Warner Home Video
Release date: November 11th, 2008
MSRP: $49.99

Stars: Zachary Levi, Yvonne Strahovski, Adam Baldwin

Gerald already reviewed the DVD set of season one of Chuck, so I am not going to spend too much time explaining the premise of the series. For those not familiar, check out Gerald’s review.

When I heard about the show, I was not expecting too much. It sounded like a mildly amusing premise that would likely die after a handful of episodes.

But I was not factoring in the fine job of casting that was done on Chuck. With other actors, I think it would already be a distant memory. Zachary Levi is great as Chuck. He looks nerdy (and is nerdy) but still have charm and charisma. You can’t help but like the fellow. Too many times, the nerd comes across totally clueless and is so entrenched in geekdom that you can’t buy him attracting girls (until the eventual make-over into a stud), but Chuck is a shy, but funny guy that may not look like Brad Pitt, but he is also not Anthony Michael Hall (Sorry, Mike).

I must confess I am a little surprised by the quality (or lack of) that we get here. This is Blu-ray and thus I was expecting a pristine transfer, but there is grain and even digital noise. I might not be surprised if we were talking about a series from the 90s, but this is from last year!

Let me be clear: It is not awful; it just is not much better than the regular DVD release. The colors are strong and the contrast is good. There was actually a couple of close-ups that showed the work of the make-up crew (A fake scar, for example).

Extras:

We get everything from the DVD release. There are ten deleted scenes (Spread out over the discs). They are generally entertaining, but most were cut due to time constraints.

Chuck on Chuck has Zachary and Joshua Gomez (Morgan), along with creators Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak, talking about the show and some of their favorite scenes. This runs a little under thirty minutes is fun enough to take a gander.

Chuck vs. The Chuckles is a gag reel. These things rarely amuse me and this is no exception. Does it suck? No, but they could have put the time and effort to better use. Chuck’s World looks at the cast with some clips from auditions.

If you don’t own the DVD release, pick this up and be ready for some fun. But if you already own it, I don’t know that it is worth the double dip

Order the Blu-ray of Chuck: season one from Amazon.

Jeremy Lynch
For more reviews from myself, and the rest of the Crimespree crew, check out the index of reviews.