong>. Inside is a download code for the UltraViolet Digital Copy<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Disc One:
\nFrom a Dark Place: Maximum Episode Mode (59:19; HD)<\/span><\/strong> is a commentary track with Creator\/Executive Producer Kevin Williamson and Episode Director Marcos Siega and comes with Focus Points<\/strong> to go behind-the-scenes and get more info on the Pilot episode.<\/p>\n

Unaired Scenes (9:12; HD)<\/strong><\/span> for \u2018Chapter Two\u2019, \u2018Mad Love\u2019 and \u2018The Siege\u2019<\/p>\n

Disc Two:
\nThe Thrill of Horror: The Creator Behind \u201cThe Following\u201d (13:10; HD)<\/span><\/strong> is an in-depth interview with Williamson as he discusses bringing the series to life. It features some on-set interviews with Kevin Bacon, Natalie Zea plus others on the crew as they talk about the road to series Williamson\u2019s concept took (apparently he came up with it even before Scream<\/em> 15+ years ago).<\/p>\n

The Followers Den (1:21; HD)<\/strong><\/span> \u2013 Cast and crew discuss the den set which isn\u2019t anything special.<\/p>\n

The Poe Mask (1:52; HD)<\/strong><\/span> \u2013 The cast and crew chat about the origins of the Poe mask.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Following\u201d: Free Megan (1:38; HD)<\/strong><\/span> \u2013 Actress Li Jun Li discusses the storyline of Megan and her escape.<\/p>\n

Unaired Scenes (14:39; HD)<\/strong><\/span> for \u2018Let Me Go\u2019, \u2018Welcome Home\u2019, \u2018Love Hurts\u2019 and \u2018Guilt\u2019<\/p>\n

Disc Three:
\nEpisode Commentary<\/span><\/strong> \u2013 Executive Producers Kevin Williamson and Marcos Siega sit down again for the season finale talking about various elements of the episode and the season on the whole.<\/p>\n

The Cult of Joe Carroll: Inside The Followers (18:15; HD)<\/strong><\/span> is an extensive featurette that examines the psychological underpinnings of The Followers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Following\u201d Production Chronicles (27:22; HD)<\/strong><\/span> \u2013 Go behind the scenes with the cast and crew in this on-set timeline for the show\u2019s production.<\/p>\n

Unaired Scenes (27:10; HD)<\/strong><\/span> for \u2018Whips and Regret\u2019, \u2018The Curse\u2019, \u2018Havenport\u2019, \u2018The End is Near\u2019 and \u2018The Final Chapter\u2019<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

VIDEO \u2013 4.5\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Warner Home Video releases \u201cThe Following\u201d<\/strong> on Blu-ray presented with a 1.78 widescreen aspect ratio and a 1080p high-definition transfer. The picture surprisingly enough was pretty sharp with some good, even great, detail levels while the blacks, which for a show that are dark in tone anyway, didn\u2019t show any major signs of artifacts and only minor bouts of pixilation. Although this isn\u2019t a picture that \u201cpops\u201d off the screen, it\u2019s still looks good and a step up from the broadcast version.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

AUDIO \u2013 4.25\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Each episode comes with a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track and although not the best and fairly front-heavy in both dialogue and action, has enough depth to provide the right atmosphere for the crime-mystery at center of the season. The bulk of the audio for the front and, especially, rear channels are mostly used for the score or minor ambient noises, otherwise everything else is relegated to the center channel.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

OVERALL \u2013 3.5\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Overall, \u201cThe Following\u201d: The Complete First Season<\/strong> had plenty of potential with fine performances, a decent enough story but it\u2019s squandered with inept characters and frustrating subplots that are more filler and don\u2019t go anywhere. Still, it\u2019s not a complete waste of time and with only 15 episodes, is at least worth the time commitment if only for Kevin Bacon and James Purefoy. The Blu-ray released by Warner has a good selection of special features and the video\/audio transfers are both solid.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Published: <\/strong>01\/21\/2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Following\u201d: The Complete First Season had plenty of potential with fine performances, a decent enough story but it\u2019s squandered with inept characters and frustrating subplots that are more filler and don\u2019t go anywhere. Still, it\u2019s not a complete waste of time and with only 15 episodes, is at least worth the time commitment.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,970],"tags":[2964,811,2965,1382],"class_list":["post-7447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blurayreviews","category-quick-hit-reviews","tag-james-purefoy","tag-kevin-bacon","tag-natalie-zea","tag-shawn-ashmore"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7447","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=7447"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7447\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27607,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7447\/revisions\/27607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}